A-1
Strawberry acres rise to a new high as demand grows, B-4
Former area standouts help No. 15 Oregon rally past North Carolina in Holiday Bowl, C-1
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Valley News • www.myvalleynews.com • January 13, 2023
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SERVING TEMECULA , MURRIETA , L AKE E LSINOR E , M ENIFEE , WILDOMAR , H EMET, SAN JACINTO January 13 – 19, 2023
AND THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES
VISI T myvalleynews.com
Business Menifee launches first grant for unique eateries in SW RivCo
Volume 23, Issue 2
Spectacular Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians Pow Wow entertains thousands
MENIFEE – Menifee is accepting pre-applications for the Menifee M.E.N.U. – Mom and Pop, Entertainment, New Concept and Unique – Grant, which will assist with up-front business expenses ranging from $25,000 to $100,000 to bring in unique eateries into the city. see page B-7
Regional News Law enforcement group tells judges to stop ‘reckless dismissal’ of cases Cit y News Service Special to the Valley News
On Thursday, Jan. 5, a law enforcement group representing Riverside County’s sheriff, district attorney and 19 chiefs of police called on Superior Court judges to end the mass dismissal of criminal cases to solve a backlog, saying the practice is escalating dangers to public safety. see page C-5
INDEX Anza Valley Outlook ......... D-1
Business ............................B-7 Business Directory .............B-7 Calendar of Events .............B-2
Classifieds .........................C-7 Courts & Crimes ...............C-7 Education ..........................B-1 Entertainment ...................B-2 Faith................................. D-4
Health ..............................B-6 Home & Garden ................B-4 Local ................................A-1 National News ...................C-6 Opinion............................ D-5
Real Estate ........................B-8 Regional News ...................C-5
Tony Ault Staf f Writer The continuing progress of the indigenous American Indian and their Nations could be seen in
one of the most spectacular Pow Wows ever presented in the Valley at the Pechanga Casino Resort in Temecula the weekend of Jan. 6-8. Participating were dancers, Bird Singers, and Drum groups from
Valley News/Shane Gibson photo across America from Minnesota, Oklahoma, most all the Western States and especially California. For those thousands of visitors from seniors to children it was one of the most colorful spectacular
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events they may have ever seen, all taking place inside and under the spotlights from a large surrounding impromptu stage inside see POW WOW, page A-6
Wildomar pastor accused of molesting children arraigned
Cit y News Service Special to the Valley News
A 54-year-old Wildomar pastor accused of sexually assaulting two girls numerous times pleaded not guilty Friday, Jan. 6 to nearly two dozen felony charges. Fredy Romeo Gonzalez Lopez was arrested in November following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation. Lopez is charged with eight counts of aggravated rape of a child, seven counts of lewd acts on a minor, five counts of sodomy of a child and multiple sentence-enhancing allegations
of targeting two or more victims in a sex crime. The defendant was arraigned before Superior Court Judge Elaine Kiefer, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for Feb. 22 at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta. Lopez is being held on $1 million bail at the nearby Byrd Detention Center. According to sheriff’s Sgt. Joshua Parker, Gonzalez presides at a Wildomar church, but the house of worship wasn’t identified. Parker said that detectives initiated an investigation during the first week of November, follow-
ing reports of an alleged sexual assault on a child at a property in the 32000 block of Blue Terrace Street, near Palomar Street. According to the criminal complaint, the two victims, identified in court documents only as “A.A.” and “A.L.A.,” were allegedly assaulted at various times from September 2020 to November 2022. Court papers described instances where the defendant allegedly fondled their breasts, digitally penetrated them and raped them, when the victims were between 10 and 12 years old. see PASTOR, page A-2
Fredy Romeo Gonzalez Lopez, age 54, pleads not guilty to sexually assaulting two girls aged 10 and 12 years old. Valley News/Courtesy photo
Dream home arriving for family of seven in Lake Elsinore through Habitat for Humanity Tony Ault Staf f Writer
USPS Postal Customer
VALLEY NEWS
Sports ................................C-1
Pow wow dancers fill the arena during the Pechanga Pow Wow grand entry.
Inland Empire Habitat for Humanity staff and board members pose with the seven member Jonathan Valenzuela family, center right, who will soon move into this new home being built on Peck Street in Lake Elsinore. Valley News/Tony Ault photo
“It is a dream come true,” an expression heard many times but for Heather Valenzuela, with tears in her eyes it truly was as she, her husband Jonathan and five young children stood in their soon to be three bedroom home at 245 Peck Street in Lake Elsinore Saturday January 7. While their home is not completely given, it is of the latest Habitat for Humanity homes being built in the Inland Empire. It means the world for the Valenzuela family who has been crowded in a small two-bedroom Hemet townhome for some time and their first ever real to be owned home. Their children, Karmani, 12; Averi, 11; Jolonni, 5, Eneavi, 4 and Sevoni, 3 who suffers from Cerebral Palsy, all looked around see HABITAT, page A-4