January 26, 2009

By HERBERT ATIENZA

Taking the initiative to create their own fun, they spent hours digging trenches and building towering mounds, upon which they rode their bikes to perform spectacular jumps.

Even some adults whose property overlooked the site were impressed by the camaraderie of the neighborhood kids who constructed the course, expanding on a smaller, primitive course built years ago in the unincorporated community of Valle Vista, east of Hemet.

But now their work is gone, leveled this month by the kids and their parents, after the Riverside County Code Enforcement Department decided the course was unsafe.

It was so large and ambitious that it posed a hazard for people who might fall in one of the trenches, some of which were 4 feet deep, said an official who inspected the site.

“I cried,” said Eric Mascho, 15, a freshman at Hemet High School, holding up his palms to show the calluses he earned while building the dirt ramps. “It hurt even worse that we had to get rid of it ourselves.”

He said he enjoyed having the tracks because “I’m tired of paying 15 bucks and begging my parents to take me to a park out of town.”

Eric’s mom, Kimberly Glass, said the next-closest option is Real Ride park in Lake Perris. She’s disappointed that the course in Valle Vista was leveled because she liked being able to keep closer tabs on her son, and the costs of going to the commercial park add up.

Sean Steele, 15, another Hemet High freshman, said he, too, was in tears when he found out the course had to be flattened.

“There’s nothing for us to do here,” he said. “We were just hoping to have something fun to do.”

However, Greg Flannery, 3rd District division manager for the Code Enforcement Department, said his agency had no choice but to close down the ramps.

“We did have an imminent-danger type of situation in this case,” he said.

Flannery said he does not recall any other instance of code enforcement having to shut down an improvised BMX park.

Neighbors Sympathetic

Bicycle motocross, or BMX, is a popular form of cycling that can include racing or performing jumps on specially designed earthen tracks. The sport made its Olympic debut at the 2008 Beijing Games.

The demolished course in Valle Vista was in the middle of a vacant several-acre lot at Fairview Avenue and Olive Way.

It was the size of two basketball courts, said Jacque Wease, 51, whose backyard overlooks the site. About eight earthen mounds were built in steeplechase fashion, some reaching more than 6 feet tall. Wease said two or more bikers could ride up the ramps simultaneously.

“I could stand there for hours and just watch them,” she said. “It was good, healthy fun and most parents liked it because the kids were not far away from home.”

She said she and other neighbors are sympathetic with the bikers, whom they say need a place to practice their sport safely.

“It broke my heart,” Wease said. “They worked so hard at it, and it broke my heart watching them tear it down.”

She said the BMX course offered a wholesome outlet for kids.

Khaleel Weddington, 44, whose home also overlooks the property, said he supported the efforts and marveled at how the neighborhood kids got together for a common effort.

“I watched them over a three-month period build that thing. They didn’t use machines; they used shovels, and they worked through the night,” Weddington said.

“They weren’t noisy. They came there and did what they did,” he said.

Safety Risk Seen

Flannery said a code enforcement officer checked the site after someone complained about illegal grading. When the officer arrived, he found the problem wasn’t the grading but the potential safety risks.

“He said it was a significant project, with some of the ramps taller than he is, and he’s 6-5,” Flannery said.

He said the course was on private property and did not have a permit. Because the lot was restored to its original state, the property owner was never contacted, he said.

As the officer put up yellow tape around the course to close it down, Flannery said, a father of one of the kids who built the ramps asked what was going on and offered to restore the property.

Flannery said last week that the older, smaller dirt ramps did not pose the same type of hazard, so they were not set to be demolished. However, on Monday, two tractors were at the site flattening that course too. Flannery did not return a message left late Monday afternoon about why the smaller course was leveled.

Verne Lauritzen, chief of staff for Supervisor Jeff Stone, whose 3rd District includes the course, said he wishes the county could build a BMX park for the neighborhood children, but said such a project would have to be weighed against other priorities.

“We would like to provide amenities to every neighborhood, but the reality is we try to get the best for the most,” Lauritzen said.

He said a county commission is looking at finding sites for potential regional off-road recreation parks, but there are no timelines for when the parks might be completed.

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What do “High School Musical,” the teen pop-culture phenomenon, and “Max,” the largest mastodon discovered in the Western United States, have in common?

For several months starting in February, the two giants will share a home as the Western Center for Archaeology and Paleontology in Hemet presents “Disney: The Music Behind the Magic.” The special traveling exhibit tells about The Walt Disney Co.’s use of music and its influence on American pop culture.

More than 65 artifacts will be on display, ranging from musical spreadsheets with handwritten notations in red and pink from “High School Musical,” a popular movie on the Disney Channel, to original sketches from the animated movies “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and “Pinocchio.”

The exhibit was developed by the Experience Music Project, a Seattle-based museum focusing on American popular music and science fiction. It coincides with the 50th anniversary celebration of Walt Disney Records, which provided access to its archives and talent pool for the exhibition.

The exhibit at the Experience Music Project was designed to go on tour and will be traveling to Hemet for a 13-week run, starting Feb. 6.

“It really appeals to people of all ages,” said Maggie Skinner, spokeswoman for the Experience Music Project.

The Western Center for Archaeology and Paleontology, where Paul Bailey works, will feature prehistoric fossils alongside Disney objects.
“I think people will love seeing reminders of their childhood.”

The Western Center, located off of Domenigoni Parkway southwest of downtown Hemet, is carving a name in the region for its work and exhibits on Ice Age mammals and ancient culture, including a recent exhibit of Luiseño Indian baskets. The museum houses an extensive collection of fossils found during the construction of nearby Diamond Valley Lake, including fossils of mastodons and mammoths.

So why an exhibit on Disney?

“We look at it as an opportunity to present our current culture,” Western Center Education Coordinator Paul Bailey said. “The current culture we live in now was shaped by so many elements.”

He said Disney has played a major role in popular culture, and some of the music written and performed by Disney composers and artists over the past 80 years is among the most well-known and timeless.

“It’s a real opportunity to bring a world-class exhibit to the Inland Empire,” Western Center board President Bruce Wallis said. “It truly is a multigenerational exhibit that we’re pleased to present.”

Disney Exhibit

What: “Disney: The Music Behind the Magic,” a traveling exhibit highlighting the role music has played in The Walt Disney Co.’s success

When: Feb. 6 to May 10

Where: Western Center for Archaeology and Paleontology, 2345 Searl Parkway, Hemet

Admission: $8 for adults; $6.50 for seniors and students; $6 for ages 5-12; free for active-duty military and children under 4

Info: 951-791-0033; www.westerncentermuseum.org

Saturday, January 10, 2009

By HERBERT ATIENZA

Riverside County’s purchase of the financially struggling Ramona Bowl would give future generations a better chance to see the venerable Ramona Outdoor Play, supporters of the proposal to sell the amphitheater say.

The county could pay to fix up the aging facility, while the people behind California’s Official Outdoor Play could focus on staging the springtime event, bowl and county officials said.

Still, some question whether taxpayers should bail out the bowl.

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“Taxpayers don’t belong there,” said Kenneth Chambers, 81, of Hemet.

Chambers said the county should not make financial commitments with public money.

Formal talks started recently for Riverside County to buy the 160-acre Ramona Bowl facility, southeast of downtown Hemet, from the board of the Ramona Bowl Amphitheater, which owns the facility.

The 86th season of the Ramona Outdoor Play is still expected to go on this spring.

But the long-term future of the play is in doubt because of severe financial problems faced by the nonprofit board that stages the play, which has seen attendance decline for years.

“On the surface, it has many benefits,” said Roger Schultz, superintendent of Mt. San Jacinto College who was named this week to the board. “We can bring pieces into the table.”

He said the county could bring its expertise in managing the bowl and make it pay for itself.

Former Hemet Councilwoman Lori VanArsdale, who sat on the bowl board as an ex-officio member representing the city and who was named this week as a regular board member, said she’s “very pleased” with the county’s interest in taking over the bowl.

“It’s a huge part of our history,” VanArsdale said. “The community thinks it’s a treasure.”

The Ramona Bowl was established in 1920s by the Hemet Chamber of Commerce in a small canyon to stage “Ramona,” a play based on the novel by Helen Hunt Jackson.

The play highlights the oppression faced by American Indians, as well as conflicts among early settlers of California, through the experiences of its two main characters, the ill-fated lovers Ramona and Alessandro.

The play, later acquired by the nonprofit group, drew nearly 40,000 in its peak year of 1971.

It has attracted about 12,000 visitors in recent years.

PUBLIC SUPPORT NEEDED

The bowl has come to depend on government support to help with its finances.

Riverside County made a one-time, $410,000 contribution to help with capital improvements in 2003.

In 2005, Hemet bought $75,000 worth of tickets, and in 2007, San Jacinto gave $10,000 to buy tickets, efforts meant to help defray expenses.

Louis Amestoy, Ramona Bowl board president and interim general manager, said the bowl’s earnings often do not equal the cost of operations, reaching $50,000 a month.

What pushed it over the edge this time was the maturing of a financial commitment that needed to be repaid, he said.

Amestoy, an employee of the Web advertising department of The Press-Enterprise Co., said the bowl had a $125,000 unsecured line of credit with the Bank of Hemet, of which about $100,000 was drawn on to cover expenses in recent years.

He said the account matured in September.

The bank came calling in December, soon after former General Manager Janine Mundwiler-Reitenbach, who had worked without pay for several months, resigned.

Former board President Jim Pomeroy resigned soon after. Neither could not be reached for comment.

Kevin Farrenkopf, CEO of Bank of Hemet, said he cannot discuss the bank’s dealings with the bowl because of customer privacy issues.

Farrenkopf said the bank continues to talk to bowl officials about options.

Amestoy said the bowl had no choice but to use money for salaries and vital services to settle the line of credit.

The bowl now has few funding sources, he said, including about $3,000 a month from the lease of two cell towers at the site.

The dire situation prompted him to call county officials for rescue, he said.

Under the proposal, he said, the county could own the site and maintain it, likely under the Riverside County Economic Development Agency, while the nonprofit group would continue staging the play.

INVESTING IN PLAY

Verne Lauritzen, chief of staff for 3rd District Supervisor Jeff Stone, said Stone has gone to bat for the Ramona Bowl to preserve a historically significant site and assure that “Ramona” will play on into the future.

“We don’t want it to go away,” Lauritzen said.

The county expects to pay for fixing up the facility and make it a “first-class” venue for events, similar to the Hollywood Bowl, he said.

“The county will have specific plans to generate revenue and make it self-sustaining,” Lauritzen said.

Amestoy said a public investment in the bowl would be similar to paying for parks and libraries, which might not necessarily make money but are needed to improve quality of life.

Dennis Anderson, director of the Ramona Outdoor Play for 14 years, said two other major American outdoor dramas, “The Lost Colony” in North Carolina and “Tecumseh” in Ohio, survive because of government support.

“Ramona” ranks with those productions and needs public support, Anderson said.

“For me, the preservation of the play is the most important element in all of this,” he said.

By HERBERT ATIENZA

Golden Era Golf Course, a historic golf course owned by the Church of Scientology near San Jacinto, is closing to the public effective July 15, church officials said.

The golf course, which traces its roots to the early 1930s when it was established as the Gilman Hot Springs Golf Course, will remain a golf course, although its focus will shift from use as a public course to being a venue for charitable golfing tournaments and other community events, church spokeswoman Muriel Dufresne said.

The impending closure has upset some golfers.

“I would hate to see it close to the public,” said Bill Wilson, 74, of San Jacinto, who said he’s been going to Golden Era for the last few months.

“It’s a nice, easy course for us beginners,” he said.

Frank Switzer, 56, of Hemet, said he’s been going to the golf course after work since the early 1990s and will miss going there.

“There are better courses, but this is an easier course,” he said.

“You’d have to double everything they say,” said Jack Kluth, 60, of Hemet, who said he’s been going to the course for over a decade, who jokingly said he might give up golf if the course closes.

Golden Era’s closure from the competitive golf circuit closes an era in local golfing history.

According to the book “San Jacinto Valley: Past and Present,” a nine-hole golf course was added to Gilman Hot Springs resort in 1931 and after World War II, this was expanded to an 18-hole course. In the 1950s, Massacre Canyon Inn was developed, providing an elegant venue for parties and dinners for local residents overlooking the golf course, the book said. The Church of Scientology bought the property in 1978.

The golf course forms part of the 500-plus acres campus owned by the church along Gilman Springs Road.

The property includes Golden Era Productions, which produces educational materials and tapes for Scientology churches, as well as a full-scale reproduction of a clipper ship that is occasionally used as a movie set.

Golf course general manager David Williams said he was informed about two weeks ago about the church leadership’s plan to shift in the course’s focus.

He said the golf course enjoys profitability and player use is up, but the church has decided to go a different direction with the golf course.

“The Church of Scientology doesn’t see a need to be in the business of competing with other golf courses,” Williams said. “It would have been nice if the golf course stayed open, it certainly has been profitable, but they decided to close it and that’s that.”

Williams, who became general manager about nine months ago and is not a church member, said about 100 people play at the 40-acre, nine-hole course every day. He said 15 employees, including himself, expect to be let go when the golf course closes, but a crew of five employees would remain to maintain the golf coruse.

He said there had been plans discussed until recently to expand the golf course, but those plans are now not going to happen.

“This wasn’t an overnight decision,” Dufresne said, adding that the church has all the necessary county permit to proceed. “We’ve just decided to change our focus.”

She said one motivation for the change was a desire to provide a venue for community groups to hold events and fundraisers.

She said among the events planned for the golf course include a mixer for the Hemet-San Jacinto Valley Chamber of Commerce and a fundraising golf tournament for the Ramona Humane Society, both occurring in August.

She said the golf course also expects to host events for local Police Activities Leagues and would welcome community groups that want to hold events at the golf course.

By HERBERT ATIENZA

Home foreclosures rising.

Major retailers closing their doors.

Cash-strapped cities cutting services to deal with declining revenues.

Caught in the financial slump now gripping the nation and the rest of the world, the area that encompasses Moreno Valley, the San Gorgonio Pass and the San Jacinto Valley could not get any more somber as it enters the new year.

But despite the grim short-term prognosis for the sprawling area, those who make a living assessing the health of cities and municipalities say they remain optimistic about the area’s long-term future.

“The bigger the downswing, the bigger the upswing,” said Hans Johnson, a demographer with the San Francisco-based Public Policy Institute of California. “After this downturn and the recovery comes, the Inland Empire would again be among the fastest growing regions in the country.”

He said the Hemet, Pass and Moreno Valley areas are poised to resume their forward march in growth as the region attracts new residents and businesses from nearby Orange and San Diego counties and as other cities in western Riverside County become more built-out.

DIFFICULTIES

That scenario is a few years down the road. For now, the region enters 2009 facing financial setbacks and challenges.

Hemet has shut down a fire station and cut a number of positions, including police officers, to balance the budget. Moreno Valley and Banning, as well as Val Verde and Hemet Unified school districts, are among those dealing with budget problems and are not filling some positions. The Albertsons in Hemet closed down and the future of the hulking, vacant Wal-Mart building on Florida Avenue, the city’s main drag, is uncertain after plans to build a Sam’s Club there were abandoned.

Major sales tax revenue generators such as Circuit City, Staples and Mervyns were closed in Moreno Valley, while Wickes Furniture shut down in Beaumont.

The 12-month forecast for the region covering Moreno Valley, the Pass and San Jacinto Valley calls for another round of foreclosures and employment figures continuing to be depressed, said Tom Freeman, spokesman for the Riverside County Economic Development Agency.

He said the real estate market is expected to stabilize and the foreclosure crisis coming to a close within 12 to 36 months, which means that, by then, housing prices could begin recovering at a rate of 2 percent to 3 percent per year.

“Once inventory is down to pre-foreclosure crisis levels, you’ll see builders ready to enter the housing markets and developing new projects,” Freeman said.

IMPROVING

He said a private sector recovery and creation of at least 40,000 jobs within the next three years would be key to lowering to about 5 percent the region’s unemployment rate, which now stands at more than 9 percent. He said hopes are high for promises made by the incoming Obama administration to stimulate the economy by spending on major infrastructure projects that create jobs.

Johnson, co-author of a Public Policy Institute study released earlier this year regarding the Inland region, said the forecast for the region’s growth is still robust but moderating, even as the region faces myriad challenges and becomes more diversified, with Latinos becoming the new majority by 2015.

Unlike coastal counties that are already built up and thus more stable, the Inland region has a propensity for being in the forefront of growth, making for more spectacular booms and busts, he said.

When the economy recovers, he said, the Inland region is the logical place for growth in Southern California because of the availability of land and more reasonable housing prices.

He said the economic downturn means some plans — including badly needed transportation projects — may be delayed, but he stressed that planners and decision-makers need to act now to prepare for the eventual upturn of the economy.

Andre Perez, a Hemet real estate broker, said he’s been around long enough to know that the region’s economic outlook could not remain permanently moribund.

HOUSING

He said home buyers should seize the opportunities in the area, which has become even more affordable because of the economic downturn.

“It’s doable now to own a house,” said Perez, who has lived in the area for 52 years and is chairman of the Hispanic division of the Hemet-San Jacinto Valley Chamber of Commerce. “We have 78 million baby-boomers starting to retire right now and a whole bunch of them are moving to Southern California.”

Census data show the region that straddles the San Jacinto Valley, Moreno Valley and San Gorgonio Pass facing a future that is more diverse as more Latino and Asian residents move in.

Moreno Valley is now majority Latino, while large Latino population gains are occurring in Hemet and Yucaipa.

Perez said businesses that appeal to the diversifying population stand to benefit.

“You need to adjust your sales staff and your literature to appeal to your customers,” he said.

Feb. 16, 2003

School has teachers fluent in sign language

By Herbert Atienza

Meridian, Idaho – Since receiving a cochlear implant about four years ago, Brock Loveland has been learning to straddle the worlds of the hearing and the deaf.

Though he can hear now, he must make up for the silence that dominated the first eight years of his life.

With help from teachers and interpreters at Ponderosa Elementary School, 12-year-old Loveland, a fifth grader at the school, is building his vocabulary and improving how he interacts with people who can hear and those who can´t.

“I like it here,” said Loveland, who was born deaf. “I have nice teachers, and I´ve made new friends.”

Loveland is one of about two dozen students who attend a program at Ponderosa specifically designed for children who are deaf or partially deaf.

The school, which opened in the fall, has on staff a small army of teachers, aides and interpreters who specialize in assisting and educating students who are dealing with hearing problems.

“To me, the best part of this is that the kids get to go home and attend their neighborhood school,” Ponderosa Principal Melynda Gissel said.

She said serving the deaf and hard- of-hearing population was a goal of the Meridian School District even before the school was constructed.

“It´s a commitment from the school district, because there really are not a lot of choices for parents with children who are deaf,” Gissel said.

The program is funded through district money set aside for special-education students, she said.

Previously, parents had the choice of sending their children to regular classes with help from a sign language interpreter.

Some enrolled their kids in a specialized program at Jefferson Elementary in Boise or traveled to Gooding to attend classes at the Idaho School for the Deaf and Blind.

“The difference this program offers is the direct instruction that the students get from their teacher,” said Shelia Robertson, a teacher of the hearing-impaired who lobbied the Meridian district to start the program.

In a mainstream classroom, a deaf child has to absorb instruction from the teacher through an interpreter, Robertson said. As in any communication where a third party is involved, some information is bound to be lost or miscommunicated, she said.

At Ponderosa, children enrolled in the program get direct instruction from teachers who are fluent in sign language.

The students´ educational experience is enhanced by the opportunity to interact with other hearing-impaired students. They talk about their lessons and homework, as well as their problems and concerns, with teachers and classmates who can comprehend what they´re saying.

“It´s less frustrating for them,” Robertson said. “They´re able to communicate what they need to say.”

The students use a lot of visual aids in class, as well as specialized educational materials such as computer software programs that offer closed captions. The kids learn life skills such as baking and cooking in a classroom equipped with a kitchen sink, a stove, a refrigerator and microwave oven.

Their classrooms have color-coded strobe lights that alert them if someone is at the door or if the principal is making an announcement over the public address system.

“I´ve been very impressed,” said Lorna Loveland, Brock´s mom. “He´s building his word power and he´s learning a lot.”

Brock Loveland was born 9 weeks early, and the lack of oxygen killed a nerve in his ears, rendering him deaf.

He spent the first two months of his life at St. Luke´s Medical Center in Boise.

“He was fighting for his life,” Loveland said. “The first year of his life, he was in the hospital more than he was out.”

Before Brock received the cochlear implant, the family had lived in Gooding so that Brock could attend school at the Idaho School for the Deaf and Blind.

At Ponderosa, Brock attends regular classes and specialized classes for children with hearing problems.

“The teachers are so loving, and he´s made so many friends, from both walks of life,” Loveland said.

Other parents say the program at Ponderosa has been a big boost to their children´s learning and growth.

“Considering how young the program is, I´m impressed,” said Stacey McElyea, whose son, Kaleb, 7, attended kindergarten at Jefferson Elementary and is now a first-grader at Ponderosa.

Julie Crandall, whose 11-year-old son, Tyler, also attended Jefferson and is now a fifth-grader at Ponderosa, said she appreciates the school´s state-of-the art facilities and equipment.

“They actually consulted with parents and students about what should go in the classrooms,” Crandall said. “It´s just been incredible.”

Skyview High School students caught a glimpse Thursday of a fast-rising recording artist — and helped the needy along the way.

Toronto-based singer Fefe Dobson staged a half-hour performance at the school gym. Her visit was the students´ prize for recently winning the School Invasion Sweepstakes by voting at Alloy.com, a Web site that features a fashion catalog for young people.

“It´s amazing because this really brings us together as students,” said senior Meagan Hutchings, 17.

In conjunction with the concert, Skyview students decided to raise money for the Idaho Foodbank. They collected about $1,000 in cash contributions. Sophomores got the floor seats at the performance for raising the most money for the cause.

“This is the greatest thing that´s happened at Skyview,” said senior Matthew Post, 17.

Students´ head bobbing, screaming and the occasional crowd surfing punctuated Dobson´s songs, which fans describe as a cross between those of Christina Aguilera and Avril Lavigne.

“She looks and acts just like us,” said Amy Mattei, 17, a senior. “It´s inspiring to see someone our age who´s gotten this far.”

Dobson, 18, whose music is widely played in places such as MTV, said she admired the students´ efforts.

“It´s brilliant the way they can get together for a purpose,” said Dobson, who describes her music as “fierce.”

“I think a lot of kids can relate to it,” she said.

She offered advice for her Skyview fans who are trying to reach their ambitions.

“Be yourself, stay focused, remember it´s hard work. If you believe in something, reach for it,” she said.