OC Blog News Roundup -- November 29, 2005

Today's top stories from behind the Orange Curtain:

OCTA Boost Rail, Road Funds -- LAT
A $1.46-billion package will loosen freeway choke points and add seven locomotives and 59 passenger cars to Metrolink service.

OCTA Chief Gets Good Reviews And 3% Bonus -- LAT
That bumps Art Leahy's annual pay up to $215,167. Leahy failed (thank goodness) to accomplish what he was hired for: build CenterLine. Boy, what do you have to do at OCTA to get a bad performance review?

OCTA Moves Along On Shift From Diesel -- OCR
Millions allocated to run buses on compressed natural gas.

John Campbell Leading The 48th CD Fundraising Contest -- OCR
Contributions to the GOP House candidate hit $1.2 million. Jim Gilchrist, in second place, took in $465,000. That's an exceptional showing for a third party candidate.

Frank Mickadeit: They Sort Of Serve Who Only Stand And Wait -- OCR
"Even with the computer down, there's plenty to learn in court": Frank reports from the Piecemakers day in court.

Residents Accused Of Leveling Sand Dunes -- OCR, DP and LAT
Mounds that gave shelter to birds will be rebuilt and may cost $100,000, the California Coastal Commission says. I'll let Charlton Heston speak for me on this one.

Piecemakers: "We Will Not Back Down" -- OCR and DP
Piecemakers defiant in face of charges that could lead to jail time.

Op-Ed: UCI Set To Toss Away A Treasure -- OCR
Campus building designed by Frank Gehry scheduled for demolition.

Libertarian Aims For The Mainstream -- DP
Bruce Cohen, a candidate for 48th District House seat, thinks he shares the views of most voters.

Newport-Mesa USD Sets Pay For New Superintendent -- DP
Officials don't know who will succeed Supt. Barbot, but they have named the salary: $235,000.

Measure F Campaign Posts Debts -- DP
Group that vied for Measure F's passage is asking donors to help with $33,000 of debt. Supporters say they're willing to pitch in. I'd hate to be one of their vendors right now.

Comments

[Silence Dogood]

I concur on the Gilchrist fundraising remark. A half-mil, for one third party candidate, not running for President? That's almost unheard of.

[Allan Bartlett]

He's actually over 600k as of today. The cash is rolling in from small donors across the country who are fed up with Bush's rhetoric on immigration. Bush's speech yesterday was all smoke & mirrors. He can say it's a "guest worker program" until the cows come home, but it is amnesty pure and simple. It's rewarding illegal activity. The fact that Bush is even talking like he is right now is due to the Minutemen movement.

Powder Blue Report

[JozefColomy]

Hmm...so it's cool to be pissed/jealous over John Campbell raising money, but when Uncle Jimmy does it is "exceptional"? Whatever...you coffee-shop revolutionaries have your fun now, because the voters will not buy into JimG's false and unscrupulous campaign.

Also, the 15-Minutemen are not the reason that President Bush was talking as he did. He was/is talking like he did because Border Patrol has cuaght several Al-Qaeda members trying to cross the border in recent weeks. You all know, the same Border Patrol that JimG chastises as being inept and underfunded and what-not. There's nothing wrong with a guest-worker program. You see, the real problem with our country is the welfare system and the lazy recipients thereof. At present, the thousands and thousands of welfare hand-out takers are better off to be fired than to quit a job and there is no motivation or incentive to get back to work so our jobs go unfilled. Then we also have thousands of illegals just dying (in some cases literally) to come here just to earn an honest wage. This influx of illegals will not stop until we fix our welfare system (...or delete it all together) and make the lazy handout-takers get jobs. Inasmuch as it would keep our economy at a steady level, it would also curb illegal immigration because there would not be incentive to come here.

Not to mention, was the part of Gilchrist's vast rhetoric that "got the President to speak out" on illegal immigration the part about wanting to grant amnesty to illegals? Because I seem to recall he liked that idea not even half of a year ago, and was actually quoted in an interview as saying that he did not mind amnesty...

[anon ii]

Bad news, Jozef. Those "hard-working" illegals are also sucking up the freebies. Check your local schools for the free lunch and after-school care, go to what used to be Mission Hospital ER, and see the waiting room for the routine doc visits for the illegals (not to mention the humor and irony of the Hispanics outnumbering Blacks in South Central riots over their anger(?) on the acquittal of the Rotney King cops). Just like in this country, some are hardworking, some are lowlife, gangbanging crooks. There are hard working people with actual job skills from many countries waiting to get in, but unable because the US is not accessible to their border.

[lanceman]

Guest Worker = Compehensive Plan = AMNESTY

Jozef, are you complaining about the welfare system that Bush and the Republicans expanded by the Medicare prescription drug benefit?

[JozefColomy]

No, I don't hate MediCare because it is for senior citizens for the most part, and not everyone qualifies. Now, MedicAid is a whole other story...

anon ii, what you said is mostly true, which is why I'm not advocating getting rid of Border Patrol or anything. However, if they don't have to conentrate so much on busting people who are fairly innocent, then they can spend more time, money, and manpower on busting MS-13 members, etc.. The Free-School lunch thing and afterschool care thing is not an illegal issue, again. It is a welfare issue, and toning-down welfare would kill several birds with one money-saving stone. I'm telling you, if we revamp the welfare system in this country, many other dominoes will fall as a result. I have to say also that, as a public school student myself, I do not see many illegal immigrants in school. Granted, I don't live in San Clemente, or National City or anything; I live in Aliso Viejo, actually. As for Rodney King...no one was angry during that time, everyone was "Free TV's!"..come one, you know that...

[Gustavo Arellano]

More Heston! More Heston! But how about some Edward G. Robinson in Heston movies, as well?