Still no news on the Imperial v. Castruita litigation.  It's a little perplexing why Judge Klausner hasn't lifted his preliminary restraining order against our recall election.  With Padilla v. Lever removed as precedent, there is very little reason to expect that Imperial's lawsuit will prevail on the merits.  And with that, the preliminary restraining order should be lifted.

You'll recall that Imperial v. Castruita is the case in which Councilman Jay Imperial sued his own city to prevent the February 7 recall election from going forward.  In response to that suit, Judge Klausner issued a preliminary restraining order against our election.  But it's now been about three weeks since the city of Rosemead asked for "clarification" on the Imperial v. Castruita litigation in light of the Ninth Circuit Court's decision to withdraw the original three-judge panel's decision and grant an en banc rehearing in Padilla v. Lever.

No new posts in a while, so I'll go ahead with this one:

My wife and I saw a preview for "Over the Hedge" a few months ago.  Actually looked like something we might like (we're funny that way).  It seemed to be a story of suburban sprawl and its effects on local wildlife.

Then, a few weeks later, we started seeing "tie-in" advertisements on television.  Wal-Mart is apparently the official retail partner of the movie.  How's that for irony?  The epitomy of big-box sprawl wants to be associated with the wildlife that they destroy and displace?  And DreamWorks SKG, which has about as much money as God, selling out on their "message" for money.

Today, Al Mehlman was laid to rest.  Al and his wife, Jewel were supporters of the opposition against Wal-Mart since the formation of the grass root group called Save Our Community.  The work of Al and Jewel, both financially and through personal effort and dedication was outstanding.  Al will be greatly missed. 

Sorry to report the passing of another long-time SOC supporter, Al Mehlman.

Al and Jewel had previous suffered the loss of their son, Larry.  In lieu of flowers, Jewel asks that donations may be made in support of the Larry Mehlman Memorial Prize, which helps fund outstanding 4th and 5th year students in Biological Sciences at UC Irvine.  Click on the "read more" link below for giving instructions.

Please read Todd Kunioka's excellent summation of April 25th's city council meeting.  He does a wonderful job as always.  Most importantly, Save Our Community wishes to thank Councilman Tran and Councilman Nunez for their superior leadership Tuesday night.  We still have a long way to go, but our team is stronger than ever.  Next week's Wednesday meeting (5/3) is cancelled

Good news, first:  The city will ask Judge Klausner to lift his restraining order on our February 7 recall election.  Bad news:  The election date will be much later than I would have hoped.  Also, nothing is certain until Judge Klausner actually does lift his restraining order and our city council allows the recall election to be reinstated.

*****

The details, and some complaints:

http://www.sgvtribune.com/search/ci_3733838

Here’s the link to the article in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune concerning the decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to grant an en banc hearing to Padilla v. Lever. As you know, this was the case cited by Jay Imperial when he sued the city of Rosemead in a desperate attempt to avoid having to face the voters in a recall election. Nearly 4,200 registered voters in the city signed petitions asking for that election.