They probably thought this scribbler had taken leave of whatever sense he had.
It was an innocent enough suggestion.
Look, there's all this talk of the winds that blow through the pass where is situated the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve and where would be situated Granite Construction's enormous open-pit granite blasting and crushing quarry and accompanying asphalt and cement plants.
Oh, and the daily 1,600 or so diesel-truck trips.
Suck that insidious concoction into your pure lungs, my little darlings.
Seeing as how the potentially deadly and certainly harmful particles would be so small as to go unnoticed as they filled our lungs, it struck me that we need to "see" their blanketing spread.
OK, that's simple, bunches of smoke bombs ---- red smoke ---- set off at the reserve, from there to be windborne through Rainbow to Temecula, Wine Country and beyond. Film at 11.
Genius, eh?
As suggested to city officials and Dr. Matt Rahn at the reserve, we'd probably want to notify Caltrans and the state police. You know, the I-15.
Anyhow, the good Ph.D. replied that my idea was "interesting" but I could just watch a 4-second slideshow made from photos taken at the reserve on an "average wind day" during a 2006 fire.
A visual? Great. And, as he calls it, an "average wind day"? There is a God.
Turns out the "film" shows smoke carried through the pass to deposit its particulates ---- the stuff you don't want to breathe ---- in our valley. The night shot shows the particles settling in the typically still evening air.
So, if you want an idea of the irreversible menace, according to Granite's own environmental impact statement, that must accompany their proposed hole unseen except for silica on your BBQ and in your lungs, take a look at that slideshow at SOS-Hills.org.
As you'll see, the pass funnels it to our homes, schools, workplaces ---- you name it.
There, friends, is the evidence the so-little-you-can't-see-them particles will settle daily where hundreds of thousands of people live, work and breathe.
Settle, and perhaps, kill.
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'ZONA BOUND: KFI-AM radio talkers/doers John and Ken will be at Pat and Oscar's in Temecula from 2 to 7 p.m. Friday to present the Great Oaks High School Band with a check for $50,000 to help send band members to the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona.
It was said the band would not make the trip in protest of Arizona's illegal alien law. "Officially" it was lack of funds.
Brought to the attention of John and Ken, they rallied their listeners and made sure money wasn't an available excuse.
Muchas gracias.
PHIL STRICKLAND writes from Temecula. Contact him at philipestrickland@yahoo.com.
