Happy Holiday Season

"Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?"


---It's a Wonderful Life

Columnist Dan Bernstein at the Press Enterprise has compiled his annual "thank you" list to all the subjects of his columns this past year. Check out the list to see if you are included on it. If you feel that you've been omitted, give him a call.



There's only two more shopping days and if you can, shop Riverside to support the local economy. The year that's upon us, will beg the question. What lies ahead for this city and its residents after the recent elections? What lies ahead with the high-end, high-density housing projects proposed for this city, in the face of Riverside's knocking on the door of the title, "City of Foreclosures"?


Murmurings of the "R" word are appearing at Craigslist against Councilman Mike Gardner, per usual from the anonymous brigade. Updates on any upcoming developments from this breaking story will be forthcoming as it develops.


Unfortunately, this weekend there was a shooting in the Eastside of a Latino teenager about 14-years-old near 7th and Chicago by an individual reported to be African-American. He survived, having been hit in the leg.





Checkpoints and saturation patrols will be in effect for holiday drivers, according to the Press Enterprise.


(excerpt)


Checkpoints catch perhaps half as many drunks as the patrols, but are extremely visible evidence that the cops are out in force. Officers say that deters drunken driving.


The third element is public education, ranging from fliers that warn of the penalties for DUI to announcements of impending checkpoints and saturation patrols.


During the last two weeks of December, at least 14 checkpoints and 71 saturation patrols are scheduled throughout San Bernardino County, said Mattke, who coordinates large-scale holiday crackdowns throughout the county.


In Riverside County, there is no coordinator and no cumulative count, but a dozen cities -- from Blythe to Corona and from Banning to Murrieta -- will be conducting checkpoints and patrols, said Chris Cochran, of the state Office of Traffic Safety.

Most are done on Friday and Saturday nights during what police say are the largest anti-DUI efforts of the year.


On Friday, Riverside police were scheduled to conduct a checkpoint and San Bernardino police planned to hold saturation patrols.

Aimed at reducing the number of potentially fatal DUI wrecks, and funded by federal grants, the annual crackdowns are expected at this time of the year.

Whether the checkpoints and hunts work is a matter of how success is measured. Arrests are up, but so are DUI-related fatalities.



It should go without saying, but during the holidays, don't drink and drive. If you do drink, designate a sober driver.



How will sales tax revenue fare this year? Hopefully well, but the true picture won't be seen until January or February.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)


Sales-tax revenue generated from auto malls, big-box stores and shopping centers during the holidays is a major portion of a city's annual spending money for police, fire and other key services paid from the city's general fund.

Finance officials in several Inland cities previously expressed concern over earlier predictions that a slowing economy and housing market would make for a slower-than-normal holiday retail season.


Lake Elsinore and other cities rely heavily on sales-tax revenue generated from big-box stores, auto malls and shopping centers. Above, visitors shop at the Lake Elsinore Outlets last week.

With revenues generated from homebuilding and property taxes already taking a hit because of the slowing housing market, finance officials said cities will rely even more on the money generated from retail shopping.

That will probably include Riverside, which is entering into another year of Riverside Renaissance spending. City services are already looking at cuts, as the decision to possibly leave the deputy chief position vacated by Dave Dominguez who's going to Palm Springs has shown.

One reason among others why the proposed mall renovation doesn't have that many people excited. Except perhaps for Ian Davidson, but most other people who aren't getting the money? Probably not nearly as enthusiastic. Especially the business owners who've already paid to have the downtown pedestrian mall renovated.

Election 2008 both locally and nationally is upon us. County elections are coming up including the expected to be heavily contested one contest over District One between incumbent Bob Buster and former supporter now adversary, Councilman Frank Schiavone. The election is supposed to cost over $1 million apiece for both men. The law enforcement unions including the Riverside Sheriffs' Association have already began their support of Schiavone much as they supported former political candidate and now Community Police Review Commission member, Linda Soubirous whose new stint in service has removed her from the political picture for at least a little while. Expect that support to continue. even with a new sheriff at the helm of the county's law enforcement agency.

Campaigning hasn't began yet in earnest in this county race but it's becoming clear already which direction it's going to take in the respective candidates. One issue that will probably come up again and again will be the whole DHL, GlobalPort and March Joint Powers Authority triangular mess, including one crucial vote in the process where the two men parted ways. Who was right? What lies ahead? Will futures in companies that manufacture ear plugs continue to rise? The DHL situation will probably produce the question of the election, in an election filled with questions because that's the way it's always been for county supervisor races.






The Brown Act may bar the San Bernardino City Council from discussing parole issues at committee meetings. This latest problem at City Hall over yonder stems from the battle of the committees set up by members of the city council and Mayor Patrick Morris.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)


That committee holds its first meeting on Jan. 3. But the state's Ralph M. Brown Act, which protects the public's right to attend and participate in open government meetings, forbids two sequential committee meetings on an issue without an intervening discussion of the issue by the full legislative body.

That means any city council member who discusses housing at the Jan. 3 meeting would be committing a misdemeanor, City Attorney Jim Penman said.

Morris has named San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Tara Reilly, who oversees the Redlands Drug Court, to head the ad-hoc committee. He has named council members Tobin Brinker, Rikke Van Johnson and Wendy McCammack to the panel, and will serve on it himself.

On Thursday, he said the committee will not take up any of the housing issues discussed at the legislative review committee meeting. He said Penman should have admonished Kelley and Derry not to proceed with their hearing.


In Riverside, here's hoping that the city council will get a refresher course on the Brown Act by City Attorney Gregory Priamos especially the new ones because one of them, Chris MacArthur apparently told someone he couldn't answer questions on issues raised because he thought if the other six council members were asked as well, any response by him would be a violation of the Brown Act for conducting serial meetings. But that's not the case as long as four or more don't discuss any agendized issue in any type of combination or format amongst themselves.



Bernstein's colleague, Cassie MacDuff wrote a very good column about how that city's addressing its parolees through a new program.



(excerpt)


The pilot program is called New Directions. It was funded with $30,000 from the Probation Department, said Dan Bautista, a division director of Adult Probation. He credits Deputy Chief Probation Officer Rick Arden with finding money in the budget to launch it.

Convicted felons need help beyond ordinary job-training programs, Bautista said.

Besides the usual help figuring out what vocation to choose, where to look for work and how to craft a resume, they also need help staying away from the lifestyle that got them in trouble in the first place.

That means overcoming the mindset that going to work daily is too much trouble, riding a bus is beneath them and being asked to do menial tasks shows them disrespect, Bautista said.

Many don't understand the responsibility to show up on time and do assigned tasks willingly, he said.

New Directions enrolls 20 probationers at a time in one-week workshops aimed at changing that mindset, teaching them employers' expectations, to seek work with felon-friendly employers and how to explain a felony on a job application, Bautista said.

Five workshops will be held. Each trainee will be tracked for a year to see if the pilot program made a difference.





Drew Peterson's former friend testified before the grand jury according to the Chicago Tribune. The grand jury has convened to look into the disappearance of the former Bolingbrook Police Department sergeant's wife, Stacey, who's been missing since Oct. 28.


(excerpt)


[Richard]Mims was one of Drew Peterson's staunchest defenders early on, but their relationship has become strained since Mims publicly stated that he has doubts about Peterson's statements on the events of Oct. 28-29.

Recently, Mims sold his story to the National Enquirer, which caused tension with Stacy Peterson's supporters.

Before he testified, Mims said in a phone interview that pressure surrounding the case was starting to get to him.

"Fifteen minutes of fame is turning into 15 weeks of hell," he said. "I'm sick of it. I want to go back to my life."

Mims, who has been living out of a hotel room since he left Drew Peterson's house, said he was asked to reappear before the grand jury the last week of January.

Also Thursday, former TV reporter Amy Jacobson testified before the special grand jury, which also is examining the April 30 disappearance of Lisa Stebic of Plainfield.




In New York City, protests might follow the attempts by defense attorneys for three officers charged in the case of the fatal onduty shooting of Sean Bell, to get a change of venue for the upcoming trial.



(excerpt, New York Daily News)



Standing with Bell's fiancée Saturday, Sharpton reacted with outrage to news the defense is seeking a change of venue - saying he won't stand for another "Diallo trick."

"They want to take this to another community where the police won't be on trial, but the victims will be," Sharpton shouted to a crowd of about 100 at the Harlem headquarters of his National Action Network.

Attorneys for the cops who killed the unarmed man outside a strip club on his wedding day have said they want the case moved out of Queens, arguing that pretrial publicity has tainted the local jury pool.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown plans to "vigorously oppose" the move.

Michael Palladino, president of the Detectives' Endowment Association, called it "ironic" that Sharpton isn't pushing for a change of venue.

"Sharpton is a guy who preaches about fairness and equality, and that is what this case is all about. Cops have rights, too, and he has successfully poisoned their chance at a fair trial in Queens," Palladino said.





France is going to ban smoking in many of its establishments. April Fool's Day didn't come early, did it? Earlier this year, France banned smoking in schools, work places and other facilities.





Have a wonderful and safe Holiday Season and a Happy New Year!

"We drank a toast to innocence

We drank a toast to time

Reliving in our eloquence

Another auld lang syne..."

---Dan Fogelburg (Aug. 13, 19951-Dec. 17, 2007)