MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2014 - OCTOBER 5, 2014
riversideindependent.com
Investigation on Councilman Davis stalled and may not happen by Vickie Vértiz The Press Enterprise reported that, while it has been over three months since an investigator determined Riverside Councilman Paul Davis may have violated the city charter, city council members have still not held a hearing on the accusation. This is in the wake of several investigations into the conduct of city council members accused of harassment and of violating the city charter. The Enterprise is not sure if the council will ever look into the findings because there are no sufficient reasons exist to do so. This is due to retiring City Manager Scott Barber who said he will withdraw the complaint that led to the investigation in the first place. Barber filed complaints almost six months ago against Davis and Councilman Mike Soubirous stating that they interfered with his job performance, an act in violation of the city charter, creating “a hostile work environment,” said the Enterprise. Davis and Soubirous denied the accusations. An investigation of the incidents including Soubirous
brought inconclusive results, ending up in a lack of acting by the council in July. A report written by attorney Leonard Gumport this June on the Davis accusation showed that Davis did likely violate the charter by giving an improper order to Community Development Director Al Zelinka, said the Enterprise. While Gumport also found that Davis likely criticized the performance of Barber on the job, it did not break the charter with the same gravity and was not considered harassment. Though the District Attorney is the one in charge of prosecutions, the council can still make a decision on charter violations based on the Davis findings. Perhaps the biggest obstacle to further action came when Barber himself told the council on September 10 that he would be “dropping all my employment claims upon my retirement” at the end of this year, said the Enterprise. The paper added that, in a closed-door session Tuesday, September 23, the council is expected to discuss next steps. Gardner wants the matter to be
men were transported by ambulance to a local hospital. One male was pronounced deceased by doctors and the second was admitted to the hospital for his injuries. A third male victim was identified and treated and released for similar injuries. The victim’s identities are being withheld at this time
Liquor store roof-top burglary suspects arrested
pending confirmation of their identities and notification to next of kin. Investigators from the Jurupa Valley Sheriff’s Station and Investigators from the Sheriff’s Central Homicide Unit responded and assumed the in-
In early months of 2013, Detectives of the Riverside Police Department investigated a series of liquor store roof-top burglaries that occurred in the City of Riverside. On April 11, 2013, at about 1:00 AM, RPD detectives received a break in the case when an alert Riverside police officer noticed the suspect vehicle, a commercial van, parked to the front of Goody’s Market, located at 9475 California Avenue. As officers approached the vehicle, the vehicle fled at a high rate of speed and led officers on a vehicle pursuit that ended in the City of Corona. Two suspects ran from the vehicle and eluded capture; however, police personnel were successful in recovering evidence left inside and near the suspect vehicle. Simultaneously, additional officers arriving at Goody’s Market noticed two additional suspects run away from the business. The same two suspects were ultimately located and arrested a short distance away from the business. The suspects were identified as Jerome Grigsby, 26 years of age, and Curwun Flowers, 24 years of age, both residents of Los Angeles. Both suspects were released from custody pending further investigation. Detectives collected and submitted physical evidence recovered from the suspects and multiple crime scenes. After examination of the evidence, detectives linked both suspects
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Paul Davis - Courtesy Photo
dealt with, acknowledging that the council could disagree with the conclusion of the investigation, take no action, or punish Davis in some way they see fit. But Councilman Andy Melendrez told the Enterprise that he “could not think of any reason to move forward” with a hearing. Soubirous himself said the process has been so flawed that it needs to be dismissed so they can focus on other matters. Davis personally tried to get an update on his case status but got no response from the city, said the Enterprise. An additional discouraging element is cost to the city for said investigations. Two Please see page 4
I-15 shooting leaves 1 dead, 2 wounded; investigation continues On September 20, 2014, at 6:33 PM, deputies from the Jurupa Valley Sheriff’s Station responded to numerous calls of shots fired in the vicinity of the I-15 southbound freeway and the El Cerrito off-ramp. Officers arrived on scene and found two males suffering from gunshot wounds. Both
VOLUME 1, NO. 22
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Rep. Schiff calls U.S. military Young scientists to experiment strikes against ISIL ‘significant’ with project ideas at Riverside Tuesday, Rep. Adam gam of core Al Qaeda from County Office of Education Schiff (D-CA), a senior Mem- Afghanistan and Pakistan, ber of the House Permanent the premier bomb-makers of Science Expo Select Committee on Intelli- AQAP, and abundant foreign gence, released the following statement after the President ordered strikes against ISIL and the Khorasan group in Syria Monday night: “Last night’s airstrikes against ISIL targets in Syria represent a significant expansion of the Administration’s efforts to degrade and ultimately defeat this new terrorist ‘state.’ The participation of Arab forces is especially important, not only to put an Arab face on the American led coalition, but also to cement their involvement in the long-term effort required to defeat ISIL. “The attack on the Khorasan group was also significant. On the Intelligence Committee we have long been aware of, and concerned with, the threat posed by this amal-
recruits who can easily travel abroad to carry out attacks against Europe and United States. The Khorasan group and AQAP continue to be the most proximate threat to our nation. “This significant escalation of the military effort makes it all the more imperative for Congress to take up a new authorization to use force. The rationale given by the Administration, that its actions against ISIL can be justified by an authorization passed by Congress in the days after 9/11, is increasingly untenable, and Congress must not abdicate its responsibility. Congress should never have recessed with a war underway – we should take up this issue the moment we return to session.”
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More than 200 budding scientists will meet with staff from the Riverside County Office of Education at the annual Science Expo on Saturday, October 4, 2014. The event will be held from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. at the Riverside County Office of Education Conference Center located at 3958 12th Street in Riverside. The Science Expo is a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) project geared toward helping students in 4th – 12th grades with science or engineering projects. The event is aimed at helping students convert their ideas into projects that may be displayed at the Inland Area Science and Engineering Fair to be held April 6-7, 2015. “The importance of the Expo is to really allow kids who want to do a project to interact with adults and older students who have experience to share. Additionally, it gives the kids an opportunity to meet scientists and discuss ideas with them,” said Saumya Keremane, a senior from King High School who has done Science Fair projects since fourth grade. Keremane is preparing a molecular biology project, now in its second year. “The Expo allows young scientists, such as those who have attended the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (the world’s largest pre-college science fair), to showcase their research
and inspire their peers to better the world of STEM,” said high school senior Jared Tramontano from Corona-Norco Unified School District. This year, his project involves foundations for a new area of math denoted as “Fuzzy Differential Topology” for application to artificial intelligence algorithms such as manifold learning. Tramontano has presented projects for the last three years in the pure mathematics category—an often overlooked area of the fair. “Completing a research project is ideal for implementation of the scientific or engineering practices as well as the California Common Core Science Literacy Standards,” said Yamileth Shimojyo, Coordinator for the Riverside County Office of Education. The Expo is designed to support students’ efforts and sophistication of their individual research projects while supporting them in their pursuit of STEM skills and careers. Hands-on workshops related to Science Fair projects will be offered and exhibitors will help promote critical thinking and exploration. Scientists and engineers will be available for one-on-one consultations with students and their parents. For more information, contact Yamileth Shimojyo, Coordinator, Riverside County Office of Education at (951) 600-5658 or at yshimojyo@ rcoe.us.
Burglary suspects arrested Continued from page 1
to multiple roof-top burglaries. Arrest warrants were issued for Jerome Grigsby and Curwun Flowers for multiple counts
of commercial burglary, one count of attempted commercial burglary, and a gang enhancement.
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Japanese woodblock prints come to Riverside Art Museum The Riverside Art Museum (RAM) proudly presents Genji’s World in Japanese Woodblock Prints, running from September 20, 2014 – January 11, 2015, with a free, open-to-the-public Fall Exhibition Celebration on Friday, October 3, from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Featured in this exhibition is a rich array of woodblock prints by many of Japan’s leading print artists, including work referencing the original Genji story (on loan from the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery at Scripps College) and works predominantly drawn from the foremost collection of prints of A Rustic Genji, the extensive holdings of Paulette and Jack Lantz. The Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari), written over 1,000 years ago by the court lady Murasaki Shikibu (c.973–1014/25), has greatly influenced Japanese culture, as seen in paintings, short stories, novels, noh plays, operas, movies, manga, and anime. Genji is today celebrated both in Japan and abroad, but in the 19th century it emerged only sporadically as a motif in popular woodblock prints and it was another, Genji-related, story that was a resounding success. In the late 1820s, when the writer Ryūtei Tanehiko (1783– 1842), the print designer and book illustrator Utagawa Kunisada I (1786–1865), and the publisher Tsuruya Kiemon sat down together in Edo to plot the inaugural chapter of the serial novel, A Rustic Genji by a Fraudulent Murasaki (Nise Murasaki inaka Genji), it is doubtful that any one of them envisioned that their actions would generate a new genre, Genji pictures (Genji-e), in Japanese woodblock prints that would flourish until the turn of the century. During these sixty years, almost 1,300 original designs were created, of which many were very popular at their time of release. Dr. Bruce A. Coats, Professor of Art History and Humanities, Scripps College, Claremont, California, where Genji’s World
in Japanese Woodblock Prints was on view in winter 2012, organized the exhibition. “This exhibition includes more than 50 prints that were issued in the 19th century but are in mint condition, with intense colors, intricate details and dramatic compositions - displaying some of Japan’s best woodblock printing techniques,” says Dr. Coats. “The artists Kunisada I and his followers were able to visually capture the excitement and emotions of the narratives and depicted A Rustic Genji in appropriate and beautiful landscape settings.” The story of A Rustic Genji, set in fifteenth-century Japan, is in many respects drawn from the classic novel. It retells the amorous
adventures of Mitsuuji—the counterpart to Genji’s Prince Genji— and is delivered in contemporary dialogue combined with kabuki theatrics. By 1838, and concurrent with the release of new Rustic Genji chapters, woodblockprint publishers and artists set out to exploit its success through the creation of individual-sheet prints that depicted the principal characters and the most exciting scenes. Under Kunisada’s lead, the theme enjoyed enormous popularity and the craze that gave birth to these publications peaked in the 1850s and continued into the 1860s. Over eighty publishers had Rustic Genji designs on offer, and they engaged an increasing number of artists.
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4 | SEPTEMBER 29, 2014 - OCTOBER 5, 2014
Governor Brown signs NSVRC teams up with sister state agreement with NFL to address sexual violence National Sexual Vio- ple affected by sexual China’s Guangdong Province lenceTheResource Center anassault. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. last week signed an agreement to establish a sister state/province relationship between California and the Guangdong Province of China and pledged to strengthen ties with the province on trade, technological innovation, clean energy, low carbon development, education and tourism. Last year – during the Governor’s Trade and Investment Mission to China – Governor Brown visited Guangdong’s capital city of Guangzhou, where he committed to forge a stronger relationship with China’s most populous and economically productive province. The agreement builds on more than a year and a half of significant diplomatic and busi-
ness exchanges between California and China, including a climate change agreement with China’s National Development and Reform Commission, the Trade and Investment Mission to China, the opening of the California-China Office of Trade and Investment in Shanghai and a meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping. Partnership on climate change was one of many subjects the Governor discussed with President Xi and a key component of the trade mission, which included a first-of-its-kind agreement with China’s Minister of Environmental Protection, a meeting with officials from the National Development and Reform Commission and remarks on climate change at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
nounces a multi-year partnership with the National Football League to address the farreaching impacts of sexual assault and domestic violence. The NFL has pledged financial and in-kind support to the NSVRC for distribution to support state and local sexual assault hotlines. The NFL is also pledging support to the National Domestic Violence Hotline. “We applaud the NFL for taking sexual assault and domestic violence seriously. We look forward to partnering with them and think it is a great model for influential organizations to support the work of sexual assault victim advocacy programs at state and local levels to ensure safety for survivors,” NSVRC Director Karen Baker said. As part of the partnership, the NSVRC will contribute resources that will be distributed to all NFL teams. The collaboration also will create ongoing opportunities to support peo-
In August, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell publicly announced the league’s new policies regarding sexual assault and domestic violence. “We clearly must do a better job of addressing [domestic violence and sexual assault] in the NFL. And we will,” Goodell said. “By partnering with experts in the field of sexual assault and domestic violence, the NFL could become leaders in changing the pro sports culture by promoting equality and relationships that exemplify respect and consent,” said Delilah Rumburg, CEO of NSVRC. Sexual Assault Awareness Month, hosts national events, and works with experts across the U.S. to identify, develop and disseminate information on all aspects of sexual violence prevention and intervention. For information, visit www.nsvrc.org, www.facebook.com/ nsvrc and www.twitter.com/ nsvrc.
I-15 shooting Continued from page 1
- Courtesy Photo
vestigation. Citizens may also submit an anonymous tip using the Sheriff’s Homicide Tipline online form. While the investigation continues, we are asking any motorists traveling on I-15 during
this incident and/or any other member of the public who may have any information, photos or video to please call the Sheriff’s Homicide Tip Line at (951) 9552777 or email Homicide@riversidesheriff.org. All information will remain anonymous.
Councilman Davis Investigation Continued from page 1
city contracts with Gumport, the investigator, reported the paper, “were for up to $49,000 each, and the city also used an outside law firm to oversee both cases. The city has not disclosed the total cost of either investigation.”
According to officials, when Barber filed the complaints, the city had been obligated to investigate. But given the district attorney purview over prosecution it is unclear how the council could move forward.