Cal (& His Dog, Spot) Drive into the Sunset Last week, television lost one of its pioneering pitchmen, Cal Worthington. The car dealer was an icon of the early black-and-white days of the industry when TVs were heavy, wooden pieces of living room furniture and required a minute or more to warm up once you […]
Reusable Bags Now It is time for La Cañada Flintridge to join our surrounding communities and move to reusable bags. We should do this not only for environmental reasons but for cost savings as well. All the communities around us have done it. The County did it over two years ago. Glendale and Montrose began […]
Little kids, little parties. Big kids, big parties. I attended the parent session on teen parties led by Paul Royer held at the YMCA and learned we must both set limits and set our children free so they can learn how to be social and control their world. Parents must keep tabs, set consequences, and […]
Garageology, Pt. 2 Okay, so this week we’re still in my garage, digging through the accumulated geologic layers of flotsam and jetsam that come from raising four kids and multiple dogs and simply living blessedly full and active lives for over 30 years in the same home. The plan was to clear enough square footage […]
Murder and Mayhem in the Crescenta Valley “Murder and Mayhem in the Crescenta Valley” is the unlikely title of a new book, co-written by Gary Keyes and me. I say unlikely because CV is such a quiet, nice place – how could there have been murders here? Any community, no matter how nice, has its […]
Board Member in the News Joe Allen, CA Narcotic Officer Association, talked about “Molly” (for molecule), a dangerous club drug you knew as Ecstasy, on NBC4. www.nbclosangeles.com National Epidemic: The Medicine Abuse Project webinar: Ninety percent of addictions begin during teenage years. Twenty-five percent of teens report having misused or abused a prescription drug at […]
Chastises SCPH Southern California Presbyterian Homes, now being called the be.group, conveniently takes away the church front, removes the idea of charity, and deletes concept of love thy neighbor. It does not, however, take away the non-profit status, which seems to be forgotten. And I have just learned that this home for the elderly was […]
Helping Firefighters Keep Us Safe Wildfire season is upon us again and, as I am writing this, the news is focused on the massive Rim Fire burning in Yosemite National Park. As I see the smoke in the air from the Capitol, I am reminded of the 2009 Station Fire, which killed two firefighters and […]
Garageology, Pt. 1 For those following along at home, you’ll remember that we recently sold our old SUV. And yes, we did replace it with a new car. Now ideally, a new car should live in a garage, of course. But here’s the thing: since the vehicle we got rid of was 14 years old […]
Twelve Oaks – Built by Charity, Sold for Profit The story of Twelve Oaks Lodge has a beautiful beginning and a sad and angry end. Its origins lie in the altruistic views of James and Effie Fifield of Minneapolis. I picked up their story of generosity from several articles written by Katherine Yamada last year […]