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NEWS
March 14 – 20, 2014
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www.myvalleynews.com
Volume 14, Issue 11
Rod Run bad for business? Local merchants weigh in on first city-run car show Alex Groves Staff Writer
to merchants and city officials, leaving visitors to the event to find parking at one of several locations Parking was scarce and side- in the vicinity of the front street walks were packed as thousands of drag. It was the latter of the two changpeople shuffled in and out of Old Town Temecula to look at the wide es that had people like Cory Montvariety of classic cars that made up gomery somewhat irked. Montgomery, owner of Old this year’s Rod Run. The event looked just like it did Town Temecula Root Beer Company, said she in years past with a num- “I’m not being critical of the didn’t like the i t y ’s d e c i ber of differcity because this is their first csion to have ent vendors selling food year doing it. I just think these city employitems and carare some things they need to ees and merthemed items. bear in mind for next year.” chants park in the parking The smell of – Cory Montgomery garage. nachos, hot She said she dogs and funnel cakes filled the air as tunes was required to park in the garage from earlier decades blared over rather than her own lot, which made things difficult on her and speakers. But this year’s event wasn’t quite her disabled husband because they the same because of a few key were further away from their store. The merchant said she was also changes put in place by the City of Temecula, which took over the surprised when cars and booths Rod Run for the first time this year. started setting up outside her store A kid’s fun area was incorporated at 9:30 a.m. rather than their normal into the event with bounce houses time of 2 or 3 p.m. because she still and derby raises among a number had things to do and wasn’t ready of other activities geared toward for their arrival. “I just think there needs to be youth. And parking in the parking gasee ROD RUN, page A-5 rage at City Hall was limited only
Swing Inn Cafe in Old Town Temecula is always a popular classic car parking spot. Shane Gibson photo
Circus Vargas brings acrobats, jugglers, and clowns to Temecula
Job fair encourages students to consider workforce opportunities
WJ Bradley Mortgage Capital selected as Temecula Gold Business of the Year Alex Groves Staff Writer Saturday, Feb. 22 was a special day for the Temecula office of WJ Bradley Mortgage Capital, as they were presented with the Temecula Gold Business of the Year Award at the Temecula Valley Chamber of Commerce’s 48th annual awards gala for businesses. Despite the branch’s young age of 4-years-old, it has proven itself a worthy adversary to a number of other mortgage companies in the area and stood out among its
see BRADLEY, page A-4
Sgt. ‘Iron Mike’ Mervosh to share experiences from Battle of Iwo Jima March 22 TEMECULA – Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Flag Day in 1923, “Iron Mike” Mervosh enlisted in the Marine Corps in September 1942. By the time of his retirement in 1977, he points out that he had “served [in combat] in every enlisted rank from Private to Sergeant Major.” That combat spanned three wars – World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. For World War II, Iron Mike fought in the battles of Roi-Namur, the Marshall Islands, Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo Jima. In each one he was part of the 4th Marine Division. For heroic actions on Iwo Jima, Mike received his first Navy Commendation Medal.
see MERVOSH, page A-4
Education
Don’t forfeit past tax refunds
Hand balancer Hayley Kent performs her balancing act for guests attending Circus Vargas in Temecula.
Flying Tabares perform their trapeze act inside the Circus Vargas tent in Temecula on Thursday, March 6, 2014. Shane Gibson photos
see more photos, page A-6!
TVHS students were introduced to a wide variety of career paths at the job fair with information on how to get started upon graduation from high school.
Jason Alderman Special to the Valley News
Alex Groves Staff Writer
Does this sound familiar? A few years back your yearly earnings were pretty low so you figured you wouldn’t owe any income tax. Thus, when April 15 rolled around the following year you didn’t bother filing a tax return, knowing you wouldn’t be penalized. Big mistake. Even if your income fell below the threshold at which you’d owe anything, chances are taxes were deducted from your paycheck throughout the year. (Check your year-end W-2 form). If so, you probably left a sizeable tax refund on the table. see page B-6
Hundreds of high school students got a jump start on entering the job market during a special job fair that took place from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday, March 7 in the mini gym at Temecula Valley High School. The event was the second to take place at the high school in two years and more than 85 employers and organizations came to give students tips on the best way to put together resumes and go in for interviews, according to La Verne WilliamsSchoonover. Williams-Schoonover, a college and career counselor at the high school, said the event came out of what was a community service fair. In order to graduate from TVHS, students must meet a community service requirement where they complete 40 hours or more of community service over the course of their high school career. The community service fair pooled together a wide number of organizations in the area that students could network with and find the community service opportunities that fit them best, according to Williams-Schoonover. “We went out into the community, we knocked on all these doors and we got 66 nonprofit organizations to come to our Community Service Connection Fair
and that’s in the fall,” WilliamsSchoonover said. “From that, this was launched.” The career counselor said she went through the same group of non-profit organizations that she worked with for service opportunities to find employers who would be willing to connect with students. “We want them (students) to have that confident feeling when they’re walking in there that they know they can achieve something they’re really interested in and they really want to explore,” she said. “So it’s nice that every single one of these individuals is donating their time so that these kids can prepare their way to healthy transitions in the work force or into trade school.” One of the booths set up at the event was an internship opportunity where civically-minded students could apply to intern for State Senator Joel Anderson. Anderson, who represents California’s 36th senate district, has an office in Temecula. College intern Adam Hussain was leading the effort to encourage high school students to try interning for Anderson. He said he was looking to encourage students with diverse interests to get involved with the Anderson’s program because it was so multi-faceted.
see FAIR, page A-5
thisweek
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