Belmont Beacon
MONDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2014 - OCTOBER 19, 2014
belmontbeacon.com
VOLUME 1, NO. 24
California’s water officials neglect their Bill to own laws and waste water mandate by jennifer schlueter child-abuse training for teachers signed into law
50th anniversary. In great condition, valued at $24,000, the now-yellow bike was green when it was stolen 42 years ago on March 4, 1972. It was taken from the backyard of a police officer’s residence in Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s (D-Los Angeles) bill to strengthen training requirements and prevent child abuse in schools was signed into law by Governor Brown Monday. The legislation would require all school employees to be trained according to standards developed by the Department of Education in the proper identification and reporting of child abuse, so that abuse can be stopped in its tracks. Gatto’s AB 1432 addresses the lack of training on how to recognize and report child abuse in K-12 settings. The California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act requires certain professionals, known as mandated reporters, to report to law enforcement or protective services known or suspected instances of neglect, or physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. Despite these requirements, current law does not require school districts to train personnel on detecting and reporting child abuse, nor does it inform them of their responsibilities or that failure to report is a misdemeanor punishable by jail time. Gatto’s legislation addresses this problem by requiring school employees to complete reporting training. The Assemblyman has been working closely with child advocates and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom
Please see page 2
Please see page 2
-Photo by Terry Miller
California’s law makes water bills of state officials defining water rates and rules public record. Thus, The Center for Investigative Reporting examined their data and found the state’s representatives wasting up to eleven times as much water as the typical California
household. Fresno City Councilman Oliver Baines is responsible for this number, using 4,000 gallons a day. After finding out that he had defective sprinklers using 1.24 million gallons of water in 2012, Baines now cut his usage to 149 gallons per day in March of this
year. According to NBC, he apologized and admitted to not being “a model of water usage.” Next to Baines’ wasting due to leaking sprinklers, Mike Soubirous, member of the Please see page 4
Bike Stolen in 1972, destined for Australia is intercepted at LA/LB seaport U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Outbound Enforcement Team officers at the Los Angeles/Long Beach (LA/LB) seaport, in partnership with California Highway Patrol (CHP) investigators and National Insurance Crime Bureau special agent, intercepted a stolen 60-year-old 1954 FL Harley-
Davidson Hydra-Glide motorcycle, destined for Australia. CBP seized it on September 9 and turned it over to CHP for further investigation and to return to its rightful owner. The bike features a trumpet style horn and a 50 years medallion on its front fender, denoting Harley-Davidson’s
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Edgy Topics and Indie Rock? Must be Duncan Sheik's Spring Awakening at the Long Beach Playhouse Duncan’s Sheik’s indie rock musical, Spring Awakening, is a coming of age story based on the controversial German play Spring Awakening (1891) by Frank Wedekind. The play was banned in Germany for some time due to its frank portrayal of abortion, homosexuality, rape, child abuse and suicide. The musical, first produced in 2006, tells the story of teenagers discovering the intricacies - good and bad - of their own sexuality. “This is the closing production for our Studio Theatre,” said Andrew Vonderschmitt, executive and producing artistic director for the Playhouse. “We opened the season with In the Next Room, a play about awakened sexuality set in Victorian times. It seemed appropriate to close the season with a musical about awakened sexuality set in Victorian times - symmetry.” He went on to say, “Only these are starkly different stories. While In the Next Room spoke to gender roles and female emancipation, Spring Awakening talks about that time in life when bodies and sexuality awaken and the dangers of not having support during that time.” The musical is set in 1891 Germany. Young Wendla
explores her body and asks where babies come from. The brilliant and fearless Melchior defends his friend Moritz, a boy so traumatized by puberty he can’t concentrate on anything. One day Wendla and Melchior discover a desire unlike anything they’ve known. Spring Awakening explores the confusion and desperation that arise as the surge of hormones meets the ignorance of children. “It’s an unforgettable journey from youth to adulthood with a power, poignancy, and passion that you will never forget,” said Vonderschmitt. Directing the production is Sean Gray, the technical director and production manager for the Playhouse. This is not Gray’s first time in the director’s chair. Last year he directed Midsummer’s Night Gay Dream which was one of the season’s most popular productions. Another Playhouse staffer, Halley Wright, will display her considerable talents as the choreographer. Special events for this play: •Pay what you can Thursday October 16 - community can see this production for whatever they can afford •Two for One Preview
Friday October 17 - Tickets are $12.00 •Opening Night Champagne Reception with cast on October 18- Tickets are $27.00 Adults are $24.00, seniors $21.00, and Students $14.00. Tickets are available at www.lbplayhouse.org, or by calling 562-494-1014, option 1. Long Beach Playhouse is located at 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach, CA, 90804, right across from the Long Beach Recreation golf course. The Playhouse is community-supported theatre with programs and events that cut across age, gender, ethnic, and cultural boundaries. Performances are 8 p.m. Friday, and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. The box office is open Wednesday-Saturday from 3:00-8:00 pm and Sundays from 1:00-2:00 pm on scheduled matinees.
Sheriff faces child porn charges A former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was scheduled to be arraigned last week on child pornography charges, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced. Lorne Reed (DOB 10/12/81) is expected to appear in Department 30 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. He was charged on Sept. 4 with one count each of distributing child pornography and possession of child pornography in case BA428943. Prosecutors said Reed shared child pornography on the Internet in April. Last month, a search warrant was served at Reed’s residence in Santa Fe Springs and more than 45 child pornography files were found on his laptop computer, prosecutors added. The case remains under investigation by the LAPD. If convicted as charged, Reed faces up to five years plus, in state prison.
60-year-old stolen Harley intercepted Continued from page 1
County, North Carolina. He passed away on October 7, 2010, nearly four years ago to this day. His oldest son, Edgar Howard Johnson, Jr., is very excited about its return and said, “My Dad would be tickled to get it back if he was still alive. This is so great; absolutely amaz-
ing; so wonderful. I remember my Dad picking me up from school with it one time. When the kids asked me if I was gonna ride on that, I told them I sure am. I miss my Dad so much. We used to talk once every week. He’s with me in my heart. This is like a piece of him is coming back home.”
Child-abuse training for teachers bill Continued from page 1
Torlakson, after recent reports showed that several cases of abuse were prolonged because school personnel were unaware of their duty to report. “Crimes that occur in schools should not be treated any differently than those that occur elsewhere in our com-
munity, unless it is to treat them with even greater care and concern,” said Assemblyman Gatto. “California law needs to make sure that school administrators at all levels of education report these most serious crimes and empower our law-enforcement experts to investigate.”
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Gone Girl is a heightened but, unfortunately, accurate reflection of our culture movie review By Michael James Gonzalez It’s not surprising that this weekend’s number one movie at the box office was Gone Girl. The film stars a handsome, allAmerican male, the plot centers on a possible kidnap or even murder of a young, beautiful wife, and we are led through a maze of clues and assumptions by the media, which begins to air the police investigation 24/7. Pardon the expression, but that’s so meta. If you watched the film over the weekend and felt less like a passive viewer and more like a participant in the film, then the joke wasn’t lost on you. Consider the extraordinary amount of TV shows devoted to tabloid-crime related news stories, and you’ll realize how much our culture is obsessed with the type of narrative depicted in Gone Girl, which gives us a fly-on-the-wall glimpse into the machinations of people involved in a high-profile crime and the subsequent media frenzy once the front door shuts on the news cameras outside. The film is based on author Gillian Flynn’s bestselling novel of the same name and is directed by master craftsman David Fincher (The Social Network, Se7en). Gone Girl stars Ben Affleck as the seemingly perfect husband— who we come to find has quite a few chinks in his armor—and Rosamund Pike as the Northeastern-bred, sophisticated, equally perfect wife who disappears under circumstances that appear obvious but are anything but. We begin as Nick Dunne (Affleck) returns home to discover that a violent struggle has taken place and his wife Amy (Pike) is missing. After local police get involved, circumstantial evidence begins to point toward Nick as the prime suspect and a media circus quickly ensues. Flashback sequences begin to reveal cracks in Nick and Amy’s marriage— including money problems, a move from New York City to
the suburbs of North Carthage, Missouri due to Nick’s sick mother, frequent arguments, and infidelity—as told from the point of view of Amy’s diary. But just as Nick’s smug behavior and lies surrounding the case lead police closer to arresting him for murdering his wife, we discover that there are far more malevolent forces at work which have led to Amy’s disappearance but perhaps not her death. The 149 minute film gradually reveals the context of Nick and Amy’s complicated relationship—from their first meeting to the day she
disappears—the twists and turns throughout the police investigation, and the shocking events of the third act, which even if you see coming, you won’t know what will happen next. Fincher’s distinct directing style brilliantly fleshes out the film’s motifs-psycho-pathology set against the appearance of affluence and normality, and the investigation of truth versus the exploitation of it—with his usual chiaroscuro tones and still frames, both of which make the camera invisible but remind us that this is a dirty world we’re inhabiting.
Long Beach Office 3780 Kilroy Airport Way Suite 360 Long Beach, CA 90806 Ph. (562) 472-0071 Fx. (562) 689-0071 Los Angeles Office 5701 South Eastern Avenue Suite 100 Los Angeles, CA 90040 Ph. (323) 727-1144 Fx. (323) 727-9198 www.heger-industrial.com Lic. #00814086
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HUD awards $14.1 million to protect children and families in California from dangerous lead and other home hazards The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today awarded more than $14.1 million in grants to four local and state government agencies and research institutions to protect children and families in California from the hazards of lead-based paint and from other home health and safety hazards (see chart below). The grant funding announced today will reduce the number of lead-poisoned children and protect families by targeting health hazards in lowincome homes with significant lead and/or other home health and safety hazards. In addition, some of these grants will support research on increasing the effectiveness of hazard reduction methods. These programs have a demonstrated history of success, filling critical needs in communities where no other resources exist to address substandard
housing that threatens the health of the most vulnerable residents, and filling research gaps essential for being able to reduce hazard reduction costs. As HUD approaches its 50th anniversary next year, HUD Secretary Julián Castro is focused on advancing policies that create opportunities for all Americans, including helping children and families secure quality housing by protecting them from the hazards of lead-based paint and other home health and safety hazards. “No person should ever be in harm’s way when cooking dinner in their kitchen or playing with children in the living room,” said Castro. “These grant awards will help communities eliminate home-related hazards and give families new opportunities to thrive. Housing is a critical source of stability, and HUD is committed to helping
Free Community Outreach Class on Citizenship The University of the West (www.uwest.edu) through its Office of Extended Studies (site.uwestonline.com) is pleased to offer a free online class helping immigrants to prepare for U.S. Citizenship. Becoming a U.S. citizen is a privilege offered to all immigrants who possess a “green card”, and who have
lived in the U.S. for at least 5 years. This free class is 100% online and uses materials provided by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Prospective citizens can start and finish the 11 lessons at their own pace. To register for this free online class, please email extendedstudies@uwest.edu.
ensure that all Americans have a healthy safe place to live.” “Home is where a family should feel safe and the HUD Healthy Homes and Lead Control programs will be used by local groups to help reduce lead paint hazards, among other housing-related health issues,” said HUD Regional Administrator Ophelia Basgal. “I applaud the HUD grant recipients for their leadership in working to keep California families safe: the State of California Community Services Development, Alameda County, the City of Los Angeles, and the San Diego Environmental Services Department.” HUD’s HUD’s Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Control promotes local efforts to eliminate dangerous lead paint and other housing-related health hazards from lower income homes; stimulate private sector investment in lead hazard
control; support cutting-edge research on methods for assessing and controlling housing-related health and safety hazards; and educate the public about the dangers of hazards in the home. The funding announced today directs critical funds to cities, counties and states to eliminate dangerous lead paint and other housing-related health hazards in thousands of privately-owned, low-income housing units. Today’s funding also directs funds to public and private universities and research organizations to improve methods to detect lead paint in the home, assess the effectiveness of lead laws, improve home fall protection for the elderly, improve sustainable pest management strategies, evaluate the health effects of smoke-free policies, and assess home air cleaning in reducing childhood asthma.
Water officials waste water Continued from page 1
Riverside City Council, was found to be the biggest water wasting official in the state. His desert home with a “1-acre lot with cascades of flowering shrubs and a weeping willow tree,” as NBC describes it, consumes enough water to serve eight households – more than 1 million gallons a year. Subirous told NBC that he doesn’t know what to do to conserve water; “sell [his] house to set that example, or just abolish all [of his] shrubs?” In July, Riverside prohibited watering more than four days a week, which Subirous supported. However, last month he was caught on video running his sprinklers seven consecutive nights. Furthermore, the CIR discovered that more than 50% water agency supervisors consume more water than the state’s average household.
Randy Record, chairman of the board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, for example, with more than 1,100 gallons per day in 2013, uses three times as much. While deciding on laws that save water and $500 fines for water wasters, water use among 60 percent of the officials has increased from 2012 to 2013. Trent Orr of the Earthjustice environmental law firm in San Francisco told NBC that officials “should be leading by example, not telling the little people you regulate that they need to tighten their belts while you proceed as if nothing had happened and in fact use more water.” On a more positive note and despite water wasters, water usage has dropped 11.5 percent in August compared to the previous year.