DHL: I love you, love you not, love you, love you not, oh get back to me.

The weather's feeling a bit unsettled this week, alternating between rain, wind and a bit of sunlight. Yes, it's raining, the weather forecasters admit, but it's still a dry year. It's supposed to be because of the visit of what's called a "La Nina" but after last year's rainless season, anything looks bountiful in comparison. The weather forecasters are understandably cautious because last year, they predicted an above-average rainy season and less than two inches of rain actually fell in the Inland Empire the entire season, the driest in over 120 years.




The inclement weather didn't bother the over 800 men, women and children who participated in the 15th annual Martin Luther King, jr. Walkathon which ended at the Riverside Municipal Auditorium. In attendance from City Hall, were Mayor Ron Loveridge who spoke and Council members, Andrew Melendrez, Rusty Bailey and Chris MacArthur. They were joined by former city council members, Chuck Beaty and Ameal Moore. The latter had earlier taken a cautious approach when considering whether or not he would have signed on to the Riverside Renaissance train, due to what he called the "ups and downs" of the economy. Yesterday, he mentioned the huge deficit expected at the state capitol and its impact on cities like Riverside.

Talked about during the three mile walk down MLK to downtown's municipal auditorium among other topics was the financial state of the city, what with city departments having to create not one but two potential budgets for the upcoming fiscal year. One with 5% cuts, the other with 10% cuts, both which might not have prove to be of much use if the city goes with the 15% cuts. It's not like 5 + 10 equals 15 in this case.


As far as tax bases go, Riverside's isn't bad because for a while now, the county it resides in has been either the fastest or one of the fastest growing counties in the country. But with fears of a recession and the housing market having pretty much tanked for now, spending will be done more cautious by this tax base than it has been during the years when the economic picture was much prettier. That and the huge shortfall that may be more than $14 billion up north would test the mettle of any sized tax base. Hence the budget cuts which will include hiring and promotional freezes in many of the departments.


One of the topics that arose too came in the form of a question. How much money has the city been borrowing to finance its renaissance? The year is still young and the budget, still unwritten.

Ironically, one of the sponsors of the event currently has an investigation involving racism going on inside of its operations, by a federal agency. Yes it's true.



It was some of this apprehension about the future which contributed to the election results that stunned some folks last November, but shouldn't have been all that surprising because far from being a misguided populace, people simply had seen the harbingers of what lay ahead and a city spending money like well, drunken something or anothers as some have complained.




Speaking of elections, the issue of DHL and the impact it's had on the lives and sleeping habits of Riverside's residents in Orangecrest, Mission Grove, Sycamore Canyon (which wrote this letter to Loveridge) and Canyon Crest played front and center at the city council meeting with March Joint Powers Commission chair, Councilman Frank Schiavone and member, Loveridge appealing over the Charter Communication television waves to DHL to "move its planes, move its times" as Schiavone said.

I was sitting, watching the televised version of this meeting over some Ben & Jerry's American Dream ice cream with this drama playing out before my eyes. And I have to admit, I felt like I had stepped into Wonderland for a few moments there. I turned up the volume higher to make sure I had heard correctly. Yes I did!

Schiavone who's apparently been using his emails as a litmus test on various issues brought stacks of them and other notes to the meeting. At least that's what I think they were. But if you took the stacks of all the correspondence from sleep-deprived city residents since the DHL nightmare first began, it would probably brush the tiles of the city council chambers' ceiling, the same tiles that apparently get counted when elected officials are bored. But that mail's probably sitting some place else, not quite ready for prime time.

Loveridge took it even further and said that the current noise levels caused by the air traffic were simply unacceptable and action needed to be taken. Then they both mentioned initiating some legal action of some sort against Polar Air, which is partly owned by DHL and wants to fly some planes out of March, presumably at night. It was hard to hear what with the band playing the stirring score in the background while all this was going on. But if the CEO of DHL was watching, I don't blame him for being confused at the chain of events impacting his company and its foray into Riverside. After all, the red carpet was rolled out for DHL despite the same concerns expressed by local residents then that are being expressed now. Now, it's being yanked from under their corporate feet.

Only back then, it didn't matter a whit what people thought because they were party poopers, whiners and an assortment of other less than flattering endearments when they expressed concerns about the incoming DHL cargo hub. Now the same people who had welcomed the CEO of DHL and his crew in were jumping on the bandwagon to fight for the inalienable right of city residents to have a good night's sleep, instead of continue to live through the nightmare existence of what has become the quintessential DHL experience. It's hard to reconcile that while remembering how these city residents were treated several years ago.

But these party poopers, gadflies, whiners and crazy people were also right. Damn straight. And they were right, long before the elected officials either figured out the writing on the wall or believed that they needed to do so for political survival.

Does it matter which, as long as the problems get addressed? Maybe not. But it was difficult watching the people who just wanted a night's sleep for themselves or their children be treated as if they were hysterical, crazy whining gadflies early on in the city and county's experiment with DHL. That treatment was so disrespectful, so unfair, yet many of them still fought on to get their message out and to try and restore quiet to their neighborhoods despite the naysayers. Much of what we know about the sordid side of the DHL mess came courtesy of their own fearless investigating and their own stubborn insistence of putting pressure on politicians most notably those who sat on the MJPC. They learned first hand, that if you don't say what the politicians want to hear on a project, then you might as well be quiet and go away.

Fortunately, for many of us, they didn't listen and refused to go away, to go back home. They let the negative comments made against them roll off their back and kept fighting.


The sordid tale of DHL meanders from the erroneous flight plans to "win" the DHL contract, to the embarrassment called GlobalPort which just settled its criminal case. Not to mention belated efforts to foist the noisy planes on San Bernardino County after people started complaining in Riverside. This entire episode has stunk from beginning to end and it isn't from jet fumes. It's from how it was handled since the glimmer of DHL first appeared in the eyes of our local politicians. Calls for investigations into GlobalPort for example resounded in letters to the Press Enterprise including one published during the last couple of days. After all the trouble this company has gotten into the past couple of years, why do the elected officials still want to do business with them?


Is it wrong to hope and work for economic development and jobs? No. Is having concerns about the plan to bring DHL to Riverside County mean you're against these things as well as "progress"? Of course not. To say otherwise is to surround yourself with strawmen, but it's a convenient means of deflecting questions too hard to answer off of yourself and elsewhere. One of the biggest myths about those who criticized the DHL hub is that they oppose economic development and even oppose DHL, as an entity. These things were said by those who said them to discredit these city residents as complainers interfering with the wishes of those who wooed DHL away from other cities like Ontario and San Bernardino to March. It's not much of a stretch to speculate that those other cities who tried and lost to win DHL are probably kissing the ground, going thank you, thank you, thank you for the nightmare to their residents that they narrowly eluded.



The pleas for action and promises to take action by these two elected officials at the city council meeting were very ardent, but also very late in the process, mostly in the past year, more ardently in the past months. If they are indeed sincere, then they are taking an important and much needed step and hopefully, something much more positive than has been seen so far will come from it. They would both be showing tremendous growth in their understanding of how this situation has impacted their constituents.

But why is it being taken in January 2008 and not earlier in the process through a much better research process about whether or not Riverside County and DHL were a good match in the first place? As you know, DHL recently reported huge losses on the domestic front, which isn't that surprising considering the competition provided by "The Big Three" in air freight delivery that was stacked against it. Internationally, DHL is very well known, but in the United States, not as much. So any expansion domestically was a huge gamble and it doesn't take much business smarts to understand that, even before the latest financial news about the state of the company.

One solution that two consulting firms hired to evaluate the DHL situation came up with to "save" DHL's American operations is to focus on international freight delivery. However, to do that from March, more aircraft will have to be purchased that can handle carrying large amounts of freight long distances. MD-11s which are already in use, their ancestors, the DC-1o and 747s are possible aircraft but then DHL risks the same problem of using noisy aircraft as the work horses of their fleet if they purchase older models of these lines.

It was encouraging in a sense to hear the two members of the MJPC who are also elected officials in Riverside speak out about their concerns on the issue and plans for action.

I figured, better late than never for these two elected officials to figure out what most of us have known all along. The sky can be damned noisy between 3-6 a.m. in the morning, too noisy to get a good night's sleep. Except they acted as if they had believed what was factual to them now all along and that just isn't so because if they had realized what many city residents knew all along, they wouldn't have cast votes for DHL to build its western hub at March and they wouldn't have voted for night flights until they were sure that antiquated, noisy planes like the DC-9 would not be used, rather than bemoan about these noisy aircraft after the fact. If they've realized the truth late, then that's fine and it's commendable if they've erred in their judgment about the DHL mess, have seen the light and are now turning towards becoming their constituents including those who haven't really slept in several years, biggest advocates for justice.

But this isn't the worst that city residents have lived through since their nightmare began and where was the concern and the understanding back then?

Actually, the noise levels were worse several years ago, before DHL traded in several noise makers, DC-9 airplanes for more modernized and quieter 767s as it stated it would here. But as you recall, back then there was actually a debate among most of the MJPC about whether or not, there was actually a noise problem involving DHL planes when they took off over the city. Back then, many of the residents in these neighborhoods who complained were told they were pretty much whiners, crazy and that they were imagining things. This was while GlobalPort, MJPC or DHL or any combination thereof was deceiving the public about over what parts of Riverside the planes were actually flying.

Someone said during the meeting that it's the difference between getting kicked in the head X amount of times compared to Y amount of times, but it wasn't DHL and its noisy planes that was doing the proverbial kicking. It's a company trying to maximize its profits and its financial investment in the region. It was those who added insult to injury and didn't listen to or take seriously the concerns of the residents whose lives were so impacted by the DHL flights. But it's interesting to note that there's been acknowledgement on the dais that at least some of those impacted were not just city residents, but city employees, a couple of whom were outed by Schiavone as being among those impacted.

Speaking of which...


Meet the DHL air fleet. This fleet includes the above mentioned types of aircraft flown out of March in the wee hours of the morning, plus other models utilized by the freight company. It's not difficult to find out the information of what type of aircraft is used in the DHL fleet at March. Lists of flights, times and type of aircraft flown are at a site started by an organization which formed in response to the DHL mess.

Then when it came out that the planes were actually flying over the homes of sleepless families in several sections of Riverside, fingers pointed every which way among all the parties in the DHL production except inward. It didn't matter then whether they were DC-9s or 747s. It was all about it not being my fault even among those MJPC members who supported the night flights apparently regardless of what type of aircraft was used.



The noise levels are still unacceptable now. Below is a video complete with audio of what it sounds like to try to sleep through the noisy flights.


YouTube: The noise of DHL


Where they fly, according to the Jan. 15 map



But there's also a difference, between now and then. Back then, promoting DHL in Riverside was all about promoting economic development, but now that it's been revealed that DHL is actually hemorrhaging money to the tune of nearly $1 billion in losses in relation to its domestic side of its business, perhaps it's more of a liability now. Now, one elected official was quoted as saying in a newspaper article on the DHL financial mess that the noise problem might take care of itself without outside involvement if DHL can't recoup its massive losses.


The differences between Commercial and Military Flights out of March helps shed light on the argument that people who lived in the area around March should be used to military flights taking place and thus have no reason to complain about DHL noise. After all, you live near an air base, what should you expect? While completely ignoring the "good neighbor" policy, the military had while at March. It was interesting to hear Schiavone or anyone comment on this issue....finally.


Here is a discussion board on DHL, where many topics including its financial woes are being discussed.



Election 2008: The littler version



Inside Riverside: The Board of Supervisors election which takes place this year between the incumbent and the challenger who both sit on the MJPC. This blogger relates how the commission supported night flights except for one negative vote cast by Supervisor Bob Buster. What's interesting is that those who voted in favor of the night flights didn't try to obtain information on the types of aircraft which would be flown during the wee hours of the morning. Did they know or not know that the work horse of the fleet would be the noisy and no-longer-in-production DC-9? Did they not know that these air craft are much noisier than more modern aircraft models? When did they figure that out?

At the very least, DHL will be an acronym which will be heard a lot this year.


In 2005, Schiavone sent a letter warning about potential opposition from city residents against the DHL night flights, asking for a delay until the flight plan which was erroneous was sorted out. Among other things, there were claims that the planes would mainly fly over highways and not neighborhoods. Now, we all know how truthful those plans were beginning at about 2:55 in the morning, every morning.



Here's the definitive site on DHL sponsored by the Community Alliance for Riverside Economy and Environment, you know those trouble making gadflies which haunted the MJPC at earlier meetings, which has tons of information on the DHL mess and its time line. Scroll down and there's a discussion board of topics related to DHL including the situation with Polar Air Cargo and the status of noise complaints.





The special meeting between the city council and the Riverside Unified School District has been canceled for undisclosed reasons. So if you were planning to attend, you'll have to change your plans because the members of these joint bodies have changed theirs.





More about the Riverside Police Department janitor turned police officer who hopes to some day work in the neighborhood where he was raised.





The most dangerous railroad crossing in Riverside County is surprise, Jurupa Avenue. The grade separation planned for that crossing hasn't been completely financed yet.




Dan Bernstein, columnist for the Press Enterprise related his experience serving on a jury for a civil case tried in the old school house. Although it sounds like he had fun, there was some apprehension as he shared one concern that he held.



(excerpt)


Early in the week, during a break, Richard Fields, presiding judge of the RivCo superior courts, told a few jurors how delighted he was that civil cases were being tried again. If the DA finds out about this place, I joked, courtrooms will be grabbed for criminal trials.

There are already rumors, said the judge, leaving me to wonder: Who'll have the last laugh over the HA HA HAs?











The redevelopment agency in Moreno Valley is planning to buy up blocks of homes to provide more affordable housing, according to the Press Enterprise.


Edgemont, the area of Riverside where many of its Black residents live has been suffering from issues which make fighting fires in that neighborhood difficult.


(excerpt)


The land, which is on the northeast corner of Alessandro Boulevard and Day Street in the western part of the city, is divided into 11 parcels among 10 owners. The agency is proposing to spend more than $5.2 million to buy the land and help relocate the current landowners.

"We identified it as a great spot for a redevelopment project because it's an entrance to the city," Barry Foster said Barry Foster, the city's economic development director.

The City Council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency's board of directors, is expected consider approving the purchase at its meeting tonight.


Hopefully, during this meeting the agency will define how much the "affordable housing" will cost the home buyer.




In Corona, people are shocked in the wake of a midair collision between two Cessna aircraft which killed five people. Not surprisingly, questions are being asked about whether the airport there is safe.






The Orange County government is spending at least $500,000 to nullify the pension agreements of its sheriff deputies according to the Los Angeles Times.


(excerpt)


Supervisors are expected to vote next week on whether to move forward with the case. In a recent interview, Supervisor Chris Norby said Kirkland & Ellis, the firm most recently retained by the county, believes it may have found a way to get traction on the case.

"They think it's viable, but how viable is the question," Norby said.

The legal challenge faces an uphill battle because state and federal laws, as well as constitutional protections, generally safeguard worker pensions from employers who want to roll them back.







A major shakeup in the narcotics division of the New York City Police Department as 20 officers are under investigation by the internal affairs division for among other things, stealing drugs and trading drugs for sexual favors.

Apparently, it came to light after one officer forgot that he was wearing a wire and talked about misconduct that he had personally engaged in while on duty which involved his decision to only turn in about half of the cocaine seized in a raid.

Soon, he and another officer were arrested and the investigation into the Brooklyn South Narcotics Division began.





(excerpt, New York Daily News)


Sources said probers are checking to see if:

Any of the cops gave confiscated cocaine and heroin to informers for information on other drug dealers.

Officers traded drugs for sexual favors with informants and prostitutes.
The corrupt tactics permeated the unit.

Supervisors knew of the alleged corruption.

"You have a handful of guys basically shaking down drug dealers," one source said. "Given that these officers were not the smartest bulbs in the box, how secret could it have been? Where were the bosses? Asleep? Complicit? Intimidated?"

At the least, it was clear that supervision of the unit was "incredibly sloppy and lax," two high-ranking law enforcement sources said.

One source said Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan was "fed up" with the work of the unit and was "wary of the cases they develop." Brennan could not be reached.

Dozens of prosecutions - including convictions where dealers are currently serving long sentences - could be compromised or overturned, another source said.




Also, in New York City, the Metropolitan Transportation Agency police officers now have a better salary contract than officers in the NYPD.







In Bolingbrook, Stacey Peterson, missing since Oct. 28, had her 24th birthday on Sunday, so her family held a tribute for her according to the Chicago Sun-Times.


(excerpt)


Candace Aikin is certain she will see her niece Stacy Peterson again -- but not in this life.

"We have a lot of peace that she's in heaven and that we'll see her again," Aikin said during a gathering Sunday in Bolingbrook to remember the missing mother of two.


Sunday was Stacy Peterson's 24th birthday.

"We love her," said Aikin, who flew in from her home in California for the tribute at Living Water Community Church. "She's in our hearts."

Those who braved the bitter cold to attend the event saw a slide show that included photos of Stacy in happier times.

State Police have called her disappearance a "potential homicide" and have named her husband, Drew Peterson, a suspect in the case. Stacy Peterson vanished Oct. 28.




Drew Peterson told Fox News, he has some female fans.