Hello and welcome to my article on current events taking place in our valley. First allow me to introduce myself. I am Jordan Garcia. So I will now get right to the point and cover the issues that we as citizens face and could have an impact on us.
I assume you have all have heard some talk of a water crisis. Well it is true. California is in a bind with its level of clean water. It is in the Sacramento – San Joaquin river delta where water is pumped from the rivers and then goes through a treatment process. You can find more info here at http://www.waterinfo.org/taxonomy/term/540.
On August 31st 2007 California federal judge Oliver Wanger put a tight hold on the water uses of the delta to protect an endangered fish called the delta smelt. This fish is important because it is low in the food chain and serves as the food source for many other fish and also some birds of prey. So its extinction would have obvious consequences on the wildlife in that area. Also another huge problem arose. The limited water has had a disastrous effect on our agriculture, which California relies heavily on for jobs and money as well as its reputation as the best supplier of produce in the entire world. Many farmers have had no choice but to give up their profession and dig up what they have tried to grow and make a living off of. More recently, on February 6 of this year the water pumping limits have been temporarily lifted in hopes to meet both environmentalist and struggling farmers half way. Many people still doubt that this temporary lift on the strict water regulations will solve much. The question still remains on the survival of the delta smelt and more importantly the survival of our agricultural system that without would have a horrifying impact on the state of California as many jobs and money would be lost. In this time a loss of jobs is the last thing we need.
In more bizarre and unfortunate news in Los Banos California. A 53 year old man and his dog went hunting for ducks by highway 152. The man set his shotgun down and his black Labrador retriever mix stepped on the gun and shot its master in the back! Luckily doctors were able to treat the wounds and release the man within a few hours. I suppose this ordeal raises the question is a dog truly man’s best friend? Perhaps the man went cheap on his dog food or maybe made him sleep outside in the cold? Was it a crime of revenge for mistreatment? Was it a crime of passion? Of course not. It is obviously a freak accident and a very easy one to make jokes about in bad taste. I’m sure the man and his dog will have many more hunting trips together, and I am certain they will go much more smoothly.
In other news, on valentine’s day many same sex couples showed up to the Fresno county office to be married only to be turned down due to Prop 8. A proposition that was pushed by the religious and the right wing and barely passed in November of 2008 . They watched many opposite sex couples tie the knot and become legally married, yet they could not. Some may come to the conclusion that clerk Victor Salazar seems to promote and encourage this biased proposition, but whether he is biased or not we do not know. He is only enforcing a change to our constitution that is very clear that only opposite sex couples can have the basic human right to legally marry the one they love. After all homosexuals can vote, can fight in the military and die and kill for their nation, but only if they keep their sexual orientation a secret. All for a country that does not allow them the same rights as a heterosexual person. Maybe they should settle and be satisfied with having less rights than their heterosexual neighbors? Well I am very certain that we all find that kind of thinking to be foolish and unfair. This nation was founded on the principle that all men are created equally and should share the same rights and no one should be denied those rights! The fact that a proposition such as prop 8 could even make it into our states constitution is sickening and goes against the very principle that all have equal rights! I was proud to hear of the fact that homosexual couples went and demanded the right to marry, because by all logical means they have every right to marry! The day will come when elections will roll around again. That will be the time where we all as people can correct the mistake that is prop 8 and allow homosexual couples to marry as they should have that right in the first place.
Well that concludes this news column on recent valley events. I hope you all benefit from it and I look forward to bringing you the next column. Good day and stay safe.
