PLACENTIA
NEWS-TIMES
AN EDITION OF
THURSDAY, JULY 25, 20 1 3
SIMILAR IN NAME, IF NOT CULTURE Belize, Canada and Italy each has its own ‘Pleasant place to live,’ complete with unique attractions and traditions.
OCREGISTER.COM/PLACENTIA
BY LOUIS CASIANO JR. ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Ever wonder if there are any other Placentias out there? There are at least three others around the world, though the spelling of the names varies. The cities are diverse geographically and culturally. While our Placentia is a bedroom community, another Placentia – spelled Placencia, in the Central American country of Belize – offers white sandy beaches teeming with tourists. S E E C I T I E S ● PA G E 6
ILLUSTRATION BY KURT SNIBBE
Council tables billboard plan after pressure from residents
Third-grader invents game, vies for prizes BY LOUIS CASIANO JR. ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
One of Placentia’s younger residents is making his mark in the world of outdoor children’s games by inventing one of his own. Samuel Lundgren, 8, is one of five finalists in the Clif Kid Backyard Game of the Year contest. Sponsored by Clif Bar, a maker of organic snacks, the competition encourages children to play outside and become more active. Samuel, who will be a third-grader this year at Golden Elementary School, calls his game Monkeys Go Bananas. The game consists of four teams, in which members wear “monkey tails” and try to grab as many bananas as possible from a
basket while trying to not get their tail captured by a jaguar. If their tail (which could be made of any kind of rope or cloth attached with a belt) is caught, they must stand as a tree until the game is over. “I love capture the flag and I love monkeys,” Samuel said. Samuel’s mother, Kaci, said she thinks her son got the idea for the game after playing a flying monkey during a school play of “The Wizard of Oz” this past school year. On Saturday, all five finalists will be brought to San Diego, where children will play the games and a three-judge panel will pick the winner. One of the judges is professional skateboarder Tony Hawk, whom
BY PETER LARSON ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
COURTESY OF KACI LUNDGREN
Samuel Lundgren’s game, Monkeys Go Bananas, requires participants to wear “monkey tails” while trying to grab as many bananas as possible.
Samuel is most excited to meet. “I feel pretty good. I’m excited about it,” Samuel said. Each finalist will be awarded a bicycle and a $1,000 scholarship, while the grand prize winner will receive a $10,000 educational scholarship.
Upset residents swarmed a City Council meeting to voice concerns about adding five electronic billboards along the 57. In response, council members voted 4-1 last week to indefinitely postpone taking any action on the project. Residents of La Jolla and other neighborhoods closest to the proposed billboard sites said it’s unfair that they would shoulder the blight and property devaluation for the entire city. The proposed deal with the Lamar Advertising Co. could cut the city’s $1.5 million budget deficit nearly in half this year.
Placentia would see revenue from the billboards top $725,000 annually. City Administrator Troy Butzlaff said the city will begin a series of public workshops aimed at finding common ground. He said a possible compromise could be fewer billboards. The five initially proposed sites all sit on cityowned property: 900 Gonzales St., 312 W. Orangethorpe Ave., 500 Kansas Ave., 380 S. Placentia Ave., and 500 W. La Jolla St. One is in a neighborhood cul-de-sac and another is beside a playground. One possible solution is that the city could create a mitigation fund, with 5 per-
cent of billboard revenue getting divided among neighborhoods most affected by the signs for community projects, Butzlaff said. Residents also aired their discontent during a prior public hearing held by the Planning Commission. Joshua Correa of La Jolla said he was worried about Placentia relying on the billboard revenue to resolve its deficit woes. Crystal Tovar said she felt like residents had been cut out of the planning process. Butzlaff said a notice could go out next week with details about when and where the city will hold the public workshops.