Krotee Didn't Help His Heights Communty

Last week a Newport Beach Hearing Officer denied the request for
"Reasonable Accommodation" to Pacific Shores Recovery which you
may know runs the sober homes whose 3 house-campus compound
is on the corner of Clay\Orange in Newport Heights. This means that
that surrounding Community in Newport Heights may get relief
from the 50 bed sober home operating there for the past 1-2 years.

However, Mr. Don Krotee, the Newport Heights Association President,
chose not to appear before the Hearing on behalf of his Newport Heights
constituency, while many of us from the outlying areas of the Newport
Beach community did appear and wondered, given Krotee's touted
local leadership role, where he was for that Hearing.

This sober home is one of the worst cases of Rehab/Group Home Over-
concentration in the City and even though the Clay\Orange site and is
within 8-10 blocks from Krotee’s house. The sober home compound is
not close enough to Krotee’s house to actually affect him personally as
it does others in his Newport Heights area, yet Krotee was a “no-show.”
And nope … Krotee didn’t even send in a letter for the record as to his
position on the matter....Krotee did nothing to help his fellow Newport
Heights residents.

But Krotee has been well known for defending and rationalizing exploits
of a number of ethically misguided and self-interested public officials.
The list of names, as you can guess, includes the usual suspects that we've
become familiar with over the last several years. Public officals who have
survived politically by giving out favors or public officals that were found
to be actually profiteering from the very same Drug Rehab industry that
now has found its way into Krotee's Newport Heights. Another of these public
officals was recently found to be using his position to evade the enforcement
of City Municiple Codes concerning a property he owns in Newport. Lovely.

Don Krotee has gone out of his way in the past to defend and rationalize
the actions of these public offials, but didn't lift a finger for his own Heights
Community suffering from over-concentraton. Lovely.

For this reason Don Krotee…from now on I will consider you to be one of the
biggest and most enabling HYPOCRITES that our Community has to offer.

NIMBY’s (would Krotee behaved differently if it were in his own backyard?)
like you Krotee are one of the reasons why we have such misguided public
officals still in power and that certain areas within our Community suffer
so disproportionately from self-interested, political representation. I bet it
makes you feel good in your silence and defense of them, to sit back, sipping
fine wine, puffing out your chest and priding yourself as to your "leadership"
and "importance" and how much you have "contributed" to the Community
while your Heights neighbors, surrounding Pacific Shores, suffer from the
effects of the laxness and the duplicity of some of the very same public officials.

Ultimately, you denied your neighbors. In my eyes...Krotee, you're worthless.

Bob Rush

Our local hero!

There have been some great sports moments. The
"Immaculate Reception" by Franco Harris from Terry
Bradshaw against the evil Al Davis Raiders! The
"Miracle on Ice" against the Russians at the Olympics.
Or, the bases loaded home run against the Jim Fregosi
Angels by the dreaded Boston Red Socks...

We won't go on here too much. Each and every sports
fan has a few of their own special moments. Hey,
what about those "Show Time Lakers" with Magic and
Kareem, James Worthy and Coop? Sorry, that was special
as well. But what about sports you hardly think about
much? Tennis, Golf or Soccer? Well, ever since Bjorn
Borg got out of tennis, along with John McEnroe, Jimmy
Connors and Ile Nastasi...our fan hours watching Tennis
has been restricted to watching Maria Sharapova, because
Chris Everett was always our favorite up until then!

Soccer? No, Beckham was supposed to change our whole
view of this very European, South American sport! Hey,
Brazil is still hot to watch. Saturday El Salvador was
playing the US in a qualifying match and after the quicker
Salvadorians scored 2 goals to nil....we had to shut the
game off...it was just two painful to watch. In the
paper the next day..we found out that the US had come
back in 88 minute of a 90 minute match to tie! Brutal.
Soccer....we save that for World Cup matches with Italy,
Britain, France, Brazil, Argentina, Germany and maybe
Sweden or Netherlands....when it comes to the girls.

OK, now on to Golf....."Tiger Woods". That's it....we
don't have to say more than that. For those those don't
know...Tiger has a house in Newport Beach..."they say".
He has one in Florida too.....but for all intent purposes
...he is our local hero. Don't forget we have Kobe too!!
Kobe maybe having trouble with his old housekeeper fired
over a year ago...but everyone knows....people just love
to sue Kobe!

So, Tiger has another beautiful baby - that's two...a
beautiful Swedish wife and all the known Golden Golf
talent in the world. You don't have to know the difference
between a birdie and a sand trap...to appreciate Tiger's
unbelieveable skills. Yesterday, he started out 5 strokes
back from the leader at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The young pretender Sean O'Hair never had a chance from
the beginning. Tiger was "in the zone" and was living
in "Tiger Land" and steadily caught up to the 26 year old.

It had been nine and half months since Tiger had his very
serious knee surgery repair and won his last tournament.
The scored was tied on the green of the 18th hole at the
Bay Hill Country Club in North Carolina. The sun had set
and only the bearest of light remained. When O'Hair missed
his 22 foot putt for birdie...by two feet..that left a 16
footer for Tiger to make birdie and win the tournament
outright!

OK, the ball had eyes! Of course it went in, of course
Tiger won his sixth major at the Arnold Palmer! Of,
course this well could be the greatest comeback after a
sports surgery ever! Nah, Tiger is an alien. Tiger puts
magnets in the bottom of the cups on every tee. His clubs
are made of Kryptonite! The balls all have nano radar
controlled movement from a spy in sky space satallite!
Those guys in St. Louis, running those radio controlled
drones for the Army all stop what they are doing every
time Tiger pulls out his putter! They aim their lasers
and fire! "Tiger Wins"..."Tiger Wins"...our local hero!

The Small R "republicans" on the Newport Beach City Council

I've been complaining of it for a while, Newport Beach has Six of the Seven Council members as "registered" republicans, who truly do not act as Republicans, between the...

• Borrowing to balance the budget,
  
• The City Council telling Newport Beach restaurants what kind of containers they may use,
• The UTTER control of the City Council by the Police and Fire Unions, where City Council candidates PROUDLY TOUT their Union Endorsements,
  
• The building, and BORROWING to build, of a new White Elephant in the Park (City Hall), primarily because they keep hiring and hiring more City Employees, drastically increasing the size of local government.
  
• The City have MORE EMPLOYEES PER RESIDENT than a truly Communist-controlled Irvine, or more than a Democrat-led Huntington Beach. Most glaring example? How about having SEVEN Council members while most EVERY OTHER CITY have only Five.

Out of the Fabulous 6 republicans on the City Council, it takes the only non-Republican Councilwoman Nancy Gardner to make the most Conservative statement to the LA Times when discussing the aforementioned White Elephant,

"The interesting thing about Newport Beach," Gardner says, "is that while we have a lot of money, we also have a lot of fiscal conservatives. There were a lot of people from the beginning who said not only do we not need a new City Hall, we need fewer employees.""

So what's the latest and greatest, the Smoking Ban in public places proposal.

Fortunately, Mayor Ed Selich and Councilwoman Leslie Daigle are firmly against it.

However, the other FIVE (Bureaucrat Don Webb, the newest Republican Mike Henn, DTS, and former Green Party member, Nancy Gardner, slum lord Steve Rosansky, and Keith Curry...KEITH CURRY???) may support the ban.

Keith Curry? Lincoln Club Keith Curry? Conservative Republican Keith Curry? Endorsed by the Republican Party of Orange County Keith Curry? He doesn't outright oppose the ban like Mayor Ed and Councilwoman Leslie?

How do we get the public aware of this issue?

With that said, THANK GOD FOR FRANK MICKADEIT!

Why?

His latest column in the OC Register most adeptly named,

"Newport: most-liberal O.C. city?"

The outrage towards this latest example of Big Brother City Council governance is now spreading a bit and hopefully the thumb will be pressed, and pressed hard to stop it.

And word has it that if this ban is proposed, a Resolution by the Republican Party of Orange County to oppose it and the Censure of the republicans on the City Council who support it will be requested.

Not that this would matter to any of the small Rs, but it may matter to one who likes to tout his Conservative Republican credentials.

And consider this angle as well, which is non-partisan political slanted, this would be a tourism and restaurant business killer too.

Even the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce is expected to come out against the ban with Newport Beach Chamber's CEO Richard Luehrs telling Frank Mickadeit,

"Newport Beach is a destination for a lot of international travelers, and some of these people have a higher propensity to smoke."

The Balboa Underground!

"You can lead a horse to water...but you can't make
them drink!"....is the old saying! Heck, it doesn't
take much imagination to know how invasive those
telephone poles are in the alleys on Balboa Island.
If they had a buck for every time someone put a dent
in their car or someone else because of them....you
could be pretty close to a millionaire.

Well, cheap is cheap! There is always a reason why
people don't understand the benefit to a beautiful
surrounding. One of the best was Sid Souffer. He
had several rusted out Cadillacs that he thought were
art! He had no qualms about going to jail rather than
to move his beloved Jack N'the Beanstalk mantle pieces.
He even moved to Las Vegas...when the Judge wanted him
in jail for contempt! Hey, Newport Beach has heritage!

Today, Brother Bob....we will call him has taken up
the Sid Souffer mantle. He is directly against putting
all those exposed telephone poles and wires underground
unless he can get it for wholesale! You see Brother Bob
is part of the pavement on Balboa Island...for many many
years. He just so happens to have his house situated
on two lots. So, you can kind of understand why he may
not want to pay double....from everyone else..when it
comes to cleaning up an oversight of over 50 years!

The reality is that Undergrouding Utilities is not just
for artistic purposes. When an electrical line breaks
when overhead..it can land on a house and start a fire.
When undergrounded it will trip a breaker and could be
an inconvenience to a few people till Edison can get by
to fix it. The most important service undergrounding
accomplishes.....is freeing space for expanded alley
access, walk-ways and certainly less places for politicians
to slap their ugly electioneering! The other biggie is
the one we mentioned before: When people come down to
visit and want to park in back of your house....they may
in fact make it through the whole week-end without a dent
on their BMW or Mercedes. The kids won't crash into the
power pole either. And as far a mom is concerned: "This
is just great....and now our neighborhood is so pretty!"

So, to Bob and the rest of the curmudgeons that don't want
to clean up the neighborhood: "Those moths will fly out
of your wallet whether you underground or not!" It can
serve our community to a great degree, if this one time
you might just dummy up and take care of business!

Newport Beach City Manager Guilty of a Misdemeanor?

Hmmmm...

Intermixed in the Daily Pilot's story about whether embattled Newport Beach Police Chief John Klein should keep his job, is this interesting tidbit.

"City Ordinance No. 866 requires the chief to be selected from a list of candidates. That list is compiled through an “open” recruitment, meaning a recruitment “not restricted to city employees,” according to the ordinance.

In the March 2 Civil Service Board staff report, and confirmed by a city official, Newport Beach City Manager Homer Bludau recruited Klein from a closed recruitment, meaning it was limited to city employees.

Bludau acknowledged his intentions in a May 2006 board meeting, according to the board minutes."

and during that May 2006 board meeting,

"...he plainly told board members he’d be looking to go along with the “intent” of the ordinance for recruiting the chief, though he wouldn’t follow it."

So according to this, and the Daily Pilot, Newport Beach's City Manager knowingly and intentionally broke his own city's law and according to the Daily Pilot, is

"...apparently is guilty of a misdemeanor?"

Wow.

However...

"No one is suggesting that Bludau should actually be charged with a misdemeanor."

So let me get this straight then...

1. The City of Newport Beach has laws.
2. The City Manager INTENTIONALLY breaks one particular ordinance which has a MAJOR INFLUENCE IN PROTECTING NEWPORT BEACH'S RESIDENTS AND VISITORS.
3. The City Manager should be held to the standards of the law/society by being held accountable for INTENTIONALLY breaking the law. But he's not going to be?
   

Now...if he accidentally broke the law...could there be some slack given to him?

Sure.

But, according to the Daily Pilot article, he knew full well of the ordinance but had NO INTENTION IN FOLLOWING IT.

Wow.

I have a question.

For "normal" folks, it was well known of the discord within the Newport Beach Police Department.

Barbara Venezia wrote about it a couple of times, and was then publicly chastised for them until this latest lawsuit blew wide open.

The Newport Beach Police Union even circulated documents in 2006 indicating that they were losing Police Officers to other Police Departments (higher paying), but surprisingly were also losing Police Officers who were going BACK TO THE LAPD AND BACK TO THE ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, many times for LESS PAY than what Newport Beach was offering.

So pay wasn't an issue for those officers.

Morale was.

and if I knew about these "issues" within the Newport Beach Police Department, you'd better be sure that our City Manager knew about those issues and concerns.

So why would Homer Bludau completely ignore these morale issues and not even bother making an effort to fix it by looking outside of the Newport Beach Police Department management for their new Chief?

The City of Newport Beach will be paying out $1.2 million bucks based upon lapses in the Department's morale...why should the City Manager have to worry about fixing it.

He's retiring soon.

Won't have to worry about the consequences of him ignoring the City's laws.

Won't have to worry about John Wayne airport (remember this quote from the LA Times, "My nervousness will start Jan. 1, 2016, when the agreement goes away...")

Won't have to worry about paying for the morale lapses in the City he manages...

Now...I'm sure the consequences of this misdemeanor offense is minimal, if any at all, but PLEASE, make him accountable to intentionally breaking the law and set that example that

NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW!

...not even our City Manager.

Councilwoman Leslie "Wordsmith" Daigle LOVES Pork!

You know...every time Councilwoman Daigle writes something in the papers (here and here...as examples) I really, really try to read it with an open mind...

...and make sure I have extra time to read the opinion piece over and over again to make sure I truly and fully understand what I'm reading.

The latest Daily Pilot article is no exception.

Councilwoman Daigle is apparently thanking the Orange County Delegation in Washington DC, as well as US Senators Feinstein and Boxer for EARMARKING $2.87 million bucks in the 2009 Omnibus package to help with the continuing Bay Dredging on the Upper Newport Back Bay.

For those of us who weren't too sure about the Omnibus bill, it essentially,

"2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act totals about $410 billion and covers funding for fiscal year 2009 for the nine federal agencies that were not funded under the regular appropriations process last year."

and (in my mind too)

"Even a recession and record $1.4 trillion budge deficit has not altered Congress' business-as-usual culture of spending and pork"

with it's 9287 earmarks of porky pork.

But...alas!

This bit of pork helps Newport Beach's Back Bay, so that's good right?

Well...let's continue with Daigle's opinion piece...

After reading it the fourth time, I still found myself a bit confused...

She says,

"The City Council is requesting $13.1 million in stimulus funds to complete the project. The project is shovel-ready, an important feature for stimulus funding."

Got it, the project is $13.1 million bucks short, so we need more money.

I'm a bit confused about how completely funding this project helps stimulate the American Economy, but...I continue.

"The City Council also requested that members of Congress provide $15 million in stimulus funds to the Corps for harbor dredging (which is not shovel ready). Dredging the federal channel is an on-going obligation of the Corps."

Wait a minute. I know it's tax season and I know that I'm a easily confused (even when it's not tax season)...

but...

Are we asking for an additional $15 million dollars on top of the original $13.1 million bucks?

So we are asking for $28.1 million total?

That cannot be right?

(Pause, while I re-read the article again...)

So, I think I have it.

1. We received $2.87 million dollars to help with the Upper Bay Project.
2. We are requesting another $13.1 million dollars to finish the Upper Bay Project.
3. We are then requesting a cool $15 million bucks to dredge the Newport Harbor.

I guess all that makes sense.

We scratch and claw for $2.87 million dollars...why not then ask for another $28.1 million dollars right?

Since President Obama is doling the dollars out willy nilly, why not ask for an additional $100 million bucks to build our New White Elephant in the Park (City Hall...to remind you all of that)?

Well...let's now go back to Councilwoman Daigle's eloquence...

The last half of her opinion piece was very easy to understand.

Why?

Because it was written exactly how Junior High School kids are instructed to write...and I'm not making ANYTHING up here...

"The City Council is..."

"Upper Newport Bay is..."

"The City Council also requested..."

"The harbor-dredging project is..."

"The Corps is..."

"The city appreciates..."

"The city is..."

I'm not kidding here...that is exactly how each one of the paragraphs starts for the last half of her piece.

But I'm sure my Elementary School Teacher Ex-Wife would appreciate Daigle starting each sentence off with a Noun and a Verb.

So herein lies the simplicity of the writing mixed in with the utter confusion of the content which gives us the opinions of the Daigle who wanted to be Mayor of Newport Beach...

Huntington Beach Goes for the Video City title!

Huntington Beach is right across the Santa Ana River
from the City of Newport Beach....with a border to
Costa Mesa a stone throw up that same SA River flood
control channel. When we moved here in 1952 that
border was a long way from any residential building.
Hey, we even had Oil Rigs by Newport Shores...in the
now Banning Ranch area. Huntington Beach was rough, it
had a reputation that said: "We are Barstow south!" "We
have Oil Rigs and we are the Huntington Beach Oilers!"
Their bars were rough and even the Golden Bear seemed
at times....dangerous!

Even the HB beach kids were different from Newport Beach
or Seal Beach or Sunset Beach. Huntington Beach had
Oil Wells....and they were dirty but rich. They even
had Tin Can Beach in those days. Bolsa Chica was a
mere blue sky dream right then. The homeless lived on
Tin Can Beach....right across the border from Newport
Beach. Then came the surf revolution!

Robert August was the handsome guy that co-starred in
"Endless Summer" famous Surf movie. Robert was a good
pal of Mr. Pipeline John Peck...who I met at the Makaha
Surf Championships in 1963. Robert was from Huntington
Beach...and a very refined version of what Huntington
Beach surfers were really like. Don't forget, shooting
the pier was first done in Huntington Beach...and there
were some memorable occasions of guys wearing those
mussels on the pilings of Huntington Beach...doing a left
from the right side of that pier.

But why do we bring this up? Well, soon Huntington Beach
had become "Surf City USA". The northern city of Santa
Cruz even fought in court but HB finally won to get that
legal name recognition. Huntington Beach is celebrating
2009 as its 100th Anniversary as a city. "Surf City"!

Well,recently Huntington Beach has determined that they
should study the possibility of adding up to 20 Video
Cameras for Red Light enforcement. Most of the initial
group would be located on Beach Blvd.....from Pacific
Coast Highway all the way to the 405 Freeway. Almost
every light is covered. In addition, a light on Brookhurst
and Adams would be added. The vote for the study was
5 to 2. Should we say the reality is that once the
study is done....so is the program.

Lockheed-Martin are rubbing their grumby pinkies together!

We can't stand the thought of Huntington Beach, joining
the ranks of Costa Mesa adding those invasive, contestable
and worrisome enforcement cameras. Will they put signage
up so that all can see? Will they shorten the yellow light
to catch even more evil doers? Will they ever remove them?
No, we don't think so. Will they save lives or just cause
more rear end collisions?

Come on Huntington Beach...No "Video City" please! You
don't need to prove you deserve the title....just file
for it now.. and maybe no one with contest it. In the
meantime, happy 100th Anniversary Huntington Beach. You
are doing a great job with downtown Main Street. You are
doing so well, in many areas - you've come a long way
baby....but don't mess that all up by adding those
stupid cameras!

Thank you President Obama for our Dredge Cash!

The big "Ear Mark" Stimulus bill recently passed by
President Obama...has finally hit Orange County. As
you might have assessed...the dredger is busy in the
Back Bay right now. Those familiar slamming metal
sounds are echoing across from Fletcher Jones Mercedes
into the houses in the Bluff's and East Bluff Drive.

Thank you President Obama. We just got $2.87 Million
Back Bay Bucks...to continue a project that is still
underfunded by about $13 Million Dollars. As we all
know Congressman John Campbell is recovering from a
surgery and won't be back to D.C. until sometime in
April, so his pals Dana Rohrabacher, Ed Royce and some
others have stepped up to assist the Congressman get
the cash....we need for the Dredging of Newport Bay.

The $410 Billion dollar Omnibus Stimulus Bill offered
9000 Special Project Earmarks. However, those 9000
Ear Marks...only account for about 1% of the $410B
offered up. Hey, Vanguard University, one of John
Moorlach's favorites....even got $447,000 for some new
science testing equipment (if they can document the
purchases). All according to the report in the Daily
Plot today!

All in all, it still amazes us that with literally
Billions and Billions going to virtually everyone and
everything but the kitchen sink....Newport Beach is
still short $13 Million Back Bay Bucks! Maybe, Chris
Cox and his family will come back to our beloved Newport
Beach...and maybe Chris ...can help us get the last $13
Million before somebody else gets it!

Public Smoking Ban in Communist Newport Beach

The Orange County Register has this article which shocked the heck out of me...

"Newport Beach considers smoking ban in 'public places'"

Wow.

First no smoking on the beaches...which if you go to the beach,

1. You'd know is practically impossible to enforce.

2. By the hundreds and hundreds of cigarette butts found by my toddlers EVERY weekend, is not being enforced.

3. Have created quasi ashtrays in the planters which border the beach.

Obviously, any Councilman who visits our beaches would notice any of the top three things.

So since that is working SOOOO well...what's next for a Nanny City Councilmembers to do?

Ban Styrofoam (oh wait...)

Ok...how about Ban Smoking in Public Places?

Which would include "sidewalks, parks and outdoor dining patios."

And who are the two geniuses spearheading this?

Mr. "Walking" Don Webb who spent his entire working career off the government trough, and would love to see the Government take the biggest role in everyone's life.

and

Mr. "My Own Neighbors didn't want me as their Councilman" Steve Rosansky.

Now...you may be asking, why do I care about smoking in Public?

Other then the self explanatory reasoning that the outside is still free?

I don't smoke cigarettes.

However, I do enjoy a weekly cigar or two, especially when I walk my dog...on the beach...with my cigar (yes, I do live life dangerously.)

In fact, I've enjoyed quite a few cigars in a "GASP" public place with Mr. "My Own Neighbors didn't want me as their Councilman" Rosansky himself.

And he didn't seem to indicate that he cared what our fellow public place patio patrons thought of the horrible Cuban cigar derived smoke at the time.

Wow. To think that what I want to do in public (within reason) can be infringed upon more...

Times have certainly changed.

First Socialism in the White House.

Then, Taxes Bonanza in the State.

and now...public smoking ban in Newport Beach.

I am going to have to start saving up my pennies to pay those no smoking in public and on the beach fines...because I'm not going to obey that law...

Next...someone is going to tell me that you don't have to win your own City Council district to represent that district.

Spy Cameras in Huntington Beach?

NO Redlight Cameras…..EVER! Here we
are in the midst of the biggest economic meltdown in
world history…and what do the great powers that be in
Huntington Beach decide to consider? Yep, up to 20
Lockheed-Martin (type) redlight cameras may be coming
to the intersections of Huntington Beach should the HB
City Council decide in favor this week. Yuck, Yuck,
Yuck! Eckee, Eckee, Eckee….NO REASON Foundation
Solutions please!

These are the same redlight cameras that shorten the
Yellow lights to catch the poor and unsuspecting right
in the middle of the intersection on a left turn light.
These are same redlight cameras that require constant
calibration and monitoring to be sure they work correctly.
These are the same redlight cameras that literally kill
local business because “locals” do not want to go
through these intersections and pillars of technology
nightmares every day.

The main argument for installation of redlight cameras
is “safety”. “Let’s stop those evil redlight runners
killing our kids and grandma’s in busy city intersections.
Let’s get big bucks from tourist and unsuspecting locals
that don’t see the cameras. Let’s not even put signage
up, warning of redlight cameras ahead…until we get a 1000
complaints! Let’s charge upwards of $425 bucks if any
part of your mini-van gets stuck behind some weenie that
will not go completely through the intersection to the
other side, either because of traffic or because they
are not paying attention, or tht they want a ’safe zone’
between their vehicle and the one in front of them!”

Hey, “automating the process” is a lot easier than putting
motorcycle cops out there watching what is going on.
What they need are cameras in the Huntington Beach -
Beach Parking areas….so that Homeless and Criminals don’t
break into cars during the hot summer months or during the
less traveled winter emptiness, or even the Main Parking
structures. But then, that would require “dispatch”, that
would require “sending out the troops to find out what is
going on!” With Redlight Cameras, you just get the photo,
look up the license number on the DMV website and then
automatically send the ticket. Hey, this is safe for the
enforcement people - “no contact with people” and people
just send in their money….or they won’t get to renew their
car license the following year, or when it comes due.

In the UK, these cameras are endemic. They have them
on all the highways to monitor speeders, erratic drivers
and parked vehicles. All good “Cash Cows” for government.
The cameras monitor illegal right turns, left turns or
anything they can determine goes against the vehicle
code….and then just send the tickets…..lots of tickets!
They don’t even require signage in the UK for any cameras;
which is a good reason for living in America! Remember
those terrorists, with their burning van - "You Tube";
camera photos outside the airport in Dublin? At least
something good came of that….they found the nerds and
arrested them. But who are they planning to arrest in
Huntington Beach? Grandma’s with bad eyesight? Teenagers,
fully text messaging or on the cell phone in direct
contravention to the CA Vehicle Code? Who knows?

One thing is for sure……when the word gets out…and they
put the info on every GPS software program in the US
and the world…..well, you can bet that increase in and for
tourism in Huntington Beach may be affected negatively.
The Huntington Beach City Council might want to put this
item “on the back burner” until the economy makes a
comeback. No need to just try to kill tourism outright
or to insure that new City Council members will be voted
in during the next election cycle…….ya think?

Finally, don’t we always find it interesting that when
“Redlight Cameras” are suggested….it is never just “one
or two Major problem intersections”. No it is always
multiples of 10 like in this case 20! Why is that?
Because the vendors are not in it for “Public Safety”…
they are in it ….for the buck they make on servicing and
supplying the equipment involved. Who would want to
provide “low cost cameras” for two problem intersections?
The members of the Huntington Beach City Council and the
HB Police Chief might want to answer that question before
they “move on” to approve prolific electronic monitoring
and surveillance throughout the City of Huntington Beach!

We Will Miss You Paul Harvey!

As inspirations go, Paul Harvey was the great stuff
of Urban Legend. Those Golden Pair Shaped Tones that can
only be described as uniquely distinctive for his entire
Radio Career...ended yesterday at 90 years old. As we
all know 90 is the new 70.....so even at that age Paul
Harvey has been suddenly taken from us all.

His "Rest of the Story" vignettes were heard on over 1200
radio stations around the nation and the world. Wisdom
and caring understanding were Harvey's hallmarks. His
willingness to get to the underbelly of any story was
truly a special quality of that every investigative reporter
who ever earned his salt. In awe and wonder we listened to
the inimitable Harvey surprise us with those tricky or
unexpected ending of tales we thought we knew all about.

Paul Harvey was an Okie, with strong mid-west values and
spent most of his career...starting at 14 years old in
Chicago. In the 80's they even gave Paul Harvey his own
street. Paul Harvey made our world kinder, more supple,
more wise, more tender and especially more conscious of
the many complexities possible, of even the most common
good deed.

Paul Harvey.....we will miss you. You were one of a kind
and the kind of person we would always want to know. We
never met you in person....but we know how special that
would have been. For all those that did have that pleasure..
share your experiences with others. Anyone, would want to
know more about........Paul Harvey!