NOBODY ASKED ME, BUT... by Stan Cohen for MARCH 13 Westminster is having Wal-Mart build a new store along with many other new stores at the corner of Beach Blvd. and the Garden Grove (22) Freeway. This complex should be opened for the Christmas shopping season further driving nails into the coffin of the Huntington Beach Mall just 2.5 miles away. When is this city going to stop beating a dead horse and start planning something, not just a movie complex!... Recently, I prepared our Income Tax returns and sent them off. Pat and I had to pay $129 to the Federal Government but are to receive a $13 refund from the State. Pat said I could keep the refund from the state for my fee as the tax preparer... This month, the main Huntington Beach Library on Talbert Avenue is featuring a painting and photographer display by Richard Keyes, the noted landscape painter and Jacqueline Dvorman, the famed photographer. Pat and I were really intrigued by this exhibition... And speaking of libraries, the Fountain Valley Library on Los Alamos St. is still closed for repairs to the roof and walls. It should re-open on Monday, March 24... I rarely, if ever agree with Tom Logan and his CBI (Citizens Bureau of Investigation) cronies. But this time, Mr. Logan has hit upon an idea that even HE has to admit is far-fetched. Mr. Logan suggested all taxpayers vote on whether the City of Huntington Beach should sell water to Koll, the developers of the Bolsa Chica. If it should happen, every time a developer builds a house the public would have to vote whether it's OK to sell the new owners water... My "Cohen's Kernel" for this week is never go to a tax preparer who, as his/her fee, charges a certain percentage of what he or she gets for you as a refund. They will undoubtedly "fiddle with the figures" to increase your refund thereby increasing his or her fee. Remember, you as the taxpayer are responsible, not the preparer... Did you see where the Orange County Transportation District (OCTA) has delayed many projects in the County? Maybe OCTA was waiting for Ronald S. Rubino, the former budget director accused of criminal wrongdoing (related to the Orange County bankruptcy) to be available. Mr. Rubino was hired to watch our "Measure M" money; talk of the "fox guarding the hen house"... A couple of columns ago, I asked my doctor daughter from Durham to share her Green bay Packer winnings with her poor old Dad. Upon receiving a copy of that column, she telephoned and said, "...this phone call is your share."... Pat and I HATE the nickname for Huntington Beach, "Surf City". It conger's up teens "riding the waves" all day with not a care in the world. The name "Surf City" was a mis-guided attempt to commercialize the beach front as well as the surfing opportunities in this city. There is much more to HB than just "surf". What about the people and their libraries?... In my June 20 column of last year, I wrote, "...the Fountain Valley City Council made a mistake in turning down the State's almost $80,000 gift to have police motorcycles in our town." Last Tuesday, led by our new policeman council member Chuck Conlosh and our senior statesman Guy Carrozzo, the Council voted 4-1 (Mayor John Collins dissenting) to right this wrong and accept the State's "gift" and put 4 motorcycles on the streets of this city. It's about time... Since we are season ticket holders to the Huntington Beach Playhouse, last week Pat and I saw "The Man Who Came To Dinner". Bad choice for us as well as management. Even though the actors tried hard, the 60 year old play did not have the humorous lines found in other plays. We left at intermission... My brother Ed from New Jersey writes, "Life Insurance keeps us poor all our lives so we can die rich." And, "...nowadays, hoodlums don't ask you the time, they just take your watch."...