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THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 2017 - JUNE 21, 2017 - VOLUME 21, NO.24
Pasadena Resident Steve Gilmore Travels Across the Country in 30 Days – on a Bicycle
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an Marino jewelry store owner, Steve Gilmore, has started an incredible journey – a 3,059 mile bike ride that will take him from Pasadena to Rye Brook, NY. The journey, which he says will comfortably take 30 days, is an effort to raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Pasadena area cyclist Steve Gilmore’s riding partner and friend, Clarence Muirhead, passed away from Leukemia four years ago. Muirhead, a teacher in Hesperia and Apple Valley, lost his battle and prompted Gilmore into a new direction, albeit a 3000 mile direction, in an effort to help raise funds for the treatment and hopefully cure for this terrible disease. “I just decided one day that I wanted to ride across the United States to help make a difference,” he said. “I approached the Leukemia Society, and they were all for it.” On June 9, Gilmore, 60, started his 3,000-mile journey from Santa Moni-
ca to Rye Brook, New York. For the first leg, which will be a 30-mile honorary ride to his Kraemer Jewelers store in San Marino, he will be riding on a mountain bike given to him by his friend Muirhead just before he passed away. “I will be riding and raising money to help create a world where we no longer have to say goodbye to loved ones because of this evil disease,” Steve says, adding, “I’m ready.” Gilmore said. The mission of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is: cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. LLS exists to find cures and ensure access to treatments for blood cancer patients. We are the voice for all blood cancer patients, and we work to ensure access to treatments for all blood cancer patients. Every dollar is one step closer to making someday today for a cure. Steve Gilmore
The City of Long Beach hosted students from Washington Middle School at City Hall on Wednesday, June 7, an event organized by the Long Beach Innovation Team (i-team) that concluded the year-long My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) Mentor Program with City of Long Beach employees as mentors. The City’s MBK Mentor Program, now in its second year, is an effort to connect City of Long Beach employees as mentors to middle school students. These students, who may be struggling academically, emotionally or socially, spend their lunch time, two Wednesdays a month, with assigned mentors.
“I’m proud that our City is actively addressing the challenges facing our young people through this valuable Mentor Program that inspires them to dream big and aim high,” said Mayor Robert Garcia. In February 2014, President Obama issued a nationwide Challenge to cities across the country as a call to action to encourage communities to implement strategies for improving the life outcomes of all young people, regardless of who they are, where they come from, or the circumstances to which they are born. In January 2015, the City Council adopted a reso-
Long Beach Innovation Team Hosts Middle School Students
SEE PAGE 9
(Bottom Left) Steve Gilmore, his wife Shelly, and two sons Tyler and Josh stand in front of the shop that they own where the sending away party was held. (Top) Steve Gilmore on a recent ride. – Courtesy photos / John Chaides
Operator Of Alcohol And Drug Treatment Program Has Been Charged In An Insurance Fraud Case Riverside A Murrieta woman who operated a licensed alcohol and drug treatment program has been charged by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office in an insurance fraud case involving a loss of more than $231,000. Brooke Elizabeth Best-Freeman, DOB: 3-13-83, is charged with four felony counts of insurance fraud (Penal Code section 550 (a) (6)) and one felony count of solicitation or referral for purposes of insurance fraud (Penal Code section 549) – also known as capping. The accused “capper” in this case, Robert L. Cramer, DOB: 3-19-68, of Lake Elsinore, is charged with one felony count of solicitation or referral for
purposes of insurance fraud. Best-Freeman turned herself in at the DA’s Office in Riverside today, Wednesday, May 31, 2017, and will be booked at the Robert Presley Detention Center held in lieu of $231,000 bail. She is scheduled to be arraigned on Friday, June 2, 2017. Cramer had not been arrested as of Wednesday afternoon. Best-Freeman has operated Best New Life Recovery since 2015. The treatment program – licensed by the state Department of Health Care Services -- initially was located in Murrieta and later relocated to Temecula. In September 2016, the DA’s Office received information from an investigator at
Health Net, Inc. about a possible billing fraud case at the treatment program and began an investigation. That investigation involved serving multiple search warrants, multiple interviews, and undercover operations. Based on evidence obtained during the investigation, it is alleged that BestFreeman filed fraudulent insurance claims by billing health insurance policies for services not rendered, by misclassifying treatment rendered in order to receive payment, by submitting claims for service she was not licensed to provide, and by submitting forged or altered treatment records SEE PAGE 8
DA Finds Non-Fatal OfficerInvolved Shooting in Hesperia Justified The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office has completed its review of the non-fatal officer-involved shooting of 37-year-old Luis Alfredo Ranero by San Bernardino County Sheriff Deputies Gregory Ditfurth and James Diaz on Jan. 25, 2016. Based on the facts presented and the applicable law, the shooting was justifiable in self-defense and the defense of others and no criminal liability attaches to the conduct of any involved officer.