LocalSTAR Regarding Bono Mack Campaign The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians issued the following statement f ro m Tr i b a l C o u n c i l Chairman Jeff L. Grubbe ON Oct. 27 in response to actions and comments made recently by the U.S. Congressional campaign for Mary Bono Mack: “The Agua Caliente
Band of Cahuilla Indians has always worked hard to maintain a solid, positive relationship with Representative Mary Bono Mack, because we felt that such a relationship was not only important for members of the Tribe, but for the entire community. Until recently, we thought that respect was mutual. “That is why it was all the more troubling that through her words and the actions of her campaign,
to the Editor she chose to disrespect the Native American community in her attacks against Raul Ruiz. “Instead of apologizing for her insensitive comments
and unacceptable campaign behavior, as we hoped she would, Congresswoman Bono Mack is claiming that our concerns are politically motivated. She went even
further this week, and accused our Tribe of being pushed by the Democratic Party to attack her. “The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians is a sovereign nation whose only interests lie with the health and well-being of our Tribe and the communities in which we live. It is our sincere desire to see that the Coachella Valley is represented by a leader who respects all of the people who live here.”
Prop 30: For Red Rubber Balls Everywhere Prop 30 isn’t an educational proposition. It is a financial proposition, and yet it affects education more than any other program. It is a last resort scare tactic to force the people of California into paying more money in taxes, to put ABC chewing gum into the hole in the bottom of the public education life raft. It doesn’t fix anything it doesn’t prevent the money from being diverted to administrative costs, it doesn’t do anything
except stop thousands of teachers from being fired, and countless others like myself, from taking another pay cut. In an effort to prepare for the defeat of prop 30, California has withheld millions of dollars from schools this year. If it passes, the money will be returned, if not, then it will begin a chain reaction of continued cuts across public education. Haven’t we heard this before? Cuts to education, and
Milanovich Family Photo The Desert Star Weekly incorrectly placed a photo of the Milanovich Family from the Dinner in the Canyons event to the “Del Shores Speaks on Sordid Lives” story on page 22 of the Oct. 18 issue. The image should have been of the cast from “Blues for Wiladean,” a new Del Shores movie. We apologize for the error and any inconvenience and corrected the photo on our website at desertstarweekly.com. 2012 Holiday Parade The page 3 story in our Oct. 25 issue about the “2012 Holiday Parade” misrepresented Desert Hot Springs Police Commander Dan Bressler statements about the parade. Commander Bressler was not “contending against the parade…” as the story stated but instead cited city and police requirements for a successful and well-managed parade. A follow up story will be published next week. Photo Captions Photo captions in the Oct. 25 issue for the page 6 story, “Palm Springs Women in Film” were incorrect. The photo captions have been corrected on our website at www. desertstarweekly.com to reflect the corrections to read: Patti Gribow holding the award, and Margaret O’Brien, Joyce Bulifant and Diane Martin-Dirkx. We regret the error and apologize for any inconvenience.
www.desertstarweekly.com
yet this time, I feel like there really isn’t anything else to cut. Sure you can fire teachers and combine grade level classes, if you fill comfortable with your child sitting in a class of 44 kindergartners I suppose your student can get by without technology in the classroom. I currently have three computers for 22 kids allowing them each a meager 15 min. a week. That’s okay though, they all have cell phones right? Can’t they learn computer literacy at home? But I can’t tell you to vote for Prop 30 because it doesn’t fix anything. It is a stopgap measure to prevent the worst from getting worse. It provides no reform to fix any of the existing problems. Problems of state channels that funnel educational funding elsewhere, and districts that are such a maze of bureaucracy and staffed with people so far removed from the classroom, but they may as well be in south equatorial Australia. So I can’t tell you to vote for it because it’s bad legislation. However, it is such bad legislation that if it doesn’t pass, our students lose the most. Bigger classes, less school days, mass layoffs of newly credentialed teachers, ( highly qualified, ebullient, and tech savvy teachers at the bottom of the seniority totem pole), delayed facilities repairs, and even less sports equipment. Call it hand ball, call it wall ball, call it fun at recess. The game where competitors take out their academic frustrations
and energetic wiggles on an unsuspecting red rubber ball in front of cheering legions of classmates. If Prop 30 does not pass, frivolities like sports equipment are the next things to go (after art and music of course). So, if you can remember what it felt like to bounce that red ball high over your head, and the rubber thud it made as it touched back down to earth, consider voting in November. If you can remember how dirty your hands got from the skin of the ball as it licked the blacktop, register to vote. If you can remember creating obscure names like waterfalls and poppies and a whole host of other nouns for different ways the ball could bounce that left yard teachers scratching their heads, consider voting for Prop 30. It won’t fix education, but it will prevent thousands of teachers from being laid off and class sizes from doubling. It would keep my salary where it is, sitting modestly just underneath the middle-class demarcation, and save a red rubber balls for millions of students across blacktop statewide. Consider voting yes on Prop 30 for the red rubber balls. Erica Rood is a third grade public school teacher. In her fifth year of teaching, she encourages her students to make their voices heard when they see a need in the community. “Teach because you have nothing to prove and everything to share.”
November 1, 2012
A Teacher Speaks As a veteran teacher, I have seen startling changes over the years to education. Propositions on the November ballot affect kids. Without a chance to vote, our students will have to rely on our voices to make their needs heard. Below is an article I have written about proposition 30. Would you consider publishing it?
CRIME
B lo t t e r
On Monday, Oct. 8, between 1:30 – 9 p.m., multiple vehicle burglaries occurred within the retail shopping outlet district located on Seminole Drive in Cabazon. Large quantities of valuable items were stolen, which included credit cards from multiple victims. On this same date, a credit card stolen in one of these burglaries was used at the “GAP” factory store located within the retail district. The stores video surveillance captured the suspect as she purchased items after the vehicle burglary took place. The same suspect used a different stolen credit card at the Target store in Riverside hours later. Once again the retailers’ video surveillance captured the female suspect at the check-out isle and upon her exit from the store. The suspect in these crimes is described as a Hispanic female, 20-30 years old, 5’04” tall, weighing 165 pounds with long dark hair. This retail shopping district in Cabazon has experienced 50 vehicle burglaries with property loss in excess of $100,000 over the past few months. Investigators with Riverside County Sheriff’s Department are seeking the public’s help in identifying this suspect. This investigation is active and we urge anyone with information or who can identify this suspect, to contact Investigator Jacqueline Lane at the Cabazon Sheriff’s Station at 951-922-7100, or the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Dispatch Center at 800950-2444 or email cabazonstation@riversidesheriff.org. Your identity will remain anonymous.
Thanks for your consideration, Erica Rood Third Grade Teacher, Chime Charter in Woodland Hills, CA ericarood@gmail.com
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