Category Archives: SGV-IE Community News

Straight Talk With Danice

danice-akiyoshi-color-ORIGRelationship Perks- A letter from S.S.
By Danice Akiyoshi, N.D.

 

Dear Dr. Akiyoshi,

I like your column and I hope you can handle a dispute I’m having with my girlfriend. She recently moved into my home because we were living 90 minutes apart and it made our relationship difficult.  I am paying the mortgage and utilities and she buys the groceries, cooks, and keeps the domestic side of the home in great shape.  Things have never been so organized and clean and I’ve been very happy.  The dispute occurred when the washing machine broke down.  She does laundry every single day and went into a panic, asking me what I wanted to do.  I told her to go out and buy a new washer and I could tell that she was surprised at my suggestion. When I pointed out that I am the one paying the house payment, she pointed out that it is my home and that I would have to pay my own house payment and utilities with or without her. She said she feels she’s contributing more than her fair share and removed $700.00 in grocery receipts from her wallet for the food she bought and cooked the previous month.   She asked if I was more interested in a roommate or a girlfriend.  She made it clear that she doesn’t buy groceries, cook, clean and sleep with someone she considers a roommate.  Now she’s staying in the spare bedroom.  The house is a mess and all of the other perks are gone too.  She barely speaks to me at night and leaves for work before I get up.  She says she will leave a check for her room rent on the first of the month, but plans to make other arrangements soon.  This is bad.  Do I have a chance to repair this?  How wrong was I to think she should buy the new washing machine?  Why is she over reacting when just a few weeks ago we were so happy?  I’m really confused.  I need some suggestions.

Thank you,

S.S.

 

Dear S.S.

Looks like you took all those wonderful perks for granted.  It seems like you were imagining that she needed you a lot more than you needed her.  That’s a shame.  Based on the fact that your home is now a mess, there is no dinner, clean laundry, intimacy, etc.  I’m willing to bet that you would fork over the money for several washing machines at this point to restore your former happiness.  You undervalued what she was bringing to your relationship.  This is a common mistake between couples. I see it every single day in my practice.  Your girlfriend seems like a very organized caregiving type.  If she was spending $700.00 a month on groceries and feeding you nice meals along with keeping the household in stellar condition, then I would say she really was doing her part to contribute to the happiness and wellbeing of the household.  Unfortunately, this woman also seems stubborn, based on the current silent treatment and her retreat to the spare bedroom.  You will have to come up with an apology that she can truly ‘feel, taste, and hear.’  She must gain a clear understanding that you will never treat her like that again.  Keep in mind that there are all sorts of currencies in a relationship and she was generously sharing things of value to you.  In reality, money isn’t usually the most important contribution.  You’re smart enough to get your thoughts around this concept.  My advice to you is to immediately admit you were wrong and offer a sincere apology.  Convince her that her offerings are of great value to you and that you have no intention of taking her for granted in the future. I have a feeling that if she wasn’t waiting for you to figure this out on your own, she would already be making one of her nice dinners somewhere else.  In my opinion, you still have a good chance of correcting the situation.  Let me know if you need help with that apology.  You’d better make it exceptional. Good luck!

-Danice Akiyoshi ND

Danice Akiyoshi is a Naturopathic Doctor and the head of Candid Coaching Service. She offers personal coaching services relating to all types of issues and concerns. This is a letter she received from an anonymous reader. To send a question to Danice, email her atstraighttalk@candidcoachingservices.com. You can also visit her website at http://www.candidcoachingservices.com.

Chino School Placed on Lockdown

Photo courtesy: Chino PD

Photo courtesy: Chino PD

Staff Reports

CHINO – A man who ran from police prompted one Chino Valley Unified School District school to be placed on lockdown Thursday, Jan. 7, Chino police said.
Larry Lopez, 46 of Chino, who was stopped for a minor traffic infraction on Thursday, was able to get away and was believed to have barricaded himself into his home on San Antonio Avenue near Rhodes Elementary school.
Around 10 a.m., Schafer and San Antonio Avenues were closed and Rhodes Elementary was put on lock-down while police tried to get Lopez to surrender, officials said.
At 11:37 a.m., the school district posted on their Facebook page that the school was placed on locked due to police activity in the area. Afternoon Kindergarten classes were cancelled.
Officers deployed a flash bang at the house at 1:45 p.m. in attempt to make contact with the suspect. Police broke into the house at 3 p.m. and found that Lopez had evaded them.
The school district posted regular updates on their social media pages to keep public informed. Parents were also notified by a phone blast message by the school’s Principal Dr. Freed. Updates were also posted on Facebook.
The lockdown was lifted at regular dismissal time of 3:20 p.m. Dismissal took place at Cypress Trails Park, next to the school.
Dr. Freed thanked parents for their patience and commended students and teachers for their outstanding cooperation with police.
“We did the best we could while working in partnership with Chino Police,” she said. “Every decision was made with the safety of students as the number one goal.”
Lopez was apprehended the next morning at his home on San Antonio Avenue. He was taken to the West Valley Detention Center and booked for felony evading and an outstanding prior warrant.

Create the Future of DB Parks

Jan. 21 Workshop Seeks Residents Input
Staff Reports

DIAMOND BAR– In a countywide effort to determine park and recreation needs, the city of Diamond Bar is asking residents to give their input in shaping the future of city parks during a public workshop Thursday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m.
“We know that access to parks is so important to the health and quality of life of all communities. And, it is so important for all LA County residents to attend these meetings and tell us what they believe the priorities for park and open space should be,” the Park Needs Assessment Project Director for the County Department of Parks and Recreation Rita Robinson said in a press release.
Held at the Diamond Bar Center, city officials say that the workshop will help decision makers and residents better understand Diamond Bar’s nine parks and recreational facilities, as well as community programs and services. Diamond Bar Center is located at 1600 Grand Avenue.
Comments and suggestions gathered from the workshop will be submitted to the County of Los Angeles as part of a Countywide Comprehensive Park and Recreation Needs Assessment. The assessment period will run through February.
According to county officials, the assessment will identify need based on park acreage, park access, park use, park condition, and the number and type of park amenities available in communities.
“It’s absolutely critical that all residents across Los Angeles County have access to thriving, high quality parks. For the first time, this assessment will allow us to truly understand the park needs of every community within the county,” Robinson added.
A two-question online survey is available on the county’s website, http://www.lacountyparkneeds.org/survey, for those unable to attend the workshop.
A final report with findings and estimated costs from the assessment will be presented to the County Board of Supervisors in May.

Students Beat the Odds

Photo courtesy of Chino Valley USD

Photo courtesy of Chino Valley USD

Courtesy of Chino Valley Unified

Chino Valley – A foster youth who had to overcome much adversity is the first Buena Vista Continuation High student qualified to go straight to a four-year college from the high school, according to Principal Rigoberto Vasquez.

Steven Beadle, 17, of Chino, has been accepted at Cal State, Stanislaus, and has also applied to Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Dominguez Hills, and Cal State Fullerton. Another Buena Vista student, Destiny Miguel,  also recently qualified to go to a four-year college. She and Steven were honored by the Chino Valley Unified School District Board of Education at its Jan. 7 meeting.

This month, Steven will take a Spanish class at Chaffey College’s Chino campus while still enrolled at Buena Vista. Steven plans to major in sociology or criminal justice at a four-year college and pursue a career as a police officer in Texas or Colorado. “I’m very passionate about public safety,” he said. “I’d like to help on the streets.”

He practices Krav Maga, a self-defense system developed for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), that consists of a combination of techniques from aikido, judo, boxing, and wrestling, along with realistic fight training. He also recently took a ride-along with a Chino Police officer to get an idea what it would be like to work in law enforcement. Steven said he is driven to succeed because, as a foster child for the last three years, he has seen a lot of youth in that system fail. “I don’t want to be one of those,” he said. “They don’t take advantage of what they are given to help them.” He also said he’s learned to stay away from drugs, which he believes is often a downfall for youth in foster care.

Steven was behind on his coursework when he transferred to Buena Vista 18 months ago. He was a sophomore with only 158 credits towards the 225 needed to graduate. He is now at 206 credits. Although he is expected to soon have enough credits to graduate from high school, he plans to stay in school until June to make sure he has all the A-G credits required for the California State University system. Principal Vasquez said he believes Steven is the first BV student to qualify for a four-year college because courses taught at the school were not approved as college preparatory until a couple of years ago, when former counselor Anna Fierro-Purcell “took it upon herself to have all of our courses submitted and approved.” Fierro-Purcell is now an assistant principal at Chino Hills High. “As a result, Steven’s courses taken at Buena Vista are accepted now by Cal State and University of California universities,” Mr. Vasquez said. “Steven is the first, and we have an additional two students who may be accepted by late February or early March. Steven turned in his college application very early.”

Don’t Let Life Pass You By

Licensed Marriage Family Therapist

Nancy Stoops M.A., M.F.T Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

By Nancy Stoops, M.A., M.F.T.          

When we are young, we can’t wait to turn eighteen.  When we are eighteen, we can’t wait until we are twenty-one.  Once we are adults, we can’t wait to graduate college and get married.  Once we are married, we can’t wait to have a family and buy a house.  Then we have it all, the family, the job, and the house, and now we can’t wait until we retire.  Why is that we have such a hard time just living in the present?  It’s as if we are literally wishing our lives away.

People seem to believe that the future holds the happiness that the present just doesn’t.  I always hear people say that things will be different when I get past this.  So time moves along and they do indeed get past this, and from nowhere something else comes along.  Now they are thinking things will be so much better when I get past that. And so it is that this just keeps reoccurring.  Do you see a pattern here?  It’s called life, and it seems as if it is always giving us a challenge that we must get through.

Life is not a neat little package; it involves a lot of hard work and challenges.  Even then, there are times that we don’t get what we think we really deserve.  Maybe those are the times to look at what we did end up with and realize that it is even better.  We spend so much time looking at what we don’t have and feeling sorry for ourselves.  Life has a way of giving us what we need, if we just pay attention.  Things seem to work out if we are patient and willing to accept life’s challenges and live each day to the fullest.

This article was written by Nancy Stoops M.A., M.F.T.  Nancy is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist.  She has a private practice in Diamond Bar and is currently accepting new clients. She is also a motivational speaker who can inspire your employees or group members.  Nancy runs free family support groups, a group on loss for seniors, and groups on how to manage anger.    For more information about any of these services feel free to contact her at (909)229-0727.  You may e-mail Nancy at nancyjstoops@verizon.net.  You may purchase Nancy’s books Live Heal and Grow and Midnight the therapy Dog at Amazon.com.

Winning Ticket Sold in Chino Hills

Photo courtesy of Facebook 7-11 clerk celebrates winning ticket

Photo courtesy of Facebook
7-11 clerk celebrates winning ticket

By Carol Heyen

CHINO HILLS– Lady Luck struck Chino Hills on Wednesday night, after it was announced that a winning Powerball ticket had been bought at the 7-11 convenience store on Chino Hills Parkway and Pipeline Avenue.

Chino Hills’ residents eagerly checked their tickets after it was announced that the winning ticket was bought in the city.  Ashley Wagenhoffer, a Chino Hills resident, admitted to checking her tickets “more times than I’d like to admit.”

The winner has not come forward, but Chino Hillians were still cheering on their city.  The 7-11 was swarmed by residents eager to celebrate the win with shop owners.  The store will receive a $1 million bonus for selling the winning ticket.

The ticket, worth approximately $528 million, was one of three winning tickets sold for this week’s record $1.5 billion Powerball drawing.  The other winning tickets were sold in Tennessee and Florida.  This was the largest lottery prize ever offered in North America.

For every $1 in lottery sales, half goes to prize winnings, 40 percent goes to education and 10 percent goes to the retailers who sell the tickets and administrative costs.

History 101: MLK Jr. Day

Image courtesy: Biography.com

Image courtesy: Biography.com

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Courtesy of The King Center

 

During the less than 13 years of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s leadership of the American Civil Rights Movement from December 1955 until April 4, 1968, African-Americans achieved more genuine progress toward racial equality in America than the previous 350 years had produced.

Dr. King is widely regarded as America’s preeminent advocate of nonviolence and one of the greatest nonviolent leaders in world history.

Drawing inspiration from both his Christian faith and the peaceful teachings of Mahatma Ghandi, Dr. King led a nonviolent movement in the late 1950s and ‘60s to achieve legal equality for African-Americans in the United States.

While others were advocating for freedom by “any means necessary,” including violence, Martin Luther King Jr. used the power of words and acts of nonviolent resistance, such as protests, grassroots organizing and civil disobedience to achieve seemingly impossible goals.

He went on to lead similar campaigns against poverty and international conflict, always maintaining fidelity to his principles that men and women everywhere, regardless of color and creed, are equal members of the human family.

Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, Nobel Peace Prize lecture and “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” are among the most revered orations and writings in the English language.  His accomplishments are now taught to American children of all races, and his teachings are studied by scholars and students worldwide.

He is the only non-president to have a national holiday dedicated in his honor, and is the only non-president memorialized on the Great Mall in the nation’s capitol. He is memorialized in hundreds of statues, parks, streets, squares, churches and other public facilities around the world as a leader whose teachings are increasingly relevant to t

Mt. SAC Spring Registration Begins

By Mike Taylor, Mt. SAC

WALNUT– Online registration for Mt. San Antonio College’s spring semester credit classes began Jan. 13.  Classes begin on Monday, Feb. 22.
All credit students must register for classes online through the My Mt. SAC Portal at my.mtsac.edu. New students must submit an admission application online. For students who do not have computer access, computers and assistance are available in the Student Services Center during business hours. The Admissions Office is open now Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Before registering, new students are required to activate their personal Mt. SAC portal account through the My Mt. SAC Portal at my.mtsac.edu. Instructions on how to do this, along with a username, are sent to the new student’s email address the student used when applying to the college.  Through the portal.mtsac.edu, students will be able to view their registration date and time but will not be allowed to register before their assigned time. New students must also sign up for their assessment tests at the Assessment Center.  Appointments can be made at www.mtsac.edu/assessment, by calling (909) 274-4265, or in person at the Assessment Center.

Students are urged to prepare for assessment testing by reviewing the information available on the Assessment Center webpage.
In addition, new students must also sign up for the required new student orientation session before registering for classes. For more information about required orientation sessions, call the Mt. SAC Counseling Department at (909) 274-4380.
The enrollment fee is $46 per unit for California residents, and all fees are due upon registration.

For more registration information, call the Mt. SAC Admissions & Records Office at (909) 274-4415, or visit www.mtsac.edu

Clueless

Pastor Mark Hopper

Pastor Mark Hopper

By Pastor Mark Hopper
I am a big fan of summer.  I like the long evenings and the warm sun.  I like working in the yard and with just a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.   I am not as big a fan of winter.  I don’t enjoy wearing long sleeve shirts and warm coats. I would prefer to not need to wear a sweater or sweatshirt every time I go out the door.  My wife would say that I am not always aware of what I am wearing.  When she sees me wearing an old shirt or a worn-out sweater, she will encourage me to not wear it outside the house.
But what do you do when there is no one around to help you know what colors go together or what shirt goes with a particular pair of pants?  I think most men need help in this area.  That is why men need a wife to help them with these sensitive matters.  Not long ago, I got dressed for work and put on a warm sweater and went out the door.  When I went to a scheduled meeting, someone tapped on my shoulder and said that there was something on the back of my sweater.
When I looked to see what he was referring to, I didn’t notice a thing.  Maybe it was just some fuzz or lint.  I went through the entire day and did not know that there was something wrong.  When I got home that night, I discovered that I had put the sweater on backwards!  The thing on the back of my sweater was a design of a small sail boat.  It is the logo for the Nautica sportswear company!  It belongs in the front!
I was very embarrassed.  I had been wearing my sweater backwards all day long.  I wonder how many people noticed this but did not say anything?  I wonder how many people did not notice or didn’t care? There is a verse in the Bible that says, “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor.  If one of them falls, the other will lift him up” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10).  Maybe we could paraphrase the verse to say, “If one wears his sweater backwards, the other can help point out his mistake and help correct the problem”.
Let me encourage you to be open to the suggestions or correction of a trusted friend or family member.  They may see something in your life that you are unaware of.  They may be able to help you “get your sweater on” right and help you avoid embarrassing yourself!
Pastor Mark Hopper is from the Evangelical Free Church of Diamond Bar, 3255 South Diamond Bar Blvd.  Sunday services are 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m.  For more information, call (909) 594-7604 or visit http://www.efreedb.org

OurWeeklyNews.com Complete Edition 1.16.16

2016-Jan16-Weekly-COVERThe Weekly News covers community news for Chino, Chino Hills, Diamond Bar, Walnut, Rowland Heights and surrounding areas of San Gabriel Valley and the Inland Empire. Click this link to access the complete issue in PDF format:2016-Jan16-Weekly-WEB

Nominations Close Jan. 19 for 3 Walnut Council Seats

Staff Reports

WALNUT– January 19 is the deadline for people interested in running for city council seats in the spring election to submit nomination papers and get their names on the ballot.
The elections on April 12 will focus on three city council seats, currently held by Tony Cartagena, Eric Ching and Nancy Tragarz.
According to City Clerk Teresa De Dios, Ching and Tragarz have already pulled nomination papers. But there is still time for candidates to submit papers.
Nominating petitions must be filed at Walnut’s City Clerk office by Thursday, Jan. 19, at 5 pm. Candidate handbooks are available at the City Clerk’s Office inside City Hall. Cost is $25 to submit nomination papers and will take approximately 30 minutes to process. Members will serve a full four-year term, beginning April 2016 and ending April 2020.
The nomination period for these offices began on Monday, Dec. 21, 2015. Qualified candidates must be 18 years of age, a citizen of the United States, and a registered voter residing within the Walnut city limits.  All candidates are requested to make an appointment to obtain or return nomination papers by calling the City Clerk’s Office at (909) 595-7543, ext. 311.
If an incumbent does not file, the nomination period will be extended to Wednesday, January 20, 2016.  If no one or only one person is nominated for an elective office, appointment to the elective office may be made as prescribed by the Elections Code of the State of California No. 10229.
The polls will be open on April 12 between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. Campaign statements will be posted on the City’s website: www.ci.walnut.ca.us.

We Accept the Love We Think We Deserve

By Jennifer Jester-Madrigal

Show me what you think you are, and I’ll show you what you actually are, and then you can decide which version of yourself is the one you wish to portray to the world.

How many of us have had this conversation with ourselves time and time again only to come to the same conclusion each time? I don’t deserve “this” or I don’t deserve “that” because of something I have done, or simply because I am not enough. It’s amazing the power your thoughts can have over your entire life, often drastically altering your own path.

I was lucky in that I grew up in a loving home, with loving parents and great examples of what family, love and friendship look like. My father loved my mother and she loved him, and we were kissed and hugged and smothered with attention as well. We had the suburban upbringing:  two kids and a dog – sans the picket fence (ours was a block wall) – and a neighborhood full of friends to play with until the street lights came on and we rushed our dirty hands and tousled hair back to our happy homes.

But somewhere along the transition from jubilant child to responsible adult, I stopped seeing myself as “deserving” of the love I had witnessed growing up. I let my own guilt and apathy for others override my own right to be loved as deeply and sincerely as I once was.

As a woman and a mother I began to believe that everyone else came first, and while I still think this is a great philosophy to live by, it’s not exactly correct. If you put the needs of others in front of your own, you can avoid becoming a selfish person, but there has to be a line drawn at some point. You are in charge of that line, and the power that comes with that is profound.

Loving another does not mean that you do it at the expense of your own soul. If you are a follower of Christ, then any love that takes you away from His path is at the expense of your own soul. Loving another shouldn’t hurt. While there is often emotional pain involved in loving another person, that love should not cause your heart to constantly ache. True love builds you up and makes you a greater version of yourself; it does not tear you down with ugly words and forgotten promises. Loving another means you let them be “themselves” even if that “self” isn’t what you completely understand. The greatest gift you can give another is to allow them to be who they are, and accept them with all their craziness, all their insecurities, and all their unique imperfections.

The strange thing is that when you turn these gifts around and apply them to yourself, you realize that until you can love yourself in this same way, you really can’t truly love another. What we think we deserve – consciously or unconsciously – we accept. It is only when we change our own perceptions and really start loving ourselves in that same selfless way that we can demand the love we know we deserve. Life is too short to settle; so don’t.

 

Hydrogevity

Courtesy of Clark’s Nutrition

Five hundred years ago, the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon became fascinated with sailing, impressed by the circumnavigating exploits of Christopher Columbus. While Ponce de Leon established himself as an adroit farmer and landowner in the New World, he is perhaps most ubiquitously known for his quest to discover the mystical ‘Fountain of Youth’. The Fountain was believed to impart vigor and longevity to anyone who imbibed from its crystal-clear waters. In fact, the rejuvenative powers of undiscovered bodies of water date back at least an extra two millennia when Alexander the Great went in search of the mystical ‘River of Death’. Yet luckily, common sense has kicked in and the search for health and longevity has turned into an investigation into how treating our bodies better, and creating strong social structures, can produce almost magical outcomes.

Researchers from the University of California, Riverside, followed subjects for 20 years to examine life choices that might influence longevity. One of the most significant findings was that individuals who avoid stress and work tend to live shorter lives. Being productive and dealing with stress directly and determinately is the best method to increase self-worth and efficiency. The best method to support these endeavors is to remain properly hydrated. Chronic dehydration, at levels of just 1% (think four glasses behind where you should be) can lessen our abilities to perform well cognitively and socially. This could translate to lower scores on tests and performance in the workplace or to a decline in creative pursuits, or in our ability to regulate mood, memory and relationships. In addition to these task-oriented and socio-cognitive aspects regarding hydration, there are certain physiological conditions that require constant hydration. Hydrated muscles perform more work, in a shorter amount of time, in a wider variety of settings, and among a broader set of tasks. Similar to muscles, bowels must remain properly hydrated to perform their tasks, i.e., sustaining the diverse microbiome that helps us to process foods, eliminate wastes, and protect against outside threats. In fact, all body systems require proper hydration to ensure their functions are performed in a manner (and rate) that is conducive to health and resistant to disease.

If aging can be conceptually distilled into how well we replicate proteins, free from the ravages of free-radical damage and replication errors, then on some level, providing the aqueous medium sufficient to maintain a healthy and organized system is our responsibility alone. Aging is usually represented by a curvilinear (bent line) continuum wherein the relatively healthy years (represented by the straight segment) starts to curve upward around age 50 and rises precipitously thereafter. This line, and the point where life curves into declining health, is not intrinsically predetermined; rather, it relies tremendously on individual effort or lack thereof. It is possible, via concerted individual and community efforts, to remove the curve from the line and live life straight on. To do so requires vigilance and a mindful approach to healthful pursuits, primary among them being hydration.

To this end, it is imperative to drink pure water daily and include high-water-containing fruits and vegetables, and may even be necessary to avoid caffeinated and carbonated drinks in the pursuit of metabolically-advantageous hydration levels. Finally, in place of looking for bodies of water, and their illusory promise of longevity, we should look at the water in our own bodies, and their demonstrated effects on quality and quantity of life.

C Doussett MPH, RDN

Huff Introduces Legislation to Ban Powdered Alcohol in CA

Photo Courtesy: Twitter

Photo Courtesy: Twitter
Senator Bob Huff

By Bill Burd

SACRAMENTO: Senate Minority Leader Emeritus Bob Huff (R-San Dimas) started the first week of the 2016 legislative session by introducing a new bill, SB 819, which will place a ban on the sale of powdered alcohol in California. The product, also known as Palcohol, is a freeze- dried version of alcohol which comes in a small pouch and is the equivalent to a shot of alcohol. The crystallized formula becomes a cocktail once mixed with water. The product has already been banned in 27 other states.

“This substance is yet another drug that we should be concerned about and for good reason,” said Senator Huff. “Some are predicting Palcohol will become the ‘Kool-Aid of teenage binge drinking,’ and this is a concern I agree with.”

The ease of using this substance presents an array of potential health problems in California as it can be snorted, added to energy drinks, slipped to unaware recipients, or even added to beverages already containing alcohol in an attempt to create a dangerously potent concoction.

“Powdered alcohol is the most insidious, youth-attractive alcohol product to come along since alcohol energy drinks,” stated Richard Zaldivar, a spokesperson for California Alcohol Policy Alliance and Alcohol Justice. “The misuse danger, especially to young people, cannot be overstated.”

“Powdered alcohol is a product that is ripe for abuse, and can easily be marketed to children,” said Kat DeBurgh, MPH, Executive Director of the Health Officers Association of California. “From a public health point of view, powdered alcohol is unsafe for California’s communities. The time to act is now.”

Because this new drug can be easily sold and transferred, this is a prime product for abuse by children and teenagers. Alcohol-related harm to California youth can present itself in several ways including death, injuries, assaults, sexual violence, unsafe sex, suicide attempts, and academic problems.

“Alcohol is already abused by underage kids and drinking responsibly is a challenge for many adults,” said Senator Huff. “Adding powdered alcohol to this potent mix is akin to squirting gasoline on a wildfire. This is a problem that California does not need.”

SB 819 will now wait for its first policy hearing in coming months. Senator Huff is pleased the issue has achieved bipartisan support and is working closely with Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks) on a companion measure that has been introduced in the Assembly, AB 1554.

Senator Huff is the Senate Minority Leader Emeritus and represents the 29th Senate District covering portions of Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino Counties. Follow Senator Huff on Twitter at @bobhuff99.

Snow Coming to Diamond Bar

Photo courtesy: City of Diamond Bar

Photo courtesy: City of Diamond Bar

Staff Reports

Diamond Bar – Snow days don’t come very often to sunny Southern California, but  the city of Diamond Bar has solved this winter dilemma by bringing snow – nearly 100 tons of snow – into their own backyard with the annual Winter Snow Fest on Saturday, Jan. 16.

City officials say that over 100 tons of snow will be hauled from local mountains and dumped at Pantera Park for Saturday’s winter wonderland from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Snow revelers will enjoy sledding down one of four snow hills. There will be plenty of snow for making snowballs, snow angels and snowmen in a designated area. Other activities include arts and crafts, game booths, and photos with Flurry the Sledding Penguin.

Admission and snow play is free; the cost to play up to four games is $1 and the cost for unlimited sledding is $5. Only cash is accepted.

Local nonprofits will be operating a number of food booths selling a variety of savory fares, drinks and snacks, while local schools and youth performance groups will be providing nonstop entertainment on stage.

Pantera Park is located at 738 Pantera Drive. As a reminder, dogs (except registered service animals) and other pets are not permitted. For more information, call 909-839-7000 or visit www.diamondbarca.gov/wsf.

 

Your Smartphone Can Help You Achieve Your Financial Resolutions

Courtesy of State Point

Sixty-four percent of American adults have a smartphone, according to Pew Research Center, and that number is growing. Savvy smartphone users are doing a lot more with their devices than taking selfies. At the forefront of a smartphone’s benefits is on-the-go money management, which personal finance experts say can be a key tool to helping you achieve your New Year resolutions.

“Technology advances are giving banks an opportunity to further enhance their customers’ ability to manage their money,” says Brett Pitts, Head of Digital for Wells Fargo Virtual Channels.

Want to get a better handle on your money in 2016? Pitts offers some tips for making your smartphone your own personal banker:

  • Go mobile: You may have used your phone to log into your account via your bank’s website. Check your bank’s mobile application offerings and download its mobile app instead. Using an app designed for device readability will make transactions easier and more efficient. When downloading an app to your smartphone, make sure you’re using a trusted source. Make sure you download directly from your phone’s app store or your bank’s website.
  • Review functionality: Mobile applications are always evolving and improving. Review your bank’s app functionality periodically to ensure you’re up-to-date. For example, Wells Fargo just added several new features to its already robust mobile banking suite. Once enabled, customers can view balance information with its FastLook swipe feature, as well as be notified of transactions via opt-in push notifications (without having to log in with a username and password).
  • Manage your money on-the-go: Use your bank’s free money management services like online bill pay, mobile check deposit and mobile funds transfer. Get peace of mind before heading out for holiday shopping. Before purchases, use your phone to check account balances and make transfers as needed in order to avoid overdraft fees.
  • Add automatic account alerts: Preset limits for transactions and purchases, so you can be immediately notified when those limits have been exceeded. This will help you track your spending and prevent you from breaking your budget. You may also wish to sign up for other notifications, such as when your card is declined, your balance drops below a certain threshold or a direct deposit posts to your account.
  • Get reminded: Make late fees a thing of the past. Set up calendar reminders for credit card payments, mortgages and other bill due dates. Your bank’s app may also have a built-in reminder feature to help you streamline payments.
  • Keep contact details up-to-date: Make sure your bank knows how to reach you. For example, some banks notify customers of possible suspicious card transactions through text messages — which allow customers to reply quickly to confirm whether the transaction is legitimate or not.

More banking tech tips and resources can be found at wellsfargo.com/mobile.

Thanks to new user-friendly technologies, being responsible with your money is easier than ever. Be smart with your smartphone and use it to help meet your 2016 financial goals.

Chino Valley Students March in 2016 Rose Parade

Photo courtesy: CVUSD

Photo courtesy: CVUSD
Chino High students Topanga Betke (left), August Decker-Curry, and Kayla Arcoverde were among the five Chino Valley Unified School District students who participated in the 2016 Tournament of Roses Parade on Jan. 1 as part of the Pasadena City College Tournament of Roses Parade Honor Band.

A Rosy Beginning for the New Year
Staff Reports
Chino Valley – Five high school students from Chino Valley Unified School District celebrated the New Year in style – marching down Colorado Boulevard in the 127th Tournament of Roses Parade.

Don Lugo High School students Anthony Erroa (alto saxophone) and Alana Pineda (color guard) and Chino High’s August Decker-Curry (trumpet), Topanga Betke (tall flag) and Kayla Arcoverde (banner) participated in Southern California’s New Year’s tradition as members of the Pasadena City College Tournament of Roses Parade Honor Band.
Over 600 high school students audition each year for the 200-plus spots in the band and pageantry, according to the pageant organizers.

After an intense audition and weeks of endurance training and practice, these students now have bragging rights as part of an elite group of performers that marched the famed six-mile route in Pasadena. The Pasadena City College Honor Band has participated in the Rose Parade since 1930.

“The students will have marched over 25 miles in rehearsal before they step on to the parade route on January 1,” the pageant website noted.  “This is one reason why the Tournament of Roses Honor Band looks and sounds as good at the end of the parade as they do at the beginning.”

Coyote Attacks on the Rise

Photo courtesy of Christopher Martin Photography

Photo courtesy of Christopher Martin Photography

By Carol Heyen
DIAMOND BAR-Coyote spotting has become commonplace in Diamond Bar and the Inland Empire. Coyotes primarily hunt rodents and wild rabbits for food, but they have seemed to acquire a taste for our pets the last few years.
As wild spaces are developed, coyotes are being pushed out of their wild habitats and into our backyards. Attacks that have resulted in severe injury or death to pet cats and dogs have occurred all around Diamond Bar in the last few months, including near Pantera Park, off of Brea Canyon Road, and close to Golden Springs Drive.
Coyotes are opportunists by nature, and they will take advantage of every possibility for food that is presented. Coyotes are attracted to garbage cans, fruit trees (and the rodents who feed on the fallen fruit) and of course, our pets. What can you do to keep your beloved Fido and Fluffy safe?
Neighboring cities and the Inland Valley Humane Society have released lists of strategies to help.
• Securing garbage in tightly-closed containers
• Removing sources of water
• Locking pets inside at night
• Trimming shrubbery, as to not give the coyotes any hiding places
• Never let your dog off-leash in wild areas – Coyotes sometimes hunt in packs and have been known to lure dogs into ambushes
Other common-sense measures include not trying to tame the coyotes (or any other wild animal), and keeping your dog on a short leash while walking. Never leave small children or pets alone in your yard- coyotes can easily jump a 6-foot wall or fence, and there have been many dogs and cats in Diamond Bar and the surrounding areas that have been attacked while in their own backyard.
Coyotes are most active at dawn and dusk. They will be even more active in the next few months as they will need to find food and water for the pups that will be born this spring. If you come in contact with a coyote, raise your hands above your head, making yourself seem as large as possible, and shout loudly or throw something, like a rock, to scare it off. Garden hoses, air horns, pepper spray and whistles are also good deterrents, according to the website Indefinitely Wild.
If coyotes are afraid of human contact, and they don’t have any readily-available food or water sources, they may stay away from our neighborhoods. Until then, be vigilant to keep your pets and families safe.

Walnut Valley Symphony Orchestra Delivers Holiday Magic

Photo by Michael Armijo City of Walnut Mayor Bob Pacheco welcomed guests to an evening of “Holiday Magic” at Walnut High School Performing Arts Center.

Photo by Michael Armijo
City of Walnut Mayor Bob Pacheco welcomed guests to an evening of “Holiday Magic” at Walnut High School Performing Arts Center.

By Monique Valadez

WALNUT – More than 200 members of the Walnut Valley Symphony & Master Chorale (WVSO) and the Diamond Bar High School Symphony Orchestra entertained its audience with a winter concert “Holiday Magic” Dec. 29 at Walnut High School Performing Arts Center.

Walnut city officials in attendance said that the WVSO and Diamond Bar High School truly provided a magical night and remain true to their mission to create a community tradition of maintaining and fostering music at the highest level of creativity.

The annual holiday concert, led by Conductor Sey Ahn, sought to ring in the holiday season with festive holiday music from Christmas carols to holiday stories.

The concert hall was filled with sounds from “The First Noel,” “Away in the Manger,” “O Holy Night,” and “A Merry Christmas.”

The audience was also enchanted with dramatic versions of “Ave Maria,” performed by Bess De Guzman-Valenzuela and “All Is Well” performed by Cristina Elise Pacheco, founding board member and director of the Walnut Valley Symphony Orchestra and Master Chorale.

“The pleasure of hearing the beautiful music [the WVSO] create makes our holiday period so special,” said Walnut Mayor Bob Pacheco, who is a WVSO board member and proud father of Soloist/Soprano Cristina Pacheco.

Guests were also treated to a special performance by the nationally-acclaimed Diamond Bar High School Symphony Orchestra, led by Music Director Steve Acciani. The Diamond Bar High School Orchestra recently won the National School Orchestra Finals at New York’s Lincoln Center and is composed of 9th through 12th grade student string players.

Diamond Bar city officials say that events such as this, which shine a spotlight on local arts and music programs and showcase our community’s young musicians’ talent, are of great value and importance as they contribute in a positive way to our quality of life.

Photo by Michael Armijo Soprano Cristina Elise Pacheco, founding WVSO board member, performs “All Is Well” during the annual winter concert Dec. 29.

Photo by Michael Armijo
Soprano Cristina Elise Pacheco, founding WVSO board member, performs “All Is Well” during the annual winter concert Dec. 29.

 

Straight Talk With Danice

Danice Akiyoshi

Danice Akiyoshi

Baby Blues- A letter from Brenda
By Danice Akiyoshi, N.D.

 

Dear Dr. Akiyoshi,

My best girlfriend recently had a baby.  I visited her and her husband in the hospital; saw the baby, and everything seemed fine.  Now that she’s home all of my requests to visit and see the baby have been brushed off.  She doesn’t answer her phone very often and when I call her husband he says she’s in the shower or sleeping or nursing the baby.  After 2 weeks of not hearing from her I called her sister who told me that she’s not doing very well and that she is having the baby blues.  This hurts my feelings.  I am her best friend.  I would be willing to help her with the baby.  I don’t understand why she would keep this from me and why she hasn’t returned my calls.  Having to hear this from her sister makes me wonder if I’m wrong about our friendship.  Can’t a woman have a baby and a best friend too?  Doesn’t she realize that I miss her and that friendship is a two way street and she’s not keeping up her end?  Should I stop calling her?  I am hurt and angry. What should I do next?

-Brenda

 

 

Well Brenda,

The first thing you should do is take a look at your emotional immaturity.  After that, you should Google postnatal or postpartum depression, also known as the “baby blues.”  Once you become familiar with that topic, perhaps you can do a little bit of personal inventory.  Maybe your friend just simply doesn’t have the strength right now to manage two babies.  (You being the second.)  Why you would turn your friend’s personal crisis into an issue about her not keeping up her end of the friendship is very confusing to me.  I can tell that you are basically a nice person, but please get some guidance and work to improve your emotional maturity.  People are not obligated to accept your offerings.  If I were you, I would send a card in the mail.  Let her know that she is in your thoughts and that you are there for her when she feels ready or if she needs anything.  Then you wait for the call.  If it takes quite a while, send another card, but do not push yourself on a person who is already overwhelmed.  That does not resemble friendship.

-Danice Akiyoshi ND

Danice Akiyoshi is a Naturopathic Doctor and the head of Candid Coaching Service. She offers personal coaching services relating to all types of issues and concerns. This is a letter she received from an anonymous reader. To send a question to Danice, email her atstraighttalk@candidcoachingservices.com. You can also visit her website at http://www.candidcoachingservices.com.