Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Desert Studies by Richard Doornbos

Are you aware that, sometime on any given night, one can view about forty percent of the night sky? All the constellations and planets that are not too near the Sun at present and after dark can be viewed. Only about ten percent of the sky, in the proximity of the setting or rising Sun, can not be viewed. But not the stars, and constellations normally visible during the daytime.

(Read the rest here.)

School District Police Log

* An unknown suspect removed an unattended MP3 player at Hesperia High School.

(Read the rest here.)

Sheriff's Log

Unknown suspects are identified by race only for the purpose of aiding identification.

(Read the rest here.)

Letter to the Editor

March is Red Cross Month. Each year, the President of the United States declares March "Red Cross Month." This annual event provides a unique opportunity to think about the important role the Red Cross plays every day right here in the High Desert.

(Read the rest here.)

A View From Main Street

When most of us think of heroes we think of brawny firefighters or police officers dressed in handsome blue. We think of the quarterback on our favorite football team, or perhaps a singer who belts out a heartfelt anthem for a generation. But heroes who often go unnoticed are the men and women of the local Citizens on Patrol who give countless hours of volunteer time to supplement the force of San Bernardino County Sheriff deputies stationed here in Hesperia.

(Read the rest of the story here.)

Carlo's Car Care Corner, by Carlo Berro

In our last column, we talked about budgeting for car repairs in the new year. It can be a very difficult decision to make, whether or not to buy a new car or to repair the one you have. For those of you who choose to get a new car, most of your repairs should be covered under a warranty or extended warranty that is offered by the car manufacturers through the dealer. And, for those of you who decided to keep you cars or purchase maybe a pre-owned vehicle, there are still basic maintenance and repairs that you need to have done in order to keep these cars in good shape.

(Read the rest of the story here.)

Door opens for Hesperia Star cartoonist

Cartoonist David Penn II waited so long for this, it wasn't even funny.

(Read the rest of the story here.)

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Congratulations to Freedom Award winner Carmen Gutierrez

Carmen Gutierrez, staff writer for the Hesperia Star's sister newspaper, El Mojave, won a 2006 Best of Freedom award for her article "Un Piano, rosas y un amor."

Congratulations, Carmen!

Here's a link to Carmen's award-winning story.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Banana museum slips into Hesperia

Unique collection finds new home at park district-run Harrison Exhibit Center

The city of starry nighttime skies, tumbleweeds a-tumblin' and new houses aplenty is now the official home to one of the most unique attractions in the world -- the International Banana Club Museum.

(Read more here.)

School officials call Hesperia campuses safe, monitor Apple Valley abduction scares

In the face of a rising number of apparent abduction attempts around Apple Valley schools, Hesperia Unified School District officials say Hesperia schools are safe and well-monitored by school police and sheriff's deputies.

(Read more here.)

In Brief

The Hesperia Sheriff's Station will be hosting the next Citizens on Patrol Academy beginning on April 17. Anyone 18 years or older who is interested in becoming a volunteer is encouraged to contact their local police station for an application. The deadline for applying is March 31. All applicants must pass an oral interview and background investigation.

(Read more here.)

Mesquite to be paved... at last

If you were attending Mesquite Trails Elementary School during the 1998-1999 school year, odds are that, seven years later, the quality of Mesquite Road is no longer a major issue for you, now that you're a student at Hesperia Junior High School or Hesperia High School.

(Read more here.)

A boy, a skateboard and new hope

Holiday gift prompts sixth-grader to surpass expections of therapists

Therapists at Lucy Siegrist School in Hesperia were beginning to believe that one boy's quest to walk had gone about as far as it could -- until the adolescent was given a skateboard.

(Read more here.)

High Desert Science Fair this Saturday

Region's best young minds - including kindergartners - converge on Hesperia High

The High Desert's youngest scientists - many of them too young to drive, some of them too young to see PG-13 movies - will be strutting their intellectual stuff this Saturday morning at Hesperia High School, at the High Desert Science Fair.

(Read more here.)

Voices: Beau Yarbrough

Read Across Topaz Elementary

In a city where my wife grew up and my father-in-law runs the family business, everyone knows me, or at least that's how it seems.

(Read more here.)

Home builder Centex to open Hesperia truss-building plant

'Significant' new jobs to be created, says official

Hesperia, already in the middle of a home-building boom, will soon be exporting parts for homes outside of the city in mass quantities, once a new factory is built in the city later this year.

(Read more here.)

A VIEW FROM MAIN STREET

Victor Valley Union's move is a good first step

The biggest local news, in my opinion, is the "resignation" of Silverado High Principal Susan Levine.

(Read more here.)

Ivory Passions

Hesperia High School piano students finding excellence comes sooner than later

With her dark, long hair swooshing side-to-side, body swaying and fingers dancing across an expanse of black and white, classical pianist Sydney Han makes the Baldwin baby grand piano come alive. Except for a tiny hitch in the middle of her demonstration performance, Han's blazingly fast rendition of Bach's "Solfeggietto" speaks of a mature player who has slaved at practice hours each day for many years.

(Read more here.)

Monday, March 06, 2006

A well-read article

It's always impossible to know what sort of story will get the most reaction from readers.

In my first month at the Hesperia Star, I wrote a story about a gay church in conservative Hesperia. To this day, not a peep from the readers.

Later, I did a story about a man whose roosters were seized on suspicion that he was raising them for cockfighting. The pro-cockfighting folks from around the country filled my e-mail and voicemail inboxes with outraged responses.

And now, a story about how the Hesperia Unified School District is using early intervention to catch students before they get categorized as learning disabled due to their academic performance and thus having one of the lowest percentages of special education students in the state has had my e-mail inbox swelling to the bursting point again.

This time, though, it's with positive e-mails, with educators from as far away as Scotland wanting to know more. They saw a link to the story in a weekly news round-up e-mail from the Council for Exceptional Children.

You never can tell.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Legislator makes good use of power

State Senator Chuck Poochigian, a Republican who represents Fresno, is helping lead efforts to protect Californians — including us here in Hesperia — from being victims of identity theft.

To those who have never been a victim, or don’t know someone who has, identity theft may just be a buzz phrase you hear on TV. But when identity theft hits home it is one of the most frustrating and angering things that can happen to you. When your bank account is raided or a family member loses money after replying to a “phishing” email, your sense of security can be completely uprooted. If your account was breached by someone observing you enter your ATM PIN at a grocery or convenience store, you may never look at people the same way again.

And that is the true tragedy of identity theft — it strips your trust in humanity. It’s a violation, a form of rape. In 2004, consumers reported losses of $547 million, and it too the average victim an estimated 175 hours and $800 to resolve his identity theft problems. If that isn’t enough anguish, it takes the average victim two to four years to clear their names.

According to Poochigian, the Federal Trade Commission states that identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the nation. California is ranked as the third highest state behind Arizona and Nevade for the greatest number of identity theft victims with 122.1 per 100,000 population.

Poochigian recently introduced a bill package that would give law enforcement the necessary tools to pursue and prosecute criminals who perpetrate these schemes. That includes street-level criminals and those using technology to steal personal information.

“It is past time that California’s legislature makes the punishment for identity theft fit the crime,” Poochigian says.

True, indeed.



The following are bills introduced by Poochigian:
SB 1387 — Increases the penaltites for the theft and trafficking of personal identifying information.
SB 1388 — Creates new criminal penalty for phishing.
SB 1389 — Criminal identify theft.
SB 1390 — Adds identity theft to the California Crime Index.

State Senator Chuck Poochigian is to be congratulated for using his position as an elected leader to do what’s right — solve difficult problems of the day, like identity theft.

Peter Day