August 30, 2008 by Bill Gould, Publisher.

	2008 Alert #16

Toll Road Public Hearing Scheduled for September 22, 2008 Please Attend and Request Time to Speak Background  The proposed Foothill-South toll road in Orange and San Diego Counties is one of the most environmentally destructive and unnecessary transportation projects in California history. The road would run 4 miles down the length of San Onofre State Beach, effectively destroying the interior of the park and the San Mateo Campground. It would also run right through protected habitat in the Donna O’Neil Conservancy and drive endangered species toward extinction. Alternatives exist. Earlier this year, at a momentous public hearing in Del Mar, the California Coastal Commission determined that the toll road was inconsistent with the federal Coastal Zone Management Act. The toll road agency has appealed this decision to the federal Secretary of Commerce. After much delay, the Commerce Dept. has finally scheduled a public hearing - once again in Del Mar. Action requested Please attend the hearing, along with your friends, family, and neighbors. We need to show how many people care about the state park and its wildlife. However, in order to speak at the hearing, Commerce is requiring the submittal of a written request in advance. Only letters will be accepted - no emails or faxes - and must arrive by Sept. 12. This is highly unusual but instructions and suggested talking points for your testimony are below. We hope you will elect to speak out. Date:  September 22, 2008 Location:  O’Brien Hall at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Boulevard, Del Mar, CA 92014 Directions:  http://www.sdfair.com/index.php?fuseaction=maps.home Time:  10:30 AM - 8:30 PM (suggest arrival by 10 AM) Parking:  On-site available at $9 Relax and travel by free chartered bus For further information, contact Robin Everett <robin.everett@sierraclub.org> and let her know your location. How to request an opportunity to speak  A letter must be received in Washington, DC no later than Sept. 12, 2008. Be sure to include all the information indicated below. Organization representatives must submit the request on letterhead. Please mail by Sept. 5, or use overnight. SAMPLE LETTER   ____________________________ August 28, 2008 Thomas Street NOAA Office of General Counsel for Ocean Services 1305 East-West Highway, Room 6111 Silver Spring, MD 20910 RE:  Federal Consistency Appeal by Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency Dear Mr. Street: I wish to speak at the public hearing on September 22, 2008 in Del Mar, California, and will be speaking as an [individual/representative of an organization/elected official]. Organization representatives add: I certify that the organization has authorized me to testify on its behalf. Full Name Title, if any (for elected officials, official title) Organization, if any (for elected official, name of public office) Address Thank you. Sincerely, ____________________________    Talking points for testimony (3 minutes for individuals, 5 minutes for organizational representatives and elected officials) Please personalize for relevance to you and your community. Please deny the TCA’s request to override the determination by the California Coastal Commission that the proposed Foothill-South toll road is inconsistent with the Coastal Zone Management Act.  The toll road is not of national significance. Rather, it is a local matter. Its purpose is to reduce local traffic. Thus, it does not advance the interest of the nation as a whole. The immense harm from this project far outweighs any marginal benefit. The toll road will, according to the Calif. Parks Dept., cause the abandonment of the popular San Mateo Campground and effectively destroy 2/3rds of San Onofre State Beach. With 2.4 million visitors per year, there is no evidence that the public has any need of the toll road for accessing our state park. The road has severe effects on endangered species and for this reason, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has recommended alternative routes. Due to erosion and sedimentation, it threatens a world-renowned surfing beach and the multi-million dollar industry it supports. Because the toll road ruins a sacred site, it will literally deprive Native Americans of their religion.  Reasonable alternatives are available.  These alternatives include widening Interstate 5 - the most logical way to relieve congestion on this route - or via “Central” alignments to the west. The displacement numbers for structures generated by TCA are wildly exaggerated, and according to the Army Corps of Engineers, “there are other practicable alternatives available to TCA that would achieve the overall project purpose.” Alternative approaches have been validated by the former design chief for the New York State Department of Transportation. The toll road is not necessary for national security. Rather, the toll road would be a permanent encroachment upon the training mission of the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton.  According to General JL Jones of the Marine Corps, the toll road will “hinder our ability to prepare for war.”  The Marine Corps has also commented in writing that the toll road mitigation is not necessary for national security.  Thank you for participating in this campaign.  Please pass along!

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August 20, 2008 by Bill Gould, Publisher.

Claremont, California - So, as planned, I set out on a Last Summer Escape on August 16 and 17 2008 to a new Hotel, a new Restaurant, a new Band and Warped Tour with Jeney and Apryl. The Hotel, as reviewed earlier, was great. Clean and funky-cool, it was a hit with the whole crew.

Next up we headed to The Press, a vegetarian friendly restaurant in Claremont California for some tasty vittles. We had made reservations earlier in the day so that we could get a seat in the room The Woolly Bandits were playing in. The keyboardist, John Langdon, is a buddy of mine. We have played in a couple of different bands together in the past and he had invited me out.

The place is located in what looks like a 100 year old barn and has a unique style about it. We started the meal with ‘Press Fries’, a collection of yams and potatoes cut in various ways and deep fried. They were not quite crunchy, but tasty. We also ordered a ‘Musicians Salad’ and it was perfect by all accounts. For a beverage, Apryl ordered a ‘fresh squeezed’ lemonade that was $4, bland and boring. Sadly enough she ended up using it to flavor her ice water. I ordered a California Black Beer; it was great, so much so that I later ordered one with dinner. Jeney enjoyed a Sierra Nevada Porter with her meal and reported it was great as well.

Apryl’s dinner consisted of a bowl of soup, potato spinach soup to be exact. To my surprise she ate the entire bowl with only a little help from Jeney and I. The bite or two I had I enjoyed very much. Jeney ordered a slice of Vegetarian Lasagna; it was rather large and flavorful. My meal was a pesto noodle stir-fry with seasoned tofu. I loved my dish and wish I could have some right now. Upon my request I had them cook the tofu extra crispy and it was perfect.


Dessert was unique. As a kid, Apryl went very traditional and had vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup. I don’t eat ice cream, but based on her fast eating it must have been great! Jeney and I split a slice of vegan chocolate cake. I enjoyed it, although it could have had a bit more rich flavor and it would have been delightful.

About the time we finished the dessert the band had begun playing. I had really come to see the band after all. The Woolly Bandits began tearing through an explosive set of rock and roll with singer Christa dancing on the tables and getting crazy with her tambourine. It was way awesome to see my good friend ‘Johnny Keys’ playing with such a cool, fun and hip band. It was about this time that a server came over to me and mentioned to me that we were going to need to leave because my daughter was only 7. I was a little stunned seeing as how I just spent over $100 on dinner and that the band was only 4 songs into an hour long set. I basically told her ‘no’ and asked to speak with the manager. The manager came right over and we went outside to talk; a talk that would last like 15 minutes and waste precious minutes of an amazing rock and roll stampede that I could hear from even out back.

The manager in short order told me that I had to leave because that was the restaurants policy. I then explained about how I drove 60 miles from my home to come see the band, not come to the restaurant. I explained that HER employee Ashley had told me it was fine for us to be there for the band after I called and made a reservation for 2 adults and a child at a table in the room that the band was in. I told her that in LA County it was legal for ‘under 21’s’ to be in an establishment after 9pm; if that establishment also serves food. I then asked if the City of Claremont had an ordinance barring my daughter from being there and she replied ‘no’, because it is a restaurant and not a ‘bar’. We bickered back and forth for a few more minutes until we reached a compromise in allowing us to stay until midnight so I could at least see a few more songs. Either way I was not at all happy with missing a good portion of the bands set and would caution against people going to see bands at this venue unless everyone in your party is over 21.

This particular incident irritated a spot in my soul from a verbal altercation over the phone earlier in the week with a band who was scheduled for a show on August 16. This band (who does not deserve the name mention in this article) canceled a show with only 36 hours notice because ‘they didn’t know if it was worth their time to drive from Riverside’. Well, well, well, poor band that scheduled an entire show themselves (at their request) and then craps out and the last minute. I have no pity for you. You should have shown up and played and been big boys about it.

This made me begin to loose the faith I had in new music. This loss of belief began months ago as our local scene has imploded in many ways. Bands breaking up, getting married, going to college, having kids and just giving up and getting regular jobs have all caused our local Temecula Valley scene to fall apart in the recent past. This coupled with the douchebaggery of the Riverside band this week and the attitude of the management at The Press on Saturday night had pressed me to the limit and truly eroded my faith in good old rock and roll - you know, the kind your parents hate and you love. My last chance at salvation was a ‘little’ festival called Warped Tour. It was so fitting that the last day of this year’s tour was on a Sunday, as I was in need of rock and roll ‘church’ to cleanse my soul of the evil that had crossed my path this week and tainted my love for loud guitars, great songwriting and mosh pits.

To be continued…

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August 17, 2008 by Bill Gould, Publisher.

We are about to leave the Hotel Indigo and head off to Warped Tour to see our good friends Animo. They have reported this summer that the shows have been tremendous and the the fun unstoppable. I expect this to continue. Ill be reporting brief updates during the day as we meet people and see cool bands. When we get back to the office on Monday Ill have a wrap-up story about The Press in Claremont and more detail on the 2008 Warped Tour experience.

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