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F I R E AT TO R N E YS
SERVING TEMECULA , MURRIETA , L AKE E LSINOR E , M ENIFEE , WILDOMAR , H EMET, SAN JACINTO AND THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES September 20 – 26, 2024
Entertainment
Call for artists for chalk walk
VISI T myvalleynews.com
Volume 24, Issue 38
City of Temecula honors 9/11 victims in annual memorial
MURRIETA - The Murrieta Field of Honor announces the launch of the 2024 Vollbrecht Rotary Chalk Walk, inviting talented artists to showcase their creativity and talent in a vibrant, community-centered event on Nov. 9 and 10 at Murrieta Town Square Park. This year’s competition promises to be bigger and better than ever. As a dynamic highlight of our annual Field of Honor event, artists have an opportunity to leave their mark on this cherished tradition. The Vollbrecht Rotary Chalk Walk will be held as part of ... see page B-3
Home & Garden
Fall garden planning As the heat of summer fades and cooler autumn breezes sweep in, September is an ideal time to revamp your Southern California garden. Fall not only offers relief from the intense heat but also provides the perfect opportunity to prepare your garden for a vibrant winter and spring season. Here’s how to redesign your garden beds, make smart plant selections... see page C-4
Anza Basket weaving workshops
Honeyheart Farms will present a series of basket weaving workshops beginning in November. “We have planned a series of workshops that will take us through the winter,” said Honeyheart Farms owner Susie Follstad. “We are starting with a beginner workshop, where you will learn the foundations of basketry. As the series unfolds we will continue to offer more advanced classes featuring harvest and market baskets. The first basket weaving workshop will be held Saturday, Nov. 2, where students will be instructed how to make a Homestead Egg Basket. Class fees are $65 per adult and $45 per child. Weaving supplies and lunch are provided... see page D-3
INDEX Anza Valley Outlook ......... D-1 Business ............................B-6 Business Directory .............B-6 Calendar of Events .............B-2 Classifieds .........................C-7 Education ..........................C-5 Entertainment ...................B-1 Faith..................................B-5 Health ...............................B-5 Home & Garden ................B-7 Legal Notices .................... D-6 Local ................................A-1 National News ...................C-7 Opinion............................ D-5 Regional News ...................C-6 Sports ................................C-1
People gather at the Temecula Duck Pond for the annual 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony, Wednesday, Sept. 11. See more photos on page A-4. Valley News/Shane Gibson photo
Local man survives harrowing accident
Jenna Ortiz Special to the Village New
At 8 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 24, Raul Ramirez, 63, who has been a Fallbrook resident for over 20 years, was traveling home northbound on the 15 freeway and suddenly heard a loud, “POP!” Upon realizing his tire blew out, he lost control of his GMC Sierra, scraped across the guard rail south of the SR 76 offramp and just north of the Lilac Bridge for several moments, then plummeted 300 feet down the steep embankment. His truck, completely loaded down with all his tools and equipment, continually rolled until coming to a complete stop. “My two windows were up when I was driving, and when I finally stopped rolling, there was no glass. Somebody was watching me that day. Somebody was holding me. I wasn’t alone that day.” A good Samaritan had seen Ramirez leave the roadway and stopped to help, yelling first to
see if Ramirez was OK and then climbing down the 300 foot embankment. Ramirez said, “He was behind me when I was driving and he saw me. He stopped and went down to help me. I heard voices, I said, ‘yeah I need help!’ It’s pretty far, but I was able to hear him good and we were able to communicate. He said, ‘I have already called 911 and I am going to help you!’ He came down and he was with me until the paramedics came. When he went down to help me I was already out of the truck.” Ramirez was able to crawl through the driver’s side window, which amazingly hadn’t been completely smashed all the way down like the passenger side of the truck, leaving just enough room for him to get out. He was carried up the embankment by Search and Rescue in a Stokes basket and taken to a local hospital. He was offered oxygen see SURVIVE, page A-2
Raul Ramirez stands beside the remains of his truck Village News/Courtesy photo after a tire blow out sent him down a 300 foot embankment.
TVUSD Wiersma fights censorship from board members and staff over parental rights policy
Julie Reeder Publisher
In an unusual move on Sept. 10th, TVUSD Board Clerk and acting Presiding Officer Jen Wiersma, called to order the continuation of the August 27th, 2024 regular TVUSD board meeting to officially close the prior meeting. The meeting on August 27 abruptly ended when two board members left the meeting while Wiersma started to read a statement she had prepared with legal counsel addressing a parental notification policy issue and a letter sent from Supt. Woods after receiving communication from the California Department of Education (CDE). Parental notification has been the focus of school boards up and down the state after complaints and lawsuits from parents who, after the fact, found out that school
employees secretly have been facilitating their students changing their gender identification and identity, with potentially life threatening surgeries and castration. Other parents have objected to having students of the opposite sex in the locker room or bathrooms. There are several districts like TVUSD that have court battles working their way through the system. TVUSD has so far had success in state court defending their parental notification policy they enacted last year when they had a conservative board majority that ran on parental rights issues. However, the CDE received a uniform complaint from someone regarding the policy. In response, they issued a Letter of Corrective Action to Temecula instructing the superintendent to send out a letter within 10 days, essen-
tially nullifying several aspects of TVUSD parental notification policy, Including if a student wanted to change their name, gender, locker room, etc. Supt. Woods responded in July, 2024 by sending out a letter to teachers, students, employees and parents nullifying parts of the policy as dictated by the CDE without public comment or a vote from the TVUSD board. The issue according to Wiersma, and the cause for debate, was that “neither the CDE nor the superintendent has legal standing or lawful authority to nullify or supersede a lawful policy that was voted into TVUSD policy by board members who were elected by the public.” During the board meeting of August 27, in order to keep Wiersma from reading her statement and hearing the information she had at-
tained from legal counsel, the two other board members, Schwarts and Barclay, quickly left the meeting with staff following suit, and cutting the lights and video feed while Wiersma was still speaking. Immediately Supt. Woods stood up and said if there isn’t a quorum, the meeting is over, and he also walked out. While everyone seemed surprised, some people in the audience were happy and others commented at the rudeness of the move to shut down Wiersma. An attorney, Mr. Brenner, during the Sept. 10 meeting stated that Robert’s Rules for Order don’t require the meeting to end because there isn’t a quorum. It just goes on without the ability to vote and it still needs to be adjourned. Jonathan Ingram, long-time Murrieta Councilman and former see TVUSD, page A-5