The following organizations and individuals deserve either
CHEERS or JEERS this week:
CHEERS: To former Gilroy resident Joanne Ritchie who turned her life around after being arrested for DUI 15 years ago in Morgan Hill. The 42-year-old woman, who now lives in Vancouver, Wash., wrote a letter to Morgan Hill Police Chief Bruce Cumming saying her 1991 arrest was the impetus needed to change for the better. We agree with Cumming’s statements to staff writer Marilyn Dubil. “Sometimes being arrested is not a bad thing … Sometimes putting someone in jail is the best thing you can do for them.”
Ritchie also rightly credits the Alcoholics Anonymous organization and 12-step program with helping her beat her addiction to alcohol.
CHEERS: To Morgan Hill police officers who have apprehended three suspects from the Morgan Hill Times ‘Most Wanted’ section during the past month. The arrests help authorities bring them to justice and end their free joy riding and possible threat to the general public without prosecution for the crimes they’ve committed or are being sought for.
CHEERS: To the seven people honored by the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce with Salute Morgan Hill awards. The honorees, who are well-known names in our community for their self-less dedication to their areas of expertise, include activists Carol O’Hare and Gene Guglielmo, Nordstrom Elementary School teacher Donna Walton, Sobrato junior Isela Banuelos, volunteers Raymonde Etchebarne and Ida Williams and Mike Johnson, owner of Johnson Lumber. These individuals are great examples to the community. We hope they will inspire us to do good in our community. The chamber needs to be thanked for taking the time to honor these silent heroes. We hope the community shows their support during the Feb. 3 recognition dinner at the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center.
JEERS: To Morgan Hill attorney Bruce Tichinin for appealing last month a judge’s decision to strike down his First Amendment lawsuit against the city for allegedly damaging his reputation after elected officials publicly denounced him in 2004 for arranging secret videotape surveillance of City Manager Ed Tewes at a conference in Southern California. When will Tichinin understand that the lawsuit and subsequent appeal is hurting Morgan Hill taxpayers who are forced to pay for a scandal that’s none of their doing. Tichinin needs to understand that we’re tired of paying for this fiasco. We not only had to pay a quarter-million dollar settlement to a former city employee, we now have to foot the bill incurred by Tichinin’s legal challenge and probably fork out more money to continue this absurdity.
JEERS: To the thousands of injuries, deaths and suffering incurred by the prolonging stay of U.S. armed forces in Iraq, which in late December sadly affected the life of our own soldier brother David Shebib. The 22-year-old David was hit by a roadside bomb Dec. 28. News of his injuries brought home the reality of this senseless war and the high price paid by soldiers and their families as they serve our country during times of conflict. News of President Bush’s proposal to send 21,500 additional soldiers to Iraq is not being supported by David’s parents, who support the troops, but not the war. More than 3,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed, more than 20,000 have been wounded and more than 650,000 Iraqi nationals have died during the conflict.
It’s time we let our congressional delegation know that we don’t support this latest attempt by our Commander in Chief to cure a disastrous war. Morgan Hill residents, as the rest of the nation, no longer trust our President and are sick of his lies and failed attempts to end a conflict that shouldn’t have been started in the first place. Get out of Iraq!!!
