" Sabertooth cugars on the prowl.. Gotta love it! You go girl! "

" Did she try to call a relative, neighbor, or friend? Did she try to use a screwdriver? The Fire Department should be the last call made in a non-emergency situation. "

" Cute story, but how about calling a locksmith next time. "

" This was not an emergency and the fire department should have refused the call. Capt Vick made a mistake and should reimburse the taxpayers for the cost of the call. The fire chief should discipline him for wasting taxpayer money.

The lady should have called a locksmith and paid the cost, now the taxpayers are on the hook for her mistake. "

" Why not a locksmith!!? Outrageous! This was no emergency. What if someone was dying from a real emergency, but the fire department's manpower was doing a locksmith's job? I'd feel pretty rotten about that. Plus our tax-dollars paying for a locksmith's job. How about we send YOU the bill? "

" manxkat - you are such a party pooper.

How very Republican to get all worried about taxes and procedure such that you totally missed the 'Joy'!

Sheesh! It's bad when LIBRULZ do it but worse when 'conservatives' do it!!!

~Ruff "

" Waste of city resources "

" Oh for the love of...

What is wrong with you people? Really. There is something wrong with you. Get some sunshine. Take a walk and look at the leaves on the trees with their bright colors. Anything that might perk you up a bit. You are SO depressing.

Hmmm... Thanksgiving weekend. A locksmith might not be open for business. She asked one of her guests to help open the door and that didn’t work. So, Betty called 911 for help. Dispatch knew this was not a life or death emergency. If a higher priority call came in at the same time the firefighters would have been immediately dispatched to the higher priority.

Manxkat – your posts run pretty much on the bitter side of life. No puppy as a child? “The fire chief should discipline [Capt Vick ] for wasting taxpayer money.” Get a grip.

To suggest that if firefighters are not sitting in the fire truck, engine running, at the station, waiting for an emergency call is either grossly uninformed or knowingly deceptive.

So, during the holidays, at a time when there was no other pressing emergency, our city firefighters helped a woman who could not open the door to free her dog. And the only reason our local Scrooges are able to whine at all is because Ms. Rhodes was gracious enough to write a public thank you letter to Capt. Ron Vick, Joe Valenzuela and Jason Berens.

Well, I say, “Way to go guys!” and special thanks to Betty for taking the time to say thank you.

walktothepark – manxkat – hawkeye – jeepracer10: The ghost of Christmas awaits you. "

" No kidding Strait Talk. "

" Straight Talk: I like it when you wade in. Your comments are so emotional protective of everything that is wrong with government. Your type of government official is exactly what the framers of the Constitution were worried about in representative democracy. That is why they had term limits in the Continental Congress. They didn't trust you then and we don't trust you now. By the way, when are you going to remove your campaign signs from the corner of Silerado Trail and Monticello Road? You are violating the law having them out there more than 20 days after the election. "

" manxkat - wrong on the facts again. Signs are already taken down. Nice try though.

You are right though that my comments are emotionally protective. I really am compelled to comment when people make comments that seem really silly and misinformed.

If you read my comment, I was appluading both our public employees and Ms. Rhodes for thanking them. Our public employees deserve and appreciate thanks when offered.

Another broad-stroke comment (again) that I'm "protective of everything that is wrong with government." Really? Everything? My goodness. And I've only been working in government for four and a half years. How quickly we normal, working people are corrupted. :-) "

" StraightTalk - If some crankscat gets torqued off that you haven't taken down your signs yet, I have a suggestion.

Take them down for 24 hours and then put them back up until inauguration day.

~Ruff "

" Well there you have it! Manxkat doesn't mind if government lets his/her house burn down. "

" Serious note on the campaign signs - manxkat is right. They need to come down.

I have taken down all I have seen. If anyone knows of any signs in public view for Mark van Gorder for Napa City Council, please let me know where they are and I'll do my best to pick them up this week.

If anyone has my signs please put them in the recycling bin.

Thanks for your help and support.

MvG "

" It does seem there are way too many gringes in our community (though, comments are appreciated from Straight Talk & others).

Did any of the writers happen to notice this: "I tell you, girls, they were all...just about my grandson’s ages." (I am guessing that means at least one of our seniors).

It is possible that this BettyR is one of our golden girls who has been involved in positive ways with our community in numbers of ways & many-a-year.

Whether she is "the" Betty or not, I would consider her an elder and deserving of a warm-hearted hand. "

" Next time I see a possible crime in progress, I'll try to resist calling the police. Maybe they're moving, not robbing a home. I wouldn't want to waste manxcat's tax dollars. "

" LOL Manxcat, too bad the NVR chose NOT to post MY comment about the waste of time/money involved.

No one would have even thought about criticising you... "

" Ok...I think I have shown myself to be pretty darn conservative through some of my posts and while I am registered as a Republican I really lean more towards the Libertarian view of things. Usually, Kevin and the rest of the non "librulz" on here, I agree with you. But on this? What the heck? It was a nice little story. My brother-in-law is a fire-medic and you know what they do when they are on duty waiting for calls? They usually sit around the fire house. True, in some, if not all departments if an engine is driven any further than the end of the driveway they have to wash it, so it cost us tax payers some city water and a little fuel (which has come waaay down recently). Those guys were already on the clock, and they got to go do something in the middle of the day. They got to go help a lady who is apparently about the age of their grandmothers. SO WHAT? I gotta agree with Ruff and the rest on this one. "

" A cute story from a grandmother, glad she got her Chip'n'Dales moment. However, 911 as a second choice? People need to allow common sense to intervene before using emergency services. "

" Cute story indeed. This is why Firemen are the most over paid, over pensioned, over staffed and UNDER WORKED catagory of public worker there is. 90% of fire calls are paramedic. Fire these jokers and hire Piners and save millions. Piners shows up at most 911 calls anyway and they always beat the fiemen to the scene. With this economy, cute don't cut it anymore. We need to restucture the Fire Department. "

" No Piners. Yuck "

" Yeah, the Piner's guys might not be as good looking. >:-) "

" manxkat
You really should go to the animal shelter and adot a puppy named CLUE, that way you would have one! "

" Cmon, It was a cute story.
Do you think the 911 operator (if that was in fact the actual number she called, maybe she called dispatch)
Didn't get the paticulars before they sent someone out?
Those guys probably accepted the call because they were doing nothing else at the station. They went to the call fully prepared to divert to a real emergency.
A good story that in some ways shows.
Napa is still a "small town" "