GRANDSON ARRESTED FOR KILLING GRANDPARENTS
GOVENOR RE-APPOINTS RIVERSIDE MAN PG. 5
GREG GOES TO SAN DEIGO PG. 3
PG. 3
monroviaweekly.com
FREE
MONDAY, JULY 6, 2015 - JULY 12, 2015 - VOLUME 4, NO. 27
Wildlife Waystation Waiting for Conditional Use Permit BY JENNIFER SCHLUETER A good five miles off San Gabriel Valley neighborhoods, the Wildlife Waystation is embedded into the midst of the dry hills of the Los Angeles National Forest. Run by director Martine Colette, this animal sanctuary houses hundreds of neglected animals from all over the world – tigers, lions, chimpanzees and other exotics as well as goats, llamas and raccoons, etc., on 160 acres of land. Colette began taking in abandoned animals in the mid-sixties, and opened the Wildlife Waystation about a decade later. For a few years now, the place, which once welcomed busloads of people, has been shut down. Colette says that they are waiting on their Conditional Use Permit (CUP) from the County to officially reopen the sanctuary, which could take any time between 8 and 18 months. The CUP would help to revive funding as well as provide children and adults with an important education about wildlife. During our visit, a close SEE PG. 4
Kahlon Makes Another Run for Supervisor Seat
Raj Kahlon is a longtime 5th District resident who is making another run for a seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. In the last election he tried to defy the odds and unseat Michael Antonovich, the district’s mainstay incumbent who has held the office since the early-1980s. Not surprisingly, given the heavily tilted advantage incumbents seem to have these days, especially at the local government level, Kahlon didn’t accomplish his immediate goal. But that didn’t discour-
age him from throwing his hat in the 2016 electoral ring, hoping that his second bid turns out more successfully than his initial foray into the spotlight of the county political scene. His first go-round was certainly a long-shot attempt to oust the seemingly invincible Antonovich, but Kahlon did manage to receive more than 20 percent of the popular vote totaling nearly 42,000 ballots cast in his favor, according to the county Registrar-Recorder. After years of what SEE PG. 4
-vCourtesy Photo
-Photo by Terry Miller
Site Finalized for New Civil Courthouse in Menifee The State Public Works Board (SPWB) has approved the acquisition of a site in Menifee for the new Riverside Mid-County Civil Courthouse from site owner Regent Properties. The new courthouse will be located on 3.8 acres in the Menifee Town Center and will be a part of the City’s envisioned future government center. “Much of the recent growth in Riverside County has been in the mid-county region, badly straining the courthouse in Hemet,” said Harold W. Hopp, presiding judge of the Riverside
County Superior Court. “This new facility will help us to increase access to justice, particularly for family law and civil cases.” The site was chosen because of its central location within the county’s growing population center where filings continue to rise, the reduced cost of the property, and access to public transportation and Interstate 215. Completion of site acquisition, expected by July 2015, will allow the project to proceed into architectural design, scheduled to take approximately two years.
The Judicial Council, which manages the project, has engaged the architecture firm of Perkins + Will to design the new courthouse. The new Mid-County Civil Courthouse will house nine courtrooms in over 89,000 square feet and replace the aging Hemet Courthouse. It will improve public access, increase efficiencies, and provide greater security for court visitors and staff by providing enhanced security screening and separate circulation
SEE PG. 4