A student’s open letter to DA Dumanis The recent raids led by District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and Police Chief William Lansdowne on 14 medical marijuana dispensaries throughout the county are absolutely unacceptable. As a 19-year-old resident of Encinitas and student of the UC, I can name a million ways in which our local tax dollars could be spent to improve the lives of young people. Arresting medical marijuana patients and providers is most assuredly not one of them. Ms. Dumanis, you are protecting nobody with these raids. The only beneficiaries of these senseless acts of police brutality are the real drug dealers themselves. You confiscated $70,000 cash and six guns. That’s a backpack coming over the border. Get real. You’re doing nothing to stem the tide of drugs into our nation’s schools. Trust me, I graduated from a public high school in North County: drugs are plentiful. And, just so we’re sure, I mean drugs – not medicine. Matthew Kintz, Encinitas Where has our pride gone?  It is no less than a disgrace that the thousands of people who enter and exit La Jolla via La Jolla Parkway every day have to drive past a veritable dung-heap of trash along the entire roadway, from the Throat to the freeway. The city and Caltrans are failing our community, as the presence of trash only communicates to every visitor that it is perfectly acceptable to dispose of their refuse on the way out of our town after a day at the beach. Nothing less than the health, safety and pride of our community are at stake. Those with the ability to do something about this must take up the mantle of responsibility and make this right. If all else fails, close the roadway one day per month so that community volunteers who do care can get the job done. As of my last drive-by, the trash build-up has not been adequately addressed. The same trash that has sat on the side of the road for the last month (specifically, on La Jolla Scenic South, entering onto La Jolla Parkway) remains. I am often asked “how often is the trash picked up?” The only accurate response has to be “not often enough.”  Joe Dicks, La Jolla City’s response To all concerned about this: The way to request this litter pick-up from the City of SD is to e-mail Environmental Services (ES) with a request at: [email protected]. I will forward this e-mail to that e-mail address for a request to do so by way of “cc” so they can take care of this.  Any follow-up should be directed to ES at: (858) 694-7000.  Joel Rizzo, Traffic Engineering His elevated ego shines As I listened to President Obama’s news special, I felt his charisma. Mr. Obama is an excellent orator. However, as I listened to the questions and answers, I felt it fade away. I am sure he means well, and will do the best he is capable of. However, it was not enough to reassure me as to the state of the nation he is head of. His elevated ego shines through the broadcast and I fear for the nation as a whole. Ada M. Powers, Point Loma