I am outraged that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed SB840, single-payer universal health insurance. Sen. Sheila Kuehl's legislation provides affordable healthcare to every resident of California. This bill insures healthcare benefits at a reduced rate compared with what we are playing now and provides more coverage. It is not socialized medicine, as the governor has stated. He admits he has not read the bill, and has not met with representatives of Kuehl's staff about the bill.

Residents of California deserve healthcare coverage that is affordable, and SB840 would provide that. Health-insurance premiums have spiraled out of control, making health insurance too expensive for too many. Then we have issues with co-pays, deductibles, and procedures not covered, which add to the total cost. No wonder people are forced to go to our overcrowded, understaffed emergency rooms for care.

SB840 means full, real healthcare benefits, including choice of doctor or provider, better coverage and fair reimbursement to all providers. The governor needs to reconsider his veto of this bill and sign it into law. Californians deserve high-quality, universal healthcare.

I was confused by Hitt's commentary. She wants stronger teachers for our children, and then complains that tests designed to find the most qualified teachers are overwhelming.

Under new state legislation, prospective teachers must meet state expectations in the areas of classroom management, instructional planning, instructional strategies, analyzing and using assessment results, engaging students' interests, teaching English learners and demonstrating knowledge of subject matter and teaching skills before they can enter a classroom.

Once in the classroom, new teachers participate in a required two-year induction program, guided by a veteran teacher. In this program, they continue to take advanced classes, and to demonstrate and apply their knowledge in the classroom. After two years of guidance and observation, they submit a portfolio of evidence showing that they have met strict state teaching requirements, and only then are they granted a professional clear credential by the state of California (the license Hitt says doesn't exist).

Under the direction of Dr. Paula Lovo, the Ventura County Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) program is producing strong, effective new teachers, and is highly regarded throughout the state. I encourage Hitt, and others interested in a teaching career to look into it.

We were disheartened to learn of the closure of the Easter Seals Pool and the proposed sale of the property. It will be a tragedy to the Ventura County area to lose this facility.

Many adults and children have benefited from the use of this pool. There is a ramp as well as a lift to assist wheelchair-bound persons and others entering the pool. The 94-degree water gives those of us with various physical disabilities relief from our pain. The pool has provided water therapy for students of Penfield School, swimming lessons for community children, stroke, back classes, lap swimming and aerobics classes. Once this facility is gone, it will not be replaced.

Our hope is there will be an entity in our area that will realize the value of this property to our community and be interested in its purchase. Our population is growing and there will be an additional handicapped segment of our population who will benefit from the warm-water therapy Easter Seals pool provides. Please help us save our pool!

As a Camarillo parent with children in both the Pleasant Valley School District and the Oxnard Union High School District, I was intrigued with the latest academic rankings that demonstrate PVSD's accomplishments - schools ranking in the mid 800s. Las Colinas Middle School, my son's school, and where my daughter attended before going to Camarillo High School ranks 865. These kids are supposed to go off to Camarillo High where the rankings are drastically lower (ACHS is 796).

It leads one to speculate on how many PVSD eighth-grade graduates do not attend the OUHSD, and/or why the scores fall so far for those who do. One example of the former is that Las Colinas Middle School had more than one-third of the 2004 graduating class bail out on attending any school in the OUHSD.

I know many were my daughter's fellow GATE attendees. I called and spoke with some parents, who told me it wasn't simply a numbers chase in the rankings that they were looking for, but schools that had an orchestra, or a theater arts program (and facility) or offered swimming (on campus) or had challenging academics and electives such as the international baccalaureate program, or simply offered a campus that was cleaner and felt safer.

Rather than continue the exodus of kids seeking a better quality of education outside of the OUHSD after attending the fine schools within the PVSD, let's keep them by offering the highest-quality education possible in a Camarillo Unified District.

Also, vote for trustees in November's election who believe that unification will give our children what they require for success in their high school years and beyond.

Recently, I watched as a yardman, working at my neighbor's home across the street, started up his dust-blower (aka leaf-blower) to blow the ashes from the driveway. He soon disappeared in a heavy cloud of ash and dust.

Fortunately, the wind blew the cloud to the left of my home. But, soon he continued to the other end of the house, which was directly upwind from my home. That's when I decided to put a stop to this ridiculous activity.

From a distance, trying to avoid walking into the cloud, I waved to him to stop his machine. When I got close enough, I tried to explain to him the problem he was causing and suggested that he use a hose to wash the ashes from the driveway instead of blowing the pollutants back into the air.

I suggest including another "tip": Do not use leaf blowers to blow ashes from the premises. In fact, I would be most delighted if leaf blowers disappeared totally from our environment.

Chavez didn't say anything about Bush that you, Rangel, John Kerry, Howard Dean, Chuck Schumer, and Ted Kennedy haven't been saying every day for many years.

Apparently, someone there at The Star thought the appearances and speeches at the United Nations by both Chavez and Ahmadinejad failed to be news.

5. Mexico has issued a request to the United States for the extradition of Chapman to Mexico to stand trial for the bounty capture of Luster, and called it "an assault on the national sovereignty" of Mexico.

The Star also reports that following the recent presidential elections in Mexico, the losing candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, is setting up a parallel government in Mexico.

I suggest Mr. Gavaller read the new report out Monday morning confirming what we had feared all along: Maybe he can make sense out it, because I can't.

"The war in Iraq has become the primary recruitment vehicle for violent Islamic extremists, motivating a new generation of potential terrorists around the world whose numbers are increasing faster than the United States and its allies are eliminating the threat, U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded."

At least now we won't have to worry about Social Security, healthcare, environment or infrastructure repairs for our country. That makes sense.

Adolf Hitler declared war on the United States. At that time, there was a strong German-American Bund here in the U.S., marching with Nazi and American flags, with a strong sentiment for what Hitler had done for Germany.

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