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I am writing to you as a concerned resident of 290 White Cottage Road South in Angwin.

On county road

Thanks to the Register for reporting on the Community Forum on the Impact of Homeless held at Napa City Hall on Wednesday, March 21. Homelessness is a complex and far-reaching issue, and it is difficult to capture its impact in a two-hour meeting or even a front-page story — or a series of stories — in the paper.

According to the recent letter, “Theology, Science Don’t Mix” (March 30), “evolutionary theory … is based on observable data.” It would, however, seem quite plain that evolution is actually based on unobservable data, if for no other reason than that the past is, by nature, unobservable, untestable and unrepeatable. Though we’d love to, we can’t go see it.

As most of us know, there has been a rash of violent crime in Napa lately, some involving the homeless and some not. For some strange or telling reason, Ryan, who was shot downtown; Juan, who was fatally stabbed downtown; Tim, who was killed in a pedestrian-vs.-vehicle incident uptown; and Moises, who sustained injuries to his head down valley, were all meek men who were quiet and giving individuals. I have seen Ryan many times help people with their vehicles, Tim help other homeless folk in their recycling efforts, Juan reach out with a big grin long before a handshake to people who he knew and those that he never laid eyes on before. You pretty much need the Jaws of Life to pry a word from the lips of mi amigo Moises, and when you Google “Heart of Gold,” you will probably find Neil Young and a picture of my man Moises. The common strain here is civility. The common strain here is human decency. Save Moises and a very fortunate Ryan, if the meek and mild shall indeed inherit the earth, then this duo of decedents are in heaven for basic training. Unfortunately, we have yet to see the level of violence that will be visited upon this great city of ours. As the courts have ruled that California cannot forcefully outsource some of her prison population to alleviate massive overcrowding, soon, many nonviolent felons will be unleashed to the county of their origin, Napa, and they will occupy many of the beds at the homeless shelters, as mandated by state law.

This is in response to a letter by Alex Varga in the March 30 Napa Register (“Theology, science don’t mix”).

Returning to Napa from Los Angeles for the first time since Christmas, I found copies of the Register stacked on our kitchen table.