Local

By Chief Mass Communication Specialist Bill Steele, Navy Office of Community Outreach

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)— SAN DIEGO, CA— A 1997 Mojave High School graduate and Hesperia, California, native is serving aboard an Avenger mine countermeasure ship designed to clear mines from vital waterways across the globe.

Chief Petty Officer Martin Benitez is a Navy damage controlman serving aboard USS Champion under the command of Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet.

As a Navy damage controlman, Benitez is responsible for maintaining watertight integrity of the ship, ensuring that damage done to the ship is repaired properly, and training the crew on firefighting methods.

“There’s a lot of training that goes into being a damage controlman,” said Benitez.  “Overall my job is helping my shipmates move up into training positions and spreading knowledge.”

Mine countermeasure ships are designed as mine sweepers/hunter-killers capable of finding, classifying and destroying moored and bottom mines. These ships use sonar and video systems, cable cutters and a mine detonating device that can be released and detonated by remote control.

Hunting mines is a slow, laborious task that requires a ship to stay in a small area until it’s done, according to the Navy. Since 1945, mines have sunk almost four times more U.S. ships than all other threats combined, said Navy officials.

The worldwide threat, which today totals more than a million weapons of some 300 different types, comprises rudimentary but still-dangerous World War I-era contact mines to highly sophisticated, multiple-influence and programmable weapons, reports the Navy. These figures are for sea mines, proper; they do not include underwater-improvised explosive devices that can be fashioned from fuel bladders, 50-gallon drums, and even discarded refrigerators.

The ships deploy a remotely operated mine disposal system and a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) mine neutralization system. The disposal system detects, locates, classifies and neutralizes moored mines and mines resting on the seabed. The vehicle uses high-frequency, high-resolution sonar, low light level television, cable cutters and explosive charges to detect and dispose of mines, while remaining tethered to the vessel by a cable and under control of the vessel. Each ship accommodates a crew of 80.

“Serving on a minesweeper, you form a small brotherhood and family,” Benitez said.

As part of the Navy, Benitez explained that sailors are helping to build a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes, including helping to develop new war-fighting capabilities to continue the Navy’s success on the world’s oceans.

“The Navy has blessed me and my family. I’m trying to pay it forward by helping others get to the position that I’m in,” said Benitez. “It’s a privilege to serve.”

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)— RIVERSIDE, CA— October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Domestic violence is considered an epidemic that affects people from all walks of life. The NAACP-Riverside Chapter will be presenting, “Nowhere to Run” on Friday, October 12 to Sunday, October 14 at The Box Theater in Riverside.

Everyday sex trafficking victims, many of whom are simultaneously victims of domestic violence, appear in courtrooms throughout the United States. Rarely are they identified as victims of domestic violence and even less frequently are they recognized by judges and court personnel as the victims of sex or labor trafficking that they are.

The play “Nowhere to Run” gives you a look into the life of those suffering from mental and physical abuse. The play conception came about when some of the NAACP youth and college students became concern about the issue of sex trafficking. The production leaves you with an essential understanding that sexual exploitation can happen to anyone and that we must all work together to break the cycle of bullying, sex trafficking, and domestic violence.

PayPal is available on the NAACP website at www.naacp-riverside.org/news-and-events.

EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)— SAN BERNARDINO, CA— More than 700 individuals of all ages, enjoyed the entertainment and down home fun presented by Akoma Unity Center at the 1^st Annual Sunday Jazz in the Park on Sunday, September 30^.  hosted by Akoma Unity Center.

Sponsors for the event included: American Health Coalition, C.O.P.E, Del Valejo Middle School, Empire Management, Image Source USA, Plan B Printing, Westside Story Newspaper, and Sacred Sistahs.. Jazz in the Park unified and reignited a sense of community to over five generations on the West side of San Bernardino. Families enjoyed an evening full of joy, laughter, and love of good music. While continuing the legacy of Dr. Anne Shirrells

“The goal of this event was to deliver a sophisticated, family oriented community event that brought over five generations out to enjoy,” Jennifer Xicara, Operations Manager at Akoma Unity Center stated.

Akoma Unity Center has delivered! This event transformed Anne Shirrells Park into an oasis of premier music, election awareness, food, and fun, creating an ambiance like no other in the Inland Empire.

“Akoma Unity Center did a great job!”Jim Tickemyer, Director, Parks, Recreation and Community Services stated. “Seeing the community come together to just kick back and enjoy themselves was a great way to start the week. Please extend my gratitude to all of Akoma. Thank you for your vision and commitment to seeing it through to fruition.”

The stellar line up included genres for every jazz lover featuring: Inland Empire’s native, Amore the Songstress, who gave vibes of the amazing Anita Baker and Jill Scott intertwined in one; Johnny Meza and Company, whom had his original song Dirty Martini hit number 23 on the Billboard Smooth Jazz charts; and the closing performances by Gee Mack, a legendary guitar player and The Hottest Cats featuring Asia Raye. When musical groups were not on stage, DJ Wen provided old school music that inspired everyone to get up out their seats and dance.

Akoma Unity Center is a 501 C(3) Non-Profit organization committed to providing children with high quality, no-cost afterschool structured recreation, and development programs in a safe and supervised environment.

If you would like to learn more information about Akoma Unity Center, please visit our website at http://akomaunitycenter.org or call (909) 217-7956.

Dr. Margaret Hill

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)—-SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County (CAPSBC) will be hosting a Piano Recital and Gala Event on Saturday, October 6 at the University of Redlands located at 1200 Colton Avenue in Redlands.

Master of Ceremonies will be Bryon Russell, former Lakers NBA Star who previously attended San Bernardino High School. The event will feature the Community Action Legacy Awards to honor individuals and organizations that have supported the mission and vision of CAPSBC of assisting low-income residents of San Bernardino County in achieving self-sufficiency.

The Board is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2018

Assemblymember Eloise Gomez-Reyes

Community Action Legacy Awards. The Venny H. Newman Humanitarian Award will be presented to Dr. Margaret for her for her long-time, outstanding service to our communities and CAPSBC. Dr. Hill has been a distinguished educator, community supporter and advocate in our county since 1971. Her name is known throughout our county and we are grateful for her dedication to our communities and youth.

The Venny H. Newman Humanitarian Award is given as a tribute to Ms. Venny H. Newman who has dedicated her life to advocating for the poor and was a pioneer in the establishment of the Dependency Prevention Commission in 1965, now known as Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County.

Other award recipients include:

• Legislative Advocate Award: Assembly Member Eloise Gómez-Reyes
• Community Partner Award: San Bernardino Pastors United
• Helping People Changing Lives Volunteer Award: Dolores Armstead-Robinson
• Spirit of Hope Achievement Award: Francisca Tousely

Prior to the dinner, there will be a benefit concert for the CAPSBC Food Bank featuring “Two Piano Journey” with Michelle and Christopher Kuo, an incredible world-class piano ensemble team. They have performed in locations such as Carnegie Hall – NY, The Green Room – San Francisco, The Lighthouse Guild – NY, Rutgers University – NY, Friday Musicale – FL, Drew University – NJ, Old Dominion University – VA, and countless premier international sites.

For more information, call (909) 723-1523 or e-mail info@capsbc.org

School District Police officers reach out to community members during National Night Out in August 2018.

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)—-SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- Paakuma’ K–8 School hosted an event for school staff, parents, and community members to share coffee and conversation with San Bernardino City Unified School District Police officers this past on Wednesday, October 3. Starbucks and Krispy Kreme doughnuts co-sponsored the event.

The October 3 event was the first in a series of community outreach meetings School District Police plan to hold at various SBCUSD schools.

“There are no agendas and no speeches,” said Sgt. John Guttierez. “It’s just a chance to ask questions, voice concerns, and get to know the District Police officers in your school community.”

EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)— FONTANA, CA—Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas), local officials and business representatives today celebrated the opening of a new public compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station located at 16231 Valley Boulevard in Fontana. The ceremony was held during National Clean Energy Week, which was first conceived in 2017 with the goal of advancing support of our nation’s energy sector through new methods of market development, policy change, and technological innovation. The new station was designed to serve the needs of the local and regional trucking industry and is the largest SoCalGas CNG fueling station constructed to date. SoCalGas also recently announced it will soon begin using renewable natural gas for the first time at the 25 utility-owned natural gas vehicle fueling stations across its service territory, as well as at six fueling stations in the San Diego area. Photos are available here.

“The latest generation of natural gas trucks, fueled with renewable natural gas virtually eliminate air pollution and emissions linked to climate change,” said Rodger Schwecke, senior vice president of gas transmission, storage and engineering for SoCalGas. “By giving truck drivers and fleet operators more locations to fuel up, we can put more of these trucks on the road and deliver an immediate benefit to communities, especially those along our busy freeways.”

“Fontana is proud to welcome our first compressed natural gas station to the city,” said City of Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren. “As one of the most important regional hubs for the U.S. trucking industry, having this CNG fueling station in Fontana will help us reduce our carbon footprint one truck at a time. We want to thank our partners at Southern California Gas Company for bringing this valuable resource to our community.”

The new CNG station extends the network of CNG stations across a key regional goods movement corridor and will provide owners and operators of natural gas-fueled trucks and other vehicles with a new, convenient place to fuel. The location, which is just off Interstate 10 (I-10) in the Inland Empire, was selected to serve a major logistics transportation corridor. More than 20,000 trucks travel along the freeway each day.

The transportation sector is responsible for 41 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and 80 percent of smog forming pollution. The latest heavy-duty natural gas engines can cut smog-forming emissions by more than 90 percent compared to the cleanest heavy-duty diesel trucks on the road today. When these trucks are fueled with renewable natural gas (RNG), greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by at least 80 percent.

SoCalGas has worked with fleet owners to secure millions of dollars in incentive funding for the replacement of diesel trucks with cleaner, new near-zero natural gas trucks. Each new natural gas truck that replaces a traditional diesel truck is the equivalent of taking 57 passenger cars off the road.

Renewable natural gas is produced from the methane generated in landfills, wastewater treatment plants, food processing and dairies and depending on its source, can be low-carbon or in some cases, even carbon-negative. It can be used to fuel trucks and buses, to generate electricity, to heat homes and businesses, and to cook.

Capturing the methane from these waste sources and using it for fuel has two benefits: It keeps methane, a greenhouse gas, from entering the atmosphere and contributing to climate change, and it reduces the use of traditionally-sourced natural gas.

Already, close to 70 percent of natural gas fleets in California are fueled with renewable natural gas.

The Fontana location is the 13th public SoCalGas-operated CNG fueling station to open, and there are 3 more currently under construction – one in Pacoima, one in Bakersfield and one in Ramona.

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)— SAN BERNARDINO, CA— The San Bernardino City Unified School District (SBCUSD) Board of Education started its meetings for the year on Tuesday, October 2. Meetings are now held every first and third Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in the Indian Springs High School MU Room.

The Board has been holding its meetings at Indian Springs High School (ISHS) since renovations began on the Board of Education building earlier this year. The Board held its September 18, 2018, Board meeting in the new ISHS Performing Arts Center, following the official ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Board meetings will continue to be held in the ISHS MU Room until the Board of Education building remodel is complete. Indian Springs High School is located at 650 North Del Rosa Drive in San Bernardino.

If you plan to attend Board of Education meetings and require reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, please contact the SBCUSD Affirmative Action Office at (909) 381-1122 or mike.medina@sbcusd.com at least 10 business days before the meeting.

Inequality & Outsourcing Spur Continued Unrest at University of California

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)— LOS ANGELES, CA— Stalled labor negotiations between the University of California and its largest employee union, AFSCME Local 3299, reached a boiling point at Wednesday’s UC Board of Regents meeting when union leaders publicly announced that their members will be voting on whether to go on strike for a second time this year.

The forthcoming vote follows a 3-day walkout by 53,000 UC workers last May over the University’s outsourcing practices, which research shows is driving growing income, gender, and racial inequality within California’s 3rd largest employer.

“UC’s employment data shows that women are getting paid far less to start than men and that Black workers are vanishing,” said AFSCME Local 3299 President Kathryn Lybarger. “It’s because the University has stopped investing in career ladders and outsourced good middle-class jobs to low-wage contract companies that pay workers dirt.”

At issue for UC workers is the University’s practice of outsourcing career positions to independent contracting companies that pay workers less. In fact, data shows that the staffing ratio at UC San Francisco has been as high as 1 contractor to every 6 directly employed workers. UC workers say that the practice has the effect of taking jobs that once paid living wages with full benefits and turning them into low-wage contractor positions with few benefits and a higher risk of abuse. In the past, UC contract companies have been found to arbitrarily slash worker pay and pay full-time workers under multiple names in order to skirt overtime rules.

Research also shows that AFSCME Local 3299 represents the most diverse workforce segments at UC—resembling the demographic makeup of California as a whole more than any other workforce segment at the University. As such, workers argue that outsourcing has the effect of destroying career pathways for people of color and trapping them into low-wage positions. UC Davis Medical Center has even gone so far as to deny outsourced contract workers career Patient Care Technical Unit positions when they apply, despite the fact that the “temporary” terms of their contracts have been extended multiple years, in some cases.

“Outsourcing is pioneering a future of more inequality,” said Rosalyn Williams, an MRI Technologist at UCLA’s Ronald Reagan Medical Center who spoke during public comment on Wednesday. “We will not allow UC to normalize a reality where darker skin means lower pay.”

UC’s Patient Care Technical Unit will be voting on October 9th and 10th to authorize a strike while its Service Unit workers will be voting on whether to join a strike in solidarity.

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)— FONTANA, CA— About 1,500 middle and high school students, including about 850 from San Bernardino County, will take part in the annual Manufacturing Day Expo at the Industrial Technical Learning Center (InTech) in Fontana on Friday, October 5.

Students will have the opportunity to meet with local manufacturers and participate in hands-on activities in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. There also will be tours of the InTech facilities.

Participating school districts from San Bernardino County include Chaffey Joint Union High School District, Chino Valley Unified, Colton Joint Unified, Fontana Unified, Victor Valley Union High and Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified.

The event is organized and sponsored by Chaffey College’s Economic Development Department, San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools’ Alliance for Education and the California Community College Chancellor’s Doing What Matters Campaign.

For more information about the event, visit www.mfgday.com.

Funds will be used to help alleviate some emotional and financial burdens for patients 

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)—-SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- Stater Bros. Charities and the Inland Women Fighting Cancer presented a check for $125,000 to Loma Linda University Cancer Center on August 21. The funds were a portion of those raised at the 10th annual Believe Walk in October 2017.

Mark Reeves, MD, PhD, director of the Cancer Center, said the donation will be used to support the psycho-oncology program, which assists with services not typically covered by insurance such as psychologists, spiritual chaplains, financial guidance, dieticians, and wig banks.

During the check presentation at the Stater Bros. corporate headquarters, Reeves said these services can make a difference for patients — and their families — going through cancer treatment, which can be an emotional and financial process.

“Patients who have benefited from the program have told me how important it is to be able to make it through difficult treatments,” Reeves said. “These services are impactful and mean everything to our patients, and I thank the Inland Women Fighting Cancer and Stater Bros. Charities for supporting these efforts.”

President and CEO of Stater Bros. Peter Van Helden said any day that they can give back to the community is a great day.

“We want to give back to the communities where our customers and employees live and work,” Van Helden said. “It has been over 10 years since the Believe Walk was formed, and we are proud to say we have given millions of dollars to help those in the community battling cancer.”

Van Helden says the first walk had 1,500 walkers in 2008. The Believe walk was created through the partnership of the Inland Women Fighting Cancer founding members Nancy Varner, Cathy Stockton and Annie Sellas and Stater Bros. Charities. The walk has now grown exponentially to approximately 10,000 participants. Since its inception, the partnership between Stater Bros. Charities and Inland Women Fighting Cancer has donated over  $4.6 million dollars to support programs and services for cancer patients in the Inland Empire.

The11th Annual Believe Walk will take place in Redlands, Sunday, October 7.