LETTERS from Gazette Readers - February 2018
Slanted in Favor of One
I really enjoy reading the Gazette and have for many years, and thanks for all your hard work! You provide a real service to the community. My question/comment is regarding the Film & Theater column.
I just read the column in the current issue (1/18). Actually, I read it through twice, to try to determine if it was an ad for the Summerfield, since that is the only theater mentioned in the article. Usually, when I see articles reviewing/recommending films, they will tell their readers all the area theaters where the mentioned films are playing. There aren’t that many theaters in Sonoma County that it would be difficult.
For example, I’m interested in seeing The Shape of Water, and I know that’s playing at the Rialto also, so why doesn’t Don Gibble mention it? Is he an employee of the Summerfield or associated with them in any way? If he is getting recompense for this column from the Summerfield it seems to me that should be disclosed to the readers.
Thanks in advance for answering my question, and again, I really appreciate your publication!
Louise Eisen, Sebastopol
Thanks for sending a letter I can forward to Don. Yes, we have other ART theaters in Sonoma County - The Raven in Healdsburg and Rialto in Sebastopol - Sebastian? in Sonoma…where else? Surely Petaluma has one!
Don is NOT an employee of Summerfield - he might LIKE to be - so I will encourage him to research other places where films he is recommending are playing so it is fair to ALL theaters in our home -
THANK YOU for reading and noticing this? ~ Vesta
Neighborhoods Object to Cannabis Grows
My friend, Nancy (and her husband Brantly Richardson who serves on the citizens' cannabis advisory board and who you published in Op-Ed in January) have provided me with the following information about a Healdsburg Palmer Creek neighborhood’s fight to prohibit growing in their neighborhood (narrow private road, endangered fish, etc). My friends were greatly impressed with your immediate attention to his last posting and I suggested that they submit the following information to you and your publication. Thanks for all the hard and effective work you do. ~ Charlene Stone
Palmer Creek neighbors are asking that their neighborhood be an exclusion zone. Palmer Creek is a private drive and everyone living there objects to a big commercial grow in their neighborhood. We appreciate any help you can give us to broadcast information and the Sonoma County Gazette is the only newspaper to help us inform everyone. The Next Cannabis Advisory Group meeting is February 28 at the Glaser Center from 3-5. The public is allowed to speak at the conclusion of each segment of the meeting.
Fluoride Neurotoxicity Suit Against EPA Now in Federal Court On November 23, 2016, the International Academy of Oral Medicine & Toxicology (IAOMT), and Fluoride Action Network (FAN), in coalition with others, hand-delivered a petition to US EPA, accompanied by over 2,500 pages of scientific documentation, to ban the use of fluoridation chemicals because of the neurotoxic risks of fluoride ingestion. Historically, when a chemical has evidence of neurotoxicity, for example, lead, EPA has banned its use. Since 2014, fluoride has been on EPA's short list of chemicals, including arsenic and lead, with scientific evidence of developmental neurotoxic harm to humans. “This case will present the first time a court will consider the neurotoxicity of fluoride and the question of whether fluoridation presents an unreasonable risk under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). And, in contrast to most other legal challenges of Agency actions, TSCA gives us the right to get the federal court to consider our evidence ‘de novo’— meaning federal courts are to conduct their own independent review of the evidence without deference to the EPA's judgment.” — attorney Michael Connett EPA rejected the petition (2/27/2017) and, in response, the petitioners filed a complaint in Federal Court (4/18/2017), seeking a ban on water fluoridation, under Section 21 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA responded with a motion to dismiss "all claims in the present matter"(11/30/2017). The EPA motion to dismiss was rejected by the judge (12/21/2017), and the suit is now moving ahead in Federal Court in San Francisco. For brief background on the petition, a detailed timeline, including links to all filings and rulings to date, and the names of petitioning organizations, and their attorneys, please read our webpage: Petition to EPA on Fluoride Neurotoxicity:http://www.cleanwatersonomamarin.org/get-the-facts/is-fluoridation-safe/fluoride-neurotoxicity/petition-to-epa/ We'll keep you posted. Dawna Gallagher Stroeh Director, Clean Water Sonoma-Marin http://www.cleanwatersonomamarin.org/Fluoride Follow-Up