January 9, 2009

On Point

Happy new year!

By Bill Highlander
Editor

We have begun a new year and many people are happy to be done with 2008. The crisis in the housing and financial markets has affected everyone. Greed for sure, incompetence maybe, and arrogance of Madoff, Blagojevich and others have eroded public confidence. We are in a recession. Un-employment figures keep climbing. Retail stores are closing their doors. It could get worse before it gets better.

The concerns are real, but there is hope and optimism. A few days from now, we will have a new Pres-ident of the United States. New leadership, new ideas and new programs may put the country back on track.

The USA has recovered from bad times before and will again. Housing prices will rise. Credit will become available. Consumers will start buying. And people will find jobs.

The situation is serious, but not dire. Employment is still above 90 percent. Food still has to be purchased. Children will keep going to school. The American spirit will endure.

There are plenty of folks doing good deed and helping others. Over the holidays, we observed the acts of kindness toward those in need. People continue to give time and money for good causes.

An example is the Youth Science Institute. Faced with having to shut down and stop providing educational services, a fund drive to raise $300,000 is very near goal. Donations are coming in and the expectation is that they will make it. If interested in helping, go to its web site.

The Boy and Girl Scouts continue their Good Turns in the community. One of the entertaining aspects of Scouting is the annual Pinewood Derby, scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 7 at the Eastridge Mall. The kids always show great creativity in building the racers.

Volunteers are encouraged to take part in the graffiti clean-up program. San Jose provides equipment to get rid of the blight on our neighborhoods caused by punks who have no regard for others. They should not be tolerated. See the announcement in today’s paper about the clean-up program.

Economic conditions have also hit the Evergreen Times. Ad revenue is down and our page count is down. I would like to provide more news coverage and I have suspended Street Talk for now, but hope we can bring it back soon.

Everyone is watching the family budget, but people still shop and eat out occasionally. I encourage you to shop with our advertisers and tell them you have seen their ads.