XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: dmoore@aol.com   
      
   A legal effort to block the removal of concrete fire rings from   
   the seashore in Newport Beach was rejected Friday by an Orange   
   County Superior Court judge, clearing the way for the city to   
   move forward with efforts to reduce the number of beachfront   
   bonfire pits.   
      
   The group, Friends of the Fire Rings, was seeking an injunction   
   to prevent the city from moving ahead with its plans.   
      
   The ruling comes as a battle over beach bonfires plays out   
   between regulatory agencies and in the state Legislature. Though   
   some believe the wood-burning fire rings present health concerns   
   because of the clouds of smoke that are blown into oceanfront   
   neighborhoods, others see them as a harmless and visitor-   
   friendly Southern California tradition.   
      
   Friends of the Fire Rings had asked for the emergency action in   
   late December, saying that if the city was allowed to remove the   
   fire pits, it could do irreparable damage by eliminating a   
   resource for beachgoers.   
      
   In November, the group filed suit against the South Coast Air   
   Quality Management District in an attempt to negate parts of its   
   regulations on beach burning that the agency approved in July.   
      
   “Nothing mandates replacing fire rings if the [AQMD’s   
   regulations] are invalidated,” said Corona del Mar attorney   
   Melinda Luthin, who represented Friends of the Fire Rings.   
      
   She said the regulations constituted an “abuse of government   
   power.”   
      
   Still, Judge Robert J. Moss said he didn’t see the possible   
   removal of fire rings as rising to the level of irreparable harm.   
      
   “I don’t really see there’s an emergency,” he said. Moss   
   disclosed at the beginning of the hearing that he lives in   
   Newport Beach and had done some work for the city when he was a   
   practicing attorney, but didn’t feel that there was enough of a   
   conflict to recuse himself from the case.   
      
   Despite the ruling, it’s unlikely that any of the fire pits will   
   be removed any time soon.   
      
   Newport Beach City Atty. Aaron Harp said after the hearing that   
   the city plans to seek permission for reducing the number or   
   rings from the state Coastal Commission, which has opposed the   
   plan previously.   
      
   That process could take years.   
      
   Corona del Mar resident Frank Peters, a vocal advocate of   
   removing the fire rings, said that he and his neighbors “suffer   
   horribly,” and that this year’s hot, dry winter has made their   
   air even worse. He was pleased with the ruling.   
      
   http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-beach-fire-rings-   
   20140131,0,2117827.story#axzz2s2qvDu5I   
      
   Cock sucker Frank Peters, who fails to comprehend that the beach   
   was here before him.   
      
   http://cdmcyclist.com/   
      
   frank@cdmCyclist.com   
      
   https://www.google.com/#q=frank+peters+corona+del+mar   
      
       
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)