Editor's Notes: Reflecting on Newtown tragedy
Many groups, organizations and individuals have taken or are planning to take some time to reflect and show respect and support for the Newtown, Conn., shooting victims, as well as for friends, families and that whole community. Good.
Almost immediately after the tragedy, the national attention turned to debate of gun laws. (Hopefully there will be more meaningful discussion of mental health issues and school security.)
In the meantime, they're burying their dead in Newtown. They're trying to put their community and their lives back together. The rest of us? We're all a little scared, I think. Most of us, I imagine, have had at least one of those moments — while reading the papers or the Web reports, driving to work with the radio on, watching scenes and news conferences on screens — where we choke up, have to swallow hard, wipe our eyes, then go on ahead.
It's probably a good idea to come to a full stop, sometime soon, and remember.
Thumbs Up: Looks like the ingredients are there for Marysville revitalization:
• A bunch of people from different sectors who believe that it's time to get something done.
• A central figure who's willing to line out what the challenges are, what the opportunities are, and what the deadlines should be.
• The attention of the general public.
Seems like the stage is set for a Marysville renaissance.
How do you go about revitalizing an entire community? It seems overwhelming, and that's probably the main reason these sorts of projects never get going. We like the way that the city manager, Walter Munchheimer, broke things down into chunks. He divvied the city into five main areas of opportunity — the historic downtown, the E Street corridor, the hospital district, the Ellis Lake area, and the river district. And he proposed a timeline that breaks the work down into parts and spreads them all over a couple years.
Not that it isn't going to remain a huge challenge to keep it all together and headed in the right direction, but now it seems doable.
Thumbs Up: The place you are is never a tourism destination for you. Most of us naturally have a yen, now and then, to get away from it all, which means we go somewhere else. We don't think about the fun and the wonders available right outside the backdoor.
That's why it's good for all of us to follow the discussion the Yuba-Sutter Chamber of Commerce is leading about marketing the home front.
You forget, or never consider, that the local amenities that might seem commonplace to us could be perfect for a getaway for someone from somewhere else. The chamber is asking for financial support and returns next month to the Yuba City City Council with ideas on how to measure the effect of the potential investment.
Changes: We've changed things a bit on Page A2. Nothing huge, but helpful, we hope.
You'll find a calendar of local events in the Appeal-Democrat every day, now, down the right side of that page.
Additionally, we're putting a corrections box permanently at the top of the left column on A2.
We strive for accuracy, but admit that we're human … some stinkers are bound to get through. We want to correct our errors and have people see them. They'll always be at the top of A2.
Happy Holidays, everyone. It's the traditional time of year for many of us to pay closer attention to spiritual needs. And more than that, it's a time when we think of family, think of community, think about home, consider what's happened, where we've come from, what we're on the verge of. There's a lot going on. Here's wishing the best for all of us.
