Saturday March 17, 2007, from 9am - 3pm, at the Southern California Edison parking lot (the lot west of Walnut Grove), it's Household Hazardous and E-Waste Round Up Day.

What they'll accept:  brake fluid, paint, paint thinner, cleaners with acid or lye, pesticides, herbicides, household and car batteries, pool chemicals, motor oil, oil filters, expired pharmaceuticals, anti-freeze, flourescent light bulbs, computer monitors, televisions, computer cpu's, keyboards printers, cellular phones, etc.

For you trivia fans, that's what the first marathon runner is alleged to have said at the end of his run, as he collapsed and died:

http://www.answers.com/topic/pheidippides

The Los Angeles Marathon over the weekend had me thinking of that story.

And it's somewhat fitting for the news from Rosemead tonight:  Polly Low was elected to the Rosemead City Council!

Tell your Neighbors/Tell your Friends!

Election day is Tuesday, March 6, 2007.  Polls are open from 7am - 8pm.  If you're not sure where your polling place is, click on the link to your right and follow the directions.

Also, after the polls close, both Victor and Polly are planning victory parties at their respective campaign headquarters.  If I'm ambitious, I may try to set up a telescope on the lawn next to Polly's HQ for Saturn viewing.  That's assuming I'm not still trying to finish a conference paper that I need to present on Thursday morning!

http://www.lavote.net/LOCATOR/Default.htm

The link above will take you to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder website, where you'll be able to enter your number and street name to learn your polling place for the March 6 Rosemead city council election. 

Confirming your polling place is a good idea, because there are only going to be six polling places open on election day.  That compares to 11 that were open for the September recall election and 21 for the November general election.  That means most of you will be voting someplace different on March 6 than you did in the last election.  And, to make things even more confusing, some of you may also receive a sample ballot for the Pasadena Area Community College District Board of Trustees.  And you might discover that, even though that election will be on the same day as the Rosemead city council election, the polling place is different!  So be sure to double check your polling place, or vote absentee.

A lot of people think that endorsements don't really matter when it comes to deciding who to vote for.  I disagree.  But explaining why will take a while. . . .

A few years ago, our representative in Congress, Hilda Solis, managed to get a bill passed that authorized a National Park Service study of the recreational potential for lands in the upper watershed of the San Gabriel River.  The Park Service is currently undertaking that study:

For anyone curious, the California state FPPC disclosure reports for the period July 1 - December 31, 2006 were due today. A quick peek at

http://cal-access.ss.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1013468&view=contributions&session=2005

For the first time in over 20 years, Rosemead is updating its general plan.  In theory, the general plan presents the "big picture" for what the city is supposed to look like, what sorts of developments we want, what we don't want, and where we want them.  So, for example, it required a spot-change of the city's old general plan to allow the Wal-Mart Supercenter to be placed where it was.

You know, about six weeks ago, I was trying to catch up on my pile of newspapers.  The pile builds because I often subscribe to both the Los Angeles Times and San Gabriel Valley Tribune, and I frequently don't have time to read them until the weekend.

As I went through one day's pile, I came across an insert for See's Candy, suggesting what a wonderful holiday gift they make.  And, just like that, I was reminded of David Perea.