Noise zone lives up to its name...

Noise zone lives

up to its name

I’m so amazed that all the people who so pushed for a massive

international airport at El Toro keep making statements that there is

no one living in the noise zone.

Have they forgotten the tests done a few years ago? Some of those

jets created decibels of noise louder than a vacuum in your home. My

daughter lives in one of the proposed landing patterns and her home

literally shook. Unless they take off as well as land right on a

mountain, there are people living in the noise zone. It will not

work.

ANN MERRITT

Corona del Mar

Debate apparently

in league of its own

Orange County Superior Court Judge Jim Gray, a Newport Beach

resident, is not being allowed to participate in a debate that is

being held by the League of Women Voters of California on Aug. 10.

The league says that in order for Gray to be qualified, he must

show he would be likely to draw 10% of the vote. He conducted his own

poll, which showed he would get 8 to 18% of the vote, and 68% said

Gray should be involved in the debates. The league said that since

Jim Gray commissioned the poll, it was biased. Catch-22 if you ask

me. Come on women -- I mean, League of Women Voters of California --

are you really a nonpartisan group? The league seems to be very

partisan to me. Partisan to the two major parties, the same two

parties that have ground down the wheels of effectiveness in

Sacramento and in Washington, D.C. By not letting Gray participate in

the debates, the league prevents all voters from hearing a

level-headed and real alternative, as well as a good person, express

views that could benefit our state and country.

PAUL JAMES BALDWIN

Newport Beach

Principal draws grandmother’s ire

I am a grandmother of a Costa Mesa High School sophomore and a

Costa Mesa senior. I am extremely upset with Principal Fred Navarro.

Navarro has really let down the football players, four weeks before

the season starts! What is happening with the school district, Supt.

Robert Barbot and his board of trustees?

JANET BARON

Newport Beach

City must step up

to support officer

I am shocked and outraged after reading in the Pilot that Costa

Mesa Police Officer Dennis Dickens could lose his job, has had to

take out a second mortgage on his home, and his family is struggling

to makes ends meet while he is recovering from the May 31 crash

allegedly caused by Javier Gasga. These statements were made by

Deputy Dist. Atty. Yvette Patco and, if true, bring real shame to the

city of Costa Mesa.

Dickens and his family have enough to deal with, considering the

serious physical and emotional trauma that he has suffered. Worrying

about his job and paying the bills should never enter the picture.

These officers risk their lives every day, and when they are hurt

in the line of duty, the city must make them whole.

If Javier Gasga committed this horrible crime, he should pay, both

by being incarcerated for the maximum sentence possible and

financially. But the fact remains that Dickens was on duty when he

was hit. The city could pursue Gasga financially, when he gets out of

prison, but the city must step in and make Dickens and his family

whole. Dickens, his family and his colleagues have earned and deserve

our unwavering support and that of the city.

Best wishes on a speedy recovery! In the meantime, Mayor Gary

Monahan, Chief John Hensley and the entire city government: Make sure

he has nothing to worry about besides recovering.

ROB DICKSON

Costa Mesa