I love my job. I can describe a work day, in part, thus: “Well, the ghostbusters were pushed back until tomorrow, but I still went up in the helicopter.”
It’s a good life.
(And that is, in fact, the worst of the images taken from over 600 feet in the air. Look for lots better in the paper on Tuesday.)
I don’t normally do anything with the torrent of press releases that come out of the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell, but everyone likes a puppy:
STATE SCHOOLS CHIEF JACK O’CONNELL DELIVERS SURPRISE GIFT TO STUDENT WHO DONATED HIS SAVINGS TO HURRICANE RELIEF
O’Connell Surprises 6-year-old Long Beach Student with Puppy
LAKEWOOD – State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell and Long Beach community leader Bob Foster today gave a Gompers Elementary School first grade student a rare white German shepherd puppy as a surprise thank you gift.
 Six-year-old Joe Aubuchon of Long Beach, had been saving for several years to buy such a puppy that he intended to name “Marshmallow.” However, when he heard Superintendent O’Connell had started the California Kids Care program to encourage students to raise funds for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, Joe decided to donate his entire savings of $250 to the relief effort.Â
“I am proud of all the students in California who dug deep into their pockets to donate money to help the victims of the hurricane,” O’Connell said. “But I was particularly touched by the sacrifice made by Joe. When Joe saw pictures on TV of people in the gulf states who were suffering after Hurricane Katrina he decided to donate the entire $250 in his puppy fund. This was truly a selfless gesture that inspired fellow students, school staff, and many other adults who heard about Joe’s donation.”
Joe received 10-week-old Marshmallow at an assembly of his first grade classmates today in the auditorium at Gompers Elementary in Lakewood. His parents, Lisa Hartsfield and Steven Aubuchon, and school officials were aware of O’Connell’s and Foster’s intention to surprise Joe, but he and classmates were not told.Â
“I got teary eyed when Joe told me that he wanted to donate his puppy savings to help the children impacted by the hurricane,” said Joe’s mother. “I am so proud of his selflessness. Joe has wanted a puppy his whole life. This will mean the world to him.” Joe has one sister, 11-year-old Kaitlyn and one bother, 14-year-old Bryan.
More than 500 schools across California participated in the California Kids Care program, raising more than $800,000 to date. An updated list of donors is attached below. Over the next few weeks, all the schools that reported their donations through the California Kids Care will receive a Certificate of Recognition signed by O’Connell, including Gompers Elementary.
“Joe has served as our beacon to energize our Hurricane Katrina relief effort,” said Gompers Elementary Principal Jay Camerino. “He inspired his fellow students and the staff at our school with his generous gesture. I also want to recognize the many other students at our school who sacrificed to donate money for the victims of Katrina. Together they raised thousands of dollars. Each and every contribution is valued and will make a real difference for the families who were victimized by this terrible disaster.”
Marshmallow was born August 12. He is now 17 pounds. Both his parents and his siblings are also purebred, white German Shepherds. Before Marshmallow was given to Joe, he received all his required immunizations and is weaned. O’Connell and Foster located Marshmallow through breeder “Noah’s Ark White German Shepherd.�
From Indian Country Today, the premier American Indian news site: Deron Marquez, the politically influential chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, takes aim at “reservation shopping,” and specifically attacks proposed casinos in Hesperia and Barstow:
The San Manuel Mission Indians live today on some 800 acres of our ancestral lands, a miniscule portion of what was once a vast homeland, extending from as far north as Barstow south to the San Bernardino Valley; and from the Los Angeles area east to Twenty-Nine Palms. We will never leave, because if we move away from our homeland, we lose our identity. We cease being Yuhaviatam.
Our legitimacy as a sovereign, Indian nation – our claim to the legal and moral right to govern our own affairs – is directly tied to the fact we live on a homeland that has been ours since time immemorial. Thanks to government gaming, we are building a strong diversified economy, preserving our culture and our way of life. Our community is strong and our people are healthy once again.
Indian government gaming works best when tribes use it as part of an overall plan to improve life on the reservation. It was the intent of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, that gaming was to be conducted on “Indian lands.”
Unfortunately, this country has strayed from the intent of IGRA. Indian gaming has become a tool for non-Indian development companies and casino corporations seeking profits, and state officials seeking to tax tribal government revenues.
Some tribal leaders have compounded the situation by allowing themselves to fall prey to non-Indian interests. They are offering up their sovereignty for the almighty dollar.
The result is a proliferation of off-reservation gaming commonly known as “reservation shopping” – a trend that is generating a great deal of negative publicity and congressional scrutiny toward Indian nations.
The concern being generated by the potential proliferation of tribal gaming has seriously eroded the political good will toward American Indians. It also has generated divisiveness among American Indian tribes.
Many tribes are establishing or seeking casinos hundreds of miles from their existing reservations, some in other states. In some instances, these off-reservation casino projects are encroaching on the ancestral lands of other tribes.
Many of these proposals are backed by non-Indian developers or state officials whose goal is to get an unreasonable percentage of revenues from tribal gaming operations. No one is concerned about issues of sovereignty. The projects have nothing to do with the congressional intent of IGRA to build tribal economies and strengthen tribal governments.
San Manuel is not opposed to tribes seeking and acquiring rightful and much-needed lands to rebuild their homelands. We respect each tribe’s sovereign right to conduct government gaming on their reservation. But the abuse of the two-part determination process is hurting all land acquisitions. Efforts to acquire lands far from existing reservations for gaming purposes has generated undue scrutiny from Congress and the public, hindering and delaying tribal land acquisitions for housing, schools, health care facilities and other governmental purposes.
Moreover, off-reservation gaming projects often encroach on the ancestral land claims of other tribes.
Last year, when I appeared before the House Resources Committee on the issue, I testified that two tribes – the Timbisha Shoshone and the Los Coyotes Band – sought to acquire San Manuel ancestral lands near Hesperia and Barstow for gaming purposes. Both are backed by non-Indian casino developers.
Today, three tribes seek our ancestral lands: the Shoshone, Los Coyotes and Big Lagoon Rancheria. One of their casino proposals is near an ancient Serrano village.
Congress needs to act immediately to limit reservation shopping and preserve the integrity and ancestral homelands of all American Indian peoples.
Meanwhile, tribes must not allow themselves to be a party to questionable off-reservation casino projects.
Sovereignty is a sacred responsibility. Our ancestors fought and died and suffered for our inherent right to practice self-determination. Sovereignty is a responsibility. It is not a commodity. It is not a toy.
Marquez has previously voiced complaints about the proposed Hesperia casino.
Some big news about the other Hesperia paper:
Weeklies’ publisher seeks bankruptcy protection amid lawsuit
RIVERSIDE – The publisher of the Hesperia Resorter newspaper and other high desert-area weeklies has filed for bankruptcy protection to try to shelter his assets should a court order him to pay damages in a $4 million defamation lawsuit.
Raymond Pryke, 82, said Thursday he opted to seek bankruptcy protection because he fears the court might issue a judgment against him that would be too large for him to make bond on pending an appeal, tying up his holdings.
Advertisement He listed assets of between $10 million and $50 million in his filing to the California Bankruptcy Court in Riverside on Friday.
The lawsuit against the Hesperia Resorter was filed in June 2000 by Nancy Bohl, wife of San Bernardino County Sheriff Gary Penrod.
In the complaint, Bohl accused the newspaper of publishing falsehoods about her and her psychological counseling firm in three stories published in 1999 and 2000.
The stories alleged that Bohl, who was a counselor for the sheriff’s department and married Penrod in May 2000, divulged private information about deputies she had counseled and that her firm received preferential treatment in San Bernardino County’s bidding process.
The allegations were attributed to anonymous sources. Pryke said a judge issued a default judgment against the newspaper after the publisher refused to have his reporter reveal the sources.
“I never knew who the sources were because I didn’t want to know,” Pryke said.
In addition to the Hesperia Resorter, Pryke is also publisher for the Antelope Valley Journal in Palmdale and five high desert weeklies: Adelanto Bulletin, County Legal Reporter, Apple Valley News, Victorville Post-Express and Lucerne Valley Post.
Although the papers have different mastheads, from what I can tell, the contents of his Valley-Wide papers are identical.
Ray Pryke upsets a lot of people with his coverage and how his paper goes about it. (An amazing number of people I know have been fired by Pryke over the years, and they’re eager to share their opinions.) To me, though, there’s something wonderfully American about the British-born Pryke and his paper: Only in America (or practically) can a pissed-off old man with money publish a newspaper to “get” the people he thinks need getting. In a way, this is what the First Amendment is all about.
A press release from the City of Hesperia:
Code Enforcement enlists help of local angels
HESPERIA – On September 22, 2005 the City of Hesperia Code Enforcement Supervisor Tony Genovesi received a call from a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s dispatcher to respond to a residence in the 16000 block of Allthorn Street regarding a health and safety issue. Upon inspection it was discovered that the owner, sixty-year-old Clare Lindsay was housing over 100 cats, most of which were kept inside the house. After inspecting the residence it was found to be uninhabitable due to heath issues and all the cats were removed by Hesperia Animal Control and taken to their facility on Santa Fe Avenue. After evaluating the health of the cats, the Animal Control Department found that most of the cats removed were either feral, sick or both.Â
Because of the unhealthy/unsanitary living condition inside the residence, Hesperia Code Enforcement, posted the residence as inhabitable. Lindsay, was told that she could not return to the residence until it was cleaned and sanitized which meant, removing all of the carpet and padding, sealing the concrete, removing any unsanitary furniture and repainting the interior which would be impossible on Lindsay’s monthly disability check. Lindsay informed Hesperia Code Enforcement that she did not have the monetary means to make the necessary corrections to her residence.Â
That’s when Hesperia Code Enforcement stepped in. Upon contacting Dennis Nicklaus, owner of a local glass and screen shop volunteered to recruit a group of members of his LDS church, to remove all of the carpet and padding, bleach all other surfaces, remove unsanitary furniture, scrub all bare surfaces and walls and repaint the interior. After the interior of the residence is suitable for rehabilitation, another group of members is going to clean and remove all weeds on the property.
The project began on Thursday, October 12, 2005 at approximately 3:00 p.m. The roll-off trash container is being provided by the City’s franchise waste hauler Advance Disposal and the paint is being provided by Deputy Doug Combs of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
I now feel much better about my single leaky 20-year-old cat.
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