Opinion

Oct. 2, 2012 — Every year the American Library Association (ALA) sponsors “Banned Books Week.” This year it falls from Sept. 30-Oct. 1.

In honor of celebrating the right to choose what to read, I like to spend some time each fall finding out which of my most loved books are on the banned list.

What I’ve found is the question should be not which books have been banned, but which ones haven’t been.

Oct. 2, 2012 — Cindie called this “the concert of a lifetime” back in May when she heard her son Tyson (of KSUE fame) and his roommate Pat (the former Times staffer) had bought us tickets to see last week’s Crosby, Stills and Nash (CSN) in Reno to celebrate Mother’s Day and my birthday.

Although the concert was months away, I scribbled CSN on my calendar at work. I’ve always enjoyed the superstar band’s music, but they don’t mean as much to me as they do to Cindie.

Oct. 2, 2012 — What an appropriate theme for this year’s celebration of National Newspaper Week, Oct. 7-13: Newspapers: The cornerstone of your community.

There are more than 7,000 weekly newspapers across the country — including the Lassen County newspaper you are reading right now — that are devoted to protecting and defending your right to know by thoroughly covering the issues and lifestyles of the people living in those communities. And with the ever-increasing number of ways we can obtain information, the role of community newspapers becomes even more important.

Sept. 25, 2012 — In the next few weeks, thousands of County landowners will find a $150 bill in the mail from the state. The bill is actually an illegal tax to help pay for wildfire protection.

Legislators, citizens and taxpayers associations are speaking out against the illegal tax that will affect about 825,000 state residents. The fire prevention tax is meant to generate more than $85 million in revenue for the state to help pay for fire-prevention in State Areas of Responsibility (SRAs).