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Anybody got their ears on?

This is Panca
This is Panca

Correction

Last week’s cover photo incorrectly identified the girl in front of Panca’s mural as Panca. We regret the error.

— Editor

Defending Marines

On your recent cover (“Baja Is Back,” July 25) you made mention of a “nasty bar full of Marines.” Reading the entire article, I expected to find the reasons why Marines made the bar bad. I didn’t! Not once! So why put us on blast on the cover? Why make a comment about Marines? It’s pointless!

I take great offense to being portrayed like we spend all our time in nasty, cheap bars. We fight our nation’s battles on a daily basis and leave our families for months at a time to defend a country we put before ourselves. I don’t expect recognition from you, but I do expect some respect for an organization that has provided defense of your freedoms for the last 238 years.

Please think twice before covering a story with the front page blasting Marines.

Name Withheld
via email

Reopening Soon?

Regarding “Baja Is Back,” July 25 cover story.

Let us know when Café La Especial reopens and I’ll be down on the next trolley!

Kennedy Gammage
via email

Baja Beauty

I’m calling about your article in the July 25 edition called “Baja Is Back.” Last winter my friend Nancy and I used to meet for coffee once a week in downtown Tijuana. We’d shop, go to galleries, and visit friends. Never once did either one of us ever have any sort of problem in the streets — and this was in the evening.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Both of us are senior ladies. I’m 65 years old and my friend Nancy is 72. There are thousands of seniors living in Baja. These seniors belong to the Red Cross, they belong to the Friends of the Library, they belong to the Humane Society of Tijuana. They lead very active, productive lives, and they don’t spend every single minute looking over their shoulder for stray bullets.

Many single women live in Baja as well. They live adventurous lives. One of my friends is an artist and a writer named Martina. She travels the coastline in her car, writing stories, and has a wonderful time experiencing the natural beauty of Baja. She hasn’t had a single negative experience that I’m aware of.

Baja is a place of magic, grace, adventure, and beauty, and people should be encouraged to come visit. They shouldn’t be afraid to come down here. Think of the many retired senior citizens in their 60s, 70s, and 80s who are here. They’re not afraid of Baja!

I recommend that people take another look at Baja. Thank you, Reader, for your positive story.

Vivian Dunbar
San Ysidro

Tennis Realm

Loved reading “On the Tour” (Sporting Box, July 25) because I met the young man [Zeke Hindle] in Orinda a few weeks ago. What a lovely couple they are. Such a thrill to be in their realm.

Name Withheld
via email

Constituent Safety

I appreciate Ace Hoffman’s concern about spent fuel storage (News Ticker: “Still a Risk”). However, I am concerned about spent fuel stored in vulnerable cooling pools, rather than steel and concrete dry casks.

Approximately 70% of San Onofre’s radioactive waste is stored in overstuffed pools that were designed to cool the waste for a few years before transferring it into dry casks and eventually off-site to a geologic repository. Unfortunately, the federal government failed to fulfill its promise to move the waste, so it remained on site. The utility, in turn, saved money by overfilling the pools, rather than transferring it into dry casks.

Pools require electricity to circulate water, making them vulnerable during outages, and many are located outside of primary containment. Dry casks, conversely, are cooled by natural air flow.

The difference was apparent at Fukushima. Unit Four spent fuel pool’s water levels were maintained only because a hydrogen explosion blew off the roof, which enabled workers to drop water into the pool from helicopters and water cannons. Fukushima’s dry casks, on the other hand, survived relatively unscathed.

Senate nuclear waste management legislation is currently being considered, but does not require thinning spent fuel pools. Senator Feinstein, one of the bill’s sponsors, should include language to require thinning spent fuel pools in order to improve the safety of millions of her constituents who live near the San Onofre and Diablo Canyon nuclear reactors.

Rhen Kohan
via email

No Duty to Retreat

Last week a letter to the editor stated: “In California, you can never use deadly force to defend property and you are expected to vacate your own premises, if you can safely do so. No ‘Castle Doctrine’ or ‘Stand your Ground”’in the California (People’s)Republic!”

Potential Home Invaders please take note: That’s not true based on California Penal Code § 198.5: The California version of “Stand Your Ground” applies when the person taking defensive action is within his or her own residence and a stranger has broken in — meaning deadly force can be used and there is no duty to retreat.

This state may be liberal but we’re not nuts.

Name withheld
via email

An Otherwise Fine Article

I thought that your cover article, “Laugh Lines,” (July 18) was well-written and interesting. However, I was surprised and disappointed that there was no mention of one of, if not the longest career improv comedy teachers here in San Diego, Jacquie Lowell.

Jacquie has been performing, teaching, and directing improv here for 35 years, and has worked with many talented people, some of whom also perform stand-up and sketch comedy. I imagine that she would have had some excellent insights to add to your piece.

Her troupes are known for creative, intelligent, short-form humor that has everyone leaving the theater in a happy, endorphin-fed, high. She has been creating this kind of fun (currently Outside the Lines) for so long, I’m mystified that your otherwise fine article ignored her.

Rich Ernst
via email

People Like You

Trouble with a Shotgun” (July 11 feature) should have mentioned that the Bill of Rights and Amendments 3 and 4 were infringed on. It’s people like you and your publication that refuse to mention the rights of Americans in columns like this.

Amendment 4: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment 3: No soldier may be quartered in any house during a time of peace without the owner’s consent, or in a time of war except as prescribed by law.

Please show some responsibility and print this next month. In the future, print all the facts.

Name Withheld
via email

No Use

Let me add my name to the group of readers who are disappointed at the disappearance of Straight From the Hip. I would read this column regularly and, although I found the smart-alecky tone sometimes annoying, I learned quite a few interesting things about the city we live in, which I would have no way of learning otherwise.

I never read art reviews, and I only occasionally dip into restaurant reviews, which are usually too self-consciously cute, hip, or avant-guard to be of any use. Who can afford to eat out in restaurants anyway these days?

Bruce Scott
via email

Expand East

Great article on the aerotropolis plan for Gillespie Field (Neighborhood News).

I am a native San Diegan and local East County resident. I would love to hear more about this issue. Perhaps you could give us readers a weekly update — or better yet, a more in-depth story. It seems that there is more to it than just aviation.

I am crossing my fingers for a Charger Stadium with an entertainment complex. It is about time we expand east. I think it would greatly benefit the economy, thus the community. I would also like to add that it is wonderful seeing people stand up for what they believe in. Cheers, Germann!

Day Jenae
via email

Lack of Coverage

I’m concerned about the lack of coverage in South Bay. I haven’t seen Susan Luzzaro’s byline in a couple of weeks and I’m concerned that we’re no longer of interest. There’s a lot of crap going on down here, especially with the school district. I’m hoping to see some renewed coverage of what’s important to us down here.

Kevin O’Neil
South Bay

Ode to M.A.

Let’s all shed a tear, and then raise a chalice.

We’ll all surely miss the late Mathew Alice,

who cleverly wrote Straight From the Hip,

filled with awesome facts, and often a quip.

A column with wry humor, but never with malice!

Woody Anderson
Carmel Valley

History Ticker

I noticed that your News Ticker and Neighborhood News items are always a week old or more. Your July 18 issue has “news” dated July 8. Really? How do you figure?

Instead, you should call it “History,” or “In Case You Live Under a Rock and Didn’t Hear About This Already.”

Name Withheld
via email

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A world-class museum, best drinking, best eating, best shops, ups and downs of Del Cerro, parent-friendly playgrounds, peaceful, eaze-y feeling
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Clikatat Ikatowi returns to the Casbah for October 8 show

Venue saw the band’s last performance over a quarter century ago
This is Panca
This is Panca

Correction

Last week’s cover photo incorrectly identified the girl in front of Panca’s mural as Panca. We regret the error.

— Editor

Defending Marines

On your recent cover (“Baja Is Back,” July 25) you made mention of a “nasty bar full of Marines.” Reading the entire article, I expected to find the reasons why Marines made the bar bad. I didn’t! Not once! So why put us on blast on the cover? Why make a comment about Marines? It’s pointless!

I take great offense to being portrayed like we spend all our time in nasty, cheap bars. We fight our nation’s battles on a daily basis and leave our families for months at a time to defend a country we put before ourselves. I don’t expect recognition from you, but I do expect some respect for an organization that has provided defense of your freedoms for the last 238 years.

Please think twice before covering a story with the front page blasting Marines.

Name Withheld
via email

Reopening Soon?

Regarding “Baja Is Back,” July 25 cover story.

Let us know when Café La Especial reopens and I’ll be down on the next trolley!

Kennedy Gammage
via email

Baja Beauty

I’m calling about your article in the July 25 edition called “Baja Is Back.” Last winter my friend Nancy and I used to meet for coffee once a week in downtown Tijuana. We’d shop, go to galleries, and visit friends. Never once did either one of us ever have any sort of problem in the streets — and this was in the evening.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Both of us are senior ladies. I’m 65 years old and my friend Nancy is 72. There are thousands of seniors living in Baja. These seniors belong to the Red Cross, they belong to the Friends of the Library, they belong to the Humane Society of Tijuana. They lead very active, productive lives, and they don’t spend every single minute looking over their shoulder for stray bullets.

Many single women live in Baja as well. They live adventurous lives. One of my friends is an artist and a writer named Martina. She travels the coastline in her car, writing stories, and has a wonderful time experiencing the natural beauty of Baja. She hasn’t had a single negative experience that I’m aware of.

Baja is a place of magic, grace, adventure, and beauty, and people should be encouraged to come visit. They shouldn’t be afraid to come down here. Think of the many retired senior citizens in their 60s, 70s, and 80s who are here. They’re not afraid of Baja!

I recommend that people take another look at Baja. Thank you, Reader, for your positive story.

Vivian Dunbar
San Ysidro

Tennis Realm

Loved reading “On the Tour” (Sporting Box, July 25) because I met the young man [Zeke Hindle] in Orinda a few weeks ago. What a lovely couple they are. Such a thrill to be in their realm.

Name Withheld
via email

Constituent Safety

I appreciate Ace Hoffman’s concern about spent fuel storage (News Ticker: “Still a Risk”). However, I am concerned about spent fuel stored in vulnerable cooling pools, rather than steel and concrete dry casks.

Approximately 70% of San Onofre’s radioactive waste is stored in overstuffed pools that were designed to cool the waste for a few years before transferring it into dry casks and eventually off-site to a geologic repository. Unfortunately, the federal government failed to fulfill its promise to move the waste, so it remained on site. The utility, in turn, saved money by overfilling the pools, rather than transferring it into dry casks.

Pools require electricity to circulate water, making them vulnerable during outages, and many are located outside of primary containment. Dry casks, conversely, are cooled by natural air flow.

The difference was apparent at Fukushima. Unit Four spent fuel pool’s water levels were maintained only because a hydrogen explosion blew off the roof, which enabled workers to drop water into the pool from helicopters and water cannons. Fukushima’s dry casks, on the other hand, survived relatively unscathed.

Senate nuclear waste management legislation is currently being considered, but does not require thinning spent fuel pools. Senator Feinstein, one of the bill’s sponsors, should include language to require thinning spent fuel pools in order to improve the safety of millions of her constituents who live near the San Onofre and Diablo Canyon nuclear reactors.

Rhen Kohan
via email

No Duty to Retreat

Last week a letter to the editor stated: “In California, you can never use deadly force to defend property and you are expected to vacate your own premises, if you can safely do so. No ‘Castle Doctrine’ or ‘Stand your Ground”’in the California (People’s)Republic!”

Potential Home Invaders please take note: That’s not true based on California Penal Code § 198.5: The California version of “Stand Your Ground” applies when the person taking defensive action is within his or her own residence and a stranger has broken in — meaning deadly force can be used and there is no duty to retreat.

This state may be liberal but we’re not nuts.

Name withheld
via email

An Otherwise Fine Article

I thought that your cover article, “Laugh Lines,” (July 18) was well-written and interesting. However, I was surprised and disappointed that there was no mention of one of, if not the longest career improv comedy teachers here in San Diego, Jacquie Lowell.

Jacquie has been performing, teaching, and directing improv here for 35 years, and has worked with many talented people, some of whom also perform stand-up and sketch comedy. I imagine that she would have had some excellent insights to add to your piece.

Her troupes are known for creative, intelligent, short-form humor that has everyone leaving the theater in a happy, endorphin-fed, high. She has been creating this kind of fun (currently Outside the Lines) for so long, I’m mystified that your otherwise fine article ignored her.

Rich Ernst
via email

People Like You

Trouble with a Shotgun” (July 11 feature) should have mentioned that the Bill of Rights and Amendments 3 and 4 were infringed on. It’s people like you and your publication that refuse to mention the rights of Americans in columns like this.

Amendment 4: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment 3: No soldier may be quartered in any house during a time of peace without the owner’s consent, or in a time of war except as prescribed by law.

Please show some responsibility and print this next month. In the future, print all the facts.

Name Withheld
via email

No Use

Let me add my name to the group of readers who are disappointed at the disappearance of Straight From the Hip. I would read this column regularly and, although I found the smart-alecky tone sometimes annoying, I learned quite a few interesting things about the city we live in, which I would have no way of learning otherwise.

I never read art reviews, and I only occasionally dip into restaurant reviews, which are usually too self-consciously cute, hip, or avant-guard to be of any use. Who can afford to eat out in restaurants anyway these days?

Bruce Scott
via email

Expand East

Great article on the aerotropolis plan for Gillespie Field (Neighborhood News).

I am a native San Diegan and local East County resident. I would love to hear more about this issue. Perhaps you could give us readers a weekly update — or better yet, a more in-depth story. It seems that there is more to it than just aviation.

I am crossing my fingers for a Charger Stadium with an entertainment complex. It is about time we expand east. I think it would greatly benefit the economy, thus the community. I would also like to add that it is wonderful seeing people stand up for what they believe in. Cheers, Germann!

Day Jenae
via email

Lack of Coverage

I’m concerned about the lack of coverage in South Bay. I haven’t seen Susan Luzzaro’s byline in a couple of weeks and I’m concerned that we’re no longer of interest. There’s a lot of crap going on down here, especially with the school district. I’m hoping to see some renewed coverage of what’s important to us down here.

Kevin O’Neil
South Bay

Ode to M.A.

Let’s all shed a tear, and then raise a chalice.

We’ll all surely miss the late Mathew Alice,

who cleverly wrote Straight From the Hip,

filled with awesome facts, and often a quip.

A column with wry humor, but never with malice!

Woody Anderson
Carmel Valley

History Ticker

I noticed that your News Ticker and Neighborhood News items are always a week old or more. Your July 18 issue has “news” dated July 8. Really? How do you figure?

Instead, you should call it “History,” or “In Case You Live Under a Rock and Didn’t Hear About This Already.”

Name Withheld
via email

Comments
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The concert did what it was designed to do
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