From the Heart Backpack Giveaway to be held Aug. 12

Diane Sieker Staff Writer

From The Heart Christian

Women’s Ministries announced their annual Backpack Giveaway will take place Saturday, August 12. The traditional event to assist local students with a head start to their school year will take place at the Hamilton High School gym in Anza, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Last year’s giveaway served over 300 mountain community students with new backpacks, supplies, shoes, socks, haircuts and more.

“We passed out over 200 pairs of shoes and packages of socks, and we gave out around 275 backpacks, not including the ones we gave to the different schools, so probably around 325 altogether,” said organizer Christi James, describing the 2022 event..

According to James, many Hemet Unified School District students attending the Anza Hamilton schools need pens, paper, crayons and art supplies, with a backpack in which to safely keep it all.

“This is a free event for school children grades K- 12 that reside in the mountain communities of Anza, Aguanga, Mountain Center and Idyllwild,” said James. “Each student gets a backpack loaded with school supplies. Children must be present to receive their backpack.”

Many charitable organizations, businesses and individuals contribute to the success of the yearly affair, held the week before school begins.

The From The Heart Christian

Rummage sales, luncheons, raffles and the Annual From the Heart’s Holiday Dinner all help to present much-needed activities such as this. The From The Heart Christian Women’s Ministries Backpack Giveaway provides much-needed school supplies and more for the students in Anza and surrounding communities, to give them the best start for the new school year.

To learn more about the From The Heart Christian

Women’s Ministries, please visit their Facebook page at www. facebook.com/FromTheHeart ChristianWomensMinistries or write to From The Heart

Living Free Animal Sanctuary pets of the week Meet Prince Charming and Julia

Christian Women’s Ministries, PO Box 391224, Anza, CA 92539. Donations are always welcome. Diane Sieker can be reached by email at dsieker@reedermedia. com

Student volunteers help hand out new backpacks filled with school supplies to their peers at the From the Heart Backpack Giveaway last year. Anza Valley Outlook/Diane Sieker photo Women’s Ministries serves and focuses on families and children in need in the mountain communities of Anza, Aguanga, Mountain Center and Idyllwild. Fundraising events are held throughout the year to help collect money to aid this worthy cause.

Prince Charming is a 8-year-old Russian Blue mix cat that has been waiting patiently for his forever home. He is a mellow feline that enjoys lounging on his favorite cat tree, sleeping under warm blankets, and enjoying a nice stretch under the warm sun. He loves head rubs and back scratches and will never turn down a plate of wet food. Prince Charming would do well in a relaxed environment without young children. Julia is a joyful 3-year-old terrier mix. She is sweet natured and always happy to have visitors. She likes going on walks, sniffing around, and exploring as much as possible. She enjoys going to the dog park and gets along well with other dogs. She is young and active but also gentle and loving. Julia will be a perfect companion to almost any home. catteries and protected open-air “catios,” breathtaking scenery and wide open fields for the wild mustangs and rescued burros to run free.

Julia.

Living Free is a nonprofit animal sanctuary whose primary mission is to rescue dogs and cats whose time is up at public shelters.

Open by appointment.

For dog adoptions, call 951321-9982, for cat adoptions, call 951-491-1898, and for all other inquiries, call 951- 659-4687.

The Anza Quilt club is a group of women who come together to share their passion for quilting and sewing. For the last several years they have created a quilt to raffle off to raise funds to give back to the community.

The Anza Community Hall, the Anza Scholarship Fund and the Little Red School House month at 9 a.m.. have all been recipients of the club’s efforts. They make and donate patriotic quilts to the local Veterans of Foreign Wars to honor Anza’s local veterans. They have also made children’s quilts for the Ronald McDonald house at the Loma Linda Hospital.

The sewing club collects $5 from each member in monthly membership dues.

The Anza Quilt Club meets at the Shepherd of the Valley Church in Anza on the first Tuesday of the

Living Free Animal Sanctuary is located on 155 acres in the San Jacinto Mountains near Idyllwild. A diamond in the rough, the property is home to a kennelin-the-round, Give Life Park,

To book a tour, visit www. living-free.org/visit-us . Living Free is located at 54250 Keen Camp Road in Mountain Center. giving sewing lessons to the local kids from Anza.”

The sewing classes are held from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Calvary Chapel High Country church located at 55125 CA-371 in Anza. There will be two more sessions before school starts. For more information, please contact Pat Sprint at (951)961-1696.

Diane Sieker can be reached by email at dsieker@reedermedia. com

HAWK from page D-1 those in the community.

She recently captured several images of a juvenile Red-tailed hawk as it soared above her home and then came to rest nearby on a fence post.

According to birdadvisors.com, the raptor has been identified as a young Red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis. These birds of prey hunt and eat other birds, small mammals, snakes and frogs. They can see ultraviolet light, which helps them hunt down their prey.

The Red-tailed Hawk is a common breeding resident in southern

Hey, did you hear?

I believe it’s a sneaky tool our enemy, the devil, uses to cause division in our families, churches, and friendships. We need to fight against it in every area of our life.

If you, like me, have been guilty of gossiping a time or two, or if it’s an ongoing problem, here are three steps to help you quit.

Don’t gossip; it’s a sin.

Well, how about that, Captain Obvious? Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of this point. Sometimes the most obvious answer is the absolute best.

Zachary Elliott

Special to the Valley News

It’s said that some people will believe anything if it’s whispered to them. Do you find that to be true? I often do, especially

The Bible teaches us to avoid filling our lives with gossip because it’s everything but godly. It said, “Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God… Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior and gossip,” in Romans 1:28-29.

For you, quitting the gossip might be extremely difficult. Maybe talking about others behind their backs is the primary subject of most of your conversations, and if you stop, you might not have

California.

The California State University San Bernardino Department of Biology says that adult Redtailed hawks can be identified by their large size, brown head and upperparts, white throat and underparts and rusty red tail. Juveniles or immature birds are

Faith

anything to discuss.

It might help you to know that God hates gossip. The Bible said, “There are six things the Lord hates – no, seven things he detests: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family,” in Proverbs 6:16-19.

A “person who sows discord in a family” is a gossip. God hates it. I bet your family and friends hate it too. It’s time to stop adding logs to the fire. The Bible said, “Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip a quarrel dies down,” in Proverbs 26:20.

Let go of jealousy and pride.

These two issues are often the root of the gossiping problem.

It’s rooted in jealousy because we are bothered that others have what we think we should.

It’s rooted in pride because we elevate ourselves above others in how they live.

The Bible said, “If you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover similar to adults but have a white tail with narrow brown barring. In flight, all Red-tailed hawks show a dark leading edge to the underside of the wing. This is the most common large hawk in southern California at any time of year.

When Thudium observed the bird in flight near her home, she sprang into action, successfully capturing its images with her phone’s camera. She shared her photos on social media for all to appreciate.

Diane Sieker can be reached by email at dsieker@reedermedia. com up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind,” in James 3:14-16.

Gossip has caused more disorder and evil in relationships, families, and churches than just about anything. It’s severed relations and cut deep wounds into the hearts of many. All because of our personal ego.

It’s not God’s kind of wisdom. “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness,” in James 3:17-18.

That’s how we should act.

Celebrate the wins of others.

If you want to keep gossip, jealousy and pride out of your life, this is the one main ingredient, the special sauce and the secret recipe.

The Bible said we are to “rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn,” in Romans 12:15.

Do you know what that means?

It means we celebrate the good things going on in someone else’s life. We get excited about their success, not jealous. We start talking about people in a positive and encouraging way.

And if something drastic happens in their life, or they make a terrible decision, we care enough to mourn for them. But we don’t talk like they deserved it.

When you start to share in the wins and losses of others in a godly way, it leaves no time for gossip. Try it; it will change every relationship you have.

Zachary Elliott is the lead pastor of Fusion Christian Church in Temecula. For more information, visit http://www. fusionchristianchurch.com, http:// www.encouragementtoday.tv or find them on Instagram.

Editorial Note from Julie Reeder: I was going to write an editorial about Sound of Freedom but couldn’t do any better than Madison McQueen. I would encourage everyone to see “Sound of Freedom” and also “Nefarious: Merchant of Souls.” Exoduscry. com has been working to end sex trafficking and abuse in the porn industry for a long time, reaching over 4,000 victims, working with 13 governments, introducing new laws and training over 100,000 people to help fight the problem.

Madison McQueen

Contributor for the Daily Caller

Let this sink in: There are more people enslaved today than at any other point in human history, including when the TransAtlantic slave trade was legal. The summer’s top film “Sound of Freedom” has succeeded in not only becoming a surprise box office hit but also in bringing the reality of modern slavery back into the spotlight.

The International Labor Organization estimates 40.3 million men, women, and children are subjected to human trafficking per year. The true figure is likely far higher.

Human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain labor or a commercial sex act. The US Department of Health and Human Services says human trafficking is the fastestgrowing criminal industry in the world, generating an estimated $150 billion in profits annually— that’s the entire net worth of McDonald’s.

But are children really trafficked that often? According to UNODC’s 2020 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, compiled using official figures from 148 countries, one in three trafficking victims detected is a child. In a survey of 260 survivors of domestic minor sex trafficking, one in six were trafficked under age 12.

Though the Trans-Atlantic slave trade has long since passed, the remnants of this tragedy are regularly brought to the forefront of conversation. Yet somehow, many Americans live in either blissful or willful unawareness of modern slavery, and its vast number of victims. The untrained eye can easily miss the signs of it happening all around us, and it’s easier to go about our comfortable lives if we don’t have to wrestle with this weighty reality.

Thankfully, “Sound of Freedom” has brought this injustice back into the public forum, where it belongs.

Angel Studios, makers of the hit series The Chosen, released Sound of Freedom on July 4 to 2,600 theaters nationwide. So far, the film has raked in over $100 million at the box office, surpassing Disney’s Indiana Jones which was released the same day. The film is inspired by the true story of Tim Ballard, a Homeland Security Investigations officer whose career in locking up pedophiles compels him to rescue children exploited for sex and child sexual abuse material (CSAM, or child porn). It highlights the trafficking networks that prey on vulnerable children and the role American sex buyers play in fueling it worldwide.

Despite the fact that fighting child trafficking is a cause people of all ideological backgrounds should be able to get behind, this film has sparked quite a controversy.

Some critics have gone to lengths to associate the film with conspiracy theories and “rightwing extremism,” primarily using guilt-by-association arguments.

Their implied message is “child trafficking isn’t a big problem” and it’s blatantly irresponsible. Others celebrate the film’s message but lament that it promotes the search and rescue style method of fighting trafficking when, in reality, most anti-trafficking work doesn’t look like this in practice, particularly in the US. Most trafficking doesn’t involve being kidnapped by a stranger, rather victims are often exploited by family members or someone close to them. These kinds of concerns are valid, especially for anti-trafficking organizations, and trafficking survivors, who need to re-educate new volunteers that think they’ll be kicking down doors. Still, it doesn’t negate the fact that this film has sparked a fresh surge of people who are asking “How can I help end modern slavery?” That is the all-important question.

First, we must cut off the demand. Sex trafficking would end today if men stopped buying sex. The desire to purchase another human for sex is, in large part, one natural byproduct of porn use. Anti-trafficking and filmmaking nonprofit Exodus Cry interviewed scores of sex buyers, and every single one shared that they began consuming porn in childhood. The effect of porn use on shaping sexual appetites is alarming and well-documented. In Exodus Cry’s documentary “Raised on Porn,” one convicted consumer of child sexual abuse material shares the escalating nature of porn addiction, “After a while, the stuff that worked before doesn’t work as well… I found illegal pornography, child porn… I got the rush. It worked like nothing else did anymore.”

As shown in Sound of

Freedom, as well as Exodus

Cry’s documentary “Nefarious: Merchant of Souls,” American men are among the most frequent child sex buyers, often flying to countries where they have unfettered access to trafficked children.

Our nation is one of the top countries for sex trafficking and the top consumer of CSAM. We cannot fight slavery while actively participating in it.

Second, we must demolish the “sex work is work” narrative. Prostitution and trafficking are often intertwined. In prostitution, women and children exist to fulfill the sexual desires of men. Buyers often view them as less than human, a product to be bought and discarded. Unlike what sex work advocates want you to believe, prostitution isn’t sexual liberation, it’s sexual slavery.

Most women in prostitution (approx. 90%) are under pimp control, meaning they are likely not receiving the money earned, and fear of their pimp keeps them trapped in a life of exploitation. Eighty-nine percent of those in prostitution surveyed across nine countries wanted to escape it. Prostitution isn’t empowering, it’s usually exploitative and it’s often trafficking.

Third, we must urge legislators

National News

Screenshot/Angel Studios/YouTube

to pass laws that criminalize sex buying, pimping, and brothelkeeping while decriminalizing those in prostitution and providing them with resources to find a life outside of exploitation. This legislative model, called the Nordic or Abolitionist Model, is the only law with a proven track record to uproot trafficking. Without fail, every country that legalizes “sex work” sees higher rates of sex trafficking than countries that have made sex buying illegal. This drives more men to consume women and children for sex. Traffickers and pimps capitalize on that demand.

There’s so much we can do to fight today’s iteration of slavery, and films like Sound of Freedom can help audiences realize that the injustice they see on the big screen can be cut off by starting with the small screen.

Madison McQueen is the content writer and media relations manager at Exodus Cry. Exodus Cry is a leading global antitrafficking nonprofit organization focused on ending widespread sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation, exposing this injustice for millions worldwide, and helping its victims to rebuild their lives.

Reprinted with permission.

Firefighters contain a quarter of massive California-Nevada wildfire

Associated Press

MOJAVE NATIONAL

PRESERVE — Firefighters had managed to partially contain a massive wildfire by Tuesday morning, Aug. 1, after the blaze ignited in a California wildland preserve and spread into Nevada, its smoke blotting out the sun across Las Vegas while flames scorched tens of thousands of acres of desert scrub, juniper and Joshua tree woodland.

The York Fire was mapped at roughly 125 square miles (323.7 square kilometers) on Tuesday, with 23% containment, making it the largest wildfire of the season in California.

The blaze erupted Friday near the remote Caruthers Canyon area of the vast wildland preserve, crossed the state line into Nevada on Sunday and sent smoke further east into the Las Vegas Valley.

Midday Monday, a smoky haze on the Las Vegas Strip obliterated views of mountains surrounding the city and suburbs. Because of low visibility, the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas reported departure delays of nearly two hours.

Firefighters battled "fire whirls" on Monday in their struggle to get the flames under control.

A fire whirl, sometimes called a fire tornado, is a "spinning column of fire" that forms when intense

Body of naked man discovered inside a barrel in Malibu, homicide detectives investigating

Associated Press heat and turbulent winds combine, according to the National Park Service.

MALIBU — The body of a naked man was found inside a barrel in Malibu, California, on Monday, July 31, and homicide detectives are investigating the circumstances around the death, authorities said.

The barrel was first spotted over the weekend but it wasn't opened until Monday morning, Lt. Hugo Reynaga of the Los Angeles County sheriff's homicide bureau said at a news conference.

A maintenance worker from a state park saw the black plastic 55-gallon drum floating in the Malibu lagoon Sunday afternoon and brought it in with a kayak, Reynaga said.

"Apparently it was too heavy and they didn't want to open it, so they left it on shore," Reynaga said.

Shortly after 10 a.m. Monday, a lifeguard at Malibu Lagoon State Beach noticed the same barrel back in the lagoon, swam out and brought it ashore, opened it and saw the body inside, according to the Sheriff's Department.

It wasn't clear where the barrel originated.

"At about 8 p.m., there's a high tide here and there's a possibility that the container could have come in from the ocean and then got stuck in the lagoon, but we don't know," Reynaga said.

There was no immediate word on the age of the man or how long the body had been in the drum.

However, "from what I did see it didn't look to me like it was decomposed or had been there a long time," Reynaga said.

The vortexes, which can be anywhere from a few feet tall to several hundred feet high, with varying rotational speeds, were spotted Sunday on the north end of the York Fire.

"While these can be fascinating to observe they are a very dangerous natural phenomena that can occur during wildfires," the park service wrote.

Significant portions of the U.S. population have been subject to extreme heat in recent weeks. Worldwide, July was so steamy that scientists calculate it will be the hottest month ever recorded and likely the warmest to hit human civilization.

Experts say plants like blackbrush scrub, pinyon-juniper woodlands and the famous Joshua trees in the New York Mountains in San Bernardino County are atrisk of taking centuries to regrow naturally, if they are ever able to come back.

The cause of the York Fire remains under investigation, though authorities say it started on private land within the preserve. Other details were not available.

To the southwest, the Bonny Fire burned about 3.6 square miles (9.3 square kilometers) in the rugged hills of Riverside County. The blaze was about 40% contained on Tuesday morning.

More than 1,300 people were ordered to evacuate their homes Saturday near the community of Aguanga that is home to horse ranches and wineries. However, the fire didn't grow on Monday, and some were allowed back home.

One firefighter was injured in the blaze.

Gusty winds and the chance of thunderstorms into Tuesday will heighten the risk of renewed growth, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said in a statement.

NASA hears signal from Voyager 2 spacecraft after mistakenly cutting contact

Marcia Dunn

AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL — After days of silence, NASA has heard from Voyager 2 in interstellar space billions of miles away.

Flight controllers accidentally sent a wrong command nearly two weeks ago that tilted the spacecraft's antenna away from Earth and severed contact.

NASA's Deep Space Network, giant radio antennas across the globe, picked up a "heartbeat signal," meaning the 46-year-old craft is alive and operating, project manager Suzanne Dodd said in an email Tuesday.

The news "buoyed our spirits," Dodd said. Flight controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California will now try to turn Voyager 2's antenna back toward Earth.

If the command doesn't work — and controllers doubt it will — they'll have to wait until October for an automatic spacecraft reset. The antenna is only 2% off-kilter.

"That is a long time to wait, so we'll try sending up commands several times" before then, Dodd said.

Voyager 2 rocketed into space in 1977, along with its identical twin Voyager 1, on a quest to explore the outer planets.

Still communicating and working fine, Voyager 1 is now 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) from Earth, making it the most distant spacecraft. Voyager 2 trails its twin in interstellar space at more than 12 billion miles (19 billion kilometers) from Earth. At that distance, it takes more than 18 hours for a signal to travel one way.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

NOTICE OF GENERAL DISTRICT ELECTION

Pinyon Pines County Water District

Notice is hereby given that a General District Election will be held in the above named district on November 7, 2023 and that the offices for which candidates may be nominated for said election are as follows:

3 Directors

The qualifications for these offices required under the principal act under which the district is organized are that candidates be registered electors residing within the boundaries of the district, or division thereof.

Official Declarations of Candidacy for eligible persons desiring to file for any of the elective offices are available beginning July 17, 2023 at the following location(s):

• Pinyon Pines County Water District

62011 Stonecrest Road, Mountain Center, CA 92561

Please call for an appointment at (760) 349-3261

• Registrar of Voters

2720 Gateway Drive, Riverside, CA 92507

Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Declarations of Candidacy must be filed in the office of the Registrar of Voters no later than 5:00 p.m. on August 11, 2023.

Appointment to each elective office will be made by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Riverside as prescribed in Elections Code § 10515 in the event there are no nominees or an insufficient number of nominees, and a petition requesting the election be held for such offices has not been presented to the Registrar of Voters by 5:00 p.m. on August 16, 2023.

Dated: July 17, 2023

REBECCA SPENCER

Registrar of Voters

Published: August 4, 2023

AVISO DE ELECCIÓN GENERAL DEL DISTRITO

Distrito de Agua de Pinyon Pines del Condado

Por el presente se notifica que el 7 de noviembre de 2023 se llevará a cabo una Elección General del Distrito en el distrito mencionado anteriormente, y que los cargos para los que se pueden nombrar candidatos para dicha elección son los siguientes:

3 Directores

Las calificaciones para estos cargos según requiere la ley principal sobre la cual se organiza este distrito son que los candidatos sean electores inscritos que vivan dentro de los límites del distrito, o en la misma división.

Las Declaraciones Oficiales de Candidatura para las personas elegibles que deseen postularse para cualquiera de los cargos electivos están disponibles a partir del 17 de julio de 2023 en la siguiente localización(es):

• Distrito de Agua de Pinyon Pines del Condado 62011 Stonecrest Road, Mountain Center, CA 92561

Por favor llame para una cita al (760) 349-3261

• Registro de Votantes 2720 Gateway Drive, Riverside, CA 92507 lunes – viernes, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Las Declaraciones de Candidatura deben presentarse en la oficina del Registro de Votantes a más tardar a las 5:00 p.m. el 11 de agosto de 2023.

La designación para cada cargo electivo lo hará la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Riverside, tal como se prescribe en el Código de Elecciones § 10515 en caso de que ninguna persona fue nombrada o que el número de personas nombradas sea insuficiente, y que no se haya presentado una petición donde se pida que se celebre una elección para dichos cargos ante el Registro de Votantes a más tardar a las 5:00 p.m. del 16 de agosto de 2023.

Fechado: 17 de julio de 2023

REBECCA SPENCER Registro de Votantes

PUBLICADO: 4 de agosto de 2023