WWII veteran shares memories, A-3
VALLEY
How to garden safely in regards to pets and young children, B-1
Local athletes sign Letters of Intent on National Signing Day, B-10
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Section
NEWS
February 13 – 19, 2015
www.myvalleynews.com
Local
Woman escorted out of Menifee City Council meeting
Volume 15, Issue 7
3 wishes granted at 2015 Stars of the Valley event, 8 receive awards
Daniel Lane Multimedia Journalist A Riverside woman was escorted out of a Menifee City Council meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 4. see page A-7
Local
Valley News launches new website Daniel Lane Multimedia Journalist The Valley News is excited to announce the launch of it’s newly redesigned website. With a new enhanced look and streamlined menus, MyValleyNews.com now offers ease of access for all users. The launch coincides with Village News, Inc.’s launch of its other websites, VillageNews.com and AnzaValleyOutlook.com. see page A-8
Business
New Wildomar store Hope’s Chest supports local women in many ways Ashley Ludwig Staff Writer
Charity for Charity beneficiary Anthony Carbajal (left) with his wife Laarne Palec, react to the many wishes they were granted during the Stars of the Valley event at South Coast Winery. Carbajal, a Murrieta resident, was recently diagnosed with ALS and has received international attention Shane Gibson photo from a viral video he created to raise awareness about ALS.
Daniel Lane Multimedia Journalist The 9th annual Charity for Charity Stars of the Valley was a sold out event attended by more than
350 people on Saturday, Feb. 7 at South Coast Winery in Temecula. According to its website, the nonprofit Charity for Charity raises funds “to fulfill the wishes of local residents with special needs because of life-threatening illness
Snow day at local preschool is fun for all
Wildomar business owner Hope Suhr recently celebrated the grand opening of her intimate apparel shop Hope’s Chest on Jan. 27. More than 100 people attended the meet and greet party.
Valley News
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID FALLBROOK, CA PERMIT #499
see page B-2
Adrian Sevilla sleds with his son Mason, 2, during a snow day event at ABC Child Care Village in Temecula on Feb. 4. Shane Gibson photo
Kim Harris Managing Editor Scores of children from the Temecula Valley had the opportunity to learn about winter during a Snow Day held at ABC Child Care Village in Temecula on Wednesday, Feb. 4. During the event designed to reinforce lessons taught about winter, children were able to sled, make
snowmen and have snowball fights, said owner Angel Anton. “Here at ABC we have a special event once a week and they are related to the themes we are studying and introducing to the children,” said Anton, adding that the theme for January and February is winter. “So we go to the weather chart and look and see it’s supposed to be snowing but the children look
see snow, page A-9
or traumatic injury.” Each year, the organization selects three people – an adult, a young adult and a child – as its beneficiaries and presents them with their wishes at a Golden Globes-styled event. It also honors community members with awards
in eight categories. Charity Prestifilippo honored Lori Delisle with an award in honor of her husband, Jerry, who passed away Jan. 28, just 10 days prior to
see Awards, page A-6
JPA shelves AFV audit Kim Harris Managing Editor Members of the Joint Powers Authority voted to declare a recent audit of Animal Friends of the Valleys incomplete and delay renewing the contract between the two agencies during a special meeting held on Thursday, Feb. 5. The move comes about following a county report that highlighted shortcomings in the way the nonprofit runs its business. AFV currently provides a full range of sheltering services to the cities of Lake Elsinore, Canyon Lake, Wildomar, Murrieta and Temecula. The audit was ordered by JPA Administrator Christopher Hans. According to Murrieta City Council Member Randon Lane, it wasn’t fair that AFV was not allowed time to respond to the report which gave the organization low scores in areas such as pet redemptions by owner, owner notification when a pet is brought into the shelter and euthanasia practices. “I support Animal Friends of the Valley (sic) and I support what they are doing,” said Lane who is Murrieta’s representative on the JPA. “I am going to make a motion at some point to reject these audits.” Lane later followed through with his statement and made the motion saying he had several problems with the audit, which was conducted by Riverside County. “One, the audits were never brought forward to this board prior to this meeting and I think that was a failure in policy to this board,” he said. “Secondly, they were never given to the Animal Friends of the Valley (sic) to allow for a rebuttal. The third reason is that by having the audit done by the county for all intensive purposes is in competition with Animal Friends of the Valley (sic) … that audit should be done by a neutral third party. And four, I am concerned about the process that was used to bring this forward to an audit where this is turned into something that I don’t think it needed to be turned in to.”
Lane said that he would ask to bring the policies and procedures for moving forward with any type of audit before the board. “I never had any say in whether or not we would move forward with this audit,” he said. “I sit on this board and I have a right to have a say.” Hans said that it wasn’t his intent to drive contract negotiations one way or the other, but rather provide as much information to the board as possible as they considered renewal of the contract with AFV. The current contract expires Aug. 31. “There are some things I didn’t anticipate, I probably should have, I am a dog owner myself and we all feel very strongly about something we all have in common, our pets,” he said. “I probably should have anticipated this kind of emotion at this meeting … I fault myself for not anticipating that.” Hans said that he chose the county to do the audit because it was easier to get it done that way. “It was cheaper,” he said, adding that he did put out a request for other companies to come in and do the audit. “One of the requests came back at about $50,000. I was trying to keep the price down and looking for something that would be quicker and easier and the conflict of interest maybe should have occurred to me, but honestly didn’t until we were putting this together.” Lane said there was a process and he was only informed that the group “may” order an audit on AFV. “This board is made up to have
see AFV, page A-7