San Bernardino Press MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015 - FEBRUARY 8, 2015
sanbernardinopress.com
The measles arrive in San Bernardino: four confirmed cases By VICKIE Vértiz San Bernardino County health officials confirmed on Friday, January 24 that four cases of measles were reported in the county, bringing the national list of people into the dozens infected with the respiratory disease after an outbreak at Disneyland. “These cases are either initial exposures or linked as secondary cases in conjunction with the recent outbreak associated with California Disneyland theme parks,” said county health officials in a statement. “It is possible that San Bernardino County residents may have been exposed to measles since one of the confirmed cases visited public places while infectious.” Health officials added that people with measles generally develop a rash and are contagious four days before the rash appears and four days afterwards. The Department of Public Health reported that someone who was contagious visited Montclair Plaza on January 16 between two and five in the afternoon and also Harkins
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Theater in Chino Hills on January 17 in the late afternoon. Measles can be spread through the air or direct contact with an infected person, said the paper. The department told the paper that the people who went to either location on those days should “monitor themselves
for the next two weeks” and look for symptoms including: coughs, rashes or fevers, which can appear up to three weeks after the exposure. If the symptoms appear the public should notify doctors before going to Please see page 2
Loma Linda Medical Center Employee Arrested for Embezzlement Detectives from the Central Station/Loma Linda Police Department began an investigation of a Loma Linda University Medical Center employee suspected of Embezzlement and Grand Theft. On January 27th, detectives obtained substantial information and served a search warrant at Tammy Veach’s residence. During the
investigation, it was determined that approximately $360,000 in Apple iPads and Apple MacBooks were embezzled during the course of her employment. As a result of the investigation, Tammy Veach was arrested and booked into Central Detention Center for Embezzlement and Grand Theft. Anyone with information is
urged to contact Detective Michael Salazar at the Central Station/Loma Linda Police Department (909) 387-3545 or Sheriff’s Dispatch at (909) 941-1488. Callers wishing to remain anonymous are urged to contact the We-Tip Hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME (27463) or you may leave information on the We-Tip website at www.wetip.com.
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Feldheym Library First Floor Opens After Re-Carpeting Project The Feldheym Central Library first floor has re-opened to the public after completion of the library’s much-anticipated re-carpeting project. Services on the second floor including the 24 free public computers in the Cosand Computer Learning Center, the California Room featuring local history and Jack Hill Lifelong Learning Center offering literacy and other services won’t resume until further notice due to library IT staff having to rewire PCs and move equipment. The three branch libraries of the San Bernardino Public Library have returned to their usual 20 hours of weekly public library service. Library service hours are available atwww.sbpl.org . “We appreciate the patience of our patrons since we know how important libraries are to the residents of San Bernardino but we anticipate they will consider the wait worth it once they see the new carpet,” said Library Director Ed Erjavek. “We look forward to a refreshed Feldheym serving as a significant component of downtown revitalization efforts.” Feldheym, which celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2015, still had its original carpeting until this project began. Most of the funding for this project comes from an insurance settlement followPlease see page 4
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Californians Can Soon Vote on Death with Dignity By NICK KIPLEY Having once failed in the polls, voters in the State of California will soon be able to decide again whether or not a patient of a terminal disease can electively end his or her own life under new, “Death With Dignity,” legislature. The measure, which has seen various revisions from the time it has been up for debate in 1992, 2005, and 2007, is gaining in support after 29-year-old Brittany Maynard, a California resident, moved to Portland in order to electively end her life, which she succeeded in doing on the 1st of November, last year. Oregon, Washington and Vermont have voted into their state legislation the right for a patient of an end-stage terminal disease to take a deliberate overdose of a heavy sedativehypnotic—typically a mixture of barbiturates—slip into a coma
and die peacefully. Maynard had been diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of brain cancer whose prognosis indicated irreversible physical and mental scarring if she were to undergo even the most successful treatment. Even worse, it was feared that, after months of these personalityaltering treatments, the radioactive waves would fire through her skull and kill her. “I considered passing away in hospice care at my San Francisco Bay-area home. But even with palliative medication, I could develop potentially morphine-resistant pain and suffer personality changes and verbal, cognitive and motor loss of virtually any kind,” she said in a final statement released to CNN on the 2nd of November. “Because the rest of my body is young and healthy, I am likely
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to physically hang on for a long time even though cancer is eating my mind. I probably would have suffered in hospice care for weeks or even months. And my family would have had to watch that,” she added. Oregon’s forms “To Request To End My Life In A Humane and Dignified Manner” read: “I am suffering from _________________ , which my attending/prescribing physician has determined is a terminal disease and which has been medically confirmed by a consulting physician . . . I have been fully informed of: my diagnosis; prognosis; the nature of medication to be prescribed and potential associated risks; the expected result; and feasible alternatives, including comfort care, hospice care, and pain control.” As a seeming counterpoint
to the argument that this law might result in physicians or cruel family members, “putting down,” elderly patients unable to pay for treatment, Oregon paperwork has been designed to be a lengthy, complex, bureaucratic procedure. The form requests two separate witnesses who are not in any way related to the patient, that they are the patient’s physician, and that they will not befit monetarily from the patient once they are deceased. These two witnesses must indicate that the patient is in sound mind, that they know the patient personally, and that they aren’t employees at a health care center where the patient is receiving treatment. The Doctor’s consultation form for this procedure is much Please see page 3
Measles Continued from page 1
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their office or hospital. For January, “68 people across 11 states have contracted measles,” said the San Bernardino Sun. Most of those people are related to outbreak at Disneyland,” according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention as quoted in the paper. A challenge against a measels contagion is that many parents have opted to not vaccinate their children against the disease. News outlets advise that the infection starts with “coughing, fevers, rashes, runny noses and sore throats” which can develop into serious sicknesses like pneumonia, ear infections or diarrhea, according to the CDC. Health officials from the CDC and elsewhere advise getting vaccines to protect against any infection.
According to the California Department of Public Health, two doses of a vaccine containing the measles strain is more than 99 percent effective in guarding against the disease. California Health and Safety Code laws require that children receive “certain immunizations to attend public and private elementary and secondary schools, child care centers, family day care homes, nursery schools, day nurseries and developmental centers,” said the paper. In 2013, California was among 23 states that saw an increase in measles. However, the public health department was quoted by the Sun in saying that this recent spread is “the largest outbreak with a single chain of transmission in 15 years.”
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longer, requires two separate visits and for the patient to receive the proverbial “go ahead” from a psychologist. Then, the acquisition of the drugs from the pharmacy requires a couple of days. The whole process requires of the patient, “to be logical to the bitter end.” And, probably for this reason, of the patients who have filled out the prescription to end their life in Oregon, only about two thirds have gone through with it. Julie Sosa, a Registered Nurse and the Clinical Supervisor at Five Star Home Hospice in Pasadena, said that patients have voiced their wish to die because of unbearable pain. Because the majority of these patients are under the influence of mind-altering medication, they would not fall under the “Death With Dignity” legislation. However, Sosa has “always supported this” proposed law for California. At the Hospice, the nurse also cares for many Alzheimer patients, who “lose the ability to remember where [they] are, forget how to talk, how to walk, how to go to the bathroom . . . [and finally] how to chew and swallow food.” Those are not eligible under Oregon’s law to electively end their own lives; however, for them, Sosa claims that the Hospice is the best alternative to intensive care. The Hospice’s “job is to make them comfortable so they can prepare to die.” Some would see this as a total loss of dignity, dying choking on your food. Some would see wasting away in hospice care in your early thirties (Maynard) as a loss of all dignity. But what it comes down to, both in a philosophical sense and in a medical-terminology sense, is how comfortable you want to feel in the end.
SWAT Standoff in Highland Ends in Arrest On Monday, January 26, 2014 at approximately 4:44 p.m., deputies from the Highland Police Department responded to a Keep the Peace call. The victim, reported her ex-boyfriend, Daniel Velasquez, had her vehicle and would not give it back to her. After making contact it was determined the vehicle had been reported stolen by the victim in Rialto on January 24th. When deputies attempted to arrest Velasquez, he struggled with them and ran into his house, barricading himself inside. Negotiations were attempted but after several hours Velas-
quez still would not come out peacefully. SWAT Team personnel responded and continued with negotiations in both English and Spanish however, the suspect failed to comply with their demands. Detectives obtained a search warrant for the residence. After six hours of attempted negotiations to come out of the residence peacefully, deputies made entry into the room that Velasquez had barricaded himself in and he was taken into custody. He was booked for the Grand Theft Auto, Resisting Arrest and several outstanding warrants.
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Attorney General Kamala D. Harris Issues Bulletin on Campus Sexual Assault and Safety Attorney General Kamala D. Harris has issued an information bulletin to California law enforcement agencies, higher education administrators and campus security personnel, providing enforcement guidance on new and amended sexual assault and campus safety laws. The bulletin summarizes SB 967 (Senate pro Tempore Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles) and AB 1433 (Assemblymember Mike Gatto, D-Glendale), gives enforcement guidance in the context of existing state and federal statutes, and encourages increased collaboration between law enforcement and campus authorities. “The threat of sexual assault is real and pervasive,” said Attorney General Harris. “Last year California adopted some of the most aggressive campus sexual assault laws in the country. Today’s bulletin ensures that education leaders and law enforcement understand their responsibilities under these laws, enforce them consistently, and collaborate to protect victims.” The two new laws create reporting requirements and standards for campus disciplinary procedures. SB 967 requires California postsecondary institutions – in order to receive state funds for financial assistance – to adopt
comprehensive, victim-centered policies and disciplinary procedures concerning sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking. Under the law, an institution’s policy governing its campus disciplinary process must use an affirmative consent standard – defined as an affirmative, conscious and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity – to determine whether a sexual assault complainant consented. SB 967 requires campuses to use a preponderance of the evidence standard when adjudicating complaints in the campus disciplinary process. This means the evidence must show it is “more likely than not” – i.e., greater than 50 percent likelihood – that the victim did not consent. The law also requires postsecondary institutions to partner with campus and community organizations to refer both victims and perpetrators to health, counseling, advocacy and legal services. “The laws we pursue in the California legislature set an example for the rest of the country,” Senate pro Tempore de León stated. “With 1 in 5 women on college campuses experiencing sexual assault, it’s our responsibility to secure a safe learning environment for our students.” AB 1433 specifies that as
a condition for participation in the Cal Grant program, campus security authorities are required to immediately – or as soon as practicably possible – disclose to local law enforcement any report of a violent crime, hate crime or sexual assault, whether committed on- or off-campus. Postsecondary governing boards must implement policies and procedures by July 1, 2015, to ensure reports of these crimes are immediately forwarded to the appropriate law enforcement agency. “Students at our colleges and universities deserve to learn without living in fear of sexual assault, and they deserve to know that crimes that occur on campus won’t be treated any differently than those that occur elsewhere in our community,” said Assemblymember Mike Gatto. “I thank Attorney General Harris for her advice and collaboration in these matters.” AB 1433 builds on existing state and federal requirements for campus and law enforcement collaboration. California law already requires postsecondary institutions to enter into written agreements with local law enforcement agencies. The federal Clery Act also requires campus officials to contact lo-
cal law enforcement to obtain accurate statistics about crimes reported on or near campus. Attorney General Harris has a longstanding commitment to reducing sexual violence and seeking justice for sexual assault victims. In her first year in office, Attorney General Harris eliminated a longstanding backlog of untested rape kits in staterun labs – which included 1,300 DNA cases. In April 2014, the California Attorney General’s Rapid DNA Service Team received the United States Department of Justice Award for Professional Innovation in Victim Services. Attorney General Harris is currently prosecuting two operators of cyber exploitation websites who, combined, facilitated the posting of over 10,000 sexually explicit photos and extorted victims to remove the illicit content. In the coming months, the Attorney General’s Office will release additional guidance suggesting ways in which law enforcement and campus personnel can comply with the new laws and facilitate justice for victims and accountability for perpetrators. To view the information bulletin click here: http://bit. ly/1CcwfB1.
Feldheym Library Continued from page 1
ing a 2013 flood and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding. Almost all of the carpet in the 64,000-squarefoot facility was replaced. “It’s great to see this muchanticipated project become reality,” Erjavek said. “We’d like to thank the Mayor and Common Council, City Manager Allen Parker, Public Works Director Tony Frossard, Brandon Mims of the City Manager’s office, Rick Moreno of
City Facilities, the SBPL Board of Trustees and everyone else who has supported and contributed to this project. ” Patrons are encouraged to check the library’s web site at www.sbpl.org or call 381-8201 for updates. Further information including a wide range of electronic services and the ability to renew materials online are also available at the library’s web site.