Mailbag: Dog owners show little regard for rules

Re. “Mailbag: Dogs are soiling Balboa Island beaches,” (Oct. 3): Writer Dariela Wilson commented on a situation I often observe, people letting their dogs do their business on Balboa Island beaches despite the signs posted every block that clearly state, “No Dogs on Beaches.”

This not only creates a health hazard, especially to children playing in the sand, but it represents a disregard for regulations that encourages the breaking of others. We also see more and more dogs unleashed, in violation of leash laws.

But there is more. Walking around the island every weekend has become an exercise in dodging the droppings of our neighbors’ canines. Sure, most attempt to pick up, but even that leaves smudges that make walking the island an obstacle course. Not to mention the mess left in front of the homes of those fortunate enough to front the bays.

Finally, if you decide that having a dog while living in an urban environment is a good idea, be considerate of your neighbors, and get the animal trained so it doesn’t bark, yap and howl for the hours you might leave it alone or at anything that moves.

John Lieto

Newport Beach

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Don’t publish insulting letters

In response to the mailbag dated Oct. 10, “Stop the tea party ‘clown car,” I believe that the Daily Pilot readership may be evenly split between liberals and conservatives. As such, I would prefer that you not publish opinion pieces that contain slurs to either side (such as clown car, chuckleheads and miscreants), regardless of the rest of the content.

Marshall Caplan

Newport Beach

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Dig verifies site’s significance

I know that the Fairview Indian Site at the park was extensive as a kitchen midden — a refuse heap marking primitive human habitation — and dates back to after 6,000 B.C.

I was an archaeology student in professor Keith Dixon’s class at Long Beach State University in 1964, and we did a dig at that site.

I have photos. In my pit was a burial and one of the famous cogged stones. All the artifacts found by the students were carefully cataloged and housed at the campus.

Dixon was also the editor of a booklet dated 1988 and titled “A Hundred Years of Yesterdays: A Centennial History of the People of Orange County and Their Communities.” He wrote the first chapter, “Prehistoric Indian Communities.”

I hope the whole site can be preserved, and I will be happy to contribute to that effort. I walked the site last week and discovered broken sea shells close to the entrance, which is an indication of the midden’s presence.

Carol Musselman

Corona del Mar