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I lost my best friend due to him turning from a kind, sensitive boy who could put up with my eccentricities, crying, and ADHD, and shared many of my dreams and interests into one of the vilest forms of child molester I could ever imagine after he moved away from my home town Petaluma, California, first to Clovis, New Mexico, and finally to rural Upshur County, Texas near Ore City.I know this is long, but I think this is a story I need to write out and share since it hurt me so much when I found out what my best friend had turned into. I need closure, and I think this might be the way to do it.He is currently serving a life-sentence in prison in Amarillo, Texas, and since there was a lot of publicity concerning his case in 1998–1999, I have no need to hide his real name, David John Bessey.Now for the pleasant part on how and why he became my best friend.I met David when I was in second grade and he was in first grade at rural Wilson School in the fall of 1969. My mother was Den Mother for Cub Scouts at the time, and David wanted to join.I recall our first meeting with him on the monkey bars and me on the ground in the primary grades schoolyard at morning recess. He figured out who I was and told me of him wanting to join Cub Scouts. I found out he liked looking at bugs, so we shared our insect finds with each other when out at recess soon after we met.After a few Cub Scout meetings, he wanted me to visit him—the Besseys also lived in the country and had a nice basement workshop where David and I would play-act Space Patrol adventures (If we had lived in the 21st century we would have made YouTube videos together—we instead recorded cassette tapes of our ‘adventures’ instead).We both loved to swim, so he would visit me at my house and we would swim in my family’s above-ground pool, the Petaluma Municipal Pool (still exists), Morton’s Resort, or Drake’s Beach (very cold Pacific water!!! Brrr!). We also loved to explore the two seasonal creeks on my parents’ property (still owned by my mother) and find rocks, salamanders, toads, bugs, and giant banana slugs. We started to take long walks along Spring Hill Road (where he lived) or Eastman Lane (where I lived) and made up “Nature Patrol.” We speculated about saving injured animals—I’m not sure what we would have done if we had found an actual injured animal. Since it never happened, I’ll never know.He was the one friend who stuck by me when I had my total nervous breakdown over the loss of another friend (my Glitch in the Matrix story, 1972), and even though he didn’t believe my other friend ever existed (nobody else did, either), he stuck by me and helped me move on. I wisely dropped talking about the other boy when I realized David just got mad at me whenever I brought up my 'imaginary' friend. Even when I had to go to a special school for ‘emotionally disturbed’ boys for two years (fall 1972-summer 1974) over this and other issues, he stuck by my side. At that point he proved to me beyond any shadow of a doubt that he was absolutely my best friend.During my recovery time in March 1973 my parents ordered “Rarest of the Rare Assortment” of baby chicks from Murray Mc Murray’s Hatchery. David got “Rare Breed Special” from the same hatchery by mail from Iowa. Many different breeds of chicks. We named all of our chicks, and helped name each other’s chicks when we were low on ideas for our own birds.We came up with the idea of “Chicken World” where chickens developed human-level intelligence and moved away from Earth to all sorts of fantastic planets with always at least two suns instead of just a boring single sun like Earth is stuck with. We would draw cartoons of us fleeing Earth with our intelligent chickens, and give each other suggestions on adventures we and our feathered friends embarked on.I had no clue how things were going to eventually turn out and assumed we would be friends throughout our adult years, hopefully for life. He definitely was not gay (so far as I knew), as even when we were closest and slept over at each other’s houses, we took measures such as making sure there was at least a sheet between us lest we accidentally touch each other in bed during sleepovers. Lots of hugs, especially during my ‘mourning’ period, and sometimes during more fun times or congratulating each other on some accomplishment, but nothing more than that.Due to my being held back a grade during my time at the private school, I entered sixth grade at Wilson School rather than starting Petaluma Junior High with my former classmates. This resulted in me being in the same grade as David at the same school. This fact made my staying back a grade much easier to bear. Entering Junior High the following year with so many new faces, yet with David there, again made it easier.Totally by accident, shortly after starting 7th grade in Junior High, David started Judo and demonstrated a throw on me (with my permission) and nearly broke my left arm. I of course forgave him—he quit Judo out of feeling guilty for hurting me despite my assurances it was fine for him to continue.During seventh grade at Petaluma Junior High School, we established a shared love of reading science fiction, dirt-bikes (some of this during sixth grade), and band instruments. I grew queasy about trombone playing (I was actually got pretty good during the 3-4 weeks I played) due to brass smell and spit valve issues, and quit. He quit trumpet a week after I quit trombone. When I lost interest in my mini-bike, he lost interest in his.We did maintain our shared interest in chickens throughout our friendship. I had a little black hen when I was 7, and David liked holding and petting her even the first time he visited my house.When I got my multi-band shortwave radio with the mini-bike money, he got one, too, with his dirt-bike money. We would spend hours listening to foreign stations and strange ‘alien’ coded signals at each other’s houses late at night, often speculating that some were UFO aliens talking to each other or spies sending coded messages (actually the latter turned out to be true in some cases).Then Hamilton Air Force Base, Novato, CA, where David’s father worked, was shut down in early 1976. The Besseys prepared to move to Clovis, New Mexico due to Jack Bessey getting a new mechanic job at Cannon Air Force Base. David, his younger sister Tammy, and his parents left the Spring Hill Road house, gave me some of his remaining chickens, sold the goats (He loved goats and that was something I never shared until I was living in Idaho) except for “Snow-No-No” a white goat they eventually managed to take with them to New Mexico. Before moving to New Mexico they moved briefly into downtown Petaluma before leaving the state for good before 8th grade started in 1976. David’s father began his job at Cannon AFB near Clovis as a mechanic like he had been in Novato, and they bought a couple of acres of land. David started eighth grade in the Clovis Junior High School, while I continued at PJHS.After we got used to living in separate states I got a new cock-a-poo dog I named “Davy” in honor of David. He got a German Shepherd he named “Chrissy” in my honor. We wrote back and forth all of the time, exchanging pictures whenever we could. Every once in a while our parents would permit three-minute nighttime phone calls. I recall rehearsing what I was going to blurt out at David during my 90 second share of the call, and listen as he rapidly fired back his news in the second 90 seconds.Remember that long-distance phone calls back then cost real money, over a dollar a minute for David and me talking.We even once had the thrill of exchanging letters that reached each other’s houses despite being over 1000 miles apart in one day. I mailed first, David got it the next day. He wrote back that night and mailed back the following morning, and I got his reply the next day. A total of four days. We speculated that our letters had been stuffed into the nosecones of fighter jets being flown back and forth between California and New Mexico.We speculated excitedly that that time our letters even went faster than the speed of sound to get back and forth in time!Later in 8th grade he joined Civil Air Patrol associated with Cannon AFB with the eventual object of becoming a pilot. At that point in our lives we both had ambitions of going into outer space as astronauts or space scientists of some sort, and David saw CAP as a first step in that direction; there was no CAP in Petaluma so I could not participate and was actually a bit envious of him being so 'lucky' in finding something like that.Little did I know that this CAP membership was going to be the beginning of the end of the David Bessey I knew and the start of one who’d mature into the sexual monster who would go on to ruin the lives of his two stepsons over many years.For the first year, David had a lot of fun with the group including flying in some aircraft. Then somewhere late in his second year, when he was in 10th grade or so he abruptly quit CAP. I asked him why in a letter, and he didn’t answer my question. I asked him again in another letter, and he still avoided the subject. I finally got a ten minute phone conversation and all I could get out of him was something like, “Something happened there, and I don’t want to talk about it. It’s the reason why I quit and won’t go back. Chris, please don’t ask me for details.”Shortly afterward he started smoking. This was quite out of character for him since neither of his parents smoked (his father used to, but quit while still in Petaluma before I met David), and we had both discussed smoking and dismissed it as a filthy and stupid habit up until the CAP incident. My mother quit smoking in 1978, my father in 1962, and I never tried it. I asked him why he started, and he was quite evasive and basically said since his friends in Clovis did it, he decided to do it, too. He told me that it helped him feel less tense and nervous. I asked him why he felt tense and nervous and again he stated emphatically, “I don’t want to talk about it.”He had been an A and B grade student like me up through 10th grade, but shortly after the unnamed incident in CAP, he inexplicably lost all ambition toward joining me in college somewhere, and let his grades slip accordingly. He graduated with a low C average. We did continue to exchange letters, but as I moved into a busy college life after 1981 and he got into a relationship with Charlotte (“Charlie”) and had his first son, Kevin, with her, we didn’t write to each other as often, dropping down to maybe 4 letters a year, and 1-2 long-distance phone calls. Since she was a ‘common-law’ wife, there was no wedding and they merely lived together.Then in 1983 he (age 21 at the time) and some other older boys and young men were arrested on suspicion of sexual assault on some younger boys, but they were found innocent. David of course protested his innocence to me in his letters, and I of course believed him. Charlie left him, leaving David and his mother to raise Kevin, after Charlie's affair with another man, a 'local Indian' according to David. Shortly after she left, both David and his mother (father died in 1986) moved from Clovis, New Mexico, to east Texas in a rural Upshur County area near Avinger, Ore City, and Longview.Kevin went to school there, becoming valedictorian of his high school class. Kevin is bright like his father and got a medical degree in epidemiology, and is currently married with some kids.Then in 1984 or so, David married a woman I’ll call Vicky (not actual name), but he didn’t tell me about her until they had already been married. I was annoyed since I wanted to attend his wedding, but David assured me that the small civil ceremony they had wouldn’t have been worth my time. Vicky had two toddler sons from a previous marriage, I’ll call them Quincy, 3, and Joseph, 2, instead of their real names since they were the victims and I don’t want to embarrass them if they read this account—and have different last names so not too easy to connect with David by Internet searches.He brought toddler Kevin into their marriage and a year or so after they got married they had a daughter, Brandy. From the letters I got from David, I found out he was apprenticed as an air conditioner repairman. He eventually got a journeyman license and made somewhat decent money. He, of course, was soon able to afford to buy enough land to get goats and a few years later chickens.I thought everything was going great, and I made tentative plans to visit him, especially if my chemistry professor position interview at University of Arkansas, Monticello, panned out. I was the top candidate and was actually preparing to move there, but the former professor who’d held that position returned to town just before I was going to be officially hired, and the offer was rescinded. I instead ended up in Idaho, becoming an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at College of Southern Idaho.David couldn’t get away from his job/family responsibilities to come visit me in Idaho, and I couldn’t get out of mine, but we maintained writing back and forth detailed letters and slightly more frequent lengthy phone calls, now that I had a job and could afford long-distance calls.I found Laura and dated her in 1995, marrying her in 1996. I invited David to come up, but he couldn’t make it. I was prepared to ask him to be my Best Man, but that role went to someone else when David made his excuses. He did send some wedding gifts, though.I got a letter shortly after his younger sister, Tammy, died of cancer, expressing concerns about the spiritual state of his son, daughter, and two stepsons. He asked for my advice about whether to get them baptized, and I reply that he should let each kid make his or her choice in this matter.We start to communicate in 1995 via AOL. He and I both get early usernames with with only six letters (mine "mdkiwi" and his "AIRDOC") and no numbers, and we were proud of that accomplishment at the time. It was sort of like comparing our pre-teen accomplishments, bringing back fond memories of our childhood friendship.I wondered why he would never take vacations by himself, especially to come to Laura’s and my wedding, later finding out the reason why—to my utter disgust.Things went on, David telling me stories about Kevin doing well in high school (graduated 1999), and ‘Quincy’ and ‘Joseph’ were doing “okay” and Brandy pretty well, though not quite as smart as Kevin. Lots of 'fun' stuff like dirt bikes, ATVs, and camping trips filled out his accounts of his family activities. All so very normal and ‘average’ for two parents living in the country with four active kids…This is where I learn the truth—and it’s horrible beyond anything I could ever imagine David ever doing—yet ever bit of it was true.Thus the end our friendship arrives as ghastly truths about what David was really doing come out. Why he was so unwilling to leave his family, etc.In mid fall 1998, while I’m just settling in Idaho, having just moved there from Alaska in mid 1998, David abruptly and unexpectedly shows up at my mother’s place. He has a shaved head (He told me he hated short hair in most communications and had long hair in his high school and early adult pictures, so this was way out of character for him.), and was sick with the flu.Big question: why did my old best friend David Bessey suddenly show up unannounced at my mother’s place looking so strange?***WARNING: disturbing and vile content ahead—discretion advised.***Mom, of course, takes him in, and gets him flu medicine and good food. After David has recuperated a bit, he confesses to my mother and sister that he actually drove out to Petaluma with the intention driving his truck off a steep cliff somewhere near the coast along Highway 1, thus committing suicide. He had gotten so sick with the flu, that he realized he would probably fail in his attempt and merely lay there with broken bones, delirious with fever and die a slow, lingering death. So instead he decides to go to one of the few places where he’s always felt at home and where nobody is looking for him; my mother’s 11 acre property, west of Petaluma, called the Ranch. He wouldn’t reveal why he wanted to kill himself to my mother except vaguely alluding to some big problems back home he could no longer emotionally deal with.Mom has me talk to David, and that’s when I start to get bits of the truth. I’m of course glad to speak to him, and try to get to the bottom of why he wants to kill himself. When my mother is out of earshot, he quietly tells me that he’s been accused of being a child molester, and that the police are coming after him, and for me to not tell my mother—he asks me to let him tell her. He confesses he switched license plates with his son’s car with his truck’s, and told me that he couldn’t face the possibility of going to prison for (I quote), “Something in my wildest dreams I could never do to my own children.” I was of course quite compassionate, and offered to pray for him and with him. I was like, "how could anyone ever conceive of you doing something like that?"Notice he said “my own children”? He carefully left out his step children. Little did I suspect…It turns out that this one conversation was the last time I would ever hear his voice again to date (2019) so far.Over the week he stayed at The Ranch, David requested my mother buy him large amounts of beer with cash he gave her, which he drank until he passed out nearly nightly. She tired of this after a week, so David had to go into Petaluma to buy his own beer and came back to the Ranch. Seemed his license plate switch became known and Petaluma Police spotted the stolen plates on his truck. They apparently contacted the FBI instead of taking matters into their own hands.He sits in his truck for a moment after he stops, then two black cars, each with two men in the front seats, spraying gravel as they rocket up my mother’s long driveway, screech to a halt, one in front and one in back of David’s truck.My mother sees two men jump out of their cars, handguns drawn, and yell, “David Bessey, FBI, exit your vehicle at once, hands on your head.”David, clearly wearing his seatbelt from my mother’s perspective, tries to reach down to unbuckle his seatbelt, resulting in an agent yelling, “Keep your hands where we can see them, and exit your vehicle right now, or else we will shoot.” David tries to squirm his way out from under his shoulder belt, but it’s too tight.Mom, at first not wanting to get involved, realizes David’s life is in jeopardy, so she goes outside and yells, “Officers, can’t you see he’s wearing his seatbelt, and is trying to get it off?”One yells for her to get back into the house, but the other nods and orders David, “With your right hand, release your seatbelt, leaving your left hand on your steering wheel where I can see it, then exit the vehicle with your hands raised.”David complies and steps out of his truck as instructed, and they quickly pull him against a car, handcuff him, practically throw him into the back seat of one of the cars, and that car swiftly drives away with David secured in the back seat. The men from the second car identify themselves as FBI agents, and when Mom asks what David did, they tell her that it was a criminal matter and that they were not authorized to tell her the nature of the crime.They did instruct her, though, to secure David’s shotgun, after Mom asked them about it. They said the matter did not involve a firearm, so they did not need to confiscate his shotgun. They gave David’s keys to her so she could move his truck out of the driveway, and instructed her to secure his keys, and arrange for his personal belongings, HVAC work toolbox, gun, and pickup truck to be returned to Texas at her earliest convenience.Then the other car leaves. Mom phones me with the news right afterward. I immediately look on the Internet (Netscape in 1998) for Ore City, Avinger, and Longview newspaper articles and find out David is a wanted fugitive and is being sought in connection to enticement of a 10-year-old neighbor boy, and for possible sexual assault on two of his four children.The more I read, the angrier and more disgusted I get. If these accusations are true, then the David John Bessey I have been best friends with all of these years, has become someone (or something) I could no longer abide being friends with.No wonder he wanted to kill himself. At least I hoped at the time it was guilt over what he had done was the reason why he wanted to kill himself.I was wrong.To my horror, he actually justifies himself, saying he is being subjected to judgment based on an “outdated western morality,” in a letter he mails to both me and my mother shortly after his arrival back in Texas.First his mother contacts Laura and me after filling in my mother on what the police actually found. My mother fills me in on what Mrs. Bessey told her, fleshing out the sordid tale.The evidence is not circumstantial, nor difficult to prove; in fact he literally had a pickup truck load of evidence against him. He was buried in evidence.Amongst the findings are over 300 (yes, three hundred) video tapes documenting his ‘activities’ over the past fifteen years with his two stepsons. Additional child pornography videos were recovered as well.After his arrest he has his mother look up a website for obtaining legal help, something called NAMBLA. She goes there and I believe I recall that she was so shocked she unplugged the computer rather than merely leaving the website. It’s North American Man/Boy Love Association. Apparently David is a member of that group. Remember this was 1998, so the Internet was pretty open about everything including that.This group supported(s?) the contact version of men and boys in a supposedly consensual relationship where it is more than just the desire of certain men to have sex with boys, but the actual penetrating kind (ancient Greek pederasty style)—as in anal sex. This includes other kinds of sex as well. Ewww!!Perhaps he was 'initiated' by some adult member of Civil Air Patrol into pederasty (anal sort) in 1979 thereabouts—and eventually developed an 'interest' in doing it himself to (very) young boys sometime afterward, hooking up with NAMBLA somewhere along the way.It turned out that David performed anal sex with his two stepsons 'Quincy' and 'Joseph' on a regular basis from the time they were toddlers (ages 2 and 3) until they were just about to become legal adults (17 and 18). Not only did he do that, but he had a dedicated studio room with a camera permanently set up to record the sex acts. Then he would exchange copies of these video tapes by mail with other NAMBLA members, who'd send him copies of their videotaped 'activities' with their 'lovers.'Of course he kept the master copies, documenting pretty much the entire fifteen year 'relationship' he had with his stepsons.Amazingly, it turned out to be absolutely true that he had never involved his own biological children. Apparently Kevin never knew what his father was doing to his stepbrothers, nor did their younger sister Brandy. Allegedly Vicky, the boys' mother, didn't know, either. I suspect she did, but only tattled on him when she and David had gotten into a fight about an unrelated matter while the police were evaluating the neighbor boy's accusation.I think Vicky knew for years—and didn't care. She was a stay-at-home mother for the kids most of the time they were growing up—no doubt sprucing up all of the various rooms in their house during her housekeeping chores over those years—including the studio.Unless she was particularly dull and stupid, failing to see the obvious for that reason, she plainly knew. I guess the legal authorities thought it better to not press charges on her and let her supervise her sons’ healing from David’s sexual assault on them.The fight between Vicky and David, and the coincidental attempted seduction of the ten-year-old neighbor boy led to David's activities finally being revealed and brought to an end—I fervently hope permanently. Ironically, it was the stepsons' warning to the neighbor boy about their stepfather's intentions that started the process toward exposing David's crimes. The boy told his parents on their advice, then his parents contacted the local Sheriff. Along with Vicky's 'shock' at discovering what her husband had been doing to her sons, the local sheriff's deputies prepared to act.With search warrant in hand, while David was at work on some air conditioning job, the Upshur County deputies were led into David's studio by his wife. The police took his videos, computer, and various props and sex toys related to his 'relationship' with his stepsons. It took multiple trips to and from the Upshur County Sheriff Office to get it all.David got wind of this and managed to hole up in some quiet, concealed location while the police searched for him. He waited until the police left and the local search had petered out a bit before preparing to flee justice. He managed under the cover of darkness to sneak into his house without awakening anyone, grab a few personal belongings including his shotgun, switch license plates with his son's, get a few hundred dollars in cash, and left home.Between his license plate switch, hastily shaved head, and his cash purchases of gasoline, he was able to flee Texas without being caught. He knew he would be eventually caught, so instead of facing certain prison time, he decided he would go somewhere and commit suicide. He decided on the Pacific Ocean near Petaluma and drove there because that was, as he said in a few later letters, the only place where he felt true innocence and happiness. Only the flu and my mother's ignorance of the APB on him stopped him from carrying out his plans.After the FBI returned him to Texas, David pleaded guilty to all charges, and was incarcerated in late 1998 in a special prison unit for people convicted of sex crimes against children, since prisoners in the regular prison population do not tolerate sex crimes against children, and would have probably killed David rather painfully and quickly once they found out what he had done. He was put on suicide watch for several years.In 2005 he is transferred to his current prison, Bill Clements Prison, Amarillo, Texas.He has asked for new appeals and hoped for a ruling of a mistrial based on alleged errors in procedures related to his original arrest in 2005 and 2007, but the jury and judge upheld his original charges and sentences based on them both times.He has not tried to appeal since then.David continues to write to my mother on a regular basis, and she politely replies. On and off I have asked my mother for his address so I can write to him.I know where he is, incarcerated in Bill Clements Prison, dedicated to sex offenders in Amarillo, Texas, right down to the cell block spur and cell number.I drove within one mile of the prison last spring (2018) as I was passing through Amarillo while helping a friend move from Texas to Idaho, but didn't stop to visit him despite knowing where he was.For some reason I have never been able to finish any letter I've started to write to him since 1999.Maybe it's for the best.In fact I know it’s for the best.

It's going to take me a while to flesh this answer out, because like the proverbial blindmen trying to describe an elephant, it can be answered in multiple ways (like Rashomon in a way). I'll try to give you a couple ways of seeing various answers to the question.So I'm a 3rd generation Californian, born in the same hospital in Los Angeles that my mom was (my Dad was born in Montana and raised with my uncles in Utah and further grew up in Chicago). I've also worked with 7-8 generation Californians. So during WW2 mom was allowed to finish high school (Los Angeles High, later used as the backdrop for the series Room 222) and started internment in a horse stable in Santa Anita Race Track.One way to answer this question is to give observations I had in life about life elsewhere like: one of my first plane trips when I was young was to Salt Lake City, UT. This trip and later numerous business trip to Washington DC surprised me by the number of brick (dirty brick from when coal was burned more) buildings and structures. Europe had similar coal stained buildings with other older materials as well.Many people elsewhere value the old, tried and tired, and staid. California is one of the places where a 20 year old can become a billionaire with good reason.California homes and buildings are code covered from a 1925 and a 1933 earthquake standard. We use more stucco, glass, steel, and brick (where it appears) are mostly found in few remaining chimneys. At least 3 friends own and live in geodesic dome homes (or have an attached dome). One friend lives out of 2 tee pees (no, she is not a native American, and she used to own an Alaskan wolf, oh that's another issue). Several friends own and raise what might be termed wild animals (one professionally for use in the TV and movie industry (another acquaintance owned 200 armored vehicles (tanks and more) used in various movies)).Until recently, ranch style homes had more yard space. I grew up with a front yard and a back yard where we kept 3 desert tortoises (you can't take them as pets anymore) and variously dogs, cats, a chicken (got small eggs), etc. Now you can only find homes like that in the Central Valley.The main population centers in California are the Los Angeles corrador which depending how you count extends South to San Diego and NW to Ventura, or Santa Barbara ...Santa Maria, SLO ... or ... and the San Francisco Bay Area. The population centers have a democratic (note small 'd') emphasis which make them think everything is for them (this is the story of the country mouse versus the city mouse). I'll say a little more about that in the next section. Of course there is all kinds of weird music about all these California locations.One difference: odor, if and when you travel South into Mexico, south past Ensenada (but you can experience this South of TJ if you go in land into the mountains (which go up to 9-10K ft), you don't smell the trash burns in the country side. The odors are different in a number of ways, and you can experience them when you get here. The LA Basin was where Arnie H-Smit did his first studies on smog, and I can recall seeing the San Gab (Mtns) when we switched to un-Pb gasoline for cars. LA Basin smog is bad for the topography (the highest point of LA County is over 10K ft, and the highest point in So Cal is over 11.5K ft, and the lowest pass is just over 2K ft (from sea level). People have proposed tunnels with fans.Life has a considerable Spanish/Mexican motif. The differences are slight and subtle. In LA they tell you to go visit Olivera Street in old LA. SF only has the Mission District (you need to find out about Fr. Serra's Missions), and Redwood City for instance. You will pick up Spanish/Mexican phrases by osmosis. Cities like Santa Barbara (1925 earthquake) architectural Review Board force building review for a Spanish motif. You will also get a little of the Catholic religion forced upon you, since that came with the Spanish/Mexicans. Anglo students in elementary schools get some Spanish language exposure. However, this is changing since there are now other ethnic groups having a hard enough time with English. Hola! See separate lower paragraph on the 2 Baja states.Annoying: non-locals and newbies who mispronounce Js without using an H: like La Jolla or Jesus or Juanipero or Jorge. Try these city names: Eureka, Ukiah, Yreka, Yucaipa.Earthquakes are a great topic to scare prospective residents off. That and fall fire season (you know what Phos-check and aluma-gel are), and winter flash foods and mud slides. And spring hay fever season.What's unique about the State of California's geography is like Chile: a long narrow skinny state (not as extreme as Chile). We span 10 degrees of latitude as opposed to original states further East which chose -East-West expansion. It's also where the 10 degrees at a transition belt in a temperate area: the South part of the State is desert, and the North is forest. This is why we have water problems. CA is comparatively narrow in a N-S sense.Our state requires extensive water movement for a population to live in its pseudo-Mediterrean climate (I've been to Cadiz and Tarifa, Andaluccia, Spain as well as Gibraltar: you almost can't tell the difference in veg.). The critical clever idea was to tap the annual snow pack for water. This is because it requires the use of fewer smaller dams. The phase change of 80 Cal/cc (almost 2 orders of magnitude) from ice to water is what makes our water system useful. This is accomplished by 2 (3) major N-S mountain ranges: the coastal ranges and the Sierra Nevada/Cascade ranges. The total relief in CA from sea-level to almost 14.5K ft. squeezes water out of the air and forms snow. Snow is far more important than water because of that 80 Cal. difference. California is a 3-D major state.The Central Valley (Sacramento River Valley in the N, and San Joaquin River Valley in the S), and the lesser Salinas and Imperial Valleys are major ag centers. These are slowly being converted into urban areas. These Valleys as well as San Diego and Orange Counties for the major part of the conservative political base in California. You will even find the hints of both the California Nationalist Socialist (Nazi) Party (the documentary California Reich), KKK, and JBS (John Birch Society with "Get us out of the UN" signs).The State Government is composed of 58 counties in a State Senate and an Assembly. By now, I may have visited all of them (not intentionally). This is mostly about agriculture (land). They have very little concept about technology (GPS and chemicals are used extensively in agriculture but before that it was map, compass and surveying equipment). I've had discussions (representing the Feds.) in Sacramento, and they were good ones (I was challenged to visit 4 counties to see Internet connectivity: 2 good ones, and 2 poor ones (this was a geographic knowledge test (Siskiyou and Shasta (I had no problems), and then Inyo and Plumas (I've friends in the first and may retire fully there), and at the time I was stumped briefly (have been to Quincy a number of times now (including small plane flying)))))). A book about all county high points exists.I should note that if you want a survey of the whole State, visit the Cal Expo in Sacramento from the end of August to the beginning of Sept. This is the State Fair. Some city folk will poo-poo Fairs, but this is a survey of activity, not all agricultural in every CA county. I took a 2nd place for technical drawing (I drew an incomplete drawing for a Sikorsky S-64 Sky crane) while in Jr. High School and I started getting college offers while still in 9th grade. This is the kind of thing which distinguishes you in college and life.A neighbor and I have landed at over 100 public airports in CA (mostly Northern Calif. including OR, WA, NV, AZ, and UT, over 260) in a small plane.The urban Democrats learned the lessons of their defeat in the 2004 Presidential elections (too much time in the cities), and went into Nevada, AZ, and OR (the first two were difference) in 2008. Various Republicans are irked. Interior counties are more red but not like the East coast, ditto Orange and San Diego counties.So I know where Republicans live; in the Central Valley from Redding to Bakerfield (Demo studying rural health care economics). My HS mentor moved to Visalia. Friends grew up in Fresno. The other major areas at Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties and San Diego as well as the North Coast and Central Coast. Dad rose to the level of Dept. official in the American Legion.The motion picture industry (it's not called Show BUSINESS for nothing) is a major force in So. Cal. So much media is recorded here, that when the video is placed, residents can identify when and when something was recorded/filmed. The house I grew up in (just a middle class house) was used in a film. Because of the aforementioned latitude location, you can just about find any natural environment for filming, and they have location scouts for this. Yeah, you can tour studios, get jobs, grow up into the industry. Friends from high school and college work in the industry: I see their names roll by on credits occasionally. I briefly considered, when younger, working for WED Enterprises (Walt E. Disney) in Burbank as an Imagineer. Friends from my ACM/SIGGRAPH chapter (in the Bay Area) did (Jim has since died from Covid-19).Lucas made effective use of his time in Modesto and Petaluma.Because of WWII, a lot of aerospace industry is in So. Cal. and a little in Northern California. This has shrunk substantially, as has the oil industry (on and off shore). There is a gun culture; it's the Democrats who own cannons (really; I’ve attended cannon shoots). Some places do Renaissance Faire and Civil War reenactments. But the car culture reigns big (hot rods, motorcycles, etc.). The Conservatives count gays and Lesbians among them. What you will occasionally see are the Libertarians (people citing Ayn Rand are common (Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead)) around the coastlines and the Green Party in the far NW.Proposals to splint the state go from 2 (5 degree dividing line in CA 145 thru Madera near the geographic center of the state), three, and most recently 6 States. If you travel to the North you hear about how they almost combined with Southern OR (don't forget that part, they have their problem with OR government) to form the State of Jefferson (prospective State insignia of 2 Xs for Double Cross).Education is a big deal. It's not as snooty as the Eastern Ivy League. If you examine the very first ARPAnet map, 3 of the first four universities were in California. The 4th (Utah) was still in the West. They were thinking about the future of technology back then. They didn't have excess baggage. Unfortunately the education system is stressed. The first think tanks were here (e.g., RAND Corporation).Smokers in CA are basically very accommodating of non-smokers. It was tough dating one, but she was the finest woman I ever dated (her dad was a Caltech physics prof who recently passed away, she was not your average smoker).When you went to elementary school, you learned we are the Golden State for the brief Au rush. Other important California topics were citrus (can you name the types?), what was the California fishing, in particular tuna, industry (they were the cause of Chile and Peru to adopt 200 mile limits from the earlier 12 mile and 3 mile). The cultures which moved here, got clobbered here, would all be studied.The weather helps an outdoor health craze to this day (not that every one partakes). Public transit is poor and attempting to catch up. Distances are long and people feel forced to buy cars (Teslas are coming on but also other electrics). The Eastern US talks about the Atlantic and Ellis Island and Columbus (Italian, much less Leif Erickson). California has the Pacific and Angel Island. Some of our parents got rounded up and interned, this was overruled, and some people still to this day complain about that action (the over turning).Slavery didn't have a big hold during the Civil War. CA was part of the "North". This is lost on many on the East Coast, South. The Mason-Dixon Line took a turn South at Texas. The natives enslaved by the Missions weren’t counted.You can be in a snow storm (winter is optional; we go have quite a number of real glaciers) one moment and in a desert dust storm in a couple hours. The best place to experience this is the Palm Springs aerial tramway during a serious winter storm, but not so bad as to shut the tram down. Doesn't require car chains.Surfing is another story. Said enough.And Woody Allen noted the cultural advantage is the ability to make a right turn at a red light (not all, make certain to read all traffic signs). Many in CA like it that simple.You do need to be mindful on freeways and highways of road rage. This includes your pets.You have remaining tall Redwoods of various species (most were cut down). You have some of the oldest Bristlecone pines. Agriculture is still a big industry which many city dwellers tend to discount. Prisons are the new industry in part due to the three-strikes law. They are most visible at night in areas away from population centers. Some counties have rejected prison jobs.Many foreign countries have consulates in California. The Russians have major signal collection facilities from the Soviet era. We have the People's Republics of Berkeley, Oakland, and Santa Cruz.Tourists are always wondering what to see. We have more ghettos than people realize; some have corporate HQs like Nissan, Toyota, and Honda. Californians tend to drive more Priuses, than Honda Insights: a friend from Houston once commented.I know 3 German markets, a Scandinavian market, 3 Japanese markets, numerous Chinese, Mexican, Indian/Pakistani/Afghan markets. Mexican food isn't just tacos and burritos: it's mariscos, too. Abalone is a complex eating issue now (caught by self North of SF Bay or farm raised (hope this works)).Some of us residents have to put up with the meat and potatoes crowd making fun of our eating rice and raw fish. And tofu. The lactose intolerant have to put up with the assumptions of the lactose tolerant.Upper and middle class people pay to play harvesting wine grapes. Meanwhile, Mexicans are doing it in the Central Valley as professionals. Friends and I are caught in the middle doing it as a neighborly thing. I'm accused to taking high value PhDs and turning them into slave labor (they are just glad to get away for the day). Does this increase the value of the grapes (and then the wine) if people knew who picked them?The status car is a Tesla (one friend at google owns 2: one West coast, one at their East coast home) or various other electrics like RAV4s or EV-1s when they were out. Volts are coming along. Gas powered cars for an older generation or live in the Central Valley (Camaros, Chargers, Mustangs and many other foreign gas powered cars). I just had my car broken into (3x in my 2 vehicles now).....Many of us bike. And someone tried to steal my bike (couple of different times, it's a cheap bike, now stolen, got a donated bike from a friend). I live in a neighborhood of multi-colored bicycles most of which are single gear. We also have weird self driving cars, street view cars, etc. And they aren't all from google. They include bing (.com) and other panoramic mapping cameras, and other self driving cars from Michigan and the major automakers.Growing up as a kid, many white kids thought that the Asian kids knew Tae Kwondo, or Judo, or Karate. So I picked it up. (Actually, my parents said we descended from archers, so I've tried archery (actually recently got a gift bow (a compound model not a simple recurve bow) for a friend's son who joined the Scouts). I have to wrestle with the lethal force problem (to stay current), and may be purchasing a shot gun for trips to Alaska. I've expended $200 in 2 seconds (ammo for an M-134). Jumped out of perfectly good planes. Did the sail plane thing with my high school chemistry teacher. In turn, I taught him the basics of night sky astronomy.Many of the new rich don't feel the need to wear suits. Zuck legitimized the hoodie. The old rich (I know a few: I had Thanksgiving dinner at the SF Yacht Club: you will know if you know the rules of dress there) are disgusted by this. Women are caught in the middle of this but pull to the old, conservative. Ditto other non-whites.I see less ROTC, and church going, compared to other parts of the country.Let's see: I finished hiking the Muir Trail at the end of the 1980s. Climbed the 14Kers a number of times by various routes by that time, too before heading out of state for other objectives. We have the university which developed the atomic bomb (in another state no less, but they brought it back here later).I, at least, had a nice time in all my schools (public). Had fantastic educational experiences. Got to know a few Nobel laureate families. Met a few veterans in their time. Traveled the roads extensively (from Alturas (I edited a Knuth paper mentioning it) and Likely in the NE (Cedarville is also very nice) to Algondones near Yuma, National City to Crescent City. Our state has islands and a lot of interesting ocean. Nuclear reactors and accelerators, National labs and space and aero facilities. All Mach 3 planes were developed here.We have Death Valley. We have to share Lake Tahoe and the Colorado River with neighboring states. We have a 3rd world country to our South (rapidly changing toward 1st world). We have a fence which is porous with tunnels with a cross section for trucks which are found underneath it.We have a lot of privately owned wide open space. We have a few playas, but Nevada has more easily accessible day lake beds (CA's are used for bombing ranges, etc.; well El Mirage is open (flew in a sail plane (an S-33-2 with my HS chem teacher here)).One stands in a crowd. And some annoying person notes that everyone here is an immigrant to California, not even acknowledging that some of us grew up here.California is the home of both Sunset magazine and Scotts Lawn care products (Scotts Valley). If you are a keeping up with the Jones type, this is our version of Martha Stewart.If you are a real geek or nerd, you will know how to pronounce "halted .com". If you are a software person, your pronunciation can be forgiven. You know what district of Tokyo to visit.The most irksome thing about new California drivers is that they fail to pay attention to the road or freeway they are driving. When they miss a turn or ramp, they will attempt to cut across 2 or more lanes of traffic to make the ramp or turn, instead of realizing they blew it, get off at the next ramp and backtrack. You try to be too smart/clever and be overly quick to make up for your failure of attention. This is how you might cause a traffic accident here.Cars I have owned. This is a common computer security verification question. Largely economy cars. I've owned a car which got over 50 MPG, 4 decades ago (got over 300K miles on it). I've owned 2 SUVs (1 got over 400K miles on it), and I use 4WD low with some frequency (like yesterday in Silicon Valley). 2 of my new vehicles I didn't even bother to buy an AM/FM radio (this should give you an idea how dull I am). I care almost nothing about their color except urban camo (see my answer about Do men care about the color of their computing devices?), and thermal issues.I have met some amazing people growing up in California. Part of that was via correspondence (paper letters: introduced me to a now long time friend named Marvin Minsky, had nothing to do with computers). Then in college, I had the ARPAnet (no email at the time) and with email I was able to email people in computing like Marvin. Work allowed me to meet Nobel laureates. And Usenet was a great way to expand Internet horizons. While I didn't grow up in Silicon Valley and didn't get into microprocessors until later, I had contact. And most of these guys I run into grocery shopping. Or sometimes we carpool together (John McCarthy of Stanford was one such friend). You'd get bored with this if you didn't understand the place.California also refers to 2 States in the United States of Mexico: Baja California and Baja California Sur. Not nearly as populated, and most news concentrates on immigration (legal and illegal), but some very nice small towns like Loretto, Tecate (yes that's where they make the beer), the wine growing region. La Paz, Guerrero Negro, Todos Santos. Yes, there is crime, but there's also snowy 10K ft. peaks (possible to X-C ski). The largest Chinese population in Mexico is in Mexicali (they speak Spanish; do you expect them to speak English along with Chinese?). The Baja California States are not quite treated like the mainland Mexican states.Silicon Valley: if you have or hear of a problem (tech), you hear or get the weirdest reactions. An early noted OCR software, had an early version problem. So I called Tech Support (which just happened to be in Los Gatos). And the person on the phone said that Yes, that was an early bug and we fixed that and can mail you the update. And I gave my work address. "Do you know Frank ...?" Yes he's one of our Branch Chiefs. "He's my dad. I'll see him at dinner this evening and give him the disk then." And I got it in an interoffice mail envelope (this was back in the 1990s).East coast positives: Seasons: summer time fireflies are quite amazing. East coasters cite fall colors (New England). I've now visited Maine. California has nothing like that, but in certain higher elevations in the various mountain ranges where snow falls, you can get select fall color, like places where there are Aspens and cottonwoods. You just have to work on it. The duration and areal extent are shorter and smaller than the East coast. We have many more evergreens and scrub oaks. We are a little like coastal Spain. Better beaches (gradual slope).If you don't "Like" California, you can leave. This is why Oregon came up with the word Californication. We now have to deal with Oregon tourism ads (“It’s the economy, stupid”).For college summer jobs, I worked and climbed in Yosemite Valley. Ask me my zip code. So I have answers to tourist questions there. Friends still live there, but it’s best for me to visit them in winter or at least the off tourist season. Following that I drew masks for thin film circuits for 2 summers, so I’ve also have VLSI development.My body shop mechanic, Hispanic, once said, “You have to know 5 languages to do business in this place (Redwood City).”The furtherest South Russian colony/settlement was Fort Ross, CA, just North of SF.CA isn’t for everybody, but some of us were born here. And 1 friend’s relatives were here before statehood and were among the Donner Party rescuers.The Chinese-Americans can spot the Chinese spies (intelligence operatives trying to recruit Chinese-Americans) in Chinese restaurants. You can even read about them here on Quora (company).Quora (company) is here. It’s why you are reading this. It’s also the home of Facebook (See the movie Social Network? ever wonder why?), google, Yahoo!, even Microsoft, IBM, Wal-Mart know to have labs and offices here. The bio-tech Silicon Valley is South San Francisco where Genentech and it’s associated companies. Amgen has an office on the other side of the Bay.If you have a life variable you want addressed, let me know.Reference links:What was Mountain View, CA like before Google? Did Google have a huge impact on the development of the surrounding area, or was it just another piece of the growing puzzle?What facts about the United States do foreigners not believe until they come to America?

I think its can help youBlasting air at up to 185 mph, leaf blowers can whip up hazardous particles and contaminants from the ground at speeds greater than a Category 5 hurricane, sending them long distances.Epidemiological studies have long recognized the harm these particles — including hydrocarbons from gasoline, animal droppings, spores, fungi, pollens, pesticides and herbicides, fertilizers, brake-lining dust and tire residue and heavy metals — cause to people's respiratory systems, according to Bay Area Air Quality Management District reports.Exposure to particulate matter is rarely, if ever, cited as the cause of death in a coroner's report when someone dies of a heart attack or stroke or lung disease, a 2012 district study noted. "However, epidemiological studies indicate that exposure to particulate matter is an important contributing factor in hundreds, perhaps thousands, of deaths in the Bay Area each year."The district has called particulate matter "the air pollutant that poses by far the greatest health risk to Bay Area residents."The average adult inhales 450 cubic centimeters (roughly one pint) of air per breath, which includes 1 million to 10 million tiny particles with each breath."But that figure can spike to much higher levels in close proximity to high-volume roadways or other major outdoor emission sources," the district's "Bay Area 2010 Clean Air Plan" noted.The contribution of leaf blowers to air pollution isn't to be underestimated. About 5 pounds of particulate matter per leaf blower per hour are swept into the air and take hours to settle, according to a widely cited leaf-blower pollution report by the Orange County, California grand jury in 1999.An Air District program aimed at replacing up to 50,000 leaf blowers and 10,000 lawn mowers by 2020 would reduce the most dangerous small-particle emissions (sized 2.5 and 10 microns) by 0.12 tons (240 pounds) per day, according to the 2010 Clean Air Plan.Fine particles measuring 2.5 microns and coarser material measuring 10 microns are more readily absorbed into the lungs. The smaller 2.5-micron particles are associated with hazardous organic compounds and heavy metals, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.). Particles measuring 10 microns are typically composed of smoke, dirt, dust, mold, spores and pollen.Particulates in the 2.5-micron range can migrate many hundreds of miles and stay the air for days or weeks; 10-micron particles can travel up to 30 miles and stay aloft for hours, according the U.S. E.P.A.Besides what they kick up off the ground, gas-powered leaf blowers themselves emit specific pollutants the State of California has identified as of concern: hydrocarbons from both burned and unburned fuel, which combine with other gases to form ozone; carbon monoxide; and toxic contaminants such as benzene, 1,3-butadiene, acetaldehyde and formaldehyde, according to a widely quoted 2000 California Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board report.The Air Quality District in 2010 estimated there were approximately 258,000 two-stroke leaf blowers in the Bay Area, which generate significantly more air pollution than four-stroke engines.Testing in 2011 by the vehicle reviewer New Cars, Used Cars, Car Reviews and Pricing | Edmunds showed just how dirty leaf blowers remain, even 11 years after new emission standards for blowers went into effect.Pitting leaf blowers against a Ford F-150 SVT Raptor crew cab, the leaf blowers were the big dogs when it came to spewing non-methane hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen and carbon monoxide — the three pollutants that the EPA and the California Air Resources Board find most concerning.The two-stroke blower generated 23 times the carbon monoxide and nearly 300 times more non-methane hydrocarbons as the truck."To equate the hydrocarbon emissions of about a half-hour of yard work with this two-stroke leaf blower, you'd have to drive a Raptor for 3,887 miles, or the distance from northern Texas to Anchorage, Alaska," the article noted.Officials from local lung-health organizations said the contribution of leaf blowers to pollution can't be ignored."It should be of great concern," said Lynn Smith, interim executive director of Breathe California of the Bay Area, also noting the huge discrepancy between leaf blower and car emissions.Various arguments have been made by some environmental groups that blowers should be entirely banned in favor of a return to old-fashioned brooms and rakes.A 1999 study by the University of California Riverside and San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District, the first of its kind, attempted to quantify the differences. Leaf blowers produced about 30 milligrams per square meter of 2.5-micron-sized particulates and 80 mg per square meter of 10-micron particles.The results were similar for push brooms used on a concrete surface, probably because of the smoother surface, the researchers found. But using a push broom on asphalt produced no 2.5-micron particles and only 20 mg in the 10-micron range.And raking on either surface produced no particulates in either range, the study found.The California Landscape Contractors Association, however, disputes the allegations of the air pollution caused by leaf blowers, calling concerns over air emissions "spurious," according to a 1999 letter from its board of directors that was confirmed as current on July 20."Properly used leaf blowers do not raise inordinate amounts of dust. Rule 403 of the South Coast Air Quality Management District states that 'a person shall not cause or allow the emissions of fugitive dust from any active operation, open storage pile, or disturbed surface area such that the presence of such dust remains visible in the atmosphere beyond the property line of the emission source.' Blower users can and should follow this rule," the letter states.In addition to arguing that emissions standards from the California Air Resources Board implemented in 2000 would significantly reduce emissions from handheld equipment, the association pointed to the intermittent use of blowers."Portable lawn and garden equipment contributes only 0.8 percent of all U.S. VOC (volatile organic compound) emissions, 0.6 percent of carbon monoxide emissions, and no nitrogen oxide emissions."Debates over air pollution aside, there's also noise — perhaps the most evident pollution caused by leaf blowers. The City of Palo Alto requires leaf blowers to emit no more than 65 decibels, when measured from 50 feet away.The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has determined that decibel levels above 85 cause permanent hearing loss. The World Health Organization recommends a general outdoor noise level of 55 decibels or less and 45 or less for sleeping restfully.Excessive noise has been implicated in higher heart-attack rates, gastrointestinal disturbances, sleep problems, social discord and psychological problems, according to the U.S. E.P.A.Ironically, metal rakes aren't much quieter, though the sound is less constant: The City of Palo Alto noted in a 2005 report that metal rakes used on concrete can generate 58-60 decibels at 50 feet.When it comes to encouraging gardeners to forego their gas-powered machines, one air quality district in southern California has had significant success with its leaf blower exchange. The South Coast Air Quality Management District, which covers Orange County, urban Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside, has held a leaf blower buy-back program since 2006 for professional gardeners. In that time, the district has put more than 12,000 reduced-noise and lower-emissions leaf blowers in the hands of professional gardeners.The agency distributes about 1,500 new leaf blowers annually, said spokesman Sam Atwood."According to the E.P.A., a commercial blower emits 93 pounds per year of air pollutants. Multiplied out times 12,000, the units we have distributed have reduced 500 tons of pollutants since 2006," he said.So far, the district has distributed cleaner blowers manufactured by the company Stihl. The company has supplied trainings at the exchanges. Operators learn to use the blower like a broom, rolling the debris from one area to another where it can be collected, rather than blasting it in a cloud of dust, he said.The district helped support the development of backpack electric leaf blowers, which are just now becoming commercially available, he said. Atwood said the district hopes that it will get at least one proposal this year for a truly zero-emission, battery-powered leaf blower as part of its request for proposals."In demos, they seem to work very well, equal at least to a gas-powered blower. But it's a little premature to say how they will compare in the field to their gasoline counterparts," he said.For its part, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District is running a program to fund the purchase of new, battery-powered, zero-emission electric lawn and garden equipment in exchange for gasoline-powered lawn and garden equipment. The program is currently only operating in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, however.2nd PART:yes,its harmfulThe use of leaf blowers is harmful to our community as they emit a disturbing sound, pose multiple hazards to the health of the individuals in our community, and are harmful to the environment. They are an unnecessary tool as the same task can be completed with a broom and rake with no adverse effects to the community. Leaf blowers use fossil fuel in place of human effort and muscle, at the expense of our environment. Leaf blowers should be banned within the limits of Monrovia to protect the health and wellbeing of our community.The narrow frequency bandwidth of the noise emitted by leaf blowers, the whine, the pitch, is a particularly disturbing sound. The sounds these machines make regularly provoke people to rage. The constant use and over-use of leaf blowers reduces the productivity of our citizens (many people work at home), disturb sleeping infants and children, and they cause rise in blood pressure, adrenaline, heart rate and nervous stress.The World Health Organization recommends noise levels of 55 decibels or less, 45 decibels to meet sleep criteria. A leaf blower generally measures at least 70-75 decibels at 50 feel away and far higher at close range.The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that noise levels over 75 decibels can cause hearing loss and are harmful to human health.According to the California Air Resources Board the types of air pollutants emitted when using a gasoline-powered leaf blower for half an hour are equivalent to those emitted from 440 miles of automobile travel at 30mph average speed. Compared to an average large car, one hour of operation of a leaf blower emits 498 times as much hydrocarbons, 49 times as much particulate matter and 26 times as much carbon monoxide.A Grand Jury convened on the subject of leaf blowers in San Luis Obispo County, CA concluded that:"Considering the evidence... the health hazards citizens are exposed to from two-cycle leaf blowers outweigh the possible benefit they provide." The Grand Jury went on to recommend that all cities within that county initiate a phase out of leaf blowers.Dr Barry Boyd, an oncologist at our own Greenwich Hospital, testified to the Town of Greenwich Board of Health in 2005 that:Air pollution connected with leaf blowers worries him. He believes gasoline powered engines are the reason CT is the number one state in the country in incidences of breast cancer. He stated that one leaf blower, in one hour, pollutes the same amount as 40 cars idling on a lawn. "Connecticut has one of the highest rates of cancer," he said. "It is critical that we eliminate pollution from gasoline-powered engines where we can. Summertime is when Connecticut air is most polluted. A summertime ban on leaf blowers makes sense to me," he told the members.Every doctor affiliated with the Mt. Sinai Children's Environmental Health Center in New York City signed a letter submitted on April 22, 2010 by the Mt. Sinai Hospital supporting proposed restrictions on leaf blowers in Eastchester, NY. The Mt. Sinai team of doctors stated that:"Leaf blowers pose multiple hazards to human health. Children are the most susceptible members of our population to these hazards because they breathe more air per pound of body weight per day than adults and thus inhale more of any pollutants that are thrown into the air by this equipment. Children's vulnerability to the health effects of this equipment is further magnified by the fact that they are passing through the stages of early development, and thus their lungs, ears, eyes, and other organ systems are inherently more sensitive to environmental hazards than the organs of adults."The doctors went on to elaborate in great detail the specific hazards associated with leaf blowers, emphasizing the categories of: airborne pollutants, noise, and eye hazards.The American Lung Association of New York State submitted a letter in 2008 which "commends the towns and villages across the Lower Hudson Valley that took a positive step to protect lung health by passing leaf blower ordinances."June Kaminski, MSN, PhD candidate, studied leaf blowers and published an article entitled "Leaf Blowers Threaten Health." Dr Kaminiski discovered that: "theparticulates spewn into the air by leaf blowers contribute to and aggravate respiratory and allergy problems, as well as add a significant amount of pollution. They also dry and destroy the fragile top soil, hurting the environment." She found that "if landscape contractors [operating leaf blowers] are not protecting their ears with earplugs or earmuffs, they are routinely exosing their ears to sounds above 85 decibels--the level experts agree may threaten hearing over a period of time."Steve Zien, a professional landscaper and Executive Director of Biological Urban Gardening Services (BUGS), an international membership organization of primarily professional landscapers, states:BUGS has opposed the use of leaf blowers for many years for a variety of reasons. There are many hidden costs when utilizing blowers regularly. The leaf blower is perhaps the most over-used and inappropriately used landscape tool. Autumn's tremendous amout of organic debris that requires collection might be considered appropriate use of this tool. However, the weekly routine of blowing abuses the soil and damages landscape plants while the noise creates ill will from neighbors and clients alike.The landscape maintenance industry should join BUGS and take a positive approach to blower bans. Old fahsioned leaf raking can be a renewed service that their business could provide. It could be used as a selling point: no noise and environmentally sound too! Approach it right and they could charge the client an appropriate fee for this service, especially if blowers are banned. This could even become a major selling point for some companies. It could lead to business growth and the hiring of more personnel to mee the demand. Environmentally sound landscapers should be able to turn this kind of legislation into a positive for their businesses, making it work to their benefit.Noise and auditory damageGasoline powered leaf blowers create noise levels of 90-100 decibels at close range, and exceed the EPA's recommended maximum noise level of 80 decibels even at 50 feet. Many Santa Rosa residents in the high density neighborhoods regularly endure the noise of neighbors leaf blowers from less than 50 feet away! Repeated and/or sustained exposure to high noise levels damages the nerve endings in the ears and contributes to loss of hearing and deafness. Children are particularly vulnerable. Doctors at the Mt. Sinai Children's Environmental Health Center have documented the harmful health impact of leaf blowers on children, and have written letters in support of the leaf blower ban we are seeking.The World Health Organization recommends ambient noise levels of 55 decibels or less (Environmental Health Criteria 12: WHO).Noise and mental/emotional distressThe narrow frequency bandwidth of the noise emitted by leaf blowers, the whine, the pitch, is a particularly disturbing sound. The sounds these machines make regularly provoke people to rage. The constant use and over-use of leaf blowers reduces the productivity of our citizens (many people work at home), disturb sleeping infants and children, and they cause rise in blood pressure, adrenaline, heart rate and nervous stress. To put it mildly, they drive people crazy.Noise also degrades our quality of life. It reduces communication. It interferes with our ability to enjoy being outdoors, or taking walks, or working or playing in our own backyards. It is an uncivil and selfish act to subject one's neighbors to a half hour or hour of deafening noise every week in order to have a pristine lawn area.Worker safety and OSHAThe noise levels experienced by the operators of leaf blowers, are dangerous to their ears and can cause permanent hearing loss. The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSHA) requires hearing protection for any workers using equipment that generates noise over 85 dB. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) "there is an increasing predictable risk" of hearing damage from noise above 75 dB. According to the American Academy of Otolaryngology, half the wearers of hearing protectors do not get the expected benefit, due to improper fit or failure to wear them continuously. And many workers do not even wear protection at all. Not surprisingly, there is evidence of unusually high levels of hearing loss in landscape workers. Using leaf blowers commercially may violate OSHA.Breathing the particulate matter stirred up by and the emissions from the leaf blowers is also detrimental to worker health. Many landscape workers in Greenwich are operating leaf blowers a large part of every day, with undeniable adverse effect on their hearing and their lungs.Air pollution and emissions: carcinogensLeaf blowers contribute to smog and ozone pollution, a problem particularly in the warm months (which is the season we are seeking to ban their use). The inefficient two stroke engine on a leaf blower often releases as much as 25% of its raw, unburned gasoline in its exhaust, according to studies by the Air Resources Board of the CA EPA. The exhaust contains unacceptable levels of harmful hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen, both pollutants which contribute to smog and other health problems.Reducing the use of leaf blowers helps reduce levels of ozone, carbon monoxide, and fine particulate matter as regulated by the Clean Air Act. When the City of Los Angeles reduced the number of leaf blowers operating in the LA area by 1,500 it was estimated to eliminate up to 14 tons of harmful emissions annually.Among the substances blown into the air and respired are heavy metals, pesticides, and other carcinogenic substances. In addition, the exhaust from the two stroke engine also contains benzene and other carcinogens.Dr. Barry Boyd, a Greenwich Hospital oncologist has informed the member of the Greenwich Board of Health that:Air pollution connected with leaf blowers worries him. He believes gasoline powered engines are the reason CT is the number one state in the country in incidences of breast cancer. He stated that one leaf blower, in one hour, pollutes the same amount as 40 cars idling on a lawn. "Connecticut has one of the highest rates of cancer," he said. "It is critical that we eliminate pollution from gasoline-powered engines where we can. Summertime is when Connecticut air is most polluted. A summertime ban on leaf blowers makes sense to me," he told the members.Particulate matterLeaf blowers are a large contributor to particulate matter in our air, especially in summer, when particulate pollution is at its worst. The high velocity jets in leaf blowers blow into the air many unwanted and toxic elements. Various pollutants include dust, salt, lead, arsenic, mercury and other heavy metals, pesticides, fertilizers, fungicides, rodentides, herbicides, fungi, dirt, ash, mold, spores and fecal matter. Approximately 5 pounds of particulate matter per leaf blower per hour are blown into the air and can take hours and even days to settle. These particulates aggravate allergies. They also contribute to cardiac conditions such as arrhythimia and can cause heart attacks. Moreover, they contribute to pulmonary diseases such as bronchitis. Please visit EPA's web site about the health impacts of particulate matter: www.epa.gov/air/particlepollution.A Grand Jury in the Superior Court of California issued findings about the toxicity of leaf blowers and the health hazards associated with them. Contact us for a link to this study.Spread of pulmonary disease, asthma, and allergiesThe dust, pollen, spores and other particulate matter spread by leaf blowers exacerbates asthma, emphysema, and allergies. Children and the elderly are the most vulnerable segments of the population and are particularly impacted by the use, and abuse, of leaf blowers in our community. Nine doctors from the Mt. Sinai Children's Environmental Health Center wrote a letter supporting other town's restrictions on leaf blowers because of these and other health concerns. Contact us for a link to this study.Among the particulates thrown into the air by leaf blowers are dried fertilizers, and fecal and urinary matter of animals, including mice and other rodents. These substances have been linked to the spread of various respiratory diseases.Destruction of gardens and landscapes through compaction, dessication and loss of topsoilLeaf blowers blow a concentrated stream of hot air onto plants at 200 mph--higher speed and force than a hurricane. As professional landscaper Steve Zien says: "wind speeds in excess of 180 mph are currently blasting landscapes throughout [the country]. Leaves are ripped from branches, new growth and developing flowers are damaged and precious topsoil is blown away. Nurseries and Extension Agents are receiving more plant samples from gardeners indicating a tornado or hurricane devastated their landscape plants."Winds stress the fragile living material of plants, causing dehydration, burned leaves, and the suspension of photosynthesis and other natural plant functions. Overall growth is also slowed. Natural openings in the leaves that allow for the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide are sealed shut. Disease spores laying dormant on the soil or fallen debris are blown back onto plants where a little moisture can renew their cycle of infestation and damage. Blowers effectively distribute disease spores, weed seeds and insect eggs through the landscape and onto neighboring landscapes.Blowers create a disposal problem. Most landscapers do not compost their debris; they put it into sanitary landfill which are being rapidly filled to capacity. The organic material is a gardeners best friend and should remain on site to be recycled back into the landscape.Another hidden cost of leaf blowers is that they deprive flowers, shrubs, and trees of live-giving mulch. Without this natural blanket, erosion, water evaporation and the spread of disease all become problems. Mulch, when not blown away, creates a favorable growing environment for plants and beneficial organisms both above and below ground while adding nutrients to the plants' root zone. When mulch is removed to the compost and renewed annually many soil borne diseases are kept to a minimum.Disturbance of small mammals, birds, and insects, and their habitatNoise, toxic fumes, and hot air blown at hurricane force are all taking a toll on animals and birds in our landscapes. Even beneficial insects like earthworms and bees are being damaged by the assault of the leaf blowers most yards in Greenwich are subjected to. Nests and other habitat are disturbed; animals and birds are driven away by noise. Pollen, sap, and other natural plant substances are desiccated or simply sent airborne. Every living creature in the range of a leaf blower is harmfully impacted.Non-point source water pollutionAnother problem is the common practice of many landscapers to blow debris into the street, or into a neighboring property. When it is pushed into the street it often clogs storm drains and gutters, contributing to inefficient functioning of these drains and to increased flooding and erosion. At other times, the debris enters the drains and moves toxins and other unwanted material into our creeks, rivers and ultimately Long Island Sound, creating a significant new source of non-point source water pollution.The City of Santa Monica, CA forbids the use of leaf blowers because it recognizes the link between the toxic substances, including heavy metals and chemicals, which are pushed into gutters by leaf blowers and which end up in the already polluted Pacific Ocean and the rivers and bays that connect with it in the Santa Monica area.Overall carbon footprint and energy usageLeaf blowers accomplish collection of material inefficiently. They use fossil fuel in place of human effort and muscle, at the expense of our environment. Their two stroke engines use gasoline exceptionally inefficiently, spewing 25% of it unburned into the air through their emissions. Why use an engine to do what your arms can do more efficiently and with no harmful effects to humans, animals, or the environment? Americans are increasing in obesity and becoming more and more sedentary, in part because we no longer do even the simple and rewarding tasks, or tending our own gardens, cutting our grass ourselves, or raking autumn leaves.A University study showed that Americans spill 17 million gallons of gasoline per year refilling lawn mowers, leaf blowers, chain saws and other lawn and garden equipment. That's more than the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. Every time a leaf blower is refilled, toxic fumes called Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) can be released into the air. Spilling and overfilling equipment can also result in the release of VOCs. When VOCs react with the sun, ground-level ozone or smog is produced. Ozone can affect not only the lungs, but many other organs and systems of the body. Children, the elderly, and people with chronic illness are the most susceptible. Gasoline spilt on lawns can seep into the groundwater and waterways, affecting drinking water and polluting rivers, lakes, and oceans.