Something's Missing...

BIG CHANGES AT THE DAILY PILOT
This week marks a new era in local news.  As announced earlier by editor John Canalis, beginning today, Monday, November 12, 2012, The Daily Pilot - our newspaper of record for more than a century - has taken another significant step backward as it wrestles with the requirements of producing the best local news while trying to remain fiscally sound and support its parent company's attempts to emerge from bankruptcy.


DOWN TO 5 DAYS PER WEEK
This week The Daily Pilot, which has not been "daily" for some time when it dropped Mondays, becomes even less so as they transition to producing a print product only 5 days per week - Wednesday through Sunday - dropping Tuesdays beginning tomorrow.


COLUMNISTS DROPPED, REDUCED OR SHIFTED
Coincident with this change, we will also no longer see some familiar bylines.  Weekly columns produced by Greer Wylder, Amy Senk, Chuck Cassity, Crissy Brooks and Mona Shadia have all been dropped.  Shadia moved on to the Orange County Register. 
 
Both Jack Wu and Jeffrey Harlan will be published every other week instead of weekly.  Steve Smith's column will be published on Fridays and Jim Carnett's column will be found on Wednesdays.
 
Patrice Apodaca and Bruce Cook will remain as weekly columnists. 

SERNA AND REICHER
These changes come on the heels of the departure of ace reporters Joseph Serna and Mike Reicher.  Serna moved on to the parent newspaper, The Los Angeles Times, and Reicher now covers our area for The Register.


THE REGISTER GOES THE OTHER WAY
Personally, I'm saddened that these changes have been made, but it seems to be representative of changes throughout the print media nationally.  All of them seem to be looking for the right blend of print and electronic media to provide the news promptly and still be able to make money on it.  The exception is the Orange County Register, whose new owner Aaron Kushner, is doing the exact opposite.  He's throttling back the electronic side and is pouring tons of money into revitalizing the print product.  Recently he's advertised for dozens of media types - writers, reporters, editors, etc. - as witnessed by the departure of Shadia and Reicher from The Daily Pilot.
 

BLOOM TO THE REGISTER, TOO

In a related move, veteran newsman Roger Bloom - editor of the Newport Beach Independent and a mainstay at the Feet To The Fire Forums - will also soon join the Register to help establish more local newspapers similar to The Current that it distributes in our area each Friday.  The Indy is part of Firebrand Media in Laguna Beach and is still wrestling with their business model.  Right now they publish daily online and one day per week in print.


WHO'S LEFT - OLD GRUMPY AND ME?

I'm sorry that The Daily Pilot will diminish it's presence in our communities.  I hope they will continue to ramp up their electronic product and provide us with timely, accurate local news.  If "real" news outlets continue to shrink and, in some instances, disappear, it may leave the production of "news" to local blogs like this one and others.  That would be a real tragedy.

Need A Smile? "Chuckmeister" Obliges

LOOKING FOR LAUGHS?
Sometimes the "news of the day" just leaves you wishing for a little more levity in your life, right?



CHUCKMEISTER AT YOUR SERVICE
Well, as I've reminded you many times in the past, my old pal, Chuck Cassity, always provides a little comic relief on his blog, Chuckmeister Unleashed. . His most recent contribution to the enlightenment of our populace is certainly no exception. You can read it HERE.

JOIN ME...
So, take a couple minutes and chuckle along with Chuck (and me). Have a great weekend.

Saying Good-bye, Mansoor's "Arabness" & Cassity's Wisdom

MISS ME?
"Where ya been, Potstirrer?" asked one reader via email on Saturday, apparently wondering if I was taking a page from the California legislature and was off on a little hiatus. I guess he was worried that I hadn't posted anything since Thursday.



SAYING GOOD-BYE, AGAIN
Well, I spent a big part of Friday at the funeral for a dear friend, Corki Rochlitz, who passed away unexpectedly on my birthday a couple weeks ago after what was supposed to be fairly routine surgery earlier in that week. During a hernia repair that wasn't essential but desirable according to her doctor, something went wrong, she developed sepsis, suffered a couple heart attacks on that Friday and passed away at noon on Saturday, the 14th. It was a punch in the gut for her family and friends.

REMEMBERING CORKI
So, on Friday my wife and I joined a couple hundred people at a catholic church in the South Bay area for a lovely service remembering our friend. The priest who officiated was a friend of Corki's for most of their lives and he gave a lovely remembrance. Her two sons did their best to speak of their mother, with only mixed success. Later the assembled masses convened at a fellowship hall to watch a slide show of our friend's life and to chat about her among themselves.

TRAGEDY BROUGHT US TOGETHER
This woman was my friend for only six and a half years. She became my friend when I was in Las Vegas tending to my best friend, Larry Moore, since we were 5 years old as he tried to recover from a terrible motorcycle accident. Many of you know that story...

CALM, COMPASSIONATE ENCOURAGEMENT
During my stay in Vegas I began sending nightly emails to a few mutual friends, telling them of my pal's condition. That distribution grew until one day near the end of the first week Corki wrote a nice note of encouragement and asked to be included on the list. She was also a retired LAPD officer and seemed to know, literally, everybody in that organization. So, she began forwarding my notes to most people in her email address book and would send me feedback from those folks. She was a welcome voice of calm encouragement and compassion at a time when it was sorely needed.

OUR FRIENDSHIP GREW
Following my friend's passing I finally met Corki face-to-face at his service and we had a nice visit. We continued to email each other and, over the past half-dozen years have swapped over 5,000 messages, many telephone calls and more than a few meals. She, a woman with boundless energy and compassion, became a friend in every sense of the word. We swapped stories on an almost-daily basis about our lives, families, friends - all the highs and lows you chat with friends about. She became a huge part of my life. And now she's gone...

DON'T WAIT...
Once again, as I spoke with many of her other friends Friday, I was reminded just how fragile life is and how quickly unexpected turns can appear as you travel down that road. For my pal, Larry, it was an unanticipated turn in the road. For Corki it seems to have been a nick to an internal organ during fairly routine surgery that caused it to end tragically. You just never know. So, once again, I remind you to tell those you love just how you feel about them. Don't wait...

***

MANSOOR'S "ARABNESS"
With a tip of the cap to the folks at the Orange Juice blog for the loan of this image from an article they published in April, HERE, in case you missed it, the editors of the Daily Pilot decided to publish another of my commentaries Saturday. Actually, they published most of what I submitted to them. I included the missing two paragraphs in the comments section attached to the online version of my commentary, so you can read the whole thing HERE.

I find myself wondering how Allan Mansoor will feel when he reads it...

***

CHUCK'S WIT AND WISDOM
For those of you who still have not placed my pal, Chuck Cassity's blog, "Chuckmeister Unleashed!" on your list of favorites, here are links to his two most recent entries, "The Coming Unpleasantness" and "Let's Poll the Judges". Just click on the titles and give yourself a treat. You can stop by the Hi-Time booth at the Halecrest-Hall of Fame Chili Cook-Off today beginning at noon and let Chuck know how you feel about his words of wisdom. See you there.

Things I've Learned This Week...

FACEBOOK IS JUST TOO CHATTY!
Well, first, I learned that Facebook is turning this into a much-too chatty world. For example, I learned last night from her Facebook page that Daily Pilot Newport Beach reporter, Brianna Bailey, has given her two weeks notice yesterday and is apparently returning to Oklahoma and will go to work for the Journal Record, reporting on the energy industry. OK, I understand the need to share this good news, but this old geezer is having a hard time adjusting to this information being broadcast to the world via Facebook. Oh, well... we wish Brianna well - she's done a good job here.


KATRINA IS OMNIPRESENT
Facebook also affirmed for me that there are actually six Katrina Foley's running around these days. There simply is no other explanation for the number of events she attends. Either that or she is a butterfly, flitting from flower to flower. Perhaps she is the Energizer Bunny incarnate. Whew!

MANSOOR JUMPS ABOARD IMMIGRATION - AGAIN
Early in the week I learned that Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor, ever the opportunist, has decided to jump back on the old "immigration horse" that got him re-elected four years ago. Yep, he called a press conference Tuesday to announce his new initiative to crack down on illegal aliens in our midst - again - denying all the while that neither his campaign nor the recent Arizona law had anything at all to do with the timing of his announcement. Those who were around these parts in the middle of the last decade will recall that he pulled this stunt before, trying to get all Costa Mesa cops designated as immigration screeners. For months it seemed that every wacko on both sides of the issue descended on our town, demonstrating and disrupting council meetings, including the incendiary event of Benito Acosta's arrest. That little judgment lapse on the part of Mansoor ended up costing the City over a half-million dollars in legal costs. Now he's at it again, trying to find a campaign platform in his run for the 68th Assembly District seat in Sacramento. What does he care if this, once again, polarizes the city and leaves an irreparable rift in our communities - one way or the other he's not going to have to deal with the problems he's creating.

BEVER IS UNSUITED FOR OFFICE
I learned, or, rather, had reaffirmed, that Eric Bever is intellectually and emotionally unsuited for public office. His infantile publication of an "open letter" to the City Council by way of the Daily Pilot in which he renounced his support of the City's on-going project to acquire the Orange County Fair and Events Center because Governor Schwarzenegger didn't give the City enough time to get the job done properly was akin to some spoiled little brat, flailing around on the floor screaming, No! No! No! because he was being asked to do something he didn't want to do. This, of course, is vintage Bever - a man who clipped his waist-long pony tail before he ran for office to disguise who he was. This is Bever, who missed many of the important meetings on the issue and has for the most part restricted his contributions during the discussions to lame quips and other failed attempts at humor that have become his pathetic trademark.

"CHUCKMEISTER" IS A HOOT
I learned that my old buddy, Chuck Cassity, is one funny dude. I'm sorry, but he just cracks me up. Last week he published a couple blog entries on his "Chuckmeister Unleashed" blog that address the immigration issue. You can find them HERE.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND
We've got an interesting city council meeting coming up on Tuesday - could be a long one. I'll write about that on Monday. Have a great weekend and don't get caught in the Orange County Marathon traffic on Sunday.

New Bloggers Added

In the busy world of local politics we sometimes forget to look for fun things going on around us.

NEW ADDITIONS TO THE BLOG ROLL
For those who actually pay attention to my blog roll over there on the right side of the page it will come as no surprise to see a couple new links added. For those who are so fascinated by the content on my pages that you NEVER look over there, here's a little introduction to them, in no particular order...

CHUCK CASSITY STRIKES - UNEDITED!
My fellow geezer, curmudgeon and whatever other name you wish to apply to us, Chuck Cassity, has launched his new blog, "Chuckmeister Unleashed" this month. If you slide over to the link and click it you will find his first entry. Chuck has become an irregular regular contributor to the Forum page of the Daily Pilot and I suspect Chuck's blog will be the source of much entertainment in the months to come. I'm looking forward to his flights of fancy. I hope you will, too.

THE REAL TONY D.
My friend and former Daily Pilot Director of News and Online, Tony Dodero, writes a column, Go Ask Your Dad, in a publication called OC Family. A click on that title will take you to his January column. As a supplement to his column Tony recently launched a new blog. It's also called, cleverly, "Go Ask Your Dad". Slide over to the right and click on the link. For those of you who might have had the image of Tony when he was at the Pilot as a gruff editor-type who always said "NO!" to your questions, here's a chance to meet the real guy - a really good guy. Enjoy him.


COME ON BACK, BYRON!
I hope you'll remember these links are over there for your reading pleasure and visit them often. Now, if I could only get my old pal, Byron de Arakal, to drag himself out of his hollow log and come out of hibernation and begin writing on his Itchingpost blog again all would be well with my world!