A private developer is proposing to build a massive Assisted Living/Memory Care Facility on two vacant lots that are sandwiched between Willow Grove Elementary School and Lifetime Montessori School. The existing land-use plan requires that the developer build a recreational center (on the 2.3 acre lot) and senior center (on the <1 acre lot) on these vacant lots. We OPPOSE the developer's attempt to amend the land-use plan and obtain a conditional use permit for an Assisted Living/Memory Care Facility in this location because: 1. THE ASSISTED LIVING/MEMORY CARE FACILITY WOULD DEPRIVE RESIDENTS OF RECREATIONAL AND SOCIAL OPPORTUNITIES THAT THE EXISTING COMMUNITY PLAN REQUIRES: When we made the decision to purchase our homes, we did so with the reasonable expectation that the vacant lots at the corner of Via Fiesta and Via Inez would be developed in compliance with the existing community plan. That plan requires a recreation center (on the 2.3 acre lot) and a senior day center (on the < 1 acre lot). Those uses would benefit surrounding neighborhoods. In contrast, the proposed Project provides NO recreational or social benefit to surrounding neighborhoods whatsoever. Applicant’s assertion that recreational facilities within the Santaluz gated community, such as the dog park and trails, somehow satisfy the surrounding neighborhoods’ recreational needs is inaccurate. The recreational facilities the applicant points to as “offsets” were contemplated to be additive to the recreation center designated for the Via Fiesta property and/or are simply inaccessible to the hundreds of surrounding neighborhood residents that live outside the Santaluz gates. 2. THE PROPOSED FACILITY WOULD CREATE SIGNIFICANT SAFETY CONCERNS. The nursing facility would be sandwiched between the 900- student Willow Grove Elementary School and the 250-student Lifetime Montessori School. The facility would be accessible through a small private driveway that serves as a primary access route to the Lifetime Montessori School. Ambulances serving the nursing facility pose a safety hazard for children walking or biking to and from school. Studies show that assisted living facilities generate a large number of emergency medical services ("EMS") calls. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, EMS vehicles are involved in 5,000 crashes per year, resulting in one fatality every 10 days, including four child fatalities per year. In addition, EMS vehicles attempting to access the facility during school drop-off and pick-up times would experience significant delays due to traffic gridlock during these times. This would pose significant safety concerns for the seniors living in the facility. 3. THE PROPOSED FACILITY IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE SURROUNDING RESIDENTIAL AND SCHOOL USES. The 24/7 operation and staffing will generate traffic during all hours of the day and night, including from emergency vehicles (i.e., ambulances). Sirens used by ambulances serving the nursing facility will disturb the peaceful enjoyment of the surrounding residents in Verrazzano, Santaluz, Sycamore Walk, Bella Rosa, Santa Monica, Cristamar and Mirasol. The community is concerned about security impacts of “roamers” to residences and pre-school and school-aged children at the immediately adjacent educational facilities. Also, the proposed structure is massive and out of scale with the surrounding community. It uses every permissible square foot of buildable area and is not compatible with the surrounding single-family residential scale of development. 4. THE FACILITY IS NOT NECESSARY AT THIS LOCATION. The existing land-use plan (the "Subarea Plan") designates a large, 30-acre site for a “continuing care retirement community,” which would include assisted living and memory care as well as senior independent living and a skilled nursing facility. This 30-acre site is located approximately 1 mile north of the proposed project site, on Camino del Sur, a major arterial highway. The 30-acre site is far preferable to cramming a 74-bed facility between two schools in the middle of a quiet residential community. 5. EXPERIENCE OF THE FACILITY OWNER/OPERATOR: The applicant is the landowner, not the entity which will own and operate the Project, yet the landowner has refused to provide the name of the party who will purchase the property if the pending entitlements are approved. In view of these concerns, we respectfully request that the Planning Commission vote to recommend to the City Council that it DENY the requested Community Plan Amendment and Conditional Use Permit, and that it not certify the Addendum to the EIR for Black Mountain Ranch.

The Disneyland Guest Assistance Card HAS ENDED! Look at the result! "Dear Kim, First of all, I would like to thank you for all of your hard work in this matter. I have truly appreciated the updates. I have been so hopeful that adjustments would be made to the new guest assistance program. It is with great sadness, that I share with you our recent heart breaking experience at Disneyland. Our daughter, Amanda, has a life threatening condition, that has resulted in developmental delays, deafness and autistic tendencies. Amanda, has a condition where she will spontaneously stop breathing and requires CPR until she resumes breathing again on her own. Sometimes these spells will last for only a few minutes and other times she may require CPR for 30 minutes or more. Unfortunately, she has spent a great deal of her life in an intensive care unit on full life support. We have nearly lost her many times and sadly, since there is no cure for her condition, we have been told she will likely pass away during one of these arrests. She has been cheated out of most normal childhood activities, including even being able to attend school. Her absolute favorite thing in the world is Disneyland. It is the one place that she lights up and smiles. In fact, although we only get to visit 6-8 times a year, I spend nearly $350 a month on annual passes so that we,as a family, can share these special moments with Amanda. When we do go to Disneyland our visits must be brief due to the fact that if she gets over tired, or over heated, she will likely have an event. We also must carry a heavy emergency bag that contains oxygen and all the equipment necessary to save Amanda's life during her spells. In addition, her behavior issues make it difficult for her to wait in long lines or to be in tight quarters. A few years ago, Amanda went into an arrest in a fast pass line at Disneyland anD getting help to Amanda was a bit of a challenge because they had to clear all the people from the long, twisted lines. Once paramedics reached her she was rushed to CHOC hospital. It was shortly after that event that Disneyland gave Amanda the green-light pass. This pass provided special accommodations for Amanda, allowing her to get on and off all the rides she enjoyed within 2-3 hours, which is about her limit, and it kept her in an open area where help could get to her immediately if needed. After hearing about the change that was going to take place, we planned a visit to give Disney's new program a fair chance. On October 10th, we visited City Hall and explained very clearly, in private, Amanda's limitations and her special needs. We told the cast member/supervisor that she could tolerate a maximum of 3-4 hours at the park. We were introduced to the new program and told that they were sure it would work for us. After 2.5 hours of struggling with the new program, we had gone on Pirates of the Caribbean, and Haunted Mansion. The next ride we were hoping to go on was Peter Pan. We waited in another line at the kiosk for about 15 minutes and we were told we could get in line for Peter Pan in 45 minutes. At that point we could see this was not going to work for us, Amanda was already showing signs of fatigue. We made our way back to City Hall and requested to meet with a manager. As we began to express our concerns, Amanda dropped to the ground, in a respiratory arrest, right at the Guest Relations Managers feet. We spent the next 3 days watching her go through spell after spell. Despite this, when my husband made contact with the same gentleman who witnessed our nightmare, he, apologetically, told us that Disney was not willing to make any additional accommodations for Amanda. We were offered the option of canceling our passes or told we could put them on hold for a couple months to think about what we wanted to do, but we would still be required to pay the monthly payments. I still have been unable to make a decision on what to do with our annual passes. We know we cannot return to experience a repeat of our last visit My heart aches at the thought of knowing that the one thing in Amanda's life that she has enjoyed more than anything else will be gone forever since Disney is being so unaccommodating to those who honestly need "special assistance." Debbie" The Autism Society of Los Angeles was on hand today October 14, 2013, to help parents with children with disabilities get through the new Disability Assistance system. This was a very busy day at Disneyland but to get your Disability Access service card it required a 1-2 hour wait. This is after they had to wait to park and get tickets. The cast members were very nice but really did not explain this very complicated system very well and could not accommodate parents who's. children had autism or other developmental disabilities. How this system work is that you start at City Hall or chamber of commerce in California Adventure, you are asked what difficulty your child has. They do not want to see any doctors notes or other documentation. They will take your child's picture and print out a card. They will explain to you that you have to go to the kiosks that are throughout the park and you will be asked what ride you would like to go on. They will write on the card the wait time. Today it was never less than 30 minutes more like 60 minutes. You then have to wait around for your allotted time then you can go on the ride. After your one ride is done you go back to the kiosks and get another time for the next ride. Again you have to figure out what to do for 60 minutes before going on the ride. We figure that with this new system that the family with a child with a disability will only be able to go on four - five rides in an 8 hour day. The feedback from the parents that we spoke to was that this is a crazy system to do with a child with autism who has a problem waiting on the best of days. Parents were exhausted , frustrated and just plain sad. It is like something has...

There are fans that cannot afford to purchase season tickets, but want to be a part of the game day action and excitement as much as they can. By only allowing season ticket holders to purchase tailgating passes, you are not allowing fans that cannot purchase season tickets the ability to enjoy the excitement and camaraderie of the game day experience.

This time of year, Target can become like a parent's second home. Dropping by to pick up school supplies, clothes and fall sports equipment in addition to regular shopping, a mom or dad can be in and out of the local store so often, she or he should have a personalized parking spot. Target is many a parent's go-to retailer, because of their friendliness, overall product selection and affordability. And when Target says, “Expect more, pay less,” we generally feel like they mean it. And, well, parents DO expect more. That’s why, with all the money and time spent at Target, parents should tell the company exactly what their expectations are when it comes to Back-to-School needs: When our kids throw skin cream, hair gel or lip gloss into the shopping cart, we expect those items to be safe. And because the ingredients that go into cosmetics and personal care products aren't regulated by the federal government, we expect our favorite retailer to assume some responsibility and create safeguards against cosmetic toxins to protect our family's health. Many personal care products—from baby shampoo and deodorant to lotion and mascara—have been found to contain chemicals we inhale, ingest, and absorb through our skin. And, many of these chemicals may be linked to cancer, birth defects, learning disabilities and other health problems epidemic in our society. We have an opportunity to help Target set a storewide safe cosmetics policy that would help us all. In fact, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics reports, "Target carries a range of safer alternatives, but lacks a policy to address chemicals of concern in the full range of personal care products it sells. Target is currently determining what criteria would go into a personal care product standard." Protecting our health from toxic cosmetics can’t wait, so we need to speak up now to push the company forward in the process of removing such products from its shelves. It is a fact that Target is regularly named to the Ethisphere Institute’s annual “World’s Most Ethical Companies” list, an honor the company is very proud of. It did not get that distinction without a strong sense of corporate responsibility and responsiveness to its customers. The more people sign on to our letter, the more clearly Target will hear us and the more urgently it will respond to us.

Barbara Boxer voted yes to war in Syria, and, miraculously, received over $24,000.00 in contributions from the defense contractors industry. She panders to special interests, to the detriment of the people. Any politician who puts personal financial gain above the people is obstructing the democratic process. Boxer has no place in the Democracy of the People, that we call the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave. Bring pride back to America. Get the WAR PIGS out of office, and keep our sons and daughters, mothers and fathers home, with their families, where they belong, building memories, not tombstones.

I was upset enough as it was when I learned back in 2006 a developer allegedly bribed a former county commissioner to push through a land acquisition deal in a part of Gwinnett County that was neither needed, nor wanted; yet he stood to gain $7.3 million more than it was appraised 16 months earlier. But now it's all come home next door here in the Cruse/Club Corridor and it's high time to expose the same David G. Jenkins as the CEO/CFO/Secretary of Rocklyn Homes as the man who wants to build 334 homes on the last remaining tract of land of this size in densely populated central Gwinnett. For this to happen, Jenkins needs the land rezoned from Light Industrial to Residential. I don't believe our county commissioners should do him any favors by approving his application RZR2013-00003. Do you?

Imagine if your husband is risking his life for his country fighting overseas, but your home state says that if something happens to him, you won't be entitled to equal access to health and death benefits. That's happening. Even though the Department of Justice and Department of Defense issued directives to provide benefits to same-sex spouses, Oklahoma announced that it intends to deny equal access to military benefits for National Guard families. Most states are already allowing federal coverage for health and death benefits to be processed for same-sex spouses the same way that they are processed for everyone else - even if state constitutions ban marriage for same-sex couples. However, Oklahoma is putting needless, discriminatory roadblocks in the way by forcing service members’ spouses to travel miles out of the way to a separate federal facility to access the benefits they are legally entitled to. The Department of Defense deserves great credit for updating their policy to provide equal access to benefits regardless of sexual orientation. Now it's up to the governor to use his authority over the National Guard to provide equal care for all Oklahoma service member families. American service members risk their lives every day to protect liberty and equality all over the world. It's time to show them the same basic fairness when it comes to protecting their own families in their home state.

Imagine if your husband is risking his life for his country fighting overseas, but your home state says that if something happens to him, you won't be entitled to equal access to health and death benefits. That's happening. Even though the Department of Justice and Department of Defense issued directives to provide benefits to same-sex spouses, Louisiana announced that it intends to deny equal access to military benefits for National Guard families. Most states are already allowing federal coverage for health and death benefits to be processed for same-sex spouses the same way that they are processed for everyone else - even if state constitutions ban marriage for same-sex couples. However, Louisiana is putting needless, discriminatory roadblocks in the way by forcing service members’ spouses to travel miles out of the way to a separate federal facility to access the benefits they are legally entitled to. The Department of Defense deserves great credit for updating their policy to provide equal access to benefits regardless of sexual orientation. Now it's up to the governor to use his authority over the National Guard to provide equal care for all Louisiana service member families. American service members risk their lives every day to protect liberty and equality all over the world. It's time to show them the same basic fairness when it comes to protecting their own families in their home state.

Imagine if your husband is risking his life for his country fighting overseas, but your home state says that if something happens to him, you won't be entitled to equal access to health and death benefits. That's happening. Even though the Department of Justice and Department of Defense issued directives to provide benefits to same-sex spouses, Mississippi announced that it intends to deny equal access to military benefits for National Guard families. Most states are already allowing federal coverage for health and death benefits to be processed for same-sex spouses the same way that they are processed for everyone else - even if state constitutions ban marriage for same-sex couples. However, Mississippi is putting needless, discriminatory roadblocks in the way by forcing service members’ spouses to travel miles out of the way to a separate federal facility to access the benefits they are legally entitled to. The Department of Defense deserves great credit for updating their policy to provide equal access to benefits regardless of sexual orientation. Now it's up to the governor to use his authority over the National Guard to provide equal care for all Mississippi service member families. American service members risk their lives every day to protect liberty and equality all over the world. It's time to show them the same basic fairness when it comes to protecting their own families in their home state.

Rev. Acree excels in... Progressively raising awareness of issues while developing answers with action plans. Organizing community members to promote cross generational civic engagement. Working programs that educate, culturally expose and develop social and emotional growth amongst neighborhoods. Engaging diverse groups to become financially empowered and fight for economic equality as well as quality health care for ALL. Revolutionizing cultural moral by instilling a positive mindset that equips people with a loving pride that enhances the quality of their life. Sign this petition in support of his candidacy and your belief in the NAACP's desire to grow even more.

Because we the fans want this show to come back for a 3rd Season!!!!

Multiple business owners, employees & patrons feel unsafe at Carmel’s Clay Terrace Shopping Mall. A recent assault on a 17-year-old girl is the work of a man who’s been lurking around the mall for some time. The perpetrator had 3 other males in his white car & got away. Clay Terrace Partners & Carmel Police Department cannot do anything to protect citizens without proper Security Surveillance Cameras on Property to see & catch perpetrators or thieves.