HS Girls Basketball: Golden Bears take it all at Bettie Smith Memorial Classic, B-11
Temecula rings in the new year with annual Grape Drop, B-1
VALLEY
A
Section
NEWS
January 8 – 14, 2016
w ww.myvalleynews.com
Volume 16, Issue 2
Geyser erupts in Murrieta after vehicle hits fire hydrant
Local
Menifee Mayor selects new planning commissioner MENIFEE- Menifee Mayor Scott Mann has announced his selection of resident Randy Madrid, owner of RM Project Development, as planning commissioner to replace recently elected Councilmember Lesa Sobek. see page A-3
Local
Renowned Chess Grandmasters compete in local match Jacob Preal Valley News Intern TEMECULA – Local Temecula Chess Club hosted a cerebral battle for global recognition Wednesday, Dec. 23, as Chess Grandmasters competed to earn a higher spot in international rankings. see page A-6
Real Estate
Protecting your property from El Niño Kim Harris Managing Editor This past week residents of the Temecula Valley and surrounding communities found themselves face to face with the first heavy rains of the El Niño season. As of press time, about 5 inches of rain was predicted for the area, bringing with it a flurry of activity by area residents to protect their homes and property from the incoming rain storms.
Kim Harris Managing Editor A vehicle backed into a fire hydrant shearing it off its base and sending a geyser of water nearly 20 feet in the air in the parking lot
of Murrieta’s newest restaurant Sunday, Jan. 3. Curious bystanders flocked to Dunkin’ Donuts’ outdoor seating area to watch as firefighters from Murrieta Fire Department’s Station 3 worked to shut off the flow of
Land Use Opportunities created by Uptown Temecula Specific Plan TEMECULA – The City of Temecula will kick off 2016 with a new Specific Plan adopted by the Temecula City Council to ultimately invent “Uptown Temecula” over time as landowners and developers take advantage of additional land use and zoning opportunities within this area. As a result of 38 public meetings and workshops that included community input over the span of four years, the City of Temecula finalized its Uptown Temecula Specific Plan. Formerly known as the Jefferson Avenue area, Uptown Temecula is located just north of Old Town in Temecula and encompasses approximately 560 acres north of Rancho California Road, west of Interstate 15, south of Cherry Street, and east of Diaz Road, with Jefferson Avenue being the primary corridor. Temecula Mayor Jeff Comerchero, together with Councilman
water which took about 15 minutes, according to Public Information Officer Matt Corelli. “It’s common for Murrieta Fire to be first on scene and to isolate the valve,” Corelli said. Crews isolated the valves near
hydrant and used a piece of equipment to shut it off temporarily. “We will work to protect the natural resource, water being valuable commodity, and mitigate the
see GEYSER, page A-8
Simple wish granted for Wildomar teenager
Michael McCracken, are members of the Uptown Temecula Specific Plan Subcommittee. “The city is setting the wheels in motion to economically and aesthetically revitalize an area of Temecula that developed primarily during the 1970s and 1980s before Temecula was incorporated,” said Comerchero. “The Uptown Temecula Specific Plan provides greater flexibility to land owners and developers with a wider array of allowable land use choices and development options that will modernize and enhance the area.” McCracken said that the public meetings were instrumental in developing the Uptown Temecula Specific plan. “The City hosted many public meetings to receive feedback from the community and stakeholders to develop a vision and plan for
see UPTOWN, page A-3
VALLEY NEWS
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see page B-3
Firefighters from Murrieta Fire Department’s Station 3 work to shut off a geyser of water that erupted after a fire hydrant was sheared off its base Sunday, Jan. 3. Kim Harris photo
Adriana Pimental “Missy,” facing blindness, sits with some of the mementos provided her by her parents, friends and the Make a Wish Foundation that gave her the opportunity to see her family at her Sweet Sixteen birthday. Courtesy photo
Taryn Murphy Intern
This artist’s rendering depicts the Temecula specific plan.
Courtesy image
A 16-year old in the Wildomar area had her dream wish granted in August, the chance to celebrate her birthday in style alongside family and friends. Adriana Pimentel, nicknamed Missy, was diagnosed in 2014 with bilateral optic sheath meningioma, a condition which causes tumors to grow on both of her optic nerves. After school one day, Pimentel began losing vision in one of her eyes. “I picked her up, and she said, ‘Mommy, I’m having trouble seeing out of my left eye,’” Karen Pimentel, Missy’s mother said. Karen Pimentel took her daugh-
ter to the eye doctor, who noticed swelling behind Missy’s eyes but apparently diagnosed her condition incorrectly. The family’s pediatrician remained suspicious of the diagnosis and recommended Missy visit Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. It wasn’t until months later, when they visited the hospital that the family learned the true cause of Missy’s vision impairment, bilateral optic sheath meningioma. The entire ordeal, Karen Pimentel said, came as a shock. Despite weeks of radiation and medical hospitalization, Missy now has irreparable damage in her left eye, leaving her with no vision from it. She also has a second tumor
see WISH, page A-6