Vallejo Independent Bulletin http://ibvallejo.com 2010-09-09T09:32:49+01:00 http://ibvallejo.com http://ibvallejo.com/images/M_images/rss091.gif text/html 2010-09-05T16:29:33+01:00 http://ibvallejo.com http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=943 Rumors of our demise greatly exaggerated 9/8/10--Hello everyone. VIB was temporarily shut down due to an unfortunate problem with our web service provider. We will be taking steps to avoid this sort of problem in the future...a new web hosting company perhaps. Been continuing to speak with and get input from a number of folks regarding the chaos around the Mare Island Cemetery. I'll have some follow up information on this issue in within the next day. It's good to be back. Marc Garman--Editor VIB History in Peril “Historic” Park Foundation facilitates destruction of history 9/5/10 By Marc Garman Slow connection? Click the HD logo above to view in standard def. When I first got wind of something questionable going on in the historic cemetery on Mare Island I wasn't sure how big a deal it would be. According to Myrna Hayes, President of the Mare Island Heritage Trust, six gravestones belonging to Russian sailors dating from the 1860's were replaced with modern gravestones--inconsistent with basic principles of historic conservation or the character of the cemetery. Hayes was visibly upset when I met her on Mare Island. The cemetery on Mare Island is the first used by the Navy on the West Coast and began operation 1858. Hayes confirmed that the work was facilitated by Ken Zadwick, President of the Mare Island Historic Park Foundation.** Three of the gravestones in question were in fact damaged. Three were complete and standing prior to removal. Vallejo's Architectural Heritage Landmark Commission was not consulted. A permit application was filled out for the work, but no permit was ever issued by the city of Vallejo. Workers, sent by the Russian Consulate in San Francisco, came with generators and jackhammers and cement mixers last week and they tore out the old stones and replaced them with oversized modern cruciform obelisks of granite. Access for this “work” was granted by the Mare Island Historic Park Foundation and facilitated by its President and founder Ken Zadwick. I was able to reach Mr. Zadwick for his comments via telephone on the afternoon of September 4. text/html 2010-09-02T16:44:33+01:00 http://ibvallejo.com http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=942 Vallejo's Youth are now City Commissioners 9/2/10 By Ruscal Cayangyang After months of hard work by Vallejo’s youth, citizens and council members to transform the inactive, 30 year old Youth Activities Commission into a REAL, functioning, self-sustaining City Commission, called the City of Vallejo Youth Commission (popularly known as “Vallejo Youth City Council”), was achieved on Tuesday, August 31 at a Special Vallejo City Council Meeting. After a long recruitment process, the Council (Mayor was absent) interviewed and grilled dozens of youth candidates, to be City Commissioners and Adult Advisors for the Youth Commission, all from various backgrounds: from middle school to high school to city wide. After much deliberation, the Council voted to appoint 9 Voting City Commissioners (Jammie Petty,Rizal Aliga, Emily Flint, Sarah Gonsier, Ruscal Cayangyang, Kitana Stoneburner, Shakari Blake, Jovan Olison and Steven Patton) and 2 Adult Advisors (Maria Guevara and Sandra Vegas) to the Commission. Council Liaisons will be appointed to the Commission at the Council’s upcoming meeting. Commissioners will hold its first meeting soon and get to work on many ‘insanely great’ things for the City of Vallejo! (Example: the commission can undertake a project to benefit youth citizens - such as that skating rink project in Vallejo - http://www.oldskoolskatehouse.com/Home.html (http://www.oldskoolskatehouse.com/Home.html) ) text/html 2010-09-02T15:35:49+01:00 http://ibvallejo.com http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=941 Slow connection? Click the HD logo above to view in standard def. Here is footage from Wednesday's press conference regarding the events surrounding the Valdemoro multiple murder case. Includes Q A with Lt. Abel Tenorio of Vallejo PD, Michelle Harrington of Hercules PD, and Sgt. Trent Cross of CHP. text/html 2010-09-02T11:11:30+01:00 http://ibvallejo.com http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=940 Ethicalego Speaks Ethicalego (Kenneth Brooks) discusses current events from a critical thinking perspective rarely expressed elsewhere California prop 19 not the way to decriminalize marijuana By Kenneth Brooks September 2, 2010 Californians should decriminalize marijuana possession and consumption as part of a strategy to reverse government's authoritarian intrusion on their right of self-determination. However, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, Proposition 19, is unsuited for this purpose. The title shows Prop 19 is a strategy for government control and taxing authority over marijuana use and not a plan to decriminalize it-remove legal restrictions. It upholds government authority to intrude into the peoples' private areas. Prop 19 purposes are Reform California's cannabis laws in a way that will benefit our state. Allow adults to possess and consume small amounts of cannabis. Implement a legal regulatory framework to give California more control over the cultivation, processing, transportation, distribution, and sales of cannabis. text/html 2010-08-31T17:43:04+01:00 http://ibvallejo.com http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=937 The Little School that Could By Amy Hawthorn 8/31/10 At the corner of northbound Sonoma Blvd and Carolina St., there is a multicolored mural adorning a cement wall. The hookers that walk past this mural are equally colorful and blend well against the paint splashes. Men pull up close to the sidewalk and there is a primal exchange between their longing and her willingness. I watched them execute their business with the precision of a football quarterback….he leans toward the opposite window for the pass, with a left hand steering the car, while she slows her walk to keep him in sight. She quickly acknowledges the play…he picks up the pace and steers the car into a nearby alley, or wherever her eyes direct him to go. Meanwhile, she looks over the playing field for a sign of trouble….my car makes her nervous. She walks a couple of extra blocks, with him trying to follow, and they collide at a spot where she feels safe to complete the move. In a very short time, she’s back on the field, ready for the next play. text/html 2010-08-03T13:56:38+01:00 http://ibvallejo.com http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=909&Itemid=72 A Guide to Events in and around Vallejo by Ruscal Cayangyang August 31 and points beyond text/html 2010-08-30T13:37:05+01:00 http://ibvallejo.com http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=936 Headlines Etc. 8/30/10-- Interesting headlines/links again. I'll do this every Monday. Folks can post other stuff they find during the week here too.--Editor P.S.--Thought I'd put up a different interesting local pic each week just for fun. Click the image for full size. California's Escape Routes From Public Pensions Are Being Cut (column - Steven Greenhut / Orange County Register) AB 1987 Is Only the First Step in Fixing California's Pension Spiking (column - Daniel Borenstein / Contra Costa Times) Chief of Police of San Jose, California, Has $8 Million Retirement Package (blog - Joyce Cordi / Reimagine America) text/html 2010-08-29T22:53:39+01:00 http://ibvallejo.com http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=935 Yes on SB 250--Spay and Neuter Bill By Stephanie Gomes 8/29/10 Yesterday, I saw a cat wandering on a Vallejo street, terribly skinny, very unkempt. The poor thing couldn’t have been more than a kitten herself, but she was so pregnant she could barely walk. I picked her up and called a friend who volunteers in cat rescue, and we put this abandoned little cat into the already strained rescue system. She was lucky. Most aren’t. Half a million dogs and cats are euthanized in California each year. This doesn’t include the dogs and cats who suffer and die on our streets and are not counted. Half a million dogs and cats. Most of these deaths could be prevented if we just took spay/neuter seriously in this state. Right now, Senator Dean Florez is trying to do just that. SB 250 requires unlicensed stray dogs to be spayed or neutered. It also requires Californians to spay and neuter our household roaming cats. Noreen Evans has voted NO on this bill twice now, despite the fact that the City of Vallejo, County of Lake and all the shelters in her district are in support of this bill. The breeders and puppy mill lobbyists have been very active. text/html 2010-08-29T13:06:42+01:00 http://ibvallejo.com http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=933 Slow connection? Click the HD icon above for standard def. In his latest fast paced action thriller Vallejo Bankruptcy Attorney Robert McConnell boldly leaps from one judicial or legislative topic to another, discussing Vallejo's Chapter 9 Bankruptcy and hurling facts that sting like Molotov cocktails. See the attorney execute a nimble mental dance as he touches on crucial subjects such as : the impending pension meltdown, Vallejo's future, the need for revenue...And the really big question: Now that we're bankrupt...How do we get out? There's just too much action here ! Don't miss it. text/html 2010-08-29T13:27:06+01:00 http://ibvallejo.com http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=934 It's Creature Feature Time