MONDAY, JULY 14, 2014 - JULY 20, 2014
riversideindependent.com
Upcoming meeting could create a Santa Ana River Conservancy by Vickie Vértiz
VOLUME 1, NO. 11
City of Riverside launches new website to improve access to information EngageRiverside.com is latest effort to increase transparency in government, involve residents
Council, and members of city boards, commissions, and committees are subject to the code. Annually, this code is reviewed for its effectiveness and application. The City Council will hear those recommendations at 7
The City of Riverside has expanded its effort to connect with residents and provide a more open and transparent government through the creation of a new website, www. EngageRiverside.com, which offers easy access to reams of data about city government. The new website brings together in one place facts, documents, data sets and tools for learning more about Riverside and how city government works. It offers easy access to more than 815,000 documents including 3.4 million pages of information; online permit viewing; crime reports and fire responses; agendas for City Council meetings, as well as meetings of citizen boards and commissions; and more. The website is based on the premise that residents are best served when they are able to quickly and efficiently access information about how their tax dollars are being used. “EngageRiverside is neither the beginning nor the
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Santa Ana River -Photo by Christine French
State Senator Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, will talk with the public about efforts to create a Santa Ana River Conservancy on Tuesday, July 15, from 4 to 5 p.m. at the University of California, Riverside in the Orbach Science Library, room 240. Senate Bill 1390, written by Sen. Correa, would form a Santa Ana River Conservancy
that the State Coastal Conservancy would administer to create goals for the Santa Ana River region around recreation and available resources. The bill states that, “The Santa Ana River is an extraordinary natural resource of statewide significance. The river has been subject to intense development and is in need of restoration, conservation, and
enhancement.” Furthermore, “The establishment of the Santa Ana River Conservancy Program will provide the state with the necessary structure to plan and implement restoration and preservation projects and recreation opportunities, and enhance the overall condition of the Santa Ana River.” Please see page 2
City of Riverside invites public to ethics and conduct meeting The public is invited to recommend amendments to the code of city government ethics and conduct. The City Council Governmental Affairs Committee is holding an annual meeting to formulate recommendations for the City Council at 4 p.m., September 3, 2014, in the
Mayor’s Ceremonial Room, Seventh Floor. The committee will ask for contributions from board and commission chairs as well as from the public. As required by an amendment to the charter approved by voters in 2004, the city adopted a code of ethics and conduct. The Mayor, City
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Classes at the Riverside Art Museum Sculpture, July 15 - 17: Explore forms in 3D using a variety of mediums, including wire, papier-mâché, mixed media, wood, and clay. Moving away from a two-dimensional plan, students will create both abstract and representational sculptures that will be viewed in the round. Instructor: Bethany Volker Comic Strips, July 22 - 24: Students will learn everything from creating a character and storyboarding to composition as they make their own comic strip. Comics are as unique as the individuals who create them. Everyone can learn and create in this hands-on class, no matter the skill level. Instructor: Geoff Gouveia For youth, our upcoming classes include: Fun with Clay: Create pottery and small sculptures from clay. Students will play while learning new skills in creating 3D artwork. Construct a new clay project each day and paint them too! Instructor: Bethany
Volker | Ages 5 - 8, July 14 - 18 | 10 a.m. - 12 noon Exploring the Wonders of Art: Enrich your mind with the history of art from Prehistoric to Contemporary times. Students will create cave drawings and many more fun projects. Instructor: Raven Johnson | Ages 9 - 12, July 14 - 18 | 10 a.m. - 12 noon Learning to Draw: This class will focus on drawing fundamentals. All aspects of beginning drawing techniques will be covered. Instructor: Toni Kitchaixankul | Ages 5 - 12, July 14 - 18 | 1 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. BONUS!! If you've never signed up for a youth or teen class with us before, NOW is the time! Get 25% off your first class AND get a voucher for 25% off tickets to Kidz Bop Kids at the Fox on August 1!!! You must call us at 951.684.7111 or sign up at the front desk to get this deal!
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Ida at Barbara & Art Culver Center for the Arts "Eighteen-year old Anna, a sheltered orphan raised in a convent, is preparing to become a nun when the Mother Superior insists she first visit her sole living relative, her aunt Wanda, a worldly and cynical Communist Party insider. Wanda shocks her with the declaration that her real name is Ida and her Jewish parents were murdered during the Nazi occupation. This revelation triggers a heart-wrenching journey into the countryside, to the family house and into the secrets of the repressed past, evoking the haunting legacy of the Holocaust and the realities
of postwar Communism. In this beautifully directed film, director Pawlikowski returns to his native Poland to confront some of the more contentious issues in the history of his birthplace." Music Box Films. Best Film, London Film Festival, 2013. 2013 | Poland/Denmark | 80 min. | PG-13 When: July 18 - 19, 2014 @ 7:00 p.m. | Matinee: July 19, 2014 @ 3:00 p.m. Where: Barbara & Art Culver Center for the Arts, 3824 Main St., Riverside, Ca 92501 For more information please visit culvercenter.ucr.edu
Santa Ana River conservancy Continued from page 1
In a region known for its dry climate, the Santa Ana River is the largest stream system in southern California. The river covers an area of about 2,700 square miles in Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Los Angeles counties. The Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority (SAWPA) states on its website that the Santa Ana River Trail and Parkway is 100-miles long, extending from the San Bernardino Mountains to the coast of the Pacific Ocean. The trail runs through 15 cities and is approximately 60% complete with plans to complete the remaining portions over the coming years. The geography of the river allows for trail activities such as bicycling, bird watching, horseback riding hiking, rock climbing, and running. But more activities are sorely needed. The Inland Empire suffers from lack of parks and shady areas. North Orange County communities have similar problems with the worst access to parks along the river. According to Sen. Correa, household incomes in the region along the river are low.
In the bill, Correa wrote that, “As more working class families moved to the area in search of jobs, the population in these older neighborhoods swelled, but public resources for parks and recreation were not invested proportionally to the growth.” The legislation also acknowledges that even though many areas of parkland exist in the region, many more communities in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties lack parks, with less than three acres of green space per 1,000 residents. Correa added that this fact is especially “true in the communities that were built out before the development boom of the past few decades.” The presentation by Sen. Correa will be sponsored by UCR Friends of the Santa Ana River and the Librarians Association of the University of California, Riverside. The event is free and open to the public. Parking permits for Lot 13 are $8. They can be purchased at the kiosk on West Campus Drive at the University Avenue entrance to the campus.
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Website to involve residents Continued from page 1
end of our ongoing effort to improve transparency, but it is an important step forward,” Mayor Rusty Bailey said. “I encourage everyone to start their own fact-finding mission at EngageRiverside.com.” Riverside has long provided substantial amounts of information about its budget, its financial condition, services, programs and other data through its website – www.riversideca.gov – but Engage Riverside goes further. It collects all that data in a convenient location for easy browsing, adds additional information and provides additional tools for connecting with City Hall. Engage Riverside is the City’s first foray into the realm of social engagement through the use of an innovative tool called MindMixer, which allows Riverside residents to interact with their government like never before. MindMixer complements existing social media and email tools by providing a platform to engage residents in conversations about Riverside’s quality of life. The MindMixer tool can be accessed through the “Share Your Ideas” tab on EngageRiverside. Anyone can view the results of questions posted on EngageRiverside. com. People who create an account have the opportunity to also provide feedback on projects, initiatives and other questions. Public input can significantly improve Riverside’s ability to provide needed services to its residents. “I look forward to adding MindMixer to the tools the City of Riverside uses to connect with residents,” Bailey said. “We benefit daily from suggestions people make on all our various social media platforms, but this offers an opportunity to engage even further in terms of connecting with the community.”
‘Bombshell Bandidt’ sought by FBI Investigators with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI are seeking the public’s assistance in learning the identity and whereabouts of a female bank robbery suspect nicknamed the Bombshell Bandit, based on the bomb threat she made during the robbery, coupled with what witnesses described as a glamorous disguise, including a wig and large sunglasses. The Bombshell Bandit robbed the Bank of the West, located at 27011 McBean Parkway in Valencia. During the robbery, the Bombshell Bandit passed a note demanding cash and in which she threatened that a bomb would detonate if the teller did not comply with her demands. The Bombshell Bandit was also seen by witnesses
casing additional area banks on the day of the robbery and was last seen leaving the Bank of the West on foot. Victim witnesses said the suspect appeared to wearing a wig; auburn or brown in color, but that her natural hair appeared to be black. The unidentified female suspect was described broadly in terms of ethnic background, to include either white, Hispanic, Indian or of Middle Eastern descent. She was further described as 20-25 years old, 5’3″ and approximately 125 lbs. Anyone with information about the Bombshell Bandit should contact investigators with the LASD or the FBI, or dial 911. Additional information about bank robbers wanted in southern Calfornia can be found at www. labankrobbers.org.
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Registered nurses applaud Cal/OSHA's adoption of stronger safe patient handling regulations Regulators also grant RN's petition to establish healthcare workplace violence prevention standards
The Cal/OSHA Standards Board voted Thursday to adopt new regulations on safe patient handling that are designed to protect registered nurses and other healthcare workers from patient handling injuries and to provide patients with safe and appropriate care. The board also granted a petition, submitted by the California Nurses Association, requesting that the Cal/OSHA Standards Board establish standards for violence prevention in healthcare workplaces. The safe patient handling regulations were developed over the past year to enforce CNA-sponsored Assembly Bill 1136, the Hospital Patient and Health Care Worker Injury Protection Act. Registered nurses affiliated with CNA took an active role in advocating for the new regulations, testifying at Cal/OSHA hearings on the serious and ongoing nature of inadequate training and equipment for safe patient handling in hospitals throughout the state. Each year, thousands of RNs suffer back and musculoskeletal injuries while providing care in California hospitals. Many RNs are forced out
of their occupation due to the severity of their injuries. The new regulations require hospital employers to have staff and equipment available at all times to assist with patient mobilization. The regulations also require hospitals and clinics to provide comprehensive training on safe patient handling and to include registered nurses and other healthcare workers in the development and evaluation of patient handling policy. The regulations also recognize registered nurses as the coordinators of care in relationship to safe patient handling. "We are so pleased that the board has adopted safe patient handling regulations that so faithfully reflect the language and intent of our sponsored legislation, AB 1136. These regulations will provide protections for RNs, other healthcare workers, and patients and will ensure that healthcare workers are appropriately trained and involved in making and revising policy. They also require that lift equipment is available and operable, and that adequate staff is available to provide lift assistance without neglecting
other patient care duties," said Deborah Burger, CNA CoPresident. "This is a historic regulation that will prevent many thousands of RNs and other healthcare workers from crippling musculoskeletal injuries and disability, and will help us mobilize our patients safely," said Burger, an RN at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Santa Rosa. "My hospital was recently cited for violating many of the provisions these regulations will address. I look forward to a day where patients and healthcare workers are mobilized in ways that ensure the safety of everyone," said Michele Mueller, an RN at the Ventura County Health Care Agency. The Cal/OSHA Standards Board also granted CNA's petition requesting that the board establish a workplace violence prevention standard. The standard would clarify and strengthen requirements for prevention and protection of all healthcare workers employed by general acute care hospitals including inpatient and outpatient settings and clinics under the same hospital license. Violence in healthcare settings has been an area of concern for CNA for many
years, as the risk or workplace is a serious occupational hazard for RNs and other healthcare workers. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), a worker in healthcare and social assistance is nearly 5 times more likely to be the victim of a nonfatal assault than the average worker in all other major industries combined. Nearly 75% of these violent acts were assaults by patients in a healthcare facility. CNA is also pursuing legislation to address the issue of workplace violence. Earlier this week, the Assembly Health Committee passed a CNA sponsored bill, SB 1299 (Padilla), the Healthcare Workplace Violence Prevention Act, which passed the full Senate last month. "We are thrilled that Cal/ Osha has granted our petition and that we the nurses are leading the charge to make hospitals safe environments for healing, rather than the shockingly violent places they are now. Whether we succeed through the legislative or regulatory process, registered nurses will not rest until our healthcare facilities protect patients, visitors, and staff from violent incidents," said Karen Boxley, an RN at Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmichael, CA.
Ethics and conduct meeting Continued from page 1
p.m., September 23, 2014, in the Art Pick Council Chamber. The public is invited to attend. “This annual meeting is an important outreach of our local government,” said City Clerk Colleen Nicol. “The input of our residents is essential for the committee to do its job prop-
erly.” For more information, visit the City’s Web site at www. riversideca.gov or call the City Clerk’s Office at (951) 8265557 for a brochure and a copy of the code. Riverside City Hall is located at 3900 Main Street.