Comments by viccox
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Posted on November 6 at 10:14 a.m.
This update on the illegally fired journalists highlights the truth of the dictum "Justice delayed is justice denied." Kudos to the reporters, the NLRB staff, the union lawyers and all of their supporters for seeing this ordeal through.
Posted on October 5 at 11:37 a.m.
While no one can firmly predict the city's (or the country's) economic/financial future, the Council majority made the right decision for this time and for this proposed project, in my opinion. I hope that, in Mayor Aceves' words, the staff will continue to "shop around" for a project better suited to the city's needs and with better financing terms.
Posted on September 7 at 9:51 a.m.
I hope more humor and satire, such as this piece, deflate the overheated public rhetoric of the healthcare "debate." Good for you, George.
1 of 1 people thought this was a good comment.
Posted on July 18 at 2:45 p.m.
FYI: A day's worth of panel discussions at the American Ornithologists Union's 2005 conference drew a picture of lead poisoning in wild condors from the results of various public and private researchers' work. Among the results: Lead ammunition is the "predominant source of lead poisoning in Calif. condors," according to Don Smith and Molly Church, UCSC Environmental Toxicology Lab, who studied lead isotope tracers on lead found in 26 dead condors.
From the Arizona Fish & Game researchers, who looked at a much smaller wild condor population (the first captive was released in 1996) found that seven of 12 dead condors died of lead poisoning, and lead fragments in deer carcasses during hunting season was a major contributor. No researcher claimed that lead ammunition was the sole cause of of condor deaths, and some noted that there were other, environmental sources of lead. But the scientific evidence presented four years ago showed that lead ammo was (and is) a chief factor in condors' lead ingestion and poisoning. It will be useful to compare the Calif. birds' blood lead levels before and after the introduction of the new state law banning use of lead ammo in the condors' feeding range.
I agree with Citti that when we're investing tens of millions in a program to reintroduce wild condor populations in only is common sense to minimize or eliminate man-made threats to that population
Posted on May 30 at 10:10 a.m.
In addition to the good points raised above about the meat-ax approach to closing parks to "save money," locals should recall that in each of the last three of our wildland fires many evacuees fled to El Cap and Refugio for a few days. Do you think the state will open closed parks near fires in the future when they are again needed as escape valves? I wouldn't bet on it.
Posted on May 3 at 1:10 p.m.
While i agree with the writer's description of the upper Westside as a vacation goal, i found her choice of hotels a bit steep. Unmentioned are the budget hotels/hostels, which are not only on the Westside, and the Craigslist temporary rentals (room or condo, depending on budget and size of party). I got a room for two on the upper Westside with a bathroom immediately around the corner for $75 a night, including 14% taxes and fees. So the bargins are still there if you're willing to be flexible on the conveniences, the size and the age of the rooms. Plus you meet interesting people, mostly the serious budget travelers (old and young), from around the world.
Posted on April 20 at 9:11 a.m.
It would be informative if someone could also confirm or deny another of Mr. Chase's claims for the "norm" in California: that the state standard for affordable housing is no more than 20% of a proposed project. Listening to the Goleta planning director's comments at public hearings often makes me wonder whose side is he promoting?
Posted on April 6 at 12:20 p.m.
Sometimes the old ways work best, and this is a great story about a man with a good mule (and terrific persistence) who pulled off a real community service in an ecosensitive way. Thank you Otis, Jim, Honey and Ray Ford for this reminder. BTW they have used draft horses for dragging cut trees out of sensitive areas in Oregon and Washington forests for years. Don't know if they still use horsepower that way any more.
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Posted on March 21 at 2:22 p.m.
Skepticism should be encouraged (required?) of all large institutions, whether it is UCSB, the Bacara Resort, or Venoco oil company. However, facts should undergird the skepticism. The University of California is an autonomous state agency. This means part of the trade-off for having a large local employer (funneling millions in state funds and private expenditures into the local economy each year) is that certain taxes are not paid to the municipality nor does it exercise jurisdiction over the use of UC property.
While UCSB should, and to varying degrees does, pay attention to local concerns, more weight is given to demands from UC headquarters in Oakland. Another 5,000 students (plus appropriate faculty and support staff) in the next two decades is their mandate from Oakland. I suggest that people continue to offer ideas to change the details of UCSB's LRDP, particularly where it fails to mitigate local impacts, but direct their criticisms about overall growth mandates to UC President Yudoff and his administration up north.
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Posted on November 23 at 1:36 p.m.
To Dr. Bob's family:
He and I were Dons, graduates of the Class of '60, and my chief memories are of him enjoying school life and friends as a young man. We were not close, went our separate ways, and only bumped into each other a couple of times after I returned to SB in 1982, but he still had that ready smile.
I learned much about his recent life and achievements from Ms. Bardach's tribute, and hope the family will accept her, and others', comments in the spirit in which they clearly are offered. BTW, it is standard (and respectful) journalistic style to use the person's last name in second references, though some papers also use titles.
On Robert Young, M.D.: The Good Doctor