With the city of Del Mar following Solana Beach’s lead this week in banning cigarette smoking at all its parks and beaches, we’ve got to wonder what the other jurisdictions in our area are waiting for.

In the throes of a heated political debate, the real issues often fall by the wayside.

I’m not going to sell my assets to save this business,� Paul Ecke III told the Union-Tribune recently. “It would be foolish to do that.�

Prepare yourselves, as this is one of my rare “happy” columns where I wax Pollyanna with nary a complaint.

The June deadline for the state budget is an annual problem. Here is a simple solution.