Legally speaking, a "nuisance" is an annoyance imposed upon you by someone else in a way that substantially interfers with your enjoyment of your property.  Noise, dust, smoke, and odors are all things that qualify as a public nuisance.

Sound familiar?

If you're a neighbor of the proposed Wal-Mart construction site and are suffering a nuisance, let the appropriate party know.  In this case, for dust, smoke and odors, at least, the appropriate party is the South Coast Air Quality Management District.  Public nuisances violate Rule 402 of the SCAQMD.

One of the things that people find frustrating about politicians is that they seem genetically incapable of answering a simple question.  Case in point is Councilman Jay Imperial at the June 27th City Council Meeting.

On the 27th, a Rosemead resident (not a member of SOC) asked the council about graffiti removal and the steps that the city could take to prevent graffiti from occuring.  This resident had addressed the council two weeks previously on this same question.  At that time, Imperial said that part of the problem was that, even if vandals are caught and prosecuted, the penalty is only "a slap on the wrist."  The resident said he had reflected on the information he heard two weeks previously, and wanted to know exactly what the penalty was for vandalism.

As a sort of update to John's post below, here are some photos of aftermath of Operation "Apocalypse, Now."  I'm compressing the photos to minimize bandwith, so we'll lose a lot of detail.  But you'll be happy to know that the car partially covered by the fence belongs to Mike Lewis.  That might even be him on the phone, calling his auto insurance agent.  Just desserts.

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.

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.

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.

Attention All Members:  Please make every effort to attend the SOC/YOR PAC meeting, Wednesday, April 26, 2006.  We will be discussing the possibility of endorsing several candidates for state and federal elected office