Sounding Off About Airplane Noise

The Orange County Board of Supervisors initially approved an ordinance to ban the noisiest business jets from John Wayne Airport. The supervisors are to be commended for taking this courageous stand. Business jets should indeed be required to meet the same noise standards as commercial airliners.

Excessive noise is a nuisance. On the ground, there are laws to protect us and the environment in which we live from excessive noise. For example, if a motor vehicle operates without a muffler it is very quickly pulled to a halt. A vehicle is not allowed to operate without a muffler because it is unlawful. The law applies, indiscriminately, to motor vehicles both large and small. The law acts as a control.

Excessive noise in the air is a nuisance as well for which a control is needed. Whether the aircraft is privately or commercially owned is not the issue. The issue is how much noise they make.

When the ordinance to ban the noisiest business jets from JWA comes up Tuesday for final adoption, I trust the Board of Supervisors will once again come through with a unanimous vote in its favor.

JACKIE PIRKLE

Balboa Island Does the Punishment Fit the Crime?

I am confused.

On March 6, The Times reported that actor Chris Robinson was sentenced to four months in prison, five years’ probation and 200 hours of community service for failure to file 1980 and ’81 income tax returns.

On March 7, The Times reported that the two youths who caused the death of a 48-year-old mother of five by drag-racing at 80 m.p.h. in Huntington Beach were given two months in a juvenile detention facility and three years’ probation.

It seems to me that something is drastically wrong with our judicial system. If punishment fits the crime, a tenet I was raised to believe, does that mean that failure to file income tax is a greater “crime” than causing the death of a person? Is this the philosophy the present generation is being raised to believe?

It frightens me to think that our society condones taking a several-thousand-pound vehicle, driving any-which-way-you-want, at any speed, on any road, and causing a death deserves a mere slap on the hands as long as you don’t cheat on your taxes.

DIANNE CANTOR

Fountain Valley Confusion Over Baseball Seminar

I had intended to ignore the “coverage” by Joseph N. Bell of the Baseball Seminar for Fans recently hosted by the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce. However, I continue to come across copies of his article, which have been sent to me by many of the Angel fans in attendance that night. They apparently are as surprised and bothered by it as I am.

Bell failed to understand that the seminar was initially designed (although later expanded) for only the ladies, particularly those who know relatively little about a sport that is predominantly male-oriented. The seminar was to help them enjoy the game when attending with their mate or date.

I should warn you that we plan to have pretty much the same kind of evening next year, because most of the guests seemed to enjoy it very much.

ROBERT L. MacKINNON

President,

Anaheim Chamber of Commerce OCTD Gets Free Ride to State Opinion

Re “Many Are Finding That Bus Is Best,” (Orange County Commentary, March 3):

As an occasional bus rider and longtime reader of The Times’ thought-provoking editorials, I was disturbed by the Opinion column. Is it a new policy at The Times to allow a profit-making concern (which is, of course, what the Orange County Transit District is) to use the Opinion space for what amounts to corporate advertising?

C’mon now. Let the OCTD--with its 75-cent fare--one of the highest, if not the highest, in the state, buy its advertising like the rest of us.

And perhaps James Reichert should warn those “men and women dressed in business suits, carrying briefcases” that all too often they will have to stand and wait for that bus. I suggest he ride the Redhill Avenue route, for example, and count the number of bus benches provided for us. And this is not an isolated occurrence.

DOROTHY M. DOYLE

Santa Ana Heights Dangerous Curves on Ortega Highway

I have a ranch about two miles south of the Ortega Highway and 20 miles east of San Juan Capistrano. In the past years, members of my family have been involved in two head-on collisions, in each case by a vehicle from the opposite direction crossing over the center line. My observation has been that this is the bulk of the problem.

The other part of the problem, however, has been Caltrans. After my parents were both seriously injured in a head-on collision, we were able to get them to paint a stripe down the center of the highway and stripes on the side. Still they were reluctant for some reason to paint the double solid center line which indicates no passing.

Further pressure through the Legislature got them to re-evaluate the double no-passing lines. Still, they did not paint the double no-passing line on all of the impassable curves, only a portion of them. Their reason was simply that they felt if they painted them on all places where it was unsafe to pass, people would ignore the whole thing.

We are talking about 18 critical miles between San Juan Capistrano and Lake Elsinore. The critical miles exist from the western boundary of the Cleveland National Forest to the eastern boundary of the Cleveland National Forest. The rest of the Ortega Highway is not a problem. Passing should be prohibited the total length of that critical portion of the Ortega. It certainly would be worth the lives and suffering saved.

It is true that the Highway Patrol does not enforce the law on the Ortega Highway. They did not even attempt to until three or four years ago. If the highway were posted “absolutely no passing next 18 miles,” and the double stripe was laid down on the highway, the problem, with some innovative law enforcement, would be over.

ROBERT W. FRASER

San Juan Capistrano Angels, Anaheim Squabble Is a Source of Frustration

Re: “Anaheim, Angels Renew Stadium Parking Fight” (Feb. 27).

As a homeowner in Anaheim, I’m outraged about all the money that City Manager William O. Talley is spending to fight the California Angels--the team we love.

Anaheim has many areas that can be developed or redeveloped for a so-called “high-rise office project.” Talley claims that the Angels’ lawsuit to block development of the high-rise was “frustrating” the city’s growth. Well, he’s “frustrating” us.

There are some neighborhoods in our city that need the money that Talley, Mayor Don Roth and others on the City Council have spent fighting our team.

The Angels have put us on the map in sports. For many years they have brought people to our city. They have spent their money on parking, food and tickets from which the city gets a hefty amount every time the Angels play.

If the Angels should move over this matter, Anaheim Stadium will become a “ghost stadium” for most of the year. I don’t think the city of Anaheim would end up very happy with that result. Or would it?

JOY A. SMITH

Anaheim