June 20, 2011· scvtalk.com · WordPress (SCVTalk 3.0) · Wayback capture

June 20, 2011 – Daily Brief

By Jeff — Jeff Wilson

Woman, missing since last week when she drove off with her husband, is found dead in Angeles National Forest. No sign of her husband however. SIGNAL
Signal does its best to remind SCVers that, yes, we live near wild nature and that sometimes animals eat other animals in order to stay alive. But by the end of the article someone’s still calling for the County to cull coyotes SIGNAL
Giant novelty shovel on hand as city, county and fire leaders break ground on new fire station way up Golden Valley way DAILY NEWS, CITY BRIEFS
Two for the arts: a 20 year old former West Ranch High and current COC student is on his way to Julliard, while a 10 year in Canyon Country boy shoots, sells, and distributes his first movie. Makes me wonder what I’m doing with my life!
Best unintentionally funny line of the week: “Officials estimate 500 residents are harboring illegal water softeners” SIGNAL
Have you heard of Jamie Oliver and his food revolution TV program? The Brit chef/advocate goes around to American schools trying to improve student diets. Well, Pavel Matustik of the SCV Food Service Agency invited Oliver to the agency’s cafeteria but later had to rescind the invitation after an unspecified local school board “got scared” and shut the idea down LA TIMES
SoCal Edison wants to raise electricity rates by nearly 13% in the next three years. They have to get approval from the CPUC first though SIGNAL
At least 12 suspects in the SCV theft ring have plead not guilty to various theft and drug charges. A Deputy tells the Signal that most of the suspects have been “in and out of prison most of their lives.” SIGNAL
After its tough new anti-illegal immigration law went into effect, the state of Georgia is having trouble finding men and women to work the fields and pick blackberries and other fruits. One county has 13% unemployment, and even though illegals have fled the state, unemployed Americans aren’t going after the jobs and berries are rotting on the vines LA TIMES
Berta argues that the US should make English its official language to save money RIGHT ON SCV
Stevenson Ranch letter writer questions the legitimacy (rofl) of the West Ranch Town Council SIGNAL
Signal gives you all a pat on your back for helping to keep the SCV (mostly) intact during the redistricting process SIGNAL
Bill Reynolds uses Glenn Beck clips to explain why OVOV is bad for us and probably a socialist plot backed by George Soros with the goal of making one government for the world YOU TUBE
Bossert says the jazz concert Saturday evening at CalArts’ Wild Beast was really memorable and over 600 residents showed up. Wish I could have made it. WRB

Comments

26 · as published

spineflower2June 20, 2011 at 9:42 am
I read the article about the alleged shortage of legal farm workers in Georgia. Tellingly, there is not a single mention of offering higher wages as a means of attracting more workers. They don’t get it.
JeffJune 20, 2011 at 9:48 am
If you pay your workers more, then you’ll have to raise prices. Which makes your product less competitive. The local Kroger or Winn Dixie simply decides to buy berries from Alabama instead of Georgia. Hence the need for comprehensive federal immigration reform.
CCJune 20, 2011 at 10:25 am
A shortage of supply will do the same thing. But we do need federal immigration reform. We also need to put people to work when ever posible. It seems to me as though there is work to be had, so government subsidies to individuals should include required work if the person is able bodied.
Lori RivasJune 20, 2011 at 3:19 pm
Unless and until consumers are willing to pay a fair price for their edibles – fair, meaning farm workers are paid a sustainable wage, and farmersare allowed to grow without subsidies, there will always be a labor market for immigrants. Have you considered paying the price of fair trade products? This price is more reflective of actual farm and labor cost, on a livable scale. Three items I would recommend on the subject: The Farmer’s Wife (PBS documentary), King Corn (Independent Lens documentary) and Coyote by Ted Conover (investigative journalism on migrant workers).
Timothy Myers SR.June 20, 2011 at 9:50 am
Bob Levine’s letter on the Stevenson Ranch situation gives good evidence as to why guys like Bossert who are involved seem so (justifiably) angry all the time. Levine asks for an official plebiscite which has actually occurred, though the results were extremely confusing. On the Town Council itself, terms have expired and the Council has advertised though all the organs reasonably available to it (HOA newletters, banners, website etc.) to obtain nominees for a contested election to no avail so the incumbents just continue to serve. The fact that Bossert has not gone on a rampage is probably a testament to his patience.
Lori RivasJune 20, 2011 at 11:11 am
Saturday night’s concert and performance at CalArts was very good. Thought I might leave after the first song – a New Agey cacophony played to a spoken ode to love, I wondered how the concert was defined as “jazz.” However, the subsequent pieces were exceptionally awesome, with a great vocalist. After the intermission, modern ballet to jazz – what an interesting and beautifully executed performance! The next concert in the series is a mariachi band playing Beatles tunes. Intreguing. On anoter note, my husband just told me of a co-worker that was attacked at Central Park by a stray Rottweiler and Bull Mastiff. The dogs tag teamed the victim, to the tune of 80 stitches, mostly to his arms, I believe. Report filed with the sheriff, but no word yet on the dogs’ owners or whereabouts. Attack happened during the day, on June 8th, I believe. So, watch for these dogs, and I would welcome any tips on the owners.
CastaicClayJune 20, 2011 at 11:42 am
Isn’t there already a fire station on GVR?
NFICJune 20, 2011 at 12:22 pm
Yep – a temporary one in Centre Point, next to where the homeless shelter was for a while. Just up the hill from Wal Mart. The new one is across from the new Target in the shopping center. Fair Oaks will have another 1,300 units that the City approved some years back in addition to what is there now. The next closest fire station was near Soledad and Solemint – pretty far considering Fair Oaks is next to land that is next to Angeles National Forest (per Jim Holt’s article today).
PetzJune 20, 2011 at 12:51 pm
Madder than hell at Jon Stewart for saying Herman Cain does not like to read. He is a real wimp and was exposed for such on Foxnews Sunday yesterday. How anyone can stomach him is a mystery to me.
yourwebguruJune 20, 2011 at 2:50 pm
Understanding satire and parody are examples of higher intelligence. Your Web Guru suggests that perhaps Petz should grow a sense of humor.
NateJune 21, 2011 at 12:46 am
Petz your boy Chris Wallace got OWNED on his own show and then on Stewart’s showed. He openly admitted what we already knew that FOX NEWS tells the “OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY” Really? What happen to fair and balanced?
Mr PerezJune 20, 2011 at 4:43 pm
I truly enjoy watching Jaime Oliver put the truth out there about our lack of food quality. I do wonder though if the resistance he is receiving from the school districts is coming from their egos, pay offs, fear of liability, or non-support from the unions who are in charge, or maybe a combo of all.
Lori RivasJune 20, 2011 at 5:43 pm
I think the resistance is part denial, thinking that that the school food is just fine; I think a lot of it has to do with USDA guidelines and funding, which is warped towards big farming, because of subsidies: dairy, beef and grains. A school must meet the USDA guidelines, for a variety of reasons, and it is daunting to imagine meeting those guidelines outside of the proverbial box. But, really, I think most people fool themselves into thinking that their diet is just fine. How many people cook from scratch? Avoid all or most packaged and processed foods? How many people even give a crap about where their food is grown and raised?
Mr PerezJune 20, 2011 at 8:34 pm
The USDA is off the mark but they are plugging the holes in a dam that’s about to bust. I try to do alot by scratch but reality says you buy some processed and packaged foods which is why I travel to Trader Joe’s for most. Their products tend to have minimal ingredients and not alot of preservatives.
Lori RivasJune 20, 2011 at 9:00 pm
What I mean to point out is that the schools receive both federal re-imbursement and farm subsidies (dairy, meat, grains) for following USDA standards. While this sounds like a good thing, I think the problem is that a school needs to stay within the federal re-imbursement levels (read cheap foods with low preparation overhead), and the school needs to use up the free farm subsidies, which are rarely fresh, but rather processed (read fat-laden, high sodium, lots of chemicals and fillers). The food industry in the USA is not pretty, on so very many different levels.
JeffJune 20, 2011 at 9:10 pm
One thing I’ve learned in the last several years and by being married to a foodie is that the USDA doesn’t serve the American people, it serves American agribusiness. It seems like every few months we have a new salmonella, e-coli, or some other scare, and this never changes from GOP to DEM administration. Meanwhile, the USDA puts the hammer down on smaller operations and its policies make it really hard for people to get fresh, local produce. Many poorer urban areas don’t even have supermarkets, they just have fast food. You should read Michael Pollan’s books or watch Food Inc. One local farmer in Virginia got sued by the USDA because he was humanely slaughtering his pigs and cows outdoors, then packing the meat and selling it to customers fresh. The USDA claimed he was producing food in unsanitary conditions which is absurd when you read about what’s happening in America’s factory farms!
Lori RivasJune 20, 2011 at 9:31 pm
Preachin’ to the choir, Jeff, preachin’ to the choir. King Corn, which I mentioned above, is another good one. The Story of Bottled Water. Grocery Store Wars.
Mr PerezJune 20, 2011 at 9:48 pm
Good books but I would have to disagree with The Story of Bottled Water since it paints an industry with a broad brush. Tap water has killed people and made others sick as well. I used to work for a bottle water company and saw their operations daily and know there is a difference between tap and their product. At a minimum you need an RO to keep contaminants out.
Lori RivasJune 20, 2011 at 10:02 pm
Have you watched The Story of Bottled Water? It is about creating a market for a product that is readily available for pennies from your tap. It is about how that manufactured consumer need has resulted in mounds of plastic waste, and toxic fumes. My husband is in the water industry. I get that everyone does not have access to drinking water. We have an RO unit at our house. But bottled water is more than the water – it is about all the processing and waste.
localteachJune 20, 2011 at 6:17 pm
Oh for pity’s sake. Unions are “in charge” of very little in our schools anymore, least of all school lunch. Does anyone know if LAUSD contracts out? Because school lunches here in the SCV, and over much of the state, are handled by private contractors. That said, our school lunches are a national disgrace. When I was a kid, lunches were well-balanced and staff checked our trays to make sure we’d eaten before we were allowed to get up. These days, we only feed our kids what they’ll choose to eat, both at home and at school. They won’t choose to eat anything healthy, parents and school lunch administrators buckle, and the few people left who have any sense at all sadly shake our heads, try to get things changed, while the kiddos eat chicken nuggets and French fries with fruit punch to wash it down for lunch every day. And let’s not even talk about the amount of Styrofoam and paper waste that’s created because we don’t use real dishes anymore. Many school sites don’t even have the capability of actual cooking anymore. Just warming ovens for processed crap brought from elsewhere. Meanwhile, there are parents who would pitch a fit if anyone at school made their little darling eat anything as healthy as an apple or an orange, and who wouldn’t think of forcing their kid to drink white milk. And truthfully? Therein lies the problem.
Mr PerezJune 20, 2011 at 8:37 pm
First off the mention of unions was one of a few selections and the intent was towards those providing the food to begin with. If they are union run Jamie should have courted them for assistance to pressure the LAUSD. I am personally not anti-union employee, just not fond towards the leadership since they take advantage of the little guy for doing little to nothing. You are on the money with regards to the parents being at fault with the food, lack of manners/responsibility, and education. Kids just imitate what they see.
JeffJune 20, 2011 at 9:04 pm
++++ localteach I was floored during the Jamie Oliver LAUSD special. He went to a school nutrition conference and there was some dairy guy talking to school nutritionists about the benefits of flavored, heavily sugared milk. Everyone looked at Oliver like he was an alien when he pointed out the absurdity and the only thing any of them would say in response is that the kids won’t drink regular milk. When I grew up there was chocolate milk and regular white milk. Of course I preferred chocolate. But as a kid I wasn’t allowed to choose.
LindaJune 20, 2011 at 9:09 pm
School lunches are bad because there isn’t funding for them to be better. Fresh, nutritious, lunches cost more because you need staff to prepare them. Schools employ cafeteria workers for the minimum number of hours required to heat foods and serve them — no more. And like localteach says, many times the job of actually cooking the food is contracted out. As I understand it, the LAUSD offered Oliver the opportunity to come in and change the menus if he could do it for the same amount of money that is currently spent. He couldn’t. Also, reality TV relies on a lot of manufactured drama, which can result in a negative portrayal of people involved. I can easily imagine parents becoming upset at the way their children are portrayed on TV and filing lawsuits. I can also see district employees and officials being worried about how they are portrayed for the sake of ratings…. School lunches are atrocious, no doubt about it. If you want your kids to eat healthy, pack their lunches. Although I will tell you I have seen lunches packed for kids that are every bit as bad, if not worse, than the ones the schools provide.
Mr PerezJune 20, 2011 at 9:44 pm
Yes, cost may run a tad bit higher but you get what you pay for. And with two kids in one of the local school districts, I can attest that the cost is much higher than what we saw outside of Chicago with a much lower quality product. Not only will I not let them eat it, they choose not to as well. And Jamie attacked the issue with allowing parents to pack a substandard lunch when he was in Huntington the previous season. Seeing some of the items these kids brought to school just made me shake my head and realize our healthcare is in dire straits if we let this go on. Yes the reality show shtick may be a bit dramatic , but sometimes you need to be shocked with the truth in order to make a change.
Mr PerezJune 21, 2011 at 12:14 pm
@Lori Rivas, When it comes to the 5 gallon bottles there is little plastic waste that occurs as opposed to the 16.9oz PET. Yes, it does take water and detergent to clean the bottles to make sure they are sanitized before filling but at the same time your RO can only provide X amount of potable water per Y amount that goes in, leaving you with some waste matter. I used to live in a town that was voted the best tasting and quality water in the state but yet there was an incident with goose poop contaminating the water supply and they had a “No Consumption Order” in effect because their filter weren’t at the 1 micron level/Ozonation the bottled water company operated with.
Lori RivasJune 21, 2011 at 3:28 pm
Excellent points. I was thinking only of the small, individual water bottles for waste and a fabricated market. And, no doubt, municipal water treatment is rarely the highest standard of filtering, which is why my husband insists we have an RO system at our house. Those 5 gallon jugs are fully warranted. I have lived in communities without potable water, and fully appreciate the availability of large jugs of water.