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Tri County’s Only MulticulturalNewspaper Newspaper TheThe Tri County’s Only Multicultural
TRICOUNTY COUNTY TRI
ENTRY ENTRY VOL. XXVI NO. 24
MARCH 30, 2018
Inside This Issue
Marching for Our Children’s Lives and Nation’s Soul n See page 5
Emergency Department at St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital Now Seeing Patients in New Rapid Care Rooms
Photos by Cynthia Hubach
Tens of Thousands Turn Out for Downtown L.A. Gun Control March LOS ANGELES—Tens of thousands of people marched in downtown Los Angeles in solidarity with the Florida high school mass shooting survivors to advocate for stronger gun control laws.
Raise your voice ... until children in Watts and Chicago get as much attention as children in Parkland and Columbine.
ARCHERS of all ages crowded into the area around City Hall Saturday carrying banners and signs, some of which said "Protect Kids Not Guns" and "Arms Are For Hugging." Police officers on the scene put the early crowd estimate at least 40,000 and growing. Organizers said they anticipated as many as 200,000 people. The march was one of hundreds taking place around the world in support of the main March for Our Lives event in Washington, D.C. Other marches also occurred around Los Angeles County, including in Manhattan Beach, Santa Monica, Burbank, Pico Rivera, Long Beach and Santa Clarita. A 12-year-old, Isabelle, who
identified himself as Bassad Pesci. He kept up a constant stream of argument, calling the marchers "a bunch of crybabies ... you are the cowards." Those against gun violence countered with a chant of "Hey, hey, ho, ho, the NRA has got to go." The downtown march began east of Pershing Square around 10 a.m. and ended with a rally in front of City Hall. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti began by leading the crowd in a call and response: "Whose streets?" he said, and the crowd roared "Our streets." "Whose Lives?" "Our Lives!" "Whose nation?" "Our nation!" The mayor welcomed "our leaders, the students who are here today" and told them "today will be written in the history books that n March, see page 7
Rev. Eddie Anderson, Poor People’s Campaign
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came downtown with her pregnant mother and her sister, stood in the street holding a hand-drawn sign reading "Am I Next?" Isabelle told City News Service she wants to go to her school in Woodland Hills and "not be scared." A smaller group of gun rights advocates stood behind seven Los Angeles Police Department officers in front of LAPD Headquarters at the corner of Spring Street and First Avenue with signs defending the Second Amendment and a
"Don't Tread On Me" flag. Others held posters festooned with images of guns sprinkled with glitter and labeled Trump .45. The group of counterdemonstrators remained small with roughly a dozen people carrying American flags outnumbered by LAPD officers separating them from the larger group marching against gun violence. A gun rights advocate with a megaphone said he represented the United States of America and
Lemonwood Elementary Has a Soft Opening RAMIREZ ASKS RESIDENTS TO HELP THE WINTER WARMING SHELTER By Chris Frost Special to the Tri County Sentry In comments by the Oxnard City Council, March 6, Councilman Oscar Madrigal said there was a soft opening at Lemonwood Elementary School. “I could not be there, but I did have the pleasure of taking a pretour about two weeks ago with the principal, Miss Wennes and she is doing a great job,” Madrigal said. He viewed the classrooms and said they are marvelous. “I’m jealous of everything that school has,” he said. “I am a graduate of Lemonwood School, way back in 1996 and the school does look a lot different.” He said it is going to be completely restructured and will look like a brand-new school. “Congratulations to them,” he said.
I’m jealous of everything that school has. Councilman Oscar Madrigal
Mayor Pro Tem Carmen Ramirez Madrigal said he attended the Oxnard Downtown Improvement meeting, February 28. “There’s a lot of good things going on downtown,” he said. “I was just like what is going to go on in the future of downtown.” He hopes that progress
continues in the future. “On Friday (March 2) I had the pleasure of going to Oxnard College and attending a play by Teatro de las Américas,” he said. “It was a great play. I was amazed by the terrific job they did, and I will go to their next play in May, for sure.” Mayor Pro Tem Carmen Ramirez said the traveled to Washington D. C. for the National League of Cities meeting. “That’s why the council does not meet, typically, on that week in March, so council members can attend with city councilmembers from all over the country and learn from experts in the field,”
she said. “I always go to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) folks and beg them to do something about the Superfund site on our beach. I also talk to our friends in Congress and the Senate.” She said the police department has been active in getting guns off the street and getting them away from people who should not have them. “I appreciate it,” she said. “I think it is an important activity of our police department and I am looking for ways to make these terrible things stop.” Ramirez pointed out that it isn’t just the guns, it’s the disturbed individuals. “That’s going to take a village,” she said. Ramirez said Oxnard feels the problem of homelessness. n Lemonwood, see page 6
CAMARILLO, CA—St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital (SJPVH), a Dignity Health hospital, is pleased to introduce the newly modernized rapid care rooms as part of its impressive Emergency Department (ED) expansion. Currently, the 14-bed ED sees an average of 24,000 cases a year, with the addition of rapid care rooms, visiting ED patients with less severe emergencies will now receive direct access to prompt care in a relaxed and healing space, further reducing wait times and increasing efficiency. The ED renovation project which began last year has reconfigured the patient registration space to accommodate a new rapid care area equipped with one new triage bay for prompt patient assessment, three all new rapid care rooms and a remodeled waiting room with a new reception station. “We are excited to see the benefits the rapid care rooms will provide our patients. In our Emergency Department we see some of the shortest wait times in California,” said Darren Lee, St. John’s President and CEO. “The addition of our new rapid care rooms, will allow us to continue improving upon those wait times, by expediting the time it takes for our patients to be seen by a health care provider. This is another step in our overall effort to deliver the best possible care to the residents of Camarillo.” n St. John’s, see page 6
Traffic System Moving Forward, Engineer Says It's Running at 90 Percent By Chris Frost Special for the Tri County Sentry The Oxnard City Council received the latest information about the intelligent traffic system (ITS) during its Tuesday, March 16, meeting. “Mayor Tim Flynn said the update went to the transportation policy committee. Traffic Engineer Justin Link said the city finalized its ITS (Intelligent Traffic System) Master Plan in 2008, which included 38 miles of underground conduit, 32 miles of fiber optic cable and six miles of twisted pair copper. He said it also included six miles of fixed wireless links. “All of the traffic signals are connected to the city’s traffic management center housed over in development services,” he said. The city completed phase one of the projects in 2013, Link said, and included connecting 140 traffic signals, 18 closed-circuit television cameras, and 16 video detection systems. Whitney said the city completed phase two in 2016. “It included an extra 25 traffic signals, six CCTV cameras, and three city buildings; I believe one of which included a fire station,” he said. n Traffic, see page 6