GREG’S SUMMER ADVENTURE IN BIG BEAR LAKE
FISH AND GAME COMMISSION VOTES TO BAN BOBCAT TRAPPING STATEWIDE
INAUGURAL MADCATFISH BLUES FESTIVAL AT SANTA ANTA PARK SEPT 5 AND 6
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MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2015 - AUGUST 23, 2015 - VOLUME 6, NO. 33
California Water Use Drops 27.3 Percent, Exceeds 25 Percent Mandate for June San Gabriel Valley Water Company Reduced Water Use by 35% in June
- Photo by Ted Jorgensen
Bumble Bee Foods to Pay $6 Million Settlement for Death of Employee Bumble Bee Foods to Pay State’s Largest Known Workplace Violations Settlement for Death of Employee Trapped Inside Industrial Oven Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey Wednesday announced a settlement agreement that will require Bumble Bee Foods LLC to pay $6 million for willfully violating worker safety rules, causing the 2012 death of an employee who became trapped inside an industrial oven at the company’s Santa Fe Springs plant. The settlement is the largest known payout in a California criminal prosecution of workplace safety violations involving a single victim. The case was pros-
ecuted by Consumer Protection Division Assistant Head Deputy Hoon Chun and Deputy District Attorney Christopher Curtis. The payout will be applied as follows: • The company will pay $3 million to replace all of their outdated tuna ovens with new ovens that are automated and will not ever require workers to set foot inside the super-heated, pressurized steam cookers. • Bumble Bee will pay $1.5 million in restitution to the family of victim Jose Melena of Wilmington. On Oct. 11, 2012, the 62-year-old victim entered a 35-foot-long cylindrical oven as part of his job duties. Coworkers were unaware that Melena
was inside the oven when they loaded 12,000 pounds of canned tuna, inadvertently trapping the victim in the back of the oven. • The District Attorney’s Environmental Enforcement Fund will receive $750,000 from Bumble Bee for the investigation and prosecution of Occupational Safety and Health Administration criminal cases and for improving enforcement of workplace safety and compliance rules. • The company also will pay $750,000 in combined fines, penalties and court costs. N E W S R E L E A S E Under the terms of the agreement, Bumble Bee must SEE PG. 4
What Speaker of the House John Boehner failed to realize a couple of weeks ago when he attacked Arcadia for its water conservation efforts was that in California, we care about conservation. In mid-June we shared with our readers a photo depicting Arcadia’s efforts to reduce water usage. Here’s what Speaker John Boehner posted on his Facebook page: “If ever there was a phrase that perfectly encapsulates liberal environmentalists’ backwards priorities and regressive ideology of restriction and scarcity, it is the one now displayed on a government sign in Arcadia, California: ‘It’s ‘green’ to go brown.’” Arcadia’s illustrious city manager, Dominic Lazaretto, had this marvelous quip to the Speaker’s absurd remarks: “If the Speaker
would like to send Arcadia the thousands of acre-feet of water we would need to be able to keep our lawns green, I will happily accept them. Otherwise, Arcadia will continue to do its part to ensure that our residents have enough water to drink until the drought breaks.” Arcadia’s Mayor, Gary Kovacic, added this comment: “If the Speaker’s perpetual golf game ever brings him to Santa Anita Golf Course, perhaps he will understand the true facts about our drought and Arcadia’s tremendous efforts to conserve.” This being an aside, California is making major strides in reducing usage: The Governor’s office this week released some encouraging stats that prove that while in a historic drought, SEE PG. 3
Couple Charged with Child Abuse, Man Accused of Killing Toddler A couple accused of physically abusing the woman’s two young children, leading to a toddler’s death, was charged yesterday, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced. Samuel Aguilar (dob 6/11/92) has been charged with five felony counts: one count each of murder, assault on a child causing death and injuring a girlfriend and two counts of child abuse in case NA102339. Aguilar’s girlfriend, Jessica Rey Cereceres (dob 8/30/90), has been charged in the same case with two felony counts of child abuse. Aguilar is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow
in Department S01 at the Los Angeles County Superior Court in Long Beach. Prosecutors will ask that the defendant’s bail be set at $1.28 million. Cereceres appeared today for arraignment, but the court appearance was continued to Aug. 27 in Department S01 at the Los Angeles County Superior Court in Long Beach. Her bail has been set at $200,000. Prosecutors said Aguilar and Cereceres lived together as boyfriend and girlfriend with the female defendant’s two small children. At the time of the incident, the two boys were one and two years old. On Aug. 10, 2014, the 2-year-old was brought to the hospital for treatment
of body trauma and was later pronounced dead, prosecutors said. Law enforcement began an investigation into the child’s death and discovered the 1-year-old also had injuries to his body, prosecutors added. After a year-long examination of reports and evidence, authorities charged Aguilar and Cereceres in connection with the children’s injuries. If convicted as charged, Aguilar faces a possible maximum sentence of life in state prison, while Cereceres could be in prison for up to 7 years and eight months. This domestic violence case is being investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department