The Coast News Group
Eye on the Coast

Teen car wrecks causing alarm and need solutions

Too much freedom?
Folks are alarmed over the rash of teen fatalities recently. First question is where are the parents who allow their kids to be out after normal hours? A strict curfew would help. Unfortunately those on the books throughout the county aren’t standardized. They should be for easier enforcement. Violators should be placed in a holding area and their parents should be made to leave their cozy beds and personally claim them. A fee would be appropriate and these funds could be used to sustain the program. Years ago kids ended up at Anthony Home in Mission Valley. Violators should have their driving permits suspended and placed on probation. They also should be required to attend traffic school classes. Too many regs for today’s youth? Are they worth saving a young life?
Water bond funds
San Diego County will receive a paltry $227 million if the $11.1 million water bond measure is approved by taxpayers in November. Cash recipients include Olivenhain Reservoir and pipelines, Lake Hodges pump station and pipelines, and raising the San Vicente Dam height and pipelines.
Convention Center land expansion
San Diego Convention Center has added more than seven acres for future expansion under a $13.5 mil., five-year agreement. It has ponied up $1 mil. to cement the deal with Fifth Ave. Landing LTC. The center can back out of the agreement but will forfeit its financial investment.
Stop sign
Surfside City Coast Avenue residents have requested council electeds install a stop sign on 18th Street as a traffic calmer. They claim that stretch of road has become a raceway.
Pot ordinance still up in the air
L.A. Council electeds were bent on having a pot ordinance in place before the end of the year but missed their goal. A bill to restrict the number of medical dispensaries and their location has been discussed a lotta times without action. San Diego County cities have also been faced with similar issues as more applications are filed. Storefront pot sales are illegal under federal law. Whether these should be legalized in the Golden State likely will be voted on in November.
Recycling center funds
Some recycling centers are reported to be in lousy financial shape and even closing as the result of budget cut backs. Not surprising that state electeds have taken more than $450 mil. from the recycling account that was generated by Cal Refund Value revenue. That is the recycling fee paid by consumers when they purchase certain products in cans and plastic bottles. With recycling centers closed, folks who earn a few bux rummaging through garbage recepticles to retrieve these discards now have no place to redeem them.
MiraCosta in quandary
Brass at MiraCosta College is in a quandary about whether payments should continue to former president Victoria Munoz Richart pending further action on a state appeals court edict. It ruled that a $l.6 mil. agreement with Richart was not legal. She is due $45 grand this month as part of the settlement.
Prop. 8 appeal
Appellants of Prop. 8, the gay marriage ban, have lost their effort to overturn the proposition that was overwhelmingly approved by the voters. A three-judge panel from the 9th District Court of Appeals denied their request to view internal communications of Prop 8 supporters. The decision was based on First Amendment rights of the proponents. The panel did leave some wiggle room, however.
Community gardens
World War I was the beginning of victory gardens when the folks at home turned their backyards into agriculture plots. This effort was revived during World War II with the president’s encouragement. Now community gardens are on the front burner. At schools they are deemed to be educational as well as productive. Paul Ecke Central Elementary school recently received a $30,000 grant so young students can get their hands dirty while learning and watching the growing process of fruits and veggies. Meanwhile, a group has asked the Flower Capital council electeds for an area it can use for community gardens. Minimal action has been given to the idea except for lottsa dithering. In other cities community gardens are expanding.
Golden anniversary
UCSD recently observed its 50th anniversary and is rightfully proud that it has a medical school and marine science complex on campus and is the only college system with a half dozen community colleges under its jurisdiction.
One-liners
The dilapidated stairs to the beach at Del Mar Shores Terrace in Solbeach are due for a remake … NCT columnist Sunana Batra writes that a bill in Congress will make it legal to register and vote on Election Day and could lead to lottsa fraud … Student John Benavides from the Flower Capital who is attending Cal State Long Beach won a state film award at the Media Arts Festival recently for his documentary titled “Diving Into Darkness” … A federal appeals judge has OK’d the prohibition of electronic bingo machines used by some charity organizations … Diane Downey of the Yard Fairy in C’bad sez she’s preparing an in-depth report on design gardens now that lottsa folks have taken up home gardening … A detailed study is being done by Cal Poly Pomona graduate students on the economic and environmental impact a river walk will have in the Escondido flood channel.

Hasta la Vista

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