I can remember going to the camping supply store when I was a child to purchase plastic bottles that didn’t leak when you laid them down. They were slightly cheaper than canteen’s.

Now that plastics manufacturers have perfected the bottle to the extent that they are practically free, hold water even when chucked into a refugee camp or from a roof, and are so ephemeral that they can be crushed and rolled into the palm of your hand, many ecologists are trying to ban them.

On this 9th year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks I would like to recount my view of one group of heroes on that day: the passengers of flight 93.

I remember a friend of mine telling me the story. My neighbor filled me in on the details I could not extract from news. “Two planes crashed into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon, and a fourth plane disappeared over Pennsylvania. They think it was shot down by the Air Force.”

Open to the public through October 10, 2010 at Fullerton Museum - Kegged, Casked, Bottled, or Canned: 10,000 Years of Beer zeroes in on the intoxicating brew’s history, which dates back to the 6th millennium B.C. One of the world’s oldest beverages, beer is mentioned in ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian accounts and also shows up in the earliest Sumerian writings. In Europe, beer’s colorful past includes this tidbit—during the Middle Ages, monks brewed it to drink while fasting (a loophole in the rules allowed liquids). During the industrial revolution, the invention of steam engines and refrigerators made brewing a science. This exhibition tells the story with advertising material, tap handles, metal signs, prints, beer steins, and fixtures from the home brewing industry.

RagFest, the annual Southern California ragtime festival based in Fullerton, enters its 11th year in a slightly scaled-back format and newly-lowered ticket prices. RagFest 2010 is October 16-17. www.ragfest.com As in previous years, Steamers Jazz Club & Cafe, 138 W. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton, is the festival’s headquarters and check-in point for all patrons. The bulk of the festival will unfold at Steamers and at Mo’s Fullerton Music Center, 121 N. Harbor Blvd., the two venues that are mainstays of the Orange County Ragtime Society. A third nearby venue, Max Bloom’s Cafe Noir, is back after its successful inauguration
during RagFest 2009. Most of the action will unfold at Steamers, while the traditional, formal Saturday night Ragtime Revue stage show will be held in “The Cave” at Mo’s.

Recently we sent out a questionnaire to candidates who we considered heavy hitters in the upcoming election. Here’s what Pat McKinley had to say:

1. What are your thoughts on Coyote Hills?
I believe in private property rights within reasonable limitations of Government.

2. What should be the future of the Fullerton Airport?
The airport is integral to the city and a resource for homeland security and must be preserved.

3. How do you feel about Redevelopment Zones
Redevelopment is responsible for many city improvements and should be maintained.

4. What should be done to fix the city's Employee Pension problems?
Two tier the system and reform the time frames and contributions to better reflect the economic challenges balancing the needs of the employees and the City.

5. Are you for against Term limits? Why?
I support term limits on the local level. 12 years is enough.

The latest project from All the Art for All the Kids (www.alltheartsforallthekids.org) will  be unwrapped tomorrow but the Fullertonian has the inside scoop.