From our readers

By Ariel Carmona on July 3, 2024

Roundabout at Bevins Street

I was reading in the Record Bee that they want to put a roundabout at the top of Bevins Street.

Many many years ago there was a guy in Lakeport named Alan Roberts. I told him that I wanted to buy that property on Bevins Street where all the metal buildings are now. There were no metal buildings there before, and it was part of an old walnut orchard. There was no freeway, no Main Street of Lakeport, that was Highway 29. Then Roberts said, "If you want to go ahead and do anything on this property you have to put the street in." He acted like the whole town was his property. This was 51 years ago.

I did buy that old walnut orchard and I did put in a street, just like he told me to and the property I bought went from what is now Lakeport Boulevard and it goes clear to the top of the hill at which there was another business and that piece of property did belong to someone else. This is a fact, one of the Roberts sons, Steven lives up on Cobb right now and they know all of this if you want to fact check me.

The reason why I bought the property across the street was one of our local garbage companies, we had two and both owned by the Butchers. I put a concrete yard and gravel yard and a cement silo and a well in and I went to work. I did not have to answer to anyone, except, at a later time air quality, as it was controlled by the State not the County.

People used to come to my concrete yard for sand and gravel, they would bring their garbage for the garbage company across the street, then they would come across the street to me and would purchase sacks of cement, pea gravel, road base. I used to deliver cement on the weekends with my mixer trucks. Local people like Clearlake Redi-Mix did work on the weekends too and I became an instant competitor.

These are all factual and I am the one that actually put Bevins Street in. I put it in front of my own property. Then a guy came to town by the name of Dub Baker, and he developed the shopping center which is now directly across the street. Then came along the freeway, and now the bright idea is to build a roundabout. The roundabout doesn't make any sense there now. We have powers that be. We waste money and by putting a roundabout we end up with nothing but a big mess. We need to spend our money wisely by fixing the streets in the city of Lakeport with all its holes. We need to do this and the City should spend our money wisely…period and quit having brainstorms that are idiot nightmares.

I'm going to be 90 years old very shortly. There are many people that I know that are still alive can back up my story.

Common sense thinking

—Ron Rose, Lakeport

Re: Gun Violence Awareness Month

Every day, 100 Americans die from gun violence. June was Gun Violence Awareness Month and I'm working to make our communities safer.

As a lifelong hunter and gun owner, I believe in a law-abiding individual's right to own a firearm. I also know we have a responsibility to help keep our schools, streets, and communities safe. Gun violence prevention isn't a choice between reducing violence and protecting the Second Amendment. It's about the willingness of a responsible majority to do both.

That mission is why I serve as Chair of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force—because I know that commonsense policies can successfully keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous people without infringing on Americans' rights.

Two years ago this month, my colleagues and I demonstrated just that when we passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) into law. The BSCA is the most significant federal gun violence prevention legislation signed into law in 30 years and provides funding for commonsense measures like community violence intervention, school mental health resources, expanded background checks, and more.

These policies are working to keep guns out of dangerous hands. Just this week, news broke that under the BSCA's gun trafficking provisions, law enforcement has already charged over 500 gun traffickers.

But our work isn't done. The Supreme Court ruled recently to legalize bump stocks, an add-on accessory which allows a semi-automatic firearm to operate like a machinegun.

Kids shouldn't be scared to go to school, and parents shouldn't worry they may never see their child again when they leave the house. I remain committed to advancing commonsense policies that help keep our friends and families safe.

—Congressman Mike Thompson