Achieve a healthy glow, A-10
Mountain bike racing exploding across nation, B-2
Review: I, Frankenstein, B-9
ANZA VALLEY
OUTLOOK
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A
WITH CONTENT FROM
February 14 – 20, 2014
Section
www.anzavalleyoutlook.com
Volume 14, Issue 7
Jodi Thomas photo
Valley News - new look, same awardwinning local coverage
Anza Electric Co-op Journeyman Linemen, Don Downing and James Clabaugh, visited the local library to do just that, teach kids how to be safe around electricity using a miniature town full of electric dangers.
AEC Linemen teach Safety First By Jodi Thomas Electricity is something that we may take for granted. We flip a switch and it cools, heats, cooks, cleans and lights up our lives in so many ways. Yes we know it can be dangerous but do we stop and think how and why it is dangerous? And
do we think to teach our kids how to be safe around electricity? Lately a couple of the Anza Electric Co-op (AEC) Journeyman Linemen, Don Downing and James Clabaugh, visited the local library to do just that, teach kids how to be safe around electricity. They brought with them a min-
iature town full of electric dangers. The dangers included a kitty stuck in a tree near a power line, a live line down, a tree with charged line running through it, a kite on the line and more. So many dangers presented themselves to these poor mini-town folk. When they connected to the power line, Bam!
Poof! Things lit on fire and in real life those town folk may have died from a powerful shock. The kids were mesmerized as they watched each peril play out and then they learned what to do and what not to do.
see LINEMAN, page A-6
Worker Cooperatives; a true democracy at work By Tish Clark Worker Cooperatives is a trendy, creative and possible solution for the growing economic depression that exists in our society. Could this be an answer for the nonincorporated rural area of Anza?
Sandi Hughes shares about Workers Coops
Josue Cruz photo
On January 25th, at the Community Hall, an innovative idea was presented to the community as a possible solution for the lack of employment in Anza, which is to create jobs through “worker owned cooperatives.” The presentation was given by Sandi Hughes, Annika Knoppel and Flavia Krieg complete with slideshow, Youtube videos, lunch and a brainstorming workshop, which is supported by M-COR (Mountain Communities of Resilience). The concept is basically simple in nature, yet complex by design. It stands on the principle of “people cooperating together,” financially, emotionally and physically. The idea of the worker cooperative is that a business is owned either through being created by the workers or an existing business is
converted to a cooperative, which is governed through democratic decisions by all the workers. Instead of diverting profits to executives and/or shareholders, the surplus is distributed to the workers equally. There are many incentives for “worker owned cooperatives,” such as the support received in training, equality in voice, decision making in benefits, equal pay, and the emotional support in learning to cooperate with other participants. A complicating issue is one of worker investment, be it money, time or expertise……the ever elusive buy-in. The seven principles of a cooperative as outlined in the presentation are: 1-Voluntary and open membership. 2- Democratic member control. 3- Member economic participation. 4- Autonomy and independence. 5- Education, training and information. 6- Co-operation among co-operatives. 7- Concern for the community.
see CO-OP, page A-6
Groundwater quality Just because you have a well that yields plenty of water doesn’t mean you can go ahead and just take a drink. Because water is such an excellent solvent it can contain lots of dissolved chemicals. And since groundwater moves through rocks and subsurface soil, it has a lot of opportunity to dissolve substances as it moves. For that reason, groundwater will often have more dissolved substances than surface water will. Even though the ground is an excellent mechanism for filtering out particulate matter, such as leaves, soil, and bugs, dissolved chemicals and gases can still occur in large
enough concentrations in groundwater to cause problems. Underground water can get contaminated from industrial, domestic, and agricultural chemicals from the surface. This includes chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides that many homeowners apply to their lawns. Contamination of groundwater by road salt is of major concern in northern areas of the United States. Salt is spread on roads to melt ice, and with salt being so soluble in water, excess sodium and chloride is easily transported into the subsurface groundwater. The most common water-quality problem in rural water supplies
is bacterial contamination from septic tanks, which are often used in rural areas that don’t have a sewage-treatment system. Effluent (overflow and leakage) from a septic tank can percolate (seep) down to the water table and maybe into a homeowner’s own well. Just as with urban water supplies, chlorination may be necessary to kill the dangerous bacteria. The U.S. Geological Survey is involved in monitoring the Nation’s groundwater supplies. A national network of observation wells exists to measure regularly the water levels in wells and to investigate water quality.
Contaminants can be natural or human-induced Naturally occurring contaminants are present in the rocks and sediments. As groundwater flows through sediments, metals such as iron and manganese are dissolved and may later be found in high concentrations in the water. Industrial discharges, urban activities, agriculture, groundwater pumpage, and disposal of waste all can affect groundwater quality. Contaminants from leaking fuel tanks or fuel or toxic chemical spills may enter the groundwater and contaminate
The Valley News, founded in 2000, has a new format starting this week. The tall tab, which used to be 11 inches wide by 16 inches tall, is now 11 in. wide by 22 inches tall. “While I have always been a fan of the tall, tabloid size we’ve had since 1997, it just made sense to jump to broadsheet,” said publisher Julie Reeder. “In addition to immediate economic advantages, it allows us greater creativity with layout, the use of standard advertising sizes for the agencies we work with, and the ability to accept inserts that didn’t fit into our tab format. We also now have the ability to do more sections, which makes it nice.”
see NEWSPAPER, page A-4
Home & Garden
Taken with toucans Sandra Shrader Special to the Valley News Most people like to think that they have some kind of master plan for their lives, but for Jerry Jennings fate came disguised as a pair of toucans in a San Fernando Valley pet store in 1976.
see page B-11
A new way of funding schools; Preparing for change By Jodi Thomas School funding has always been complicated, but it was largely based on student population, not on student need. This new formula for deciding how much money each school district gets is called the Local Control Funding Formula or LCFF also the Local Control and Accountability Plan or LCAP makes sure the LCFF is implemented properly.
see page A-7
thisweek Businesss Directory ������������������� B-11 Anza Calendar ����������������������������A-5 Classifieds �������������������������������� B-11 Coupons ��������������������������������������B-8 Dining Guide �������������������������������A-8 Education �������������������������������������B-4 Entertainment �����������������������������B-9 Health ........................................ A-10 Home & Garden ��������������������� B-10 Local ..............................................A-2 Pets ............................................. A-10 Real Estate ����������������������������������A-9 Sports �������������������������������������������B-1
see GROUNDWATER, page A-7
COMING APRIL 2014
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