Community Commentary
A month to remember
November was a month to remember — a time filled with major changes domestically and abroad. I’ll mention only a few examples of what’s happening abroad, though each event could be front and center in the 2012 presidential elections. Britain recalled its embassy staff from Iran, a nation that may soon have nuclear weapons. Russia [...]
Thankful for my America
Living on a gravel road in a rural Arkansas county with more cows than people, I have much to be thankful for on my favorite American holiday. Hence a Thanksgiving lesson in boondocks economics: Last week, I paid my hay man $2,200 for 55 round bales to see my cows and horses through the winter. [...]
Community participation
Have you been shopping lately? Or maybe you’ve been protesting. ‘Tis the season! While I’m celebrating my freedom to shop and protest, I want to thank The Coast News for running this, my 10th editorial since 2009, when I began offering my musings on some of our societal addictions, like single-use plastic. We are fortunate [...]
In response to DEMA
Last week The Coast News printed a response from Ms. Dody Crawford to my letter detailing Enicintas Unified School District’s position on Pacific View. Ms. Crawford makes a number of statements (bolded) in her letter that require a District response. “The original school buildings were inspected by a team DEMA brought together… The original buildings [...]
DEMA responds to superintendent claims
After reading Dr. Baird’s clarifying points regarding the EUSD District’s position on the Pacific View site, I felt it necessary to respond in order to clear up some misconceptions regarding the Downtown Encinitas MainStreet Association’s (DEMA’s) proposal to lease the property. We had proposed that the District work collaboratively with DEMA to create an innovative [...]
Clarifying points on the Pacific View site
Dear EUSD Families and Friends, Recently, you have probably seen responses to the letter that I sent out regarding our District’s position on the Pacific View site. After reading some of these responses, I felt it important to clarify some of the points surrounding this issue. With regard to a proposal from the Downtown Encinitas [...]
Consumerism and waste
Did you see the excellent documentary film on Colony Collapse screened last summer in the courtyard outside Whole Foods in Encinitas? Much thanks to DEMA. It was about the on-going demise of honey bees, due most likely to pesticides as acres and acres and acres of genetically-modified corn crops are systematically and thoroughly sprayed, then [...]
Concerned citizens can make a difference
Encinitas Union School District has announced it’s going to sue the City of Encinitas over the historic Pacific View school property. Remember last November, when we passed Proposition P to allow EUSD to borrow $44 million and extend our tax rates another 30 years in order to upgrade their school’s computers and technology and renovate [...]
Is City Council stonewalling a downtown problem?
I initially became aware of a problem involving the placement of tables and chairs associated with various businesses in downtown Encinitas when I observed a woman pushing a baby stroller being forced to enter Coast Highway 101 in order to circumvent diners in front of a restaurant as patrons were encroaching upon the public sidewalk [...]
It’s cool to be Carlsbad
James Chute from the North County Times asked if the Carlsbad Music Festival is too cool for Carlsbad. He referenced the legendary artistic debacle of “The Bars” and suggested that the hangover once felt from the public outcry and eventual dismantling of the urban art piece might still be lingering, potentially preventing the coastal community [...]
