Weekly News Roundup: December 2 Edition

This is my round up of Yucaipa (and Yucaipan) news stories. I'll lead off on a happy note:

•Nov. 30, 2006, Los Angeles Times, "They're all in court -- and all smiles"

At San Bernardino County's ninth annual Adoption Finalization Event, Yucaipan Julie Johnson was one of the happy adopters.

Julie Johnson sat with her soon-to-be-adopted daughter, 2-year-old Rachel, squirming on her lap, overjoyed that her mission was nearly complete.

Rachel was about to rejoin her two older sisters in the same family.

Johnson's sister had tried to adopt all three girls last year but was told her house was large enough for only two of the sisters. So Johnson stepped in to provide a home for Rachel — that way, the three girls could remain close as they grew up.

"They should be able to know each other as siblings," said Julie Johnson, of Yucaipa. "It's families taking care of families, and that's what they are for."

• Nov. 30, 2006, Yucaipa-Calimesa News-Mirror, "Yucaipa numbers do the same"

Believe it or not, as of the writing of this article the City Council election results are still not final. The current tally is Drusys with 6.044 votes, Masner with 5,996 votes and Smith with 5,654 votes.

Terry Kouba, who works in the registrar's office, said that there are still 342 “provisional” votes that have not been counted. Voters whose eligibility cannot be verified at the polls can still vote provisionally. Once the eligibility is verified, the vote is counted.

The difference between Smith's vote total and Masner's is less than 342. Kouba added there are still 6,000 absentee votes outstanding. He could not say, however, how many of these absentee votes are from Yucaipa.

The results must be certified by Tuesday, December 5th.

• Other City Council News
According to the News-Mirror, the current City Council is "quibbling" over travel expenditures. However, they have approved grading of the land in front of City Hall for a civic center park.

• Nov. 27, 2006, San Bernardino Sun, "Students tutored for exit exam"
Seniors in the Yucaipa-Calimesa school district who have failed the exit exam can enroll in special classes targeted to their weakest subjects, and if they fail a second time they can get one-on-one tutoring. A mother of one of the struggling seniors feels that the intervention may be too late.

"Somebody should have thought to put these kids into a support class - not wait until her senior year," her mother added. "She struggled in math all her years. Not just in high school - always."

I have to say I agree - I can't imagine having to learn years worth of math in a few tutoring sessions in order to pass a high pressure exam. Students should get remedial help as soon as it's clear they don't understand the subject matter - at least by 10th grade, if not sooner.

• Yucaipa High School students are also protesting cuts in agriculture-related classes, particularly the landscaping class.

The article makes it sound like the students think that a bright green lawn is the be-all and end-all to local landscaping (even I know that the alternative to a lawn is not dirt, particularly in our local arid climate). I assume they were misrepresented.

• Nov. 29, 2006, Press-Enterprise, "Yucaipa moves ahead with school plan"

Yucaipa-Calimesa school district approved a study for a new elementary school in the Chapman Heights development. It's expected to open in 2008 and relieve crowding at Meadow Creek and other local elementary schools.

• Dec. 1, 2006, San Bernardino Sun, "Tuition lowered at Crafton Hills College

The California State legislature has reduced community college fees to $20 a unit.

• Dec. 1, 2006, Redlands Daily Facts, "A resting place for abandoned babies"
Yucaipan Debi Faris-Cifelli is the founder of Garden of Angels, which gives abandoned babies who die a decent burial at Desert Lawn Cemetery in Calimesa.

Faris-Cifelli's Safe Arms for Newborn program led to Safe Arms for Newborns, a state law that allows parents of newborns to surrender their newborns anonymously to any employee at a hospital emergency room, fire stations or other designated Safe Havens.

On December 9, there will be a Circle of Love Christmas Concert, where each buried infant will be memorialized by an ornament on a Christmas tree. Members of the public can exchange a new book for an ornament. The book will be donated by Garden of Angels in memory of that child.

• Dec. 1, 2006, Press-Enterprise, "Toll suggested for two canyon roads

A Redlands City Council member has suggested levying tolls on Live Oak Canyon Road and San Timoteo Canyon Road, to make commuters help pay for maintenance. However, the article points out:

Redlands isn't the only city with control over portions of the two canyon roads, however. The city might need the cooperation of Yucaipa, which has jurisdiction over a small portion of Live Oak Canyon Road, as well as Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

• Dec. 1, 2006 San Bernardino Sun, "Nanny's features award-winning sauces"

The Jamaican-style sauces made by Yucaipans Cordel and Diane Harris have won several awards, "including three Scovie awards for their Jamaican jerk marinade and barbecue sauces, a President's Award - Best in Show 2006 Great Chefs of the Inland Empire Competition and two first place awards for America's Best Food Event."

You can order Nanny's Jamaican Kitchen sauces through their web site, or pick it up at a local store, including: Asaderos Meat Market (Yucaipa), Mom's Country Orchards (Oak Glen), Gerrard's Market (Redlands), Olive Avenue Market (Redlands) and Backyard Outfitters (Redlands).

Tags: Yucaipa, news