A Reminder: Life Matters

Life matters; be busy about making it count: learning so you can discover possibilities, sowing so you can reap, seeking those who will uplift you, helping those in need, doing unto others as you would have them do to you, and respecting authority so community can be built up in peace.

Your life will matter as you become an example for those who come behind you; it will put a smile on the face of those who have preceded you, and those who are watching will respect you. Walk proud, walk in righteousness and you will be fulfilled.

And no, this is not always the easy road, but it matters!

From an Old Woman to my Children’s Children.

Inés Chessum

La Crescenta

Idea Seems Off-Balance

I read with interest Charly Shelton’s article “Al Fresco Dining Coming to Montrose” in the June 4 issue. 

I think this is a perfect opportunity to close off Honolulu between Verdugo and Las Palmas or another street. This does not have to be permanent, only until we can all gather indoors again.

Parking is a big problem in Montrose. I believe making parking lots into outdoor eating areas is not a good idea: 

1. Many parking lots are not level; anyone who has tried to eat at an angle can probably agree that it is a pain in the you-know-what. 

2. Not all restaurants have an easy access to a parking lot.

Paul Liu

Glendale

A Personal Perspective 

I feel that I am uniquely qualified to speak out about recent events. On Feb. 8, 2000, my brother was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy.

The George Floyd killing is an abomination. The four officers involved all face second-degree murder and accessory-to-murder charges. They will never wear a badge again and will likely do up to 40 years in prison. Their lives are, for all intents and purposes, over. Their decisions put them in this situation.

For a long time I was bitter about what happened to my older brother, which only harmed me. But in speaking to many people, including police officers, I decided to forgive. Now we hear cries to “defund the police!” People who commit crimes such as robbery and burglary are likely shouting the loudest. Let me paint a picture for you.

Scenario one. It’s 2 a.m., you are asleep next to your significant other. You have two children sleeping in another room. You awake to the sound of someone trying to gain entry to your home. You dial 9-1-1 and are told that, due to budget cuts, dispatching officers will take approximately 45 minutes. You then gather your family into your bedroom and grab the firearm you purchased for home defense.

Glass shatters and the perpetrator is in your home; still no police. The perpetrator hears a sound and turns; you can see the gun in his hand. He takes aim at you and you pull the trigger. Threat eliminated; now you have to live with the consequences.

Scenario two. The police, funded by your tax dollars, are patrolling in your neighborhood as they are right now. They arrive in minutes. They confront the perpetrator outside of your home and tell him to freeze. He levels his gun at them and they fire; threat eliminated. That’s what they are being paid to do, right? Now they have to live with the consequences.

My brother was a 50-year-old white male when he was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy. There was a two-paragraph article in the local paper. Nobody shed a tear or even took notice except for his friends and family … and the sheriff’s deputy who had to make the terrible decision to take the life of another human being.

Think about it, people.

Frank Pass

Glendale

Responds to Letter Writer Kretz

As of this writing (June 9), officer Derek Chauvin, now infamous as the officer with his knee on the neck of George Floyd as well as three other Minneapolis police department officers who looked on as Mr. Floyd died, have been arrested. There is no question that Mr. Chauvin’s actions were outside department policy and resulted in the death of Mr. Floyd by asphyxiation. The assertion that the murder of Mr. Floyd was an isolated incident is, bluntly, appalling. In the weeks leading up to Mr. Floyd’s death, Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in her home by plainclothes officers of the Louisville Metro Police Department while she slept. The officers were serving a “no knock” warrant in her apartment complex and entered her apartment by mistake. The officers responsible for the shooting have not been charged at this point. 

The most striking parallel is the murder of Eric Garner in New York City in 2014; when Mr. Garner was pinned to the ground he cried out, “I can’t breathe” – the same plea made by Mr. Floyd, and now printed on signs, sprayed onto buildings, and chanted by protesters.

Beyond the larger scope of past police killings, Mr. Chauvin had a history of brutality complaints filed against him and had been previously fired from two separate law enforcement agencies; the fact that Mr. Chauvin was a sworn police officer with his personal history is simply mystifying. To claim George Floyd’s death is an “isolated incident” is at best ignorant to the state of policing in the United States. 

I am a graduate of the Glendale Community College Administration of Justice program. All of my instructors were current or former law enforcement officers from several agencies. Police officers are necessarily entrusted with the power to detain and arrest, and to use force when it is required in the course of their duties. Of course, with that power there must be restraint and professionalism. Officers cannot allow emotion to guide their hands in the commission of their duty. While it may seem to be a fine line for peace officers to walk, balancing power against feeling, the public can accept no less from a professional law enforcement agency.

At the core of this movement is anger at the failure of law enforcement to represent the ideals of justice and serve their communities in an equitable manner.   

The ongoing protests around the country represent the culmination of a hundred years of peaceful and violent uprisings against a racist system of oppression. As a people we must acknowledge the rage of our communities affected by these murders – and I use the word murder deliberately as the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse ¬– and advocate for systematic change or there will be more George Floyds, more Breonna Taylors, more Eric Garners, and there will be no peace, and we will not deserve peace. 

Edwin Brooks

La Crescenta

Challenges Rattlesnake Statement

In response to Dana Stengel’s statement in the CV Weekly [“Co-existing with the Southern Pacific Rattler,” June 11] “The Southern Pacific Rattler is the only venomous snake in our area” most certainly would be challenged by Findley E. Russell, M.D., toxicologist who specialized in all types of venomous bites. Dr. Russell was one of the pioneers in the development of antivenin serum. 

Dr. Russell was a professor at the USC School of Medicine and did his research at the Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center. Back in the ’70s I had the honor and privilege of documenting much of his research.

There are three species of rattlesnakes in Southern California: the Western Rattlesnake, the Western Diamondback and the Mojave Green (sidewinder) Rattlesnake. The most aggressive is the Western Diamondback.  The most toxic is the Mojave Green. The striking distance of a rattlesnake is one-third their length. Basically, it is true that most rattlesnakes will avoid a hiker if they are making noise.  Baby rattlers are poisonous. However, the more venom the greater the danger.

Most bites occur in the backyard of residences that live close to Angeles National Forest. During hot summer evenings people walk barefooted on their back lawn to cool off, not realizing that rattlesnakes are also there for a drink.   Be aware, they don’t always rattle!

During his many lectures, Dr. Russell always advised against killing rattlesnakes because they control the rodent population. His research also revealed that there are approximately 7,000 rattlesnakes per square mile in our National Forest. 

Andy Gero, RBP, FBPA, Emeritus

Director of Medical Photography (Retired)

LAC/ USC Medical Center

Waiting Time at the Glendale DMV: June 12, 2020

The DMV is not taking “new” appointments, but is honoring the appointments scheduled prior to the COVID-19 shut down.

The DMV is open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday – Friday. I arrived at 7:30 a.m. – the line was already encircling three sides of the building! There were still parking spaces in the DMV parking lot, so I felt hopeful. 

The DMV staff was working outside to organize the people in line. They were answering questions and handing out “numbers” to each individual to help the direct the flow of the customers once they entered the building.  (I was #248).  There was a hand-washing station. Every one was asked to wash their hands prior to entering.

I was admitted into the DMV office at 9:30 a.m.  (Two hours in line at this point). I walked out of the office and was in my car at 9:50 a.m.   

Accolades to the staff at the Glendale DMV!  The last time I went it was hot, crowded and noisy and the intimidating process seemed chaotic. Today, with the crowd waiting outside in line, the process seemed much more orderly. It helped having DMV staff screening the customers as they waited in line. Questions were answered in detail.

Social distancing was self monitored outside the building, but strictly enforced inside the building. The only suggestion that I had to improve the experience was to post signs intermittently or at each corner of the building saying, “Wait time from this point is approximately 60 minutes.”

Sue Lapham

Glendale

Where is the Rest of the Outrage?

First, my greatest compliments to [CV Weekly publisher] Robin Goldsworthy for her disagreement with the protestors who get violent [June 4]!

I agree with the Glendale City Council’s expressed outrage at George Floyd’s wrongful murder. I too was outraged. But it is what the Council did not say that bothered me greatly: the condemnation of violent protestors.

Many good people have died at the hands of violent protesters (read more at https://tinyurl.com/ybqxlkg2). Dave Patrick Underwood was an Afro-American law enforcement officer murdered in cold blood in Oakland. His only crime was guarding a building.

An Afro-American business owner in New York saw his life’s work go up in flames after his business was destroyed. Not only other policemen but many innocent men and women who are not police have been brutally beaten and left to die on the street. There is no excuse for this violence and we should all be equally outraged by and condemnatory of this behavior.

Peaceful protests, even with anger, are very valid and should be encouraged. The expression of anger by protestors is a very appropriate emotion for this situation. However, the line should be drawn at anger. Murder, looting, and mayhem, or any other lawlessness against innocent people, should be loudly condemned.

I have two suggestions:

1. The Glendale City Council as well as all of our local, state and federal politicians should loudly condemn violent protestation including murder, looting, and mayhem, or any other lawlessness against innocent people through press releases, newspaper articles and in any media interviews.

2. When/If the Glendale City Council has a candlelight vigil for George Floyd, please include Dave Patrick Underwood in the vigil. This would be an excellent way to balance the outrage and to express both sides of the outrage.

John Kretz

Glendale

Protests, Chaos and Political Agenda

The terrible death of George Floyd at the hands of some cops has turned the country upside down. The widespread violence, looting, shooting, destruction of properties, attacks on the police and all-around chaos is no ordinary reaction to the “disproportionate injustice toward black people.”

Statistics, however, show that in the last five years 4,700-plus deaths were attributed to police brutalities – 2,300-plus Whites, and 1,200-plus Blacks. In the six months till June 4, this year, 429 civilians were shot including 88 Blacks. The reasons may be varied, and disputed, and there might have been criminals involved, but there were these many deaths. However, there were no protests worth the name for “other” deaths. All deaths hurt; all should be mourned, irrespective of the causes.

The death of George Floyd is being exploited for sheer political purposes with a well-orchestrated agenda in this election year. The funeral and the memorial service for Floyd was hijacked by the Democrats with Joe Biden, Al Sharpton, Sheila Jackson-Lee and others putting the guy on a pedestal with Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King Jr. and other stalwarts of the “movement” and some, along with the pastors, openly exhorting the people to defeat President Trump, as if he was the main culprit.

This was uncalled for. This was disgusting. This was shocking. But this was not surprising as the top-most leaders of the previous administration had clearly said: “Don’t let a good crisis go to waste.”

That’s what is being done, now.

Yatindra Bhatnagar

Tujunga