Mailbag: Fire rings are not the only Newport pollutant

I read with great interest your columns on the wood burning fire pits that are on our beaches. I wonder what the South Coast Air Quality Management District would have to say about the spent carbon jet fuel that rains down on my house and the rest of Newport Beach?

When I moved here in 1986 it came down in 1-millameter sized flakes. Now, with the newer jet engines, it comes down in dust-size particles that can be inhaled 15 hours a day. I’d prefer an evening of wood smoke.

Bruce Johnston

Newport Beach

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Abortion ban

I find Hoag Hospital’s decision to ban abortions an outrage. This is clearly a decision that comes from the affiliation with St. Joseph. Hoag’s attempts to mislead the community that the reasons are otherwise is upsetting, and calls into question other statements from the board. Hoag should also clarify to the community what other religious-based decisions they are making with community health care.

Stephanie Campbell

Costa Mesa

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‘City of the arts’?

If Costa Mesans consider ourselves the “City of the Arts,” why then, so much fuss about just about everything except the arts?

The City Council’s overtly generous financial involvement with the local school district’s sports field maintenance is just one example. Yes, these fields may be coordinated for non-scholastic use during off-hours. Arguably, not nearly enough to allocate millions of taxpayer dollars to sponsor the special interests of some.

In their defense, there are those on the city dais who may have unknowingly blended sports with the arts. At least twice monthly, the Costa Mesa City Council dodge ball league, performs down at City Hall Council Chambers. These elected Globe Trotter-like experts demonstrate their skills in the art of dodging the people’s priorities and scoring personal goals.

Most of us enjoy sports, and almost everyone enjoys some form of music or the performing arts. Schools provide much greater resources for sports activities than for all music/performing arts combined. How many of these music-and-stage resources are available for after-hours public use, compared with local school football fields, for example?

Obviously, if more arts-cultivating resources were made available and publicly advocated, interest in potentially less-violent activities could be encouraged, and allowed to grow. Possibly then, Costa Mesa could start living-up to its intended claim of “City of the Arts.”

James H. Bridges

Costa Mesa