Our family long ago stopped purchasing gifts for anyone who was too old to believe in Santa Claus. The Holiday craziness has led us to choose to make Thanksgiving our big festival of love, warmth and giving. For my parents we do home repairs, have the house cleaned well or go to dinner locally, For the young people in my life who no longer believe in Santa - we plan adventures. At birthday I ask them if they want two smaller adventures, or one big adventure instead of gifts. Adventures always win out. I have wonderful memories of spending a night at the zoo with two 7 year old girls. Riding the ferry to San Francisco and fitting in as many fun things as we could get to in 24 hours with 11 year old boys. These adventures have been more fun than I could have hoped for. When it comes to giving, give local, give what counts, and give from the heart. It always feels better than making a deposit at the bank of the big box (store).

To get the complete registration form you have to reduce the size of the screen display. On my laptop I did it by pressing control and the minus key at the same time until the display was reduced by abut 50% then i could complete the registration form and received my passcode by e-mail immediately. Took forever to figure out what I needed to do to get the full form. Good Luck!

I would have to throw myself fully behind the Tea Party movement if those who feel so wrongfully taxed would give up their utilization of the services allowed by the taxes we pay. Please, give up your MediCare, you are old and expensive, give up your Social Security, yeah sure you paid into it but did you really pay in as much as you will receive during your life time? Please stop using the roads, bridges, sidewalks, highways etc. you know, taxes are bad. Please save a little extra for your future gand and great grand children, taxes pay for much of their education. You and your children may have enjoyed the benefits of a good education, for the future generations, not so much...it cost's you know. I could go on and on but why.

For many years I was one of the working poor. For years
I did not owe anything to the IRS, so you could try to say that I was not paying my fair share. But, you would be forgetting the many many hours of work I did that allowed the person whose business I helped to grow with my labor to be part of one of the higher tax brackets. No one gets 'rich' without someone helping to hold the ladder to the top.

If I remember correctly the ACUSD did not air the address that our president gave to the children of our country (it may have been that a permission slip was required). Yet an outside party was allowed to present information that was created by a group with a specific agenda to push? I surely hope that I am wrong. I agree that this warrants further investigation into how materials are presented to our children.

Many people think that those folks collecting signatures are concerned members or our local community. They are not. Signature collectors are paid by signature and are just as happy to be for as against any given issue. Many of these initiatives are funded directly or indirectly by groups seeking to advance their specific agenda regardless of the harmful impact of their actions. The signature collector at Wal Mart told me that I could not be a local as everyone in Amador County supported the initiative he was pushing.

I am very happy that someone else finds keeping information out of our schools is a way to simply continue the prejudices that have been present in our country since it's inception. People need to know the heartbreak that comes from being identified as anything other than what the acceptable norm of the day is.
Our history does not teach about the Eugenics movement of the 20's and 30's where many were locked away and sterilized because they were different. It does not teach that people with intellectual disabilities were executed by Hitler before he started the movement to wipe out Jews.
All history that teaches us about the historical and current challenges faced by those who have been or are considered different is relevant and right.

Andrew, Please look to third world countries to see how they do it the old fashioned way. Schools are only for the chosen few.. and certainly not for girls and young women. Remember, it was that way here in America just a short century ago. Maybe how they did it in the old days worked for wealthy white boys, I don't think it was all that fantastic for women or people of color. There is much room for improvement in our school system, but it sure beats the alternative. So, if you believe in a merit based system - is earning an adequate GPA going to guarantee a paid higher education regardless of your wallet size?

Undocumented workers would not come to this country and utilize social welfare programs if they or their family members were not first hired as workers. Farmers, wineries, restaurants, hotels, etc.. hire illegals to maintain a profit margin and avoid hiring higher paid American workers. American consumers demand low prices and are thrilled at finding a bargain. As I have said before, the real cost of that .39 cent orange is paid by us in taxes to fund programs that immigrant workers use. So get over it.....illegal immigration is not the cause of the woes of our country. Before we can complain about how we got the cheap goods and services, we have to be willing to pay the true cost, which is now just tacked on to our tax bills.

Unfortunately, it appears that the Tea Party and the republicans in general have spent far more time worrying about the reproductive rights of American women than creating jobs. I would prefer that my gynecologist be the only person interested in my reproductive health care decisions. That being said, I would hope that the people supporting the Tea Party would consider that the tax breaks they are promoting for corporations do nothing for American working families. The corporations appreciate the opportunity to raise profits for investors and are working diligently to cut each and every expense by cutting benefits, laying off employees, and shipping our jobs to Mexico, India, and China. Their investors would love nothing better than for the corporations to keep profiting. It works well for those that can afford to be investors - those that can't afford to invest; not so much. The last administration cut taxes, deregulated and started two unfunded wars. Yes we enjoyed a brief period of false prosperity. Hmmm, then what happened? Yep, you remember a total breakdown of the stock and housing markets!

Unfortunately most of the people who advocate for the Tea Party have already enjoyed a lifetime of benefit from the very programs and services they hope to eradicate. I am sure that Tea Party advocates have enjoyed state and federal parks, highways, public schools from kindergarten through college, Medicare, social security. It is easy to say these services should be eliminated when you have already had the use of them for a lifetime. I for one am willing to pay to have access to these important services.

Oh Mike, that would be the "not intended to be a factual statement" correction, right?

If the city were willing to assist the Pulskamp's with purchasing materials to meet the design they are supporting this week, they might have more to say about this. The work that has been done on Main street has been exemplary. I do not see any body waiting in line to re-open Rosebud's or to revamp the exterior to make it more esthetically appealing. I for one certainly am looking forward to seeing the outcome of the renovation.
I am also looking forward to seeing the outcome of the national. As Stan's workers strip away decades of poorly crafted updates and modernization they are uncovering an incredible treasure. With all of the work going into the quality reconstruction of this landmark, I am sure that Stan would not cut corners on windows if there was a viable and available alternative. Please just let the man continue to do the good work.

Does anyone remember when the previous owner wanted to turn it into housing for homeless people from Oakland? I am sure they were not considering returning the hotel to it's former glory.

Thank You for the great work you do Stan!