CITY ROUNDUP:
- Share via
Despite August’s heat wave, Huntington Beach residents used 11 million fewer gallons of water than at the same time last year, according to city records. Residents drank, cleaned, watered and washed with 772 million gallons rather than the 783 million used in August 2006. That’s the first time all year that this year was more frugal than the last.
The city hopes to continue the feat. A new residential conservation program is expected to be unveiled in the next few months.
Veterans help children set nationwide reading record
A nationwide reading campaign came to a Huntington Beach pediatrician’s office Sept. 20 as Iraq War veteran Gustavo Ortega read to children to help set a record for the largest simultaneous reading of a book ever recorded.
Like participants across the country, Ortega read “The Story of Ferdinand,” which tells of a peaceful bull who outwits the men who force him into the arena against a matador. It was all part of the national Read for the Record day, which this year got at least 253,000 children involved in a shared-reading experience. The previous record, set last year by the same campaign, was 150,000.
In Orange County, the effort was sponsored by the county Children and Families Commission, which distributed 250 books to early literacy programs and pediatricians’ offices for the occasion. This year, the commission contributed 5,000 children to the national total.
Loose change goes to drug, violence prevention program
The Public Resources in Drug Education Foundation, which supports education programs community-wide, is looking for your loose change. In October, schools and businesses throughout Huntington Beach will collect coins to fund drug and violence prevention programs in the city.
In addition to funding citywide initiatives like Red Ribbon Week, anti-drunk driving program Every 15 Minutes and the Substance Abuse and Violence Elimination Task Force, some of the money will go directly to schools that raised it. For every pound of coins turned in by a school, a dollar will go to programs on-site.
To drop off donations, go to any Huntington Beach police substation or fire station from Oct. 1 to 26. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 26, a final collection site will be open at Civic Center Plaza, 2000 Main St.
For more information, or to ask for a collection container, call Barbara at (714) 493-6169, or e-mail [email protected].
Rep. urges Burma not to use violence against monks
U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher spoke to Congress this week, urging the military dictatorship of Myanmar, also known as Burma, not to use violence against Buddhist monks who are protesting the regime in the country’s largest pro-democracy demonstrations in years.
“If you slaughter the monks and those calling for democracy, when your regime falls, and it will fall, you will be pursued to every corner of the globe like the Nazi criminals before you,” he said on the House floor Tuesday.
But on Wednesday, police in the country opened fire on protesters, according to news reports. At least one person was reported killed, the government reported.
Rohrabacher has co-sponsored a House resolution calling for the release of political prisoners in the country and for a move to democracy.
Residents, officers differ on noise made from standoff
Residents complained of noise at Good Shepherd Cemetery on Talbert Avenue near Beach Boulevard about 3 a.m. Tuesday, saying they heard a police helicopter and sounds of a standoff. But police said the event was less major than it sounded.
Officers were looking for someone who ran from a routine traffic stop into the cemetery, Lt. Corby Bright said. After a couple of hours, they were unable to find the suspect and gave up the search.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.