Rachel Laffer - Rancho Santa Fe Post

As most of our readers know, the Post’s Q&A column, “RSF Take Five,” highlights members of…

Board Restaurant

The Resonation of Revolutions Past

01/28/2025

Rachel Laffer

What an epic evolution an election can make. Covid brutally burned into our collective traumatized psyche…

Densification Editorial Silvergate

Silvergate: A Rental Project Sam Walton Would Be Proud Of

10/03/2024

Rachel Laffer

What feels like a spiritual battle to preserve our pastoral soul, the people of Rancho Santa…

Association Densification Editorial

Circle the Wagons Part II: We Have Nothing to Lose but Everything

09/02/2024

Rachel Laffer

This is an updated article from one I wrote in 2018 after a hotly contested plan…

Community

RSF Take Five: Happy Time Nursery School’s Mary Ann Tessary

08/09/2024

Rachel Laffer

About a year ago the RSF Post launched a new Q&A column, “RSF Take Five,” which…

R. Roger Rowe School School Board

RSF Post Exclusive Interview with School Board President After Superintendent Departure

06/18/2024

Rachel Laffer

RSF Post Editor Rachel Laffer sits down for an exclusive interview with R. Roger Rowe School…

Community Opinion Village

”Third World” Eyesore Incites Resident Ire

06/15/2024

Rachel Laffer

The RSF Post recently received an email from a resident pointing out the irony of an…

Community Philanthropy

Coffee & Kindness at the Inn Cafe

04/17/2024

Rachel Laffer

Good things have come from my hopeless caffeine addiction. One of them was meeting a coffee…

Editorial Osuna RSF Golf Club

Note From the Editor: Of Fans, Foes, and the Free Press

04/12/2024

Rachel Laffer

This Editorial Note is published as a companion piece to the article written by Golf Club…

I disagree with lowering the speed limits in RSF. They are already low enough; lowering them even further will just cause anger/frustration/road rage. As an example, El Camino Del Norte was lowered to 35mph as that road is within Encinitas city limits. I travel it often and the cars that travel at only 35 mph (and sometimes lower) cause traffic to back up behind them. This has led to several occurrences where an impatient driver crossed over the solid double-yellow lines and passed the long line of cars. We do not want this to happen in RSF.

My opinion is that a speed limit of 45 mph is appropriate; however, it’s already been lowered to 40 mph. Now some are calling for the speed limits to be lowered further to 35 mph. 35 mph is too low for the long distances we must travel to leave RSF. I know the knee-jerk response to this post will be “lower speeds are safer”, “think of the kids/horses/elderly”, etc… But the reality is modern cars are extremely safe, and our roads are long with infrequent intersections. A 40+ mph speed limit is appropriate.

And have you seen what happens at the stop signs on Paseo Delicias when the “Your speed is” radar wagons are placed there? Traffic backups of 50+ cars are not uncommon at the stop signs. That is quite aggravating to have to deal with everyday and every time you leave your house. We don’t need or want permanent radar setups in RSF. Keep RSF country. – Axxlrod

I agree with Adele Hendrick’s Op-Ed on the need to lower speed limits here in RSF! I think we, as a community, should look at the speed limits on select roads, and make a request to the county to lower some speed limits. I think it’s easy to say that all of the 45 MPH zones should be lowered to 40 MPH, at the very least. As we are in an unincorporated part of the county we have SD Sheriff for law enforcement, and CHP for traffic. As opposed to Solana Beach where SD Sheriff serves both functions, and even though we pay the CHP overtime to be here more often, it is rare to see them (they drive the same cars, and SUVs as the Sheriff with different door badges). One thing that does seem to make a difference enforcing the limits we have, is when Chief Wellhouser rolls out the “radar wagon” that displays a driver's speed, and the speed limit. Maybe we should also consider permanent radar signs in select locations? They can be very low profile, solar powered, and unobtrusive. – Todd Huckins

One of the best loved and most decorated authors of children’s books, Marguerite Henry was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1902. At the age of six, she contracted rheumatic fever, which affected her severely until the age of twelve. Not only bed-ridden for long periods, she was kept out of school and isolated from other children for fear of contagion. Pouring herself into reading, she soon showed a flair for writing. The author sold her first story at age 11!

Henry valued historical authenticity, and her books were meticulously researched. Most of them were fact-based, with her imagination filling out the stories. Through the years, Henry’s work earned prestigious Newberry awards. In 1946 she received Newberry Honors for Justin Morgan Had a Horse, the story of an Eighteenth Century American horse breeder who developed the well-known Morgan breed. More Newberry Honors followed in 1948 for Misty of Chincoteague. In 1949, Henry won the Newberry Medal, the top award, for King of the Wind, about the Arabian horse who sired the line of thoroughbreds we celebrate today.

After a lifetime of charming and thrilling children with her many books and stories, Henry died at age 95 in 1997 at her home in Rancho Santa Fe. (Courtesy of the RSF Historical Society)

Author: Rachel Laffer

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