Guilty verdict in extortion case
A few years ago, my husband and I traveled to Thailand for an International Rotary Convention. It was wonderful to visit another continent and see the diversity of skin colors and languages that make up Rotary, which got its start in the United States. On another level, however, the trip was very jarring. When we took a day cruise on the historic Chao Phraya River that flows through Bangkok and into the Gulf of Thailand, we discovered it was so filthy we cried. There seemed to be zero pollution controls. Raw sewage and industrial waste is dumped directly into the river. We’ve since learned this is a rather common problem in Southeast Asia.
As a young woman in the 1970s, I fled Southern California’s awful air pollution for the fresh air and beautiful rivers of Northern California. Today, the
In my eyes, what’s great about America, for one, is our freedom of speech. We are free to stand tall, to speak loudly, to have an opinion even if we disagree. It is something we often take for granted. We can criticize what we don’t like but at the same time we can praise those things we do. We can have in-depth conversations, especially with those we disagree, to
A Sutter County jury found a Yuba City woman guilty of extortion and grand theft on Friday for taking advantage of an autistic man.
Harpreet Kaur, 21, was accused of threatening Everett Sean Williams, an autistic 23year-old, by telling him he would be thrown out of his house if he did not pay her and complete her online Yuba College coursework for her. She made threats to him between September 2015 and May 2016.
The jury returned guilty verdicts of felony extortion, felony extortion by threatening letter, misdemeanor theft from a dependent adult and petty theft.
Sentencing is July 31. Kaur faces up to four years in state prison.
“I believe the jury was able to see through the defense’s
air in Southern California has changed drastically for the better. That’s because Americans, through their elected leaders, fought for clean air and water.
I remind people it was a Republican president who signed the Clean Water Act, after a river filled with industrial sludge in Cleveland caught fire for the 18th time, and the Environmental Protection Act to clean up the air of Los Angeles and other urban centers. America is better because Americans care about the environment and we have the kind of government system that allows our concerns to be addressed.
Ironically, environmental regulations are under assault in this country by members of the very party of the president who signed the EPA to begin with. But our system of government allows people concerned about the environment to act as a brake on wholesale pollution. Not only do we elect our leaders, we are still well served by the First Amendment, our right to speak out and the right of news organizations to publish the facts. It was news reporting of nearly black skies, massive oil slicks off the coast of California, and burning rivers that energized Americans to fight for their environment, and as long as we maintain our system of government and the First Amendment I have faith Americans can make it through the current political climate without so much damage to our environment and other critical aspects of our survival that we can’t set things straight again.
(LindaPlummer,isanawardwinningcreativedirectorwhohas workedforRideoutHealthGroupasa marketingmanagersince2009.A nativeofPennsylvaniawhogrewupin LosAngeles,Plummeropeneda marketingandgraphicdesignbusiness inMarysvillein1989.Sheestablished theYuba-SutterChamberofCommerce publicationsInnerViewandBusiness Today,andwasnamedChamberof CommerceVolunteerofTheYearin 1992.In2008,shereceivedtheDon Awardinrecognitionofhereffortsin developingWay,Way,WayOff Broadway,theannualmusical fundraisersponsoredbytheRotary ClubofYubaCitythathasraisedtens ofthousandsofdollarsforlocal charities.)