Letters to the Editor: Thanks offered to women who assisted Burbank man following parking lot accident
I want to thank the two good Samaritans who helped me in Ralphs parking lot on Victory Boulevard, Friday, Aug. 11. A woman backed into my car and was leaving the scene. A lady who witnessed the incident yelled for her to stop. I got out of my car and also yelled for her to stop, which she did.
When my witness told her she had hit my car, the woman started screaming “liar, liar” and verbally abusing my witness, causing a scene. My witness made two phone calls to the police department and waited with me in the hot sun until a motorcycle officer finally arrived. Another lady brought me a cold drink and offered a banana.
I didn’t get these two nice ladies’ names, but I want to thank them so very much for their good deeds.
Chuck Vanole
Burbank
It is almost ironic that volunteers from Nestlé USA assisted the Boys & Girls Club in stressing the importance of water conservation. Nestlé, which is part of a giant Swiss conglomerate, virtually steals millions of gallons of water from California and several other states and sells it back to them in plastic bottles for billions of dollars in profit. This practice and its history have been well documented and publicized.
Nestlé acquired Arrowhead in 1992, but the practice of getting free water from the state and selling it began more than a century ago. Nestlé currently pays $524 annually for its permit to take more than 700 million gallons of water from California, much of it from the San Bernardino Mountains and depleting the Strawberry Creek ecosystem. The Arrowhead permit actually expired 30 years ago, but the Forest Service, which administers the permits, claims its pressing workload has prevented it from addressing the matter.
There have been many lawsuits related to this situation, and the old water-rights issues have yet to be fully sorted out. In the meantime, Nestlé will continue to get millions of gallons of free water from California. The Boys & Girls Club needs to be more aware of who is teaching them about water conservation. The next time you purchase Arrowhead bottled water, remember that you are actually paying for water that already belongs to you and your neighbors.
Thomas Saito
Burbank