Ramona Community Planning Group approved the idea of hosting a transportation summit for the community after it was proposed by a member at the group’s March 4 meeting.
   Planning group member Bob Hailey told the group that he, along with members Jim Piva and Kristi Mansolf, attended the coffee hosted by San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob on Feb. 25, and the Highway 67/Dye Road intersection was a much discussed topic.
   Hailey referred to comments made earlier in the March 4 meeting when resident  Joe Minervini   asked the planning group to take the Dye Road extension off the top  10 road priority list.
   “Take that off your top 10 list and put the Dye Road and Highway 67 intersection on the list,” said Minervini. “As for losing money already expended, so be it.”
    Citing his reasons that the Dye Road extension project should be abandoned, Minervini said the changes won’t make the road safer, won’t alleviate traffic and is 25 percent longer in distance for a driver to travel across town versus taking Main Street.  He questioned how businesses on Main Street would feel about traffic being diverted to the proposed bypass.

 The Ramona chapter  of Coffee Party USA will host a gathering in the Ramona Library Community Room, 1406 Montecito Road,  on Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
   In the midst of growing frustration with the political climate of the country, the grassroots movement Coffee Party USA has declared March 13 National Coffee House Day, during which Americans across the country will meet at coffee houses and around kitchen tables to talk about issues. This diverse and non-partisan organization has drawn members from all walks of life who wish to regain their civic pride and have a desire to contribute to the political discourse that is the basis of the country’s democracy.  
   The Coffee Party movement gives voice to Americans who want to see cooperation in government, and welcomes everyone to the table.

 Oil painter Judi Doxey and potter and teacher Chris Castberg will be featured in the Discovery Room of the Olde Ramona Hotel Gallery this month and next.
A reception for them and other gallery members will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 13, in the gallery at 845 Main St. The public is invited.
   Doxey has been working on art since the third grade and has produced drawings for California Campgrounds and Cleveland National Forest. She has studied with Marty Pray-Stannard, Pat Kelly and Stan Sowinski and has had a graphics and commercial art business. She has written, illustrated and published two books: “No Turning Back” and “We Are the Branches.”

 Having observed a deficiency of public transportation in Ramona, Merit Whitney, transportation supervisor for Ramona Unified School District, said she has a resource: school buses.
   “What I know is Ramona has a need and I have a resource to meet that need,” she told Ramona Community Planning Group members at their March 4 meeting.
Pointing out that there are elderly and disabled residents who are without transportation, Whitney said the school buses could offer service during the day when they are not used to transport students.  School buses traditionally transport students between 6 and 9 a.m. and from 2 to 4 p.m., Whitney said.
   The buses are emission compliant, she added, and two buses are wheelchair-equipped. One of the biggest problems, she said, is that the buses are not very comfortable, but she believes that is a minor problem compared to the benefits they could provide.
   Besides transporting residents who need to shop, go to the doctor or go to the library or other locations in Ramona, Whitney said she envisions the possibility of residents traveling to other areas in the county with service extending beyond the average work day.
   Whitney said she has been researching and looking into possible funding, but has not determined the charge per ride.
   School bus drivers could provide the service, Whitney said.

   Five Ramona residents were taken to area hospitals with minor to moderate injuries after a head-on crash on San Vicente Road near Wildcat Canyon Road about 1:15 p.m. on Sunday, March 7. According to the California Highway Patrol, the 19-year-old driver of a Toyota Corolla was eastbound on San Vicente Road when she lost control of the vehicle as it exited a curve, and the car went into the opposing lane and hit a Honda Accord in the westbound lane. In addition to the 58-year-old male driver, the Honda had three passengers. A light rain was falling and the roadways were wet, CHP reported. No alcohol or drugs were a factor in the accident, according to the reporting officer. The accident temporarily blocked traffic on San Vicente to one lane. The road was open in both directions by 2:03 p.m.

 For the first time since 1999, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors adopted updates to the county’s public road standards.
   “It seems to me this is a good balance,” Supervisor Ron Roberts said March 3.
   Three county planning commission hearings and three subcommittee workshops led to refinements from the county staff’s original recommendations. The new standards allow for flexibility to balance community character, public safety and traffic flow.
   The standards also specify the procedure for exemptions if circumstances warrant. 
   “The standards are guidelines,” said county Department of Public Works Traffic Engineer Bob Goralka.
   The updates create 19 new road classifications and also cover pathway, engineering and driveway spacing standards.

 Since 1997, the “Coach Earl” Holsapple Benefit Basketball Games have raised $44,000 in scholarship money for 89 teens.
   The 14th annual games, named after a Ramona firefighter and Calfire captain who died while teaching training classes, are scheduled in the Ramona High School Gymnasium for Friday, March 26.
   Starting with Boys and Girls Club games at 6 p.m. and working to the Ramona High Alumni “Even” (Year) Grads versus “Odd” Grads at 8 p.m., the benefit is interlaced with opportunity drawings and introductions of former players, scholarship winners and visiting celebrities.
   In other competition planned that night, CalFire firefighters will match their basketball playing skills against the Ramona Unified School District faculty at 7:40 p.m., San Diego  County coaches will pit themselves against the Ramona High Alumni Allstars at 7 p.m., and seventh-grade and eighth-grade boys and girls will play, respectively, 6:45 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

   Ramona Municipal Water District (RMWD) Board rejected all bids for construction of the San Vicente Wastewater Reclamation plant brine ponds after the lowest bid came in at $600,000 more than an engineer’s estimate.
   Twelve construction bids were received, ranging from $1.98 million to $2.75 million. With the construction estimated to cost $1.38 million, the lowest bid represented a 43.5 percent increase.  
   According to RMWD Engineer Tim Stanton, four major elements impacted the high bids. Of the 19 items listed in the bid, those four items amounted to almost $560,000. One of the items was the PVC liner for the brine ponds. The liner was estimated to cost approximately $188,000 but bid at $430,000.
   Recommending that the board reject all bids, Stanton presented three alternative projects for district directors to consider at another meeting, with one option to continue to haul brine indefinitely.
   Currently the brine from the San Vicente plant is hauled by trucks daily to the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Facility at a cost of approximately $380,000 per year. Continuing to do so poses no health or safety issue at San Vicente, said RMWD Chief Financial Officer David Barnum. The district, he said, is “trying to find the best, most economical issue at San Vicente.”

 A Ramona woman who allegedly struck and killed a motorcyclist in front of a school last September has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter and driving on a suspended license.
   Katrina Flippin, 28, is charged with causing the death of Mark Anthony Taylor, 46, who was riding his motorcycle on Sept. 15, 2009, about 5:10 p.m. in front of the Olive Peirce Middle School. Flippin made a U-turn in front of him on Hanson Lane, and Taylor crashed into a rented Dodge sedan she was driving.
   District Attorney spokesman Paul Levikow said Flippin is charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter because there were no allegations of drunk driving or driving under the influence of drugs. The maximum sentence is one year in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.