Quarry distortions resume

In a previous letter (May 30), I wrote that some opponents of Liberty Quarry are trying to scare residents with made-up stories of dust, disease and pollution, ignoring the fact that thousands of quarries operate throughout the U.S. without such problems.

Well, it didn't take long for the distortions to resume. A few days after my letter, Jerri Arganda wrote that Liberty Quarry will be one mile wide, one mile deep and will carry away "toxic dust" ("Quarry wrong project in wrong location," June 1).

Here's the truth: Liberty Quarry will cover about one-fifth of a square mile with an average depth of 700 feet and a maximum depth of 1,000 feet. I will write about the so-called "toxic dust" in a future letter, as well as the lack of silica at this quarry site.

Jerri claims that no new jobs will be added because quarries hire "trained people." So what? Any job brought to this area is a plus, whether the employee is trained or not. And every trained person had to be trained — does Jerri think these people were born trained?

This is just another example of the nonsense people engage in when their minds are made up and they don't want to be confused with the facts.

Rick Kellogg

Wildomar

Editor's note: A correction acknowledging the error and stating that the actual proposed dimensions of Liberty Quarry would be 1,000 feet deep was published June 2 and updated June 1 on our website.

Reviewing opinion with skepticism

I do agree with Kelly Seyarto ("SW County should demand state action on hospitals," Community Forum, April 23) that closing our two local hospitals would be catastrophic.

If I understand his reasoning, Kathleen Billingsley, a director of the State Health Department and a registered nurse, wants to close these hospitals because the nurses union there was deceitful. Wouldn't that result in those nurses there losing their jobs? Didn't these same nurses vote to deceive? How does this explain the feds withholding Medicare funding?

I must review his opinion with the same skepticism that I view the Iranian cleric's opinion that earthquakes are caused by promiscuous women ("Iranian cleric: Promiscuous women cause quakes," April 20).

Couldn't it just be as simple as Southwest Healthcare is unable and/or unwilling to meet state and federal standards?

Pat Ruhman

Murrieta

Cyclists must respect rules, cars on road

Bicycling is a fun sport and exercise, until a person gets run over by a car. I have witnessed many near-hits, and the cause has been the rider not respecting the laws of the street.

My understanding is that they have to obey the same laws as people driving cars do. Many do not stop at four-way stops, do not signal their purpose and ride outside the bicycle lane, many times two or three abreast.

Recently, two adult cyclists did not stop at four-way stops and cut in front of my car while I was stopped and proceeding to turn. I didn't think that was too smart.

I have observed that many times, the riders are very arrogant and almost dare a car that has the right-of-way to come close to them. I believe they should respect the rules of the road and the cars on the road.

William Hall

Temecula

Annexation is about open space

During the city of Temecula's first annexation hearing (June 4, 2009), the primary reason voiced by some LAFCO Commissioners for not approving the annexation request was to allow the proposed quarry project to continue through the county's permitting process. The city has recognized the Commissioner comments and has revised its current annexation request to fully exclude the proposed quarry site.

Further, in the first annexation request, the city stated that its request was primarily about open space. That theme is also echoed in the current request. The annexation was never about parks, even though two recent letters have attempted to paint the picture that such was the case.

Open space is a recognized reason for annexation. Why shouldn't we have local control regarding what happens to our hillsides? Temecula needs to have a balance of commercial, residential and open space, and this annexation will help ensure this balance.

However, Granite Construction is still maneuvering, through its supporters, to say the current annexation is bad for the city, even though what now happens with the quarry is totally independent from the current annexation request. Because these issues have been separated, why hasn't Granite Construction supported the current annexation request?

Linda Bartz

Temecula