News From Abroad: Or Outside Lamorinda, At Least

If you read us you know we're dedicated to covering our respective neighborhoods in detail. But sometimes issues of interest to Lamorindans surface outside the borders of our two cities and a town.

Here now, a few tidbits from the outside world:

Maine Metal Thieves Caught

Two men who allegedly tried to sell a 2,000 pound torpedo loop recovered from the sunken U.S.S. Maine in 1898 and on display in Oakland's Lakeside Park for several decades were arrested after they turned up at a local scrapyard with the monument.

An employee at the Oakland facility recognized the massive, bronze "aiming loop" when the two unidentified men allegedly brought it to the yard with the intention of selling it.

The theft of the Spanish-American War relic, a feat of engineering in itself, caps a string of recent thefts of bronze monuments, plaques, cannon, and even grave markers from local cemeteries and parks. A bronze plaque marking the site of Don Joaquin Moraga's ridge-top home went "missing" last year.

Sebastopol Backs Off Of Blower Ban - For Now

The Sebastopol City Council Tuesday night stopped short of considering a ban on leaf blowers, but left open the possibility of restricting the hours that city residents and landscapers can use them.

City council members said the issue - as hotly divisive in their town as it turned out to be in Orinda - should be dealt with under the city's existing noise ordinance and not with a ban.

“I would just like to see a proposed ordinance that would require some maintenance other than blowing, maybe vacuuming or other technology,” Mayor Guy Wilson was quoted as saying by the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

Tuesday's decision was a reversal for the council, which at its March meeting had asked city staff to come back with an ordinance banning leaf blowers.

Moraga Man Represents In B2B Footrace

...and how about that Rob Elia of Moraga, who finished 96th out of the top 100 competitors in Sunday's little sprint from the Bay to the Breakers in that city west of us - the one with the great big golden arches.

Rob finished with a time of 00:42:54 and that's motoring along.