More drops in the bucket

Concerns about the oil supply have driven gas prices up sharply in the Inland Empire and it's supposed to rain on Oscar night so keep those umbrellas handy whether you're on the red carpet or at an Oscar party. And if anyone has seen all or most of the Oscar nominated films, good job! You are to be commended.






This week's city council meeting agenda has some interesting items on it this report by Community Police Review Commission Chair Brian Pearcy. The public report was a long time in coming because the CPRC hasn't presented an oral one since March 2006. Why is this, you might ask. One response might just be that it hasn't exactly thrived under the current management at City Hall during the past two years.

Even after the release of the written report last autumn, no communication from the city manager's office on when the city council would be receiving that report. None of the previous city managers ever had that problem during their tenures and none of them had as many assistant city managers as does the current one to handle the task of scheduling a oral report.

One of the people to thank for there finally being an oral report on the CPRC at all is Ward Three Councilman Rusty Bailey.





Is the city putting the brakes on further annexation activity? The Land Use Committee minus Bailey voted to present that recommendation to the city council. It will be very interesting to see what discussion results from that. The plan is to keep the currently planned annexations on track but not to acquire or pursue any additional ones for a while. Given that over a dozen are in the works, it's not clear how many of the land acquisitions will actually be impacted by this measure.

At the very least, it doesn't look good politically to pursue the goal of expanding the city's boundaries while freezing positions and not creating new ones in various city departments which will be impacted by any increase in the size and population of this city. One example, is the expansion of the East Area of the police department's map of operations which received most of the land in the most recent annexation, making that area the largest served by the police department if it wasn't already.




One of the city's major channels may be getting a $10-20 million rehaul in several years. It's not clear yet where the funding will be coming from if this project is added to the list.






DHL and Polar Express will be holding a public hearing for community members at Saturday March 29 at 9 a.m. at Grove Community Church at 19900 Grove Community Dr. in Riverside. Riverside has been conducting a noise impact study and the results of that will be presented at this meeting. If you are active in the DHL issue and/or if the DHL flights impact your ability to sleep at night, it's important to make your voice heard.




Also from Belo blog:



Newly appointed Palm Springs police Chief David G. Dominguez is scheduled to appear on the police department's weekly call-in talk radio show, "Palm Springs PD Radio Call" the department said in a news release today.

Formerly a deputy police chief with the City of Riverside, Chief Dominguez started as the new Palm Springs chief on February 4. He is scheduled to be a guest on his department's radio program on Tuesday, February 26 from 6 to 7 PM.

"Radio Call" is in its 10th year of production, and can be heard on Tuesday nights. The show is hosted by Palm Springs police Sergeant Mitch Spike, along with Officers Don Dougherty and Harvey Reed.

Listeners are invited to call in with comments and questions. The phone number is 320-TALK (320-8255).





The Press Enterprise's poll on the Community Police Review Commission has elicited some interesting responses. There's still time to provide your opinion on the body and whether or not the city should provide more assistance. Some of the responses seemed to be yes, the city should. Another stated that no way, because the city's done enough damage through its interference particularly through its appointment process for commissioners. It's deteriorated to the point where at one of the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee meeting held last year, several council members refused to even participate in selecting candidates to interview to serve at-large. Mayor Ron Loveridge tried his best to prod them along so that there would at least be the appearance of a process that's less politicized and finally they somewhat grudgingly played along.

Interviews to fill a Ward Five vacancy will take place this Tuesday at 1 p.m. at City Hall. It's interesting how the city council agenda notes the number of votes required to recommend that a candidate be appointed to a board or commission. Why? Because last year, the city council goofed when it voted to approve two candidates for at-large positions on the CPRC including one who had only received three votes instead of the minimum of four required in any situation where the full city council and mayor are not present. It took the city council a while to figure out that it had done something wrong and the candidates who garnered votes were brought back to be interviewed and voted upon the following week.





Mira Loma's about to get 419 homes if the Riverside County of Supervisors approves the development project. Community activists raised concerns that the project would be too close to a warehouse and heavy truck traffic lane. Mira Loma has some of the highest particulate smog levels in the country because of the vehicle traffic and warehouses in that area which has caused health issues involving small children.





More updates on the announcement that the 2004 death of Kathleen Savio is now considered a homicide. The probe into Savio's death was reopened after the current wife of her ex-husband former Bolingbrook Police Department Sergeant Drew Peterson disappeared.




(excert, Los Angeles Times)


Peterson, 54, a former police sergeant for the nearby town of Bolingbrook, has denied being involved in Savio's death. But days after the search for Stacy Ann Peterson began, Will County State's Atty. James Glasgow reopened the Savio case.

At the time, Glasgow said, there was evidence that indicated her death may have been staged to hide a homicide.

"We have been investigating this as a murder since reopening the case," Glasgow said in a written statement. "We now have a scientific basis to formally and publicly classify it as such."





Peterson told the Chicago Tribune that he would weather this latest storm.



(excerpt)



Authorities reopened the case after Stacy Peterson vanished, but stopped short of naming Drew Peterson a suspect in the homicide.

"At this stage, we're not naming a suspect in the Savio investigation," said Illinois State Police Sgt. Tom Burek.

Peterson, who was just weeks from finalizing his divorce from Savio when she died, suggested the latest autopsy results are wrong.

He said he didn't believe her injuries were necessarily evidence of foul play.

"That bruising could have come from anywhere," he said. "Was she killed? Was that bruising from exercising? From wrestling with the kids?"





There's no suspect named in the Savio homicide but her family has said that for over three years, they have known of only one. The family even hired a medical pathologist to do an independent autopsy done after her body was exhumed last autumn not long after Peterson's current wife, Stacey vanished.




(excerpt, Chicago Sun Times)



Another pathologist, Dr. Michael Baden, also examined Savio's body, at the request of Savio's family. Baden also concluded Savio's death was a homicide.

"There were indications then of multiple blunt force traumas, of being beaten up," Baden said at the time. ". . . Those bruises were still there. And we could see from the naked eye they were fresh."

On Thursday, Peterson's attorney questioned the accuracy of the latest findings, given that the initial investigation concluded Savio died accidentally.

"I can't wait to get the actual report and get it to my expert," Joel Brodsky said. "It's going to be a hell of a time for the state's attorney's office. You have one pathologist contradicting the other. You have multiple state agencies contradicting each other."




The Colby Files opens up its forum to discuss the latest news.






I was drinking, was the excuse given by a Duluth Police Department officer after he shot at another officer. Officer Jay Dailey fired his weapon 16 times and continued trying to fire it even after it was empty.

Dailey's been fired since then from his job and charged with four felonies.

The details are somewhat sketchy but they go something like this.



(excerpt, Associated Press)



Dailey was off duty when he flagged down a female motorist, who said she’d never met him before, Millsap testified. He slumped over and grabbed his stomach, claiming he was injured. The officer was not wearing a uniform but had a bulletproof vest and showed a police badge.

When the woman started to call 911 on her cell phone, Dailey grew agitated and sprayed her with pepper spray, Millsap said. He reached through the car window, struggled with her over the phone and threatened to kill her, saying she was ruining his life.

Dailey is also accused of pointing a gun at two passing motorists. One of the drivers continued down the street and signaled to Phillips, who was off-duty and driving home from a part-time job. Phillips wore a uniform and drove a marked patrol car.

When Phillips got out of the car, Dailey allegedly drew his gun. Phillips raised his hand to say “hold on” and was shot by Dailey, authorities said.

After the two officers exchanged gunfire, Phillips retreated to his car for cover. Dailey came around to the driver’s side and fired several more shots at Phillips, two of which pierced the windshield of the patrol car, Millsap said. Phillips told detectives that Dailey was still pulling the trigger even after he ran out of bullets. Other police arrived and arrested Dailey.