Letters: Bay Area residents should prepare a smoke safety plan

Submit your letter to the editor via this form Read more Letters to the Editor Bay Area residents need a smoke safety plan After a historic year of wildfires in Southern California we are entering dry season in Northern California where wildfire pitfall rises dramatically As a pulmonary physician I want to remind the general citizens of the dangers of breathing in wildfire smoke Inhaling particles in wildfire smoke leads to inflammation throughout the entire body It can cause flares of asthma and emphysema heart attacks strokes and unstable heart rhythms Selected people are especially high pitfall like older adults children and pregnant women Related Articles Letters California must rethink its context accident response Letters Voters can give El Cerrito the library it deserves Letters Trump s right on eliminating capital gains tax on home sales Letters We must learn to co-exist with mountain lions Letters Voters have the power to lift nation s veil of fear It s fundamental to be prepared for periods of poor quality by knowing how to create a clean room in your house You can get air quality alerts from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District so you know when air quality will be poor For additional tips to protect you and your family from the harmful effects of wildfire smoke please visit lung org wildfires Laura Myers Oakland Strong policies beat redistricting gambit Gavin Newsom s proposal to redraw California congressional districts if Texas does so is a desperate reactive idea There is a more effective long-lasting and powerful strategy to make Democrats relevant again Make the cabinet truly democratic not just in name only Legislate what people want Tax the ungodly rich cut the military budget provide universal medical care and child care protect basic human rights there is so much more that can and should be done Since Bill Clinton Democrats have abandoned the working and middle classes and championed corporations and the rich It s way past time to get the for the people ethic back on track People are rightly furious with Democrats because they invariably cave while Republicans gut and destroy That s the strategy that Zohran Mamdani has so effectively employed to excite people and put him at the brink of New York s mayorship It s not rocket science It s common sense Keith Nakatani Oakland Treat Blvd bike lane is still a bad idea Once again a small number of cyclists are demanding bike lanes on Treat Boulevard a heavily trafficked multi-lane thoroughfare that s only getting worse with all the new construction We shot it down once before it s time to do it again The Canal Trail parallels Treat and offers a great and safer option for cyclists There is no excuse to carve out a lane when a great option exists And would bicyclists even use it Almost no bikers use the expensively built bike lane on Bancroft Road Enough already Tell the city and county to stop this costly project Denise Kalm Walnut Creek Foreign aid is good for the U S and globe Across the country tremendous confusion and anger have been felt in current weeks During times like these it s especially key to consider the things we do have America has clean water food and healthcare care materials that are often taken for granted Majority of Americans assume we spend around of our federal budget on foreign aid In actuality It s about Providing aid to the world s poorest countries creates greater global safety a stronger global business sector and diplomatic connections Advocates don t belong to one party movement religion or person Ronald Reagan was a proponent of foreign aid creating the framework of large-scale foreign aid as it stands this day Barack Obama s launch of the Global Vitality Initiative revolutionized physical condition systems in countries Amid the ever-increasing partisan polarization this is crucial Despite other issues persisting our country promises to serve and protect others just as we have done in the past Lillie Woodard Danville Only two-state cure can bring lasting peace I am aghast at what is happening in Gaza By not condemning Israel s actions the U S is complicit in the destruction of Gaza and the killing and starvation of the Palestinian people Donald Trump even suggested the Palestinians leave Gaza and he would create the Riviera of the Middle East along the Gaza Strip That is imperialism Where is the world s outrage Fortunately more countries are speaking out France suggested as part of the peace process the need for a two-state answer Plenty of other countries agree and other Western countries are expected to announce agreement Israel strongly condemned France and the U S has expressed opposition to the proposal by France The U S must stop sending weapons to Israel condemn Israel s actions in Gaza insist on the experienced United Nations food aid distribution and promotion a two-state strategy This is the only way permanent peace can be achieved Arlene Reed Diablo