Foothills Sentry February 2020

Foothills Sentry Page 6 February 2020 Lights: Still too bright in Sil- verado, courtesy new high-tech, high efficiency LED bulbs. Cam- era: Capture shots and video, of an old, limping mountain lion with the perhaps most startlingly uncreative (if accurate) sobriquet ever. Action: By Mary Schreiber and the Inter-Canyon League (ICL), at its regular January meeting, where three dozen locals shared tacos from Silverado Café and talked policy, politics and pre- paredness, again --- with presen- tations educating canyonites on living with the intrepid old cou- gar using cautious, conservation- minded best eco-practices. “Not a specter,” said Schreiber, this magnificent recent frequent visitor to Ladd Canyon, Shady Brook, Hazel Bell and beyond. Do not shoot, feed, pet or spook him. That’s not good for Limpy (or, as I prefer, el Senor León de montaña) who, if he gets too familiar, will become habitu- ated. The big cougars are al- ready endangered, threatened by catastrophic diminishment of their geo-genetic territory, typi- cally a 100-square-mile roaming, feeding and romance zone. See Department of Fish and Wildlife website: keepmewild.org . The county’s decision on adopting a Local Area Manage- ment Plan (LAMP) proposal was postponed by the Planning Com- mission until April. Community spirits Silverado-Modjeska Recre- ation and Parks District is the sin- gular official governmental deci- sion and policy-making body in our unincorporated and, for good or bad, underrepresented region. Unofficially, if heroically, the ICL has for decades offered a typi- cally OC-style exercise of both generous mutual aid and rugged self-sufficiency, sometimes mak- ing it hard to tell where residents’ politics reside beyond where they live. This feature of canyons life is often poetic, even fun. Attend- ing the recent Santa Ana Wom- en’s March, your humble scribe marched (well, strolled) for 90 minutes with a longtime neigh- bor, who shared heartfelt histories of canyon life in a long-overdue conversation, one we’d not had in 15 years of living three blocks apart or, if you like, together. Perhaps she and other resident experts will share their personal histories at the ICL-sponsored Modjeska History Committee on Sat., Feb. 15, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., or produce a video at the Library of the Canyons. ICL Treasurer Francesca Duff CANYON BEAT By Janet Wilson By Andrew Tonkovich was, of course, unanimously re- elected that night, with the board considering the option of appoint- ing a fifth member of the current- ly four-member board. Voting by ICL elected officers is usually unanimous, the result of typically smooth and efficient facilitation of meetings, and participation of citizens with big hearts and a sense of humor: Holiday Helpers coordina- tor Pam Rass, who managed re- distribution of nearly $800 in charitable holiday contributions. Friends of the Library best friend Fran Williams, now planning for the annual May swap meet fund- raiser. Canyons Watch and pre- paredness proselytizer Anthony Mack, whose crew has distrib- uted 80 pre-programmed emer- gency radios. (Practice listening to them, suggests Director Dion Sorrel. “Tune your ear” to recog- nize voices, the effect of atmo- spheric conditions and even stat- ic.) Steve Chaix, who donated a vacuum cleaner to the Modjeska Community Center. Fire Chief Bruce Newell, who cheerfully re- ported on planned improvements to the Irvine Ranch Water District control station. And the Recy- cling Committee, which contrib- uted nearly $500. If you’d been there, you could also have voted for Francesca, assuming you’d paid $5 annual membership and attended three meetings in 2019. That would also qualify your board member candidacy. ICL meets the second Tuesday evening of the month. Supervisorial upshots The SMRPD board chose new officers at its January meeting. No tacos, but president is Tara Saraye; vice president, Isabell Kerins; secretary, Anjan Purohit; treasurer, the civically ubiquitous Francesca Duff. Voters pick two directors in November when Tara and Francesca’s current terms expire. SMRPD next meets Feb. 18, the same date as the county’s primary voter registration dead- line. Clumsy segue, but three issues consistently define, perhaps pre- dictably, canyon voter concerns, especially regarding the Board of Supervisors race. First, maintain- ing the integrity of the near-sacro- sanct Sil-Mod Plan against further assault by developers and thus maintaining the rustic, dark (!) and peaceful nature, of well, living in nature. Second, electing a reli- able, engaged, proactive liaison with OC Parks, law enforcement, emergency services and utilities. Third, securing more robust tax- generated resources for our com- munity. Democrat Ashleigh Aitken, OC Fairgrounds board member and challenger to special election-in- cumbent Don Wagner (R) recently visited the canyons, hearing unshy reassertion of above by supportive residents. Under OC’s new election sys- tem, all canyon voters (registered by, yes, Tuesday, Feb. 18) receive ballots by mail. They can cast them in person up to 10 days be- fore the election at any of 188 of- ficial vote centers (in-person Feb. 22 through March 3) or deliver ballots off to one of 110 official drop boxes throughout the coun- ty. Alas, at press time there were no boxes in the canyons, but easy enough to stop at one on your way to work in nearby Whiting Ranch, Irvine or Orange. “Limpy” and LAMPy: take two Santiago Canyon College (SCC) announced the extension of its Promise Scholarship pro- gram, which provides tuition-free education to first-time, full-time students, from one year to two. “Research indicates that stu- dents who commit to attending college on a full-time basis (12 or more units per semester) are more likely to complete and graduate,” said SCC President Dr. John Her- nandez. “By eliminating the cost barrier, students can focus on their studies and attain their goals at Santiago Canyon College.” SCC Promise awards are not based on family income. Every student who applies will qualify. Students need only to be a 2020 high school graduate or equiva- lent (first-time college student), a California resident or AB540 eligible, and complete an appli- cation for Federal Student Aid or the California Dream Act (using SCC code 036957). To remain eligible for the pro- gram, students must complete 12 or more units each semester for both years, maintain a 2.0 GPA, meet with a mentor in the First Year Support Center, and attend a workshop designed for student success. SCC Promise Scholarships are awarded on a first-come, first- served basis until the allocated funding has been depleted. Visit sccollege.edu/freetuition or call (714) 628-5085 for more information. SCC expands free tuition program to two years