Letters to the editor | Wednesday, July 29, 2020: Baseball during COVID just isn’t the same
When baseball fans are cardboard
As a lifelong SF Giants fan (50+ years) I have seen hundreds of baseball games played at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, some in person, most via the television. In watching the 2020 season opener between the Giants and Dodgers I noticed that all of the fans were in their seats for the first pitch instead of the “normal” third-inning arrival. Needless to say, I was even more surprised to see the same fans were in their seats well past the normal seventh-inning exodus and stayed until the end of the game. Apparently things are different in LA this year.
Wait, what? OK, I thought they looked a little stiff!
Vincent T. Flanders, Turlock
Leaders set the example
We are in the midst of a raging pandemic. The way to control it is to wear a mask, social distance and wash your hands.
Elected officials, both county and city, refuse to do much to promote these protections. Sheriff Dirkse and Police Chief Carroll have both publicly announced they will not enforce a mask mandate. They could save lives if they would only promote the wearing of masks. Maybe the life of someone you love.
Do a PSA promoting masks. Put pictures on Facebook with them wearing masks. Dirkse asked, “What do you want me to do? Make criminals out of people for not wearing a mask?” Write them a ticket. Give them a citation. Many cities are now enforcing a $500 fine for failing to wear a mask. It’s not about your freedom. It’s about public health.
Without elected leaders doing their part, this will only get worse. They are failing to protect and serve. The Board of Supervisors and the City Council are failing in their jobs. Tragically, it will probably take the death of someone they love before they start doing their jobs.
Gaetana Drake, Modesto
Federal force and protests
Trump’s dispatch of federal marshals to protect courthouses from people who often got no justice in them and statues of people who often exploited them has a convenient upside. His personal police will be in place to suppress the protests that will surely break out if he is successful in stealing another election.
Jack Heinsius, Modesto
Goriel for Modesto mayor
Naramsen Goriel is Modesto’s best bet for fair representation as mayor.
Naramsen will fight for mental health and substance abuse recovery programs. He plans to incorporate incentives that help with youth homelessness and also violence prevention. He has a long history of helping the community and the disadvantaged. He has worked as a business consultant which allowed him to help local companies flourish and prosper.
Peter Sapper, Turlock
Harder addresses climate change
I thank Congressman Josh Harder for his efforts to bring our agriculture community and environmental groups together to make change that will both protect agriculture and move our communities towards real and lasting improvement in our air, our water and our way of life here in the Valley.
As a member of the local chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a bipartisan lobby group seeking reasonable, market-based climate action, I’ve been excited to see that Harder is an original co-sponsor, along with five Republicans and three other Democrats, of the Growing Climate Solutions Senate bill that has been introduced in the House, and that he is co-sponsoring the FARM Act, which promotes and supports farmers in enacting environmentally friendly practices. By linking the needs of our local economy with innovative programs that protect the health and well being of everyone in our community, Harder is altering the way we approach climate change and its local impacts in the Central Valley.
It’s refreshing to have a representative who works hard to find practical solutions for the challenging problems facing our valley.
Eileen Kerr, Turlock