The Desert Independent
New - Click photo to find out more about our staff.
Publisher/Editor
Robert Winkler
Reporting/Editorials
Bob
Jensen
desertinde-jensen@yahoo.com
Reporting/Editorials
Elaine
Littlefield
desertinde-elaine@yahoo.com
Book Reviews
Clark Isaacs
clarkisaacs@dishmail.net
Contributor
Dr.
Howard Markle
desertinde-bob@yahoo.com
Cartoons/Drawings
Marian Kamensky
|
Tuesday, June 30, 2009 |
|
News and Opinion By
Robert E. Jensen BLYTHE, Calif – The clouds parted. The skies cleared. The birds sang. Lions lay down with lambs. The MEC sang the praises of the Board. The CEO announced a positive cash flow. The Board was perky. Captain Carney was ebullient. Census numbers are up. Employees of the Month were named. Board Member Bollinger was absent. So went the unusual tone at the recent meeting of the Palo Verde HealthCare District. Unusual, that is, as compared to the now-rancorous City Council and PVUSD Board meetings these days replete with budgetary woes and resultant cuts and layoffs. After devoting much time to the latter political arenas these days, attending the HealthCare Board meeting was a surreal experience. READ FULL ARTICLE By
Robert E. Jensen BLYTHE, Calif – It’s beginning to look ludicrous. PVUSD BOT member Jim Shipley specifically requested a presentation on the troubled Special Education department as well as information on how GATE would be handled next year as well. This was five meetings ago. The latest Board meeting this past Tuesday again saw no Jacob Jensen sitting at the Little Administrator’s Table to show the Board what is happening in the department that he is being very well paid to oversee. Though Son of Jensen was not present during the meeting, he did make an appearance and mingled before the meeting started. He stuck around up to the last minute before Board President Garth Underwood called the meeting to order. Speculation has been bandied about that Son of Jensen has been job-shopping as political heat has been becoming more overt. An ominous visit by SELPA next week to check over strange happenings in his department may be an impetus. READ FULL ARTICLE By
Robert E. Jensen BLYTHE, Calif – It has been reported and confirmed by Marty Braden, MOT Director, that the new Appleby Elementary School will indeed not be open for business at the beginning of the 2009-10 school year as hoped. Subcontractors and delays on side projects are the reason given. Mr. Braden informed The Desert Independent that the Appleby teachers were informed on Wednesday, June 24th that the site will not be ready for occupation until after Thanksgiving next November. Capt. Jim Carney also confirmed the delay and added that the main sticking point was the work scheduled to be done by Southern California Edison. The loan of $6,000,000 from the Appleby Construction Fund to the General Fund as approved by the Board of Trustees on Tuesday was not a factor in this decision. READ FULL ARTICLE
Everything you need
We offer everything you need By
Robert E. Jensen BLYTHE, Calif – At the regular meeting of the PVUSD Board of Trustees on Tuesday, there were many standout moments and decisions made; however, none was so dramatic and heartfelt than the denunciation of the current PVUSD administration in a three-page presentation by Dr. Norm Guith. Dr. Guith is currently in his second term as a member of the BOT. He was also a superintendent in Alvord, Orange, and Palo Verde. Currently, he is the superintendent and principal of Eagle Mountain School in Desert Center. The following is his statement read to the audience at the PVUSD BOT meeting. June 23, 2009 In December 2008, regular Board of Trustee meeting dates for the following 12 months were established by Board action. Based on that calendar, the Eagle Mountain School eighth grade Promotion Ceremony was set for Thursday, June 4th. As you know, I am the Superintendant/Principal of that school. READ FULL ARTICLE |
News and Opinion By
ELAINE LITTLEFIELD VALLEY OF THE SUN (PHOENIX), Arizona – Bob Winkler and I stumbled into a free night of great entertainment at Lone Butte Casino, near Phoenix, Arizona a few weeks ago. Now it has become a ritual (almost an addiction) for both of us. We have laughed, been brought close to tears and felt the excitement of many talented people there. It is called Lucky Break and is in the Cascades Lounge area. Every Thursday night at 8:00 talented people from all over the Phoenix area display their singing talent on stage. It is an Arizona version of the Fox’s television show American Idol. It is aired every Saturday night at 10:30 on CBS TV 5 locally in the Phoenix area. READ FULL ARTICLE Announcements
Green Route 4 to Ripley will operate 5 days a week, Monday – Friday 7am to 8am & 1pm to 2pm. MORE Arabian Horses Available 50 Arabian horses must go on ranch in South Phoenix due to death in family.
Sun Country Arabians
6918 E. McDonald Dr.
Paradise Valley, AZ 85253
480-951-4141 home
602-689-9900 cell
480-452-0861 fax
Put Your Events Here To have your organization's events listed here, at no cost, please contact us here at The Desert Independent Letters to the Editor If you have something to say and want it printed, just Email us. You can have your name in or we can keep it out (of course we need to verify the writer). Grand Jury & the Cemetery District The Riverside County Grand Jury made its findings known on Wednesday, June 24th on its website. For information regarding its findings into the financial mismanagement of the prior Cemetery Board, please click here. |
Clark's Eye on Books by Clark Isaacs
Authors: Clyde Henry Children are raised with the hope and expectation their lives will be better than their parents. School is a reverent place in children’s lives and their experiences are supposed to be entertaining, educational, and teach them the “Golden Rule”. Stanley James is a novel which does not follow this path. It is the story of a young boy who has learning disabilities and Clyde Henry tells this tale from an inside view. Even though this is a novel, Stanley James is based upon the true story of the author’s cousin. Coming from an era of the 1950’s and 60’s, it is a wonderful first novel by Henry based on first-hand knowledge gleaned from attending St. Mary’s Catholic school in Alexandria, Minnesota, where he matriculated as learning disabled. He was a student who had been misdiagnosed and was not able to keep up with regular school children. Yet, with all his supposed disabilities, he graduated college Magna cum Laude, and also obtained a Masters Degree in Architecture from The Ohio State University. READ FULL ARTICLE
Man-to-Man Dear Wayne, As hard as I have tried over the years, I am still dealing with the same feelings of extreme inadequacy. Whatever I do to improve myself or to be successful, it is never enough. Last week I went to a holiday party. It was hosted by a very successful guy—my age– in his beautiful, enormous house. Having gotten back into exercising and playing music again, I was feeling pretty good about myself. But soon after I walked inside, I began to feel less than. I was comparing myself to this guy, and to the other guests, and feeling like a complete failure. It was overwhelming. I could not get out of there fast enough. What is my problem and can I ever expect to solve it? Signed, Lesser Than Dear Lesser Than, Many of us kick the crap out of ourselves because we can never measure up. No matter what we do, accomplish or achieve, it's never quite good enough. It never quite gets us "there." Well, here’s how one man expressed his similar frustration to the men in his men’s group: READ FULL ARTICLE
Read the By
Robert E. Jensen BLYTHE, Calif – There was a very somber and drawn out meeting of the folks that oversee the Community Improvement Fund, a $6,000,000 investment in the Palo Verde Valley as an offset to the jobs and businesses impacted by the water drained from our fields by the Metropolitan Water District in Los Angeles. The regular meeting had to be held in City Council Chambers to handle the crowd gathered to plead for the financial life of the City Recreation Department and the Summer Swim Program. Mayor Crain addressed the board first, admitting that he had never had to come hat in hand to another government entity to ask for money to aid in running a portion of the City. He stated that he considered himself a “problem solver” and was a bit put out that he could not find any other recourse to shutting down the programs than to ask for $314,000 to continue the Recreation program for one more year. “Buying time”, as he stated, “So that we could adapt, streamline and find other means of sustaining the program.” READ FULL ARTICLE
|
BLYTHE, Calif
– Effective July 1, 2009, Dial-A-Ride will operate Tuesday and Thursday Only
6:30am to 3:00pm.
