IJ Lifestyles section gets day off to good start

On a recent morning, I felt moved as I read the weekly “Best of Beth Ashley” legacy reprint in the IJ.

I met the former IJ columnist in the 1970s when my kids went to Kent School. Ashley worked in the office and was the one who called to let me know that our dog had followed a kid to school. Through the years, she was everywhere.

In the column republished March 25 with the headline “Joys of another beautiful spring,” she wrote of the yearly ritual of sorting out her closet, remembering the “number of springs in each life is finite.” It really resonated with me. She wrote, “the world’s delights promise to be there over and over.”

That same day, I also read Jan Weeks’ “How It Is” commentary, about the “ugliest cat I’d ever seen.” Weeks met the cat at an animal rescue shelter. She wrote that, after adopting the cat, she noticed that it was notoriously shy around visitors — until Weeks met an older one-armed jazz pianist (who didn’t like cats). Naturally, Weeks’ was charmed when she found the cat curled up in his lap.

When Weeks went on to write that she later married the man, I had a lump in my throat.

I love the Lifestyles section and the “Tales of Marin” column written by representatives from the Humane Society. I always look forward to the “Asking Eric” advice column by Eric Thomas. His answers and opinions always agree with mine.

Sometimes a local newspaper gets the day off to a happy start.

— Susan Storch, Greenbrae

Taxpayers should share their priority lists

I am writing in response to Jeanie Jacobson’s letter published March 25 with the headline “Taxation without representation is back.”

I support the sentiment. I wrote a letter to Congress in 2005, asking members to consider having taxpayers state their top needs when they pay their income tax, in order for their elected officials in Washington, D.C., to best represent them. I thought this would empower both the citizens and their representatives. I called it “the happy tax.”

I’m sure my letter was received as a joke. I described how we would all flip our checks to the IRS over and write, in percentages, what we wanted to pay for.

Just imagine if every taxpayer designated exactly what they would happily pay for. I think it would make a difference in our willingness to pay.

— Dart Cherk, Mill Valley

Oversight committee: Hold SMART accountable

I have seen too many Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit trains traveling with far fewer passengers than they can accommodate at rush hour in both directions through San Rafael.

I don’t think this expensive under-used service deserves to have its quarter-cent sales tax for shoppers in Marin and Sonoma counties extended. Remember that these trains burn diesel, so they are contributing pollution while delaying traffic daily in San Rafael.

Ridership may have increased recently, but I suspect that’s only because youths and seniors now ride for free. That only results in shrinking the tiny percentage of farebox proceeds even further.

I think an accountable Citizens Oversight Committee would ask SMART officials to pencil out the idea of switching to flexible, cost effective, nonpolluting electric or hydrogen powered buses (rather than diesel powered trains). There are myriad other strategies that also should be presented by the committee to keep the officials running this expensive service on point.

I urge everyone to vote no whenever SMART’s next quarter-cent sales tax boondoggle appears on the ballot. Let’s look at economical and relatively pollution-free alternatives.

— Mark Gainer, San Rafael

All of us need to stand in opposition to Trump

A number of state governors, congressional representatives and U.S. senators are challenging the apparent lying and bullying of President Donald Trump and his administration. Unfortunately, their voices are being overwhelmed by the ongoing chaos emanating from Washington.

To effectively combat these apparent threats, lies and ineptitude we are required to show a willingness to stand up when we may be discouraged and choose to withdraw. Some pundits have suggested that the best course of action is to disengage and allow Trump’s seemingly vindictive approach to implode upon itself. However, more than two months into his presidency, the turmoil has not diminished.

Now is the time to act. Not doing so is to be complicit with what is happening in plain sight. The rule of law, independent judicial oversight and constitutional guidelines have been callously discarded. Citizens and allies are seemingly being bullied and treated as “less than.”

Decisions by the administration appear to ignore sovereign territorial rights of Ukrainians and Palestinians. Trump appears to lack a moral compass, has a history of expressing contempt for some marginalized groups and ignores historical alliances. Change is necessary.

The Declaration of Independence is clear about our responsibility as citizens. It reads, “when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.”

I urge speaking out, writing letters of support, organizing and marching. By encouraging elected leaders who are actively opposing arbitrary and capricious leadership, we may begin to restore sanity and competence in our government.

— Rick van Adelsberg, Novato

Pro-Palestinian activists have free speech rights

I am writing in response to Jeff Saperstein’s letter published March 26 with the headline “Terrorism must be part of student discussion.”

He states that protests “in support of Palestine were unpopular among most Americans” as somehow being a reason to deny activist Mahmoud Khalil his free speech rights. I would like to remind him that freedom of speech is not based on a popularity contest.

Surely a truly democratic county that believes in freedom of speech allows voices we disagree with and not only those that we do.

— John Neal, San Anselmo

AB 1038 will help with Tahoe’s bear problem

I am writing in response to a recently published letter about state Assembly Bill 1038. The letter implies that the proposal would allow for the hunting of bears with hounds, but it does not. It merely allows treeing them.

Trained dogs chase the bear up the tree, and then they (and the owner) leave. This is an excellent tool for hazing of bears near populated areas, which the California Department of Fish and Game already does (your tax dollars help to pay for it).

Why wouldn’t we let others do it for free? The dog owners would, in fact, pay to do this through licensing fees, which would provide conservation dollars that can be used on other species. Also, California’s bear population has skyrocketed by CDFW’s own estimate. What used to be a population of 30,000 to 40,000 is now 50,000 to 81,000 bears.

Desolation Wilderness is only about 5 miles from South Lake Tahoe, a large population center. There is zero evidence to suggest that treeing bears in wilderness would push them into towns. It’s clear to me that trash, pets and people who are unwilling to chase them out are what brings them into towns.

In my experience, anti-hunting organizations use phrases like “torture” to pull at the heartstrings of people and sway opinions before we hear all the facts. Bears are a real problem in populated areas, human bear conflicts are rising precipitously and our increased bear populations are also decimating our deer populations.

AB 1038 is an excellent tool to help keep bears out of populated areas and lessen human bear conflict, while offering a chance for the “hounds people” in this state to practice their craft.

— Michael Schubert, San Anselmo