EMPTY GARAGES? One reason county transit officials...
EMPTY GARAGES? One reason county transit officials aren’t happy about cutting services to help bail out bankrupt county government: Too many people have no other way to get around. . . . Some riders have three cars at home but ride to help the environment. But 35% have no cars at all. Says John Catoe, transportation operations director: “The average rider does not own a car, just like the average rider does not make more than $20,000. The overwhelming majority of our riders have a lower income.”
IT’S ALL RELATIVE: Murals at the new supermarket that opened in a historic Balboa Peninsula building last week reflect a colorful past. But longtime peninsula resident Mary Blake knows even more: She says customers of what once was Richards Market ran monthly tabs--with a notable exception. Owner Dick Richards once demanded cash from a scruffy-looking stranger with wild hair and baggy pants who was ordering supplies for a trip to Baja . . . Blake adds smiling: “So Albert Einstein took out a huge wad of bills and gave it to him.”
DUCK DAYS: The Lakers have the Laker Girls, the Rams had the Embraceable Ewes, and the Mighty Ducks have the . . . Decoy Promotional Assistants? Maybe the name lacks oomph, but the basics are still there . . . Open auditions for Decoys will be Thursday at the Pond in Anaheim. Disney Sports Enterprises, the team’s owner, wants candidates to be 21 with dance and cheerleading experience. Decoys cheer at hockey games and make public appearances on behalf of the team and Disney Sports.
NEWT’S VISION: What gems of wisdom would make House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s “To Renew America” worthy of a $4.5-million advance? Gingrich, forced by public criticism to turn down the advance, appears Monday at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda to speak and sell a few autographed copies. . . . If you’re a Gingrich fan, the library will sell (for $15) a video of a recent Gingrich speech, “An American Vision for the 21st Century.”
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Bus Bound
About a third of county bus riders have no car at home. Number of motor vehicles in household:
None: 35%
One: 36%
Two: 21%
Three or more: 8%
Source: Orange County Transportation Authority
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