Editor, We need to do something about these helium-filled balloons. I find them littering the beaches and back-country wherever I go. They are a menace to wildlife. Marine life and birds can ingest the balloons and become entangled and strangled by the strings, which are not biodegradable. Mayor Jane Egly has placed this on [...]
Editor, We’ve made some excellent progress lately. The city has passed the plastic bag ban, which is very good news, even if it will take a year to enact. I would suggest that the next things to be considered for a city ban would be helium balloons, which I find littering the beaches and countryside everywhere I go, and children’s plastic beach toys, which [...]
Editor, I totally agree with David Vanderveen (“Occupy Laguna,” Local Currents, Nov. 11). It’s really hard to feel the pain of protesters in New York when you’re living in Smugsville-by-the-Sea. Everything is so perfect here: the weather’s wonderful, the town is charming, the homeless have been swept out of sight. Why, there’s nothing to worry about. [...]
Editor, I may be one of the serial letter writers to whom Sandi Cain refers (“Stepping on the Soapbox for Sidewalks,” Letters, Sept. 30). Her points are well taken. We non-car users do whine a lot. Regarding the issue of cyclists not paying their way: most cyclists also own cars so they are paying for road infrastructure. There are [...]
Editor, I’ve just returned from a six-week sojourn in Portland, Ore. Quite a contrast to O.C. I rode a bicycle maybe 100 miles a week on average. There are extensive bike routes all across the city and large numbers of cyclists. The most noticeable thing was the courteousness of the car drivers. They would always give me a wide berth, crossing into the other [...]
Editor, How sad that Michael Ray gets a whole column to complain about stop lights (“Road Rage,” April 8, page 3). And all those column inches about skateboarders. We’ve become preoccupied with our own trivial little problems, while the whole planet is groaning from our self-centeredness. Earth Day is April 22 and there are many events to recognize that we are not alone on [...]
Editor, I see it’s Columbus Day again and the banks and government offices are closed. This seems amazingly anachronistic for a progressive community like Laguna. In fact it’s rather insulting to the indigenous American peoples, who have by no means disappeared. I see that enlightened communities like Berkeley and others have renamed it Indigenous Peoples’ Day, something that seems far more appropriate. I suggest we do the same here [...]
Ill Prepared Hiker Rescued from Hillside
A sheriff’s helicopter was used to extract a hiker who suffered an anxiety attack and was unable to move from a steep trail in Laguna Beach’s open space about 6 p.m. Sunday, June 9, police said. Lifeguards in an all-terrain vehicle coordinated the extraction from thick brush and a steep slope between Alta Laguna Park [...]
