It's time for serious action by the Fresno City Council and Mayor Alan Autry. The council has been spending much time on the heavy issues of the day, such as hiding garbage bins and giving themselves a raise.

But now the bar must be raised. The council should immediately begin crafting an ordinance that makes it a misdemeanor for an adult to catch a foul ball at Grizzlies' Stadium and not give it to a kid. Sentences should be enhanced for the beer-soaked 30-something swine who knock little kids aside and wrestle fouls balls away from them.

The timing is perfect. The Grizzlies' season is coming to a close, so the council and the mayor will have several months to work this out before next season. The mayor can appoint a blue-ribbon task force to study the idea to death, and the Valley Taxpayers' Association will have plenty of time to develop its ritual opposition. The Clovis Chamber of Commerce, meanwhile, can ignore the issue, as they like to do with anything beyond the borders of the own little slice of heaven.

But come next season, when the San Francisco Giants trot out another sub-par team for our enjoyment, at least our kids will be safe. Call it the Juvenile Souvenir Protection Act, or some such. It'll put Fresno on the map.