From The Publisher

Eileen Heinz Majors

Welcome Spring and all the new energy that will come with it, as gardeners get back in their yards, seasonal residents return to many areas of NorCal and many schools ready themselves for a long summer break.

Every school is faced with a renewed focus on safety and security. These recent months have delivered shocking news of horrifying situations, from school shooting to multiple charges of in-home child abuse that, for one family, allegedly lasted for decades. So many warning signs were ignored out of the good old notion that as neighbors, co-workers and minglers in society, we should mind our own business.

Unfortunately things have changed; there are unspeakable signs present in communities going unnoticed. It’s time for a good new notion that we should all keep our eyes open a little wider.

May peace surround our nation. May wisdom be heightened in our communites, the wisdom to notice signs of potential problems and the persistance to notify authorities, even if it takes more than one call. Authorities are taking very seriously their responsibility for acting on information that may result in the protection of even one child, but they will need the eyes and ears of co-workers, neighbors and others to point out where to look.

I believe more of us, many more of us, will strive to notice more, to question situations that seem wrong and actions that seem inappropriate or potentially dangerous to others.

These times, they are indeed changing and if there is a way to potentially protect one child  from abuse or a school full of children from danger, it will likely be through the wisdom of neighbors, friends and co-workers, wise enough to pay attention to others around them even if they have previously been conditioned by society to mind their own business.