You can't mean L.A., can you?

I would like to respond to the editorial of Wednesday regarding Southern California. Surely, sir, your piece was not intended to include Los Angeles County, since your description and my knowledge of living there are quite different.

The well-paved streets you refer to are crumbling away due to lack of funds to fix and the everlasting earthquakes that plague the area. And the economy you say is thriving in So. Cal., just talk to anyone in the entertainment business lately and they'll explain their lack of pay for some time since the writers' strike.

And the gleaming new housing construction over the last eight years is now falling into foreclosure since many, many people can't pay those unique mortgage payments. And the climate, oh yes, let me tell you about 115 degrees, daily between August and the end of September, with of course rolling blackouts to knock off your air-conditioning or swamp coolers. Ahhh, what a place!

And the relaxed atmosphere? Hmmm, the gangs of L.A., Pasadena, Glendale, that's a lot of fun too.

One more point: The cultural influence of the L.A. area reminds me of all we hear from Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, the real leaders of the pack.

If you were intending to include L.A. in your So. Cal. piece, let me give you some advice: Take a little ride on the I-5 or the 405, maybe the 210, or how about the 101, any ol' time of day.

I for one am so thankful I left that place and am living very happily in Sweet Home. I'm still trying to clear my lungs from all the smog and burning ash.

Kathy Killmurray, Sweet Home

What actors think and say

So, after reading an AP story this afternoon, it appears the Writers Guild of America's leadership is recommending that their members ratify the proposed contract and go back to work. To one extent or another this is a good thing. At the minimum it means that a lot of other TV and movie industry workers who were not on strike and will gain nothing by the new contract get to go back to work.

The same article also stated, "It was going to be a huge thing for the industry to lose the Oscars. The Feb. 24 ceremony now appears likely to proceed in its full glory and with writers on board to script host and presenter banter."

I guess that means the same TV and movie actors who make the talk-show rounds. Who are constantly covered in the media when giving the solutions to war, skin problems, global warming, weight loss and natural disasters. These actors who are courted by politicians for their "endorsements" and have even been invited to testify before Congress concerning topics in which they have no experience or background. These are the same people that require union writers to draft their comments at the Academy Awards.

I must assume the Academy was afraid that before and after "And the winner is …", God only knows what might have come out of their mouths if it were not written for them. But then, that's what actors do. Memorize other people's writings, recite them, and act like it was their own.

Sadly, even knowing that, for some strange reason a large percentage of Americans actually pay attention to what these actors think.

Ted Salmons, Lebanon

How does library district save?

There is much talk these days about the Linn Library League (LLL) creating a new library district. After checking out the website for the league, I still wonder about the actual changes this will cause and the costs that are not accounted for. At this point I do not think it would be in the best interest of the citizens or of the cities involved.

First of all, the published costs of creating the library district would be a new tax of at least $0.60 per $1,000 for all residences of Linn County. The average value of homes in Linn County is $150,000, which means the library district tax would average $90 per year per household. The cost of a library card in Brownsville is $15 per family per year. Someone needs to explain to me how the new library district is a cost savings for citizens.

On top of this tax, each city involved with the new district would need to find another way to budget the ownership responsibilities of the building housing their library. The district would own the business and inventory of the library but not the building. All maintenance will be up to the city. So, this tells me the city gives up the tax base and budget it already has so the district can take over, but it then has to find funding somewhere else for the building. How does this make the new library district a good deal?

Because the LLL's proposed new library district board of directors could only have so many people on the board, my small town would be one of at least four who will have to share a representative. If that representative is not someone from our city, the decisions on the board will most likely not reflect our needs and concerns.

The district board would have the ability and power to decide what books would be on the shelves of the Brownsville Library, among other business decisions. If you talk to our librarian today, he can tell you that he is able to choose books because of his demographic knowledge of the users of the library.

There are times when combining efforts and resources can help a situation, but I don't see that it would do so with the creation of the proposed library district.

Brownsville has opted out of the proposed district, but I live outside of the city limits and would be affected by the new district.

Linda McCormick, Brownsville

I can see colors again!

I am an octogenarian. One of the more insidious ailments that envelop our bodies is the development of cataracts in the lens of the eye. Aside from the diminishment of light reaching the retina, the final image embraces a yellowish cast. This causes yellow objects to appear almost white, while other colors are markedly subdued depending on the opacity of the cataract.

Despite family pressure, I resisted having the cataracts removed and replaced with a clear lens because I wasn't comfortable having someone fooling around with my eyeballs.

Well, since yellow became white, red was light pink and blue was almost black, I finally took the plunge and had the cataract-laden lens replaced with a clear one.

After the surgery, when the patch over the treated eye was removed, the effect was unbelievably awesome! I never saw such beautiful yellows and deep penetrating blues, and the reds were an absolutely deep red, a color I had not seen in a long time! After experimenting by alternating opening and closing the treated and untreated eye, I estimated that roughly twice as much light enters the treated eye as the untreated one.

We are so fortunate that this form of surgery is now available in which the diseased lens of the eye is removed and replaced with a clear lens, similar to what was given to us when we were born. I wish we were able to replace some of our other organs this way. I, for one, will watch for that with great anticipation.

Allan Jay Silver, Albany