Salem-News.com Odd Man Out articles Page 2

The County Formerly Known as `Orange`

“Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true, or is it something worse?” -The River by Bruce Springsteen

(LAGUNA BEACH, Calif.) - With the dawn of a new decade, Orange County residents should reflect on what a blessing it is to live around here, what a miraculous job the Irvine Company, Henry Segerstrom, the Mission Viejo and Aliso Viejo Corporations plus the O’Neill and Moiso gangs et al have accomplished.

In the latter half of the 20th Century they managed to pave over paradise. Of course they had assistance, what with the willing, greedy, hands-out-what’s-in-it-for-me-attitude of the incestuous Republican political structure. It wasn’t an easy job, this was well thought out and no fluke, but hey, somebody had to do it, right?

New Column: `Odd Man Out` Will Clear the Air Over Environmental Contaminants

In 2001, Roger was acclaimed as one of the Top 5 enviro-activists in Orange County by the LA Times editorial staff.

(LAGUNA BEACH, Calif.) - Launched in 2010, Odd Man Out is a new Salem-News.com environmental segment that is the creation of Roger von Bütow, a professional environmental consultant. Written exclusively for the Salem-News, it's intended as the next evolutionary step on the path of an eco-warrior.

Roger's success on the environmental war front have left him hungry and motivated, constantly seeking new challenges. As a by-product of his life's journey, Roger had the good fortune to cross paths with the Salem-News crew over the fiasco of the US Government’s questionable remediation of MCAS El Toro insidious soil and aquifer contamination.

Caltrans Stimulus Paving Project in Laguna Beach Pollutes Air and Sea

"Oh, Mr. Caltrans: Thank you sir, may I have another?" or "Christmas in November: Thank You Santa Caltrans!"

(LAGUNA BEACH) - The federally funded Obama stimulus paving project by State highway agency Caltrans in Laguna Beach constitutes cruel and unusual environmental punishment.

This fiasco of this pitiful paving effort by the ironically-named All-American Asphalt has slipped into Twilight Zone mode.

`Larry Agran, Great Park Gangbanger: Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire?`

Or "Larry (What, me worry) Agran: The Lesser of Feebles?"

(LAGUNA BEACH) - Larry Agran's dream is turning out to be Orange County's nightmare. Costs soaring, the promised pollyanna tax revenue for the County diving, it just gets worse by the day. The contaminant cleanup budget soars, removal progressing slowly and ineffective for water-borne pollutants migrating region-wide. Little or no preemptive risk assessment, no contingency or fallback strategy. No Plan B, Just Plan A(gran).

We need an OC Grand Jury intervention, and like Watergate, let's have the OC District Attorney's Office follow the money.

Irvine's chosen developer, Lennar Homes, has a decades long reputation and fiscal nationwide history rife with horror stories, vendor mischief and LLC bankruptcies, yet it continues to do business in spite of its ineptitude and lapses.