Election 2007: And what of the Fox?

A storm capable of producing heavy precipitation is on its way to the Inland Empire and is expected to clash with the La Nina weather pattern which has settled down for the next few months. It remains to be seen if there will be much rain or snow out of this storm. Up north, there was enough rain to put I-5 under 10 feet of water in some places.


Thunder may or may not be part of the weather this weekend, but it was part of the noise heard downtown during the demolition of the rear wall of the Fox Theater, according to the Press Enterprise.




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The demolition of the wall, 60 feet high, 90 feet wide and 8 inches thick, will allow construction crews to extend the intact stage another 27 feet for future theater productions.

"It was OK for vaudeville but not fit for modern-day productions," said Robert Wise, project manager for the city of Riverside.

This bit of drama, which sent up plumes of dust and plaster and triggered car alarms from the impact, was the latest phase in the $30 million renovation of the historic theater. The debris should be broken up and hauled away by Friday, said Jasen Mattingly, project manager for U.S. Demolition.

Santa Ana-based Bayley Construction is converting the structure into a 1,600-seat performing arts center.


As you know, the Fox Theater was seized by the city's Redevelopment Agency through Eminent Domain several years ago. There was a public event not too long ago to notify city residents that most of the inside of the theater had been torn out along with asbestos and a lot of its history

That was the public event where Councilman Dom Betro appeared to speak as an elected official of the ward in which the theater resides, but wasn't actually acting in his professional capacity while crossing the street to attend that event, according to City Attorney Gregory Priamos.

After that, it was awfully quiet at the theater for quite a while. And of course, there were elections taking place to see who would fill the dais for the next four years from the even-numbered wards.


The renewed renovation of the Fox Theater comes in the wake of an election which divided each ward surely as it divided the city. It's the only privately owned property that actually was taken through Eminent Domain and it's the one invoked when the city is defending itself against allegations that other properties in the downtown area, namely small family-owned businesses, were also taken.

However, these businesses were all threatened with Eminent Domain which often amounts to the same thing. You are offered a low offer in lieu of losing your property to the city (as in the case of the Guans' properties) or the Redevelopment Agency (including those in the downtown area) and most people lack the resources to fight the city's actions. Their properties are then handed off to development firms for their use, including firms that donated into the campaigns of elected officials.

But even as the Riverside Renaissance which was meant to truncate 20 years worth of projects in five years continues to swell up to the nearly $2 billion mark, City Manager Brad Hudson is beginning to tell those who ask about the increase in staffing of city employees who provide basic city services that the city doesn't have enough money to pay for it. Better yet, is the explanation that the city can't find the money to pay for it as one of the city's bargaining units has already found out. As was found out after an inquiry was made about the next 20 police positions that were suggested, when the same answer was given by Hudson, insufficient funds.

As one city watcher put it, when it came to the Riverside Renaissance, the city manager's office and finance departments just treated the city like a large piggy bank, picked it up, shook it and whatever comes out is what is used to pay for a project. How much change is there left in the bank?


Probably not much, given the massive amount of borrowing being done to fund Riverside Renaissance, based largely on speculation that happy days are here ahead in terms of the economy and housing markets, both of which have taken downturns that especially in the case of the latter, are fairly hard to ignore. The county certainly seems to be aware of these issues.

What's funny is that the city council including Councilman Frank Schiavone who chairs the Governmental Affairs Committee knows. After all, he proposed to push for a measure to hold banks and other lending institutions accountable for the upkeep of foreclosed properties, but what about the larger picture in terms of what it all means? Over 2,000 properties just within the city limits are somewhere in the process of being taken by the lenders, putting Riverside and the rest of the Inland Empire in the spotlight of receiving national attention on this crisis.

What's Riverside's government response? It's all around us and as it's become clear that the city may not be as solvent as hoped, it will continue to be all around us.




The Group, which is an organization of African-American business women but is open to all interested individuals held its award banquets and in a departure from previous years, honored its members including Ola Fae Stephens, Chani Beeman and its president, Jennifer-Vaughn-Blakely who has put a lot of work into leading this organization for nearly 10 years.

Many city officials and city employees along with community leaders, religious leaders and community members attended the breakfast at the Canyon Crest Country Club, which featured scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, fruits and an assortment of baked pastries and mini-bagels.

Representing the elected branch of government were Councilman Andrew Melendrez, Councilwoman Nancy Hart and Councilman Chris MacArthur who's been popping up all over town since his elections primarily at events and meetings sponsored by Latino organizations including the Latino Network and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Even though MacArthur has been told he's burned a lot of bridges among the Latino leadership in Riverside after what many have said was his racist campaign rhetoric, he's still turning up in the final week before he and the other winners of Election 2007 are sworn into their seats on the city council.


From the police department, Deputy Chief Dave Dominguez was the master of ceremonies and the Riverside Police Officers' Association was well-represented with President Kent Tutwiler, President-elect Christopher Lanzillo, Negotations Chair, William Rodriguez and PAC committee member, Randy Ryder in attendance along with Riverside Police Administrators' Association President Darryl Hurt. They all shared a table with Hudson.

At other tables, there were Park and Recreation head, Ralph Nunez and former lieutenant and current Eastside Coordinator Alex Tortes who is putting in his last day as a city employee sharing a table with retired UCR police chief and former Community Police Review Commission member, Bill Howe. He's still going to remain active in both the Group and the Eastside Think Tank, which is sponsoring another forum on the injunction involving the Eastside Riva gang on Monday, Dec. 10 at 6 p.m. at Bobby Bonds Park. Chair Mary Figueroa said that the event is to explain to residents of the Eastside why the Riverside County District Attorney's office refuses to meet with them. She attended the breakfast with NAACP Chair Woodie Rucker-Hughes.

The injunction was the topic at a meeting held by the Latino Network and the police department attended while the District Attorney's office again was unrepresented and fielded some probing questions.









Dan Bernstein from Press Enterprise wrote about his experiences whistling and ringing bells for the Salvation Army at the Stater Bros. market in La Sierra.




In Knoxville, Tennessee, complaints have risen that the civilian oversight is not as strong as it needs to be, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.

The Police Advisory and Review Committee is set up to oversee complaint investigations in the Knoxville Police Department.


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One complaint that's been lodged about PARC itself is that the board has no power to make policy changes or discipline officers, which means that if citizens maintain they've been victimized even after KPD has cleared an accused officer, or they feel the punishment was too lax, there's nothing PARC officials can do about it, Scott said.

"We can't make the chief do anything," Scott said. "People feel many times that nothing was done. ... All I can do is fight for them."

But when a complaint is filed against an officer, Scott said, it draws attention to them, which in turn can translate into problems for their career if multiple allegations are lodged. "People are watching him," Scott said. "I'm watching him ... and where there's smoke, there's fire."



Also in the Knoxville News Sentinel is an analysis of the current relations between Black city residents and the police department which has improved.


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Several reasons are cited, but at the top of the list may be the job done by PARC's longtime executive director, Carol Scott, who retired last month to spend more time with her family.

Scott, who is black, believes that years of open dialogue with the police department have gone a long way toward healing generations of mistrust.

"When we first started, we didn't have the trust from the people or the police," Scott said. "There are people out there who will never see progress being made, but it is. ... Don't get me wrong - we're still climbing the mountain, but we're climbing it together."

Scott's job largely consisted of trying to get residents and police to talk with each other and mediating disputes. Despite her close working relationship with KPD Chief Sterling Owen IV and other KPD officials, however, she makes it clear that she believes the agency continues to need the kind of oversight that PARC provides.

While Scott says her only loyalty "is to the facts and the truth," she is equally committed to the notion of public participation in government and doesn't believe that either residents or the police can function properly without continual, honest discussions.

"The police work for us, and the people must stand up," Scott said. "PARC started because people said, 'No more, no more are we going to stand for injustice.' Once the police opened up, that's when things changed."








According to the Chicago Tribune, investigators have sent divers to search the Chicago Ship and Sanitary Canal for evidence in connection with the Oct. 28 disappearance of Stacey Peterson.

Suspected in the disappearance of his wife, is former Bolingbrook Police Department sergeant, Drew Peterson.


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State police were assisted by the Coast Guard, the FBI, the Defense Department, the Army Corps of Engineers, the National Insurance Crime Bureau, local police and fire departments and other agencies, according to a statement by state police. Towing companies also assisted with the recovery efforts, state police said.

Divers braved cold and snowy conditions to search for any kind of debris, said State Trooper Mark Dorencz, who added, "It could possibly be cars, junk—you name it."





According to that article, a third search warrant was issued at Peterson.


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There was a search warrant served tonight [that] expands the scope of the initial search warrant, specifically in regard to the vehicles," said Charles Pelkie, spokesman for Will County State's Atty. James Glasgow. "We're looking at additional materials inside the vehicles -- items and materials that were not specified in the first search warrant."

Pelkie declined to elaborate.

The vehicles were taken after a search warrant was executed Nov. 1. Drew Peterson's attorney, Joel Brodsky, said the latest search warrant may jeopardize the state's case if his client should be charged in connection with Stacy Peterson's disappearance.

"They're serving a new search warrant . . . to correct errors in the original search warrant," Brodsky said. "The original warrants only authorized a search of the vehicles, not a seizure. That means that potentially any evidence -- and I'm not saying there is any -- that they've acquired from the vehicles prior to today could be tossed out of court for illegal seizure."
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More from the Chicago Sun-Times on the canal search and the fourth search warrant at his home. Peterson also comments on the impact of the recent events on his social life.



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The 29-year police veteran and former sergeant did say he was not exploring employment opportunities and thinks the disappearance of Stacy, his fourth wife, and the mysterious death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, might hamper his love life.

"I'm not going to get another date," he said.




The Chicago Tribune published an article about the narrowing of the probe into Stacey Peterson's death.


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A copy of the first warrant, executed Nov. 1, shows authorities sought "all GPS records, cellular service records, logging records or any other electronic records in the possession of OnStar Inc. . . . relating to the above described GMC vehicle."

The warrant did not state what police hoped to learn from the OnStar system. OnStar's global positioning does not constantly monitor a vehicle's location, said OnStar spokesman Jim Kobus.

"We do not track our subscribers' vehicles—that's the bottom line," Kobus said. "The only time we would know where the vehicle is, is when the driver initiates contact to OnStar or when the vehicle has been in an accident, the air bag deploys and the vehicle automatically calls us for help."



Coming up also may be another interview article with PEOPLE magazine.




In Atlanta, Georgia, the informant who was involved with the officers who shot and killed 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston in her own home has sued the city, according to the San Jose Mercury News.


Alex White is suing because he stated that the botched drug raid turned murderous shooting turned attempted frameup of Johnston for her own death ruined his career prospects as a police informant.


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White, 25, had brought in up to $30,000 a year "snitching" for police, said his attorney, Fenn Little Jr.

White was in protective custody for seven months while working with federal prosecutors on the case against three officers involved in the raid.

His life was "essentially ruined" because of the case, Little said. Now that his name and face have been widely publicized, he has to find a new line of work, he said.

Johnston was killed in a hail of nearly 40 police gunshots Nov. 21, 2006, when plainclothes narcotics officers burst into her home using a no-knock warrant. The officers had falsely told a judge that an informant had confirmed drug dealing there, prosecutors say.




What a pity for White. White was the informant that the special narcotics unit detectives threatened to plant marijuana on if he didn't point out a house for them to raid. He pointed out Johnston's house. The detectives then falsified a warrant which was signed by a judge. The signed paper turned out to be Johnston's death warrant.




The New York City Police Department officer who shot Hondorean immigrant, Fermin Arzu after a traffic accident has been indicted by a grand jury, according to the Houston Chronicle.


Officer Raphael Lora, who was offduty at the time of the shooting, plead not guilty to a manslaughter charge. The prosecutors said that this showed the jury didn't believe Lora's testimony about the events leading up to the fatal shooting.

Other parties had equally strong reactions.


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"We can only speculate about what might have happened if this out of control drunk driver was allowed to continue his trail of destruction. A criminal indictment was unwarranted in this case," police union president Patrick J. Lynch said in a statement Wednesday.

Arzu family attorney Michael Hardy disagreed. "The penalty for drunk driving is not death," he told reporters.

Lora, who faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison if convicted, was ordered to return to court on Jan. 8.




Now that there's been a changing of the guard in the Chicago Police Department, these leaders have promised they'll look into reports of police corruption according to the Chicago Tribune.


Promises. Promises.