With the city of Del Mar following Solana Beach’s lead this week in banning cigarette smoking at all its parks and beaches, we’ve got to wonder what the other jurisdictions in our area are waiting for.

In the throes of a heated political debate, the real issues often fall by the wayside.

I’m not going to sell my assets to save this business,� Paul Ecke III told the Union-Tribune recently. “It would be foolish to do that.�

Along with millions of people, I watched Barack Obama give his nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention in Denver. Talk about spectacles. Perfectly produced down to fireworks over Mile High Stadium, red, white and blue confetti and a Brookes and Dunn song, only great oration could triumph over such unnecessary pageantry.

Voters in November will decide whether chickens are too confined in their abodes.