S VOL. XXIII
The Tri County’s Only Multicultural Newspaper
In This Issue
TRI COUNTY
ENTRY NO. 25
Peaceful protests, funeral for Freddie Gray eclipsed by violence
Where were the parents?
FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2015
Delta Sigma Theta In Sacramento Brings California Members to State Capitol for Action and Advocacy See page 15A
Kiwanis Club Recognizes Outstanding Police Work
Toya Graham found her son and spanked him all the way home.
By Peggy Hunt As Baltimore erupted with riots, violence and anger, the city’s mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, took to Twitter to share her thoughts on the events sweeping the city. She referred to the looters as
Freddie Gray, 25-year-old man who died after mysteriously sustaining severe spinal injuries in police custody earlier in the month
“thugs.” Dictionary.com’s definition of a thug is: a cruel or vicious ruffian, robber, or murderer. People blasted President Obama, Governor Larry Hogan, and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake for refering to the kids and young adults as thugs. That was definitely thug behavior. Other comments, “Police are using that word to dehumanize the kids so if they have to beat or shoot them, it would be the same as shooting a vicious animal. My question is, “Where were the parents?” We salute Toya Graham, the mom who went and got her son after GRAY, See page 12A
Officer Jacob Jundef received the 2014 Oxnard Police Officer of the Year Award at the 47th annual Kiwanis Police Officer of the Year and Employee Awards luncheon held April 23 at the Tower Club in Oxnard. Pictured here (left to right): Assistant Chief Jason Benites, Police Chief Jeri Williams, Oxnard Kiwanis President Dawn Noorda-Boldrin, 2014 Police Officer of the Year Jacob Jundef, and Assistant Chief Eric Sonstegard.
By Tim Pompey Oxnard, CA -- The Kiwanis Club of Oxnard hosted its 47th Annual Police Officer of the Year and Employee Awards Luncheon on Thursday, April 23 at the Financial Plaza’s Tower Club. The luncheon recognizes members of the Oxnard Police Department who did outstanding work in 2014. For Police Chief Jeri Williams, these awards are timely and offset many of the negative images of police officers which have
been posted and broadcast during the last several months. “In light of social media or what we hear about different images of law enforcement, treating people badly,” she stated, “I have people in this room and in this audience who do amazing things that will never be posted on social media and will never be printed anyplace. I’m proud of my employees and proud of my agency and very fortunate to be their chief.” Awards handed out in-
cluded: Karen Moore for civilian employee of the year; Alex Arnett for supervisor of the year; Sean Sessions for dispatcher of the year; Margaret Mathews for volunteer of the year; Tenille Chacon, Juanita Suarez, Michael Johnson, Scott Matalon, and Andrew Salinas for the chief’s award of excellence; Paul Knapp for the MADD/ DUI award; Charles Buttell, Steve Eckman, Daniel Casse, Robert Blixt, Jose Diaz, Michael Blanchard,
and Jonathan Martin for the 10851 award; and Jacob Jundef for police officer of the year award. One of the most touching stories of service involved award of excellence recipients Chacon and Suarez, who were called out by Chief Williams for dealing with a household with six children under the age of eighteen. Williams noted that these children were “living in very difficult conditions.” KIWANIS, See page 12A
Assisted Home Potato salad likely source of Health Services to Sponsor
“FA-TINI” By Tim Pompey When Assisted, which provides local home based healthcare services, was searching for a way to plan a gala event, they came up with a new term to describe it: FA-TINI. What, you ask, is a FA-TINI? Denise Carter, Assisted community liaison, describes it as a full scale fashion show including runway appearances by Assisted’s local doctors and nurses, a cocktail party, a night of comedy, a silent auction, a raffle and a foundation benefit all rolled into one evening. “We had a contest several years ago to see who could come up with an idea to get our referral sources together and come up with something fun,” said Carter. She’s careful, however, to give credit where credit is due. “The name was actually my daughter’s idea,” she said. “When she described it, I thought what a FA-TINI, See page 12A
Home healthcare agency Assisted is having their annual “FA-TINI” on Thursday, May 7, at the The Commemorative Air-Force Southern Museum, located at the Camarillo Airport. (Photo Credit: Aaron Bodie)
deadly botulism outbreak
By Mark Ferenchik State health officials said the source of a deadly botulism outbreak is likely potato salad made with home-canned potatoes served at a Lancaster church potluck. On Monday, Pastor Bill Pitts of the Cross Pointe Free Will Baptist Church said members have not been pointing fingers. “We’re just going to be moving forward from where we’re at,” he said. “We can’t look at why as much as, what can we do now.” The conclusion that the source of the botulism was the home-canned potatoes came after laboratory tests and interviews with people who attended the April 19 potluck. Sietske de Fijter, chief of the Bureau of Infectious Diseases for the state, said health officials narrowed the likely food culprits by interviewing nearly everyone who became ill, as well as those who didn’t, at the potluck. The common denominator, she said, was homemade potato salad. Lab testing confirmed the pres-
Dr. Andrew Murry, an infectious-disease doctor at the Fairfield Medical Center, addresses the media.
ence of botulism. The number of confirmed cases of botulism, 21, hasn’t changed since Sunday, said Cassie Bala, Ohio Department of Health spokeswoman. One of the confirmed cases was Kim Shaw, 55, of Rushville, who attended the potluck and died last Tuesday. Shaw’s death certificate in
Fairfield County lists the cause as pending. The number of suspected cases remains at 10. Eleven people were hospitalized as of Tuesday afternoon. Patients are being treated with an antitoxin provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 20 food sam-
ples were taken and tested, including home-canned items. Preliminary tests last week showed that six food samples taken from the potluck — three of potato salad, one potato salad with egg, one macaroni and cheese and one spaghetti pasta salad — tested positive for the botulism toxin. BOTULISM, See page 12A