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The collection bin for the Childhood Disease Research Foundation in San Juan Capistrano. Patch photo credit: Penny Arévalo
Sharon Thompson May 22, 2013 at 10:48 am
Upscale Resale is South County Outreach's thrift store in Laguna Hills. All proceeds support SCO'sRead More programs to fight hunger and homelessness. Donations for Upscale can be dropped off at Ritz Cleaners in Dove Plaza where they are picked up regularly. Ritz is a great business with terrific employees who believe in helping others! Upscale has a paid manager - all the rest of the staff are volunteers, of which I am one. SCO is on a scale with Salvation Army, Assistance League, Cancer Society, and hospital thrift stores. SCO/Upscale benefits folks right here in south Orange County! Every item donated is utilized in some manner. We at Upscale are diligent about maximizing what is given. Thank you, Penny, for this outstanding piece of investigative journalism. Major media outlets could use you and others of your calibre. WOW!
Ronc4109 May 22, 2013 at 10:08 am
As others have noted, really good work to trace the trail...as they always say, 'follow the money'.
Tray May 22, 2013 at 09:14 am
That's not the way to go about this collecting used goods, already to many legit ones, It's anRead More eyesore and distraction, they used to have SAmy bells and one way doors, a kid thought they threw money in it and crawled into it, he was found over a week later covered in trash.
NRC Chairwoman Allison Macfarlane. Credit: NRC
San Juan May 21, 2013 at 11:57 pm
Just a little humor mixed with reality, no disrespect intended. Your preachin to the choir on thisRead More one sjchomeowner5772.
sjchomeowner5772 May 21, 2013 at 11:49 am
Why do you find it necessary to say that SONGS will restart? Have you not noticed the mountingRead More opposition to it and steady turning of the tide, including the ASLB decision ? I do not think SONGS will restart, it is too dangerous to do so for many reasons one of which you noted, the evacuation which is impossible, and people are becoming more and more on board to fight it. Across the nation attention is turning to nuclear power as a failed and dangerous idea. Fukushima and the reports from there are daunting to continuing it here without regard. Awareness, knowledge, organizations like Friends of the Earth, ROSE, San Onofre Safety, on and on are working hard. Please respect their efforts and be positive adding positive words!
San Juan May 21, 2013 at 08:02 am
Oh boy, here we go. Local residents be prepared for SONGS to restart, how could you think that itRead More wouldn't. You must not know who your dealing with, Southern California Edison and the Nuclear Regulatory Committee, come on folks their gonna start those two monsters with or without the public approval. I would rather smell the smoke from the fire rings than to end up glowing from the radioactive material that is being washed into our ocean, and don't think it's not. A nuclear incident is just one part of the equation, now try evacuating San Clemente and surrounding cities, residents are going to wish they had an evacuation route that moved quicker than 2 mph. You may own property in the area but SCE owns all of us. DEMO SONGS NOW
CaptD May 15, 2013 at 04:33 pm
Some now think this is far more than Fraud, they are calling it: Corporate Terrorism...Read More http://decommission.sanonofre.... What do you think it should be called, when the public is lied to time and time again, while at the same time these Utilities are taking ever more money from US for their own poor operational decisions which have resulted in an 1.6 Billion Dollars engineering debacle that should never have happened! Now they don't want to pay US back so they are doing everything they can to cut their losses instead of decommissioning San Onofre!
CaptD May 15, 2013 at 04:32 pm
SCE is trying to low ball the numbers, I think 1.2 Billion Dollars is closer to the mark especiallyRead More since SCE has been sucking about 70 Million Dollars every month, since Feb. 2012, from ratepayers while they have been trying every trick in the book to get themselves off the hook and/or having to repay ratepayers! How big a refund do you deserve?
CaptD May 15, 2013 at 04:29 pm
From LA Times: The head of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday that the agency willRead More not make a decision on whether to restart the troubled San Onofre nuclear plant until late June at the earliest. http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-75915856/
Patti Davis May 6, 2013 at 12:36 pm
Read this letter from Bethann Chambers, wife of whistleblower James Chambers. James Chambers is aRead More Licensed Nuclear Reactor Operator. http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/onofre/2013/SONGS%20letter%20~%20Gov.%20Brown%202Rev%20A.pdf
J. Cook May 2, 2013 at 08:18 pm
A disaster waiting to happen.
Art Feierman May 1, 2013 at 08:56 pm
Greetings, First, don't get too excited. My bet is that #2 does reopen at 70% (which I support,Read More btw, I am a 20+ year San Clemente resident, not the usual loud environmentalist type imported from LA or SF.) But even if they do shutter it permanently, note that half of the comments here are irrelevant. Even if they shut it down, San Clemente remains without an Evac plan, and the site will continue to need one. There is no place to move even 1 oz, of the tons of radioactive materials. They could spend billions (add an extra few hundreds a year to your electric bill forever), tearing the site down. Even then there is exactly 0 chance that they will be allowed to move the nuke waste. There is no place in the US that will take it. As long as Harry Reid runs the Senate, he will continue use every ounce of power he has to prevent the US to have a nuke waste facility. So, we will be in essentially about the same amount of danger, whether #2 starts up, or not, now and 20 years from now. Perhaps you environmentalists out there could allow the 241 to be finished. That way you might just save 50,000 lives once the terrorists or earthquakes, or tsunamis do their thing. (oops, that would require some compromise, sorry, for suggesting it.) Oh well, San Clemente residents glowing in the dark could be fun for a while, we'll need less electric for street lights.
JENIFER MASSEY April 9, 2013 at 01:09 pm
It is obligatory that we stop Edison to save ourselves, our equities, our families from everRead More restarting. We must organize intelligently to be certain San Onofre will never operate again. WE MUST NEVER GIVE UP & WE MUST PREVAIL !
george gregory April 9, 2013 at 12:03 pm
Edison is a danger and the public knows it no plan no talent no replacement just tons and tons ofRead More nuclear waist if you had to leave and never come back where would you go how would you live ??
Dave April 3, 2013 at 12:49 pm
Agreed, just hope it works out. Del Mar offers up 6 restaurants that I can think of off the top ofRead More my head, the piers area has 2 and then there is El Camino Real. They are steady, but not exactly jumping (except for Nicks). I hope that it works out up in North Beach. That area can use a makeover.
Adam Townsend (Editor) April 2, 2013 at 05:03 pm
True, but don't forget all the folks that moved into the Talega development and all the ones whoRead More will eventually move into Marblehead. There isn't a lot of nightlife venues up there, so I think these entrepreneurs are trying to get ahead of the curve to capture new local business.
Dave April 1, 2013 at 02:58 pm
Uh oh, HB South here we come! I think it's a good idea. The only concern is the pool of peopleRead More going out down here is only so big. San Clemente isn't exactly a huge draw to people outside of our zip codes. If it did become a draw, parking could become an issue.
tiny May 8, 2013 at 10:56 pm
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrLk4vdY28Q
Yeparoo April 30, 2013 at 03:54 pm
The stats are correct. You are no longer "counted" as unemployed/underemployed Marie.Read More The media has generally done a pretty bad job of covering the employment situation, covering the U3 rate (narrowly defined "Unemployment Rate") instead of the U6 rate ("Labor Force Participation Rate"). I don't know if this is laziness, ignorance or willful cheerleading. I have read that the LFPR may be stuck at high levels through the middle of the next decade. http://www.nojobsurvivor.com/No-Job-News/unemployment-situation-u3-u6-rates.html
tiny April 30, 2013 at 12:43 pm
Battling the dark forces:Read More www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/the-crisis-is-imminent-when-the-real-crash-comes-it-will-be-worse-than-the-great-depression_04302013
Friends in Ohio April 17, 2013 at 08:48 pm
The Disney company always fights against anything that shows they have done wrong. They won't everRead More admit that they may have done something wrong or the actions of their employees could actually have been bad. My father in a wheelchair and daughter and several others were almost ran over by a Disney Tram at Epcot in 2007. They were crossing in a cross walk and an inexperienced tram driver reved the engine and the tram came barrelling through the walkway crosswalk. The Disney employees at the scene basically told us to get lost because no one was hurt and any complaints about the incident were basically denied and we were told we better stop complaining or face the Disney Lawyers. The Disney Lawyers will get them out of this mess as well.
Doctor Wally April 17, 2013 at 03:53 pm
Looks like the state of California has found another cash cow, at of all places the Happiest PlaceRead More on Earth!!! Question, were do the fines go? Guess who pays these fines, certainly isn't Disney!! Matter of time before the blood sucking attorney's and the Bureaucrats force Disney out of California.
Jayme Jacobs April 16, 2013 at 11:08 pm
Gate entry now goes up at least another $10.00 if not more
Dave April 8, 2013 at 02:56 pm
Thanks for that info, although the Bushes claim to be divested of Carlyle, it is still full of BushRead More cronies. Those people have been a curse on this country ever since Granpa Press played ball with the Nazis.
PK April 7, 2013 at 05:55 am
More options for gas is a good thing! A newer, nicer building will be an improvement too! ActuallyRead More the city somehow needs to follow suit, and tear down some of the dilapidated apartment complexes here in town as well. They are turning into mini ghettos. Make sure the building is nice, maybe even SC/ Spanish style, with cool looking landscaping too. Not sure about a car wash though. It would be really tight with traffic.
Douglas Martin April 5, 2013 at 06:39 pm
The derelict 2-story building between the offramp and the gas station is also part of the property.Read More The franchise holders currently rent out the "offices" as rehearsal space for local bands. The building is a fire trap, the floors are rotted; it needs to go. The trailers housing the plumbing company are also owned by Valero. The occupants are nice folks. Hate to see them displaced. What are Christian and Philly gonna do??
JENIFER MASSEY April 5, 2013 at 01:57 pm
San Onofre is No Joke, it is a Travesty and we are its guinea pigs. Just remember the Chamber ofRead More Commerce is working for Edison, not we the people. This is the USA and capitalism at its worst. Down with Edison, Up with the People !
David Brown April 4, 2013 at 02:57 pm
I believe they are sabotaging the plant. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ0PEbx5NCI
Diane Hennessy April 2, 2013 at 06:13 pm
When I saw this yesterday, I was just certain it was an April Fool's joke...oh, wait...SanO is aRead More joke!
San Juan March 28, 2013 at 12:13 pm
Pretty good LN Mark, I wouldn't drive to far. Your right about the Management, I've said it allRead More along, almost like hearing myself. Would you think Independent Systems Operators would say anything less than, "in 2015 were gonna have problems on our grid"? Let's give her a try, there are enough humans who are against both Nukes and Fossil fuels to at least give new technology a chance, it's gonna happen anyway. Currently the Solar, wind, geo thermal construction is on fire, we have all got to ask ourselves, why? Progress I suppose, good stuff amigo.
LN Mark March 27, 2013 at 05:43 pm
My 8 cylinder engines work just fine on 8. But if I rev it to 10,000 RPM, valves would float,Read More perhaps impacting the pistons or throw a connecting rod, which is the internal combustion equivalent of a radiation leak (instead of radioactive steam, it's oil all over the race track). So what do I do? Limit revs to 7,000. I know that the valve spring performance is well within the safe range at 7K, so I don't push above that, even though it is likely to be fine up to 8K. But thanks, San Juan, for the analogy. Perfect. If you have issues with management or procedures, it's a much better solution to fire the managers (if all you say is true, then this is certainly reasonable) and install supervision that can be trusted to operate safely. The independent Systems Operator says we will have problems on our grid in 2015 due to the fluctuations caused by a reduction in gas and nukes and the increase in wind and solar, since the fluctuations in those must be offset by generation that works at night and when the wind stops. That's gas and nukes. There's our deadline for getting San Onofre back on line - 2015. We need it. There is no other constant-output generation method with zero airborne emissions. Fixing the problems is billions cheaper than replacing this capacity.
San Juan March 27, 2013 at 02:49 pm
LN Mark, read more than the Patch? Your the same type of person that would drive an 8 cylinderRead More automobile on 5 cylinders. You have got to be employeed by SCE and very likely at SONGS. As a person with "first hand knowledge", of the issues at SONGS, that's right I've worked there since 1974 off and on and have been deeply involved with a whole lot of stuff out there. So I say to you, get a job at a nuke if you don't have one there already and witness what really goes on out there. SHUT THAT THING DOWN TODAY AND DEMOLISH IT.
CDC March 23, 2013 at 04:00 am
Well, if you want to split hairs on the carbon footprint for mining uranium I can play that game.Read More Tell us all what is the carbon footprint for the U.S. led coalitions invading Kuwait/Iraq in 1991 and Iraq in July 2002. These invasion were all about oil energy control. Remember the hundreds of oil wells Iraq blew in Kuwait causing a HUGE ecological disaster. Oh, and don't forget the U.S. Exxon Valdez and BP spills. If you want to play that carbon footprint game, crude oil is the worst. Nuclear by far is cleaner. However, I would agree that wind, geothermal, and solar are the cleanest. http://www.campaignmastery.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/US_Navy_F-14A_Tomcat_flying_over_burning_Kuwaiti_oil_wells_during_Operation_Desert_Storm.jpg Also, many argue with facts that Chernobyl is healing much faster than the Prince William sound oil spill. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/04/0426_060426_chernobyl.html http://priceofoil.org/2010/01/19/21-years-later-oil-still-pollutes-prince-william-sound/
Marten Purdy March 22, 2013 at 04:43 pm
Government Causing Summer Blackouts in Southern California: Jennifer Lopez's butt sack pops outRead More everytime she puts on a pair of jeans, causing rolling blackouts in Southern California.
Joe Holtzman March 22, 2013 at 03:22 pm
CDC--your data is a little stilted. When you total the carbon footprint from nuclear it farRead More outweighs all but coal. Rooftop solar is the lowest. Also periodic radiation dumps and tritium into the ocean is devastating. Germany lead in solar -- with the U.S. far down the line--I have solar.
Bill Deck March 20, 2013 at 03:42 pm
Official drink of San Clemente??? Anything from the Left Coast Brewery. Sorry, they only make Beer.Read More I vote for Trestles.
San Juan March 20, 2013 at 11:32 am
The independent study should convince SCE to Demolish the plant. Sure the plant can be operated atRead More 100% for a period of time. However the clean up afterwards will take years. Welcome to San Clemente the land of broken Nuclear Power Plants and the storage of 30 plus years of spent nuclear fuel. Hey honey let's go somewhere else for vacation this year...
Donna Gilmore March 20, 2013 at 09:43 am
The steam generators are the worst in the nation, showing decades of wear after less than two yearsRead More of wear and leaking radiation after less than one year. We're lucky the last radiation leak from these was not worse. Defective steam generators can lead to a major radiation leak. San Onofre has the worst safety complaint record and highest rate of retaliation against employees who report safety problems. Get the facts at sanonofresafety.org. See NRC reports and reports from independent experts. Learn how you can help.
Gary Headrick March 20, 2013 at 01:42 am
What is at stake is everything we cherish, never to be revisited again for who knows how manyRead More generations. We have just experienced more than a year of life without San Onofre operating, and no problem. Edison is currently under investigation for knowingly installing parts that put public safety in jeopardy. The motivation was to avoid a trial-like procedure known as a License Amendment Hearing. Edison was put in check by the NRC for claiming that running at 70% capacity was safe by requiring them to prove they were safe at 100% productivity, or else have a License Amendment Hearing. Edison's response. Yes, we are safe at 100% for 11 months before a tube ruptures, (all this to avoid a License Amendment Hearing). Edison's prediction record: Four new steam generators had a design flaw that underestimated the extreme forces in the system by 400% and failed in less than two years instead of forty. All we are asking for is to have a decision made by a body of independent jurors or a judge where testimony is under oath, cross examinations are allowed by independent experts, and evidence is made available to all. Besides all this, we have vulnerabilities like cyber attack, earthquakes and tsunamis, aged equipment, human error, terrorist threats, sabotage. Edison will say or do anything to avoid the scrutiny of a License Amendment hearing. All the more reason to have one. The fact is, we don't need to take the risk that Edison is putting on us for their own profit.
PK March 5, 2013 at 03:27 am
Please get rid of all the ugly wires and poles on W. Marquita Ave. They are old, block Ocean ViewsRead More and seems to be very susceptible to power surges and outages during heavy storms. They need to go underground!
Sicmarc February 28, 2013 at 08:13 pm
It makes sense to start with the poles on the west side of town as they block ocean views for theRead More majority of sc
Diane Hennessy February 28, 2013 at 07:55 pm
When my dad bought his house in southwest San Clemente 40 years ago he was told the power lines wereRead More going underground in that neighborhood. They're still up there in the air.
Dave March 1, 2013 at 01:57 pm
Awesome post Rob ^^^^^
Rob February 28, 2013 at 10:49 pm
The Obama administration has not produced a budget since 2008. Both sides, plus Obama, agreed toRead More the mandatory cuts. Any company (including Swift Engineering) who expanded KNOWING sequestration was a possibility acted foolishly. Further, the "grim picture" is utter nonsense. The only thing the mandatory "cuts" do is SLOW the INCREASE in the spend by an approximated 2%. Further, every penny of the federal spend is extracted from the private sector via taxes and fees. I would much prefer Swift Engineering rightsize than for the people of the community/country to pay more in taxes. "Less than two years ago, Swift spent $3 million to increase its capacity by 600 percent to produce military drones and aimed to expand its workforce by 75 positions." SIX HUNDRED PERCENT!!!!!!!! Think about that for a moment. What industry is growing by 600% in TWO years?! That is how OUTRAGEOUS the govt contracts are and how entitled with expectations companies like Swift have become. "instead, "our business is off 30 percent from where it should be because of sequestration and our government's inability to come to terms on a budget deal," Refsdal said." Poor Swift Engineering is off 30% from an expected INCREASE of 600%. Jan Refsdal - Why not have the execs who planned the expansion canned and cut your salary back to make up for the slowed growth to only 420% over 2-years. Poor swift.... no wait, POOR Country. $46 cents of every dollar fed to swift is BORROWED.
Dave February 27, 2013 at 02:13 pm
A key comment in that article is that this is a crisis manufactured not an actual economic downturn.Read More I agree with that. It's politicians playing politics. Most of the above article is about what could happen. I do feel for the guy losing business from the drones. It's not easy out there losing business is never a good thing. At the same time, I'm not sure one should rely of the fed government for much of anything.
Donna Freeman February 28, 2013 at 05:51 pm
How cute are they! Jill is my friend and when she told me and the rest of "The girls"Read More about her story and about the contest I shed a tear. Cliff and Jilly certainly deserve this. They are a great couple and I'm so HAPPY! for them and their two sons Ben and Bailey. Sincerely, Donna Freeman
CaptD March 1, 2013 at 10:13 pm
Judge Orders Edison To Show San Onofre Cost Is ReasonableRead More http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/feb/22/judge-orders-southern-california-edison-show-gener/#c18368
San Juan February 27, 2013 at 01:36 pm
Still not done, were restricted to 1500 letters. I have lived in the area before the Dana PointRead More Harbor was built and have had no desire to live anywhere else including, Columbia or Argentina and I can only imagine what would happen there without power, thus thats why I live here. Imagine you have a beautiful 8 cylinder engine, and your planning a trip to Columbia. But you realise that water has made it's way into the crankcase, or it's only running on 5 of them 8 cylinders. Your thinking to yourself, if I only run the vehicle at about 70% of it's designed power I might make it ...to Oceanside. Shut er down, let the Labor market DEMO it for the next 15 to 20 years and boost the economy for hundreds of employees and we can move on. Whew, got that off my chest!
San Juan February 27, 2013 at 01:27 pm
B D, let me finish, Let me say this about "fear based" concernes, I was on a job for UnitRead More 1 at SONGS in the early 80's where I witnessed a very high ranking individual telling a "concerned" worker to "screw a lightbulb up your a%% if your so concerned about radiation, if it lights up, get out of the hole". This is typical of SONGS management. What the worker was asking about was what were dealing with today,the current Steam Generators. His question was, If the Primary side of things go south and enters the Secondary System, which is in direct contact with ocean cooling water via condenser tubes that are always spring leaks, will it contaminate the Condensers, the outfall pipe and the ocean? When I heard the Supervisors comment I quit and about 10 others did as well.
Ben Medina February 22, 2013 at 05:24 pm
Agreed Tom! Hotel would be awesome! San Clemente needs the convention center/conference space!
Tom Hermann February 21, 2013 at 07:53 pm
If they had made it a hotel and golf course we would be teeing it up right now!
D.M. February 17, 2013 at 12:40 pm
Hopefully this will solve the argument about gas prices in Europe......Read More http://goeurope.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=goeurope&cdn=travel&tm=41&f=10&tt=2&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.eia.gov/countries/prices/gasolinewithtax.cfm
Dan Avery February 15, 2013 at 11:57 pm
Your average American drives around in a SUV, drinking bottled water, talking on a cell phone andRead More bitches about gas prices. Doh!
Yeparoo February 15, 2013 at 09:40 pm
Stop with the shooting analogizes. You're killing me!