Thanks for stepping up to the Take-Out Window, where I’ll be dishing out big portions of local news, community event previews and useful information, spiced with the occasional thought-provoking comment.
As some of you diehard visitors to A News Café might recall, I wrote an outdoors column on this website for several months last year. I got interrupted, but now I’m back and you’re going to have to put up with me on most days.
Quickly: I’m a California native and I’ve been a professional journalist since the Deukmejian administration. I’ve written for newspapers ranging from the Weekly Calistogan to the Washington Post, and for magazines as varied as California Journal (now deceased) and National Speed Sport News. I’ve spent the past 11 years serving as editor of California Planning & Development Report, a trade publication that, essentially, addresses the matter of what gets built where. I’ve now taken “senior editor” status at that publication – even though I’m still in my 40s! Except for a mercifully short detour to Southern California, my wife and I have lived in Shasta County since 1997.
That’s enough about me. The Take-Out Window needs to be about you. So I’ll send this invitation: Tell me what interests you and how you’re making a living these days. Let me know about events your organization is planning. Hike a scenic new trail? Know of a great play or concert coming up? Have a worthy cause? Organizing a bike tour or bird watching trip? Tell me about all of it, and I’ll do my part to spread the word.
So let’s get started.
• Turtle Bay Exploration Park is offering half-price admission this weekend (February 27 and 28) to Redding residents. If your ZIP code is 96001, 96002, 96003, 96049 or 96099, you’re in the park for half price, which is $6.50 for persons 13 and older, and $4.50 for children 4 to 12 and seniors who are at least 65. Current exhibits include “The Art of Mt. Shasta,” “Native Images: The Works of Edward Curtis and Thomas Houseworth,” and “Turtle Travels.” If you spend a couple hours at the park, I doubt you’ll conclude that Turtle Bay is the Evil Empire. Check out Turtle Bay at www.turtlebay.org.
• I commend Foothill High School students for helping the people of Haiti. The school’s Key Club collected more than 2,200 pairs of jeans that Aéropostale will deliver to Haitians in need. Meanwhile, the Foothill High School History Club spearheaded a fundraising effort that netted $1,200, which doesn’t seem like a lot until you consider the average per capita annual income in Haiti was one-third that amount – before the earthquake.
• March 15 is the deadline to apply for summer session scholarships from Catching The Dream, the organization formerly known as the Native American Scholarship Fund. Scholarship money is available for students of math, engineering, science, business, education and computers. For details, visit the group’s website, www.catchingthedream.org.
Paul Shigley is editor of California Planning & Development Report, a frequent contributor to Planning magazine and co-author of Guide to California Planning, a reference book and college text. He lives in Centerville. Paul Shigley can be reached at pauls.anewscafe@gmail.com.
