Roses & raspberries
By: North County Times Opinion staff - | ∞
The 'Get a Clue' award - A rose to the Poway Library for giving bored teens a chance to sharpen their detective skills this summer, including one at last Wednesday's Clue tournament. Long before CSI came along, the murder-mystery board game allowed players to fulfill their dreams of being a crime investigator. The summerlong program also includes a lie detector demonstration and a tutorial on how fingerprints are used to catch criminals. For more information, call (858) 513-2900. (And remember, it was Col. Mustard with the candlestick in the billiard room.)
The 'We're Just Wild about Harry' award
A rose to author J.K. Rowling, parents, and, most of all, young readers, who have all played a role in making reading fun again. The frenzy over Saturday's release of the latest and last book in the Harry Potter series is a welcome reminder of the power of a good book. The eagerness with which the Potter series has been embraced by young people is heartening to everyone who may have thought that the joys of the written word had been lost forever. Alas, all good things must come to end. We hope there's another talented writer out there who is right now writing a novel that will fill the void being left by Harry Potter and his gang of wizards, witches, muggles and Hogwarts alumni.
The 'UCAN Do the Math' Award
A rose to Michael Shames, executive director of the Utility Consumers' Action Network, whose assertion that San Diego Gas & Electric's rosy estimates of the economic benefits of the Sunrise Powerlink are inaccurate seems to have been borne out. Last week, the California Public Utilities Commission put local hearings on the transmission project on hold until SDG&E could correct an error in its calculations about said benefits. While we still believe that the case for the Sunrise Powerlink is strong enough to withstand these errors, we're glad that UCAN is around to point them out and keep the debate honest.
The 'Port in a Storm' award
A rose to the Oceanside Yacht Club, which two weekends ago held its fifth annual charity regatta to raise money for Elizabeth Hospice in Escondido. The event was expected to raise $30,000 to fund the medical and emotional support the hospice provides to terminally ill patients and their families. That would bring the total the yacht club has raised for the hospice over five years to more than $100,000. The regatta also has increased awareness across North County about Elizabeth Hospice and the services it provides. Just when you thought sailors only cared about rum, fair winds and beautiful sunsets, they go and do something generous like this.
The 'Boys (and Girls) of Summer' award
A rose to the Solana Beach Little League All Stars, who, after losing the first game of the double elimination Section 6 Majors All-Star tournament, rebounded with four straight wins to come away with the title. In fact, they not only won their final game but also shut out the Scripps Ranch National Little League team, 10-0, in a game that was called in the fifth inning under the mercy rule. Solana Beach moves on to the Southern California South Sub-Division tournament. The team is the first in District 31 to win a sectional tournament since Poway American did so in 2004, and only the seventh ever. Earlier this month, the team won the District 31 tournament for the first time since 1970.
The San Diego Padres also deserve recognition for holding a free clinic on baseball mechanics last week at the Boys & Girls Club of Vista. What a great way to introduce kids to America's pastime. Play ball!
The 'Heads Up' award
A rose to the Oceanside City Council for approving a new law mandating that property owners and tenants who live within 1,500 feet of a proposed development be notified 15 days before a public hearing. Under the old law, Oceanside required only that notices be sent to property owners within 300 feet of a proposed building project site and then only 10 days before a hearing on the project. In a nod to home improvers, those planning upgrades to single-family homes will be exempt from the new 1,500 feet standard. It may be a small thing, but it's this kind of open, accessible local government that makes citizens feel that their opinions and concerns actually count for something.
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Notification Raz & Rose wrote on Jul 22, 2007 9:43 PM:Yes, the notification changed for most projects except the KFC troika demanded that single family homes still remain with the 300 foot radius. Hopefully with the other changes required like signage and web-based notification, that won't be too problematic. But with those guys, it's always something to reward their buddies it seems. The real rose should go to the numerous citizens who fought for this change and to staff for drafting a great change!
Council Majority... wrote on Jul 23, 2007 5:06 PM:should not be taking credit for the notification change. It was in the works for some time and they actually jumped on the bandwagon so that they could look good. As my mother always said--beware of those bearing gifts, they usually want something. Keep watching and see how this can be used by their friends the developers.
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