One needs to know when enough is enough. Evidently the gentlepersons running the city have not divined this.

While I appreciate their zeal, it is an unfortunate moniker, given the current events.

If I am not misreading Mr. Beerzie, he is suggesting that it is a shame that out city's leadership (and curmudgeons) don't work themselves into a lather over the state of our public schools, but expend excessive energies on a sports team's edifice.

California Teacher salaries are averaging 60,000 for a ten-month year, with ample benefits. This seems fair for a non-executive position. Mr. Burg's comparison of teacher and CEO salaries is inapt as comparing cows to pigs. CEOs have been hogging the trough, yes, but a better argument would be to look at the compensation of school administrators as a comparison. As for the tired old saw about teachers "being continually undervalued and underpaid", it is like the one about Vietnam Vets being ignored: true at one time but no more. In my experience, teachers are among the most lauded professions in the media. This martyr complex is a red herring.

One would hope the motivation for teaching would go beyond pay and benefits. If the reason for teaching never rises above the nature of a transaction, then can we blame our youngsters for viewing their education in the same way?

Indeed, it is precarious for our youth to bike in many areas of our fair city, and this is a hindrance to parents who wish to thwart congestion. Our streets -- in particular those in that area -- favor the Horseless Carriage over other modes of transport. I myself have seen youngsters riding to this school nearly flattened by heedless Carriage operators. As for "20 employees directing traffic", the Esteemed Mrs. Sparks, as I have heard from those parents I know whose children attend the institution, is prone to regaling her audiences with exaggerated claims, if not outright whoppers.

Sacred Heart's school policies favor the youngsters traveling by Horseless Carriage. The institution discourages ambulatory travelers or those commuting by velocipede by making the youngsters who walk or ride to wait for those who are traveling via Horseless Carriage to be shuttled first before they may leave.

A fine thing. When we respect our treasured buildings and neighborhoods, we respect ourselves.

It is a tragedy that the Executive Class and Corporations have managed to mold the opinion of the Common Man into thwarting their own interests; such is the lot when a Corporate Interest has the privileges of a Citizen, but none of a Citizen's obligations and responsibilities. Generations of fellow-citizens have died to preserve our Republic, only to have it co-opted by a cancerous Plutocracy, headed by Corporations who have no fealty except to Profit. The fortunes of the Corporations and their Executive Class have swelled while the Working Man's have shriveled. Yet, like haggard mongrels squabbling over the last scraps in the trough as their bloated masters egg them on, the Public mauls its fellow man, instead of turning its ire on those who starve it.

I enjoy the diversion and amusement of viewing sport as much as the next fellow. But such Circuses should take a back seat to Bread. When our schools are going bankrupt, the idea of creating a venue for grown men to frolic for entertainment is absurd. Farewell, Kings! We shall not miss your noisome and rapacious owners.

One of the best plays to come to the boards in a great while.

In my view of history, citizens have done a poor job of regulating themselves; hence, we have dog bites/leash laws and head injury/helmet laws. A minor fee to keep order (and give the imprimatur to legal ownership of fowl) is sensible, if a tad odious.

I am not convinced that an increased tax on these beverages is in the best interest of the commonweal, but I am struck dumb by the vehemence of the soda fanciers. One might also recommend to the publisher that they produce a daguerreotype of one Councilman McCarty, so that his slender, fit frame might be an inspiration to us all.

A sad commentary, when the neediest of our fellow-citizens are reduced to wheedling with party hacks in order to obtain the means to conduct their lives.

"Friday" is indeterminate; in the future I would commend the idea of including a calendar date.

A fine idea. An appreciation for the quenching power of knowledge is gained most easily when one may drink freely.

Tragedy? Like using the Good Book for a doorstop, using emphatic words for inconsequential matters diminishes the power of the language.

One man's sty is another's chapel. So the solution is to buy the building and paint a mural on it, or live with the alleged blight with dignity.

Methinks it is the purpose and ideal of the democratic process for the opinions of Those Who Actually Live in the Neighborhood to be considered in decisions that have a Large Effect on the Neighborhood. Braying outsiders may bring their own agendas to bear on this matter, but will the effects of this project become part of their daily life? I think not.

Egad! When during times of tribulation such as the ones in which we live, we are truly blessed to have a man of such an extraordinary character. Hats off to this noble man and his bounty of skills.