Dear Editor,
I urge Cypress citizens to vote on Measure GG.  
It is brought to us by the same people who brought us Measure L in 2012.
They promised us Senior Housing and Assisted Living, but instead proposed a 240 bay truck distribution center.
The Race Track is projected to run for another 10 years.   
The time to evaluate the best use of the property would be when the track is scheduled to close, not now.  We don’t know what the City will need in 10 years.  

In writing this column, I usually write it using my own words, but while attending Cliff Telasky’s funeral on Wednesday, Sept. 14. Cliff’s oldest grandson, Ethan Wright, presented an excellent eulogy on behalf of the family and the attendees.  Very few of us had known very much about Cliff.  I tried many times in the years I’ve known him, but he would not give me his story to write about him for this column.

Swing for a reason this weekend. Cypress Recreation and Community Services will host a Homerun Derby on Friday, November 4 and a Charity Co-Ed Softball Tournament on Saturday, November 5 at Arnold/Cypress Park.
Proceeds will be given to Breast Cancer Angels, a local non-profit organization.  The mission of Breast Cancer Angels is to provide financial and emotional assistance for women and their families as they go through breast cancer treatment.  This event will also feature a toy and canned food collection benefitting Grateful Hearts.

The Florida State Seminoles, coached by local dentist Dr. William Poe, were on fire as they opened the Friday Night Lights season with a huge win over Duke. Pictured from left to right, front Row: Dylann Ruiz, Connor Cunnane, Sebastian Lim and Flynn Twomey. Back Row: Kyle Hill, Quinn Unfried, Billy Poe and Coach Dr. William Poe.

Photo by Jeannette Poe

Los Alamitos residents and family duo Stephanie and Alex Born ran the 1st Annual Christ Cathedral 5K on Saturday, September 18 in Garden Grove. The race was an out and back course around the Christ Cathedral Campus, continuing on Chapman Ave and back again to the finish. Stephanie was the 10th overall female finisher and placed 2nd in her age division. Alex was the 15th male overall and placed 1st in his age division.

Courtesy photo

The fourth Annual Tri-City Women’s Conferenc  recently honored three award recipients for their notable contributions and active service to the communities of Cypress, Los Alamitos, and Seal Beach. Judy Wagner was recognized as the Cypress Woman of the Year, Frieda Caplan was recognized as the Los Alamitos Woman of the Year, and Deb Machen was recognized as the Seal Beach Woman of the Year.
This year's conference took place on Wednesday, September 21 at the Cypress Community Center, located at 5700 Orange Ave.

The new school year is already underway for many families. As your Clerk-Recorder, I would like to help inform our community about some of the convenient services that we provide. Did you know that you can obtain a birth certificate for anyone born in Orange County, at any of our three locations?

Some readers found my recent columns about envelopes quite interesting, and asked for a few more examples. Here they are.                              
 Interdepartmental envelopes  are usually 10” x 13” open end, with 6-8 holes punched through both sides of 28 or 32# kraft so the recipient can see if there is, or are, any contents within.  

Dear Editor,
Orange County is blessed with an amazing network of 25 County Parks that include almost 40,000 acres.
 Guess how many of those acres are west of Beach Blvd.?  
Just four.  Only one hundredth of a percent (0.01%) of the total OC Parks acreage is in the western 20 percent of the County.  
And those four acres are about a half hour’s drive from Cypress’ City Hall.  Not exactly around the corner.

It was the first game the Los Alamitos varsity football team had ever played on the campus’ football field, aptly named John Barnes Field. But with all the hype and distractions at the school leading up to the game, the Griffins too seemed a little distracted in the first half.

Cypress Head Coach was admittedly concerned by the slow start his team had against Santa Monica High on Friday. But he was equally pleased with the way his team was able to control the game in the late stages and pull away for a 40-20 win against the Vikings at Western High.

Los Alamitos Unified School District recently announced two new principals for two schools in the district. Amy Belsha has been selected as the new Principal for Rossmoor Elementary School and Roni Ellis has been selected as the new Principal for McGaugh Elementary School.  
With 11 years of experience as an educator, Belsha’s leadership skills and core beliefs make her an ideal match for Rossmoor’s students, families, and staff.  This past year, Belsha joined the district and served as the Assistant Principal at McGaugh Elementary.  

For the first time since 1986, Saint Louis encephalitis virus has been found in adult mosquito samples in Orange County. The mosquito samples were collected in Garden Grove on August 9, and tested positive for St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLE) on August 17.
SLE is a native arbovirus in the same virus family as West Nile virus (Flaviviridae). SLE is similar to West Nile virus in that both viruses require a bird reservoir to maintain the virus in nature.
In 2016, SLE has been found in Los Angeles, Riverside, Kern, San Bernardino, and now Orange County.

Strong Studios just held their auditions for their fourth annual production of “The Nutcracker,” a full-length feature ballet danced by the Strong Ballet Academy.
“All of the Prima Ballerinas are very excited to dance their roles on stage,” said Megan Collaso, who’s the director of the studio.
Camille Leaveck, a Prima Ballerina dancing the role of Sugar Plum Fairy, said about her upcoming performance “It’s an honor to be a prima because it’s a big role and I’m very excited!”

Sir Speedy in Los Alamitos recently received a Century Club award, placing them in an elite group of Sir Speedy franchises worldwide.
The Century Club sales achievement award recognizes 100 of the top franchises in the entire network for outstanding sales achievement in 2015.
The award was presented at the annual Sir Speedy Convention, held in July at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans in Louisiana. Sir Speedy in Los Alamitos is owned by Lauri, Shawn and Allen McLean.

Nearly everyone receives “something” from the U.S. Postal Service almost daily, perhaps a payment due bill, a receipt, some advertisements, a greeting card, a package? So many years have passed since the Pony Express and the Stagecoach delivered “mail” in multi-time periods, and the passing use of the telegraph, the mimeographs, the fax machines, and the war-time “V-mail,” etc.
One type of correspondence seemed most likely to survive: the envelope.  

Dear Editor,
With the new school year starting, parents’ to-do lists are now filled with shopping for school clothes, school supplies, and school food.
That’s right – school food!
In the past, our nation’s schools were used by the USDA as a dumping ground for surplus meat and dairy commodities. It is neither a surprise nor coincidence that one-third of our children have become overweight or obese. Such dietary mistakes at an early age become lifelong addictions, raising their risk of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.

The FC Premier Los Alamitos Girls 2004 played in the OC Kickoff Tournament on Aug. 20 in Irvine.  It was a big tournament with teams traveling from many states to compete in.  
The local FC Premier team did exceptionally well and played high level soccer.  
They beat South Bay United 2-0, FC Heat Blue 1-0 and Strikers Ladera Ranch 4-1.  The Championship game was played against the Strikers OC Red, winners of their respective pool, and the game was intense and closely contested.  

Besides Surf City HB tourney and the Pats cup in July, FC Premier won the OC Brea Kickoff with coach Lyle Stamps and assistant coach Julio Santillan last weekend. The team didn’t concede a single goal in group play and beat the Yorba Linda Jaguars 4-1 in the championship match.  Pictured in the top row from left to right: Gizelle Bruno,  Brisa Mariscal, Julia Peet , Mel Navarro, Lluvia Mariscal, and Cori Flores.