Valley News - September 1, 2023

Lawsuit challenges Chino Valley USD’s parental notification policy

Julie Reeder Publisher

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a lawsuit on Monday, Aug 28, to immediately halt the enforcement of the Chino Valley Unified School District Board of Education’s mandatory gender identity disclosure policy.

Lake Elsinore motorcyclist killed in highspeed chase

Valley News Staff

A 22-year-old motorcyclist from Lake Elsinore was killed in a crash Sunday during a pursuit that ended in an Escondido neighborhood. The pursuit started about noon on Sunday after a California Highway Patrol deputy tried to pull over the motorcyclist for speeding on southbound I-15 near SR 76, according to Suzanne Baeder with the Escondido Police Department.

Sheriff serves search warrant in Aguanga on property related to fire

Diane Sieker Staff Writer

Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s regional Marijuana

Enforcement Team served a search warrant in Aguanga on a property related to Homestead Fire Thursday, August 24.

Former Temecula City Council member Maryann Edwards honored for service

TVUSD adopts parental notification amid controversy and state criticism

The Temecula Valley Unified School District (TVUSD) approved a Parental Notification Policy last Tuesday, August 22, at their regular school board meeting that will allow parents to be notified if their child starts to identify as anything other than what is on their school record or their birth certificate. It could be transidentifying or even a name change. This move follows similar measures adopted by other California school districts, including, but not limited to, Murrieta Unified School District, Anderson School District near Redding, and Chino Valley Unified School District. Other school districts, including Orange Unified School District, are considering the possibility of the policy.

These parental notification policies have been met with

see TVUSD, page A-2

Valley News/File photo

Community unites to bring accessibility and joy to wheelchair-bound child’s home

MURRIETA - Community members came together on Aug. 24 and 25 to celebrate the transformation of a home becoming more accessible and accommodating for a young boy diagnosed with Spina Bifida. Cameron has faced numerous surgeries and mobility challenges. Now, thanks to the collaborative efforts of the Mitchell Thorp Foundation, Beach City Builders Inc, 365 Connect, and Home Depot, his journey toward improved mobility and comfort is about to begin.

Cameron’s family turned to the Mitchell Thorp Foundation in 2022, seeking support for their son’s unique needs. The foundation, renowned for its unwavering commitment to families navigating life-threatening illnesses, diseases, and disorders, swiftly embraced the challenge. The family’s immediate requirement was a wheel- Cameron

chair lift, allowing Cameron to effortlessly traverse between the home’s two stories. Moreover, the family’s home needed adaptation to make the bathroom wheelchair friendly.

Dedicated to its mission, the Mitchell Thorp Foundation enlisted the expertise of Beach City Builders Inc., a trusted partner known for its compassionate approach to home modifications.

Chris Lord, the project manager from Beach City Builders Inc, once again demonstrated the company’s commitment to changing lives. As the network of support expanded, Mastercraft Plumbers, JW floor covering, along with Teresa Miller, Founder and CEO of 365 Connect, rallied behind the cause, and brought in Gene Hinson with Home Depot store 0668, who

sits in the doorway of the bathroom in his home before the accessibility remodel. Valley

Ingram for Supervisor Wine Country event draws packed crowd

RIVERSIDE COUNTY – Friday, August 18 saw a packed crowd of Ingram for Supervisor supporters at Morgan Estate in Temecula Wine Country, drawing nearly 150 and taking the venue to capacity. Supporters came from all over Riverside County, and dozens of new volunteers signed up to help elect the businessman and former Murrieta mayor.

“Ingram’s campaign is being flooded with volunteers and grassroots support. It was amazing to see so many fired-up supporters turn out for this event,” said Ingram’s Campaign Manager, Dennis Hollingsworth.

“I am humbled by all the support from so many wonderful and generous people from Riverside County and look forward to carving out solutions that have been lacking for far too long,” said Ingram.

Ingram said his message of

backing our public safety teams and fire, keeping taxes low, attracting local well-paying jobs, reducing long commutes, and fighting for our fair share of road and highway dollars is hitting home with the people of the district.

“I know what it’s like to go unheard and for problems to remain unsolved,” said Ingram. “I’m running for County Supervisor to make government more accountable and responsive for everyone.”

“Working in my community as a small business owner for more than 30 years and serving as mayor of my city, I understand the issues families face,” he continued. “I will bring solutions to office and will work tirelessly for you, the residents of Riverside County.

With your continued support, our county’s best days are ahead.”

The new boundaries of the Third Supervisorial District were recently adopted and include the cities of

Nearly 150 people attended Jonathan Ingram’s campaign event at Morgan Estate in Temecula wine country, Friday, Aug. 18. Valley News/Courtesy photo Menifee, Murrieta, Temecula, and Wildomar. The Third District also includes the unincorporated

To learn more about Jonathan Ingram and stay informed on

the latest news and events from the campaign trail, visit www. ingram4supervisor.com.

Submitted by Ingram for Supervisor.

MilVet Open House and MilVet Salutes coming in September and October

The public is invited to participate in MilVet’s ribbon-cutting ceremonies held Sept. 20 at its new location at 33040 Antelope Road in Murrieta followed by MilVet Salutes, a fundraiser at the March Field Air Museum in Moreno Valley Oct. 20.

Both special events are being held to further MilVet’s primary mission to support deployed troops, their families and military veterans in Southwest Riverside county.

Each month the nonprofit organization holds care package wrapping events for deployed troops in different Valley locations bringing residents, business representatives, city officials, veterans and their families together to support the service men and women serving overseas.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house will bring together many who continue their support for MilVet troops overseas and other residents who are not familiar with its particular mission and will become a depository of the needed items in the care packages. Attendees will enjoy Nothing Bundt Cakes, Cynful Sweets, Which Wich Sandwiches and raffles all day. Hemet, Temecula, Murrieta/Wildomar, and Menifee Valley Chambers of Commerce are expected to be in attendance with many hourly giveaways and networking for this special event.

opposition, criticism, investigations and threats from state lawmakers and officials including Governor Gavin Newsom, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.

The TVUSD decision came at the end of a nearly 7-hour live and broadcasted meeting that ended at 1:30 a.m. The board of directors listened to parents, teachers, attorneys and community members

MilVet Salutes

In October, MilVet Salutes, a charity fundraiser to support deployed troops and veterans will be taking place at the March Field Air Museum in Moreno Valley on Oct. 20 from 5 to 8 p.m.

“We are so excited to host a memorable event to help raise awareness and funds to support

for hours, who represented both sides of the issue.

Both the Teacher’s Association and the Classified Employees Union were in opposition.

TVUSD Board President Dr. Komrosky in a written statement said, “I speak personally here and not on behalf of the entire board when I say, I was voted in to keep my campaign promise to thousands of Temecula residents who voted me in, ‘To Defend Parental Rights’. Last night, I kept that promise and will always advocate

and care for our military, veterans, and their families,” said MilVet CEO, Raven Hilden. “We are inviting the community to enjoy an evening with great food, live music, and a silent auction at the incredible March Field Air Museum. MilVet Salutes will feature an award ceremony to honor veterans who are dedicated to making a

that parents are the cornerstone of education. Parents are the heroes in all of this, and I am just an elected servant that heard their many voices, and stood up for them and their kids.

“Our schools, teachers’ unions, county, state, or country do not own our kids, We the parents do, and it is our God given right!

To this end, We the People, both parents and patriots of this country have risen, and will fight to protect our kids in schools at all costs. Quite frankly, it’s not just our school district that should be passing a parental rights notification policy, but all school districts across the state, country, and entire world. Let this be a call to action for all parents to stand together in solidarity regarding this issue.”

Dr. Komrosky, as well as board members Jen Wiersma and Danny Gonzales, have come under fire and are the targets of a recall effort as a result of their policies to ban CRT (Critical Race Theory), replace the TVUSD superintendent, put on administrative leave a drama teacher who gave

positive impact in the community.”

Supporters are encouraged to purchase tickets, donate silent auction items or sign up as a sponsor at www.milvet.org/milvetsalutes explained Hilden. Current sponsors include Senator Kelly Seyarto, Wilson Creek Winery, Which Wich and Walmart. MilVet is an all-volunteer nonprofit organiza-

students a play that a parent and student protested. The play had illicit unprotected sex between two strangers, a man and a minor boy and the play used the “f” word over 100 times.

The people who were opposed during Tuesday’s board meeting, generally spoke about how they feared for the lives of children who were trans identifying, or gender nonconforming students and that it was wrong to “out” the students to their parents. It was said many times that the teachers and school were a “safe” place for the students.

Parents who supported the notification policy related that it would be wrong for the school to hide information from them, since they are the ones responsible for their son or daughter. Parents also objected repeatedly throughout the night to the assumption that all parents are dangerous which they said was unfair and inaccurate and if there was a student who was afraid of their parents that there are agencies like Child Protective Services to handle those rare situations.

tion with 100% of funds raised from the event directly supporting essential services for veterans and active-duty military men and women.

“We encourage you to join us in honoring those who sacrificed so much for our freedom,” Hilden adds. “If you cannot attend the event, consider purchasing a ticket for a veteran to attend.”

In addition MilVet is seeking nominations for an active duty military member or veteran who has served our nation honorably and continues to positively impact the community. The individual will have a chance to be recognized at MilVet Salutes.

Admission includes a delicious Italian dinner buffet, admission to the Air Museum, live entertainment, desserts and more. Adult beverages including wine and beer available for purchase.

The special program will feature a Veteran Award Recognition, vintage airplanes, a professional photographer and photo booth, active-duty military personnel, entertainment and live music by the American Patriot Music Project, a silent auction/raffles/giveaways and most importantly, some of our Nation’s Heroes. Parking is free. Individual tickets are $100 and tables for eight are $780 with the proceeds all going to further the mission of MilVet. They can be purchased at www.milvet.org/ milvetsalutes

Tony Ault can be reached at tault@reedermedia.com.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta criticized the policies, stating they target the LGBTQ+ student community and could compromise the safety and privacy of transgender and gender nonconforming students.

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond has also expressed concerns, sending a letter to Murrieta Valley USD urging the board to reverse its policy.

The Chino Valley Unified School District is currently under a civil rights investigation by Bonta’s office after adopting its policy on parental notification.

A push to mandate the Chico Unified School District (CUSD) to secure parental “informed consent” before making any “social transition” accommodations for transgender students hit a roadblock in federal court in March.

A federal judge turned down a motion in the Regino v. Staley lawsuit, which was directed at Chico Unified School District concerning a gender identity issue. The motion sought an immediate halt on the district’s actions to support students who identify with a gender other than what’s recorded in their school files without parental notification.

This initial judgment, although preliminary, was made by Senior U.S. District Judge John Mendez, a nominee of former President George Bush, Jr. The lawsuit was initiated by Chico’s resident, Aurora Regino. The judge wrote that both sides in the lawsuit raised valid concerns and that it was an issue that was best suited to be deliberated by the state legislature.

Julie Reeder can be contacted via email at jreeder@reedermedia.com.

communities of Anza, Aguanga, Lake Riverside, Sage, French Valley,

Winchester, Green Acres, Homeland, Romoland, East Hemet, and part of Valle Vista.

Tony Ault Staff Writer

Members from the Lake Elsinore Storm minor league baseball team take a moment from their MilVet Care boxing to visit with Thunder, their team mascot, Storm Fundraiser and Public Relations representative Althea Perrot and a staff manager at the Diamond Stadium earlier this year in July. Valley News/Tony Ault photo

TVUSD from page A-1

Hemet SJ Interfaith Council sponsors Community Clean Up Day

Tony Ault Staff Writer

An Annual Community Day of Service will be held in the Hemet San Jacinto Valley hosted by the Interfaith Council on Saturday, Sept. 23 starting at the Park Hill Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at 1151 Park Ave, San Jacinto.

The Interfaith Council says “the goal is to assist in making this valley a beautiful place again. Last year’s Clean Up Day gathered more than 8 tons of trash removed from 19 designated sites. Over 300 volunteers from the local community were part of that clean-Up. More are looked for this year according to the sponsors.

The Interfaith Council Board announced, “Volunteers are needed now! We want to get over 500 volunteers this year so go to www. justserve.org and register.”

Some of the clean-up work will include cleaning up fields, yards and homes in the valley. Volunteers are asked if they know of any elderly couples who need work done in their yard to call 951-380-

4591 to get the site registered.

Everyone will initially gather at 7 a.m. at the Park Hill church ball field where site assignments will be given out.

Breakfast will be served at the start and the Kiwanis and Exchange Club are doing a BBQ for all participants from 11 a,m. until noon.

Volunteers are asked to please bring water, a hat, and working gloves and applicable tools, such as shovels, rakes, and rock rakes.

The Mission Statement for the Interfaith Council is: To honor and respect all faiths, cultures, creeds and races and seek to learn from those who believe equal spiritual opportunity and human rights belong to every person: to build and sustain bridges of understanding, respect and appreciation in our multi faiths and religions; serve the needs of the San Jacinto Valley and to promote faith in a higher power and unity in our community.

The Board for the Hemet San Jacinto Interfaith Council are:

Jon Ranes, president from Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints; Muriel Dufresne vice-

Menifee Valley Historical Association September program canceled

The historical program hosted by the Menifee Valley Historical Association has been canceled for the month of September. The association usually presents programs related to Menifee history to the public at the Antelope-Menifee Rural Center on the third Saturday of every other month from Sep-

tember to May at 9:30 a.m.

For more information about the Menifee Valley Historical Association and the Menifee History Museum, visit www.menifeehistory.com, where you can find dates and hours for the museum as well as take a virtual tour.

AG Bonta announces lawsuit challenging Chino Valley Unified School District’s parental notification policy

Julie Reeder

Publisher

California Attorney General

Rob Bonta announced a lawsuit on Monday, Aug 28, to immediately halt the enforcement of the Chino Valley Unified School District Board of Education’s mandatory gender identity disclosure policy. The policy, adopted in July, requires schools to inform parents whenever a student requests to use a name or pronoun different from that on their birth certificate or official records, even without the student’s permission.

The policy also requires notification if a student requests to use facilities or participates in programs that don’t align with their sex on official records. In the lawsuit, AG Bonta challenges the policy, which he claims violates the California Constitution and state laws safeguarding civil rights.

“Every student has the right to learn and thrive in a school environment that promotes safety, privacy, and inclusivity – regardless of their gender identity,” said Attorney General Bonta, a statement which the Chino Valley Unified School District board members have repeatedly affirmed, but denied that it is mutually exclusive of parental rights.

In Chino, Murrieta and Temecula board meetings, board members have all stated openly that the civil rights of LGBTQ+ students are important and they aren’t mutually exclusive from parents rights. TVUSD Board President Dr. Komrosky said, “They can exist at the same time and LGBTQ+ students are already protected.”

In Chico, a judge denied a mother’s request for an injunction against her school district after she filed a lawsuit against the district. She claimed that her 11-year-old daughter was “socially transitioned” by a counselor at her school without the mother ’s knowledge or consent. The suit claimed that the counselor informed the teachers that she was to be called by her new name and referred to by male pronouns.

In response to the Chico case, TVUSD Board President Dr. Komrosky said, “A judge dropped the

case, so there’s no legal precedent and we are in completely uncharted waters here. I’m willing to sail into those uncharted waters to advocate toward parental rights.”

He continued, “Academically, our state ranks so low compared to other states, and now we’re hyperfocused on social activism more than raising the academic standards.

It’s pushing tribalism and I’m trying to steer against that. We as a community want what’s best for all our students. AG Bonta and our union leaders are pushing LGBTQ+ students against the parents. We love all our students. Our priority is family and community, and that includes all of us. Why section some students when we love them all?”

In the lawsuit, Attorney General Bonta argues that the policy infringes on several state protections safeguarding students’ civil and constitutional rights, including:

• California’s Equal Protection Clause;

• California’s Education and Government Code Sections 200 and 220 and Government Code section 11135, which ensure equal rights for every student, and; California’s constitutional right to privacy.

AG Bonta mentions Anderson, Murrieta and Temecula school districts toward the end of the press release. Dr. Komrosky said that could signal that these school districts will be engaged in litigation next.

He restated from a press release he distributed to media last year, that his commitment to uphold both the US Constitution and the California Constitution included protecting students, all students, and that in no way impedes parental rights.

He said, “I also reaffirm my commitment that I’ve made twice in my life (I was a member of the U.S. Army Active Duty), when I swore to defend the United States Constitution. When I recently accepted my position as an elected trustee to TVUSD, I also swore an oath to uphold the California State Constitution. The protection of LGTBQ kids is required by both the United States Constitution and California State Constitution, and I am committed to that.”

president from the Church of Scientology and Christine Formica, secretary from Church of Jesus

At-risk youth learn invaluable lessons

Lynn K. Loyd

Special to the Valley News

Each year local groups work together with the Murrieta Police Department to hold National Night Out; an event focused on creating safer communities and crime prevention. This year, Community Outreach Ministry, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping at-risk children, participated in the event; an event that was even more meaningful to the group because the ministry was recognized as the 2023 Nonprofit of the Year by Assemblywoman Kate Sanchez (D-71).

National Night Out 2023, held on Aug. 1, at Town Square Park is one of many events the nonprofit participates in as part of its overall goal to help children and youth who

have one or both parents in prison to break the cycle. Actively involved in improving the lives of these atrisk kids for more than 20 years, the selfless efforts of co-founders Dr. Salomo-Davies and her husband Bob have not gone unnoticed. The goal of the event is to offer crime prevention awareness along with support and participation in local anti-crime programs. According to Dr. Davies, an important goal is to organize neighbors to rally behind law enforcement. By doing so, a vital message is conveyed to everyone: together, we are all fighting back against crime. Together with many local or ganizations, businesses, and volunteers we were grateful to Coach Cynthia K. Duran of Sewing Stories making arts and crafts possible at our table which

was very popular among the children. Jenny Bolaski said her Irish twins 15 months apart Noelle and Madeline were able to express their creativity through their artwork and the crafts were great for any age.

Community Outreach Ministry, a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit public charity serving Southwest Riverside County regularly offers free National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) McGruff “Take a Bite out of Crime” educational tips addressing the causes of crime, drugs, and violence and reducing the opportunities for crime to occur. The McGruff tips serve as effective tools to assist both parents and caretakers of at-risk youth in teaching children about alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and warning signs of drug use. According to NCPC and McGruff, “research

shows that kids who use just one of these substances are more likely to use more dangerous drugs later on in life.” Included in the crime prevention tips is also the following: Helping Your Children with Bullies, Gun Safety, Neighborhood Safety, and Cyber Safety. Children were also fingerprinted in their Personal Child Identification Kits by Esabella Infante, a high school student earning community service credit for graduation. Youngsters also received SAFE KIDS coloring books and crayons.

In June, the California Association of Nonprofits celebrated California Nonprofits Day in conjunction with the California State Legislature, and in recognition of its outstanding record of community support, Community Outreach Ministry was honored as the 71st Assembly District’s 2023 Nonprofit of the Year and is deserving of special public recognition for their support diverting at-risk youth from crime and delinquency through their outreach, camping, mentoring and Annual Angel Tree Christmas Party programs. These intervention

programs are giving at-risk kids a second chance to be winners and champions.

Community Outreach Ministry is seeking sponsors to contribute hoodies for teens sizes Large, XL, and XXL. Hoodies will be given on behalf of the youth’s incarcerated parents and will be presented at the 23rd Annual Angel Tree Christmas Party on Saturday, Dec. 16 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Gateway Nazarene Church, 23560 Jefferson Avenue, Murrieta, CA. 92562.

The ministry welcomes readers to visit its website where donations can also be made at www communityoutreachministry.org

Checks may also be mailed to the organization and made payable to “Community Outreach Ministry” at 23905 Clinton Keith Road Suite 114 #116, Wildomar, CA. 92595. Feel free to contact the Davies via office phone 951-698-7650 or mobile 951-231-5515 or by email at info@communityoutreachministry.org.

Submitted by Community Outreach Ministry.

MARYANN EDWARDS HONORED , from page A-1

Former Temecula city council member Maryann Edwards arrives at the Temecula City Council Chambers as she is honored for her 20 years of service to city, Aug. 22. Valley News/Shane Gibson photos

[Left] Chuck Washington, Riverside County 3rd District Supervisor locks pinky fingers with former Temecula City Council member Maryann Edwards during a special recognition for her service to the city.

Chuck Washington, Riverside County 3rd District Supervisor presents former Temecula City Council member Maryann Edwards with a proclamation for her service to the city. Edwards received many gifts of recognition and speakers praising her 20 years of service to the city.

Community Outreach Ministry participated with a booth at Murrieta’s National Night Out, hosted by the Murrieta Police Department on Aug. 1. National Night Out focuses on creating safer communities and crime prevention awareness.

Assemblywoman Kate Sanchez recognizes Community Outreach Ministry as the 2023 Nonprofit of the Year. Valley News/Courtesy photos

Lake Elsinore motorcyclist killed in high-speed chase

Valley News Staff

A 22-year-old motorcyclist from Lake Elsinore was killed in a crash Sunday during a pursuit that ended in an Escondido neighborhood. The pursuit started about noon on Sunday after a California Highway Patrol deputy tried to pull over the motorcyclist for speeding on southbound I-15 near SR 76, according to Suzanne Baeder with the Escondido Police Department.

According to the Escondido Police Department news release, the chase involved multiple agencies in North County.

The motorcyclist led the CHP on the pursuit through Valley Center

on a yellow motorcycle. The high-speed pursuit then entered Escondido where officers lost the motorcycle for a short time.

After locating the motorcycle, the rider crashed into a car in the intersection of E. Washington and Harding St. Officers performed life-saving measures on the rider but the motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the vehicle was transported to a hospital for injuries sustained during the crash. The area remained closed for hours as police and CHP investigated. The name of the dead rider has not been released, pending notification of the family.

COMMUNITY from page A-1

contributed vital grant funding for the backyard transformation and essential supplies for Cameron’s home.

Shelby, Cameron’s mother, expressed her profound gratitude, saying, “Words fall short when I try to express the emotions this process has stirred within me. Some days it feels like a dream, while others, in the midst of life’s challenges, I am reminded of the incredible souls that have entered our lives. We are blessed beyond measure. To everyone who has

port to their desperate situations.

To learn more about the Mitchell

Foundation, visit www.

mitchellthorp.org. Submitted by the

A police chase with a motorcycle ended in a fatality Sunday afternoon. The chase started on I-15 near SR76, through Valley Center, and ended in an Escondido neighborhood. Valley News/Gilbert Gonzalez photo

Cameron assists in demolition of his bathroom.

Mitchell Thorp Foundation co-founder Beth Thorp visits project manager from Beach City Builders Inc. Chris Lord and workers during the project at Cameron’s home.

Family and volunteers pose for a group photo in front of Cameron’s home. joined our Tribe and is helping Cameron - thank you.” The Mitchell Thorp Foundation’s mission is to support fami-

lies whose children suffer from life-threatening illnesses, diseases, and disorders by providing financial, emotional, and resource sup-

Thorp

Mitchell Thorp Foundation.

Valley News/Courtesy photos

Why are parents fighting for policies

board meetings disagree and they are saying that their children are their responsibility, not the school or the state, and their domain, and if there is something going on with their child, they need to know about it so that they can help them, one way or another. Especially if that lifestyle has already proven to be potentially dangerous with high suicide rates, and permanent life-altering hormone blockers, surgery, castration, etc.

Julie Reeder

Publisher

As TVUSD and several individual school districts up and down the state pass parental notification policies, many may wonder why? Why, all of a sudden, it seems like, parents are fighting against the school, the teachers, the counselors, and the state? Especially when they hear and see that Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta are pounding their chests and threatening school districts?

Some school boards are trying to shore up parents’ ability to manage and nurture their own children. The state, the Governor, and people opposed to the parental notification believe that teachers and the state are safer and better to manage challenging situations like a student who is transitioning and identifying as the opposite sex, and are branding it as dangerously “outing” students to their families. Parents who are standing up at

This is in addition to fighting back against books they find sexually age-inappropriate and policies that sometimes even require lying to parents or hiding what their child is doing. Sacramento has been moving harder and faster to remove local control from school boards, silence parents who are considered “disruptive” at school board meetings, and override parental authority with authoritarianstyle state control.

California parents have been left shocked and distressed as new bills are pushed and passed in the state legislature and erode fundamental parental rights and undermine the sanctity of the family unit.

The mental health legislation passed earlier this year grants therapists the authority to remove children as young as 12 years old from their homes and place them in mental health facilities without obtaining parental consent and with no evidence of abuse at home. This alarming development has sparked a wave of concern among parents, advocates, and citizens alike, raising questions about the balance between state

like Parental Notification?

intervention and parental rights.

At the forefront of opposition to this mental health bill was Aaron Friday, a California mother, a Democrat, and prominent member of the parent advocacy group “Our Duty.” In her testimony before lawmakers, Friday highlighted the profound concerns surrounding the bill, emphasizing that it constitutes a direct infringement on parental rights.

The bill has ignited fears that parents’ role in raising their children would effectively be curtailed once their children reach the age of 12. This deeply troubling prospect has led some to dub the legislation the “state-sanctioned kidnapping bill.”

The crux of the issue lies in the fact that the bill allows school counselors to unilaterally make decisions that can have life-altering consequences for both the child and their family. It’s concerning that allegations of abuse or threats of severe harm are not prerequisites for such drastic actions to be taken. Rather, a child’s mere expression of their identity or situation could prompt their removal from their home environment.

Furthermore, critics of the bill have raised valid questions about the qualifications and motivations of school counselors entrusted with this power. The potential for these individuals to have varying levels of expertise and perspectives, combined with the lack of oversight in such cases, underscores the potential for abuse and misguided decision-making.

One of the central arguments

in favor of the bill’s introduction was to address the issue of suicide among young people. However, the data does not seem to support the efficacy of such measures. Originally proposed in 2010 with the aim of reducing suicide rates, the bill initially allowed 12-yearolds to access mental health counseling without parental consent.

Shockingly, the number of suicides among 10 to 14-year-olds has not decreased, and the rates of suicidality among individuals aged 15 to 25 have also risen. This track record raises concerns about the bill’s effectiveness and whether it truly addresses the root causes of mental health struggles.

Underlying this controversy is a broader concern about the shift in societal dynamics that seem to undermine parental rights. Some argue that this trend is indicative of a larger movement to erode the family unit and replace parental authority with that of the state. The motivations behind this trend remain a matter of speculation, but some voices have suggested that financial interests and societal norms around sexuality may be influencing these changes.

In a time when the importance of family and parental guidance cannot be understated, it is vital to approach legislation that impacts these dynamics with the utmost care and consideration. While the intention behind such bills may be well-meaning, the unintended consequences and potential infringement on individual rights cannot be overlooked.

As disc ussions surrounding these bills continue, it is impera-

COURTS & CRIMES

tive for policymakers, advocates, and concerned citizens to engage in thoughtful dialogue that balances the need to address mental health challenges of students with the preservation of parental rights, family integrity and Constitutional rights.

I think striking this delicate balance also requires an understanding of history and how governments in the past have taken over in place of the family. In the light of history and communism, socialism and authoritarianism, we need to listen carefully to the diverse perspectives and experiences of all parties involved.

And, we need to thoughtfully consider how and when the state imposes its authority over the rights of the individual and the family unit. We need to ensure that decisions are made in the best interest of the child while upholding the essential rights of their parents and also in the balance of upholding our Constitution.

The parents are the ones who know their child best, have their best interests at heart and are the ones responsible, ultimately, and will be there throughout the child’s life, no matter what choices the student makes. When all the counselors, teachers and politicians have gone home, the parents will still be there picking up whatever pieces are left.

I often hear that these “conservative” board members are trying to destroy public schools. Just the opposite. These parents are subjecting their own children to it because they believe in it and hope to better it.

Man charged with murder, attempted rape of 19-year-old Andrea Vasquez

Editorial Dept.

Valley News

A 20-year-old man pleaded not guilty Wednesday, Aug. 24, to murder and other charges stemming from the kidnapping and death of a young woman who was attacked at Penn Park in Whittier and whose body was found a day later in Moreno Valley, in Riverside County.

Gabriel Sean Esparza of Whittier is charged with one count each of murder, kidnapping to commit another crime, kidnapping and assault with intent to commit a felony, and two counts of attempted forcible rape — all involving Andrea Vazquez, along with an attempted murder charge involving the 19-year-old woman’s boyfriend.

The murder charges include the special circumstance allegations of murder during the commission of a kidnapping and murder during the commission of an attempted rape, which could make him eligible for a potential life prison sentence without the possibility of parole.

All seven charges include an allegation that Esparza personally used a rifle.

“Today was the beginning of fighting for justice for Andrea Vazquez — a beautiful 19-yearold daughter, sister, cousin, friend, girlfriend that was murdered by the person accused today in court,” said Moses Castillo, a retired Los Angeles Police Department detective who is representing the woman’s family.

He noted that the victim’s family met with Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman before the downtown Los Angeles court appearance and were advised that the charges included attempted rape, which he said “just ripped their hearts all over again.”

“I want justice for my daughter,” the victim’s mother, Ana, told reporters outside the courthouse. “She just started her life. I don’t think it’s fair that this happened…”

The woman’s sister, Edlyn, said she was “here to get justice for my sister and to be a voice for her.”

The family’s spokesperson said there is “no connection whatsoever between the accused killer and the victims, none whatsoever.”

Castillo said he wants the public to know that Vazquez’s boyfriend “is a true victim” and “is not anyone who was involved with this.”

“We’re just thankful that we don’t have two dead homicide victims. At least one is able to tell us the story as to what happened and for that we are thankful,” Castillo said.

Superior Court Judge Kimberley Baker Guillemet ordered Esparza to remain jailed without bail pending his next court appearance Oct. 25, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence for him to stand trial.

Esparza was arrested Monday afternoon at his workplace in Lakewood, the Whittier Police Department said Tuesday. Vazquez’s remains were found late Monday night in a Moreno Valley field.

Whittier police said they recovered a weapon believed to have been used in the crime, and Esparza’s vehicle, a 2013 White Toyota Tacoma truck, was also impounded.

According to police, the shooting occurred early Sunday morning, shortly after midnight, at the

parking stalls area of Penn Park at 13950 Penn Street in Whittier.

“An adult male witness reported that while at the park with an adult female companion, an armed suspect approached their vehicle and fired a weapon in their direction,” police said in a statement. “The male witness ran from the location and upon his return, discovered blood near his vehicle and his female companion was missing,” police said.

On Monday, police sought the public’s help to find Vazquez and then announced the arrest Tuesday afternoon.

“Throughout the investigation, an ongoing search for Andrea Vazquez took place in large open land areas of Moreno Valley,” police said.

“At 11:50 p.m. on Aug. 21, 2023, detectives located the body of Andrea Vazquez in a vegetation field off Alessandro Boulevard and Merwin Street in Moreno Valley,” police added. “At this time, it appears that Andrea Vazquez and her male companion were randomly

Valley News/Whittier Police photo targeted by the suspect at Penn Park.”

Anyone with information about the case was urged to call the Whittier Police tip line at 562567-9299.

Smugglers fire at Border Patrol agent disrupting smuggling attempt

OTAY MESA — U.S. Border Patrol agents were shot at recently while attempting to apprehend a group of suspected migrants illegally entering the United States. In another incident armed suspects were spotted operating in the border area.

“Smuggling organizations are becoming desperate and escalating their level of violence because of the work being performed by U.S. Border Patrol agents,” said San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Patricia McGurk-Daniel. “Our agents are preventing smugglers from conducting their illicit business and this is their very dangerous response. This callous display clearly shows that smugglers do not care about the safety of migrants or law enforcement.”

On Aug. 18, a Border Patrol Agent encountered a group of suspected migrants in the Otay Mountain Wilderness area. While attempting to apprehend the group an unidentified individual fired

multiple shots in the direction of the agent.

Additional agents responding to the area heard gunshots and observed muzzle flashes coming from the vicinity of the group. Moments later, agents heard a second volley of shots directed at them. The agents took cover as the group and the assailant returned to Mexico.

No agents were injured. The San Diego Sector Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC) was deployed to secure the area and to clear it of any suspects or weapons, however none were found.

On Aug. 22, U.S. National Guard personnel operating a mobile scope spotted an armed individual climb the international border fence in the Otay Mountain Wilderness area. A day later two armed subjects were observed in the same area. BORTAC agents responded and searched the areas with negative results. Border Patrol San Diego Sector is co -

ordinating with its foreign law enforcement partners and the government of Mexico to address these incidents.

“These incidents and individuals pose a significant danger to agents patrolling the area as well as migrants attempting to illegally enter,” said McGurk-Daniel emphasizes, “The safety of our agents, and the safety of migrants remains paramount. We remain vigilant in the face of escalating threats and danger, and we will work to identify and prosecute the responsible parties.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the comprehensive management, control, and protection of our nation’s borders, combining customs, immigration, border security, and agricultural protection at and between official ports of entry.

Andrea Vasquez, 19, was found in Moreno Valley after being kidnapped and killed. She was attacked at Penn Park in Whittier.

September 1 – 7, 2023

Western Science Center’s first PaleoCon stirs interest of many scientists and students from

across the nation

WSC is home to a large collection of Ice Age fossils that were unearthed at Diamond Valley Lake, including the largest mastodon found in the western United States.

Tony Ault Staff Writer

The Western Science Center celebrated its first PaleoCon Conference with paleontologists and students from across the country in conjunction with the opening of its newest exhibit “Beyond the Barstow” Saturday, Aug. 26.

The special dual event took place at the Western Science Center, located at 2345 Searl St. with a reception held on Friday, Aug. 25 for the many paleontologists and scientists visiting from as far away as Maryland for an intensive week of studying WSC’s vast collections of fossils from the Ice Age and before, with an emphasis on the loaned collection of fossils from the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology in Claremont, some dating as far back as 16 million years ago.

“When you go in here,” said WSC paleontologist Dr. Alton Dooley, while introducing the new Beyond the Barstow exhibit, “is to [step into the] slice of time from the Barstovian Age (in San Bernardino County) from 16 to 13 million years ago.” He explained the new exhibit features fossils and 3D fossil models from nine different museums across the country.

“There are a lot of unique animals that lived in the United States during that time, and we want guests to be able to take a paleontological tour of the country during the Barstovian period through this exhibit,” he suggested.

The new exhibit took nearly 2 years to complete and will be open for public viewing from the next few months.

Then on Saturday, Aug. 26, the public along with many students from the Hemet Unified School District were invited to join in the experience and fun of the first PaleoCon which had the visiting paleontologists and others from that field of science to personally visit and talk with them, and view some fossil displays.

The participating PaleoCon researchers include Brian Beatty (New York Institute of Technology), Charlotte Hohman (Cape Cod National Seashore), Melissa Macias (Applied Earthworks, Inc.)

Anthony J. Martin (Emory University), Bernard Means (Virginia Commonwealth University), Christina Olson (Georgia Southern University), Melissa Pardi (Illinois State Museum), Eric Scott (Cogstone Resource Management), Kathlyn Smith (Georgia Southern University), Kathleen Springer (United States Geological Survey), Meagan Weatherall (University of Arizona), and Connor White (East Tennessee State University).

Paleoartist Corbin Rainbolt was

in attendance and provided

also

Valley News/Adobe Stock image

A painting of a Mastodon in the Beyond the Barstow exhibit greets visitors to the Western Science Center museum’s latest educational fossils exhibit of animals that lived in America from 16 to 13 million years ago. Valley News/Tony Ault photos

WSC Paleontologist Dr. Anton Dooley speaks with a student paleontologist at the museum’s latest Beyond the Bastow exhibit opening. Painting of a camel type animal that lived millions of years ago seen at the exhibit.

Fossils of the camel type creature on display at the latest WSC paleontological museum exhibit in Hemet at 2345 Searl St.

Young student looks over the prehistoric animal chart at the newest WSC exhibit to see if his plastic 3D made animal is a match for the prehistoric animal on the chart.

The fossil find information at the Beyond the Barstow WSC exhibit also provides other information about the prehistoric animal fossils found in Virginia and other states in our nation.

Fossil time chart hangs on the wall in the new Beyond the Barstow exhibit and the WSC museum. see PALEOCON, page B-4

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO DO?

Concerts, Foodie events, Fall Festival, Cornhole Tournament, Handcraft vendor fair!

To submit an upcoming community event, email it to valleyeditor@reedermedia.com, put “attention events” in the subject line.

COMMUNITY EVENTS

Aug. 30 – 6 p.m. San Jacinto’s last Kool Summer Nights concert with a local band, vendors and a beer and wine garden at the Estudillo Mansion, 150 Dillion Ave, in San Jacinto.

Sept 1 – 6 - 9 p.m. Menifee

Foodie Friday, San Jacinto College campus, 28237 La Piedra Road, Menifee

Sept. 2 - 5 - 9 p.m. Mars by Mya presents the Fall Festival at Vail HQ, 32115 Temecula Parkway, Temecula.Guests can find a variety of food and craft vendors from all throughout Southern California all while enjoying live performances from local artists. Join us to enjoy family friendly activities and a petting zoo. Free entry!

Sept. 8 - 3 to 8 p.m. – Temecula Chamber of Commerce presents the Valley Young Professionals Cornhole Tournament to fundraise and support the Valley Young Professionals at Vail HQ, 32115 Temecula Parkway, Temecula. Enjoy some food, beverages, prizes, entertainment, and friendly competition! Register at Valley Young Professionals - 11th Annual Cornhole Tournament - Temecula Valley Chamber of Commerce

Sept. 9 – 5 - 9 p.m. Lake Menifee’s Woman’s Club 12th Annual

PURSuing Purpose Charity Gala at Fairfield Inn Suites, 30140 Town Center Drive, Menifee. Tickets $75 includes food and beverage. More info at https://www.joinlmwc.org/

Sept. 10 - 12 to 5 p.m. – SoCal

Made with Love Market hosting their first ever handcrafted vendor market at Vail HQ in Temecula, 32115 Temecula Parkway, Temecula. Hosts Erin and Michelle set out to host family friendly markets with a broad assortment of small business vendors for the community, local petting zoo/pony rides for the children with a DJ and 30 amazing small businesses!

Sept. 16 – 7 - 10 a.m. Wildomar

National Clean-up day begins at the Wildomar Elks Lodge, 33700 Mission Trail. Picking up litter, weeds, graffiti and other trash throughout the city. Join with other Beautification Volunteers for the event.

Sept. 17 - 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Historical Society Event by the Temecula Valley Historical Society event with multiple levels of interpretation of past people and events of the Vail HQ property, 32115 Temecula Parkway, Temecula. Many of the Temecula Valley Historical Society will be in historical costumes and will depict past people and events from the past to celebrate the designation of Vail Headquarters, and the Overland Butterfield National Historic Trail as a National Historic Site. There will be activities for everyone to enjoy!

Sept. 20 - 1-5 p.m. MilVet

Grand Opening Celebration, 33040 Antelope Road, Murrieta. Snacks, drinks, photos, raffles, fun and more. MilVet.org

Sept. 22 - 5 to 7:30 p.m. Temecula Valley Youth Symphony Performance. 100+ guests expected at the Vail HQ, 32115 Temecula Parkway, Temecula

Sept. 24 – 8 a.m. begin registration for City of Temecula Hosts Annual F.I.T. Fun Color Run at Ronald Reagan Sports Park, 30875 Rancho Vista Road. Be ready to get splashes of color at color stations along the way. Children’s obstacle course. A health focused community event Participants can pre-register online at TemeculaCA. gov/ColorRun to save time on race day!

ONGOING – Riverside Transportation Commission is offering Park and Ride lots to connect with carpools, vanpools and transit systems in Beaumont at 600 E. Sixth Street in San Jacinto; at 501 S. San Jacinto Avenue and in Temecula at Grace Presbyterian Church, 31143 Nicolas Road, open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. but not on weekends.

ONGOING – Line dancing classes are held Wednesdays from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at Lake Elsinore/ Wildomar Elks Lodge, 33700 Mission Trail, in Wildomar across from the Animal Friends of the Valleys. Classes have a DJ with learning levels beginning to intermediate. Have fun and exercise at the same time at $5 per lesson. Contact Joyce Hohenadl at 951-674-2159

ONGOING – Sun City Civic Association Monthly Square Dance sessions are held Sundays from 1:30-5 p.m. at 26850 Sun City Boulevard.

ONGOING – If you know a homebound older adult, resources

Crossword Puzzle

org/military-care-packages.

in Menifee are available, including grab-and-go, cooked and frozen food for pickup. Courtesy pantry items and meals delivered with no contact. Three days of emergency food can be delivered immediately or restaurant meal delivery for those who don’t qualify for food assistance programs. Call the California Department on Aging at 800-510-2020 for help.

ONGOING – The Riverside County COVID-19 Business Assistance Grant Program is accepting online applications for business grants up to $10,000 at http://www.rivercobizhelp.org that can be used for employee retention, working capital, personal protective equipment purchases, rent or mortgage payments and paying vendor notices. Eligible businesses, including nonprofits, must be in Riverside County, with a minimum of one but less than 50 employees and operating for at least one year since March 1. For more information, call Riverside County Business and Community Services at 951-955-0493.

ONGOING – 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The Temecula Winchester Swap Meet continues, 33280 Newport Road in Winchester. Saturdays and Sundays only. The small local swap meet is only 50 cents for entry, and anyone under age 10 is free admission. No dogs allowed.

ONGOING – 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Every Sunday, Murrieta Village Walk Farmers Market is at Village Walk Place in Murrieta. The Sunday morning farmers market at Village Walk Plaza is a place to buy fruits and veggies, gourmet food and crafts. Come to the center in the northwest corner of Kalmia/ Cal Oaks at the Interstate 215 exit in Murrieta.

ONGOING – Temecula’s Farmers Markets are offered in Old Town Temecula Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to noon, 4100 Main Street in Temecula; at Promenade Temecula, 40640 Winchester Road, outside JCPenney every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and at Vail Headquarters, 32115 Temecula Parkway, every Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. In compliance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Riverside County Public Health orders, the farmers markets will be restricted to agriculture products only. Follow the Old Town Temecula Farmers Market on Facebook to stay

Theme: Health & Fitness

updated. No pets allowed.

WORKSHOPS, MEETINGS, NOTICES

Aug. 30 – 10-11 a.m. Temecula’s Senior Health & Safety Resource Forum with Riverside Third District Supervisor Chuck Washington and Temecula Mayor Zak Schwank at theTemecula Community Center. 28816 Pujol Street.This free forum will cover budget-friendly emergency preparedness, healthy aging, and wellness. Attendees will receive a free first aid kit and mini phone charger (one per household, while supplies last). Hear from service providers like Temecula Citizen Corps, Temecula’s Office of Emergency Management, HICAP,CARE Team, Riverside County Environmental Health, RUHS, Public Authority, Office on Aging, and IEHP.

Sept. 1 – STAT Horse Sanctuary in Winchester is cooperating with Dan’s Feed and Seed to help provide 200 bags per month of Red Tag alfalfa/bermuda feed costing $15.95 per bag to feed the horses at the sanctuary. Anyone can help by purchasing some bags for STAT by calling Dan’s Feed at 951-6764040 to donate the RED Tag feed to STAT located at 31530 Scott Road in Winchester. STAT is totally supported by Donations and Staffed by Volunteers. For information see stathorsesanctuary.org

Sept. 16 – 6 p.m. Breaking the Chains and Evening Under the Stars. A fundraiser for an animal rescue team in the war torn country of Ukraine will be held at a private Wine Country estate. There will be a $75 per person donation with dinner,cocktails, a special auction and a presentation byu Tom S-N Founder of Breaking the Chains. A $1,000 donation by Sept. 6 warrants a private cocktail meet and greet with Tom. For tickets and donations see breakingthe chainsinternational.org.

Sept. 16 – 12- 1 p.m., Nomads and Neighbors Market Free family and pet friendly event! Vail HQ, 32115 Temecula Parkway, Temecula. Shop Local Small Businesses. Live Music, brewery Bar & eateries, Yard games/ cornhole, face painting, petting zoo, train rides and photo ops

Sept. 22 – 5-8 p.m. Menifee

Multicultural – Art-A-Faire at Kay Ceniceros Senior Center, 29995 Evans Road, Menifee

ONGOING– Want to help deployed American troops remotely? Help shop for the most needed items without leaving home as an easy way to help support deployed men and women by purchasing items remotely and having them delivered to MilVet at designated drop-off locations for packing. All items on the list are special requests from deployed military men and women. MilVet is a nonprofit organization that holds monthly packaging events at different community locations in the area. For drop-off locations and packaging locations, visit http://www.milvet.

ONGOING – Multiple Sclerosis Support Group Meeting meets the third Monday of each month at the Mary Phillips Senior Center, 41845 Sixth Street, in Temecula from 10 a.m. to noon. For more information, email gaugustin206@ gmail.com or join the meeting.

ONGOING – Sons of Norway/ Scandinavia meets at noon the first Saturday of every month, September to June, at the Heritage Mobile Park Clubhouse, 31130 S. General Kearny Road, in Temecula.

ONGOING – Menifee Community Services offers online driver’s education courses for a $21.95 fee. The course includes animated driving scenarios, instructional videos, sample tests, licensed instructor available to answer questions, DMV-approved certificate of completion with all lectures and exams completed from home. Designed for students and does not include behind-the-wheel instruction or a California driver’s permit. Contact 951-723-3880 or visit the city of Menifee to register at http://www. city of menifee.us.

ONGOING – 10-11:30 a.m. Michelle’s Place Cancer Resource Center and The Elizabeth Hospice host a virtual support meeting for caregivers every second and fourth week of the month via Zoom. Get helpful tips and learn from others who are also dealing with similar challenges. For more information and to register, contact The Elizabeth Hospice Grief Support Services at 833-349-2054.

ONGOING – Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous, a free 12step recovery program for anyone suffering from food obsession, overeating, undereating or bulimia, has meetings throughout the U.S. and the world. Contact 781-9326300, or for local meetings, call 925-321-0170 or visit http://www. foodaddicts.org.

ONGOING – The Murrieta Garden Club meets each month at the Murrieta Community Center, 41810 Juniper St. Anyone who likes to garden or is interested in plants is welcome. Membership is $10 per year. Find more information about the monthly event or project on Facebook.

ONGOING – Temecula Valley Rose Society meets each month. For more information and new meeting dates and places, visit http://www.temeculavalleyrosesociety.org.

ONGOING – Menifee Toastmasters meets every Thursday at noon for one hour at a designated place to have fun, enhance speaking capabilities, gain self-confidence and improve social skills. For new dates, call 760-807-1323 or visit http://www.MenifeeToastmasters.org for more information.

ONGOING – Homeless veterans can receive free help by dialing 877-424-3838 for 24/7 access to the VA’s services for homeless, at-risk veterans. Chat is confidential for veterans and friends. Visit http://www.va.gov/homeless.

Maui Jam Benefit Concert at South Coast Winery to support residents of Maui

Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna

Special to the Valley News

Michael Paulo will be hosting Jam for Maui, a special benefit concert on Sunday, Sept. 10 with proceeds assisting Maui and its residents after the devastating fire which destroyed the town of Lahaina while claiming multiple lives and homes. Join Paulo and over 20 artists and musicians performing to show their support in helping Maui at South Coast Winery and Spa in Temecula, CA.

https://lnkd.in/g4z7WFyW

Paulo along with performers such as Larry Braggs (formerly with Tower of Power), Alex Ligertwood (former lead singer with Santana and Average White Band) vocalists Lindsey Webster, Darryl Walker, Guitarists Paul Brown, Blake Aaron, Keyboardists Greg Manning, David Garfield, Ming Freeman, saxman Will Donato, Hawaiian artist Bucci Canencia, Violinist Diego Mondragon, percussionist Ramon Yslas, Scott Wilkie, bassist Darryl Williams, Kenny Wild, and additional surprise guests. A special request from Michael: “To all my family and friends, our

hearts go out to the people of Maui and condolences to those that lost loved ones. Being from Hawaii I am devastated by what happened. Please remember them in your prayers and do what you can to help. Please support our endeavors if you can.”

All fundraising proceeds from ticket sales and live and silent auction activities go to the Maui Strong Fund supporting charities for fire disaster relief, Hawaii Community Foundation. More information about the organization can be found at https://www hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/ maui-

Showtime is 7 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 10. Tickets can be purchased at https://www.tix.com/ ticket-sales/apaulomusic/2914/ event/1324324. South Coast Winery Resort & Spa is located at 34843 Rancho California Road in Temecula.

Sam DiGiovanna is a 35-year fire service veteran. He started with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, served as fire chief at the Monrovia Fire Department and currently serves as chief at the Verdugo Fire Academy in Glendale.

Pala Casino Spa Resort hosts Labor Day party

Promotions to include $10,000 giveaway, free outdoor concert, and point multipliers

PALA – Pala Casino Spa Resort is excited to announce Labor Day promotions taking place on Sunday, Sept. 3 and Monday, Sept. 4, including a $10,000 Hot Seat promotion, a free outdoor concert for Privileges Club members and hotel guests, and point multipliers on slot play.

The $10,000 Hot Seat giveaway will take place on Sunday, Sept. 3. $100 in Added Play will be given away every ten minutes to lucky slot and table game players, from 9 a.m. through 10 p.m..

Privileges Club members and hotel guests can enjoy a free out-

door concert on Sept. 3 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Starlight Theater. The concert will start with a performance by Grand Sonic Theory from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Tre’sure will then perform from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., followed by Pulp Vixen from 5 to 6 p.m. Concessions will be available for purchase. There will be a $15 admission charge for non-cardholders. Hotel guests can also enjoy the concert from the pool area. On Monday, Sept. 4 from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. the Labor Day party will continue with point multipliers all afternoon and evening. From 3 to

5 p.m. there will be 2x point multipliers, from 6 to 8 p.m. there will be 3x point multipliers, and from 9 to 10 p.m. there will be 4x point multipliers on all slot machines, excluding video poker, slots, and e-table games. “Pala Casino will be full of action this Labor Day weekend,” said Coley McAvoy, Pala Casino Spa Golf Resort spokesperson. “Between our $100 Added Play Hot Seats, our free concert, and our point multipliers, we’re offering fun and excitement for everyone who visits.”

Pala Casino Spa Resort offers

live indoor and outdoor entertainment. Learn more about upcoming events and promotions at Pala Casino Spa Resort by visiting: www. palacasino.com.

About Pala Casino Spa Resort

As SoCal’s Entertainment Capital, Pala Casino Spa Resort includes a Las Vegas-style casino including an expansive gaming floor with over 2,000 slot and video machines, 78 table games, 9 restaurants, two lounges, 2,000seat Pala Events Center, outdoor Starlight Theater and luxury hotel; five swimming pools with two hot tubs and 14 luxury cabanas.

Pala Casino’s wide variety of HD premium sporting events enhance an exciting collection of live bands daily at both indoor and outdoor venues. Pala Casino Spa & Resort is an AAA Four-Diamond Award winner for 15 consecutive years. Pala Casino is conveniently located off 1-5 and Highway 76 and is easily accessible from all counties in Southern California. For more information, visit www.palacasino.com, www.facebook.com/palacasino, or www. twitter.com/palacasino. Submitted by Pala Casino Spa & Resort.

Music Society Season Opener Take3 fused Bach with classic rock, pop and Moon River

Publisher

The Fallbrook Music Society opened their 46th Season Sunday, Aug. 27 with the female music trio Take3 to a full crowd in the Mission Theater. The classically trained performers were combining their rock star charisma in sequin outfits playing Bach and Beethoven, fused with classic rock, pop and favorites such as Moon River and songs from West Side Story. Their tagline “Where rock meets Bach” was a fitting description. The crowd responded to their performance with rapturous applause and a standing ovation.

Violinist Lindsay Deutsch, who also provided a fun stage presence, said that the Mission Theater is one of their favorite venues and they were looking forward to returning in the future. The pianist Alexa Constatine complimented the piano saying it was a pleasure to play. The third musician was Mikala Schmitz on cello. All the ladies had quite a stage presence, mixing their arousing and melodic pieces with some light comedy

and storytelling.

Most of the Music Society concerts will be held this season at the 300-seat historical Mission Theater in downtown Fallbrook, which provides the community with a live performance stage as well as a movie theater. It’s an intimate setting where every seat in the house is good.

When Lindsay Deutsch isn’t performing for the Fallbrook Music Society or on a cruise ship, she is touring with Yanni as the featured violin soloist on nearly every continent.

While Take3 was performing on an Iceland cruise, they ran into Bonsall resident Jeannie Miller. She said they were so well received on the cruise that word spread quickly and their remaining shows were full. While in conversation with Take3 on the cruise, Jeannie figured out that they would be coming to Fallbrook and she committed to attending the performance. They called for her in the crowd and she stood up.

One of the last pieces performed was from Schindler’s List. Deutsch explained that she also

performs with a group Violins of Hope.

Violins of Hope was started by Amnon Weinstein, who first encountered a violin from the Holocaust over 50 years ago as a young violin maker in Israel. Someone brought him an old instrument in terrible condition and wanted it restored. The man once played the violin on the way to the gas chamber, but he survived because the Germans needed him for their death camp orchestra. He hadn’t played it since.

Weinstein began restoring violins saved from the Holocaust and now has restored dozens of instruments for a Violins of Hope display. Violins of Hope is also a project of concerts based on this private collection of violins, violas and cellos, all collected since the end of World War 2. Take3 violinist Lindsay Deutsch has played with them twice so far. No doubt Take3 will return to Fallbrook in the future.

For the remainder of the Fallbrook Music Society season, the upcoming shows include: Santa Barbara Trio, September 24 at 2 p.m.

Rastrelli Cello Quartet, October 22 at 2 p.m.

YU&I, November 12 at 2 p.m.

Scott Wilkie Quartet “JOY”

Christmas Concert, December 3 at 2 p.m.

“BACH TO BEATLES”, January 21, 2024 at 2 p.m. Quarteto Nuevo, February 18, 2024 at 2 p.m.

Redlands Symphony – Vivaldi’s Four Seasons – Piazzolla/Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, April 7, 2024 at 2 p.m.

The Fallbrook Music Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides local residents the highest level of classically trained performers through a series of local concerts that are free or a nominal fee of $20.

Movie review: ‘Blue Beetle’ gets a ‘B’ but has heart

Special to the Valley News

Having seen the best (“The Dark Knight,” “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”) and worst (“Morbius,” “Fant4stic”) of what the modern superhero genre has to offer, I can report that “Blue Beetle” falls right smack in the middle of the spectrum. It would be easy to write off this movie’s staggering averageness with a wide-brush line like “not a classic, not a disaster,” but I feel the need to stress the degree to which this movie is right on par. It isn’t so much that it’s dull or that I didn’t care about it, because that would be the mark of a bad superhero movie. It’s that the movie manages the curious feat of having just enough of a unique identity for me to recommend it with a bare minimum of passion.

Our hero is Jamie Reyes (Xolo Maridueña), a smart, resourceful recent college graduate. He’s happy to be back in his hometown of Palmera City with his family, including his mother Rocio (Elpidia Carillo), father Alberto (Damián Alcázar), sister Milagro (Belissa Escobedo), Nana (Adriana Barraza), and crazy uncle Rudy (George Lopez). But he’s less happy to hear that his family has fallen on hard times and is about to lose the house. He vows to help them out financially. A cleaning gig at the home of wealthy industrialist Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon) goes badly, but

he does make an impression on Victoria’s niece Jenny (Bruna Marquezine), who half-heartedly invites him to apply for a job at corporate headquarters the next day. When he gets there, a skittish Jenny tells him to flee with a mysterious box, keep it safe and hidden, and above all, not open it. It’s maybe an hour before he opens the box in front of his family.

Inside the box is The Scarab, an alien artifact that immediately attaches itself to Jamie and causes him to develop a metallic skin, destroy most of the house, and rocket into outer space. Eventually Jamie figures out that he’s inside a super-suit that is certainly dangerous in his hands, but even more dangerous in the hands of the military or evildoers like Victoria or her mechanized henchman Carapax (Raoul Max Trujillo). He seeks out Jenny for help getting the Scarab out of his system, and she takes him to the hidden lair of her long-missing father, who was secretly a low-level superhero called Blue Beetle. Jamie and his family use some of Blue Beetle’s tech and resources, though I don’t believe Jamie ever officially takes on the name himself. Whatever, fans are going to call the Jamie “Blue Beetle” going forward no matter what.

Story-wise, it’s not hard to see the inspirations for “Blue Beetle.” The main character gets his powers from a bug at a corporate building like Spider-

Man, he’s inside of a metal suit like Iron Man, he has a testy relationship with the symbiote (voiced by Becky G) attached to his body like Venom, some of his powers are imaginationbased like Green Lantern, he hides out in an armory beneath a mansion like Batman, and I’m sure I’m missing several others. Maybe Blue Beetle’s real superpower is that he can amalgamate every other superhero movie. And yet, “Blue Beetle” compensates for this lack of originality with a healthy dose of heart. Not too much heart, characters like Jamie and Jenny are likeable enough, but they’re pretty standard as far as superhero leads go. But there is an undeniable charm to the Reyes family, and it’s hard not to be swept up in their chemistry and care for each other. Then again, this movie isn’t much different than dozens of other superhero movies, and it’s not like most of them don’t have likeable characters too. I was going to give this movie a non-recommendation grade of C for being too bland, but then Nana showed up and saved the day. If you see the movie, you’ll understand why I had to bump the grade up to a B- just for her.

Grade: B“Blue Beetle” is rated PG-13 for sequences of action and violence, language, and some suggestive references. Its running time is 127 minutes. Contact Bob Garver at rrg251@ nyu.edu

In addition to providing local residents with high quality public concerts, Fallbrook Music Society also considers an important part of their mission to inspire and enrich the lives of every child in the community through access to high quality music appreciation and education. They are the only organization in rural North San Diego County that fulfills unmet musical cultural needs, reaching area residents and students of all socio-economic, ethnic and educational backgrounds with high-quality music and music education.For information on upcoming performances, go to FallbrookMusicSociety.org.

Julie Reeder

Valley News/Fallbrook Music Society photos

TAKE3 performs at the Mission Theater in Fallbrook, Sunday, Aug. 27.

Bob Garver

Bell Mountain Middle school students reach across the ocean to offer encouragement to fire victims in Maui

MENIFEE - Students at Bell Mountain Middle School are showing their support for victims of the Lahaina fire in Maui by creating cards of encouragement.

Led by the school administration, Associated Student Body (ASB) leadership, and Where Everyone Belongs (WEB) leadership, BMMS students moved quickly to comfort and support those affected by the tragedy.

With such a catastrophic event in Maui, many students asked, “What can we do?” Assistant Principal Libolt had contacted a fellow educator, Ned Hocking, at Maui Waena Intermediate School and talked to him about the impact of the fire on their school. It was clear that, beyond emergency supplies, the students in Maui could use some emotional support as well.

BMMS students immediately began making cards with words of encouragement. They were provided with sample messaging but encouraged to express themselves with their own words as well. While working on each card, the students talked about how this activity also helped them process such a tragedy. They expressed deep sympathy by writing messages such as “With every storm there is a rainbow”, “Hugs from the mainland”, and “Braver than you believe, stronger than you seem.”

Superintendent Root shared, “Fostering empathy is a cornerstone of our Student Success Profile. Without a doubt, our students are living this value and uplifting the spirits of Maui residents during a crucial period.”

Further, and in proper partnership form, the Rotary Club of Menifee helped cover the costs of mailing the cards. The cards arrived on August 23, 2023. Hocking expressed gratitude to Bell Mountain Middle School Students by writing “MAHALO NUI LOA to all at Bell Mountain Middle School. Maui strong!”

After spending time with the BMMS students, Kyle Root, a MUSD board trustee and fire captain, shared “It is heartwarming to see our students at BMMS make a difference even if we are thousands of miles away. We hope these cards bring light into their lives during this difficult time.”

Submitted by Menifee Union School District.

[Right] Each card included a unique message of sympathy and support.

PALEOCON from page B-1

artwork for the exhibit.

PaleoCon not only featured presentations by scientists, but also had a paleoart workshop with artist Corbin Rainbolt and a science-inspired poetry reading by Christina Olson.

Rainbolt paleo artwork is featured throughout the exhibit, providing visual scenes from the Barstow and Beyond time with prehistoric camels and other animals that once roamed the area. He joined the PaleoCon exhibitors at

the event.

The PaleoCon reception and event was sponsored by Hemet Unified School District, Jersey Mike’s, Lemongrass Asian Cuisine, Dattilo Ristorante Italiano, and Milano’s Pizza and Italian Restaurant, as well as supported by grants from Riverside County 3rd District Supervisor Chuck Washington and Riverside County 5th District Supervisor Yxstian Gutierrez.

Tony Ault can be reached at tault@reedermedia.com.

The back-to-school season can be an exciting time for children as they prepare to see their classmates again, meet their teachers, and explore new subjects. For youth in foster care, however, starting a new school year can sometimes feel scary and challenging because they tend to face uncertainty and instability, often feeling unprepared for returning to school. Many frequently change homes and schools and lack role models that are equipped to help them navigate their academic life, according to CASA advocates.

Children in foster care are also more likely to qualify for special education services or disability accommodations than their typically situated peers. According to the National Foster Youth Institute, only 50 percent of youth in foster care finish high school nationally, and high school dropout rates are three times higher for foster youth than other at-risk children. For children grappling with the trauma of being removed from their homes and facing a school change due to a move or new placement, the work of a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer can be a vital lifeline.

Voices for Children recruits and trains caring volunteers, known as Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs), to provide supportive services for youth in foster care, and more advocates are needed, especially male and bilingual volunteers. The organization advocates for nearly 2,300 youth in foster care between San Diego & Riverside Counties, yet new children come into foster care every day. As children in foster care return to school, having a

consistent adult to advocate for their best interests as a CASA is more crucial than ever Youth in foster care need supportive adults to help them achieve their educational goals, and CASA volunteers are uniquely positioned to do just that. When paired with a CASA, children are more likely to perform well academically and behaviorally in school and receive needed resources. CASAs attend school meetings, facilitate participation in extracurricular activities, and advocate for children to receive tutoring, special education services if needed, and support for other unmet needs such as access to required technologies. Many CASAs hold educational rights for their assigned child, which means they serve as the point-person for the youth’s academic needs.

CASA Nancy Olsen became a CASA in 2022, advocating for her case youth struggling in school and in a new foster home in Riverside County. Holding educational rights as a CASA, Olsen has focused on motivating her case youth, as she is a bright girl who performs excellently in her classes when she tries. CASA Olsen has also worked hand in hand with her school counselor and therapist, ensuring she has access to additional accommodations to reduce her anxiety and help her focus in a learning environment. Together, they identified a certified therapist specializing in eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) psychotherapy for her mental health. They are also looking to have her participate in the Transitional Age Youth (TAY) Program. As the new school year begins, CASA Olsen is working

to ensure her case youth has the individualized support she needs to thrive academically.

“As a CASA with educational rights, I do not leave any stone unturned to try to find answers for my case child and help [her] succeed,” Olsen said.

To support the children and youth we serve as they navigate the new school year, Voices for Children invites you to:

Volunteer: Serving as a CASA volunteer can be a rewarding way to give back to the community and help foster youth succeed in school and life. Sign up for a volunteer information session at speakupnow.org.

Spread the Word: VFC is always looking for potential CASA volunteers. Book a speaker at your organization or display our volunteer drive flier in your breakroom. You can also Recommend a CASA at https://www.speakupnow.org/ recommend.

Donate Funds: As a nonprofit organization, VFC raises every dollar needed to train and support CASA volunteers for children in the foster care system. Your gift can help change a life.

Make a referral: Anyone in a child’s life can make a referral for a CASA volunteer at https://www. speakupnow.org/recommend. If you are an educator working with a child in foster care in need of additional advocacy, call (858) 569-2019 in San Diego County or (951) 472-9301 in Riverside County for assistance.

For more information, visit speakupnow.org.

Submitted by Voices for Children.

Students Andrew Romero and Kody Nowling create cards for students impacted by the Lahaina Fire. Valley News/Courtesy photos

Students Isabella Sparks, Rylie Stutler, and Journee Lawe were excited for the opportunity to show their support for students of Maui Waena Intermediate.

Steps to take following a high blood pressure diagnosis

Valley News Staff

There are many actions that can be taken following a high blood pressure diagnosis. Hypertension, characterized by abnormally high blood pressure, is a more prevalent issue than often acknowledged. According to a 2021 report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, nearly 116 million individuals, roughly half of American adults, suffer from hypertension. This problem isn’t confined to the U.S., as per the World Health Organization, the global count of individuals with hypertension has surged to 1.28 billion since 1990.

Despite its widespread occurrence, hypertension is not a normal state and warrants serious attention. The American Heart Association (AHA) underscores that if left unaddressed or uncontrolled, hypertension can give rise to various severe and potentially fatal conditions, including heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, and kidney diseases.

Considering the considerable risks posed by high blood pressure, it’s crucial for individuals t o understand the appropriate steps to take upon receiving a hypertension diagnosis. There are several strategies, including

those suggested by the AHA for people who have been diagnosed with hypertension to bring their blood pressure levels back to a healthy range. Embrace a nutritious, lowsalt diet: Prioritize wholesome nutrition by reducing sugar and processed foods. Opt for a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy products, lean meats, poultry, fish, nuts, legumes, and healthy oils like avocado oil and olive oil. These dietary choices ensure essential nutrients are derived from healthful sources. Address nutrient deficiencies: Correct any deficiencies in potassium, vitamin E (tocotrienols), and Niacin (Vitamin B3), as they can contribute to elevated blood pressure. Consider substitutes like NU-SALT for potassium and incorporate vitamin-rich foods into your diet. Limit red meat and added sugars: Reduce consumption of red meat and foods containing added sugars, including sweets and sugary beverages.

E xplore intermittent fasting: Discuss intermittent fasting with your doctor, which involves restricting eating to a 6 to 8 hour w indow during the day. This approach can promote overall health.

Moderate alcohol consumption: Avoid excessive alcohol intake, which can elevate blood pressure. Contrary to popular beliefs, there’s no conclusive evidence that red wine benefits heart health. Consume alcohol in moderation, adhering to the AHA’s guidelines.

Engage in regular exercise: Establish a routine exercise regimen to improve heart health and control high blood pressure. If new to physical activity, collaborate with a physician and personal trainer to design a suitable exercise plan.

Manage stress: Routine exercise aids in stress reduction, a vital component in lowering blood pressure. Incorporate stress-reduction techniques into your routine.

Achieve a healthy weight: Embrace the above strategies to help shed excess weight. Even a modest weight loss of 10 pounds can contribute to managing high blood pressure and reducing strain on the heart. With over 1.2 billion individuals worldwide affected by high blood pressure, taking proactive steps to manage hypertension is a significant stride toward longterm well-being and combatting this often silent threat.

Antidepressant Tianeptine can be dangerous at high doses

by French medical professionals in the 1960s. It has effects that go beyond elevating mood, despite being added to antidepressants by doctors all over the world. It is thought to produce a morphinelike state of consciousness making users feel at ease and content, which contributes to the drug’s addictiveness.

Nearly three million Americans suffer from opioid addiction, including morphine, according to the National Library of Medicine.

In the United States, tianeptine is not an approved medication. Tianeptine was found and patented

One of the reasons Tianeptine is so popular is because it binds to the same brain receptors that opioids

do and frequently has a similar effect. But because the drug’s effects don’t last long in the body, users start abusing it more frequently and in larger doses. Users may quickly enter a severe downward cycle that necessitates increasing use. This spiral makes it almost impossible to stop using the drug when withdrawal symptoms outweigh the desire to do so. Overuse has been linked to numerous illnesses and even fatalities. In the end, respiratory depression, which happens when breathing slows to the point of being ineffective, was what led to the

Temecula Help Center rebrands to Temecula Resource Center

TEMECULA – The City of Temecula’s Help Center is officially rebranding to the Temecula Resource Center.

In July 2018, the City repurposed an underutilized facility to create an accessible center to connect atrisk individuals with resources to increase stability and resiliency. Originally named the Temecula Help Center, the rebranding of this facility to the Temecula Resource Center will not affect any of the services. This new facility name provides a more accurate representation of what is provided here.

The staff at the Temecula Resource Center ensure that the most at-risk and underserved populations within the City of Temecula are connected to resources and services that improve the safety, health, and quality of life, while increasing the likelihood of success for those in need and their entire family.

The following resources are offered at the Temecula Resource Center:

• Case Management

• Outreach & In-Reach Events

Temecula Resource Center is located at 28922 Pujol Street in Temecula. Valley News/Courtesy photo

• Limited Financial Assistance

• Life Skills Classes

• Computer Access

• Hygiene Supplies

For more information on the services and offerings at the Temecula Resource Center, please visit TemeculaCA.gov/homeless.

Temecula Resource Center is

located at 28922 Pujol Street in Temecula and is open by appointment only. Please call (951) 2404242 or email homelessoutreach@ temeculaca.gov for help or more information.

Submitted by Temecula Resource Center.

majority of these fatalities. Users of Tianeptine who are hospitalized show signs of opioid withdrawal, such as a slowing of the heartbeat and severe agitation.

A Tianeptine overdose has been successfully treated using Narcan, a fast-acting injectable commonly used to reverse opioid overdose symptoms. By enacting Public Act 107 in 2018, which added Tianeptine to its list of prohibited substances, Michigan took the lead in the fight for Tianeptine regulation. Since then, several states have done the same, including Alabama, Tennessee, Minnesota, and Georgia. The drug has been taken in combination with other drugs by those who have used it. According to the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC) investigation, some people using Tianeptine also used alcohol, opioids, benzodiazepines, or phenibut. Overdoses and other health issues are more frequent when the drug is used with other substances.

When someone can’t taper off and needs more to feel normal, or they mix it with other medications (particularly to treat mental health conditions), start to go through withdrawals, or develop a tolerance, they may be exhibiting signs of Tianeptine abuse.

For more information or help for individuals struggling with addiction, visit https://www.narcononnewliferetreat.org/blog/tiana.html

Submitted by Narconon New Life Retreat - Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation and Education.

Everyone ages 3 and older should get their blood pressure checked by a healthcare provider at least once a year. Valley News/Courtesy photo

Californians feel ‘chronically stressed’ when they have debts of $23,818, finds study

The topic of personal debt has always been a significant point of discussion in America. Leaving mortgages aside, the average American bears a financial burden of around $38,953 in debt. This financial commitment often leads to substantial stress for many, while a select few manage to navigate their liabilities strategically, thanks to their robust repayment plans. But one question that has intrigued many is - how much debt exactly tips people over the edge? At what point does the burden become so significant that it starts to induce anxiety?

The relationship between highstress levels and deteriorating health has been explored in several studies. However, one might argue that worry does serve a crucial role in personal finance; the stress of debt often acts as a deterrent, preventing people from getting further tangled in the web of finan-

cial liabilities. On the other hand, there is a section of the population that appears comfortable even with high levels of debt. Are these people savvy gamblers playing a high-stakes game, or are they potentially ignoring the looming dangers of accumulating debt, unintentionally sinking deeper into financial turmoil?

Well Kept Wallet, a personal finance website, conducted a survey of 3,000 respondents across the country to explore these questions. They calculated a ‘debt anxiety index’ for each state by asking respondents about their personal debt anxiety threshold. In other words, they inquired about the debt level, excluding mortgages, at which people begin to feel chronically stressed.

Surprisingly, the state with the lowest debt anxiety threshold turned out to be South Dakota. The residents of the Mount Rush-

more State start feeling financially flustered when their debts total merely $4,000. In stark contrast, Delaware’s inhabitants showcased the highest debt anxiety threshold; Delawareans can comfortably endure debts rising up to a hefty $41,667!

The study also found that the average Californian begins to feel chronically stressed when they have a debt of $23,818 or more, though this was higher than the national average of $22,514.

The top 5 states with the highest debt anxiety thresholds: #1. Delaware: $41,666.67 #2. Wyoming: $40,000.00 #3. Hawaii: $35,000.00 #4. Idaho: $30,000.00

#5. New Mexico: $28,333.33

The bottom 5 states with the lowest debt anxiety thresholds: #50. South Dakota $4,000 #49. North Dakota $4,800 #48. Montana $5,000

Jean Larsen Executive Director, Legacy Endowment Community Foundation

After almost 40 years as a nonprofit professional, I am still bewildered when someone tells me the story of “…the millionaire next door” who passed away without a will or trust and no heirs.

Generally speaking, when someone passes away without a will, trust, or other distribution plan, their money, assets, and belongings – the representation of their life – are distributed according to California law. It’s a lengthy, expensive, and complicated process, with the state determining who gets what.

“I’d love to spend a lot of time today creating my will…,” said no one. I jest a bit, but the statement hits home as to why people delay

planning of final wishes. Creating a will and/or trust can seem daunting, time-consuming, and filled with decisions we just don’t want to make.

This is where community foundations excel as a resource center, helping individuals take a simpler route of decision-making by designating favorite charities as beneficiaries. This often takes the heavy burden of deciding who gets what off the table.

Laura Holck, retired estate attorney and Legacy Endowment’s current Grants Chair noted, ”the inevitable happens, we pass away. But what we can do for others in our estate plan can have profound meaning with just a little planning.

I’ve seen first-hand the benefit of individuals who created endowments and, because of them, generous grants are awarded each year, making an impactful difference for

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organizations who support local seniors, children, veterans, and animal causes.”

Laura’s comment reminds me of someone who recently passed who absolutely loved soccer. No estate plan or heirs. Sadly, the abundance of his life’s work now sits in bank accounts and in an empty home, at the mercy of the probate system. With some help from Legacy Endowment, he could have created a bequest plan for a permanent endowment supporting youth soccer in Fallbrook. Think of it: new equipment, safety gear, practice wear and uniforms, maybe even new field lights for night games. Everything needed to help youthexcel in a beloved sport was possible and not just for one year, but in perpetuity. He missed a rare and wonderful opportunity to know that after his passing something special would come from his

#47. Alaska $10,000

#46. Kansas $13,235

In addition to the regional comparisons, the survey also shed light on the type of debt that induces the most stress among people. A significant 36% of respondents revealed that credit card debt gives them the most anxiety. Personal loans trailed in the second spot, with 23% of people admitting that this form of debt makes them the most nervous. The worry associated with medical debt was indicated by 18% of respondents, followed by student loans (15%), and auto loans (8%).

The study painted a distressing picture of daily life under the shadow of debt. A concerning one-third of respondents confessed they worry about their debt on a daily basis. A staggering 78% admitted that, at one point or another, they’ve had to choose between buying groceries or paying the

forever

planning.

For individuals who have some estate plan of one type or another, you can use gift language in your will to similarly create beneficiary endowment designations or within your retirement accounts and life insurance records. Later on, your named endowment fund will make charitable gifts to beloved organizations. It’s a small amount of time to plan with such a big difference down the road from the effort.

Community foundations such as Legacy Endowment effectively manage endowments so the income from invested assets grows, helping increase the size of charitable distributions. To explain, I’m fond of using one of our country’s Founding Fathers to illustrate the point.

Ben Franklin, the 15th child of 17 children of the Franklin middleincome household, had hardly any

interest on their debt. The survey also highlighted the profound impact debt can have on physical and mental health, with numerous respondents attributing significant health issues directly to their financial woes.

“The study provides deep insights into the pervasive effects of debt on the everyday lives of Americans. It’s clear that we need to work towards better financial literacy and strategic debt management. This is not just about money, but about improving overall quality of life. Remember, it’s never too early or too late to start your journey towards financial health and freedom” says Deacon Hayes, founder of Well Kept Wallet

To see the entire study, visit https://wellkeptwallet.com/debtanxiety-index.

Submitted by Well Kept Wallet.

formal education after 10 years of age. He later became a scientist, politician, journalist, businessperson, entrepreneur, and signer of our Declaration of Independence. As testimony to his lifelong pursuit of gaining greater knowledge, his simple will designated a modest amount to start an endowment fund benefiting students financially unable to attend college.

Ben Franklin passed away in 1790 and yet, by 1990, two hundred years later, his endowment funds were worth more than $7.5 million. But more importantly, for two centuries, thousands of students received generous college scholarships in his name. I don’t know about you, but I’d truly like to think we all have a little bit of Ben Franklin’s inspiration and vision for the future in all of us.

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Growing antioxidants in your backyard

Roger Boddaert Special to the Valley News

Most fruits and vegetables provide some source of antioxidant value and can grow successfully in your garden.

One common trait in most high-antioxidant fruit is dark fruit, with a bright interior and exterior pigment color. Black-, red-, purple- and orange-colored fruits generally have the most significant values of antioxidants.

Most fruit antioxidants are calculated using the ORAC scale (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity). The recommended daily intake of antioxidants is between 3000 to 6000 ORAC units found in a three to four-ounce serving of each fruit daily.

The following is a list with information on fruits containing some of the highest antioxidant ORAC values to consider for your overall health.

Avocado – 800 ORAC – Avocado trees will do best in a full sun location. They require fastdraining sandy soil, and these trees should be protected from frost, especially when young. Three or four varieties planted nearby can give you year-round fruit and is a good investment for your garden and health. Avocado is a superfood: high in vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients.

Citrus – 600 to 900 ORAC – Citrus trees prefer full sun with well-drained soil and enjoy feeding in spring thru fall. Our Southern California weather lends itself to having some form of citrus in our kitchen fruit basket year-round. Staging your citrus plantings, you can harvest lemon, orange, kumquats, limes, calamondin, pomelo, grapefruits, and Australian limes year-round.

Blueberries – 2500 ORAC –Blueberries require a fast-draining, high organic, acidic growing media, consisting of 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 ground bark, and 1/3 fastdraining soil. They are wide varieties developed for our Southern California gardens from UC Davis.

They enjoy the full sun but will tolerate some shade in the hot summer sun in the afternoon to keep them cool. They bloom traditionally in early spring through mid-summer with tiny flowers, followed a few months later with yummy berries. And I like to plant several types to have a succession of fruit for a couple of months in my garden.

Pomegranates – 3000 ORAC for Dark Reds – The cultivation goes back more than 5,000 years. Most varieties prefer long, hot summers. Pomegranates grow naturally in a multi-trunked, bushy form and are deciduous in the winter. They can make an excellent screen and even espaliered against a fence or chain link.

Their flowers can range from

duces many tiny grapes for habitat plantings; it has brilliant red leaves for fall color and is a knockout. If interested, I’ll have some hard-tofind cuttings available in late fall.

Strawberry – 1600 ORAC –Who doesn’t love strawberries throughout the year, from fresh berries with whipped cream, or on our morning yogurt, to Strawberry Shortcake. These antioxidant fruits are easy to grow in raised beds or even strawberry-specialized pots on the patio. Look for old fashion types to get some great tastes, and you might have to go online to find some of these types.

There are even some types that will produce throughout the year and are evergreen and fruiting. The small woodland berries in the forests are tiny but sweet and delicious and a joy to cultivate in the garden. Take the kids to some local “pick your own strawberries” farms if you don’t have any planted in your garden.

Plum – 1000 ARAC for red, black, or dark skins – The fruiting plums are an actual summer fruit to savor, and my favorite is Santa Rosa. When you eat it for the first time, you’ll know what I mean. Plums like well-drained soil, and there are many types depending on the chill factor for your area; check with your local nursery what does best for your site. Again, I suggest planting different types to ensure good pollination and a long season of fruit.

If you have excessive crops, always consider putting them up in preserves or jams and have them on that morning English muffin with a cup of

Joe. Pluots (plum/apricot hybrids) can also work well with your plum plantings. There are grafted threein-one plum tree combinations. It’s the new wave of growing these multi-types all on one tree due to the lack of space in some landscapes.

Remember, the darker the skin of fruits, the higher the antioxidants. Fertilize plums three times from February through June.

Olive – 600 ORAC green, 800 ORAC black – Olive trees are from the Mediterranean region, similar to our Southern California landscapes. There are ancient olive trees well over 500 years old growing in Spain, Italy, and Southern France. Olives are produced and used for oil and the cosmetic industry.

Fallbrook, years ago, had a thriving olive industry with thousands of olive trees planted by Frank Capra from the movie industry and had a pressing plant in

downtown Fallbrook. Water three to four times during summer; if natural rainfall ever returns, they should be fine.

Southern California caters well to citrus plants, making it so you can have some variation of citrus fruit year-round. Valley News/Adobe Stock photos light creamy orange to dark red. These plants have many values for their beauty, diversity, flavor, and high vitamin and nutrient value. There is a dwarf type, which can be grown in pots or trained as a bonsai specimen. Feed two times annually, in February and June.

I recently attended an educational workshop on olives as a new agricultural crop for California, with folks attending from all over California. Understanding there is a vast marketplace, many growers are looking for crops requiring less water in the future. There is a company in Temecula that will even come out and press your olives at your farm.

The olive tree has always been a staple landscape tree that fits comfortably into the drought-tolerant landscape, and I incorporate them in my landscape garden designs. They look delightful in a droughttolerant landscape and can mix well with other sustainable plantings for the future.

Grape –800 ORAC for reds and 1000 for black types – Grapes are a fast-growing vine and require structural support, so choose a trellis, arbor, patio timbers, or a simple post and wire system. Grapes follow two pruning cycles, and annual trimming is the key to grapevine culture.

You must get the grape vines happy in their new settings for the first couple of years and start good production when selecting grapes for wine or table grapes.

There are even types of champagne grapes that can be grown.

Grapes have become a valid and viable agri-crop in the southland but require knowledgeable and constant stewardship to succeed.

Give three to five deep irrigations and feed two to three-time between February and June. For those of you who want to plant a colorful fall grape, look for “Rogers Red,” but with no affiliation to me. It’s a rapid California native grape that pro-

Cane Berries – 2050 ORACboysenberry; 1250 ORAC - raspberry – Cane berries are vines with rhizome roots that will spread and should be supported by a trellis or a support system.

Cane berries need annual rejuvenation and, in fall, should be cut back to a few selected canes for next spring’s growth. Feed a couple of times a year and mulch on tops of new canes to conserve water. I use worm castings and composted chicken manure on my berry plants to simulate healthy berries

Goji Berry – 20,000 or 25,00

ORAC: The Goji berry could be one of the highest sources of antioxidants in fruit to date. It originates from China and the Middle East and seems very drought tolerant. Caution is needed as it can become very invasive and needs some form of containment. It’s not picky about soils, but needs good drainage. I consider Goji as one of the sleepers and perhaps a new crop for our California farmers.

Stewardship for antioxidant crops: Proper tree and plant selection is vital to what you are growing for nutritious and wholesome foods for your health. The proper selection of types, water, feeding, pruning, and overall plant culture are some critical elements in any healthy plant care.

If you stage the progressive plantings, you could harvest some of the valuable antioxidant plants throughout your landscape. My motto is always to plan before you plant.

Roger Boddaert, horticulturist, landscape consultant, arborist, and garden coach based in Fallbrook, CA, can be reached at 760-728-4297 or bogitt@aol.com.

rejuvenation and trimming to keep them healthy.

Monarchs are mating in Southern California

may carry on their bodies. Removing host plants only eliminates a natural survival rate in the late season and does not effectively prevent diseases. Therefore, it is not advised to cut down milkweed unless it is no longer alive. The solution is to have enough milkweed, and plant more.

Monarch butterflies can spread OE spores through ingestion as caterpillars or during copulation as adults. They also spread the spores when they lay eggs, which can either concentrate or spread them out even further.

disease is not effective since the parasite’s origin is outside of this area in tropical regions like Florida and Mexico.

Wings of Change has lots of great seeds available for order on its website, https://wingsofchange. us/; seeds can also be pre-ordered by calling 760-994-8453 or emailing business@wingsofchange.us. Submitted by Wings of Change.

Wings of Change, a nonprofit committed to creating ecological landscapes to support butterflies, reminds residents that another wave of monarch butterflies is mating right now locally, so it’s a good idea to keep their gardens full of milkweed which is vital in the next 60 days.

Monarchs can be expected in parts of the country with more sun starting in November or later. Monarch butterflies lay their eggs on milkweeds. If they can’t find any, they will lay the eggs on whatever tidbits they can find. This includes stems of chopped-down plants. That larva won’t survive. Planting more milkweed is the solution to ensuring there is enough for butterflies.

Cutting back milkweed does not prevent diseases that butterflies

Egg bombing, which occurs when monarchs lay a large number of eggs in one area, can lead to lower disease rates and fewer deformed adults if there is plenty of milkweed available. Removing plants as a method of curing the

Cane berries, better known as boysenberries, blackberries and raspberries, need annual

Goji berries are one of the highest fruit sources of antioxidants.

Monarch caterpillars feed on milkweed plants.

A Monarch butterfly emerges from its chrysalis. Valley

Review of all things real estate: Our local market

that all politics are local, well for our collective interests, all real estate is local.

In an interview with Inman News Glenn Kelmen, Redfin CEO, the ongoing inventory shortage was discussed. Here in our market, we too are feeling the effects of inventory shortage, which combined with the relatively high cost of mortgage money due to higher interest rates than we had been treated to the last 3+ years has quieted our market. As identified in a previous article, those low interest rates (artificially manipulated for political purposes) have actually hurt buyers now.

Bob Hillery CR Properties

In preparation to write this weekly article I read a lot of different information pieces from different sources, some of which I agree with and others with which I might take umbrage. Today’s article falls into this category which I will discuss with the view of what’s happening in real estate in our local market. It has been said

Well intentioned as they might have been to help more buyers achieve the American dream of home ownership, there was the rebound effect. Once the Fed quit buying bonds, the mortgage interest rates quickly and steeply climbed from the 2-3% range to where we currently are at around 7%. By historical standards 7% mortgage interest rates aren’t unholy but when considered with prices that didn’t fall off the edge

of the table because of limited inventory; they are high and prohibitive to people trying to get their toehold in real estate.

People who might desire to sell and move, downsize, or perhaps upsize cannot find suitable property to purchase because potential sellers are in the conundrum; “If I sell, then where do I go?” And, oh by the way, having to compete at current prices which were driven up during the COVID years when there was cheap mortgage money available makes it tough.

Okay, so that’s where we are, and Glenn Kelmen thinks this will be the least active year in terms of volume since the real estate meltdown of 2008 precipitated by the lender crisis of 2007. If the current trends hold, there will be less than 4m units sold nationwide during 2023 compared to almost 6m units sold during a “normal” year. He feels that the only buyers will be those who must move due to job and/ or family requirements. Based on what we are seeing in our local market I would be inclined to agree as it “feels” like an off year,

but checking the numbers of sold units compared to 2008 we are currently on track to close about 66% more than in 2008. By comparison to 2008, we are doing much better in numbers of units sold in 2023.

The ALTOS Report that I reference periodically (market activity indicator) has been hovering between 47 and 52 for the last 4 weeks. Anything above 30 is referred to as a seller’s market while below 30 is felt to be a buyer’s market. On that point I will disagree. What is the neutral market range? My spider sense is 30-55 is about right to be a neutral market where there is the expectation of negotiation of price and terms. And from the weekly Marketing Meeting, the feedback is “yes; there is negotiation going on in our market.” And negotiation is healthy because it’s equitable to both buyers and sellers. The market that we came out of was truly a slam seller’s market where the only negotiation was how high above list price would the contract price be?

Another article was about Gary

Keller; founder of Keller Williams Real Estate, who coined a term he called a “rolling recession” in 2024. He explained that it meant that different segments of different industries in different areas of the country would experience sales slowdowns at different times during the upcoming year. HUH?

Remember that all real estate is local and, oh by the way, different geographical regions will be subject to different social and economic influences which include natural disasters (Maui’s real estate market is certainly impacted by the recent wildfires). Areas near Ft Myers Florida are still impacted by Hurricane Ian. The closing of large manufacturing plants will impact real estate, and on and on.

So, while Gary Keller may have coined a catchy phrase, I’m not sure that I agree or disagree when I reflect on our real estate market and envision where it’s going in 2024. Heck, we’ve got a lot of real estate transactions to accomplish during the rest of 2023, so we’ll save assessments for 2024 much later in the year.

Thanks for the sandbags, now what can we do with them after the storm?

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and store the bags away from sunlight in a covered, above-ground location.

If the used sandbags are not contaminated with foul water, chemicals, or petroleum products, rake the sand into soil, add it to planters, or use it for flowerbeds as a soil amendment.

Place the empty bags in trash cans if you choose not to reuse them. Do not place the empty sandbags in the recycle bin.

If you cannot reuse the sand or sandbags at home, take them directly to the landfill. Local landfills (Miramar, Sycamore, Otay, and Borrego Springs) can accept sandbags used for stormwater control during the recent storm. Do not put full sandbags in your trash cart, bins, or dumpsters, they are too heavy for disposal companies to collect.

If you see or suspect your sandbags are contaminated with sewage, chemicals, or petroleum products, handle them with protective gear, including gloves and protective eyewear. Dispose of them at select landfills or through a hazardous waste contractor. Please contact the landfill facility in advance as additional handling and paperwork will be required.

Residents of cities or tribal lands should also check with their jurisdiction or trash contractor for any additional guidance.

For questions not covered here, unincorporated county residents can contact 1-877-R-1-EARTH or 1-877-713-2784.

Thanks for preparing for the storm. For the latest emergency updates in English and Spanish, visit AlertSanDiego.org and download the SD Emergency app. There you will find more preparedness tips to keep you and your family safe.

September 1 – 7, 2023

Prep Football

Week One scores and game notes from around the area

JP Raineri

Sports Editor

With Zero Week out of the way, last week, also known as Week One, took place beginning Thursday, Aug. 24, around the Southwest Riverside County region for prep football teams. Scores, along with certain game notes for Week One high school football games involving local teams inside our coverage area, were reported as follows:

Thursday 8/24

Nonleague

Desert Christian - 14, California Military Institute - 13

Temescal Canyon - 35, Hilltop - 21

Paloma Valley - 27, Moreno Valley - 20

Game note: Paloma Valley’s 2720 win over Moreno Valley was a complete team victory according to Wildcat’s Coach Merida. In a game where the lead changed hands four times, with both teams being able to move the ball successfully, it would be a Damian Ramirez 1-yard touchdown run that was the final straw. With 8.03 minutes remaining in the third quarter, Paloma Valley (2-0) got the lead they needed to stay ahead. Ramirez, who is also a Wildcat track and field runner, gained 78 yards on 18 carries.

Citrus Hill - 32, Rubidoux - 15

West Valley - 43, Maranatha - 24.

Rancho Christian - 40, Yucca Valley - 19

Friday 8/25

Nonleague Chaparral - 28, Apple Valley – 24

Game notes: Chaparral defeated the visiting Apple Valley Sundevils by the score of 28-24, by using big plays late in the 4th quarter to come from behind to get the victory. Jayce Venable scored twice including a 55-yard touchdown that would prove to be the game winner for the Pumas. It took a while, but QB Dash Beierly got the Pumas offense clicking in the second half. - David Canales, VN

Photog

Cornerstone Christian - 74, Sherman Oaks CES – 6 (8-Man)

Culver City - 72, San Jacinto - 63

Fallbrook - 31, Linfield Christian

- 17

Game notes: Fallbrook High School’s football team had 369 yards of total offense in the Warriors’ 31-17 win Aug. 25 at Linfield Christian, but some of

those yards were necessary to overcome penalties against the Warriors. That included four false start penalties against Fallbrook. Although the only three Linfield turnovers were on the Lions’ first three possessions of the game, Fallbrook now has six takeaways for the season and the Warriors did not turn over the ball in either game. Linfield gained 136 yards through the air and 75 on the ground. - Joe Naiman, reporter La Quinta - 56, Heritage - 14

Tahquitz - 35, Lakeside - 12 Vista Murrieta - 35, Murrieta Mesa - 3

Murrieta Valley - 35, Great Oak - 14

Cajon - 42, Orange Vista - 28

Perris - 48, Miller - 37

Liberty - 35, Sultana - 12

Temecula Valley - 17, Elsinore

– 7

Game notes: With Jaden Eddy’s 91 rushing yards and a touchdown, combined with Tristan Lawson’s 77 yards in the air and a TD pass to Jake Cella, Temecula Valley kind of took claim of the Perpetual Trophy for the seventh straight season. With no game being played in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, their 17-7 victory over Tigers last Friday night helps keep it the paws of the Golden Bears yet again. Elsinore, who’s only score game Caden Maxfield on rushing TD, the Tigers last defeated Temecula Valley, 28-0, in their 2016 season, and at the time it was their fifth win of the six games played in the Perpetual series between two of the oldest schools in the

other, Temecula Valley has taken control of the series at 6 to 5. - JP Raineri, VN Sports Editor Tri-City Christian - 28, Temecula

Prep - 25

St. Jeanne de Lestonnac - 50, Hamilton - 44

Saturday 8/26

Santa Rosa Academy - 52, Nuview Bridge - 22 California Lutheran - 24, San Pasqual Academy - 22 (8-Man)

This season the Valley News Sports Department is also teaming up with Inland Sports and will be on the sidelines at as many games as we can be, but due to print space and manpower, it may be in more of a limited coverage area. If your team is not getting the coverage they deserve, please share photos and stats by utilizing the contact information at the end of this

article.

Week Two schedules

Here is the schedule for Inland football teams playing Week 2 games from Thursday, Aug. 31 to Saturday, Sep. 2. Dates, sites, and times subject to change.

Thursday 8/31 (Games at 7 p.m., unless noted)

Nonleague Arlington at Lakeside, 7:30 p.m.

Chaparral at San Jacinto, 7:30

p.m.

Elsinore at Vista del Lago, 7:30

p.m.

Hamilton at Temecula Prep, 7:30 p.m.

Hemet at Liberty, 7:30 p.m.

Tahquitz at Rancho Mirage

Friday 9/1 (Games at 7 p.m., unless noted)

Nonleague Cal Lutheran vs. St. Joseph

Academy at Connors Park, San Marcos (8-man)

Canyon Springs at Citrus Hill

Grace Brethren at Santa Rosa Academy

Great Oak at Fallbrook

Heritage at Knight

Linfield Christian vs. Notre Dame at San Bernardino Valley College

Murrieta Mesa at Valencia

Paloma Valley at Kaiser Perris at Desert Hot Springs

San Jacinto Valley Academy at Coachella Valley

Temescal Canyon at Temecula

Valley

Tri-City Christian at Nuview Bridge

Vista Murrieta at Orange Vista West Valley at Rancho Christian see FOOTBALL, page C-6

Temecula Valley portion of Southwest Riverside County. Now, for the eleventh time facing each

Asa Chatman of Murrieta Valley plays leap frog with Great Oak defender Brandon Thai in Week One action.

Valley News/Time Stood Still Photography

Chaparral QB Dash Beierly leads the Pumas to a come-from-behind 28-24 victory Friday, Aug. 26.

Jayce Venable races 55 yards to the end zone for the game winner in Chaparral’s 28-24 victory over Apple Valley in Week One. Valley News/David Canales photo

Valley News/David Canales photo

Murrieta Valley Running Back Dorian Hoze breaks free for a 73-yard TD run in the first quarter of their Week One matchup. Valley News/Time Stood Still Photography

Vista Murrieta quarterback Bryson Beaver (2) throws a pass while being pressured by Murrieta Mesa’s Taysean Jamison (4) and Corey Herring (14). Valley News/Action Captures Media Group

Former Dodger Jimmie Sherfy offering pitching lessons in the area

JP Raineri

Sports Editor

TEMECULA – Over the years, the local area has become a hotbed for up-and-coming baseball talent. Whether it’s due to the resources available in instructors and facilities to improve at, or the pure determination of parents going to the furthest extent to ensure their children play at the most competitive level, it’s definitely not a secret that we have talent constantly brewing. Now, with a former Dodger pitcher recently moving to the area, it can only get better…especially for those that will utilize his talent.

Jimmie Sherfy, along with his wife Kaitlyn and their two children, have been calling Temecula home since April, which the 31-yearold retired baseball player still is getting used to. Sherfy, who graduated from Newbury Park High School in 2010, and played college ball at the University of Oregon, was drafted by the

Arizona Diamondbacks in the tenth round of the 2013 Major League Baseball draft.

Over the course of his career, Jimmie played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers claimed Sherfy on July 13, 2021, where he ended up appearing in four games before going on the injured list with elbow inflammation, which ultimately took him out for the rest of the season.

In his Major League career, Sherfy owns a 3.28 ERA, 4.21 FIP, 8.95 strikeouts per nine and 3.13 walks per nine in 60.1 innings.

After the 2021 season, the Dodgers could not keep Jimmie on the 40-man roster although clearing waivers in early November, he opted against accepting the Minor League assignment and elected free agency. While he had a short stint in the Atlantic League last year with the Honey Hunters, Sherfy is calling his current retirement more of an extended free agency as he looks more and more into attempting a comeback.

“While we moved out here to be closer to family, I’m enjoying giving pitching lessons at the moment…though, I am absolutely going to be mounting a comeback,”

says Sherfy. “I know I have a lot left in my arm.” For now, armed with an incredible baseball IQ, an eye for next level talent, and a portable pitching mound, Jimmie utilizes a local park for his current lessons, and also plans on hosting pitcher

specific clinics at a family-owned batting cage in the area.

When he is not giving lessons, Jimmie said he and his family live a pretty simple life. “I love quality time with the family, going to the gym, church, and watching TV shows with the wifey.”

To find out about rates, call 623-693-9914, or follow Jimmie Sherfy on Instagram at @ sherfybaseballacademy.

JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia. com

Temecula FC hosts Murrieta in second round of US Open Cup qualifying

JP Raineri Sports Editor

TEMECULA – This will be the first time ever that Temecula and Murrieta will play in an official match when they face each other in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Saturday, Sep. 30, at Chaparral High School. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

This is commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), which is a knockout cup competition in men’s soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The first competition was first held during the 1913–1914 season as the National Challenge Cup, with Brooklyn Field Club winning a trophy donated by Thomas Dewar for the promotion of American soccer. Second, it was renamed and dedicated to North American Soccer League (NASL) and Major League Soccer (MLS) executive Lamar Hunt by the United States Soccer Federation in 1999.

A bit about Temecula FC Temecula. Family. Football. In that order. The Quails are an independent, family-owned football (soccer) club based in Temecula. Their passion is to serve the community and their sport.

“Our community defines us; it’s in our blood and in our football,” says Brandon Jantz.

Who are the standout players?

Jantz also said the club is fortunate enough to have 11 talented players on the pitch at all times that stand out, but to name a few that make a difference on the score board: Diego Valle on the wing is extremely dangerous every time he has the ball at his feet. He put a lot of balls in the net for us and caused a lot of problems for every team we’ve played. Beto Renteria is turning into a final third nightmare for defenses as his understanding of where to be and how to deliver service in high percentage locations has improved tremendously over the last year.

Elias Quintanar Macias is our workhorse that does not stop. He defends as well as he attacks and can threaten the goal from any

Temecula FC will face Murrieta for the first time in an official match when they play in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Saturday, Sep. 30, at Chaparral High School at 7 p.m. Valley News/Courtesy photo angle.

A bit about the team

This group of men is made up of a few players that have been with the club for a few years and many that joined us before the spring. They’ve been able to come together very quickly with a single goal in mind which is to win every match that they compete in. They understand the value of “Playing for Each Other” and are committed to improving as a unit as well as individuals. We are very blessed to have this type of talent and commitment at our club.

How is the year shaping up?

This is going to be an interesting year as they have added a couple of players in key positions that have raised their level, and with everyone gunning to beat them, they now stand to have a lot of close competitive matches. Training this pre-season has been intense as they expect the coming year to

be nothing less than a war.

Things to look out for

The Quails made a change at their No. 1 spot. Rodrigo Ibarra took the top spot at keeper. His command of the back line is key to helping us maintain clean sheets and his shot stopping and distribution is top level. Their defense last season was very good, only allowing 3 goals all season and with Rodrigo in goal I expect that number to improve.

A bit about the fans

“The Dirty Birds are unlike any other supporters’ group,” says Jantz. “They definitely give us a true home field advantage, and when away they travel in most cases in larger numbers than the home team. Football isn’t anything without supporters. It’s great to have the player’s families on the sidelines cheering, but when you have supporters that have absolutely no blood ties to anyone on the pitch you know that The

Club is building something very special in the valley and for the valley.”

Finally, Jantz also relayed that Temecula FC does donate a percentage of their youth Elementary and Middle School league fees to support Barks of Love who have a great mission. “The specific purposes for which this corporation is organized are to decrease the total number of animals being euthanized each year, provide a safe and caring home for animals that are being neglected, abused and/or abandoned, and offer community education and awareness. The means for providing such programs include, but are not limited to, donations and fundraisers.”

More information about their upcoming season can be found online at www.temeculafc.com.

JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reeedermedia. com

Former MLB pitcher, Jimmie Sherfy, who now resides in Temecula, is offering lessons to pitchers of all ages in the area. Valley News/Dodgers courtesy photo

California wins Little League World Series 6-5 over Curaçao on walkoff homer

each for California.

JP Raineri

Sports Editor

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT,

Pa. — It may not be a team from the Valley’s backyard, but they do represent SoCal and it’s no secret that Little Leaguers everywhere dream of a moment like that of Louis Lappe. The 12-year-old from El Segundo hit a walk-off homer to help California beat Curaçao of the Netherlands 6-5 in the Little League World Series championship on Sunday, Aug. 27, despite giving up a late fourrun lead.

Lappe flipped his bat and threw his arms in the air as he trotted around the bases, leaping onto home plate as he was greeted by his teammates surrounding the

batter’s box. The leadoff hitter in the bottom of the sixth inning, Louis lofted the second pitch he saw just beyond the left field fence.

“This is a unique feeling that maybe only five or less people experience in their lifetime,” said Louis, who told reporters after he finished the tournament with five homers, the most of any player.

“I feel great. It’s hard to beat this feeling. I don’t know what would make me feel happier.”

Curaçao tied the game in the fifth on Nasir El-Ossais’s grand slam to center, setting off a frenzied celebration by the players, coaches, and Curaçao fans down the third-base side of Lamade Stadium. Nasir also drove in a run in the third. Jaxon Kalish and Lucas Keldorf drove in two runs

“The five guys that I have in the top of the lineup, they’re as good as anyone in this tournament,” El Segundo manager Danny Boehle said. “I stand by that full heartedly.”

It was the first trip to the final for the team from El Segundo, a community in the Los Angeles area. California’s eight titles are the most by any U.S. state.

Curaçao, a small island off the coast of Venezuela is is home to just 150,000 residents, has represented the international side of the bracket in the championship the last three times non-U.S. teams have competed, in 2019, 2022 and this year, but has lost each time.

The Little League World Series took place from August 16 to

The El Segundo all-star

representing California,

their championship banner after winning the Little League World Series over Curaçao.

August 27 at the Little League headquarters complex in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. There was no tournament in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2021 tournament was limited to American teams because of travel restrictions.

Curaçao returned five players and its coaching staff from the team that lost 13-3 to Hawaii in the 2022 final.

“I ate the cake already last year.

I ate the cake this year, too, but I ain’t take the cherry home,” Curaçao manager Zaino Everett said after the game with tears in his eyes.

Both California and Curaçao took a loss during the tournament and had to work their way through the elimination bracket to the final. With pitch counts mounting across the rosters, each turned to less experienced LLWS starters.

Crew O’Connor drove in a run for El Segundo in the fourth with a single to left field that followed Max Baker’s triple, giving California a 5-1 advantage.

Prep Volleyball news and notes: Week ending 8/26

It got bumpy from there, but California came out on top.

“What we did may never happen again in the history of El Segundo,” Boehle said.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was on hand for the game, joined by 2014 LLWS pitching sensation Mo’ne Davis. Next August will mark 10 years since Davis became the first female pitcher to win a tournament game, helping Philadelphia’s Taney Little League to make it to the U.S. semifinal.

“We’re really proud of her in Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said.

Also, the late Stuart Scott was the 62nd person to be enshrined in the Little League’s Hall of Excellence before Sunday’s tournament final. Scott was recognized for his support of the Little League World Series while he was at ESPN. The top sports network is the broadcast partner for Little League and carried 337 games across all divisions of play this season.

JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia. com

Derryl Trujillo

Sports Writer

In this week’s news and notes we take a look at some tournament results along with previewing a big week ahead on the prep scene. We also highlight a big opening week for a recent star on the prep scene and a CIF-SS championship coach making his return to the sideline.

Tournament Results:

For a second straight year the Chaparral girls volleyball team took home a tournament championship at Grand Terrace High School’s Inland Empire

Classic on Saturday, August 26. In pool play the Pumas defeated Carter, Redlands East Valley, and Rialto. Then in one set to 25 bracket play they defeated Rialto a second time before defeating Oak Hills (Hesperia) and finally Cajon (San Bernardino) in the championship match.

Mauriana Rayford and Madison Johnson earned tournament awards for their play on Saturday.

Also in action for a second consecutive Saturday was Rancho Christian, who made the trip to Pacifica High School in Garden Grove for a tournament. They won

a pool in which three of the four teams participating were league champions a year ago before falling in gold division bracket play to Canyon. In that AM pool they defeated Westminster, Fountain Valley, and El Modena.

Little starts college career off with huge weekend:

Vista Murrieta graduate Claire Little started her college career off in a big way last weekend at a tournament hosted by the University of Montana. Her BYU team, ranked number 17 by the AVCA to start the year, finished a perfect 3-0 with 3-1 wins over fifth ranked Pitt, UTRGV, and Montana. Little started all three matches, averaging 2.58 kills per set and 2.17 digs per set. In the win over Pitt, her collegiate debut, she recorded 11 kills and

nine digs as BYU upset the fifth ranked Panthers.

Amoy wins debut match as Cornerstone Christian coach:

For a Cornerstone Christian team that only recorded four wins a season ago, opening against CSDR, a perennial playoff representative from the Arrowhead League, was thought to be a tough challenge. Instead, the Crusaders and their first-year head coach Paul Amoy, who led Calvary Murrieta to CIF-SS championships in 2007 and 2008, came away with a three-set sweep by scores of 2512, 25-15, 25-16. The Crusaders are just three years removed from a 2019 CIF-SS division nine championship.

Matches to watch:

Here’s a look at some matches to watch as week three begins…

Tuesday, Aug. 29 Paloma Valley at Redlands - 5 p.m.

The Wildcats started their season off with a bang in a five-set win on the road against Santiago (a co-champion from the Big VIII League) and will really test themselves with a road trip to last year’s Citrus Belt League champions. Redlands standout outside hitter Julia Tolstova, who last week eclipsed 1,000 career kills, and Saniyah Sobers provide a potent one-two punch for setter Lauren Reiter to choose from.

Wednesday, Aug. 30 Chaparral at Etiwanda - 4:45 p.m.

This will likely be Chaparral’s biggest test of their non-league schedule. Etiwanda was last year’s Baseline League champion but fell to Orange Lutheran in an opening round playoff match. Meanwhile, the Pumas look to complete an undefeated non-league campaign at 10-0.

Thursday, Aug. 31 Desert Christian Academy at Temecula Prep - 5:30 p.m.

This is a big matchup as the top two South Valley League teams meet for the first time this season in Temecula. Desert Christian Academy swept the series last season en route to an undefeated league title.

Derryl Trujillo can be reached via email at socaltrekkie@gmail. com

Louis Lappe leaps onto home plate after hitting a walk-off homer to help California beat Curaçao 6-5 in the Little League World Series championship Sunday, Aug. 27. Valley News/ESPN courtesy photos

team,

takes a selfie with

Chaparral interim coach Gretchen Johnson and her team celebrated a second consecutive Inland Empire Classic title on Saturday, Aug. 26, at Grand Terrace High School in Colton. Valley News/Courtesy photo

Lakeside players, along with head coach Dena Lindsey, take in the action on Saturday, Aug. 26, at Grand Terrace High School in Colton during Inland Empire Classic tournament play. Valley News/Courtesy photo

2023 Vista Murrieta graduate Claire Little (12), seen here celebrating a point in BYU’s four set win over fifth ranked Pitt on Friday, Aug. 25, at Montana, had a big weekend in her first collegiate action. Valley News/Courtesy: Derek Johnson and Tanner Ecker (Montana Athletic Communications)

Temecula Prep’s Isabella M (32) Bumps the volleyball during their 3-0 victory over West Valley. Valley News/Action Captures Media Group

Temecula Prep’s Abbey Pekrul goes up high for the kill in a 3-game sweep of Cornerstone last week. Valley News/Time Stood Still Photography

Highway Updates

Tropical Storm Hilary brings Caltrans emergency culvert repairs on Highway 74 near Hemet

Tony Ault Staff Writer

The heavy rains from Tropical Storm Hilary prompted the California Department of Transportation to declare an emergency $3.4 million culvert replacement project in the Hemet area along State Route 74 this past week.

Caltrans reported the emergency project includes the removal and replacement of culverts, rock scaling, and the installation of safety measures at the culverts in both directions on State Route 74 in Hemet, weather permitting.

The project was awarded to Beador Construction Company Inc., of California. Crews will be working on SR-74 from just east of View Lane in Valle Vista to just east of Strawberry Creek Bridge east of Hemet and west of Mountain Center (PM R53.5).

The project length is 6.4 miles. A 55-hour emergency closure will take place on SR-74 at Blackburn Road. Friday, Sept. 15 at 10 p.m. to Monday, Sept. 17 at 6 a.m.

A temporary access road will be in place for through traffic. One-way traffic control will be in place. Expect delays up to 15 minutes. Caltrans advises motorists to avoid the area and use alternate routes. Crews will be constructing and replacing box culverts at Blackburn Road to increase water and debris flow capabilities, and better address and decrease potential flooding during inclement weather. Alternate routes are as follows: SR-79 north to I-10 east to SR-243 south. SR74 east of Blackburn Road, head east to SR-243 to the I-10. The California Highway Patrol will be on scene to assist with traffic control and safety.

Hemet Also in Hemet, Caltrans announced construction work on a $51.6 million corridor improvement project on State Route 74 (SR-74), in Hemet will officially begin on Sept. 5 at 8 p.m.

Barricades and electronic signs warning that traffic speeds in the construction areas will be strictly enforced are already up in the Valle Vista/Highway 74 (Florida Ave.) area. This project will repave and rehabilitate 49 lane miles, install Traffic Management Systems, upgrade curb ramps, sidewalks and driveways to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), enhance

SAN JOSE – Community

Solutions and the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (Cast) announced on Thursday, Aug. 24 that their co-sponsored legislation, Senate Bill 376 was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom. The Right to a Human Trafficking Advocate bill empowers human trafficking survivors during legal proceedings and increases their overall safety.

SB 376, authored by Senator Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park), is groundbreaking legislation that ensures survivors of human trafficking have an unequivocal right to a confidential advocate and support person of their choosing during critical stages of the criminal legal process. Having an advocate present during follow-up interviews provides survivors with support, validation, and safety during an intimidating and traumatic process. Advocate

bike lane signage and striping, and upgrade 29 bus pads within the project parameters. Weather permitting.

The project was awarded to the Griffith Company of Brea. Crews will be working from Winchester Road to Fairview Avenue in Valle Vista with a project length of 11.2 miles. Beginning Tuesday, Sept. 5 hours of operation will be Mondays through Fridays from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., with occasional weekend work. Traffic control: SR-74 will remain open for the duration of the project.

Lake Elsinore

Caltrans works on SR 74 in Riverside County from the Riverside and Orange County border to Monte Vista Street just west of Lake Elsinore. Crews are performing work in various locations throughout the project zone bringing some weeknight full closures on the highway with oneway traffic control with escorts in place from 8 to 9:59 p.m.

During the hours of 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., the route will be closed to through traffic. Residents and commuters still will need to utilize

involvement also increases survivors’ understanding of their rights as victims of crime and facilitates access to long-term, trauma-informed, survivorcentered, and culturally responsive support. Additionally, advocates provide referrals to vital resources including housing, self-sufficiency programs, and legal services.

“I conceptualized the bill to align human trafficking survivors’ rights with those of intimate partner violence and sexual assault survivors. Before SB 376, the right to an advocate had been afforded to intimate partner violence and sexual assault survivors, but not human trafficking survivors. Yet, survivors of human trafficking experience many of the same vulnerabilities, power and control tactics, violence, and abuse that intimate partner violence and sexual survivors experience,” said Perla Flores, Director of

the alternate routes to go around the closure each night beginning at 10 p.m. Access through the work zone will be prohibited during the previously stated hours. Work will take place nightly, east of the County line on SR-74, Monday through Thursday. No weeknight work is scheduled on Sept. 1 due to the Labor Day holiday. Daytime work may occur behind k-rail.

Anza & Aguanga

Caltrans is continuing work on the $5.2 million slurry seal and rumble strips maintenance project on State Route 371 (SR-371) from Aguanga through Anza. The project involves dig outs, slurry seal operations, striping, and installation of safety rumble strips on the inside and outside of the lanes in both directions. Weather permitting.

Crews will be working in and near SR-371 from the junction of State Route 79 and SR 371 to the junction of SR-74 and SR-371. The project length is 20.67 miles.

In observance of the Labor Day holiday weekend, Caltrans will have no lane closures/ or work taking place beginning Friday,

Intimate Partner Violence, Sexual Assault, and Human Trafficking Services at Community Solutions.

“Passage of SB 376 promotes human trafficking survivor safety, autonomy, and agency through increased access to comprehensive services, including advocacy.”

The passing of this first-of-itskind law advances California’s protection and support for survivors, making the state an example of compassion and respect nationwide. By ensuring they have a say in their future, SB 376 provides a system of power to those forced into the overwhelming situations of legal and civil battles.

“There’s a large emphasis in our movement on getting survivors to cooperate with investigation and prosecution, but little acknowledgment of the harms and re-traumatization that they face when navigating the criminal legal

Sept. 1 at 6 a.m. to Tuesday, Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. Regular hours of operation: Mondays through Fridays from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m.

After Labor Day, there will be occasional weekend work. Traffic control: SR-371 will remain open for the duration of the project. One way traffic control with flagging and pilot vehicles will be in place.

Murrieta & Wildomar

Caltrans construction has been taking place near Murrieta and Wildomar from Murrieta Hot Springs Road to Bundy Canyon Road adding to the two city’s own Bundy Canyon Road work.. Weather permitting.

Daytime work may still be continuing from I-15 North and South from Murrieta Hot Springs to Bundy Canyon Road. Work performed includes upgrading facilities to ADA standards. Work performed will include curb and gutter. Please note, various lane and ramp closures may still occur in the project zone.

Riverside County Caltrans is beginning work on a $3.7 million bridge upgrade project in Riverside on SR-74,

system,” said Leigh LaChapelle, Associate Director of Survivor Advocacy at Cast. “For survivors that want to report, having access to an advocate can help ensure their rights are respected, that they are connected to the services they need, and that they aren’t criminalized during the process.”

An essential reason for this law’s importance and success is providing survivors with the ability to choose their own representative. Returning their individuality and strength in the decision-making process by breaking the mental and physical barriers of language and communication with civil advocates is a helping hand through the turmoil and confusion of the legal processes.

“Many foreign-born human trafficking survivors are particularly at risk for future exploitation or harm, given their lack of legal status,” said Sharan

SR79, SR-86, SR-111, SR243, and Interstate 10 (I-10). The project is taking place in various locations throughout the county. Construction scheduled this month.

The project was awarded to Truesdell Corporation of Cal, Inc. The project will include concrete overlay, replacement of joint seals on the bridges, and repair/ replace approach slabs. Work will take place in multiple locations in and near the cities of Riverside, Beaumont, San Jacinto, Perris, Hemet, Palm Springs and various unincorporated areas. Hours of operation: Monday through Friday from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Oneway traffic control with flagging operations will be in effect at each end of the bridge locations throughout the duration of the project. There will be intermittent traffic breaks with expected delays of 15 to 20 minutes during the construction process.

Tony Ault can be reached at tault@reedermedia.com

Dhanoa, Director of the South Bay Coalition to End Human Trafficking.

“The Trafficking Victim Protection Act (TVPA) includes immigration remedies and social service benefits for foreign born human trafficking survivors. Advocates play a key role in supporting survivor linkage to legal service providers and social service benefits.”

California continues to advance the protection, health, and wellbeing of survivors through the passing of this bill into law. This advancement emphasizes the state’s dedication toward becoming a global leader in the fight against human trafficking. Preventing the history of abuse starts with protecting those who have survived.

Submitted by Community Solutions and the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking.

The County of Riverside named Gregory Coffos to lead the County of Riverside Veterans’ Services Department. The top position leads a dedicated staff with a mission of helping more than 50,000 veterans each year identify, register for, and receive benefits available as a result of their military service.

“Gregory’s military service and nonprofit work will provide a critical perspective to the way the county provides services to our veterans,” said Board Chair Kevin Jeffries, First District

Supervisor. “His commitment to the mission, as well as dedication to finding opportunities to serve more veterans in more ways, will have a marked impact within our veteran community.”

The County of Riverside Veterans’ Services department assistance ranges from housing support and social services to college tuition and healthcare benefits.

“Veterans have a plethora of needs and it takes a village to provide these myriad services

that range from high needs to low needs,” said Coffos. “My goal is to establish supportive relationships with other agencies serving the community, so that together, we will help even more veterans.” Coffos has 10 years of service in the nonprofit sector working to connect unhoused residents to housing, as well as five years of military service in the U.S. Navy as a logistics specialist, assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 146 in Lemoore, CA. Throughout his career,

Coffos has sought to draw upon relationships with like-missioned agencies to create a greater impact. His most recent post was the director of housing for the Inland Empire for Step Up on Second. Prior, he worked for the Path of Life Ministry and U.S. Vets, where he helped veterans living on the streets transition to living in a home. His official start date with the county is September 5. One key priority for the department is enhanced services delivery within

the county’s holistic, no-wrongdoor integrated services model. Coffos lives in San Jacinto with his wife and two children. No stranger to a spectrum of services, one of his children is a recent high school graduate, while the other child is starting kindergarten. The previous director for Veterans’ Services, Grant Gautsche, retired from the county in June.

Submitted by County of Riverside.

Construction for new curbs and gutters at the Murrieta Hot Springs Road I-15 ramps are part of a variety of Caltrans projects in southwest Riverside County

Valley News/Shane Gibson photo

Governor Newsom empowers human trafficking survivors with SB 376

New County of Riverside Veterans’ Services Director named to lead department that helps veterans receive federal, state and local services

Trump lawyer says trial dates ‘unrealistic,’ makes major prediction

Jack Phillips

The Epoch Times

Former President Donald Trump’s attorney and spokeswoman Alina Habba proclaimed Sunday that dates set in his four criminal trials are not realistic and predicted they will be rescheduled.

During a Sunday interview on Fox News, Habba was asked about how his lawyers were trying to prepare for the four trials in different jurisdictions while maintaining his 2024 campaign for president.

“These trial dates are going to move. It’s unrealistic. It’s theatrics,” she said of the current trial schedule. “No judge is going to say that you can be on two trials at once in two different states, because a lot of these overlap.”

Judges, she said, “look at the start date of the trial, but these are four-to-six-week trials at the least. So there’s no way they’re not going to overlap. They’re gonna have to go into October, November of next year.”

Habba, meanwhile, said that all the cases brought against the 45th president are designed to “tie him up” amid the campaign and as he’s currently the toppolled GOP candidate. “They intentionally waited years and years” to bring charges against the former president, she told the outlet.

When asked about how President Trump faces a maximum 700 years in prison for all the charges— federal and state—against him, she said that it’s a bid to intimidate him during his campaign.

President Trump faces multiple charges in a 2020 election case that was brought by special counsel Jack Smith. Those charges include conspiracy against rights, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding,

and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, according to an indictment unsealed last month.

Smith’s team has also charged the former president on multiple charges relating to his alleged mishandling of classified documents after he left the White House. In may, the special counsel claimed President Trump engaged in felony violations of national security laws and conspiracy to obstruct justices.

Earlier this month, in Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged President Trump and more than a dozen other individuals with unlawfully conspiring to conduct a criminal enterprise after the 2020 election in the state. On Aug. 25, President Trump was booked at the Fulton County Jail and had his mugshot taken, which immediately went viral on social media.

About an hour after the mugshot was released, the former president returned to X for the first time after having been banned from the platform more than two years ago, when it was called Twitter. He posted the mugshot with text that

accused prosecutors of engaging in election interference, while he also directed supporters to a donation website.

In late March, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted President Trump on charges related to payments to an adult performer during the 2016 election. A trial has been scheduled for March 2023.

In the federal cases and the Manhattan case brought by Bragg, President Trump has pleaded not guilty. He has also categorically denied wrongdoing in the Fulton County case, accusing prosecutors of engaging in a politically motivated witch hunt to interfere with his 2024 presidential run.

Harrison William Prescott Floyd, who is accused of harassing a Fulton County election worker, did not negotiate a bond ahead of time and remained in the jail after turning himself in on Thursday. Federal court records from Maryland show Floyd, identified as a former U.S. Marine who’s active with the group Black Voices for Trump, was also arrested three months ago on a federal warrant

that accuses him of aggressively confronting two FBI agents sent to serve him with a grand jury subpoena.

A lawyer for Mr. Floyd did not return a request for comment on Aug. 25.

Next, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee is expected to set arraignments for each of the defendants in the coming weeks. That’s when they would appear in court for the first time and enter a plea of guilty or not guilty, though it is not uncommon for defendants in Georgia to waive arraignment.

At least five of them are trying to move their cases to federal court. Two are former federal officials—former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former U.S. Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark—while the other three are former Georgia Republican Party chair David Shafer, Georgia state Sen. Shawn

Still, and former GOP chair for Coffee County Cathy Latham.

A judge is to hear arguments on Meadows’s request on Monday and on Clark’s on Sept. 18. There has been speculation that President Trump will also try to move his case to federal court.

The former president’s attorney, Steve Sadow, on Aug. 25 filed an objection to the proposed broad October trial date and a March date that Ms. Willis had previously suggested. He asked that Trump’s case be separated from attorney Kenneth Chesebro, another codefendant, and any other codefendant who files a speedy trial demand.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Reprinted with permission from the Epoch Times. To subscribe, go to: subscribe. theepochtimes.com

Mystery swirls over batch of thousands of 2020 voter registration forms in Michigan

Steven Kovac

The Epoch Times

Two weeks before the 2020 election, a woman dropped off more than 10,000 voter registration forms with a city clerk in Muskegon, Michigan.

The number of forms was a red flag for the city clerk, Ann Meisch. Less than 4,000 of the city’s voting-age residents weren’t registered to vote.

Ms. Meisch called the police, triggering an investigation by the Michigan State Police. An Oct. 26, 2020, police report from that probe recently surfaced after Michigan state lawmakers obtained it through a Freedom of Information request.

At the time, Brianna Hawkins, the woman who delivered the forms, was employed by GBI Strategies, an out-of-state firm working to boost Democrat voter turnout in urban centers in key swing states to help then-candidate Joe Biden defeat President Donald Trump. According to the police report, when questioned by Muskegon Police Department investigators, Hawkins said her job was to register voters and help them obtain absentee ballots.

State Republican Party officials Phil O’Halloran and Lori Skibo obtained the police report. O’Halloran provided it to The Epoch Times.

An article by a nationally known fact-checking service disputed recent conservative media accounts of the Muskegon episode.

“While the total number of voter registration forms submitted by that person may add up to as much as 12,500, very few of them were deemed to be fraudulent,” the fact checker said.

“Page 3 of the MSP [Michigan State Police] report says Meisch ‘turned over 42 suspected fraudulent applications to Officer Foster [of the Muskegon Police Department] for examination.’”

The fact checker didn’t state that the 42 applications were a sampling.

Checking the Fact-checkers

However, the numbers tell a different story and raise a question:

If there were only 42 suspected fraudulent voter registration applications submitted to the city

clerk, why didn’t she register the rest of the batch?

In 2020, the population of the City of Muskegon was 38,309, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Of these, 29,800 people were of voting age.

Meisch told The Epoch Times in an August 10 email that in 2019, there were 25,957 registered voters in the city. In 2020, the number of people registered to vote increased by 2,077 to 28,034.

That means the pool of votingage people not registered to vote that Ms. Hawkins had to work with was only 3,843.

Hawkins dropped off more than 10,000 voter registration forms in incremental batches, suggesting that thousands of the forms never made it onto the city’s registered voter roll.

“Even a casual observer can readily see that something is wrong. The numbers do not add up. The number of registration forms turned in by one person represents a third of the population of the city,” Mr. O’Halloran told The Epoch Times.

Clerk Suddenly ‘Cannot

Speak’

The Epoch Times later contacted the city clerk with two more questions: Where did the completed voter registration forms filed by Ms. Hawkins come from, and are those extra voter registration forms that were rejected by her office in her custody?

In other words, what happened to the 10,423 voter registration forms that didn’t result in a person being added to the city’s voter roll?

Ms. Meisch replied in an Aug. 13 email: “I cannot speak to the facts of the case at this time. I am sorry that I cannot be of more help.”

According to the 2020 police report, Ms. Meisch told authorities that some of the irregularities found on the voter registration forms submitted by Ms. Hawkins included invalid and nonexistent addresses, erroneous phone numbers, signatures that didn’t match those on existing records, and numerous forms that appeared to be filled out and signed by the same hand.

Michigan Republican Party to cast electoral college votes for President Trump if he carried the state were indicted in July by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, on fraud charges for allegedly knowingly and willfully advancing the “false claim” that there was large-scale voter fraud in the state during the 2020 presidential election.

Mr. O’Halloran told The Epoch Times that he hopes the exposure of the Muskegon case will help exonerate the Republican electors. He called it a “cruel irony” that Ms. Nessel, who he says appears to have helped bury “a state investigation into what appears to be actual forgery of election documents,” is prosecuting “the innocent Michigan 16 for a contrived ‘forgery’ in a case that hinges on the AG’s contention that there was ‘no evidence of fraud.’”

Attorneys for some of the 16 Trump electors argue that their clients merely positioned themselves as place-holders ready to legally step in if ongoing investigations into voter fraud determined that President Trump won the state of Michigan in 2020.

“Things Are Very Different Now”

Mr. O’Halloran, chairman of the state party’s election integrity committee, told The Epoch Times in an Aug. 21 interview that he and Ms. Skibo were motivated in their efforts by state GOP Chair Kristina Karamo, who encouraged them to “research the facts, make sure they are legit.”

Ms. Skibo told The Epoch Times that it was a Republican precinct delegate from Muskegon who brought the 2020 incident into the spotlight.

“The person saw something wrong and did something about it,” she said.

Now head of the poll challenger operation for the state party, Ms. Skibo remembered her own days as a precinct delegate and volunteer challenger at Detroit’s central vote-counting center in 2020.

“After seeing all the irregularities that night, I really believed that a team of Republican Party attorneys were going to show up the next morning demanding answers. I remember how angry I was when the state party did absolutely

nothing,” she said.

“Things are very different now that we have a truly grassroots-led party.”

The actions of the two highranking Michigan Republican Party officials are a sea change compared with the position previously taken by a GOP-led state Senate panel. The panel released a report in June 2021 stating that its investigation could find “no systematic fraud” in the 2020 election.

What Happened to the Muskegon Probe?

Participants in the Muskegon investigation in 2020 were the Muskegon City Police, the Michigan State Police, the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, representatives of the Michigan Secretary of State’s Office, and, according to Michigan

State Police records, the FBI.

On Aug. 14, The Epoch Times asked the FBI’s national press office whether the bureau is currently investigating or has ever investigated the Muskegon case, and if so, what’s the status or outcome of their probe.

The FBI didn’t respond by press time.

Steven Kovac reports for The Epoch Times from Michigan. He is a general news reporter who has covered topics related to rising consumer prices to election security issues. He is a former small-business owner, local elected official, and conservative political activist. He can be reached at steven.kovac@epochtimes.us

Reprinted with permission from The Epoch Times. Copyright 2023. To subscribe, go to: subscribe. theepochtimes.com

Alina Habba, a spokeswoman for Donald Trump, walks toward a media scrum outside the federal courthouse in Miami, Fla., on June 13, 2023.

Booking photo of former President Donald Trump as he was booked and released on bond at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Ga., on Aug. 24, 2023. (Fulton County Sheriff’s Office)

(Madalina Vasiliu/Epoch Times)

Inland Sports BOOST Top-25 prep football poll

The Inland Sports BOOST Top-25 prep football poll after Week One games. Valley News/Inland Sports photo

JP Raineri Sports Editor

Two weeks of high school football in California have come and gone, and now it is time to look at the Inland Sports prep football polls in the Southwest Riverside County region. As Week Two comes in to focus, we will check in with Pep Fernandez and the crew from Inland Sports to see which teams are making moves in the polls. With their Week One win, Centennial maintains the No. 1 spot, but the most recent BOOST Top-25 and coaches preseason polls still have five of the top ten teams hailing from right here in our own backyard.

The biggest drop of the week was Elsinore after falling four spots to No. 20. The best bump of the week was made by Paloma Valley as they moved up three spots. Of the top 25, eleven are schools from the surrounding Valley News coverage area.

This week’s polls (records

included, plus movement from last week is noted):

Centennial (1-1 same)

Cajon (2-0, same)

Murrieta Valley (1-1, same)

Chaparral (1-1, same)

Vista Murrieta (2-0, up two spots)

Roosevelt (1-0, same)

Orange Vista (1-1, down two spots)

Citrus Valley (0-1, same)

Aquinas (0-2, same)

Liberty (2-0, same)

Yucaipa (2-0, same)

Beaumont (2-0, same)

Rancho Verde (2-0, same)

Norte Vista (1-1, up 2 spots)

San Jacinto (0-2, same)

Norco (0-2, down 2 spots)

Summit (1-0, up 1 spots)

Murrieta Mesa (0-1, down 1 spots)

Great Oak (0-2, same)

Paloma Valley (1-0, up 3 spots)

Eisenhower (2-0, new this week)

Temecula Valley (1-1, back in this week)

Jurupa Hills (0-1, up 1 spot)

Elsinore (1-1, down 4 spots)

Vista del Lago (2-0, new this week)

- JW North (No. 25 last week), King (No 22 last week), and Kaiser (No. 21 last week) all fell off the polls this week.

This week’s Inland Sports and Ken’s Sporting Goods “Must See Game” is the Paloma Valley Wildcats versus the Kaiser Cats.

“Paloma Valley will look to stay undefeated on the season when they battle a hungry Kaiser Cats squad,” says Fernandez.

Continue to look for plenty of updates as the Valley News sports department will be linking up with Inland Sports throughout the school year to provide even better coverage of what’s going on in the world of prep sports in our

area, and beyond. Inland Sports news can be followed online at www.inlandsports.wordpress.com and the Inland Sports show can be viewed weekly on YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia. com

SATURDAY 9/2

Nonleague Downey Calvary Chapel at Cornerstone Christian, 10 a.m. (8-man)

*All stats, schedules, photos, and scores are supplied by local high school athletic directors, MaxPreps, CIF-SS offices, contributing writers/photographers and countless fans of the games via social media. Is your team’s score missing? Want to leave a game note? Let us know if your school is inside our coverage area and would like to be mentioned.

JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia. com

Vista Murrieta’s Andre Tyler (7) looks to bring down the Murrieta Mesa ball carrier in their Week One home opener at Bronco Stadium.

Paloma Valley’s Damian Ramirez (21) runs into the endzone for one of his two rushing touchdowns last week against Moreno Valley.

Paloma Valley’s Brady Nelson (12) rushes for a 5-yard touchdown against Moreno Valley.

Great Oak QB Cole Vasquez scrambles up the middle in their Week One loss to Murrieta Valley Friday, Aug. 25.

Vista Murrieta’s AJ Jones takes the ball downfield against Murrieta Mesa in their Week One matchup.

FOOTBALL from page C-1

Valley News/Action Captures Media Group

Valley News/Action Captures Media Group

Valley News/Action Captures Media Group Valley News/Butch Owens photo Valley News/Time Stood

Paloma Valley had the biggest jump in the polls this week. Pictured here are linebacker Nathan Rodriguez (58) and running back Na’kyi Lathan (7) as they get instructions from head coach Juan Merida. Valley News/Action Captures Media Group

Homestead Fire ignites in Aguanga

Riverside County Sheriff

’s Department MET serves search warrant in Aguanga on property related to Homestead Fire

Staff Writer

Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s regional Marijuana

Enforcement Team served a search warrant in Aguanga on a property related to Homestead Fire Thursday, August 24.

According to department officials, MET eradicated 1,620 marijuana plants that remained on the property and seized 400 pounds of processed marijuana. During the search warrant service, additional illegal grow sites were identified and will be eradicated. While the fire department did not provide a cause of the blaze, fire department investigators did find several unpermitted and exposed electrical connections near the fire’s origin. These hazards are believed to be the cause of the fire, said a Riverside County Sheriff’s

Department spokesman.

The Homestead Fire was reported at about 12:10 p.m. along Homestead Road in Aguanga Wednesday, August 23, burning almost 5 acres, according to the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department.

The agency said multiple engine and hand crews from the county were sent to the location, preceded by three Cal Fire air tankers and three water-dropping helicopters. No damage was reported and no roads were closed.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Riverside County Sheriff’s Department photos Diane Sieker can be reached by email at dsieker@reedermedia. com

see SEARCH for more photos, page D-4

Community Wellness Party features yoga and meditation at Hamilton Museum

Diane Sieker

Staff Writer

Yoga Skies teacher Valeria

Andrews presented a Community Wellness Party featuring yoga and meditation at Hamilton Museum in Anza Saturday, August 26

The lessons demonstrated Andrews’ recharging, restoring and revitalizing techniques for wellness. Restorative stretching, calming meditation, nurturing journaling, group games, community-building, easy Tai Chi, relaxing visualization, no-skill guided crafting, tea, healthy snacks and take home gifts were enjoyed by the students.

Andrews and her husband Roni Skies are a talented yoga couple, grateful to serve the mountain community through encouragement and guidance. Private and group classes for all levels are taught by them at four

locations in Anza and Aguanga. “I had such a great time,” said one student. “This was my first experience with yoga and I loved it. Val was so easy to follow and encouraging that I did the exercises and really surprised myself at how relaxing it was.”

Yoga has been a constant in Andrews’ life since she was a teenager, and teaching Restorative, Yin and Children’s Yoga have become her greatest passions, she said. At the age of 11, she became her father’s caretaker and has since taken on a deep love for healthy living.

After taking Yoga classes in Los Angeles for 20 years and traveling the world with her yoga mat, Andrews attended the 200 hour Yoga Alliance Teacher Training at Sage Yoga Studios in Fallbrook, California, graduating in February,

see YOGA,

Firefighting helicopters drop water in a constant barrage at the Homestead Fire which broke out in Aguanga

Wednesday, August 23 and burned approximately 5 acres before being contained. See more photos on page D-3. Anza Valley Outlook/Diane Sieker photo

Diane Sieker

Burned marujuana plants are discovered at a property related to the Homestead Fire, where the Hemet Sheriff’s MET serve a warrant Wednesday, August 24. Anza Valley Outlook/Courtesy photo

Participants in the Community Wellness Party pose with teacher Valeria Andrews, 4th from left, at the Hamilton Museum Saturday, August 26.

page D-4

Anza Valley Outlook/Diane Sieker photo

ANZA’S UPCOMING EVENTS

If you have an upcoming community event, email it to valleyeditor@reedermedia. com , put “attention events” in the subject line. Readers should call ahead on some listed events for the latest updates.

Regular Happenings

Anza Community Hall Swap

Meet - Every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month. $15 for a spot with membership. $18 for a spot without membership. Vendors wanted. The hall is located at 56630 Highway 371 in Anza. See membership information under “Organizations.”

ONGOING – Anza Electric

Cooperative and F.I.N.D. Food Bank offers a free mobile food pantry the second Saturday of every month at the AEC

office, 58470 Highway 371, from 10:30-11:30 a.m. All are welcome. Cal-Fresh application assistance and free community health services are also available. Bring your own reusable bags to take food home. Volunteers welcome. For more information, contact the AEC office at 951763-4333.

Friends of Anza Valley Community Library – Anza Valley Community Library is located at Hamilton High School, 57430 Mitchell Road. The library is open to the public, but not during school hours. Hours are 4-7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and 12-4 p.m. on Sunday. Closed Monday through Wednesday.

Hamilton High School – Find out what is happening using Hamilton’s online calendar at www.hamiltonbobcats.net/apps/ events/calendar.

Hamilton Museum – 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Open Wednesdays and Saturdays at 39991 Contreras Road in Anza. For more information, call 951-763-1350 or visit www.hamiltonmuseum. org. Find them on Facebook at “Hamilton-Museum-and-RanchFoundation.”

Backcountry Horsemen

Redshank Riders – Meetings on the second Thursday of each month at 6 p.m. Locations change, so please contact Mike by email at stumblinl55@gmail. com or by calling 951-760-9255.

Health, exercise, resources and recovery meetings

Fit after 50 – 10:30-11:30 a.m.

Free Mobile Health Clinic – Open every third Wednesday of the month from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. No appointment is needed. Uninsured may only be seen in the Anza Community Hall’s parking lot or inside the hall.

Medication Assistance and Treatment for Opioid Dependence – Get treatment for heroin addiction. Transportation to the clinic is provided. For more information, contact Borrego Health’s Anza Community Health Center, 58581 Route 371, Anza. For more information, 951-763-4759.

Food ministries

F.U.N. Group weekly food ministry – Deliveries arrive by noon Thursdays at the Anza Community Hall. To order a paid box and help feed those who can’t afford to pay, drop off payment and cash donations by Thursday at 1:30 p.m., to ERA Excel Realty, 56070 Highway 371 in Anza. Pay inside or drop off during the day in the red box outside. To drop it off, put name and request on an envelope with payment inside. A $30 box has about $100 worth of food and feeds six people. Half boxes are available for $15. Food is delivered once a week to those who cannot find a ride. For more information, call Bill Donahue at 951-288-0903.

Living Hope Christian Fellowship Community Dinner – 1 p.m. Dinners are held the last Sunday of the month at the Anza Community Hall. All are welcome. Donations of time, money, etc. are always welcome.

more information. Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church – 10 a.m. Weekly Wednesday Bible study takes place at 56095 Pena Road in Anza. Call 951-763-4226 for more information.

Valley Gospel Chapel – 7 a.m. Saturday Men’s Study meets weekly with breakfast usually served at 43275 Chapman Road in the Terwilliger area of Anza. For more information, call 951763-4622.

Anza First Southern Baptist Church – Begin your week with Sunday School for all ages at 9 a.m., followed by Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m. On Sunday nights, the church has prayer on the 1st and 4th Sundays from 6-7 p.m. and Bible study on the 2nd and 3rd Sundays from 6-8 p.m. On Monday evenings, from 6-8 p.m., the youth group (6 to 12 grade) meets for games and Bible study.

Anza Baptist Church also offers Men’s and Women’s Ministries, a Homeschool Support Group, Summer Vacation Bible School and a Seniors’ Ministry. The church office is open Wednesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The church is located at 39200 Rolling Hills Road in Anza. For more information, contact the church at 951-763-4937 or visit www.anzabaptistchurch. com.

Clubs Anza Valley VFW Post 1873, Capt. John Francis Drivick III

59 is looking for new members of all ages. For more information, call squadron commander Maj. Dennis Sheehan from the Anza area at 951-403-4940. To learn more and see the club’s meeting schedule, visit www.squadron59.

org

Fire Explorer Program – 6 p.m. The program meets every second, third and fourth Tuesday of the month at Fire Station 29 on state Route 371 in Anza. Call 951-763-5611 for information. Redshank Riders – 7 p.m. Backcountry horsemen meet at the Little Red Schoolhouse in Anza, the second Thursday of each month. Visit www. redshankriders.com or call Carol Schmuhl for membership information at 951-663-6763.

Anza Thimble Club – The club meets the first Thursday of the month at Valley Gospel Chapel, 43275 Chapman Road in Anza. The social hour is 11:30 a.m., and lunch is served at noon. Contact Carol Wright at 951763-2884 for more information.

Organizations Terwilliger Community Association – 6 p.m. Second Monday of the month at VFW Post 1873, 59011 Bailey Road, in Anza. Potluck dinner open to all. For more information, call Tonie Ford at 951-763-4560.

HOAG

Production KARINA RAMOS YOUNG, Art Director FOREST RHODES, Production Assistant SAMANTHA GORMAN, Graphic Artist

Digital Services MARIO MORALES

Tuesday and Friday mornings at Anza Community Hall. Free. Wear comfortable clothes and supportive shoes. Call or text instructor Teresa Hoehn at 951751-1462 for more information.

Narcotics Anonymous Meeting – 6 p.m. Every Tuesday at Shepherd Of The Valley Church, 56095 Pena Road in Anza. Open participation.

Veterans’ Gathering

Mondays – 9-11 a.m. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, 39075 Contreras Road in Anza. Men and women veterans come to share and help each other deal with posttraumatic stress disorder and other difficulties. Call John Sheehan at 951-923-6153. If you need an advocate to help with VA benefits, call Ronnie Imel at 951-659-9884.

The Most Excellent Way – Christ-centered recovery program for all kinds of addiction meets Fridays from 7-8:30 p.m. and Tuesdays from 8-10 a.m. Program is court approved; child care is provided. Transportation help is available. The group meets at 58050 Highway 371; the cross street is Kirby Road in Anza. AA Men’s Meeting – 7 p.m. Meetings take place Thursdays at 39551 Kirby Road in Anza, south of Highway 371.

Alcoholics Anonymous – 8 p.m. Wednesday evenings at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, 56095 Pena Road in Anza. For more information, call 951-763-4226.

Bereaved Parents of the USA – The Aguanga-Anza Chapter of BPUSA will hold its meetings at 6 p.m. on the first and third Wednesday of each month at 49109 Lakeshore Blvd. in Aguanga. For more information, contact chapter leader Linda Hardee at 951-551-2826.

Food for the Faithful – 8 a.m.

The food bank hands out food the last Friday of the month until the food is gone. The clothes closet will be open too. Emergency food handed out as needed at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. FFF is a non-denominational nonprofit. All in need are welcome; call Esther Barragan at 951-7635636.

Bible Studies

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Anza’s Sunday Sacrament is at 10 a.m.; Sunday School is 11 a.m. Priesthood/Relief Society meets at noon; Wednesday, Boy Scouts gathers 6 p.m. and Youth Night is 7 p.m. For more information, call Ruiz at 951-445-7180 or Nathan at 760-399-0727. The Wednesday Genealogy/Family History Class, 5-8 p.m., is open to the public at 39075 Contreras Road in Anza.

Native Lighthouse Fellowship – 10 a.m. The group meets the first Saturday of the month, and breakfast is served. All are welcome to fellowship together at the “Tribal Hall” below the casino in Anza. For more information, call Nella Heredia at 951-763-0856.

Living Hope Bible Study –8-10 a.m. Tuesdays at Living Hope Christian Fellowship, 58050 Highway 371, Anza. All are welcome. For more information, call Pastor Kevin at 951-763-1111.

Anza RV Clubhouse – 7 p.m., the second Wednesday of the Month, Pastor Kevin officiates at 41560 Terwilliger Road in Anza.

Monthly Christian Men’s Breakfast – 9 a.m. Breakfast takes place the fourth Saturday of each month and rotates to different locations. Contact Jeff Crawley at 951-763-1257 for

Post – The Ladies’ and Men’s Auxiliaries are located at 59011 Bailey Road in Anza. Mail P.O. Box 390433. Request monthly newsletter and or weekly menu by email at vfw1873anzaca@gmail. com. For more information, call 951-763-4439 or visit http:// vfw1873.org

High Country 4-H Club

– 6:30 p.m. Meetings are on the third Wednesday of the month, except February, at Anza Community Hall. 4-H Club is for youth 5 to 19 years old offering a variety of projects. High Country 4-H Club is open to children living in the Anza, Aguanga and surrounding areas. For more information, call Allison Renck at 951-663-5452.

Anza Valley Artists Meetings

– 1 p.m. Meetings are the third Saturday of each month at various locations. Share art, ideas and participate in shows. Guest speakers are always needed. For more information, call president Rosie Grindle at 951-928-1248. Find helpful art tips at www.facebook.com/ AnzaValleyArtists.

Anza Quilter’s Club – 9:30 a.m. to noon. Meets the first Tuesday of each month at the Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, 56095 Pena Road, in Anza.

Anza Valley Lions Club – The Anza Valley Lions Club has been reinstated and is open to all men and women who want to work together for the betterment of the community. The group is working on securing a new venue for meetings. Meetings and events are posted on the Anza Lions Club of Anza Valley Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ LionsofAnzaValley. For more information, email president Greg Sandling at President. AnzaLions@gmail.com or Chris Skinner at Secretary.

AnzaLions@gmail.com

Civil Air Patrol – Squadron

From the Heart Christian Women’s Ministries – Noon. Monthly luncheon and guest speaker are held the second Saturday of each month. The $5 charge covers lunch at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, 56095 Pena Road, Anza. From the Heart helps the area’s neediest children and invites all women and men to join in their mission. Donate or help with the rummage sales twice a year to raise funds for the cause or other events. For more information, call president Christi James at 951-595-2400.

Anza Community Hall –7 p.m. General membership meetings are held the fourth Thursday of the month. Single memberships are $30 and include discounts to events for one person and 1 vote in elections and meetings. Family memberships are $50 and include discounts for a family up to 5 members and 1 vote in elections and meetings. Business memberships are $50 and allows an employer to receive discounts for up to 5 people, including themselves, and includes 1 vote on elections and meetings. No government funds are allocated for the Hall, which pays its bills through memberships and swap meets. Mail membership to: Anza Community Building Inc. at P.O. Box 390091, Anza, CA 92539. The hall is located at 56630 Highway 371 in Anza. For more information, call 951-2824267 or email achageneral@ gmail.com or visit www. anzacommunitybuilding.org

Anza Civic Improvement League – 9 a.m. meets the first Saturday of each month at the Little Red Schoolhouse. The league maintains Minor Park and the Little Red School House, which are both available to rent for events. No government funds are allowed; the membership pays the bills – $10 a person, $18 family or $35 business membership. For more information, visit www. anzacivic.org.

Goldie Fest organizers seek vendors

Diane Sieker Staff Writer

The organizers of the second annual Goldie Fest are seeking vendors for the paranormal celebration coming Saturday, Sept. 16, at the Destination Place in Anza. Aligning with the September new moon, UFO, paranormal and alien aficionados and stargazing enthusiasts are invited to attend.

“We are seeking vendors for the out-of-this world, unusual and weird Goldie Fest this year,” said organizer Annika Knöppel. “Mediums, metaphysical sellers, ghostbusters, paranormal clubs and more are all welcome. There will be no charge to vendors and no charge to the public to attend the event.”

Celebrating everything Goldie, Anza’s very own UFO, the event will feature talks from a lead investigator from the California

Mutual UFO Network, as well as a leader from the local San Diego branch of MUFON.

“Since even before the 1980’s Anza has been known to be a UFO hotspot and gained notoriety worldwide,” said Knöppel. “Goldie is Anza’s resident UFO golden orb that has been seen entering, exiting and circling the Cahuilla Mountain area.”

The Destination Place is located at 58050 State Highway 371 in Anza.

See and follow Keep Anza Weird @keepanzaweird on Facebook and Instagram for updates, program details and sponsor opportunities.

For more information, contact Annika Knöppel at (951)2341314 or keepanzaweird@gmail. com

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

Goldie and his entourage arrive at the First Annual Goldie Fest last August at Minor Field in Anza. Anza Valley Outlook/Diane Sieker photo

AnzA VAlley

HOMESTEAD FIRE from page D-1

A Sikorsky firefighting helicopter prepares to drop water on the Homestead Fire in Aguanga Wednesday, August 23. Anza Valley Outlook/Diane Sieker photos

An Animal Services officer and a sheriff’s deputy inform a worried resident that she can get to her home and animals safely during the Homestead Fire in Aguanga Wednesday, August 23.

Sheriffs, fire officials and Animal

take a break as the

comes under control during the Homestead Fire in Aguanga.

Firefighting helicopters like this Bell UH-1H Super Huey battle the Homestead Fire in Aguanga Wednesday, August 23.

Water tenders, engines, sheriff’s vehicles and personnel line up along Hernley Road to dispatch to the Homestead Fire in Aguanga Wednesday, August 23.

2015. She graduated from Quail Springs Permaculture in Cuyama, California and became a Certified Permaculture Designer in 2011.

An accomplished actress, singer and songwriter, Andrews first made a name for herself with a featured acting role in the film Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, starring Whoopi Goldberg. She also co-wrote the song Pay Attention for the film’s soundtrack with her husband of over 15 years, producer Roni Skies. She recorded two other songs that have been featured on soundtracks to blockbuster motion pictures: Rhythm of the Night for Moulin Rouge! and Ooh La La for Legally Blonde. Her breakthrough single Girl I Told Ya became synonymous with the hit television series Gossip Girl. The music video for the song was shot on location in Hungary by director Marc Webb. Andrew’s first album, Freshly Squeezed, was released in 2009. Collaborators include famed producers Dave Aude, Space Cowboy, and Madd Scientist, and none other than Lady Gaga.

Andrews’ most well-known movie role to date is her portrayal of the amorous Wendy in Just Married, appearing alongside Ashton Kutcher. Her other acting credits include a recurring role in the PBS series American Family with Edward James Olmos and Sonia Braga. She co-hosted the Idolesque Next Big Star, a talent competition show featuring the late Ed McMahon. More recently, she guest-starred on the ABC sitcoms Freddie with Freddie Prinze Jr. and The George Lopez Show.

Retired from show business, Andrews is currently teaching yoga in the mountain communities of Aguanga and Anza, at The Hamilton Museum and Ranch Foundation, Elim Hot Springs Resort, Lake Riverside Estates and at her yoga studio at Gregoire Combatives.

“Care for the Earth, care for the people, return of surplus,” she said. “Becoming a yoga teacher fits right into Permaculture’s core tenants. It makes my heart sing to share in the kindness. I’m honored to be part of anyone’s well-being. My light shines brighter. Their light shines brighter. The world’s a better place. Yoga’s a wonderful gift for us all. I want it for everybody.”

Skies is an accomplished writerproducer, vocalist and musician, notably as a member of the 90’s pop band Rythm Syndicate, with hits such as P.A.S.S.I.0.N and Hey Donna. Collaborating credits include Glenn Frey of the

Eagles, John Oates of Hall and Oates, Chaka Khan and acclaimed producers Sturken & Rogers, (Rihanna, In Sync).

More recently, he has been writing and producing with Javier Colon, winner of the first season of NBC’s The Voice, and with Michael Grimm, winner of ABC’s America’s Got Talent.

Skies is also a former United States Professional Tennis Association teaching pro and has practiced yoga since his early twenties. Alongside his wife Andrews, he graduated from Yoga Teacher Training at the Yoga Alliance accredited school, Sage Yoga Studios in Fallbrook.

Since retiring from the entertainment business, Skies has been deeply dedicated to the yogi life, committed to sharing kindness, self-care and wellness knowledge with his community.

“A consistent Yoga practice sends a powerful signal to your core; that you care deeply about yourself, as only you can,” he said.

“This signal has a far reaching, profoundly beneficial effect for your life, your family and your friends.”

Skies is currently teaching Restorative and Yoga One group practices in Anza and Aguanga alongside his wife. He provides private, individual emotional

wellness counseling, and is also completing a groundbreaking book on mental health.

When not engaged in his private emotional counseling practice, or working alongside Andrews on their Wellness Skies partnership, Skies provides wellness consultancy for The Cahuilla Consortium CCVAP in Anza, as well as wellness and self-care practices for RiversideSan Bernardino County Indian

Health, Inc..

The Community Wellness Party is being planned for every Saturday in the near future at the Hamilton Museum, with classes beginning at 10 p.m..

To learn more about Yoga Skies and get the Community Wellness Party schedule, please visit them at www.facebook.com/wellnessskies and https://www.yogaskies.net/.

The Hamilton

and

Ranch Foundation is located at 39991 Contreras Road in Anza.

For more information about the Hamilton Museum, please visit www.hamiltonmuseum.com, email hmrf.Anza@gmail.com

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

An electrical box is damaged at a property related to the Homestead Fire, where the Hemet Sheriff’s MET serve a warrant Wednesday, August 24. Anza Valley Outlook/Courtesy photos

The remains of burned structures are evident at a property related to the Homestead Fire, where the Hemet Sheriff’s MET serve a warrant Wednesday, August 24.

Illegal marijuana plants are almost mature at a property related to the Homestead Fire, where the Hemet Sheriff’s MET serve a warrant Wednesday, August 24.

Over 1,600 marijuana plants are eradicated at a property related to the Homestead Fire, where the Hemet Sheriff’s MET serve a warrant Wednesday, August 24.

Museum

YOGA from page D-1

Avocado-filled rice balls are provided as a snack at the Community Wellness Party at the Hamilton Museum Saturday, August 26.

Sonya Allen enjoys her healthy snack after yoga and meditation at the Community Wellness Party at the Hamilton Museum.

A dozen people took part in the yoga at the Community Wellness Party at the Hamilton Museum.

Living Free Animal Sanctuary dog of the week: Meet Spotty

Spotty is a 10-year-old American Bulldog mix. He often has a big goofy smile on his face and is always ready to play. He adores everyone he meets and is eager to be around staff and volunteers. He absolutely loves belly rubs and enjoys a good romp at the park. He especially likes playing fetch. Overall, Spotty is a good natured and affectionate guy. Spotty’s only issue is he does not like thunderstorms and can become very anxious when left alone. Spotty’s ideal home will be with a family that is home often. Our kennel is also more than happy to help support anyone who adopts Spotty in managing Spotty’s anxiety.

Spotty is waiting for that adopter that is looking for a great dog that wants to be part of an active, loving family.

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

Tropical Storm Hilary damages top $126 million countywide, damage still being assessed

Coachella Valley heavily impacted

The damage left from Tropical Storm Hilary is currently estimated at more than $126 million throughout all Riverside County. Rainfall rates approached a 50-year storm for the Coachella Valley floor areas and in excess to a 1,000-year event in some mountain canyon areas. Damage estimates from cities and unincorporated areas continue to be compiled by the County of Riverside Emergency Management Department. The County of Riverside will seek assistance from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) for disaster recovery.

“Hurricane Hilary has caused upwards of $100 million in damage throughout Riverside County, with the most impact on the Coachella Valley, and this number may grow as we continue to assess the damage,” said Riverside County Fourth District Supervisor V. Manuel Perez. “This tropical storm was real, our agencies and communities prepared for it and took it seriously, and we prepositioned equipment and resources in the Coachella Valley. This is a natural disaster that caused significant damage to the 10 Freeway, to county roadways and to most of our Coachella Valley cities. We urge all valley cities to report their damages to the Riverside County Emergency Management Department, so that we can seek the necessary resources and assistance to help our communities

recover. For the safety of drivers and the crews who are out restoring roads, we ask the community to respect the safety guidance and road closures.”

Historically, the February 14, 2019 storm was among the most costly in Riverside County history. Damages from that storm exceeded $73 million.

Damage categories from Hilary include (not a complete listing)*:

$82,772,375 – Roads and Bridges $25,783,000 – Water Control

Facilities

$16,628,417 – Individual Assistance (Private Property)

$6,151,905 – Debris Removal

$3,417,077 – Emergency Pro-

tective Measures

* All numbers are subject to change as additional damages are discovered.

“This is truly a devastating disaster,” noted Emergency Management Department Director Bruce Barton. “But for all the damage, it’s important to note that early on we encouraged residents to prepare. Residents took our warnings seriously and we had no reported loss of life. We have a lot of work to do to recover from Hilary, but minimizing loss of life is what is most important.”

Residents and businesses can report damages via an online form at RivCoReady.org/ActiveEvents or by calling 2-1-1.

Submitted by RivCo Ready.

Notice To Readers: California law requires that contractors taking jobs that total $500 or more (labor or materials) be licensed by the Contractors State License Board. State law also requires that contractors include their license number on all advertising. You can check the status of your licensed contractor at www.cslb.ca.gov or 800-321-CSLB. Unlicensed contractors taking jobs that total less than $500 must state in their advertisements that they are not licensed by the Contractors State License Board.