I used to attend San Diego Comic Con in all it's glory, but recently have only taken advantage of the meet and greets or events outside of Comic Con. Last year, I took the trolley to downtown San Diego to specifically check out two things: The Orville Experience and The Jean-Luc Picard Pop-Up Museum. 

I went to the Orville Experience first because I had found it first. It was very interesting as it had props from the first two seasons of the Orville, including Ed Mercer's Kermit, the Zipper Jacket and the actual filming model of the Orville itself. It made me very excited at what they had in store next. 

​While there, I found a photographer who was wearing a DISCO t-shirt and politely asked him if he knew where the Picard Pop-Up Museum was and he gave me accurate directions. Upon entering, I was amazed at what they actually had inside the museum: Uniforms, the Ressikan  Flute, the Borg Queen's Skull... but it still didn't excite me for the upcoming Picard series. In fact, at the end of the exhibit was a drab looking outfit and a trailer. When Picard season one finally came out, it was an utter disappointment of course. 

Let's face it: Star Trek has kind of lost it's magic since the JJ/Alex era. The great writing that never truly took sides and made you think, the morality plays that made you wonder where you would stand if you were in the same situation... the intelligent aspect of Trek was demolished by the JJ films and have yet to return.

The Kelvin-verse chose to add tons more action in place of that intelligence, opening Trek to a whole new audience that was mostly anti-intellectual and surprisingly thin-skinned. Even the people involved in the Kelvin-verse admitted that Trek didn't make Avengers type of money.

​I can't help but to speculate over how long this anti-intellectual streak will continue. As I'm typing this, there is a new Trek show that will soon premiere called "Lower Decks". An animated Rick and Morty type of show that Roddenberry himself would despise. Yet it's happening because... I don't know. The trailer was so bad, they had to disable the comment and the likes/dislikes on their YouTube. 

Luckily, there are fans who still remember the better times when good acting and writing emerged from Trek. Shows like TNG and DS9 not only appropriately expanded the Trek universe, but in the process told very good stories that left lasting impacts on us for decades. 

The older fans want to have that experience again and share it with the newer ones. In pursuing that, some decided to create fan-films. Other fans decided to create virtual experiences of being on the Enterprise. For fans with money, they collect props or replicas that were featured on one of the shows or films. 

​Then you have Seth McFarland who created The Orville. Seth was meticulous when it came to details such as lighting, music, wardrobe and writing. Watching The Orville feels like watching a love letter to TNG. The great writing that never truly takes sides and makes you think, the morality plays that make you wonder where you would stand if you were in the same situation. If there was a "Trek crown" the Orville would be wearing it. 

How ambitious could fans get though? Is it possible to love the Trek world so much they try to world-build and expand the franchise? Could fans do a better job at making legitimate Star Trek than Alex Kurtzman? There is one fan that is willing to try. He actually wants to pitch his idea to ViacomCBS as a legitimate Star Trek show, course correcting the Trek franchise. Enter Star Trek: Project Legacy. 

​The person in charge, The Trek Ace, has been working on this project since 2017 and has taken charge of creating a show-bible, script and some ship designs. Ace understands that there are needs for both the older and newer Trek fans that have come aboard since 2009 and doesn't wish to disappoint either of them. He hopes moving forward into a new century and into a new quadrant will help unite the fans by creating a show that both sides would love.

​So what is this show going to be about? In Star Trek: Legacy, we go maximum warp into the 25th century, exploring a quadrant full of new technology, strange worlds, and the rising threat of the Breen! There will be a new ship and crew. It would be done in the more classic Trek style from TNG and DS9 and would expand on the classic Trek timeline. They will explore the gamma quadrant (though the alpha quadrant will still be in play) and would even feature some old friends. Garak could return in this one, because here he has a son who joined Starfleet in an attempt to get out from his father's shadow. What if the next Trek show had Garak return in all his glory, with DS9 quality writing? 

What if the next Trek show got the Klingons right? Remember when all those Borg were freed from Unimatrix Zero? What if the Ex-Borg stuff was better written and wasn't used as the background for some strange Romulan incest love triangle? What if they brought back older characters and wrote them the way they're supposed to be written? 

​And when I say "better written", here's an sample:

It's just a small snippet, but this feels a bit like back when Trek used to focus on exposition and good character development, rather than fast paced pew-pew and lens flares. 

​Why would somebody spend so much of their own personal time on such a lofty goal, you may ask yourself? It's all about hope. At the core of Trek was always an optimistic vision of the future. Ace understands the disappointment current Trek has caused. Some fans have lost all hope for the franchise. He wants to give them a new hope (I know, wrong franchise). If he can succeed in that, he could actually create a rare moment where the ENTIRE Trek fan base would be united under one show. 

The Trek Ace has been working hard on establishing the story, but could you imagine the possibilities if ViacomCBS decided to pick this up? You'd have something that could rival The Orville, or even take away it's crown! It would be a win-win for everybody. Ace gets to accomplish his dream, ViacomCBS could revive Star Trek in a more sustainable and lucrative way, and fans from both sides could enjoy quality Trek once again. 

You may also be asking yourself, why doesn't he just make a fan-film? It's simple really: He's not trying to make a fan-film. He's trying to make legitimate Star Trek and so is trying to go through the proper steps and channels. He's also afraid making a fan-film would be seen as a work around that would upset ViacomCBS. 

Of course, he can't do it alone. He needs help with concept designs and spreading the word. He knows he can't pitch this to ViacomCBS unless there is some excitement behind it. Along with the script and show-bible, Ace is also handling the "business" aspect of selling this pitch, so he's certainly pulling his weight, which is why I was excited to help him when he approached me about it. 

He's done some ship designs, but needs help from artists who could clean them up and provide concept designs for the sets and such.  ​If you would like to know more about "Project Legacy", or if you would like to help Ace out in some way, click here to go to the Project Legacy twitter page. Let's support good Trek projects!

What if we could bring back Star Trek in all it's glory? 

Chula Vista Star-News
04 Feb 1960

HIS LIFELONG DREAM

NATIONAL CITY - A native National Citian whose boyhood dream was that of law enforcement, was named the city's new chief of police Tuesday afternoon.

Walter E. Cagle, a former lieutenant and department veteran of 17 years, had the chief's badge presented to him by Mayor Thelma Hollingsworth at the City Council meeting after taht body had confirmed his appointment by City Manager James A. Bird. 

He replaces Capt. John E. Owen who had been acting police chief since the retirement last month of Harry D Smith. 

Cagle, 38, was chosen from among three officer who scored highest in written and oral civil serrvice examinations for the position two weeks ago. Others considered were Lt. Henry L. Mounteer, head of the department's detective division, and Lt. James R. Crowell, also a detective. 

LIFELONG DREAM
For Cagle  the appointment is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. He joined the police department July 6, 1942 just one month after he reached the eligible age. 

He was born May 7, 1921 in the shadow of what is now the City Hall and police headquarters in a small sanitarium on the corner of 12th St. and National Ave. Ironically, the attending physician was Dr. Carl S. Owen, father of the present police captain. 

Three months after joining the force, Cagle was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to Lowery and Buckley Army air bases in Denver, Colo. where he served as an aircraft ordinance instructor in the Technical Training Command there until his discharge at the end of World War II.

Since joining the department he has held a variety of positions including patrolman, detective and lieutenant. He was in the department's detective division for nine years from 1949 to 1957 when he was promoted to lieutenant, and then was made shift supervisor of the 4 p.m. to midnight shift. 

EXTENSIVE TRAINING
Cagle's extensive training includes graduation from the California Peace Officer's Training School at Pleasanton, Calif. in 1949 and the International City Managers Administration School. He is also a graduate of several schools conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

He is a 1939 graduate of Sweetwater Union High School. 

The new chief currently makes his home at 2834 K Ave. with his wife Ruth and three children, Patrick, 13, Michael, 10, and Susan, 8. 

Top law enforcement officers attending the appointment ceremony in the council chambers included Capt. M. S. Tayler of Chula Vista, Police Chief A. E. Jansen of San Diego, and Capt. C. T. Jamison of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. 

Cagle is a member of the First Baptist Church of National City and the Silvergate Yacht Club.  

​The Star-News (Chula Vista)
22 Aug 1990

Lowell Blankfort

Off My Chest

A philosopher whose name escapes me once said that how civilized a society is can be judged by the way it deals with its transgressors. By that yardstick, we don't fare too well. The U. S. Has the harshest criminal sentences of any developed nation (and these don't seem to do much good for we also have the highest crime rates). We also are the world's only developed nation to kill our wrongdoers and, while even countries like South Africa are moving away from the death penalty, we are clamoring for more of it. 

But at least a suspect gets a trial before being executed. Increasingly, however, our nation - and this country - is seeing a new kind of execution ... without trial. These are executions by the police. 

No, these are not death squad political executions a la the democracy-loving govenerment we finance in El Salvador. These are killings by police officers who find it easier and safer to shoot a person dead than arrest him by other means. 

For example, the case of John Kelley, an unarmed Briton with no criminal record, shot dead this month by a San Diego cop who wanted to question him about a child-custody case. Kelley's crime: He moveed when the officer said "freeze." 

Or of Jeffrey Bray, 21, shot dead a few months ago by a sheriff's deputy when Bray backed his car, apparently inadvertently, into a sheriff's car in his Vista driveway. Deputies thought Bray's car was stolen. It wasn't. Even if it had been, need a deputy shoot to kill? 

In the last 4 1/2 years, San Diego city police have kiled 38 people, at a population-based rate eclipsed by only three of the nation's 10 largest cities - triple the rate, for example of the violence-plagued New York City. 

Now the normal modus operandi in such cases is for police departments and/or district attorneys to hold an inquiry and find the officer had some reason to use "justifiable force." All unstitutions like to protect their own. At worst, police who kill may get a slap on the wrist like a 10-day suspension. 

That, I remember, was how it was in National City back in the mid-1970s, when police in that small town shot to death seven or right people in a two-year period (including a 15 year old boy, a passenger in a minor auto-accident, who was running from the scene simply because he was afraid of his mother would learn he was playing hooky from school). But then a new poliece chief was appointed, ad the killings stopped. 

Several chiefs later, the killings resumed - four, a very large number for a town of 50,000 in 1985-88. But 20 months ago a new police chief, Stan Knee, arrived. Since then, no more killings. Knee says he believes in lots of training and discussion to control officers' use of deadly force. 

Not that National City's department is now a paragon of virtue. An American Civil Liberties Union report on its two year old police abuse complaint hotline shows that National City had far more complaints-per-officer than any other in the county. The fewest by far: Chula Vista.  

When it comes to police shooting first and asking questions later, Chula Vista is the county's wonderful exception. 

A few weeks ago, a Chula Vista officer received lots of praise for avoiding dealy force, using a stun-gun instead, to caputre a knife-wielding suspect who dared police to shoot him. That should have been no surprise; for decades, a Chula Vista police hallmark has been respoect for human dignity and human life. 

In the last five years, while San Diego's annual police killings have doubled and quadrupled since the early eighties, Chula Vista - the county's second largest city - has had only one ... when, in a drug team arrest, an officer's gun went off accidentally. 

"Our policy is to use deadly force only to protect an officer's life or someone else's," says Bill Winters, Chula Vista's police chief for the last two decades. "But I don't think our policy or our training is a lot different thatn other departments. The main think is not the policy, but the fact taht we enforce it. When I worked for San Francisco, what was policy and what everybody did was not always the same - such as driniing on duty, for example." 

Some believe that police killings reflect both departmental and community attitudes. Winters, for example, says a lot of Chula Vista officers agree with the departmetn's policies, while he's heard other police talk swaggeringly about how "tough" they have to be to deal with "tough elements." And, perhaps implicit in New Yok City;'s relatively few police killings - despite its reputation as a crime-ridden city - is the fact that it is also a liberal city ... a city of "bleeding hearts."

But better bleeding hearts than bleeding bodies. At long last, San Diego has created a civilian Police Review board that is exhaustively probing these killings. Creation of a similar board for the county, overseeing the sheriff's department, will be on the November ballot. Chula Vista, obviously, does not need such an agency. But it's nice to know that the rest of the county is trying to become as civilized as Chula Vista.