From the as-much-as-things-change department

As was noted by one Board of Education candidate at Tuesday night's ACT forum, a little acrimonious debate is nothing new among the seven members of the school board. It seems some would prefer the board -- as is often joked at board meetings -- "to join hands and sing kumbayah."

Maybe they should have thought about that before voting in 2000 to improve representation by increasing the board's membership from five to seven?

"I think parents are disturbed and concerned with the instability of the school board. Children have been uprooted, schools have been closed and trustees have been unable to 'decide on an educational program.' "

Clipped from one of my stories? No.

In researching Anne Pursel, (at right) who died Tuesday, I turned to our incomparable Linda Hammes who holds a preternatural authority over our library of stories past. The above quote is from Marie Rivers in the March 1, 1985, edition of the Pasadena Star-News.

Rivers and Pursel were vying to succeed Marge Wyatt in Seat 5.

Not that I hadn't heard of Anne. In fact I worked for the Star-News in 1985, the year she was first elected to the school board. On my 10-speed beach cruiser, I was a newspaper distribution specialist, getting up at 5 a.m. to toss papers along Longden Avenue and surrounding streets in Arcadia.

I was laid off a year later.

I was sure to point this out to Editor Larry Wilson during my interview, who was kind enough not to hold my "shame a job out of them" strategy against me.

Update: Just spoke with Anne's daughter, Kathy, who shared the funeral arrangements:

2:30 p.m., Friday Jan. 19
All Saints Church @ 132. N Euclid Ave.

Grave side service follows at Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, with a reception at the Woman's City Club, aka "The Blinn House" at 160 N. Oakland Ave., Pasadena.