As You See It: Oct. 12, 2008 - Santa Cruz Sentinel

Yesterday there was a Yes on Prop. 5 letter from Linda Jones, executive director of the Janus diversion/treatment center. Today we have one from David True, a Community Action Board worker who counsels parolees. Passage of Prop. 5 will send billions of dollars into funding programs like theirs, and parole tens of thousands of prison inmates back into communities to provide plenty of work for such enterprises. These two are obviously willing to put their mouth where their money is.

Looks like Jennifer Jean will be upset for another week. Yesterday, the Sentinel sports section once again had few positive things to say about Aptos High football, and focused more attention on their opposing team. Maybe that was because the St. Francis Sharks had creamed Aptos 36-19 the night before. Go Sharks!

I like the blue signs indicating where our water is flowing. I walk daily and see so much litter: plastic water bottles, fast food containers, and personal garbage. Maybe if people start realizing how many sources are contaminated by their thoughtlessness, the creeks might not be so polluted. And potholes? I love em. Keeps people from driving faster. I call them inverse speed bumps.

localresident wrote:

I like the blue signs indicating where our water is flowing. I walk daily and see so much litter: plastic water bottles, fast food containers, and personal garbage. Maybe if people start realizing how many sources are contaminated by their thoughtlessness, the creeks might not be so polluted. And potholes? I love em. Keeps people from driving faster. I call them inverse speed bumps.

But the blue signs don't tell people that they are indicating where our water is flowing. Or if they do, the print is too small for me to see when I'm driving.

Re: potholes. Nice idea you have, but the problem is when one encounters a pothole unexpectedly and damages the car's tire. You don't have to be driving fast to incur damage.

Susan Kipping,

Investor's Business Daily says "Fannie and Freddie were created by democrats, regulated by democrats, mostly run by democrats, and protected by democrats."

Therefore it makes sense that Eshoo and Farr would vote for the package.

And while I agree with you, as long as academia has the political power of the student vote at both UCSC and Cal State Monterey Bay, you will never see Sam Farr voted out of office.

The only comfort I can offer you is that this problem is not just a Monterey bay problem. It goes on in every major university area of the United States.

And you wonder why the country turned "left?"

The blue signs are great. Great education for children. Some people will complain about anything.

The money came from a grant through the RCD, not the County or City. It's their job to educate people about our resources and do what they can to protect them. The RCD has some fantastic programs helping private property owners with projects that protect our streams and watersheds. The signs are a small but significant component of their mandate, and while bigger signs would have been easier to read, the cost was prohibative.

Signs lacking wrote:

<quoted text>
But the blue signs don't tell people that they are indicating where our water is flowing. Or if they do, the print is too small for me to see when I'm driving.
Re: potholes. Nice idea you have, but the problem is when one encounters a pothole unexpectedly and damages the car's tire. You don't have to be driving fast to incur damage.

I love the fact they only re-paved 1/2 of Soquel Dr in Aptos. Why 1/2?

Signs...waste of money. Made soneone feel good though. Who approved that waste of money of the blue signs?

Somebody get Harry a tissue.
People like him are going to have a lot to cry about in the near future.
Stupid environment, if it's so cool why can't it protect itself? Right, Harry? Right?....sigh....

Jaydog wrote:

...Stupid environment, if it's so cool why can't it protect itself? Right, Harry? Right?....sigh....

Uh, yeah, because the azz_holes who toss trash WON'T toss trash if they know they're in a 'watershed'?
The jerks will be there whether the signs are or not.

I think the front page is exactly where a unsolved murder case story belongs. People need to see the story right when they look at the paper...if it was hidden inside it might not be given the attention it needs. Keeping it out there and alive and visible is the only way it is going to get solved.

I think you can deal with this for one day.

Gosh, I like the new blue watershed signs. Maybe it's because I bicycle around, so I have time to see the signs. Also, if I take a leak behind the bushes, now I know where it goes.

RobtA wrote:

Gosh, I like the new blue watershed signs. Maybe it's because I bicycle around, so I have time to see the signs. Also, if I take a leak behind the bushes, now I know where it goes.

hee hee ur so funny !(gross but funny)

If we're not part of the solution then we're part of the problem

Educating people on Autism and other disabilities in the scope of education is an important issue and this should be happening. The article in the Sunday paper titled "Conference targets parents of autistic kids" (which should read "Conference targets parents of KIDS WITH AUTISM) portrayed the idea that public schools are not providing an appropriate education setting for many students with autism or other severe disabilities. The article quoted someone saying "you can't just shove everyone into a big classroom", implying that students with severe disabilities are just shoved into any classroom available. As a special educator of students with moderate to severe disabilities, including autism, this offends me. The service that we provide for these students are not with the intention of a "one size fits all" philosophy. Special Educators have an Individual Education Plan, which is a legal document, for each student in the classroom. This means that the classroom must be set up in a way to meet each student's individual needs, which means frequent individual attention. I'm offended that so often the Special Education system is talked about in a negative light, like we are not doing enough. Of course there are exceptions to some teachers and/or administrators who may not be up to par with best practices, but the majority of Special Educators are devoting their lives to these children; students with disabilities benefit greatly from many of the district/county special education programs. I would love to see an article someday on all of the great things Special Educators are doing for students with disabilities in Santa Cruz County, which includes programs for children with autism.