Fullerton snowboarder dies after hitting tree

(from the OC Register)
WRIGHTWOOD – A 24-year-old Fullerton man was killed Monday afternoon after reportedly hitting a tree while snowboarding in Mountain High, authorities said.

According to the San Bernardino County coroner's office, the crash was reported at 6:06 p.m.

The man was taken to a nearby hospital after he crashed. He was pronounced dead a short time later.

The man's name is being withheld until his family can be notified.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: shernandez@ocregister.com or 949-454-7361

2 Hurt After Man Crashes Into Powerpole On State College

OC Register's Top 10 Political Stories

Van Tran vs. Loretta Sanchez
Tan Nguyen faces prison time
Delecia Holt spends another Christmas in jail
Nativo Lopez jailed
Orly Taitz continues 'birther' battle
Tony Rackauckas vs. Todd Spitzer
Candidate loses son, wins Assembly seat
GOP secretary of state race
The Scott Baugh manifesto*
Anti-union saber rattling**

* The "Baugh Manifesto" is an interesting story in its own right. OC Republican Party Chairman Scott Baugh announced in January 2010 that the Party would not support or endorse any candidate who took public employee union money or support. It seemed to be gaining traction but after the November 2nd election it was discovered that several OC candidates received support from both the OCGOP as well as public employee unions. Among them is Fullerton's newly sworn council member, Pat McKinley. McKinley was one of 3 officially endorsed GOP candidates who is also the retired chief of police from Fullerton. He benefited from playing both sides of the aisle.

Fullerton's own congressman, Ed Royce, plaid a significant role in the Fullerton city council election. He opened what was dubbed as the "North OC Republican Party HQ" with help from the California Republican Assembly and Republican Womens Federated. He opened the retail office space to ALL candidates who were registered Republicans, thereby nullifying any possible advantage that the endorsed candidates may have had over the non-endorsed candidates.

Marty Burbank, Barry Levinson, Roland Chi, Aaron Gregg, and Don Bankhead were all given ample room for their signs and literature at the North OC HQ. Part of the trouble may have come from Royce's decision to endorse his old pal Don Bankhead, a non-GOP endorsed incumbent. How could Royce open his little shop of horrors to Bankhead without inviting ALL of the republican candidates? Royce's decision helped one Democrat, Doug Chaffee, nearly win a seat on the council.

In the future, the OCGOP should pull their endorsement for candidates who receive public employee union support if the candidates do not make a public rejection of the union support. Congressman Ed Royce should either get on board with the OCGOP and support ONLY their endorsed candidates or he should stop calling himself an OC Republican.

** The anti-union saber rattling was a real problem for good and bad candidates alike. In the 2010 Primary Election we saw retired OC Sheriff's lieutenant and chief of San Clemente police services go toe-to-toe with a deputy chief of police from Anaheim and the appointed sheriff, Sandra Hutchens. Hunt solicited and received public employee union support while as did deputy chief Craig Hunter- both Republicans. Sandra Hutchens, a former Democrat, received considerable support from Los Angeles County area Democrats as well as L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca, also a Democrat.

2010 also brought the public employee unions home to roost. The California Republican Party's Spring 2010 Convention was paid for in large part by public employee unions. Needless to say, the OCGOP was well represented at the convention.

Fullerton Republicans must come together with their money and actions to bring quality leadership to the community. We don't need more retired public employees and we do not need crisis managers. We need conservative leaders who will keep Fullerton out of the troubled waters that lie ahead.

The Fullerton Sentinel

A Message from OCGOP Chairman Scott Baugh (to Central Commitee Members)

Dear Members and Alternates;

In January of this year, I gave a speech to the Central Committee that outlined many issues facing our country, our state and our county. Public employee pension abuses were a focus of the speech. The OCGOP subsequently adopted a policy of not supporting local elected officials who were taking contributions from public employee unions. The purpose of this policy was to change the dialogue in this county over how we deal with the ongoing pension crisis. In order to change the dialogue we needed to do something to bring attention to the matter and bring our political system out of its collective denial of the problem.

Our policy worked and we have changed the dialogue in this county. While it seems that we are finally getting over the collective denial of the problem, we still have Republican elected officials who lack the necessary tools and knowledge to address the problem. This is not necessarily a slight on those officials – most of whom are community volunteers with full time jobs in other areas. Pension issues are complex with a myriad of legal, political and practical issues. I believe, however, if we provide the knowledge and the roadmap for a solution, our elected officials will have more courage to tackle the problem.

Thus, in order to equip our elected officials with the right tools and knowledge to address the crisis, I have been working with Marcia Fritz who is the President of the California Foundation For Fiscal Responsibility. Together, we are putting on a Boot Camp to help local elected officials address this crisis. Attached to this email is information about the Boot Camp.

You will note that the Boot Camp is not an OCGOP sponsored event. In fact, former Senator Steve Peace, former Assemblyman Joe Nation, and Marcia Fritz are Democrats. All local elected officials are welcome to this event – whether they are Democrats, Republicans or Independents. The purpose of the event is to educate all elected officials about an issue that is not partisan. While I understand that public employee unions are identified mostly with Democratic officeholders, we cannot blame this crisis solely on Democrats. Many Republicans have contributed to this crisis as well, and elected officials from both parties need to be educated on the issue.

I encourage you to read through these materials. More importantly, I encourage you to make sure that the elected officials in your communities attend this Boot Camp. There is simply no excuse to vote on a contract for public employees that does not contain reforms sufficient to put our fiscal houses back in order.

You don’t have to be an elected official to attend this important Boot Camp so feel free to sign up as well. In the meantime, let us continue diligently in the fight to save our communities and protect the taxpayers.


Scott

Get back to your roots, Tea Party

By ALLY BORDAS
For the Daily Titan

The Tea Party movement: bringing back the Patriots at full force to squash out micromanaging government control. The TPM is currently a group of mainly Republican people who are pissed off about the way the government is being run. All you tea partiers, join the club. AKA the majority of America who isn’t running around in golden underwear basking in the millionaire’s club and benefiting from our current legislation.

But what separates the TPM from the rest of pissed off America is the fact that they are in fact doing something (even if they have whored their original ideals to corporate America and the ever-present and corrupted media).

Today some might view the tea partiers as extreme right-wing conservatives. But was this party ever free from societal constraints and media intimidation?

I clearly remember the one time I applauded them for figuratively shoving at fatty middle finger in Capitol Hill’s face…I also think that it’s good to see that some of the more, shall I say, older citizens of this country are trying to do something instead of complain, since the youth are too immature and radical to know what they are talking about (that was meant to be read as sarcastic).

I am an indecisive tea party sort-of supporter. Meaning that I find myself agreeing with a few parts of their original manifesto. Original being the key word in that previous sentence.

This movement was pure at the beginning. It came on strong after three federal laws began pissing people off: Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and a series of health care reform bills. With Ron Paul as its enthusiast and re-newer of the phrase “Tea Partier,” he started this liberal nation-wide movement with fiscal conservatism at its roots demanding change through 10, well-thought out guidelines for congressional candidates to follow.

So, what the hell happened to you guys? The TPM started out as such an innovative catalyst that could possibly bring about change. Now instead of organized national and local protests with educated followers and leaders, you have people joining the movement because they “just don’t like Obama,” and they do not even know why (according to an article from The Policy Page).

Today’s Tea Partiers do not like being associated with political parties, and some say that it is not a party at all, but more of an “anti-party.” F–k the system man, let’s rebel! Ok that is a bit extreme, but there are definitely some extremists strutting around as a “Patriot”.

An example: the Sept. 22 St. Louis Tea Party protesters finally revealing to the world that Obama is Hitler reincarnate without realizing that “in fact the Tea Party’s own fanatical style of politics is itself incredibly similar to that previously imbued by leaders of the Third Reich” quoted the Daily Fortnight paper.

Nice job guys. Seriously that doesn’t sound like you are being hypocritical at all. Perfectly calm and rational. Cough cough.

Judging the modern day TPM, do I agree with the fact that it is now somewhat infested with ultra-conservative sticks-up-their asses ignorant pricks (Sarah Palin)? No.

Do I support the fact that they are now a corrupted group with their backs against the wall and the media breathing down their necks? Oh, no.

This bandwagon titled: “Tea Party: The right thing to do or DIE a cruel death of government oppression” is now just a popular fad drowning out independent ideas and being replaced with conservative, mainly anglo supporters.

With people like Christine O’Donnell supporting the TPM, it is time to run for the hills, despite all of the rouge wildfires. I would rather die of smoke inhalation than have a certified nut-case as part of our government who claims she is a die-hard tea partier.

In case you don’t know her, O’Donnell is the recent Republican Party nominee for Delaware U.S. Senate. She is also known for saying she is capable of stopping all sexual intercourse in America, dabbling in satanical witchcraft, looking and acting like Palin’s twin and outwardly opposing “all abortions except if a woman is going to die, in which case her family could decide which life to save,” according to an article written by Politics Daily in September.

The fact that the “new” tea partiers and Sarah Palin have made her a celebrity over night cannot be a good endorsement for this once legitimate movement.

The TP manifesto was, in one phrase, “let’s kick it old school.” They wanted to bring the government back to its Constitutional roots and support lower taxes, wanted less government control, according to USA Today had a “firm conviction that the federal government has gotten too big and too powerful and a fear that the nation faces great peril” and in that same USA Today article stated that the TPM felt that “illegal immigrants in the long run cost taxpayers too much by using government services rather than becoming productive citizens.”

All this to stop the government from suffocating our economy through regulatory bureaucracies.
Such inspiring ideas…where did they go? Where did all the original supporters go? Stand up and speak out against the disgrace this nation has caused on your movement.

Any movement that has been sold to and endorsed by Sarah Palin and her drone Christine O’Donnell makes me want to burn down Capitol Hill and start all over again.

It freaks me out that people support these asylum escapees, especially when this movement was originally grassroots formed to bring forth REAL change. What sell-outs.

What do I really think?

I think capitalism is getting out of hand (big box corporations anyone?).

I think that our George Orwell depicted Big Brother government is micromanaging every facet of our lives.

I love people that speak out about their Constitutional rights because the government is too saturated with fat and self-satisfaction to care about the Constitution anymore.

The chant: “no taxation without representation!” needs to be reinstated in everyday vocabulary.
Don’t get me wrong-I mean I love tea (especially English-made tea) and I love a good party (especially one with revolution as its theme).

But putting them together and starting a now out-of-control corrupted-from-within-movement…hmmm, let’s just chuck Christine O’Donnell into Boston Harbor.

Associated Press: EU Court condemns Irish ban on abortion

The Fullerton Sentinel

The AP is reporting that the European Court of Human Rights (strange name considering their ruling!) ruled Thursday in a judgment that harshly criticized Ireland's constitutional ban on abortion violates the rights of pregnant women to receive proper medical care in life-threatening cases.

The AP report says that: "The judgment from the Strasbourg, France-based court will put Ireland under pressure to draft a law extending limited abortion rights to women whose pregnancies represent a potentially fatal threat to their own health."

Although the headline, similar ones appearing on numerous sites and papers, appears to be a lift on all abortions, is misleading, the fact remains that elective abortions are still illegal throughout the island nation. 

Abortion as a means of birth control or as a means for minimizing the unintended consequences of a woman's actions finds no home in Ireland as it should be in the United States. 

The notion that "it's a woman's body" and therefore we must all allow for mothers to murder their children is painfully flawed.  Abortion should be reserved only for those who are gravely ill, the decision for which should be made by a licensed medical doctor based on survivability of the person and perhaps the patient's preference. 

Selective abortion as a means of birth control should be prosecuted as first degree murder.

OC Register: Rackauckas gets $1.38 million for “Spit and Acquit”

by Kimberly Edds, Staff Writer for the Orange County Register
(re-posted here without permission)

The Orange County Board of Supervisors gave District Attorney Tony Rackauckas another $1.38 million to pay for his DNA collection program Tuesday, despite the fact that many of the samples are useless to state and federal authorities.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department runs its own DNA laboratory, which coordinates with state and federal labs.

It is the third request this year for more money for the program, which asks low-level suspects to cough up DNA samples in exchange for dismissing drug and misdemeanor charges.  Once their DNA is in the “bank,” so to speak, it’s easier to catch them if they commit more serious crimes.

The program has nearly 40,000 DNA samples. Rackaukas promised supervisors the money will help clear up a current backlog of samples waiting to be processed, and could potentially solve unsolved crimes and prevent future ones.

Rackauckas’ effort to build his much-heralded DNA database saves prosecution costs for low-level criminals, he said. Critics have cried foul over letting suspected criminals go free without prosecution, and returning drug users to the streets.

The program, formally known as the “DNA Collection and Crime Deterrence Program,” has matched 18 suspects to DNA samples collected since its inception, including two brothers arrested on suspicion of  murdering a woman whose body was doused in gasoline and set on fire in Irvine in September 2009.
Fingernail scrapings matched a DNA sample taken by the District Attorney’s Office a few months prior in connection with a domestic violence misdemeanor, Rackauckas said. The pair is awaiting trial.

The county paid $425,000 for the program in 2009. A total of 15,285 DNA samples were collected that year. A total of 19,889 samples were collected in 2010.

The board approved increases in March and October for a total of $984,500 to deal with backlog issues, according to a county staff report.

Janet Nguyen, chair of the county Board of Supervisors, and fellow Supervisor Pat Bates, hounded Rackauckas with questions about why the costs continue to grow in leaps in bounds while the number of samples being taken and analyzed is growing in modestly.

An estimated 2,000 DNA samples a month are expected to be collected next year, Rackauckas told the board Tuesday. That increase coupled with the program’s current backlog of 4,000 samples means the program needs more money to get ahead and stay ahead.

The current backlog will be eliminated in about a month, Rackauckas said.

The program saves money for the District Attorney’s Office, Rackauckas said, but it also saves money for the Public Defender and local law enforcement agencies since fewer cases make it to trial.

Most of DNA samples taken by the District Attorney’s Office are worthless to federal and state law enforcement agencies because the samples don’t meet their standards or they are barred from using DNA samples taken from suspects whose cases were dismissed.

Still, Rackauckas argued the program has reduced recidivism.

“People know we have their DNA,” Rackauckas said. “We are more likely to catch them because we have their DNA. It think the citizens are not less safe, but safer.”

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Commentary by the Fullerton Sentinel

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The Fullerton Sentinel



Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas will certainly go down in county history as one of the worst DA's ever.  He has consistently ignored political corruption at all levels of government, especially within his own office. 

The Fullerton Sentinel looks forward to the 2014 election when OC voters will be able to replace the inept DA. 

Politicians and their religious beliefs

Ally Bordas

By Ally Bordas
For the Daily Titan
Published: October 21, 2010

When you step into a position of power, you have to be prepared to lay your life out on a silver platter for others to observe and pick apart. Whether or not you have Constitutional rights, the First Amendment is a bitch and American citizens are greedily awaiting to hear about the latest political scandal.

Just look at celebrities: protection of privacy? I think not.

“That fact that an atheist couldn’t get elected dog-catcher in the United States of America is no secret,” stated writer Jonathan Malesic, ABC Religion and Ethics article.

If politicians ran around with their religious beliefs stamped across their forehead, they would be no closer to gaining a seat in the Senate as Mike the “Situation” from Jersey Shore is. Look at Christine O’Donnell, she admitted to being a witch at one point in her life and now she is constantly mocked for it. I mean who can take a reformed witch seriously? Save it for Halloween.

“Most voters (70 percent) want the president to be a person of faith. But half of the electorate expresses unease with politicians, presidential contenders and others, who talk too much about their religious beliefs,” according to an article written by the Research Center for the People and the Press.

I think it’s true – it would be awkward to have a hardcore preacher waltzing into the Senate trying to heal you.

Everyone in the United States has the right to express their religion in their own personal or public way. But religion always seems to be a touchy subject with people: Muslims get profiled as terrorists (Islamophobia), born-again Christians speak in tongues, Scientologists are secretly “crazy,” Catholics sit on their pedestals, warlocks and wiccans are just emo people on drugs and Rastafarians are, obviously, lovers of the natural herb. So do politicians really want to have to fight off these religious stereotypes every single time they step into the spotlight? I don’t think so.

But then again, I would want to know if the president, for example, is secretly worshipping the devil at night. Just like I would want to know if the first lady was a Bible hugger. Since I am an American citizen with kick-ass First Amendment rights, I feel like I should have the right to know something about politicians and their religious beliefs. No Christine O’Donnell, I do not want to hear about your first date to a satanical bloodbath or whatever creepy ceremony you so willingly took part in (yes, I am aware of the fact that the media most likely blows all of this out of proportion).

Just like we have our First Amendment rights as boring average citizens, I guess I cannot deny the fact that our politicians have their rights too. The Constitution states “no religious test shall be imposed on any public official,” according to an article written by Debate the Opposing Views. So, technically, we may never know which god or devil any of our politicians may secretly worship (they can just lie to us).

What I want to know from religious politicians is what role will faith play during his or her job as a national politician. What are the boundaries between government and religion? Since religion can dominate a person’s psyche and lifestyle, I think it is only fair we have these questions answered.

Debate the Opposing Views also told readers to take a closer look at past politicians to see how fanatical they are about their religion. “James Watt, President Reagan’s first Secretary of the Interior, told the U.S. Congress that protecting natural resources was unimportant in light of the imminent return of Jesus Christ. In public testimony he said, ‘after the last tree is felled, Christ will come back.” See, obsessed with his religion.
And also what about Bush? Does anyone remember Bush stating that the reason he was president was because God appointed him? I mean he told America that God wanted him and only him. Talk about narcissistic.

All I am saying is that we have to be careful. We do not want our politicians being affected by their religious beliefs to the point that they forget how our country was really formed: by revolution, war and oppression (with a hint of faith). Religion comes second to our Constitution. And most importantly, Debate the Opposing Views reminds us to remember that our politicians “don’t drop their religious beliefs at the White House door.”

OC Register: How global warming economics REALLY works

by Mark Landsbaum

James M. Taylor at the Heartland Institute put his finger on the duplicity and absurdity of the proposal by global warming alarmists to “fix” the planet (which by the way isn’t broken). Emphasis ours:

“Developing nations,” he said, “which are required to make no sacrifices while receiving many benefits under the Kyoto Protocol, are united in support of the Kyoto Protocol. That’s like panhandlers arguing that working folks should have to give at least $100 to every drifter they encounter. This is not news, except perhaps in the audacity department. It is extortion, plain and simple.”

“…If the global climate talks were really about reducing greenhouse gas emissions instead of merely transferring wealth from Western democracies to the rest of the world, the advocates of new global warming treaties would have sought global emissions reductions rather than allowing gaping loopholes that render Western emissions cuts meaningless. Global wealth transfer, however, continues to rule the day.”

Japan, of course, will have none of this. That’s why the Japanese at Cancun’s warmist summit announced their nation would not support extension of the Kyoto Protocol or anything like it.

As Taylor put it: “Japan is a regional economic competitor with China, India, and many other developing nations. China emits more than five times as much carbon dioxide as Japan, has a more rapidly growing economy than Japan, and is likely to overtake Japan in gross domestic product this year. Yet the Kyoto Protocol imposes costly carbon dioxide emissions restrictions on Japan while putting no such constraints on China, India, and other rapidly developing nations. Japan says it will not support an extension of the Kyoto Protocol until all nations are treated equally.”

Environmental activists, of course, are extremely critical of the Japanese, as a result.

But Japan simply is taking the same position as the U.S.: everyone must play by the same rules, or else, no game.

We like the “no game” consequences. Global wealth redistribution in the name of global warming is a concept that deserves to die.

OC Register: Recount of Fullerton council race cancelled

By HEATHER McREA

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

(re-posted here without permission)

FULLERTON – Doug Chaffee has called off the recount he requested for the Fullerton City Council four-year term race, the Orange County Registrar of Voters announced Tuesday.

Nearly 2,200 ballots had been counted in the first two days before Chaffee asked to end the recount, according to the announcement. The original results will stand, leaving former police chief Patrick McKinley as the second-place winner. Don Bankhead had held a clear majority all along.

McKinley took the oath of office on Dec. 7 along with Bankhead and Bruce Whitaker, who was elected to a two-year term left open when Shawn Nelson was elected to the county Board of Supervisors earlier this year.

According to the official election results, McKinley received 10,346 votes to Chaffee's 10,256.

_________________________________________________________

Commentary from the Sentinel

_________________________________________________________



The Fullerton Sentinel



It is sad and unfortunate that Fullerton voters chose Pat McKinley and Doug Chaffee at nearly the same rate.  However, this was to be expected considering that both are fiscal liberals who are quite content to raise taxes. 

The 2012 election cycle will be starting up in just a few months and conservatives will have an opportunity to replace two liberal council members, F. Richard "Dick" Jones and Sharon Quirk-Silva. 

Jones, a registered Republican, and Quirk-Silva, a registered Democrat, are both fiscal liberals.  However, Quirk-Silva has voted NO on more expenditures than Jones, making her more conservative than the self-avowed conservative Jones.

Take time to know the candidates and then support them by volunteering your time and money.

The Devils Advocate: Against Going Green

Ally Bordas

By Ally Bordas
For the Daily Titan
Published: October 28, 2010

(Re-posted here without permission) 

“Going Green” is the new fad, replacing the desire to adopt international babies that were abandoned at birth. I think Angelina Jolie was the secret catalyst to both of these trends: first by adopting at least one hundred children, from all over the world, ranging from Cambodia to Ethiopia. Before that, Jolie began her work as a humanitarian by sitting on the United Nation’s board. Talk about starting a movement.

As Americans, we are obsessed with what movie stars in Hollywood are wearing, eating, shopping and adopting. So when A-list superstars start wearing clothing made from potato sacks, meat and trash bags in order to save the earth, lord knows that People magazine will inform the average American citizen about where to shop to achieve a similar look.

But is this really necessary? There are plenty of other ways to go about erasing your carbon footprint than sporting a meat-sewn outfit to prove that killing animals is “bad taste.”

Our government pushes and pushes its citizens to find small ways to stop the ozone layer from depleting. Some of their ideas: change your light bulbs, turn the lights off as much as you can, shower in five minutes or less, don’t brush your teeth while the water is running, reusable water bottles, RECYCLE, RECYCLE, RECYCLE and buy a Toyota Yaris to save on gas. If we do all of this, if we “green” our households and apartments, what the hell are we supposed to do when oil companies storm in and ruin it all? What happens when China keeps crushing all of our efforts? Cough cough, this is a waste of our money. And our money is precious nowadays. Hello, we are in a state of emergency! Money is what people are hoarding! The next thing you are going to see on the A&E television channel is: money hoarders, desperately clinging onto their sanity.

According to an article written in the LA Times, “China isn’t green at all; as the Chinese themselves say, referring to the ever-present smog in their megacities, it’s gray. Air pollution is getting steadily worse, and water pollution is a major crisis as well.” Well since China and the U.S. are two of the world’s mega powers, won’t things affect both of these super powerful nations simultaneously? What happens to one happens to the other. When China yells “screw going green,” the U.S. responds with a “keep trying to go green because the government can use the extra cash.”

The article also unabashedly states, “China burns more coal (by far) and emits more greenhouse gases than any other country. It sells more automobiles than any other country too (it passed the United States last year). And all those bad numbers are still going up, because China’s No. 1 goal is increasing industrial production, not protecting the environment.”

And don’t expect China to be changing their ways anytime soon. “We cannot blindly accept that protecting the climate is humanity’s common interest; national interests should come first,” Yu Qingtai, China’s chief climate negotiator, said in a speech last month, according to the LA Times article. “The country has to develop … and if that increases emissions, I say, ‘So what?’ The people have a right to a better life.” Yeah, a better life until the people of China have to wear oxygen tanks strapped to their backs in order to inhale fresh air. It will be an accessory, like a new Chanel purse.

If you have been following politics at all you will have heard of Proposition 23, which will suspend the Global Warming Act formed in 2006. This act was a huge landmark in clean air legislation. If proposition 23 passes, then the government will have to suspend the 2006 act until unemployment goes down to 5.5 percent. It also requires all programs with “going green” initiatives to be stopped until further notice. So this means that all of the effort that Californians have been putting into the idea of “going green” is a waste of time and money if this proposition passes.

There you have it people. Stop buying products that supposedly donate a percentage of their proceeds to helping the world because countries such as China will cancel out all of your good deeds with bad deeds. Here is the main point of this argument: you are wasting your money. Everyone and their grandmothers know that wasting money is not a good thing. Save your money or go jet-off into the sunset towards grassier plains. Or, if you are as broke as me, save it to buy some spaghetti, which is one-step up from the usual Top Ramen.

City of Fullerton To End Furlough Fridays

Press

Release

City of Fullerton Public Information Office
303 W. Commonwealth, Fullerton, CA 92832
Phone: (714) 738-6317

********************

12/9/2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                     PRESS RELEASE #28710

Subject :          City to end Friday furloughs
Contact :         Gretchen Beatty, Director, Fullerton Human Resources Department (714) 738-6360
                        Sylvia Palmer Mudrick, Public Information Coordinator, Fullerton City Manager’s Office (714) 738-6317

*******************

Beginning Friday, Jan. 14, Fullerton city government facilities will return to their schedule of being open on alternate Fridays.

The every Friday closures were implemented in May by the Fullerton City Council in response to contracts with the miscellaneous employee bargaining units that included 5 percent pay cuts retroactive to the beginning of the 2009 payroll year.

The city’s executive managers’ salaries have been cut by 5 percent as of July 2009, and the confidential employees’ have had their salaries cut by 5 percent since November 2009.  The pay cuts will remain in place for all units.

With the end of the Friday closures, City facilities will return to being closed every other Friday as part of the city’s efforts to meet AQMD trip reduction requirements. 

The new operational hours actually go into effect Saturday, Dec. 25;  however, because of the holidays, the first open Friday will be Jan. 14.

           

The Fullerton Main and Hunt Branch libraries will remain on their current hours until the end of the 2010-11 fiscal year. 

           

The Fullerton Main Library's operating hours are 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.

           

Hunt Branch hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays and noon-8 p.m. Thursdays only.

           

Further information may be obtained by calling the Fullerton Public Information Office at (714) 738-6317.

###

OC Register: O.C. on ‘Judicial Hellhole’ list

by Mary Ann Milbourn for the Orange County Register
(re-posted here without permission)

Orange County received special mention on the American Tort Reform Association’s ninth annual “Judicial Hellholes” list released today.

The association cited a class action lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court last August that claimed more than a dozen olive oil companies and distributors are selling products labeled extra virgin that aren’t extra virgin enough. The suit, filed by Santa Ana attorney Daniel J. Callahan of Callahan & Blaine, contends the companies committed fraud and misrepresentation by labeling and promoting their olive oil as more-expensive extra virgin, even though it did not meet international and USDA standards.

That case was one of several lawsuits and that helped make California No. 2 on the Judicial Hellhole list. The association called out Los Angeles and Humboldt counties in particular for this high verdict.

“California has a history of wacky consumer class actions that further encourage plaintiffs’ lawyers to seize on minor missteps as a means to lots of cash,” said the report. “And though state voters passed an initiative attempting to rein in this kind of litigation in 2004, it remains big business for certain California plaintiffs’ lawyers.”

As an example, the association noted a lawsuit that challenged Apple’s claim that reading on the iPad is like reading a book because the iPad automatically turns off when it’s in the sunlight and gets overheated. Books, the suit said, don’t turn off.

The Judicial Hellhole list highlights areas that have a reputation for uneven justice.
Philadelphia topped this year’s group for encouraging lawsuits and as well as its penchant for excessive verdicts.

“The judicial leadership is engaged in a campaign to draw in massive personal injury lawsuits from around the country, viewing the increase in lawsuits and out-of-town lawyers as a boost for the court’s revenues and the local restaurants and hotels,” said the report.

Top U.S. judicial hellholes
Rank  Area
1        Philadelphia
2        California, particularly L.A. & Humboldt counties
3        West Virginia
4        South Florida
5        Cook County, Ill.
6        Clark County, Nev.

Victor Schwartz, the association’s general counsel, said the list is designed to draw attention to courts where it is difficult to get a fair trial.

“It’s not just because defendants lose — defendants lose all the time,” Schwartz said. “It’s about equal justice.”

The association noted that several areas that had been on the list before had made changes the improved the administration of justice.

Of particular note was legislation addressing several issues in Florida, changes by a West Virginia judge in handling asbestos litigation and a ruling by the Maryland Court of Appeal upholding the state’s statutory limit on subjective pain and suffering awards in person injury cases.

The American Association for Justice Communications, formerly known as the American Trial Lawyers Association, dismissed the report as simply a front for big business trying to prevent injured persons from having their day in court.

“Despite all the chemical companies and polluters behind this front group, it appears ATRA is going green – recycling the same junk report that has been debunked and ridiculed year after year,” said Ray De Lorenzi, director of the association. “It’s an early holiday token of thanks to its drug, tobacco and insurance industry funders and a ploy for these corporations to continue their negligent behavior and avoid accountability.”
Read the full Judicial Hellholes report HERE.

The Boomerang Generation



The Fullerton Sentinel

 25- to 34-year old "kids" are moving back in with Mom and Dad at a record rate.  

By The Fullerton Sentinel

The Huffington Post reported on a study in the Transitions to Adulthood titled "What's Going on with Young People Today? The Long and Twisting Path to Adulthood".  Just reading the title will make you feel old! 

ScienceDaily wrote a great synopsis: "Despite living in an age of iPads and hybrid cars, young Americans are more like the young adults of the early 1900s than the baby boom generation: They are living at home longer, are financially insecure and are making lower wages."

So much for retiring, selling the house, and downsizing into a condo while you tour the country in your RV.  The bottom line for Mom and Dad, don't get too comfy; the kids are coming back!

Rep. Sanchez's 2010 holiday kitty card unveiled

By MARTIN WISCKOL

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

(reposted without permission)

Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Santa Ana, sends out holiday cards to her constituents that typically attract fair measures of laughter, affection and ridicule. The cards featured her cat, Gretzky, and her husband, Steven Brixey – at least until 2004, when the couple was divorced, and the congresswoman and the cat carried on by themselves.

This year, Gretzky moved on to the great litter box in the sky, and so Sanchez has issued this tribute holiday card to her cat, 1991-2010. It includes images of previous holiday cards, mostly from 2004 and later.

The card is sent to constituents, paid for with campaign funds. No tax dollars are used.

Click here to see a slide show of Sanchez's cards from this and previous holidays.

###



The Fullerton Sentinel

 Rep. Sanchez, a liberal Democrat, unfortunately represents a small portion of Central and West Fullerton. Click here for details on the district boundaries.

Judge: Health Care Mandate Unconstitutional

(from CBSNews.com & Associated Press)

A federal judge declared the foundation of President Barack Obama's health care law unconstitutional Monday, ruling that the government cannot require Americans to purchase insurance. The case is expected to end up at the Supreme Court.

In his order, U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson said he will allow the law to remain in effect while appeals are heard, meaning there is unlikely to be any immediate impact on other provisions that have already taken effect. The insurance coverage mandate is not scheduled to begin until 2014.

Even so, Republicans in Congress celebrated the ruling as validation of the arguments they had made for months while the law was pending. Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., issued a statement urging the White House to agree to expedite a final ruling by appealing directly to the Supreme Court without first stopping at an appeals court.

Hudson is the first federal judge to strike down a key part of the law, which had been upheld by fellow federal judges in Virginia and Michigan. Several other lawsuits have been dismissed and still others are pending, including one filed in Florida by 20 states.

White House health reform director Nancy-Ann DeParle said the administration is encouraged by the two other judges who have upheld the law. She said the Justice Department is reviewing Hudson's ruling.

The government had argued the Commerce Clause of the Constitution gives it the power to require people to buy health insurance or face a penalty.

Hudson sided with Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli, who argued the mandate overstepped the bounds of the Constitution. But he acknowledged his court will not be the last stop.

"This case, however, turns on atypical and uncharted applications of constitutional law interwoven with subtle political undercurrents," Hudson wrote. "The outcome of this case has significant public policy implications. And the final word will undoubtedly reside with a higher court."

The Department of Justice stood by its argument that Congress was within its rights to enact the law.

"We are disappointed in today's ruling but continue to believe -- as other federal courts in Virginia and Michigan have found -- that the Affordable Care Act is constitutional," said Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler.

The lawsuit was filed by Cuccinelli, a Republican, in defense of a new state law passed in reaction to the federal overhaul that prohibits the government from forcing state residents to buy health insurance.

Cuccinelli argued that while the government can regulate economic activity that substantially affects interstate commerce, the decision not to buy insurance amounts to economic inactivity that is beyond the government's reach.

"This won't be the final round, as this will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court, but today is a critical milestone in the protection of the Constitution," Cuccinelli said in a statement after the ruling.

Hudson, a Republican appointed by President George W. Bush, sounded sympathetic to the state's case when he heard oral arguments in October, and the White House expected to lose this round.

Administration officials told reporters last week that a negative ruling would have virtually no impact on the law's implementation, noting that its two major provisions -- the coverage mandate and the creation of new insurance markets -- don't take effect until 2014.

OC Register Editorial: Climate confab just hot air

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Representatives of 193 nations meeting in Cancun, Mexico, apparently still couldn't agree on how to redistribute richer nations' wealth to poorer nations under the pretense of combating global warming. As delegates leave Cancun today, we're pleased to note that, like last year's failed U.N.-sponsored climate conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, this global warming summit amounted to little more than two weeks of hot air.

Meanwhile, reality continues cooling global warming fever. Top NASA experts reported existing climate computer models exaggerate CO2's warming effects, and fail to properly account for important cooling that will kick in as CO2 levels rise, according to a recently published study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. If correct, CO2 could double in the atmosphere, and "we can go a couple of centuries without any dangerous warming," one UK environmental columnist noted.

One researcher said in a NASA statement accompanying the paper, "Each year we get better and better. It's important to get these things right." We repeatedly point out that it's a good idea to "get these things right" before redistributing wealth to remedy what may not be a problem.

Coinciding with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change meeting, a list was released by ClimateDepot.com, a leading global warming debunking site, identifying more than 1,000 dissenting scientists around the world who challenge the theory of a manmade global warming catastrophe. Dissenters include current and former IPCC scientists. It's become more difficult for global warming zealots to quiet critics, many of whom once held similar views.

"Despite what you may have heard in the media, there is nothing like a consensus of scientific opinion that this is a problem," said Tom Tripp, a member of the IPCC since 2004 and one of its lead authors.

Meanwhile, the outlook for alarmists may yet get bleaker. The House Science and Technology Committee is expected next year to probe the Obama administration's climate policies, including what Rep. Ralph Hall, R-Texas, described as a "dishonest undercurrent" revealed with the leak of thousands of documents in 2009 from British and U.S. climate researchers.

‘Glee’ causes anger and depression

By Ally Bordas
For the Daily Titan (re-posted here without permission)
Published: December 07, 2010 Glee is the worst sitcom ever created. Why anyone in their right mind would waste one hour every week watching this show is beyond me. Glee makes me want to lash out.

Our media has become infiltrated with idiotic individuals scrambling to keep the masses of our nation entertained, since we desperately cling to all things new and improved with the potential to take the world by storm.

The fact that this show has exploded and made everyone a part of it an instant superstar is seriously disturbing. I am begging, pleading, with citizens, non-citizens and aliens alike to band together and overthrow FOX for airing this sort of rubbish.

Unite or be forced to watch people in their late 20s dressing like high schoolers and singing songs when in fact they are butchering all that is great about music!

Glee was inspired by high school drama, sex and choir. FOX aired the pilot episode in 2009. Since then, it has completely blown up into a social phenomenon.

The show has been nominated for 19 Emmy awards, four Golden Globes, six Satellite Awards and 57other awards.

Is this what the youth of America, nay, all of America has become consumed by? Slutty girls and bad choir performances? I like my brain! I like knowledge! And hardcore cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, played by Jane Lynch, is legitimately torturing every fiber of my being.

The writers of this show, who I now have a personal vendetta against, are Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchulk ad Ian Brennan.

These writers missed the target from day one. For example, let’s dissect the word glee; the first part, beginning with “g-l” automatically makes me think of gluttony, one of the seven deadly sins. Which makes sense, seeing as the majority of America is an over-indulgent nation, enjoying shows such as Two and a Half Men, Trueblood and of course, Glee.

The second part of the word, ‘e-e’, makes me think of e.e. cummings, the sappy love poet. Glee is the cheesiest show ever with the most horrendous plotline, so e.e. cummings fits into this equation perfectly.

Put the word back together and you have Glee: over-indulgent people pretending to feel the most unrealistic level of happiness that no one in this economy will ever attain.

Let’s take a look at the show from a different perspective, like if Glee is a realistic portrayal of high school: haha don’t make me laugh, hell no it is not a realistic portrayal! Wake up to the injustice they are serving our mindless youth!

Glee is completely opposite of what real high school is like. Ian Brennan conceptualized the show based off his own high school experiences when he was in choir. What high school did he go to? Prick-town high?

Ladies and Gentlemen: This is not high school. Do not be so easily fooled. Where is the acne? Where are the braces, the high-pitched male voices that have yet to crack, the mismatched clothing, the battered lockers and all the other terrible plagues we all had to face in high school? They are missing because this is not high school. This show is a bad acid trip.

I felt like if I was going to write an article about Glee, I had better watch at least one episode. So for the sake of researching, I endured 45 minutes of torture in the form of the Glee episode entitled “Special Education.”

As expected, it was terrible. At least I got to watch the first 10 minutes sans singing. When the singing did kick in though, it hit with full force. In an apocalyptic way.

I still cannot believe they sang a song from the classic movie Dirty Dancing and did the famous dance, that is a terrible way to pay thanks to the late Patrick Swayze. And they sang a song by Florence and the Machine… so depressing.

In the end, not only was the acting heinous, the singing was just as unbearable. During the dialogue sessions, one character dropped the word hipsters, another couple went through a cheating scandal, every click just seemed to love each other and all the hidden advice this episode tried to give was so fake. I almost hurled.

I hope I persuaded the world against Glee. If you would like additional information on why NOT to watch Glee, check out Kroq’s Gleecap by DJ Omar Khan. Funniest segment on radio.

There’s an app for that

By Ally Bordas
For the Daily Titan (re-posted here without permission)
Published: December 08, 2010 Cell phones have changed our lives and destroyed them at the same time.

I do not know how many more times I will be able to endure wandering around campus watching hundreds of students and faculty alike making public love to their cell phone. It is distressing, and most of all uninspiring.

There used to be a time when cell phones were a coveted item to own. My favorite times in high school were the class periods when someone’s phone would randomly begin to vibrate aor ring and everyone in the class would make ridiculously loud distractions in order to save the culprit from getting sent to the deans office.

Fake coughs, pounding on desks and turret-like shouts were all tactics used by fellow students in order to save the owner from embarrassment and a for sure grounding. Ah man, the good ole’ days.

Now as I sit in class I notice that at least 90 percent of students have their cell phones visible during class and at least 75 percent of those students will check their phones multiple times. And let’s not forget the professors, who also either have their phones out on the desk and check it throughout class time.

I am mentally sick because of how consumed we all are by technology. What happened to mail, you know, being delivered and put in our mailboxes? Or documentaries, playing outside, long grungy hair and the phones that actually have cords? Am I just wishing that we could all go back and live in the ‘70s? Maybe. But I think my point is more valid than that.

Amy Gahran, specialist for CNN, wrote an article discussing how cell phones have changed our lives. Her article starts out very promising, but then takes a turn for the worst as she begins making love to technology as well.

“Cell phones provide vital services and human connections. They connect people in dire need with services that can change (or save) their lives and offer new hope, even through simple broadcast text messages,” Gahran said.

This is what Gahran was inspired to write after she witnessed a supposed homeless person on the bus whip out a cell phone.

Gahran goes on to advocate for everyone to purchase smartphones, “smartphones do matter. I own a smartphone, and I use it nearly constantly. (Over the summer I ditched my iPhone in favor of the Droid Incredible.)”

Cell phones do not really connect us at all! Yes we can instantly get in contact with each other, check e-mails and get news reports but is that really a human connection? They make us scared to interact with one another, invade our minds and implant a brand new slang language into our vocabulary that is less than impressive.

Now when I text someone and do not get a response they can make up so many excuses: my phone is broken, I lost my phone, I didn’t get your text I swear… back in the day there were no such excuses! You had to get creative to avoid people and almost always had to respond to someone or they would just show up on your doorstep.

I do not want a smartphone. I am not tempted in the slightest to go trade in my 1990s brick of a cell phone for a smartphone. Smartphones are going to pull a Transformers 2 and change into super smart robots that will take over the world! So much for getting prepared for when zombies attack, I am petrified of a technology apocalypse.

OK, I will not be completely ignorant and at least acknowledge the fact that with so many improvements in technology a lot of good has become of it. I admit it. But the question I have is when is it going to stop? When is it going to be enough?

Globalization has spurred so much international competition between countries that brilliant minds of our society are supercharged into wanting to discover the next big thing. But are these “next big things” causing an outbreak of laziness? Have we become so dependent on technology to do all of our work for us that we would not know how to survive in the world without it?

I still crave stimulating conversations and debates that get me riled up. I do not care about “news” updates on way too naive Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus on a stripper pole, the underage annoyance known as Bieber fever, Lady Gag-me, sexually charged dead vampires or where in the world Lindsay Lohan is. I want unbiased news no matter how hard that may be for people to understand. Wake up! Or the puppeteer (AKA technology corporations) will permanently own you.

Assemblyman Chris Norby Invites You

Mark Your Calendar

Our Annual Christmas Open House is just around the corner: Thursday, December 16th from 4-7pm in my District Office in Brea.
210 Birch St., Suite 202
Brea, CA 92821
714-672-4734

Supervisor Nelson Invites You

Sign Language Classes at Eastside Christian Church

Add to My Calendar

Date:
12/14/2010 (Event ranges from 09/21/2010 to 05/31/2011)

Time:
06:00 PM - 08:00 PM

Description:
Sign Language classes from beginners to advanced.

Location:
Eastside Christian Church
2505 E Yorba Linda Blvd
Fullerton, CA 92831
(View the map for this location)


Room:
Rectangle, 6' x 19" Alum (4) Room 216 Room 217

Contact:
Nancy
Watson
signnancy@aol.com

Poll: Barbarity Still Quite Popular in the Muslim World

by Ed Royce, U.S. Representative, 40th Congressional District (includes Fullerton)

(Originally for http://www.redcounty.com/, re-posted here without permission)

On Monday, The Los Angeles Times reported on a new Pew Research poll of the Muslim world. Seven countries - Jordan, Lebanon, Nigeria, Indonesia, Egypt, Pakistan and Turkey –were surveyed. The findings shoot off the page like a cannon…

For most Americans, things like stoning are the stuff of Biblical times. Readers of this space will know that it's still common in a place like Iran. But as this new survey shows, the practice enjoys widespread support in Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan and Nigeria. For what it's worth, most of these countries are fairly close to the U.S. and rake-in much aid. The practice of lopping off the hands of robbers --as well as the death penalty for apostates-- also have support off the charts.

In Pakistan – a country of 184 million and 70 nuclear weapons – over three quarters of the population supports all three harsh punishments. Even where support for stoning is "low," the numbers are alarming high. Stoning is least popular in Turkey, with 16 percent support. But that still gives you over 12 million Turks supporting this barbaric punishment. I have to say that Egypt's 82 percent is a shocker. I take polls with a grain of salt, especially in this part of the world. But still...

Finally, Pew reports that in nearly all of the countries surveyed, support for this harsh punishment "coexists with support for democratic governance." Too bad their understanding of democracy doesn’t "coexist" with things like religious freedom, individual liberty, or decency.

Royce loses bid to head financial services panel

by Martin Wisckol
Politics Reporter, Orange County Register
(re-posted here without permission)

 Rep. Ed Royce, R-Fullerton, has lost his bid to become chairman of the House’s high-profile Financial Services Committee, as the House Republican Conference today confirmed the steering committee’s choice of Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-AL.

Bachus has been the ranking Republican on the committee since 2007 and was first in line for the job, but Royce had gained support for taking a harder line against federal stimulus and bailout packages. Bachus also ruffled some Republicans’ feathers with comments critical of Sarah Palin.

Another Orange County Republican hoping to win a chairmanship, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Costa Mesa, lost his bid to head the Science and Technology Committee. Ralph Hall from Texas got the nod.
Bachus indicated he’ll be taking a firm position in pulling in the reins on bailouts while at the same time helping small businesses.

“We are going to protect taxpayers by ending ‘too big to fail’ and the Administration’s unlimited bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” he said in a prepared statement. “We are committed to going title by title through the 2,300 page Dodd Frank Act to correct, replace, or repeal the job killing provisions that unnecessarily punish small businesses and community banks that did nothing to cause the financial crisis.”

Royce issued a brief statement congratulating Bachus and vowing to work with him.

Bachus will replace Democrat Barney Frank as head of the committee, thanks to Republicans winning the House.

We may not be smart but we are confident

By Ally Bordas
For the Daily Titan
Published: November 16, 2010
(re-posted here without permission)

Being educated is not important. As long as our government is confident, as long as we are confident, then we will make it in this world. Confidence is much more important than any education system.

What good is education really? I mean, seriously, with the budget cuts, ridiculously low employment opportunities and a worsening economic downturn, what is the point of school?

According to Open Innovation, education does not teach you the joy of living, “it only creates people who can earn their livelihood but it does not give any insight into living itself. It is not only incomplete, it is harmful too because it is based on competition.”

John Schulte, a retail tycoon, says “just because you don’t go get a degree does not mean you can be ignorant on your subject matter, it only means you’re not paying the university/college to tell you to read books on the subject.”

Let me tell you, it’s not a joy when I am sitting on the floor in a lecture class crammed wall to wall with people while my professor reads off of the power-point slides that I can clearly read myself. Like I can’t read two sentences on a larger-than-life screen with my own two eyes? Way to insult my intelligence.

I learn more from protesting the educational system than sitting in a classroom learning about it.

The educational system seems to capitalize on the student population, creating business drones that can quote statistic books but cannot hold a conversation about Marxism or history.

Our government is confident in us as American citizens so being educated is a footnote on the many lists of U.S. “successes.”

Dr. Roberts from Global Research says, “The U.S. owes its image of success to: (1) the vast lands and mineral resources that the U.S. “liberated” with violence from the native inhabitants, (2) Europe’s, especially Great Britain’s, self-destruction in World War I and World War II, and (3) the economic destruction of Russia and most of Asia by communism or socialism.”

“The U.S. nation is a failed state,” Roberts said.

Great Depression: FAIL.
Korean War: FAIL.
Vietnam War: FAIL.
Cold War: idiotic and FAIL.
Desert Storm: FAIL.
US Bank bailout: FAIL.
Recession: FAIL.

Um, should we really be confident in the U.S. with all those bomb fails? Maybe we should stay in school? Anyone?

“After 20 years of off-shoring U.S. production, which destroyed American jobs and federal, state and local tax base, the U.S. unemployment rate, as measured by U.S. government methodology in 1980, is over 20 percent. The ladders of upward mobility have been dismantled,” Roberts said.

Oh of course one could not forget the war against terrorism: EPIC FAIL.

According to Roberts, “the ‘war on terror’ completed the constitutional (and) legal failure of the U.S. The U.S. has also failed economically. Under Wall Street pressure for short-term profits, U.S. corporations have moved offshore their production for U.S. consumer markets.”

The extent of these failures is all hearsay, but in general, our country as a whole did not slam-dunk all of these wars and other issues.

Our government has installed fear in order to gain control. Now, a terrorist threat is “a creation of (our) own government (and) is sufficient justification for naked aggression against Muslim peoples and for an agenda of world hegemony,“ Roberts said.

Not only have we lost many, many young American lives at the hands of ignorant American dictators, we have lost billions of dollars, global credit and have been claimed as “brutal.”

What kind of confidence can be had after all of these failures? I mean how can the government function while drenched in blind confidence and narcissism? It’s disgusting.

Now we are left with no confidence and no need for education. What the hell do we do? We have become chained to our government; giving our leaders every fiber of our being… can you feel the heavy weight on your chest? That weight is the realization that our rights have become sickeningly limited. That weight is the realization that we are doomed.

So what can be done? Roberts gives us the pessimistic version, “the American people are lost in la-la land. They have no idea that their civil liberties have been forfeited. They are only gradually learning that their economic future is compromised. They have little idea of the world’s growing hatred of Americans for their destruction of other peoples.” Ouch. That hurts, especially if you are not “educated enough” to understand what that means.

We can go to school and become one with the grad school kids that use their degrees to be top-notch bartenders. We can educate ourselves on… I can’t remember what my lecture professor has taught me thus far.

But then again, we are the country of dreams, so my unending optimism forces me to believe that my college degree will aid me in some way. Yes, our government is very arrogant, but I am forced to believe that in the end, education is a great tool to aid me in becoming a confident being, ready to throw down against ignorance.

Fullerton Civic Light Opera to close in January

By PAUL HODGINS

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

(re-posted here without permission)

 

FULLERTON - Facing a $400,000 budget shortfall, Fullerton Civic Light Opera will close in January unless it comes up with the cash. The closure would end the company's 40th season early and stiff thousands of season ticket holders.

"We had a record downturn in season (ticket) renewals," said Griff Duncan, FCLO's cofounder and producer. "That was not anticipated."

Adding to the company's financial difficulties was a sharp drop in rentals for its collection of costumes and sets.

"We lost $150,000 in expected rentals to schools. That had been helping to subsidize our own shows," Duncan said. "The cutback in all the public school budgets landed in the last four months, and that really hurt us."

Founded in December 1971, Fullerton Civic Light Opera presents mainstream musicals such as "Oliver!" and "Evita" using a mixture of professionals and amateurs. It is part of the dwindling civic light opera circuit, a semi-professional level of musical theater that was once popular nationwide.

Duncan is pessimistic that his company will find a quick way out of its difficulties.

"We're trying to get the funding from several sources. We've asked the city (of Fullerton) and a number of private sources to help. But I don't expect to get the money in time to save our next show."

Santa Ana's 3D Theatricals, which mounted a season at the OC Pavilion in 2009-10 but lost its venue when the building was purchased by the Orange County High School of the Arts, has expressed an interest in co-producing, but Duncan said the talks were very preliminary and that nothing was decided. "We'd cooperate with them, but we don't have any cash to give them."

T.J. Dawson of 3D Theatricals said plans to collaborate were much farther along than that.

"We are in talks about a multitude of different options. We could merge our company with theirs and more or less take over. We could just produce 'The Drowsy Chaperone.' We want to help them and serve the ticket holders."

Various collaborative options will de discussed and possibly decided upon at FCLO's Dec. 9 board meeting, Dawson said.

The Fullerton theater company's possible demise continues a downward trend for arts institutions in Orange County over the last few years.

In November the Curtain Call Dinner Theater closed after 30 years in Old Town Tustin. Opera Pacific went dark in November 2008 near the beginning of its 23rd season. And Ballet Pacifica, a local institution since 1962, was shuttered in the spring of 2007.

FCLO's production of "The Drowsy Chaperone" is scheduled to open Feb. 11. If funding isn't in place by early January, Duncan said he will be forced to pull the plug on the remainder of the company's 2010-11 season.

"We will have to suspend operations and start some fundraisers in order to continue."

His company isn't carrying a debt, "but we have a debt to our ticket holders," Duncan said. Their dwindling numbers are part of the problem – down from 9,000 season subscriptions to 4,500 in a couple of seasons, according to Duncan.

Plummer Auditorium, where FCLO stages its musicals, is owned by the Fullerton Joint Union High School District. Duncan has talked to district officials about waiving the $40,000-per-show venue rental fee for "The Drowsy Chaperone." "But that's just $40,000. I need $400,000 to produce the show."

The company requires an annual budget of $1.6 million to mount four musicals. About 95 percent of its revenue comes through ticket sales.

Duncan sent a letter on Nov. 26 to season ticket holders, appealing for help. He asked them to donate cash or consider the money already spent for tickets as a tax-deductible contribution. Duncan has also promised to refund money to those who request it – if or when the company can afford it.

In the meantime, Duncan has been talking to other performing arts organizations about honoring FCLO's tickets, allowing ticket-holders to see their productions instead.

"My wife and I are the cofounders of this company," Duncan said. "I wish there was a white knight on the horizon. But these are tough times for the arts. Everybody's suffering."

Contact the writer: 714-796-7979 or phodgins@ocregister.com

Third-place finisher demands Fullerton recount

By MICHAEL MELLO
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
(re-posted here without permission)

FULLERTON – The City Council race isn't over. At least, not in Doug Chaffee's mind.

Chaffee, a lawyer and the vice chairman on Fullerton's Planning Commission, has filed for a recount of the Nov. 2 election.

According to the registrar's tally, incumbent Don Bankhead and Pat McKinley won the two full-term seats that were up for grabs.

McKinley, who came in second, tallied 10,346 votes, or 18.1 percent, and Chaffee got 10,256 votes — 17.9 percent.

McKinley, a former Fullerton police chief, started out ahead on election night, but the lead for that second seat seesawed between them as elections officials counted remaining ballots.
Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley said Chaffee filed for the recount last week. He had until Saturday to do so.

Chaffee declined to give specifics about why he asked for the recount, but said he wanted more closely to examine data from the registrar's office.

"I want to test a few things," he said. "Depending on how that testing comes out, and if it looks like things won't change, I may not complete the recount."

"It's so close, that you want to be sure," Chaffee added.

In the meantime, Fullerton City Clerk Beverly White said the plan is to swear in Bankhead and McKinley at Tuesday’s City Council meeting because Kelley has signed off on the election results.
“We’re going to go along as if there’s no recount at this point,” White said.

And if a recount should change the results?

“My understanding is, if that should happen, then we would have to unseat McKinley, then give Doug the oath and seat him,” White said.

In 10 years as the city clerk, she’s never seen that happen, she added.

Based on past experience, the recount could cost Chaffee $1,200 to $3,000 a day, Kelley said.
Kelley's office and Chaffee are working out the details of the recount.

Chaffee said he's willing to have the recount start on or around Dec. 13 — even if that means McKinley is already seated. The registrar said that it could be more than a week before the recount starts.

Orange County has one other recount in a city race, in Los Alamitos.

There, Councilman Dean Zarkos' has requested a recount of the Nov. 2 election results. Zarkos came in fourth-place in the race for three open seats, with 24 votes separating him from third-place winner, Councilwoman Gerri Graham-Mejia.

Register correspondent Roxana Kopetman contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: 714-704-3796 or mmello@ocregister.com