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Montebello E-News

  July 31, 2009

The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on.

Walter Lippman

 (If this is part of the definition of a leader, then are there far fewer people who qualify as leaders?)

1. Announcements

2. A Good Reason to Send Our Children to College

3. About Montebello E-News and “My Montebello”

Bookmark this.  Our city now has an excellent calendar of city meetings and events.  http://www.cityofmontebello.com/cals/default.asp.  One thing missing is for our community organizations to come together, obtain the calendar design from the city, and agree among themselves to faithfully maintain, for the public, a separate master community calendar on the Internet.

Book sale!  Where:  Montebello Library, 1550 W. Beverly Blvd. , Montebello , CA 90640-3993 .  When:  August 7-8, 2009, from10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  For more information, contact Mary Beas at (323) 722-6551.

Have you heard of “eScrip”?  eScrip helps non-profit organizations earn dollars for much needed programs (www.escript.com) when we use our registered Vons, Super A Foods, credit cards, etc. for purchases - the sponsored accounts are credited automatically (you can support up to three accounts).  It's totally painless, free and safe - believe me, I've been registered since 1996!  From a Schurr mom.  To help the Schurr music program, ask for an eScrip application by contacting fundraising@schurrmusic.org.  Remember that eScrip does not cost you anything.

When America is not number one.  Why do Germany and Spain lead the world in producing electricity from renewable energy?  One big reason: They require utilities to pay a reasonable rate to renewable power producers. … https://secure2.convio.net/sierra/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction
&id=2529&autologin=true&s_src=body&JServSessionIdr011=n29z2i8gg4.app20a

Tell me it isn’t so.  Are you going to Snopes or Hoaxbusters to check on the accuracy of solicitations, campaigns, and petitions?  Not long ago, somebody sent a “Buy American” e-mail which instructed me to look at the bar code on products to determine which were made in the USA.  Unfortunately, bar codes are not 100% accurate as to where a product is manufactured.

Clash and more clash.  Because we humans cannot see the future, we must make estimates and reasonable guesses.  Land use has become a big issue, not just for the Montebello Hills, but, also, for the San Gabriel River Discovery Center. http://discoverycenterauthority.org/env_doc/env_doc.html.  To read about an alternative plan to the proposed center, go to http://naturalareafriends.net.  When unsure, should we err on the side of caution?  If so, which is the “side of caution”?

Meteor showers.  It is that time of year again.  The Perseid meteor showers are coming.  For information on when and where to find the celestial fireworks, go to http://www.earthsky.org/article/earthskys-meteor-shower-guide.

The following is a letter to the Montebello Chamber of Commerce.  I have a copy of the full letter if you are interested.

To Whom It May Concern,

I am a resident of Montebello and regularly receive copies of the Montebello Chamber of Commerce's publication, "Spotlight on Montebello."  I am also a college graduate with experience as a reporter for my college newspaper.  This message is in regards to the Vol. 9, No. 3/ June 2009 issue of "Spotlight on Montebello."  Due to my college experience it was easy for me to recognize the obvious bias in the full page story "City Report on Montebello Hills Specific Plan Suggests Millions of Dollars in Public Benefits For Montebello," (pg.8.) ...

But, on the other hand, I received an e-mail this week from a student at UC Berkeley, telling me that a message from me to a group of students and others would not be published without my first deleting a statement which was politically incorrect:

If you feel that you could change the language of your message to illustrate its connection to energy and resources issues, and adjust the commentary regarding venture capitalism, we may be able to reconsider your post. We understand that you may [have] a valid viewpoint about VCs, but many of BERC's constituents are tied to the VC community and we are not seeking to alienate any of our member groups. We invite you to speak positively about relevant social ventures without criticizing other aspects of the energy/resources community….