Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, June 12, 2021

Mountain View News Saturday, June 12, 2021 12 OPINION Mountain View News Saturday, June 12, 2021 12 OPINION 
MOUNTAIN 

VIEWS 

NEWS 

PUBLISHER/ EDITOR

Susan Henderson 

PASADENA CITY 
EDITOR 

Dean Lee 

PRODUCTION 

SALES 

Patricia Colonello 
626-355-2737 
626-818-2698 

WEBMASTER 

John Aveny 

DISTRIBUTION 

CONTRIBUTORS 

Stuart Tolchin 
Dinah Chong WatkinsAudrey SwansonMary Lou CaldwellKevin McGuire 
Chris Leclerc 
Bob Eklund 
Howard HaysPaul CarpenterKim Clymer-KelleyChristopher NyergesPeter Dills 
Rich Johnson 
Lori Ann Harris 
Rev. James SnyderKatie HopkinsDeanne Davis 
Despina ArouzmanJeff Brown 
Marc Garlett 
Keely TotenDan Golden 
Rebecca WrightHail Hamilton 
Joan Schmidt 

Mountain Views News 
has been adjudicated asa newspaper of GeneralCirculation for the County 
of Los Angeles in CourtCase number GS004724: 
for the City of SierraMadre; in Court CaseGS005940 and for the 
City of Monrovia in CourtCase No. GS006989 and 
is published every Saturday 
at 80 W. Sierra MadreBlvd., No. 327, Sierra 
Madre, California, 91024.
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Mission Statement 

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community news


papers and the 

concerns of our readers 


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top priorities. We 
support a prosperous

community of well-
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Integrity will be our guide. 

STUART TOLCHIN 
PUT THE LIGHTS ON 


LOOK AROUND AND DO YOU FEEL OKAY? 

Last Friday was the opening of a new time of life for me. 

After a year of isolation related to the Covid, my family and I were 

going out into the world. My daughter had made reservations at 

the LA Zoo and I expected that this would be an unforgettable 

experience for my twenty month old granddaughter. As we 

walked past the primate section I had the distinct feeling that 

someone was staring at me. I looked up and there very nearby 

but within an enclosure was this huge gorilla staring right into 
my eyes. We stayed locked in this connection for only a few minutes but as we stared at 
one another a zoo worker came up behind me and explained that generally adult gorillas 
will not look directly into the eyes of a human but that this gorilla had been born in the 
zoo and was raised by humans and felt comfortable looking into their eyes. This might 
well explain the gorilla’s behavior but it does not describe my reaction. To me it felt like 
my experience of riding in the backseat of our car sitting right next to my granddaughter 
locked into her car seat. At that time my granddaughter had no desire to do anything but 
to exchange deep soul searching looks with me. It was as if we wordlessly understood 
each other and could answer the questions that never needed to be asked. We reassured 
one another that everything was all right and was going to be all right. We loved one 
another and believed that this love would last for an eternity.

 Sure this all sounds crazy but as I walked away from the gorilla enclosure I read 
a quote on a poster that proclaimed that a meeting with a gorilla is potentially a life-
changing experience that allows for a deeper sense of the connection of all living things 
or something like that. I wish I had written the quote down or memorized it but I know 
it was there. 

My granddaughter’s behavior at the zoo was also quite unexpected. She reacted 
to some of the animals and could say elephant and ostrich and gorilla but the thing that 
interested her most were the umbrellas that provided shade to the animals and the visitors. 
On the deck of our house we have an umbrella that often moves about in the wind and 
sometimes has to be taken down. The baby is very concerned about the umbrella’s health 
and will comment when strong winds blow the umbrella around. When the wind blows 
the umbrella around she will get our attention and say “It’s moving.” When the umbrella 
is taken down and placed flat on the deck she will run to inspect it and see if it’s okay. I 
believe that she experiences the umbrella as a living thing which protects her from the 
elements and she grieves when the umbrella is taken down. Perhaps she feels that the 
umbrella needs to be loved and cared for? 

This is not as crazy as it may sound as I have heard her upon waking from her 
nap and just out of a dream, say in a worried voice, “Is Moana okay?” For those of 
you as ignorant as I am, Moana is a cartoon character beloved by our granddaughter. 
Apparently the baby has some trouble distinguishing now between what is real and what 
is not real. Today many of us have become aware of fears and guilts and worries that we 
never knew we had before. What is real and what is not real and what should we really be 
concerned about? 

Will Moana and everyone else, human or non-human, real or a cartoon, going to 
be okay at least for a while? Is the climate still warming, are there guns everywhere, is 
democracy in trouble? Maybe it’s best not to think about it and just go back and visit the 
zoo and watch cartoons. I hope not but I just don’t know. 


LEFT, RIGHT OR CENTER! 
DINAH CHONG WATKINS 

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE WRONG KIND 

TOY STORY 

After a break of 20+ years from handling hazardous baby waste, I setfoot again in a baby store. My eye caught the fleet of personal shopping 
scooters lined up at the entrance and while I can understand 
their need at my local Walmart or Target, I thought it was odd andage-inappropriate perhaps - to have them at the Baby Superstore. 

For anyone reentering the World of Babies again, sticker shock is an understatement.
In the 90’s, the predicted average cost to raise a child to 18 years in a middle class family 
was $120,000. Today, that figure has risen to $280,000. I think my parents paid outa total of $347 for me when I look back at the number of hand-me-downs and our 
“backyard free play summer programming”. 

To be fair, when my my parents were kids, they scrounged up loose rocks and branchesor creatures that didn’t run away fast enough as playthings. I guess that’s why theythought a metal slop bucket was an acceptable substitute for Malibu Barbie’s Beach-
Spa. Back then, parents wanted toys that lasted. We had a glob of Silly Putty, the kid’sversion of carbon paper, we must have copied a hundred weeks of the Funnies fromthe Sunday paper. Eventually we had to dump it after it turned grey from absorbingall the newsprint. Etch-a-Sketch lasted a few years too, only because all the parts wereattached. I continue to believe the inability to draw a curved line in that toy will be theroot cause of the algorithm that Skynet will use to take over the world. 

There was a short blip in the 90’s when static toys were popular -Beanie Babies, Cabbage 
Patch Kids, Pet Rocks - don’t ask, it’s literal - then the electronic age stomped inand hasn’t relinquished its gorilla grip since. From Pong to Mario to Mortal Combat, ifthe toy didn’t come with a screen, it ended up in the back of a messy closet. 

And the prices of course, jumped up like Donkey Kong. 

Remember those comic book back page ads in the 70’s? Where a few mail order seed 
sales could earn you enough in just a few weeks to buy a Sting Ray bicycle with a coolbanana seat? You’ll need a small home loan to pay for a game console and monthlysubscriptions to Warcraft, Fortnite and Call of Duty. 

As I walked down the aisles in Baby Superstore, the massive variety of products wasoverwhelming. Parents of babies seem to need a lot more stuff now than when we werein diapers. Even pillows had their own specific use, density and removable pillow cases.
It looked ominous and really expensive for the next 18 years. 

I stopped a store clerk and asked what the most popular toy was now. 

“An iPhone.” she said. 

“But, the baby’s only 13 months old.” 

“Yep, they love it.” 

“What about a 3 year old?” 

“An iPhone. From a year up to 18, it’s the number 1 request. You’ll find them on aisle 
27.” 

“What’s the second most poplar gift then?” 

“Oh, that’s easy. It’s our gift cards.” 

I might as well give cash I thought. After all, isn’t cash the Swiss Army knife of all giftcards? 

I could feel my heart and pocketbook flutter, I fished out my Jitterbug flip phone withthe Emergency “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” button. I took a few steps, sat down in 
the personal shopping scooter and put it in gear. 

Email me at dinah@aletterfromabroad.com 

Read more at: https://aletterfromabroad.wordpress.com 

PETER FUNT 

THERE’S TOO MUCH BREAKING 
NEWS TO BEAR 

Lost in the press of recent world events was 
news from Washington state about a dramatic 
jury trial resulting in the conviction of 
a 77-year-old Ilwaco woman, who now faces 
a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and/or a 

fine of up to $1,000. 

Doris Parks pleaded not guilty, just as she did back in 2014 when 
tried on similar charges. That trial was interrupted when prosecutors 
offered a deal, resulting in a $500 fine but no jail time. 

The latest case hinged on gripping testimony from officer Paul Jacobson. 
Acting on a tip from a neighbor, Jacobson conducted extensive 
video surveillance. Despite objections from defense attorney Killian 
Dunkeson, the footage was played for the six-member jury, accompanied 
by testimony by an expert witness, Scott Harris, a wildlife 
biologist. 

A turning point came during officer Jacobson’s testimony about surveilling 
the Parks’ home. He told Judge Nancy McAllister that he saw 
a bear walk up Parks’ driveway and onto her deck. 

Although Jacobson conceded under cross-examination that he never 
saw Parks feeding bears, he said the animals he observed were obese. 

Officers had been alerted by a neighbor, Gerry Douglas, who testified 
that he compiled more than 60 video clips of bears on Parks’ 
property. Asked by defense lawyer Dunkeson if he had ever personally 
witnessed Parks feeding a bear, Douglas conceded he had not. 
However, he told the court, “I have seen the door open up there, on 
the patio, and I have seen a hand with food slide out.” 

Biologist Harris told the court that he examined the video evidence 
and concluded that some bears in the footage appeared “huge” considering 
that it was spring and the bears had only recently emerged 
from hibernation. He said he was “kind of amazed” that the bears 
returned to the same place so often. 

Testifying in her own defense, Parks said she only feeds raccoons 
and birds, noting that raccoons “have very good manners.” She added 
that she is cautious around bears, but “I have never seen a bear 
hurt anyone.” 

The jury took only 30 minutes to deliver its verdict, finding Doris 
Parks guilty of “intentionally feeding, or attempting to feed, large 
wild carnivores or intentionally attracting large wild carnivores to 
land or a building.” Sentencing is due later this month. 

I’d like to thank reporter Brandon Cline of the Chinook Observer for 
his close-up coverage of the trial. It’s a shame that in these tense and 
troubled times, so much breaking news is easily overlooked. 

Peter Funt’s new memoir, “Self-Amused,” is now available at CandidCamera.
com. 

PLEASE STAY SAFE! 

GETTHE 
VACCINE! 


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 
Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com