Street lights turn off commission

Installation of Downtown streetlights expected to begin this week

will be delayed, possibly for months.

The Planning Commission declined to choose one of the two options

presented by staff at the Aug. 25 meeting. The options were single-

or double-globe style -- the only fixtures offered by Southern

California Edison that the utility will pay to maintain.

“We should have done this months ago,” said Commissioner Norm

Grossman.

The commission asked to see other designs and an estimate of the

costs to the city if officials refuse the Edison options.

Zur Schmiede questioned the two-globe design as too bright for

Laguna.

“I thought we should go with a single globe and get it as short as

possible,” Zur Schmiede said. “The rest of the commission decided

they wanted more options.”

Commissioners agreed that the shorter standard was more in scale

with pedestrians.

Grossman said if the commissioners had moved earlier in the review

of the utility undergrounding process, they could have had a say in

the placement of the fixtures, which would have made a lower height

possible.

Project Manager Joe Chiquette reported at the Aug. 25 meeting that

the poles and fixtures brought to the commission are the only

combination in the Edison inventory that compare to the streetlight

type illustrated in the Downtown specific plan. The plan encourages

the use of a streetlight consistent with those in use before 1960 in

Laguna Beach.

The city would have to assume the cost of maintenance of the

streetlights if officials choose an option not in the Edison

inventory.

-- Barbara Diamond

League rings in year with Operation Bell

Sweatshirts and backpacks crammed with school supplies were

delivered last week for students at San Onofre Elementary School.

The 500 backpacks and sweatshirts were the gift of the Assistance

League of Laguna Beach, called Operation School Bell.

“We do this for our local Even Start students and a couple of Head

Start sites, but we expanded the program this year to students at the

school on the Camp Pendleton,” said Assistance League member Diane

Kloke.

“Most of the children there have at least one parent in Iraq,”

said Martie McCluskey, a league member who helped stuff the

backpacks.

McCluskey, liaison between the Laguna league and its teenage

auxiliary, said six of the Assisteens were among those who helped

stuff the 500 red canvas backpacks with small reading books, crayons,

markers, pencils, scissors and glue.

“This is in addition to the 200 backpacks we stuff and distribute

every year locally,” McCluskey said.

Families with children at San Onofre were notified that the

backpacks would be waiting for kindergarten to third grade students

when school began.

Assistance League Philanthropic Chair Katherine Hall organized

Operation School Bell.

-- Barbara Diamond

Workshops will focus on your money

Eight nonprofit organizations will offer the eight-week workshop

series “It’s Your Money,” in Laguna Beach.

The sessions will focus on a different topic each week, and will

be moderated by Peter C. Kote, chairman of the Laguna Canyon

Foundation’s Estate Planning and Gifts Committee. The sessions will

include discussions of an array of financial matters, such as fixed

income investments, long-term care insurance and the differences

between annuities, variable annuities and mutual funds.

Meetings will be from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Fridays, from Sept. 17

to Nov. 5, at the Laguna Beach Assistance League Center, 547 Catalina

St. For reservations, call Guine at the Laguna Canyon Foundation,

(949) 497-8324.

Group seeks volunteers to help students

The American Assn. of University Women is looking for volunteers

to work with children at El Morro Elementary School.

Anyone who enjoys helping youngsters with reading, math or

homework will be welcome and needed. The Help a Child program will be

active during school hours and volunteers will work with teachers in

the classroom. Volunteers in the after-school Learning Club, held on

Tuesdays and Thursdays, often tutor one-on-one with students needing

extra help. For information, call Peggie Thomas at (949) 499-1817 or

Pat Jamieson at (949) 497-2792.