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CD | School Counselor Receives Recognition from Assemblymember Davies

Capistrano Union High School counselor Shannon Halbert cried tears of joy and appreciation on April 14.

Halbert was presented with a recognition award by State Assemblymember Laurie Davies for her years of helping out students at the alternative school in San Juan Capistrano.

The award was given after Halbert’s coworkers contacted Davies’ office concerning a recognition, as Halbert had been nominated for Teacher of the Year awards by her coworkers but never won because she is not a teacher.

Halbert’s husband and son, as well as students, Principal Brittany Casey, and others were on hand for the celebration.

Though generally not one to seek the spotlight, Halbert said she recalled her mother’s advice when told of Davies’ recognition beforehand.

“Anytime someone wants to give you love, you better take it, because sometimes it doesn’t always come around,” Halbert said.

“When I came to this school 15 years ago, I didn’t know how I’d be with high school kids. I worked with middle school kids,” Halbert said. “I grew roots. That’s what I do with places I love and people I love. We get through this thing called school and hopefully prepare you all for something and, hopefully, prepare you all for something bigger and better.”

Davies responded enthusiastically to Union High School’s request for a recognition of Halbert.

“My mother was a schoolteacher for many years. I understand the influence you have on kids and generation after generation,” Davies said. “That is a gift you don’t see all the time. I truly believe God gave you this gift and you’re sharing it with everyone here, whether it’s your colleagues or students here.”

Work is being done to ensure counselors can also receive a state award, Davies said.

“She gives so much to our students and staff personnel. Her heart is so much larger than our small campus can contain,” Union High School’s initial message to Davies said. “In her over decade of service at our site, she has possibly affected and influenced so many of our students, providing the inspiration and motivation to graduate either from our high school or return and graduate from their home school.”

CD | SJC Woman Gets 22-Year Prison Sentence for Role in 2019 Murder

In October 2019, Sheila Marie Ritze of San Juan Capistrano and Hoang Xuan Le of Fountain Valley took Tri “James” Minh Dao on a late-night lobster fishing trip in Dana Point Harbor—or so Dao thought.

Le shot Dao, who owed him money. Investigators say Dao fell overboard from Ritze’s boat, and Ritze and Le left the man to die in the Pacific Ocean.

For her actions, Ritze, 42, was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison on April 17.

At the hearing, United States District Judge David O. Carter said Ritze’s conduct was “horrific” and “horrendous” and exhibited “callousness,” according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

“At the conclusion of a 12-day trial in April 2022, a federal jury found Ritze guilty of one count of second-degree murder within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, and one count of making false statements to federal investigators,” the Department of Justice said.

Le was found guilty of first-degree murder in December 2021. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 17, where he faces a mandatory life sentence.

Ritze reportedly made false claims that she never had met Dao prior to the October murder when interviewed by federal investigators in December 2019, even though the two had been in Las Vegas together 11 days prior.

“Ritze’s crime has left a grieving mother, grieving widow, grieving brothers, a grieving sister, and two fatherless small children,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum. “Ritze continued on with her life after murdering Dao as though nothing had happened, continuing to party with Le … and assisting Le with tracking (the victim’s) grieving widow with GPS trackers.”

CD | City Council Declares May as National Historic Preservation Month

With San Juan Capistrano being a

Community Meetings

TUESDAY, MAY 2

City Council

5 p.m. The San Juan Capistrano City Council will hold a regularly scheduled meeting open to the public. Nydegger Building, 31421 La Matanza Street. sanjuancapistrano.org.

FRIDAY, MAY 5

Coffee Chat

8:30 a.m. A town hall forum on community issues. The first Friday session of the month will be held virtually via Zoom video conference; all other Friday forums will take place in person at Hennessey’s Tavern in San Juan Capistrano, 31761 Camino Capistrano. Follow Coffee Chat SJC on Facebook for information.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 10

Learning English Class

10-11:30 a.m. The La Playa Center is hosting free English classes for adults on Wednesdays. Students will be provided materials and workbooks. La Sala Auditorium, 31495 El Camino Real, San Juan Capistrano. crossculturalcouncil.com.

Planning Commission

5 p.m. The San Juan Capistrano Planning Commission will hold a meeting open to the public. Nydegger Building, 31421 La Matanza Street. sanjuancapistrano.org.

FRIDAY, MAY 12 town steeped in history, San Juan Capistrano Mayor Howard Hart issued a proclamation recognizing May as National Historic Preservation Month on April 18.

The next print issue of The Capistrano Dispatch publishes.

The San Juan Cultural Heritage Commission and Docent Society will host a celebration to coincide with the monthlong designation on May 6 at the Blas Aguilar Adobe Museum on El Camino Real and along Los Rios Street. Docents will give informational tours of the area’s long-standing adobes, including the Montanez Adobe.

Cultural Heritage Commission Chairperson and local historical advocate Ann Ronan was given an award of recognition by Hart.

“Our city’s motto says it all: ‘Preserving the past to enhance the future,’ ” Hart said. “Our city is unique and grounded in a mission of Native American culture, Mission heritage, and (an) agrarian past.”

Hart also mentioned San Juan’s historic neighborhoods and buildings, and the city’s efforts to ensure preservation. Los Rios Street is said by local historians to be California’s oldest residential street, while Mission San Juan Capistrano dates back to 1776.

National Historic Preservation Month was first instituted in 1973 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.