Mesa Verde Center neighbors should put up...

Mesa Verde Center neighbors should put up or shut up

I am reading this mailbag again and I really get a big kick out of

these people that live here in Costa Mesa that are complaining about

the skating rink and the bowling alley at Mesa Verde Center. I mean,

these have been two losers for years. The people that ran them have

lost everything they had, practically.

My suggestion is for all the big mouths that live in this city who

want to see those revamped, put your money where you mouth is or

otherwise, shut up, because I tell you, they have been pink elephants

forever.

I have been around here 40 years and I have watched that whole

center deteriorate, and it needs something different. With that ice

skating rink, over a couple of years, they lost their shirts.

So if you can’t put your money where your mouth is, you ought to

keep your mouth shut because you don’t know what you are saying.

JAMES HATCH

Costa Mesa

Bell Curve takes a cheap, inaccurate shot at president

I’ve read Joseph Bell’s column (“Keep us blessed with the right to

dissent,” Thursday) a few times over and I still don’t get his point.

All I could discern was the usual left-wing scare tactics with no

data to back it up.

How hypocritical of Bell to claim that anyone is threatening his

freedom of speech when week after week he stands on his soapbox

provided by this newspaper to say and write what he wants without

threat of repercussion. We are exposed daily to protests on the

streets, campuses and in the media. Just who has been silenced? If

anything, the protesters are given too much coverage, considering

that the majority of the country supports the administration’s

actions.

Bell knowingly uses a poll that is a week old, dishonestly stating

that only 40% of the country supported military action without United

Nations approval. Clearly, prior to Bell’s article, new polls had

been available for several days after the president’s speech showing

a 70% public opinion approval concerning military action. Unlike past

administrations that were dependent on polls to make a decision, this

president shapes public opinion like a true leader should.

Bell again plays loose with the facts, claiming that 90% of the

world strongly opposes the world. Where is your data? A couple of

marchers who shout and scream in some distant land for an hour before

retiring for a cup of tea and a nap hardly constitutes 90%. Surely,

Bell knows that most of these foreign opinions are the product of

years of anti-American/anti-Israeli propaganda spewed by countries

where all forms of the media are government controlled. China?

Russia? Syria? Egypt? I wouldn’t expect corrupt totalitarian states

to “like” us.

Finally, Bell takes a cheap shot at the president for not having

military experience. I guess flying fighter jets doesn’t count.

Besides, did President Clinton have any when he (correctly) ordered

the bombing of Yugoslavia without any U.N. approval? Did Abraham

Lincoln? It’s funny that the left-wingers who constantly characterize

generals as power-hungry buffoons now consider it a prerequisite for

the presidency.

MICHAEL PRESTON

Costa Mesa

Spare the Westside from eminent domain

I am not in favor of using eminent domain on the Westside and I am

very interested in seeing what the committee for the Westside comes

up with.

They should let the people who own the land and work and live here

resolve the situation rather than through the Costa Mesa

Redevelopment Agency.

WANDA GARRO

Westside

Fond memories of skating rink remain frozen in time

Thank you to Lolita Harper for her reminiscence of happy times in

the Sunday Looking Back: “The still remembered Ice Capades Chalet.”

Many of us have cherished memories of watching our children and their

friends skate at the Ice Chalet for ice hockey, figure skating and

just plain fun for several years.

I remember as well that this Costa Mesa ice also played host to

celebrities. Olympic champion Kristi Yamaguchi practiced at the Ice

Chalet. Todd Sand and Jenni Meno, Olympian pairs skaters, practiced

here, and mentioned it as their home ice when announced on TV. John

Nicks, coach to Olympian stars, had his office here -- also mentioned

during the televised Olympics. And so, too, did the players from the

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim skate here and give lessons to some very

excited children and their families.

But celebrity and fond memories aside, if we must lose Ice Chalet

and the other valued recreation venues to a Kohl’s store, at least we

know that someone had the foresight to provide Costa Mesans with yet

another place to buy a tank top.

KATHLEEN HANOLD

Costa Mesa

Story on dogs is a shocking tale of inhumanity

I know this is probably one of many messages about the two dogs

that were published in the paper Saturday (“Two dogs find life after

neglect”). I am having a hard time even coming to terms even calling

the owner a person, because I can’t understand how anybody who calls

himself a human being could intentionally make animals suffer when

there are agencies a phone call away to take them. He could even take

them to the nearest animal shelter.

I thank God for people who cared enough to find them and take

matters into their own hands. Thank you for the Daily Pilot and for

giving us a chance to voice our opinion.

I have also been following the stories about Costa Mesa and the

Westside and I am a Westside resident. Many years ago, when the

trailer homes were first built, which were the homes around Victoria

Avenue and 19th Street. A bargain-basket shopping center was once

there, called Vista Center, and it was a beautiful shopping center,

and I was wondering if you could find the pictures in the archives.

There must be some pictures of the shopping center that will show

what it was then and compare it to how it is now. I am sure it could

be rebuilt in some kind of status than it is now.

BARBARA WILSON

Westside

School auditorium too beautiful to lose

I have two granddaughters that go to Newport Harbor High, and

there is talk around school of tearing down the auditorium. Because

of its age and beauty, I think that the people of Newport Beach

should be made aware that this is a possibility instead of

restoration.

AVONELLE KONE

Newport Beach