Ron's Log

Something You Might Want To Know

Arizona Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has endorsed Michael J. Kennedy in his attempt to unseat Judge James Cox. Mr. Kennedy couldn't be bothered to submit bio information for the official information pamphlet from the county Registrar of Voters. But Judge Cox did. Cox has been judge for 15 years and has served as Supervising Probate Judge for eight years. He has been endorsed by all 58 judges now serving in Riverside County, plus 13 retired judges (and apparently no dead ones).

Mr. Kennedy, well, he's got Sheriff Arpaio's endorsement and the endorsement of Aissa, who is John Wayne's daughter. Her full name is Aissa Wayne and she practices family law in Santa Monica and has been "seen on Larry King Live and Fox news as a legal analyst."

I haven't found a campaign website for Mr. Kennedy yet, but he's got a Facebook page where he says the Patriot Act is unconstitutional and unpatriotic. He's got a blog. Oh, I was wrong. Here's his campaign website. Here are his guiding principles. Here is a page entitled "My Opponent's Problem" but a more accurate title might be "My Problem With My Opponent." Mr. Kennedy appeared before Judge Cox once, disagreed with the Judge's use of bail, and had his case dismissed. In Mr. Kennedy's view this is fightin' stuff! He cites the 8th amendment ("Excessive bail shall not be required") a few times.

Here is Mr. Kennedy's bio on his law firm's website. It says he has been a guest radio host on KNews since 2007, but I can't find any mention of him on their website.

Got Grass?

If you live in the vast South Coast Air Quality Management District, you might be able to save as much as $280 on an electric lawnmower.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District invites you to participate in its Electric Lawn Mower exchange program, at any of the six locations – Indio, Pasadena, Rancho Cucamonga, Long Beach, Anaheim or Riverside. You can trade-in your old gas-powered mower for a non-polluting electric model and save money while helping clean the air. Purchase a rechargeable, cordless electric mower for as low as $100 and save up to $280, with the trade-in of a working gas mower. This year, AQMD has six different models to choose from. Exchange your mower in less than 15 minutes with drive-through convenience. Pre-registration is required. For details and to register for AQMD's lawn mower exchange program go to www.aqmd.gov and click on the lawn mower program banner or call 1-888-425-6247 (Tuesday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Supplies are limited.

To be eligible, you must have a working gas lawnmower to trade in, you have to live in the SCAQMD (Counties of Riverside, Orange, Los Angeles (except Antelope Valley) and San Bernardino (non-desert areas only)), 18 years of age or older, pre-registered, you have to pay for your new electric mower when you get it, limit of one per residence. They've got two Greenstation models and four Black & Decker models to choose from. Your final cost can be as low as only $100 for the Black & Decker 18" 36 volt model (you save $279). Or you can go as high as $280 for the Black & Decker 19" with an extra battery and fast charger (you save $269). There are two self-propelled models to choose from.

CVAG Gets Its Million

On Thursday, in Sacramento, the California Strategic Growth Council (SGC) announced that CVAG's application for Parkway 1e11, aka Whitewater River Trail, was awarded nearly $1 million in funding.

CVAG's proposal was the only award made specifically to a project in Riverside or San Bernardino Counties.

CVAG's grant application received broad support from the business community, tourist industry, government, health sector, environmental groups, and the building industry.

The $1 million award, combined with matching funding received from the Riverside County Parks and Open Space District, will fund engineering, design and environmental work for the project over the next two to three years.

Private engineering and planning firms will be competitively sought later this year to undertake the work.

"These important planning grants are local and regional in scale, but the outcomes and economic impacts of sustainable communities are truly statewide, benefiting all Californians," said Secretary for Natural Resources and SGC Member John Laird. "These projects will go a long way to help create cleaner water, more open space, and smarter growth in California."

In 2006, California voters passed Proposition 84, the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act, which authorized the Legislature to appropriate funds to support urban greening projects and sustainable community planning.

The Strategic Growth Council is a cabinet level committee that coordinates the activities of state agencies and partners with stakeholders to promote sustainability, economic prosperity, and quality of life for all Californians.

This is that million dollar grant for which CVAG, during the grant request process, asked for letters of support from the cities of the valley. That request led to that dark and evil, secret, backroom, no-smoking decision at the February 28 DHS city council meeting where by a vote of 3-2 they endorsed CVAG's efforts to get a million bucks of somebody else's money to study this proposed Whitewater Pathway (some cranky bureaucrats call it "1e11") and find out how much of a turkey it is.

FAQ:

• How much of that million comes from DHS? - None.
• How much comes from AQMD funds? - None.
• How much comes from our close proximity funds? - None.
• How much comes from the economic justice funds? - None.
• Where does this magic money come from? - Prop 84 bonds authorized by the voters in 2006.
• How did they justify Prop 84 money for this? - They said: "Proposal will conduct necessary planning for Parkway 1e11: a proposed 54-mile long Neighborhood Electric Vehicle, Bicycle, and Pedestrian route. The Parkway mostly follows the Whitewater River flood control channel. It traverses through the highest intensity land use corridor with the most potential for revitalization and mixed use development in the desert, a corridor with the highest traffic volumes and bus ridership."
• CVAG gets to spend a million bucks of mostly other people's money so a bunch of engineers can run around the Coachella Valley and stay in our motels and buy our gas and eat in our restaurants and then tell us the pathway will be good or bad or just meh? - Yes.
• How much of the pathway will this build? - None
• Does this mean the pathway will be built? - No.
• Isn't this socialism? - Assuredly.

Lost Hikers Found Safe

Press Release: Lost Hiker
Agency: Cabazon Station
Station Area: Cabazon
Incident Date: Tuesday, May 8, 2012 Time: 7:00 PM
Incident Location: Mount San Jacinto Wilderness, Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

Details:

On Tuesday, May 8, 2012, at approximately 7:00 PM, Riverside County Sheriff's Deputies from the Cabazon station responded to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway regarding a report of two lost hikers in the San Jacinto Wilderness, at approximately 9900 feet elevation. One of the hikers was able to use his cell phone to contact Sheriff's Dispatch and request assistance. The Riverside Sheriff's aviation helicopter responded to the area and conducted a search for the hikers at the same time the Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit began a search of the ground.

At approximately 10:00 PM, the Riverside Sheriff's aviation helicopter located the lost hikers but due to high and unpredictable winds in the area they were unable to hoist the hikers to safety. At 1:13 AM the Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit contacted the hikers and escorted them to the ranger station near the top of the tram. The hikers were lowered from the mountain via the Palm Springs Aerial Tram and escorted to their vehicle in the Palm Springs Museum parking lot at 6:50 AM where they were released in good health.

The hikers were identified as Michael Blanc, (63 years old from Anaheim), and Malgurzata Domagala, (39 years old from Viejo).

The Riverside County Sheriff's Department would like to remind local hikers to be mindful of even short wilderness hikes. Always take into consideration your experience, knowledge of the terrain, weather and your personal physical limitations. Remember to bring enough water and wear appropriate clothing. Always let friends and family know where you intend on hiking and when you are expected to return.

Since their car was at the Palm Springs Museum, it would appear they had ascended on the Skyline Trail, so it wasn't just a "short wilderness hike." They had gotten to some point higher than the upper tram station, so I wonder if San Jacinto peak was their goal. Maybe they were trying to make a short cut as sunset was approaching.

New Branding

And the branding is: "Palm Springs Oasis." And they've got a website. The Spring has the highest placed ad on the spa & wellness page.

Well, this is certainly familiar. If sharper-eyed viewers want to pick out other shots in Desert Hot Springs, please give time stamps.

Not that I was counting (I was counting), but in this video, while there are numerous examples of same-sex couples, there are six opposite-sex couples touching, while only one same-sex couple touches - if you want to say the two young women in two-piece bikinis, spinning together in a hotel courtyard are touching. They're about as chaste as they can be in bikinis.

Warm Up To New Branding

Palm Springs Considering Legalizing 4th MJ Dispensary

Yeah, that's the main story in this Desert Sun article. All the usual issues are trotted out. But my thoughts when I saw the photo in the article of the storefront of one dispensary were "Don't they have a sign ordinance in Palm Springs? Is there no code enforcement?" The place looks ratty as hell.

It looks better in Google Streetview, but I think that may be the benefit of more favorable lighting.

Arrest Rates At Coachella & Stagecoach

The Desert Sun reports that "There were proportionally more arrests at Stagecoach than the two weekends of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival." But they didn't calculate the actual proportion for the tired reader. I, however, have a calculator right here under my fingers masquerading as a MacBook, so, using the basic numbers in the Desert Sun article, I have done the arithmetic.

They say Coachella had roughly 85,000 people per day. Six days of Coachella, then, means 510,000 visitor days (greater than the entire population of Coachella Valley). The arrests at Coachella were 134 the first weekend; 101 the second; for a total of 235. The arrest rate per one-thousand visitor days was 0.46.

Stagecoach had 55,000 visitors per day; a total of 165,000. There were 174 arrests, which comes to 1.05 arrests per one-thousand visitor days - more than double the rate at Coachella.

Drinking, Despondent and Stubborn

Qualities that don't go down well in an encounter with the police:

Press Release: Kidnapping/False Imprisonment
Agency: Rancho Mirage Police
Station Area: Palm Desert
Incident Date: Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012 Time: 7:14 PM
Incident Location: Monterey Ave and Dinah Shore Dr., Rancho Mirage

Details:

On Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012 at 7:14 PM, an officer from the Rancho Mirage Police Department observed a blue Chrysler travelling southbound on Monterey Ave. at Dinah Shore Dr. A female adult was yelling for help from the front passenger seat of the vehicle, as she was hanging out of the car. The officer conducted an enforcement stop on the vehicle, which yielded in the Costco Parking lot located at 72-800 Dinah Shore Dr.

The female victim exited the vehicle running as she yelled to the officer, that she had been kidnapped and her 1-year-old infant son was in the car. The driver of the vehicle, later identified as Florentino Perez, 25 years of Cathedral City failed to respond to the officer's commands and barricaded himself and the infant inside the car. Officers attempted to negotiate with the driver, which met with negative results. The driver and the infant remained in the parked vehicle with the windows rolled up. Perez's refusal to exit the vehicle resulted in officers using force to remove him from his car. Both the driver's side and passenger side windows were broken to gain access to Perez and the infant. The infant was removed safely and Perez continued to refuse to exit the car. The K-9 was deployed and Perez was subsequently bitten on the upper arm. He was taken into custody without further incident and transported to the hospital for his injuries. The female victim and the infant were removed from harm's way without injury.

The suspect and victim are married and have children in common to include the infant, which was located in the car at the time of the incident. The victim stated she has been suffering from ongoing domestic issues and her husband had been drinking and was despondent prior the Police Department's intervention.

Chase Bank ATM Skimmers Nabbed

Press Release: Theft of Credit Card Information via Skimming Device
Agency: Rancho Mirage Police
Station Area: Palm Desert
Incident Date: April 29, 2012 Time: 2:30 pm
Incident Location: Chase Bank, 36100 block of Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage

Details:

On April 29, 2012, investigators from the Rancho Mirage Police Department responded to the Chase Bank at the corner of Bob Hope Drive and Gerald Ford Drive regarding a skimming device being used on the bank's ATM machine. Investigators initiated surveillance. At about 2:20 pm, two male adults, who had been seen at the bank numerous times throughout the day, were observed as they returned to the bank and removed a device from the ATM.

Investigators immediately detained the suspects as they entered their vehicle. Investigators located items consistent with a skimming scheme whereby the credit card/ ATM card account information could be stolen by the suspects. Investigators are working with Chase Bank to identify all of the users who used the ATM during the time the device was in place, and no customers' information appears to be compromised.

The suspects, Timothy Vaughn, 43 years old from Cerritos, and Jonathan Aguilar, 32 years old from Hesperia were arrested at the scene and booked into the jail in Indio for burglary, theft of credit information, conspiracy, and identity-theft related charges.

This investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact Investigator Freeman at (760) 836-1600 or (760) 836-3215 or Crime Stoppers at (760) 341-STOP.