Our View: Thumbs up, thumbs down

Thumbs down to the Yuba City City Council for giving formal approval to a smoking ban at Gauche Aquatic Park. We understand why the ban was proposed by the Substance Abuse Steering Coalition; the hazards of smoking are beyond dispute. What's still in dispute, or at least should be, is what steps government should take to protect individuals from their own bad habits. It's one thing to educate folks about the hazards of tobacco, quite another to pass an ordinance that won't mean squat unless it's actually enforced. Mayor Rory Ramirez admitted as much, saying, "I think you're trying to do the right thing, but don't look for a lot of enforcement effort from local government." The better way to effect social change is to enforce the idea of personal responsibility. Smokers must take it upon themselves to resist smoking where they shouldn't.

• • •

Thumbs up to Janice Nall and her daughter, Sami, for working tirelessly each year to ensure that Marysville's annual Bok Kai festival goes off without a hitch. For more than a dozen years, the mother-and-daughter team have organized, supervised, coached and generally done whatever it takes to ensure the event happens year in and year out. In 1995 Janice Nall sparked a resurgence in the festival by spearheading a new spirit of volunteerism for the festival when it seemed that part of Marysville's tradition was in danger of coming to an end. Because of the Nalls and other volunteers, the future looks bright for Bok Kai festivals well beyond this year's 128th annual event.

• • •

Several local prep sports accomplishments get a thumbs up this week, with two big thumbs up earned by the East Nicolaus High softball team, which played seven games last Saturday to win the 20th annual Yuba City Softball Classic. Also in softball, Sutter High captured the Las Plumas Tournament title behind the outstanding efforts of pitcher Jessica Moore, who followed a perfect game with a 16-strikeout performance in the championship game. On the boys' side of the diamond, Alex Balogi tossed a no-hitter for Wheatland High, and the brothers Stassi — Jake and Max — appear primed to lead Yuba City High to another title after the Honkers outscored foes 24-1 in season's first two games.

• • •

Thumbs down to the government-enforced, tree-hugging mentality that makes Lake Tahoe the poster child for environmentalism gone wild. A Sacramento company that owns a home in Kings Beach was fined $30,000 for illegal cutting of seven pine trees on state-owned land adjacent to that home. We're not condoning the act itself, but the heavy restrictions in the Lake Tahoe Basin — which cover everything from trees to sidewalks to the color of your roof — make it tempting to cut corners when cutting trees. Such restrictions, in fact, helped last year's Angora fire cut a wide swath of destruction through forest lands that were overgrown and undercut for decades. The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency would do well to spend more time focusing on the forest instead filing lawsuits over individual trees.

• • •

Thumbs up to organizers of a series of town hall meetings on underage drinking — and how to prevent it. About 50 people showed up for the first meeting last week; the third and last meeting happens 6-7:30 tonight at the Sutter County Health Department auditorium. A focus at the first meeting was the novel concept (sarcasm intended) that parents should behave more like parents instead of trying to be friends to their children.