The Downtown Report (Early May)

By Mike Ritto on May 5, 2020

Better Together

A hot news tip came in from one of our readers so it needed to be checked out right away. OK, so it was just an excuse to get out of the Stay-at-Home house and drive around a bit. Windows up. News is essential. This banner was near the trailhead of our majestic Fullerton Loop MTB & Hiking Trail, which of course is behind the courthouse, right there where almost none of the hikers on the trail were wearing a face covering. (Note: To make deadline, most of this was written before the City Council ruling, and much has changed.) Checking into the website: www.goldenhillstogether.com led to a list of free resources for all of us as we get through these trying times. It’s always good to know that many who care about your well-being are out there and ready to help if necessary. If you need any resources, just head over to their website and hopefully you will be directed to where you need to go.

Better Apart

In the opposite direction, we find numerous stragglers who just don’t seem to feel the urgency when it comes to the constant bombardment of messages to stay at least 6’ apart and wear a mask when venturing out, if leaving home at all. Stay-at-Home may prove to be the best medicine—the jury is still out as of this writing. An unofficial tally in and around downtown reveals that far less than 50% of us are heeding the facial covering recommendations. My unscientific study revealed 17 with a face covering, 50 without. LA, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties have mandated wearing a mask of some kind while outside, as have the city of Costa Mesa and as I write this, Fullerton has just done the same.

At the April 21 City Council meeting, there was a 3-2 vote in favor of adopting the Orange County Board of Supervisors’ mask requirements, so retail and any other business where employees have contact with the public must now wear a cloth mask through at least May 24. The same requirement was mandated for shoppers, as well.

Prankster

As if it were possible to actually motivate someone to don a face covering, I opted to get a message out to anyone driving by the corner of Commonwealth and Euclid. A replacement for the stolen book has not materialized but at least the main character is protected from any coughing or sneezing passersby. The thought was, if just one person got the message, it would be worth the effort, or at least someone would get a laugh out of the sight. Headed back the next day to see if it was still there and hey, what timing, there was a guy standing in front of it with a camera, the mask in hand. Oh well, nobody would expect it to last. When I circled around to head home, I saw that he had actually retied it more securely on the sculpture. Wonder what that was all about…

Happy Birthday

We’re now washing our hands twice while singing this song, and singing this song while driving or walking by friends’ houses. So many events have been canceled, creativity has been taken to new levels in order to celebrate, no matter what. Here is a good example, as Pam Keller, Katherine England, Rebecca Cash, Nancy Johnson, Brian Prince, Tim Johnson along with Myra and Chip Allen make sure their good friend Candaz Magoski knows her friends have not forgotten her birthday. Well done.

Wildlife Takes Over

No doubt you have heard about the proliferation of wildlife in cities all over the world. Animals of all sorts are now seen walking down the streets and in places like Yosemite, animals have come out of hiding to reclaim the areas their ancestors ruled decades ago. In Fullerton, at least in my part of our town, possums, lizards, and now, skunks, are out in the open and boldly going where few have gone before. Egads, it is 2pm and I just saw a mother possum with babies on her back walking in my back yard. So the nocturnal creatures are digging the sunshine as well as the lack of humans? A mud black phoebe bird’s nest is coming together on my garage and a finch nest is nearly complete right outside my kitchen window. Coyotes have been spotted in our downtown in the past; has anyone seen them there lately?

Two weeks ago, the city of Los Angeles registered the cleanest air on Earth. Unfortunately for my neighborhood, this week registered the foulest smelling air in some time. This disturbed skunk let loose and very soon neighbors all around got a whiff. Since it happened on 4/20 some thought it might be a celebration instead, but no. Fortunately, a few days later, the cloud had dissipated, although no doubt these creatures remain hidden at least for now. They are welcome to stay, just don’t get too upset with us humans.