LA Times, March 5, 2002
"They're Counting Down to the Count"
Associated Press, March 4, 2002
"Emergency Landing at L.A. Airport"
Website Report, March 4, 2002
Remember to vote tomorrow
Long Beach Press-Telegram, March 3, 2002
Long Beach newspaper endorses Yes on W
Website Report, March 3, 2002
Closing acts in the Yes on W campaign
Website Report, March 3, 2002
Politics makes strange bedfellows
OC Register, March 2, 2002
"Calvert seeking first O.C. votes in 44th"
LA Times, March 2, 2002
"Bill Links Transit Funds to El Toro Airport"
"Measure would withhold transportation money from any Southern
California county that doesn't handle its share of air passengers."
Website Report, March 1, 2002
State Legislators endorse Measure W
OC Register March 1, 2002
"The Faces of El Toro"
OC Register March 1, 2002
"Coad retracts allegation"
"The Orange County Democratic Party said it is not responsible for phone calls made Monday to Republican voters in north Orange County touting an erroneous Democratic Party endorsement of supervisor candidate Chris Norby."
"It begins with a woman's voice saying, 'Hi, this is Loretta Gomez calling from Democratic Party headquarters to ask you to vote for Chris Norby for county supervisor.' Norby campaign spokesman John Lewis said his camp didn't know who organized the calls but added that they were clearly meant to hurt Norby's chances in the tight race for the 4th District. Some recipients might think the caller is Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove), he said."
"'If anybody were to believe it's a real phone call, it would cost Norby Republican votes, and that's clearly what it's designed to do,' Lewis said."
"Inside the county's election building, an army of workers and volunteers reached critical mass Monday, dealing with last-minute campaign filings and court rulings ahead of today's primary election… Dozens of employees in guarded rooms have opened thousands of envelopes with absentee ballots, scanning for rips and tears that could jam a machine."
"'We're going to be ready," said Registrar Rosalyn Lever, who was thrown a curve last week when a judge ruled that the county's 1,716 precincts must post a notice that a list of write-in candidates is available upon request."
"Secretary of State Bill Jones has estimated a 36% statewide voter turnout for today. Orange County voters have traditionally surpassed statewide estimates. Though local election officials declined to predict turnout, they said that the county has had 41% turnout in similar primaries."
"Failure of an engine forced an American Airlines passenger jet to make an emergency landing Monday shortly after taking off from Los Angeles International Airport. The Boeing 767 landed safely … about 10 minutes after it left the airport. American flight No. 76 was en route to Washington-Dulles Airport, according to American Airlines."
"'It had engine failure and landed without incident,' Federal Aviation Administration operations officer Larri Dillard said."
Website Editor: Had the aircraft departed from the proposed El Toro
it would have been headed into mountains on takeoff.
Website Report, March
4, 2002
Remember to vote tomorrow
The polls will be open tomorrow from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM. If you don't know the location of your polling place, click here and enter your address.
Absentee ballots, not yet returned, can be handed in at any polling location tomorrow. If mailed, they have to be received at the Registrar of Voters office in Santa Ana on Election Day to be counted.
A big turnout is needed to send a clear and forceful message to government officials - here and in Sacramento and Washington - as to the wishes of the people.
Volunteers are still needed for poll watching and Get Out the Vote activities. It's fun and rewarding. Call the campaign office at 949-768-4583.
Apparently Long Beach leaders realize that there is only so much money available for airport construction and only so many passengers to go around.
Like airport communities in the Inland Empire, Long Beach would like to see its airport take off. El Toro would be competition for the limited number of travelers from the area south of LAX.
The Press-Telegram recommended a Yes on Measure F two years ago and now recommends a Yes on Measure W.
There is a rally this afternoon, Sunday, from 1 to 4 PM at Salt Creek County Beach Park. The park is off Pacific Coast Highway near Niguel Road in Dana Point, directly in the proposed flight path to El Toro. Look for the Yes on W and John Adams for Judge sign trucks.
Tonight, at 6 PM. Channel 7 Eyewitness News will show coverage of the campaign, including a segment with volunteers, taped at the CSHC office.
Volunteers will be manning tables at major markets, reminding residents to vote. The campaign office will be open today supplying literature and signs. 949-768-4583.
"Human billboarding" at several locations will remind voters again on election eve and on Election Day. Students from Dana Hill High School will repeat their enthusiastic act, last performed for the Measure F election, on PCH near Creekside Park and at Crown Valley Parkway in Dana Point.
Politics makes strange bedfellows, especially in paid political advertising.
Anti-airport citizens are incensed to see ads for their champions - like airport opponents Pat Bates, Tom Wilson and Todd Spitzer - show up in slate mailers alongside No on W ads. Most official looking slates are commercial advertising pieces, intentionally made to look like endorsements from the Republican Party or other groups with impressive sounding names. Many slates sell space to anyone regardless of their position on issues.
In a poetic countermove, the Yes on W campaign is running banner ads on the website of the Orange County Register. The ads contain links back to this website.
The Register's news staff has sought to present balanced reporting on the El Toro debate. However, the Register's editorial writers have been ideologically hostile towards Irvine Mayor Larry Agran and derisive of his efforts to insure a non-aviation reuse of El Toro. The former base is located adjacent to, and partially within, Irvine's boundaries.
"Riverside's representative finds himself stumping [for Congress] in South County which is new to him and his district… For the past decade, his district has been confined to western Riverside County." As a result of redistricting, Republican Ken Calvert now also represents all of San Clemente, Coto de Caza, most of Las Flores and half of San Juan Capistrano.
"As the incumbent for most of the voters in the 44th District, Calvert is the favorite Tuesday. And among many of his Orange County constituents, he has passed the acid test - he opposed an airport at the former El Toro Marine base."
"Years ago, Calvert said he was opposed to an El Toro airport because he wanted a new commercial airport at March Air Force base, part of his Riverside based district. It's a position both sides of his district support."
"Assemblyman George Nakano (D-Torrance)… wants the state Legislature to approve a bill that would withhold transportation money from any Southern California county that doesn't provide enough airport space. The bill doesn't mention Orange County specifically but would apply if the county doesn't build an airport at the closed El Toro Marine base."
"'We're not going after Orange County, but it's high time someone other than the residents of El Segundo, Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach bear the burden for planes flying over their heads' from LAX, said Becky Ames, Nakano's chief of staff."
"'It's a sad commentary to mix transportation funds with the airport in a desperate act to thwart the will of the people here in Orange County,' said Susan Withrow, an OCTA board member and councilwoman in Mission Viejo, which opposes the new airport."
On February 28, the South Bay Daily Breeze quoted El Segundo Mayor Mike Gordon as saying “The wealthy communities of southern Orange County are choosing to defer their responsibility and place it on low- and middle-income communities around LAX.”
"Supervisor Chuck Smith … said he was briefed on the bill in his role as a member of the Southern California Regional Airport Authority… Because of his multiple roles, Smith said he doesn't support the bill--but he said he won't oppose it either."
Website Editor: Nakano does not seek similar sanctions against the numerous other counties throughout the state that do not have airports and that use those located in neighboring areas. As I said in the Daily Breeze article: It's an unrealistic argument that somehow a line on a map between two counties should force people on one side of the line to go in one direction and people on the other side to go in another.
Click here for more on the bill which is scheduled for possible committee hearing on March 24.
A February 26 letter, signed by 5 members of the Orange County Legislative delegation to Sacramento, endorses Measure W.
"A great deal of misinformation has been disseminated by the pro-airport forces, especially suggesting that a tax increase would be necessary if Measure W passes. An impartial financial analysis commissioned by the County’s Auditor concluded, 'this Initiative does not raise taxes'".
"We, the members of the Orange County Legislative Delegation, have reviewed the financial analysis and agree that the Orange County Central Park Initiative will not raise taxes."
"An airport at El Toro is the biggest threat to taxpayers. The County’s
airport plan does not comply with the requirements for federal grants to
rebuild military airports, and the improvements required to make this airport
viable will fall squarely on the shoulders of
Orange County taxpayers."
The Register pictures several of the leaders on both sides of the El
Toro fight. The paper spotlights two out of the group: "They
are the brawn for and against Measure W, but attorney Barbara
Lichman and Webmaster Len
Kranser share this with the growing troops on both sides - El Toro
is their life."
"Orange County Supervisor Cynthia Coad says she 'is ready to apologize' to challenger Chris Norby, a Fullerton councilman, for erroneously saying that Norby refused to sign a campaign ethics pledge."
"Some Coad literature for the Tuesday election has highlighted the erroneous claim. Coad campaign spokesman Louis Vidaure said he did not know Norby had signed the pledge when the literature was sent."
"The seven-point pledge calls for candidates to campaign on issues, avoid character defamation and scurrilous attacks, and run positive campaigns."
For more on the above, check the LA Times and Orange County Register websites.
Click here for previous news stories