National Geographic Society offers free resources for parents, B-4
ESPN brings back live sports, in the form of H-O-R-S-E shooting challenge, C-1
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See the Anza Valley Outlook beginning on page AVO-1
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SERVING TEMECULA , MURRIETA , L AKE E LSINOR E , M ENIFEE , WILDOMAR , H EMET, SAN JACINTO April 17 – 23, 2020
VISI T
Local Temecula lights up City Hall in solidarity during COVID-19 pandemic
T HE NEW
BONUS EDITION
AND THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES
myvalleynews.com
Volume 20, Issue 16
Community celebrates Easter at drive-in church service
Jeff Pack STAFF WRITER
Temecula Mayor James “Stew” Stewart wanted to do something to show unity while the city, along with the rest of the nation, endures stay-at-home orders and business shutdowns during the coronavirus pandemic so they decided to light up City Hall. see page A-3
Local Homeless community faces unique challenges during pandemic Will Fritz ASSOCIATE EDITOR
The coronavirus pandemic is affecting every segment of the population. Young and poor, rich and old, the virus can affect everyone, in one way or another, including those with no place to call home. see page A-4
INDEX
Capt. Jason Penner named top cop at CHP’s Temecula Area office Will Fritz ASSOCIATE EDITOR
The California Highway Patrol’s Temecula Area office has a new face in charge. Capt. Jason Penner comes to Temecula March 11, after running the CHP’s El Cajon office. Penner has extensive experience as a CHP officer in various parts of the state. He’s worked in El Centro, Santa Cruz, San Juan Capistrano, Oceanside and other cities in various jobs, having worked his way up through the ranks and serving as a traffic investigator before being promoted to captain. But he’s not actually a native Californian – in fact, he’s a Canadian, born and raised in Invermere, British Columbia. Penner said he’d always dreamed of coming to California after visiting at the age of 13.
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Worshippers gather at a drive-in Easter service provided by 412 Church at Reading Cinemas in Murrieta, April 12. Everyone attending the public service parked and observed the service from their cars in compliance with social distancing guidelines due to the COVID-19 pandemic. See more photos on page B-6. Valley News/Shane Gibson photos
Seeing Disneyland and the sunny weather “just confirmed everything I thought about California,” Penner said. Years after that visit, the CHP offered him the chance to make the state his home. Penner said while attending college in Canada, he had begun looking into law enforcement careers, but he was facing limited openings there. Getting the idea to apply in California from a television show “ChiPs” from the 70s and 80s, he learned the CHP was hiring. Penner happens to be a dual citizen of both the U.S. and Canada – his mother is American – so there was nothing stopping him from moving. Now in his 24th year as a CHP officer, Penner said Temecula is his 13th assignment. see PENNER, page A-2
Captain Jason Penner is the new officer in charge of the California Highway Patrol Temecula Area. Valley News/Shane Gibson photo
‘Absolutely crazy:’ Grocery workers describe how coronavirus has changed their jobs Will Fritz ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Back in February, most grocery store employees probably did not imagine that they would join the ranks of police, firefighters and health care employees as “essential” workers in a historic national crisis. But things certainly have changed in a very short span of time. The pandemic crisis has quickly revealed the importance of grocery workers, as well as many other workers, that probably have never been widely viewed as critical to a functional society. And it’s certainly been a difficult last several weeks for them. As anyone who has visited a see GROCERY, page A-4
A Ralphs employee in Temecula gathers grocery carts and sanitizes them in a cart corral for shoppers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Valley News/Shane Gibson photo