In our weekly newspaper there was an opinion from a recent newcomer to our small mountain town. She didn't say were she was from but her attitude was strictly from, as we say here, "Down Below" or L.A. She stated while on her own property she could see a Confederate Flag flying from a flag pole in "her" neighborhood (no it's not my flag). Appalled, she promptly visited the local police station to file a complaint where she was told it was private on property. She persisted, in her words "delved into it more" until she was told by the police she was "short-minded" and again, as she puts it, "got torn apart by the police staff for caring about something that can be easily construed as a "hate" symbol."

Here we are, a small town, where everyone only wishes to own and do what they want, on their own property. Then "Home and Garden" discovers us and names our town one the top 10 places to live in America. Now we have "short-minded" people coming here and attempt to take our rights away so they can have the luxury of living in the small mountain town as they see it should be.

I'm surprised she only saw one Confederate Flag flying here, I've noticed at least a half dozen over the years. There's something she surely doesn't realize, this small town, during the Civil War, was a known Confederate haven, settled by families from Alabama before the war. My house sits on the original site of that settlement. It was such a worry to the Unionist of the state that nearby old abandoned fort, Fort Tejon, was remanned by state militia to watch over the area.

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David Upton
Tehachapi, Ca.