It’s all about the Bass, fishermen Dream Extreme in Lake Elsinore Derby, B-1
Revival of Temecula Bluegrass Music Festival brings help to Valley school music programs, C-1
VALLEY
NEWS
A
Section
Your Best Source for Local News & Advertising
Serving Temecula , Murrieta , L ake E lsinore , M enifee , Wildomar , H emet, San Jacinto and the surrounding communities May 5 – 11, 2017
www.myvalleynews.com
Lake Elsinore Special Election
Results
Volume 17, Issue 18
‘Every 15 Minutes’ shows students the dangers of drinking and driving
‘Measure A’ appears to be headed for defeat Kim Harris VALLEYEDITOR@REEDERMEDIA.COM
Voters in Lake Elsinore appear to be overwhelmingly against Measure A, otherwise known as the Alberhill Villages Specific Plan, in a special election, Tuesday, May 2. With all 12 precincts reporting only 414 yes votes were cast for Measure A which had a projected loss of somewhere between $33 million and $243 million based on a variety of factors including a sports park, inclusion in the CFDs and other issues that could arise. More than 2,900 – 2,935 to be exact – no votes were cast. Approximately 270 Vote-byMail, 60 Provisional and eight damaged ballots that require duplication still must be processed. Ballots that are postmarked on or before Election Day and received no later than Friday, May 5, also remain to be counted. Election results are not final until the vote has been certified by the California Secretary of State’s office. The next updated results will be posted on www.myvalleynews. com as they become available. INDEX Local ........................................ A-1 Sports ...................................... B-1 Education................................. B-4 Business ................................... B-6
Vista Murrieta High School students fill the school’s stadium bleachers and observe the scene of the “Every 15 Minutes” performance, April 27. See more photos on page A-3 Shane Gibson photo
The Economic Long wait ends with Development Coalition Temecula ramping up presents State of the Region for freeway project as ‘Valley of Innovation’
Health ...................................... B-7 Blotter....................................... B-8 Opinion ................................... C-2 Dining ...................................... C-3 Calendar of Events.................. C-4 Wine Country.......................... C-5 Entertainment......................... C-6 Real Estate .............................. D-1 Home & Garden...................... D-1 Business Directory.................. D-6 Pets........................................... D-6
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID HEMET, CA PERMIT #234
Classifieds................................ D-7
VALLEY NEWS
Doug McAlister, CEO of the Economic Development Coalition, the keynote speaker at SOAR 2017 proclaims the Inland Southwest region as the “Future of Southern California.” Courtesy photo
Paul Bandong PBANDONG@REEDERMEDIA.COM
LAKE ELSINORE – Doug McAlister, executive director of the Economic Development Coalition, presented the 2017 State of the Region to a full house April 27 at The Diamond Club at Storm Stadium. His message characterized the region as the “Valley of Innovation” with potential to be “The Future of Southern California.” The audience included elected officials, city and county employees, public policy leaders and industry experts, as well as numerous business and community leaders. “The clock is ticking,” McAlister said. “And it appears that a window of opportunity is opening. The question is, are we ready for it?” McAlister said that the inland southwest region has been a very well-kept secret, but its position, people and progress create many positives that bring it to the forefront of places in California to do business. He stated that California has the world’s sixth-largest economy and is tied with Texas as the top state
for manufacturing with over $255 million. “It is only going to take one region stepping up permanently to put our entire state ahead of every other state in the union … America’s economic future is connected, changeable, and the place to change it most surely, is at the local level,” he said. Referring to the book, “The Coming Jobs War” by Gallup Corporation CEO Jim Clifton, McAlister said that over the next 30 years the global gross domestic product will grow to an estimated $200 trillion, creating “an additional $140 trillion worth of customers, employees, new businesses and equity.” He postulated that the question is not “if” or “when” but “where,” suggesting that this region could be the next “Economic Empire,” being the ones to fulfill the demand for good jobs. McAlister quoted Clifton and said “…realize that every decision (we) make should consider the impact, first and foremost, on good jobs… (We) succeed (only)
see MURRIETA, page A-4
Courtesy image
Tim O’Leary TOLEARY@REEDERMEDIA.COM
Work will soon begin on a $51 million project that is aimed at unplugging Temecula’s southernmost freeway bottleneck. That start, which is now being painstakingly strategized and scheduled, marks a key juncture in Temecula’s 15-year push to unravel the knotted freeway ramps that serve the city’s crucial southern corridor. “We are so ready,” said Mayor Maryann Edwards. “It can’t come soon enough.” Edwards and other city officials cite the big picture gains – the longterm benefits that will come when the existing ramps at Interstate 15 and Temecula Parkway are finally
expanded and reconfigured. Yet those officials and others concede that the work set to occur over the next 18 months to two years will likely tangle traffic, strain nerves and amplify driver angst. “We’re the first to admit that there be some congestion with this (project), but we’re going to do our best to minimize it,” Greg Butler, Temecula’s assistant city manager, said in a separate interview. The project, which will transform the west side of I-15 at that location, will be one of the most closely-watched city improvements in years. Concerns run high because the ramps serve Temecula’s hospital, its
see FREEWAY, page A-7