I want to start off with a Congratulations on the sale of the paper by Rick and Janie, and a Welcome to the new ownership. As a member of the Sloss family I can assure you that my Mom and Dad (Bob and Sue Sloss), thought of Rick and Janie as family. That goes with all the ups and downs of all families. I am sure my Dad never told Rick this.. but the biggest compliment I ever heard my Dad say about anyone was telling me that Rick was “a real journalist and damn good at his job.” If you knew how Dad revered journalism and how difficult the job was, that was an amazing compliment.
I, too, worked with Rick for a short period, but Rick worked at the paper as the Editor long before I arrived back after college. Shortly after my departure is when Rick and Janie took over ownership of the Record. That was over 30 years ago.
Not many people understand how grueling being an editor/publisher of a small weekly newspaper is. You have to be there ALL THE TIME.. As a kid our vacations were Thursday after the paper was out and back on Sunday early so Dad could get everything ready for Monday morning. Being in a newspaper family really was kind of exciting. Growing up my Grandfather, Gop Sloss, was the Publisher/Editor at the time and the linotype operator and pressman. From him I found my love for the print industry. My Grandmother, Marvel, was ad sales, wrote the social columns and on “paper day” her and I fed the press and bundled. Later my Mom took over the sales position and my Dad outsourced the actual printing so he could focus on the writing. Dad was fortunate to have found such a dedicated reporter/writer as Rick. I thank you Rick, before you were on board we never took ANY vacations!
I don’t get to Modoc very often anymore but I still look forward to Mondays when I get the Modoc Record in the mail. It’s a way that I still feel connected to such a big part of my life. Alturas was a wonderful place to grow up and I relish the memories I have of that time. Of the paper I really enjoyed Rick’s columns and once he no longer produced them, I sympathized. I remember times my Dad struggled with “Mike’s Memos” week after week. Don’t get me started on the Cartoons!! I remember some of those columns of Ricks were so well done and they injected into the paper his own personality. As I get older, now my focus is on the front-page news, the sports, Real Estate and unfortunately the obits.
Rick and Janie – My hats off to the both of you! As a team you two did a fantastic job and carried on a great tradition of keeping an independent small-town newspaper just that – Independent! As a favorite author of my Grandfather, Mark Twain, once said
“If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you’re mis-informed.”
― Mark Twain
-The Sloss Family
To the editor,
With avian flu spreading to humans, our political leaders should support increased public funding for cultivated-meat research. For those who aren’t familiar with the term, cultivated meat is grown from animal cells, without
slaughter. By removing livestock from the process, we can lower the risk of zoonotic pandemics.
Though the private sector has made admirable progress in developing the field of cellular agriculture, further government investment is needed to overcome technological hurdles. The most significant of these is cultivated meat is currently too expensive to mass produce. Our leaders can help fix this with money for research.
Jon Hochschartner
Granby, CT
Doug LaMalfa votes to cut Social Security
President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935. There were critics and some called it socialism. As time passed, Americans paid into and relied on the system to be there for them when they reached retirement age. According to Social Security Works, over 66 million (1 in 5), depend on it. It lifts over 22 million (including 1 million children) out of poverty. Quite efficient, administrative costs are less than a penny on the dollar. No program is perfect, but it has stood the test of time. So, what could go wrong?
Days after Trump called for cuts to the program in a CNBC interview on March 11, 80% of House Republicans released their plan to slash Social Security benefits by $1.5 trillion and privatize Medicare. It calls for raising the retirement age to 69 and cutting disability benefits. It cuts Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and the Children’s Insurance Program by $4.5 trillion over 10 years. It also takes away Medicare’s new power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices thereby raising costs to seniors. It also includes $5.5 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy and large corporations (many of which are Republican donors). Our Representative, Doug LaMalfa voted for this plan. On his website, he brags about reducing spending, but fails to mention the cuts to Social Security. According to the Environmental Working Group, he and his family have received over $5.5 million in federal farm subsidy handouts and other agriculture payments since 1995, (more than any other member of Congress). As of 2018, his net worth was $3.5 million. Members of Congress receive an annual base pay of $174 thousand. In summary, he rakes in millions in subsidies, takes away our hard-earned benefits, and we pay his wage. LaMalfa is up for re-election on November 5. He needs to go.
Thank You,
Betty Mello
Marysville, CA
