THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Out in the field

Thursday morning’s field trip to the Upper Newport Bay provided a

wonderful opportunity for a group of children to learn about the

environment. Coordinated by the Santa Ana Blind Children’s Learning

Center, the Upper Newport Bay Naturalists and the Newport Dunes Resort,

the trip gave the children -- all blind or partially sighted -- the

chance to touch and smell the wonders of nature that most of us take for

granted. Maybe even better, the children got to play in the mud, and as

Elayne Strong of the learning center said, “If they go home clean, we

didn’t do our job.” Well, it turns out they did (their job) and the kids

didn’t (go home clean).

Behind a successful fight

The largest-ever Race for the Cure proved that nothing is impossible.

Some 1,400 breast cancer survivors were among 25,000 runners and walkers

who helped raise $1.3 million. That money will go directly to good use:

funding research grants, providing mammogram screenings and helping women

deal with the disease.

Opening elevator doors

There was good news -- and bad -- out of the Costa Mesa City Hall this

week. The bad news was that, due to an oversight, part of the Planning

Commission’s study session was not open to the public. The good news was

that once the city learned that there were meetings being held on a floor

the public couldn’t get to after 6 p.m., city staff said they would fix

that situation and make sure residents can use the elevators to get to

the second floor. It’s quick work like that by City Manager Allen Roeder

and his staff that keep Costa Mesa running well.

Lost time, lost education

Another troubling item emerged from the Newport-Mesa School District:

Costa Mesa and Corona del Mar high schools are experiencing a textbook

shortage. While books are expected to arrive any day now, each day

students go without them is a lost opportunity. The board plans to

discuss the problem at its Oct. 12 meeting. By then, let’s hope they can

talk about how to avoid the problem for next year and not have to figure

out a way to get textbooks that still have not arrived this year.