Halloween seemed to go on for weeks this year, what with the marketing at stores, spooktastic billboards and celebrations at city schools . Now that the costumes can finally be put away and the fake graveyards are beginning to disappear from your neighbors’ front yards, the question is what to do with all that candy the kids collected. One option is to dole it out a little at a time until it eventually becomes hard and tasteless months later. You can stick it in the freezer to make it last longer. Meanwhile, adults have a dangerous sweet tooth and nobody to tell them when to stop. Despite the best of intentions, I’m going to raid that candy bag. The kids don’t even like the Hershey’s Special Dark chocolates, so I’m doing them a favor, right? Perhaps take some of the candy to your office and put it out for co-workers. This strategy works if you want to see your work buddies (and non-buddies) gain weight, so long as you have enough discipline to not eat too much yourself. A better alternative that several of my friends use is the “switch witch.” Think of her as the tooth fairy for Halloween. She shows up the night after Halloween, takes all the kids’ candy and replaces it with a toy. I’ve heard of other friends having a “store” where their children “buy” things they want in exchange for the candy, like gummy erasers or plastic bracelets. This allows the kids to feel that they are in control of the process of trading away their candy. It’s good for their math skills too. You could also save the candy for a future party and use it to stuff a piñata. It takes a lot of candy to fill one of those things. Last year, I gratefully took all my children’s candy to a friend who was collecting for a program called Operation Gratitude that sends care packages—including candy—to U.S. service members who are deployed overseas. The organization also asks for letters and kids’ drawings, as well as toothbrushes and toothpaste, to go along with the candy. Dentists around the country participate in this program and many act as collection sites for the treats. Check with your dentist to find out if he or she is participating. The real fun of Halloween is running around at night in costume and being bold enough to knock on strangers’ doors and demand tribute. For kids who are usually not allowed to go anywhere without their parents and are taught to be wary of strangers, that’s an incredibly powerful reversal of norms. As for the candy? While most youngsters like it, they are usually not too sad to give it up a few days—and bellyaches—after the holiday. Be sure to follow Beverly Hills Patch on Twitter and “Like” us on Facebook . Here is the original post: Halloween Hangover in the Hills
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BHUSD Increases Efforts to Oppose Subway Route
The Beverly Hills Unified School District’s effort to oppose a subway going under Beverly Hills High School is kicking into gear just as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans additional public forums on the topic. The MTA will hold three “community update” meetings this month, including one Jan. 31 at the Roxbury Park Community Center to discuss work on the final environmental impact report of two possible routes for the Westside Subway Extension. One route would entail tunneling under the high school and the Beverly Hills Unified School District office, while the one favored by the school district and city officials would go under Santa Monica Boulevard. BHUSD officials and many residents feel that the MTA has unofficially decided in favor of the route under the high school because of an alleged fault line under Santa Monica Boulevard. “The Beverly Hills board of education plans to continue to demonstrate that viable alternatives exist and hire our own experts to refute the false seismic claims being advanced by the MTA experts regarding tunneling under the original and locally preferred route, Santa Monica Boulevard,” board Vice President Brian Goldberg said last week in an e-mail to constituents. As part of these efforts, the BHUSD board voted 5-0 on Thursday to hire national law firm Alston + Bird to oppose any decision to tunnel under the high school. Alston + Bird specializes in environmental and land development law, as well as public policy issues, according to its website . The firm has nine offices, including locations in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C. The board is also likely to hire a lobbying firm, President Lisa Korbatov told Patch in an e-mail. Under consideration is Englander Knabe & Allen , the same firm behind efforts to put Measure 2P —a two-hour free parking proposal—on the March ballot. Englander has offices in Los Angeles and also Sacramento, where BHUSD wants state officials to become involved. Meanwhile, the subway issue is becoming front and center in the upcoming City Council elections. All three candidates running for council seats oppose the proposal to tunnel under the high school. Two of the three— Dr. Julian A. Gold and Councilwoman Nancy Krasne —specifically mentioned the issue at their Jan. 9 campaign launches. Patch urges readers to attend one or more of the three upcoming MTA community update meetings. The first is Jan. 24 at LACMA West on the fifth floor, according to the MTA’s website . The next meeting will be Jan. 26 on the third floor of Westwood United Methodist Church, 10497 Wilshire Blvd. The last one will be Jan. 31 at the Roxbury Community Center. The meetings begin at 6 p.m., with the public comment period from 7:15-8 p.m. Those planning to attend the Beverly Hills meeting are advised to get there early, as prior MTA meetings held at Roxbury were so crowded that an overflow room was needed. Read this article: BHUSD Increases Efforts to Oppose Subway Route
Wacky Rev: Failed Doomsday Predictions "Embarrassing"
The sun just keeps rising, no matter how many times he checks the math. Photo Credit: AP View original post here: Wacky Rev: Failed Doomsday Predictions “Embarrassing”
