PUBLIC FORUM.

A good Samaritan 

At 6 p.m. last Friday, I was northbound on the 101 Freeway, just shy of the Vineland exit. My gray Honda Civic decided to give up the ghost and died. No engine, no power windows, no lights, no defogger, no hazards - and it was raining cats and dogs. I was terrified. Then a good Samaritan kindly pulled up behind me and set his hazard lights, risking himself to protect me until help arrived. I will remember this forever. I wish I could have thanked him that night, but couldn't get out of the car, as people were speeding by, honking in annoyance.

Soon he went around me and waved, to make room for Metro to help me. I made it home safely, due in big part to his kind willingness to help a stranger. In hindsight, I can't say I would have even thought of doing that for someone else. I will see other people in distress differently now.

- Susan K. Duhm

Woodland Hills

Need some help

I've been a resident of Sun Valley for over 25 years. Tuxford (Roscoe Boulevard) is a main artery into Sun Valley, yet every time it rains, even a little, that intersection floods. Why? Because it's a natural riverbed. When are the officials going to get it? There's no way the problem can be fixed until an aqueduct system is built to allow that water to be channeled properly.

Until then, roadblocks should be set up at that location every time it rains to divert the traffic. Poor Sun Valley is the last to get the proper street repairs it needs; however, we do have plenty of junkyards, landfills and other businesses that no one else wants in their neighborhoods. Wendy Greuel, use your clout and give us the attention we need before someone loses their life.

- Linda Piro

Sun Valley

What has to happen

Every time it rains heavy at the intersection of San Fernando Road and Tuxford, water pools up and creates a motorist nightmare of knee-deep water where cars get stuck and people get trapped.

This has been going on for many years now. It seems that the city would fix this problem since it has become so notorious. What has to happen before someone decides that it should be repaired with a better storm drainage system?

- Jeffrey Whapham

Tujunga

They aren't helping

Re ``Candidates, minus Hahn, focus on Valley concerns'' (Jan. 6):

What really made me laugh was the comment by Richard Alarcon saying his concerns are the Valley being that he was born in the Valley. Well, I lived in Sun Valley for over 40 years and never saw anything done there. It just went on like it had for years.

I used to call Alarcon's office about problems that had to be taken care of - like dumping in the streets, toxic problems from neighborhood manufacturing tucked in between homes - and got nothing. On your front page today is one ``thing'' that had never been taken care of - Tuxford and San Fernando Road. It shows a girl on top of her flooded car. That street and many others have been flooding since I went to high school. What concerns have any of these candidates ever taken care of, especially Alarcon?

- Joan Olear

Burbank

Journalistic standards

Re ``Heads roll at CBS from inquiry'' (Jan. 11):

If CBS is going to fire four employees for the relatively minor flap involving allegedly false documentation of Bush's National Guard service (or non-service), then how many people should it have fired for its failure to question the justifications given by Bush, Cheney, Powell, et. al., for leading the United States into this illegal war in Iraq?

How many CBS employees should be fired for not demanding journalistic standards of proof for claims of weapons of mass destruction or ties between Saddam and al-Qaida? How many CBS employees should get a pink slip for failing to present the American public with a balanced account of what is really happening in Iraq?

- Ronald O. Richards

Los Angeles 

Invading California

Re ``Invasive plants, animals a hazard'' (Jan. 9):

The article claims that California is hard hit with 674 plant and animal invaders. California's invasion seems very small in comparison with the overlooked invasion on the islands of Hawaii. About 2,600 non-native plants have been introduced to Hawaii and eighteen non-native mammals including rats, mongooses, wild pigs and goats.

Introduced reptiles, birds, insects, and even tropical fish thrive and breed in Hawaii's near-perfect conditions. Because animals from all over the world are continuously introduced to Hawaii and thrive at the rate of 30 new species a year, Hawaii has the highest number of species on the federal list of endangered species.

- John Lazear

Sherman Oaks

Take from the rich

Re ``Easy to fix'' (Your Opinions, Jan 10):

I've heard this song before but it is doomed in the long run. M.W. Prah wants to collect Social Security on all income but when the successful are ready to retire he doesn't want to return any of their money. He says ``bring back the inheritance tax,'' which forces the heirs of small businesses and farms to close down and lay off their workers to pay the tax.

He wants to ``roll back the tax cuts for the wealthy upper 3 percent'' and ``tax CEOs making over $10 million a year at a 50 percent tax rate'' Why only CEOs? Why would anyone put in extra effort to become successful if they are required to pay higher taxes? Communists and socialists have preached this theory of take from the rich and give to the poor for many years. The incentive to work goes down under their system and goes up when taxes are reduced.

- Bill Zelenka

Granada Hills

Torture and terrorism

Re ``Unlearned lesson'' (Your Opinions, Jan. 10):

Eric Dresser's view that ceasing Abu Ghraib torture tactics is tied to escalation of terrorist activity is proof of one thing. It explains the thinking of people who get it exactly backward. It inspires backward slogans like ``activist judiciary, liberal media, mission accomplished, Moral Majority, jackpot justice,'' ad nauseam.

At least he admits he is not the ``brightest bulb on the planet.'' That puts him a few lumens above the neocons who figured torture was a good idea (but took ``precautions'' to avoid prosecution as war criminals - just in case). The lesson we should have learned is that acts of torture at once disgraced the U.S.A. and gave rise to escalations that anyone with a working bulb could have predicted.

- Bill Pratt

Northridge

Take from the rich

Re ``No balances'' (Your Opinions, Jan. 7):

Danna E. Engbertson believes the only way a state can be successful is through big government. She believes Arnold is trying to become the ``Petty Dictator'' by telling the legislature to clean up its corrupt act. According to her, he will accomplish this by targeting the workers, educators, the disabled, nurses and anyone who ``isn't part of big business interests he supports.''

What she fails to realize is Ahney is bringing his case to the people of California because the state government (and all others) are ripping off taxpayers with impunity. This rip-off is, of course, for the taxpayers' own good. If it wasn't for business, big and small, there would be no jobs, no workers, no money for education, no taxes and no state. When the government fails, the people must take over.

- Craig Crippen

West Hills

I did my part

What happened to all those people who were screaming that if Bush won the election, they were going to leave the country? I kept my end of the bargain. I went out and voted for Bush. When are these people going to keep their end of the deal?

- Jim Moran

Northridge