There are a number or memorial / relief websites for the residents / survivors of the La Conchita mudslide. Here are a few, in no particular order :
La
Conchita Relief Fund La
Conchita Discussion Forum Friends of La Conchita
Ridiculous Letter to the Editor
Bud Fink has written many letters to the editor of our local newspaper, the Carpinterial
Coastal View. From his letters, he seems a disaffected leftist, frequently spewing
vitriol at President Bush and anything to the right of the radical left. His
latest: State is on a slippery slope Seems like deja vu all over
again. Just over 70 years ago a man from Austria rose to power in Germany. He gained
power by promising the people the world if they just followed him. We now have a governor
from Austria who wants to disband the legislature and rule the state through propositions
which will solve all our problems with no sacrifice from the people. Is anyone else
frightened by this slippery slope we appear to be approaching? Bud Fink Carpinteria My
response:
Shame on Mr. Bud Fink for his promiscuous hyperbole in comparing California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to Adolf Hitler. His comparison belittles and cheapens the real suffering and horrors inflicted upon the six million Jews and millions of others (gypsies, Poles, Slavs, communists, trade-unionists, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, dissenting clergy, etc) at the hands of the Third Reich. Political discussion and disagreement is one thing, but to invoke the name of the 20th Century’s most reviled demagogue in a comparison with our own Governor is not only unproductive, it is crass and shows a disturbing lack of perspective.
MATT THEULE
Carpinteria
I sent my response to the newspaper via e-mail. We will see if it gets printed next week.
Sticker : “Evolution is a theory not a fact.”
Judge:
Evolution stickers must be removed from textbooks How can a simple
7- word
statement that does not mention God, Jesus, Christianity or any religion or any church
violate the Establishment Clause? Talk about having a political agenda. The statement:
This
textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding
the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind,
studied carefully and critically considered.
Everyone Listed as Missing is Accounted For
Authorities said Thursday they had accounted for everyone listed as missing.
CNN
Article
“On the day of the disaster, their coastal home facing unrelenting storms, [Jimmie]
Wallet and Michelle, his wife of 16 years, decided to leave town. Michelle had heard
warnings of possible mudslides and their eldest child, 16-year-old Jasmine, was already
away. But before they left Wallet stepped out to get ice cream for the kids. ” MSNBC
Article
The 101 is expected to be open on Saturday morning, so it will have been closed for a full 5 business days.
Architectural Review Board Meeting
All 3 City Planners for Carpinteria live in Ventura, thus they can’t get to the ARB
meeting tomorrow, January 13th, 2005. For a while it appeared that the meeting
would be delayed or cancelled. However, the City Manager is a former Planner, so he
is going to present all the projects to the board. I didn’t get a copy of the Community
Development Department Project Review for our application in the mail, so I went to
City Hall and picked up a copy. They have the project described as a 3 story project.
I called our architect to ask about this and some other points. He seemed very confident
that our project would not have any problems with the ARB. He said that, yes, our
project is a 3 story project even though the “third story” is nothing more than a
finished attic. Here are some 3D renderings of the completed project. As always, click
for the full size. 
