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Drunk driver who struck, severely injured Border Patrol agent sentenced
Riverside parks department recognized for at-risk youth programs
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M O N D AY, M AY 29- J U N E 04, 2023
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Officials name 2 more Riverside County Teachers of the Year By Staff
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n award-winning playwright, and a teacher whose own school experience included overcoming struggles with dyslexia, were named 2024 Riverside County Teachers of the Year in surprise visits Wednesday from the superintendent of schools, officials announced. James Waedekin is an English teacher at New Horizon School in Banning Unified School District, and during his 17 years at the school district he has also taught drama and theatre production courses at Banning High School, according to the Riverside County Office of Education. Waedekin has also written a children’s book and several award-winning scripts for theater productions staged in festivals and events worldwide.
Lindsay Hill is a fourth grade teacher at Sundance Elementary School in the Beaumont Unified School District with 15 years of teaching experience. “Hill brings life to California history lessons, focuses on reading intervention, and has published and illustrated children’s books,” officials said in a statement. “Both Ms. Hill and Mr. Waedekin are published authors and accomplished educators whose vast expertise and experience take center stage in their classrooms every day to foster a love of literacy, the arts, and all subjects, so that students can see the endless possibilities for their own lives as they write their own success stories,” Gomez said in a statement. Waedekin and Hill will join Lorena Morales from
Lindsay Hill and Superintendent of Schools Edwin Gomez. | Photo courtesy of the Riverside County Office of Education
the Alvord Unified School District in representing the county in the 2024 California State Teacher of the Year
competition this fall. One final 2024 Riverside County Teacher of the Year will be revealed in an upcoming
surprise visit by Gomez. “We are a family here in Banning, and for the last 17 years, I’ve grown as a teacher and feel more a part of the community each year,” Waedekin said in a statement, reportedly after receiving his award while surrounded by colleagues from his school and Banning USD officials. “I’m blown away by this, and I’m ready for another 17 years.” In front of her classroom full of students, her own children, her parents, her grandparents and co-workers from Sundance Elementary School and Beaumont USD officials, Hill reportedly said, “Thank you for this award, this is beyond my dream come true.” Waedekin’s aspiration is to assist students to “become the voices of their generation,” officials said.
Waedekin said he believes that “working in alternative education is transforming for teachers, and our classrooms are transforming for students.” Inside the classroom, he engages students with improvisation exercises and creative writing assignments. Outside the classroom, Waedekin serves as the school’s yearbook adviser, is on multiple school site teams and is the school’s Positive Behavior Intervention System coordinator. “When he was younger, Mr. Waedekin toured in drama therapy plays performed at teen shelters, alternative high schools, drug rehabilitation centers, and has grown his career as an See Teachers of the Year Page 28
Young man convicted of murdering
Legendary Memorial Day
partygoer in ambush outside MoVal home
motorcycle ride set for Monday
By City News Service
By City News Service
young man who gunned down an 18-year-old partygoer in an ambush outside a Moreno Valley home where the defendant lured the victim outside on the pretext of fighting him was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder and other offenses. A Riverside jury deliberated roughly three days before finding 22-year-old Darren Peter Zesk guilty of the 2020 killing of Massai Jevon Cole of Inglewood. Along with the murder count, the panel found true a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait, as well as convicted Zesk of sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations. However, jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on a special circumstance allegation that the slaying was part of a hate crime, and Riverside County Superior Court Judge Bernard Schwartz declared them hung on that charge. With the lying in wait allegation, Zesk is still facing a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Schwartz scheduled a sentencing hearing for Aug. 25 at the Riverside Hall of Justice. The defendant is being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta. The prosecution and defense delivered closing arguments Monday, and the jury went behind closed doors that afternoon to begin deliberations. The panel informed Schwartz before the afternoon lunch break Thursday that a verdict had been reached. Deputy District Attorney Kevin Beecham told jurors that when Zesk “lured” Cole out of the house at 16512 Century St., he intended to “ambush” the victim, “fulfilling a promise” that he’d made to his cousin, 21-year-old Jared Lee Zesk, to get back at those who had
celebrated motorcycle ride through Riverside and surrounding locations that’s intended to honor members of the U.S. Armed Services will return Monday for a Memorial Day salute that went on hiatus for three years, beginning with the COVID public health lockdowns. West Coast Thunder is slated roar to life at 9 a.m. Monday — the first ride since Memorial Day 2019. Riverside Harley-Davidson hosts the events, which began in 2000 when the dealership belonged to Skip Fordyce and operated under that banner. More than 7,500 motorcycle enthusiasts are expected to take part in the ride, according to event coordinator Jackson Dodd. “A lot of the riders are excited to be back,” Dodd told City News Service. “Everyone has expressed positive feelings. We missed not doing it those three years.” The 2020 ride was nixed due to Riverside County’s and the state’s COVID-driven prohibitions on mass public gatherings, and ongoing concerns about exposure risks led to cancellations in 2021 and 2022. This year’s event will get underway at Riverside Harley-Davison on Indiana Avenue, with motorcyclists bearing American flags leaving the dealership at 9:11 a.m. and proceeding up Alessandro Boulevard to south Riverside, transitioning to Van Buren Boulevard, where some participants will peel off to Riverside National Cemetery to pay their respects, while other riders will continue onto Interstate 215.
See Murder proposal Page 28
See Motorcycle ride Page 27
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