Trashing Local Poles
Congratulations on the upcoming four-year anniversary of the Crescenta Valley Weekly [Sept. 4]!  Thank you for your ongoing commitment to CV.

On July 6, I found a little dog running across Rosemont Avenue. I knew the coyotes within hours would be out scavenging for dinner. [The dog] was not wearing a collar, so I brought it to my home for rest, safety and feeding. In one of our many attempts to find the owner, we decided to post signs around the area where it was found (Two Strike Park). As we hung our six signs with tape, we noticed dozens of other signs hung for a variety of things. We read every one hoping to see a posting from the owner looking for their pooch.

It was heartbreaking to see the area littered with garage and yard sale signs stuck to poles all over town (it seemed just about every fifth telephone pole or street lamp has a sign on it).

There are garage and yard sale signs dating back to June 22 – seriously, three weeks old! Would the owners please take them down? (Hello! Your address is on it).

If your event is over, or you’ve found your pet (or worse), please help keep La Crescenta lush and pretty and free of trashy looking poles. Please do the right thing and remove your sign when your event is over.

Thank you,

Kim & Paul Mattersteig
La Crescenta

Applauds Crossing Guard
I am a Life Scout from Boy Scout Troop 288 and I am working on my communications merit badge. I read a recent article in the CV Weekly about Rosemont Middle School hiring a crossing guard. At first, I thought it was a waste of money. When I looked at it more, I began to realize how this is necessary.

I’ve noticed how unsafe many kids are when walking across the street. Most of them don’t even care to look both ways and are glued to some kind of electronic device. I believe that teenagers should learn safety and some road courtesy. I personally don’t know what to do about it. But I believe that safety is an issue that needs to be addressed to the teenagers of this community because some parents aren’t teaching them, and it is just a matter of time before there a terrible accident happens here. Even though there haven’t been any serious accidents yet, something needs to be done in order to prevent this.

Collin Kawahara
La Crescenta

Nannies May Lose One Here
The “nannies” may just lose one at our household [“Nannies Bag Another Victory,” Viewpoints, July 11]. With my arthritis I have to hold onto the rail when I go up and down the steps. We have been using the paper bags that were free when we shopped at Trader Joes to hold the newspapers and shredding. That way I could go down the stairs holding the rail with one hand and a bag of recycle in the other.

I refuse to pay 10 cents for a paper bag. We do have cloth bags for use in La Crescenta and we use them all of the time. I have been told that plastic trash bags could not be put in the recycle bin. So, it looks like I will now have to put my loose recycle materials in a plastic bag and throw it in the trash bin to fill up the land fill. I will not risk a fall just to honor the nannies altar of “saving the planet.” Maybe one of them would like to come by the house a couple of times a week and take out my loose papers and shredding bin.

Keep up the good work, Jim [Chase]. I look forward to each week’s column. Take care.

Tom Suter
La Crescenta

Another Nanny Note
Mr. Chase bemoans the City of Glendale ban on plastic bags [“Nannies Bag Another Victory,” Viewpoints, July 11]. Scientists estimate that supermarket-type plastic bags take 500-1,000 years to photodegrade (when exposed to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight). Supermarket plastic bags are made of polyethylene, a polymer that doesn’t biodegrade. Microorganisms don’t recognize it as food.

Plastic bags befoul our vegetation, sanitary sewer systems, and beaches. They accumulate in our oceans and threaten marine habitat. Plastic bags cause over 100,000 sea turtle and other marine animal deaths every year when animals mistake them for food. A great variety of animals, land and especially marine, can choke to death on bags, experiencing much pain and distress. If swallowed whole, animals may not be able to digest real food and die a slow death from starvation or infection. Two-hundred-and-sixty-seven species have been scientifically documented to be adversely affected by plastic marine debris.

The amount of floating plastics in the world’s oceans is increasing dramatically. The Pacific Trash Vortex, a “gyre” or vortex of marine litter in the North Pacific Ocean, is characterized by exceptionally high concentrations of suspended plastics, such as plastic bags, bottles, containers and other debris, that have been trapped by currents. It is now estimated to be twice the size of Texas. Its impact on marine ecosystems is catastrophic due to its toxic nature and threat to marine life.

The “nanny state” has given this data a lot of thought, Mr. Chase. Have you?

George Johnson, president
Athanor Environmental Services, Inc.
La Crescenta

Common Core State Standards
Have you heard about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) that are coming to our local schools?

Most parents are not aware of them, yet they are being implemented in the Glendale Unified School District schools. The GUSD has not yet widely notified parents even though they have been implementing it behind the scenes since 2010. Currently, the Common Core is being implemented in English Language Arts (ELA) and math. Science and social studies are on their way.

The Common Core State Standards (http://www.cde.ca.gov) were not approved by the people of California. The California House and Senate also did not have a vote in this. The CCSS were adopted by the California Dept. of Education. This is a national, one-size-fits all educational program to ensure that all states have the same “common standards.”

The Common Core standards are copyrighted by the National Governor’s Association and must be taught word-for-word with no changes. That’s about 85% of the curriculum with teachers allowed to add up to 15% extra content. The replacement of teacher ingenuity and creativity with scripted lessons to which they are only allowed to add 15% of more information provides a window into the complicated connection between the standards themselves and the curricula, which must be tailored to them. In addition, the magical 15% that is supposed to give the teachers some leeway becomes irrelevant, as it will not be included in the Common Core aligned assessment tests.

Classical literature will be become limited and replaced with “informational texts” (i.e., Environmental Protection Agency reports, Federal Executive Resolutions, etc.). Sample tests can be viewed for grades three through eight and 11 at http://www.smarterbalanced.org/pilot-test/. These are the tests California has adopted.

This is a huge program that parents and taxpayers should know about as local control of the program has been eliminated. It also affects private schools as well as homeschoolers.

You can learn more about what is coming to our local schools at
www.concernedparentsofthefoothills.com/.

Marti Marshall
La Crescenta