Cheaper, too
Cleaning up the shorelines is a noble cause but banning products and imposing new taxes are not necessarily the best solutions. Prohibit Styrofoam and plastics at the beach and folks will leave paper bags and other garbage behind. A surefire alternative is providing more than one receptacle or even a mini dumpster for litter. Won’t be used? The County Fair, Disneyland and other parks have receptacles in quantity and they are recognized for having clean, green grounds. Give a look. Folks use ‘em and even will separate recyclables from trash. Rather then spend a lotta dough enacting laws, which electeds luv doing, spend the dough on containers and make certain they are emptied frequently particularly on holidays. Stiffer fines for littering and tougher code enforcement will also help.
Holiday baskets
Kudos to the hundreds of volunteers who gave of their time and the folks who provided products for the Holiday Baskets that were distributed at the fairgrounds. More than 1,200 families enjoyed the true spirit of Christmas. Project for the 26th year was sponsored by Community Resource Center based in the Flower Capital.
Bob Baker marionettes
In the 1950s, Bob Baker delighted thousands of children at the County Fair (and grown ups, too) with marionettes that he personally made. The puppets on strings did their program on stage then went out into the audience and performed among the kids. Now past retirement age (he is 84), Baker still operates a marionette theatre on Beverly Boulevard in L.A. Unfortunately, it is in deep financial trouble. School children that were bused in are no longer coming becuz schools can’t afford to pay for transportation. Baker also is faced with rising rental costs and the IRS is askin’ why the marionettes haven’t ponied up their income tax. Baker sez his puppets want to continue delighting audiences instead of being crammed in boxes but … Maybe the County Fair and other venues can help by booking them on a Southland tour.
Torrey Pines paper scores nationally
Staff of the Torrey Pines High School newspaper, The Falconer, has reason to brag a little. At the JEA/NSPA national high school convention in St Louis, Mo., attended by reps from 300 schools, Falconer editor Christine Auwarter received the top Superior Award in the Literary Magazine write-off competition. Wow! She’s the daughter of Maria Elena and Neal Auwarter of Rancho Santa Fe. Congrats Falconers.
Lean start for Hollypark
In the first 20 days of its fall meeting, Hollywood Park at Inglewood was down 8 percent in attendance and off 13 percent in handle. More significant were the claims that were processed. This is the sale of Thoroughbreds on site on which there is a sales tax. The track gets a piece of the action. Sales were off 50 percent. On a local level, the Surfside City gets a cut of the sales tax that accrues at the fairgrounds and during the summer race meet. It’s a significant amount.
Checkpoints
During a recent Escondido checkpoint, gendarmes tagged 70 cars for a variety of reasons like drivers being plastered or having expired vehicle tags. A waste of time some naysayers are opining, but izzit? The city receives a percent of the fee that goes to the state so why not pick up this extra revenue during these cash-strapped times and also make the streets safer?
C’bad lookin’ at pensions
Hizzoner Bud Lewis of C’bad is taking a hard look at employees’ pension plans and likely there will be some modifications that other cities will adopt. C’bad is usually the leader.
Singing the carols
Solbeach’s 21st annual Christmas carols singalong was held Thursday in the Fletcher Cove Community Center. Dr. Ed Siegel led the capacity turnout as he has since he launched the holiday activity.
Food containers
Paper doggie bags instead of Styrofoam takeout containers at fast food joints and restaurants may become the norm. California Ocean Protection Council is recommending a ban on Styrofoam containers. It also wants to prohibit plastic goods and cigarette smoking on all beaches.
Shop at home
Solbeach has launched a Shop at Home campaign. It’s certainly a neat effort that benefits the local merchants, but howcum it went outta town to hire an outfit to develop the campaign?
One-liners
Lottsa Christmas trees for sale every where but no Holiday trees … Flower Capital elected Teresa Barth has been appointed to FACT, an organization that is promoting a system of coordinated transportation within the county to aid seniors and the disabled … Friends of the Cardiff library has scheduled its annual poetry slam, featuring the Full Moon Poets, on Jan. 7 in the library’s community room. While the New York Times was slashing its quarterly divided by 74 percent, North County Times was continuing to reduce its newsroom staff … The spectacular Holiday Of Lights at the fairgrounds continues nightly through Jan. 4 … In case you haven’t noticed, some credit card companies have raised interest rates and lowered credit limits even for folks who always pay on schedule … San Diego County Farm Bureau has named Luawanna Hallstrom of O’side as its Farmer of the Year … State law now makes it illegal to dump waste (needles) stuff into the trash or recycling bins and requires they be taken to collection centers in approved containers … Rancho Santa Fe Assn.’s involvement in future incorporation efforts is now a no no following a vote on an initiative that was approved by a 875 voters from a total of 1,22l who cast ballots … In Solbeach it’s now legal to operate golf carts on Lomas Santa Fe streets east of I-5 if a $20 permit has been obtained.
Merry Christmas! & Hasta la Vista
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