After we ran a Hike of the Week column highlighting the Steep Ravine cabins, Frank Egger wrote in about the history behind the cabins. Send your letters to the editor to kellyd@patch.com. We almost lost Steep Ravine Cabins in the late 1970s when the California State Parks Department decided to tear them down. The state had received bad publicity when a San Francisco daily paper's investigative reporter wrote a story about how folks with political influence gave their friends first choice on staying at the cabins. Publically-owned property, but using them depended on who you knew.State Parks …

Last week, American Legion Auxiliary San Anselmo Unit 179 celebrated its first birthday, and the members from all over the county would like to thank the people of Marin for their support and generosity. During our first year, we shipped 712 care packages to troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Just before Christmas last year, we sent them 130 holiday stockings. Since our Hugs from Home project was launched, we have sent 131 hugs bags, filled with personal toiletry items for the troops. Our members have made and distributed nearly 800 cooling scarves as well as dozens of hand-knitted items…

-- Written by Valeri Hood, Fairfax The Marin Independent Journal editorial on Smart Meters this past Thursday is incorrect and may lead to false confidence in California's Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The CPUC has done no testing, never does. The CPUC's own San Bruno Panel's Report has been confirmed by the National Transportation and Safety Board findings. Both found the CPUC woefully inadequate in providing customer safety. Its staff has no opportunity to attend seminars or update training; they do not use consultants who could provide expertise; and there is no money to allow better…

The following is a letter from Deborah Monaghan: On Wednesday, as I was doing errands in downtown San Anselmo and downtown Fairfax someone backed into my car, crushed the bumper and took off. No one around flagged me down, or to my knowledge saw anything. I'm unemployed and now out my $500 deductible to fix it. In the city I would have expected this behavior, but here I thought, maybe idealistically, that it would be different - I mean they leave the plants out at the nursery.  A couple of things come to mind as I've been aggressively chewing on this experience. One is that the quality of …

Fresh fruits and vegetables hold a special space in Marin County’s health-conscious lifestyle. We cherish our farmer’s markets, our community gardens, and our connection to the Earth and to the people who grow the foods we love to eat. We recognize how the raw ingredients in our fresh salads can hold the key to a long and healthy life, and in Marin County we are among the country’s most avid consumers of fresh produce of all kinds. But what if our salads could kill us? That’s what people throughout Germany and other European countries are asking now, as they grapple with an outbreak of E coli…

Harry Truman said “If you can’t convince them; confuse them” and I believe this is the game plan for Larkspur Councilman Dan Hillmer and others who are working hard to mislead the community about the Ross Valley Sanitary District and its proposed rate increase. The district wants to hear and consider opposing points of view and different ideas, but it’s frustrating when critics continually use false information to manipulate the public we serve. What is the point when the facts are available to anyone who chooses to review them? I know I don’t want to make a decision based on false …

This letter to the editor originally ran on Larkspur-Corte Madera Patch and in the Marin Independent Journal. It is rerun here. A state law, Proposition 218, which allows the Ross Valley Sanitary District to increase sewer rates, is unfair. It allows a large rate increase of about 60 percent to be approved — unless a majority of property owners protest, in writing, by June 28. It is my opinion that the board's explanations for the rate increase are not credible and that the notice is misleading with no analysis. For example, the district rate increase notice states: "The purpose of this rate …

Submit your own letters to the editor by emailing kellyd@patch.com. Parameters for letters are here. In response the article on San Anselmo-Fairfax Patch " it is unfortunate that the Fairfax Town Council terminated the Sept. 2010 contract for Muni Services to provide discovery, audit and business license administration services to the town and its constituents, amounting to an estimated annual savings of more than $30,000. Three primary issues were voiced by some Fairfax businesses that pay the business license fee, namely outsourcing the work, contracting with businesses outside of Fairfax, …

Since San Anselmo-Fairfax Patch launched at the end of July, it's been good to see participation from the community. You all share photographs, write columns and create announcements and events. People post comments nearly every day. I've also heard directly from many of you, with suggestions and feedback about our stories. (And, I always tell you to share your ideas with everyone, not just me, by posting them on the site!) There's another way you can get involved, though it may not immediately be apparent. I wanted to take a moment to extend an invitation to every member of the community to …