ANAHEIM, Calif. - Disney California Adventure opened in February 2001 in what was once Disneyland's parking lot. The goal was to make Disneyland into a multiday destination like Walt Disney World in Florida, but initial reviews of California Adventure were lackluster for various reasons: not enough to do, generic rides, not enough Disney theme work.

Love is in the air at Mesa’s monthly Second Friday art walk 6 to 10 p.m. Feb. 8. Downtown Mesa’s historic Main Street comes alive with the Valentine theme “Sweethearts on Main” where attendees are encouraged to get out that zoot suit or flapper dress they’ve been hiding in the back of the closet and participate in a dance and costume competition while they rekindle romance over a dinner at one of downtown’s many restaurants.

That’s ‘YOUR’ money their donating folks and I, as a Salt River client and entrapped customer of a monopoly, am insulted by it. Personally, I wouldn’t give two cents to attend a Super Bowl game, but that’s besides the point. The City of Glendale has trickled away millions of $’s of their tax payers hard earned monies on sporting events and venues, unfortunately that’s their problem. But I sure don’t relish the fact that a public utility is using my hard-earned cash to help finance a sporting event supported by a minority of the utility’s paying customers. Next time SRP wants to raise it’s rates, give a second thought to where the money may be spent. Gee, I wonder if it has anything to do with a SRP executive being on the Super Bowl Committee?

I’d like to comment on those ridiculous remarks made by a person in your Vent column last Wednesday about the old “Leave It To Beaver” TV program. Where in the heck do they get the idea that it was racist and sexist and that the kids were constantly misbehaving? That show never had anyone smoking pot, sniffing cocaine and using swear words as today’s TV programs do. They also never promoted the idea of people living together and making babies BEFORE marriage — that’s if they would get married at all as in today’s TV programs. We need more programs today to show that at one time, we had a decent family oriented society in America.

Someone tell me if I’m not reasoning properly here; I just viewed the 9 p.m. news on FOX-10 where one of the stories had to do with Sandusky’s recording of riotousness and innocence sent from his cell in ‘Stalag 17.’ The two newscasters were both complaining about reporting the story, thinking they had heard the last of Sandusky. Correct me if I’m wrong but, aren’t the folks who report the news, (media), responsible for it’s content and presentation? I’ll bet there isn’t one viewer who was the least bit interested in Sandusky’s boo-hooing nor the report of Jordan Van Der Sloot effectively sewing his oats in a Peruvian prison.

It is now being reported the Boston bombing suspect was unnecessarily ‘Mirandized’ in the midst of the FBI interrogations from which the FBI was obtaining important intelligence re present and future terrorist activities. The question now is; did the attorney general’s Boston representative jump the gun by rushing a Federal Magistrate and lawyers to the suspects hospital room to ‘file a criminal complaint’ and ‘Mirandized’? By doing so it placed the suspect into civil proceedings which we find out is not a necessary decision at this time. It has effectively limited further FBI interrogation(s).

A better life for their families, but what about us?

The bumper sticker reads, “Obama Lied — Freedom Died.”

A little over a decade ago, the East Valley was embroiled in a ‘mini’-scandal surrounding the sale of homes by unscrupulous realtors which were directly in a ‘high noise area’ of what is now called Phoenix/Mesa Gateway Airport. At that time, buyers were told that the ‘air base’ was closed and there were no plans on the ‘books’ to re-open it.

When will the “Victim Game” stop for Blacks and Hispanics in America? It’s been more than 40 years, almost two Generations and Martin Luther King’s “Dream” is still a dream. Schools are no longer segregated. Colleges and Universities are no longer segregated. Why aren’t blacks, Native Americans and Hispanics doing as well or better than other past and present ethnic and racial groups?

Editor's Note: These letters to the editor have been sorted by topic by the Tribune editorial staff in an effort to allow readers to read varied opinions on the issues, candidates, and other circumstances surrounding the 2012 general election. These submissions are the opinions of the author, not the Tribune, and have not been edited for grammar or content.

The Country Club Drive and Main Street intersection in downtown Mesa saw an unusual jolt of activity with the opening of a coffee cafe Friday.

My Mom & Dad were born in 1921, married in 1943. They grew up during the Great Depression and lived through WWII. Tonight on PBS I watched “Celebration: Stephanie Blythe Meets Kate Smith” where an opera singer sang songs made famous by Kate Smith during the 30s-40s and WWII era. I only vaguely remember Kate Smith, but apparently she was more successful than about any other star of the time, and I remember my Mom loved Kate Smith. One of her iconic songs was:

It’s Easter Sunday, so please indulge me with a bit of a sermon, one you can take in a human context as well as a spiritual one.

Weaponized America. Cooking. Terrified. Absolutists. Celebrate violence. Murder spree. Mike McClellan’s guest commentary leads with these words that serve only to color a deeper issue than what type of bullets and guns are out there. I’m not convinced “we” Americans celebrate violence since I am a “we” and I do not and I don’t know one American who does.

“Did anyone really believe that merging Arizona with an impoverished third-world country would result in a wealthier Arizona?  Only the open borders crowd thinks that the average of one and three is one.”

Mesa’s historic Main Street is getting its first specialty coffee shop.

The fate of a high-profile corner near downtown Mesa is unclear after the doughnut shop there closed for good.

BOOM! ... And then BUST!

Did you catch The Rev. Jesse Jackson the other night on CNN demanding a Senate hearing into why regulators never cracked down on that gruesome abortion clinic in Philadelphia?

Instead of making our kids college ready, let’s make them ready for life

Sounding the alarms before you answer that cry for help

Q: Is there an easy way to see if I have a hidden keylogger on my Windows 7 computer before I start doing my taxes? — Don

I’ve been a reporter for more than 30 years, and an investigative reporter for nearly 25 of them. As part of the ABC15 Investigators, I focus on consumers who’ve been scammed, cheated or just plain annoyed, usually by someone trying to get their money.