First Jewish Blessing of the Trees held in Temecula’s Duck Pond Park, A-5
A-1
San Jacinto Valley students honored in February, B-6
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SERVING TEMECULA , MURRIETA , L AKE E LSINOR E , M ENIFEE , WILDOMAR , H EMET, SAN JACINTO AND THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES February 28 – March 6, 2025
VISI T myvalleynews.com
Volume 25, Issue 9
Chino Valley Lady Eagles surge past court win signals Menifee Community Service Coordinator Harvard-Westlake to reach hope for TVUSD in parental Chelsea Bollinger notification battle dies CIF-SS Division 1 Finals
Local News
The City of Menifee reported in a news release to community partners that Chelsea Bollinger, the Community Services Coordinator for the city has died.
Julie Reeder Publisher
the state playoffs. Julia Wilson was, once again, the star of the show. The Gonzaga commit put on a clinic, scoring 29 points while dishing out
The legal dispute over parental notification policies continues to evolve in California, with multiple school districts challenging state restrictions on informing parents about their children’s gender identity or name changes that differ from their enrollment file information. The controversy began in August 2023 when Attorney General Rob Bonta sued to block school districts from requiring staff to notify parents if a student requests to be identified by a different gender or name. The lawsuit came after Temecula Valley Unified School District (TVUSD), Chino Valley Unified School District, and Anderson Union High School District implemented such policies, arguing they upheld parental rights. Chino Valley sees a legal victory In a major development, the State of California did not appeal a court ruling that upheld Chino Valley Unified School District’s authority to notify parents when students request changes to their official or unofficial records. This was on the heels of other court losses by the State. The Liberty Justice Center, which represented Chino Valley, called it a victory for parental rights, though acknowledging that both sides had legal wins and losses. “The win means Chino Valley can notify parents in a roundabout way,” said Emily Rae, senior legal counsel at the Liberty Justice Center. “Parents still have a role in their children’s lives.” However, critics, including former educator Shay Stevens, raised concerns about enforcement. “How do you force teachers to do that?” Stevens asked. “What disciplinary actions follow if they don’t?” Anderson Union lawsuit pending The Anderson Union High School District also challenged California’s Support Academic Futures and Educators for Today’s Youth (SAFETY) Act, arguing it violates parental rights by allowing students to withhold gender identity changes from parents. The lawsuit, filed in August 2024, remains pending in court.
see RANCHO, page A-11
see TVUSD, page A-2
see page A-6
Home & Garden EVMWD approves prepurchase of MWD water Joe Naiman Special to Valley News The Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District will take advantage of lower rates to pre-purchase Metropolitan Water District of Southern California imported water. The EVMWD board voted 5-0 February 13 to execute a purchase agreement with the Western Municipal Water District for 3,835 acre-feet (one acre-foot is approximately 325,850 gallons) of MWD supply. EVMWD is not a direct MWD member but purchases MWD imported water from Western. see page B-7
INDEX Anza Valley Outlook ..........B-1 Business ............................B-5 Business Directory .............B-5 Calendar of Events .............A-8
Classifieds ....................... B-10 Education ..........................B-6 Entertainment ...................A-9 Health ...............................A-7 Home & Garden ................B-7 Legal Notices .......... B-10, B-11 Local ................................A-1 National News ...................B-9 Opinion........................... B-10
Regional News ...................B-8
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Sports .............................. A-10
Jasmine Pho, pictured here driving to the hoop for Rancho Christian, will look to help her team in the CIF-SS Division 1 championship game. Valley News/David Canales photo JP Raineri Spor ts Editor TEMECULA—The Rancho Christian girls basketball team, representing the heart of Temecula, delivered a resounding 60-44 vic-
tory over Harvard-Westlake in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinals on Saturday night. With this pivotal win, the Eagles not only secure their spot in the finals but also solidify their position as one of the top teams heading into
Soboba Fire Department assists with LA wildfires Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians Special to Valley News During the recent rash of devastating fires in Pacific Palisades, Altadena, and surrounding areas, fire crews from across the western United States responded to support local fire crews that were battling the Palisades, Eaton, and Hughes fires along with some smaller ones. Soboba Fire Department was on the scene helping crews fighting the Eaton Fire from Jan. 8 to Jan. 16, when they returned home. Additional support and resources allowed for quicker containment for small fires and significant progress in containment at the larger fires across the region. Soboba Fire Chief Glenn Patterson said requests for assistance are managed by Cal-OES, utilizing the statewide mutual aid system. “This request came from our dispatch center who was contacted by the OES regional coordinator,” he said. “Whoever is on duty goes when the request comes in and we call back personnel to fill behind.”
It is up to Patterson to approve or deny all mutual aid requests based on the availability of resources and personnel. “I keep in contact with the personnel out on assignment and arrange for any needs and coordinate personnel swaps as needed,” he said. One engine with three crew members and one Chief Officer was deployed to the Eaton Fire, Division “Juliette,” which was in Sierra Madre. One of those crew members was Soboba Fire Training Battalion Chief Howard Maxcy Jr. “I think just seeing the devastation of all those homes destroyed and seeing families every day at the roadblocks wondering if their homes were still standing was the worst part for me personally,” Maxcy said. “Our assignments included patrolling the areas for hotspots and helping to identify homes that had been damaged and reporting those addresses to our division group supervisor.” see FIRE, page A-4
A Soboba Fire crew member mops up hotspots, ensuring the fire is completely extinguished. Valley News/Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians photo