The application for the committee will be available in the front lobby of the District Office, located 27315 N. Bay Road in Blue Jay. Applications must be submitted to the district Office by 4:30 p.m. Friday, March 30, 2012.

   Qualifications

As mandated under Proposition 39, the selected members of the Citizen’s  Oversight Committee will consist of a minimum of seven members, representing the following areas:

one parent or guardian of a child enrolled in the district;

one parent or guardian of a child enrolled in the district and active in a parent-teacher organization, such as the PTA or School Site Council;

One active member in a business organization representing the business community located in the district;

One member active  in a senior citizen’s organization;

one member active in a bona-fide taxpayers association;

and two members of the community-at large.

In addition to the qualifying standards listed above the candidates must be at least 18 years of age and must not be an employee, official of the District or any vendor, contractor or consultant of the District.

   Responsibilities

Pursuant to Education Code section 15278(b), the committee members’ responsibilities will include informing the public  of the district’s expenditure of the bond proceeds; reviewing expenditure reports produced by the District to ensure that proceeds are expended in accordance outlined in Measure W; presenting an annual written report outlining their activities and conclusions regarding the expenditures of Measure w bond proceeds to the Board of Trustees in open session.

The incident was reported at 1:42 p.m.

Blood is seen on the snow after a black bear was killed in Crest Estates last week.

Mountain residents are alarmed again about the recent killing of a full-grown adult black bear in the Crest Estates area of Lake Arrowhead area with the approval the State Department of Fish and Game. The property owner did have a depredation permit  received from the state so the bear could be killed. The owner  cited “substantial damage” to his home as the reason for applying for and receiving the permit.

However, 25-year mountain resident and certified wildlife rehabilitator, Nancy Anderson, who has been a bear handler for many years, stated that she didn’t think the damage was severe enough that the animal should have been killed. In fact, she said, in her opinion it was completely unnecessary even though the semi-hibernating bear had taken up residency in what appeared to be some sort of a dirt build-up under the weekend cabin. “It’s heartbreaking and was so unnecessary for it to be killed,” she said. “In another 30-60 days he or she would have left on their own.” She added that the bear had pulled off a few boards and displaced a water heater in the buildup but, in her opinion, that did not justify the state issuing the property owner a  permit to have the animal killed.  Anderson was not sure the date the bear was killed by Fish and Game or a trapper but she suspects it was around Feb. 14 or 15.

Anderson said the cabin with the buildup where the bear was hibernating was not being used because it was a weekend home. She feels that if the family was concerned about the hibernating bear that they could have taken steps such as sounding a loud air horn or hot wiring the area to discourage the animal from making him or herself at home.

Anderson had been observing the bear since January 26 and she said the bear showed absolutely no aggression and made no  “posturing movements or threats” because it was in a semi-hibernating stage. A letter was sent to the homeowner from veterinarian Dr. Arbe Kraft  asking the people at the site to talk with the property owner  to let the bear remain on the property until it left his hibernating state naturally.  Anderson told me that the bear should not have been killed when it was within the property owner’s ability to take any number of corrective steps such as hot-wiring the area to keep the bear from the build-up. “The best thing would have been to leave the bear alone,” she said.

“Wildlife has to adapt to human encroachment in what is historically their habitat but humans have not adapted to bear wildlife needs,” said Anderson. She added that the last bear killed with permission of Fish and Game was a bear that was attracted to a home in the same general area because the property owners had a koi pond.

In the wild bears eat fish.

Every four years an extra day is added to February to make the year 366 days instead of the normal 365 days. This keeps the calendar in alignment with the earth’s rotation around the sun. If the extra day was not added to the calendar eventually the calendar would be off by about 24 days, which would make a huge, huge difference. Every Leap Year February has 29 days instead of 28.

Although there are many ideas on how Leap Year actually started it’s all part of y in what many historians believe was about 45 BCE (before the Common era). During the ancient days of Rome, Emperor Julius Caesar made the decision (as dictator’s often do) to change the (then) accepted calendar. Naturally, this “revise” was called the Julian calendar (for Julius) and it was later refined by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 and it was called the Gregorian Calendar.

For many, many years “Leap Day” is known as the day that prospective brides can turn the tables on their “intended” and ask them to marry them. OK, ladies, here’s your chance!!!!!

Starting at 6 p.m. in the Rim High Performing Arts Center the competition will feature local high school age students who will show their skills in piano, vocal and instrumental music and it promises to be quite a competition. Twenty-four students will participate.

Rotary will award the first place winner with $100 and the second place winner will receive $75. The student who captures third place will receive $50.

For information call (909) 338-5840.

The Rim School District is known for its excellent music programs so this competition should prove to be an outstanding FREE event you won’t want to miss. I’m not going to!

On Saturday, March 10, April 21, May 5, June 9 and July 14 former firefighter, 10-year Basic Life Support Instructor and 10 year EMT (Emergency Medical Technician)  Tony Wetmore will offer Heartsaver First Aid classes from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Rim of the World Recreation and Park District in Rimforest. The programs are open to children 10-years-old to adults.Wetmore is an authorized class provider acknowledged by the American Heart Association.

The class charge is $33 per person plus $17 for supplies.

* Heartsaver CPR/AED will also be offered on the same days as the Heartsaver First Aid classes and will be taught by Tony Wetmore. This class deals with CPR basics for adults, children and infants as well as foreign body airway obstruction and rescue breathing. This class also certifies all students on the A.E.D. (Automated External Defibrillator). Students who successfully complete the course will receive a Heartsaver First Aid card from the American Heart Association.

The charge is $28 per person plus $17 for supplies. Classes will be held from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m

By Joan Moseley

When I was a little girl I took years and years of ballet and my love for the beautiful dance form continues to this day. My mother made  me to go to Rudack’s dancing school on Los Feliz Boulevard, where like it or not, I learned ballroom dancing. I liked the dancing, just not the 12-year-old boys!

When I was in high school, I took modern dance and was one of several people who danced on the west-coast version of American Bandstand. I don’t remember what the name of the television show was but it was hosted by Wink Martindale. My friends and I had a wonderful, fun time dancing to the latest tunes and meeting some of the guests while we would (on command, no doubt!) squeal our little hearts out! I was even selected as one of two dancers from my high school to participate in a summer fine arts program at Hollywood High where we put on entire musical productions. I loved it!

When I married Peter for the first time in 1968 I missed dancing because he couldn’t. The logical step was taken. We started taking ballroom dancing at Arthur Murray studios. I loved it. Peter hated it! He as so terrified that he danced like he had a wooden stick riding up his back. Because he was scared, naturally he didn’t enjoy it at all. We finally gave up and just didn’t dance………well, hardly ever and when we did it wasn’t fun because it was so strained!

We eventually divorced but I married again. In 1994 Peter and I were reunited in a moving and marvelous ceremony on the beach at sunset. Since he and I had always been friends even after we divorced, when he was hit by a woman going  60 mph while he was bike riding on Memorial Day weekend in 1993, it never, ever occurred to me not to immediately be there for him and our children. I was by him, and I stayed by him, not out of pity but out of a deep bond he and I have always shared.

As he began to heal our relationship began to heal and it changed back into a deep, enduring love. As the realization of the depth of his quadriplegia began to become a reality, he changed, not just physically but emotionally. He was, and is, glad to be alive and it was that new outlook, that new depth, that brought me to him once again.

This past Friday night Peter and I and our daughter Amanda went to see John Denver at the beautiful Cerritos Performing Arts Center. This particular entertainer has always had a very special place in both our hearts and Peter and I saw him when we were first married, the first time around. We saw him at the Forum in about 1973 and loved him, his stand on ecology and his inspiring music. I distinctly remember clapping my hands and stomping my feet, ad nauseam, at that concert. Peter, much more conservative and restrained that I said, “I’ve never seen you like this!” I think he was quite horrified! I was having a ball and wasn’t afraid to show it but on the other hand, Peter was having a ball but was, in fact, afraid to show it.

During last Friday’s performance I sat two or three seats down from my husband and one row back. Since he was in his wheelchair he had the outside “seat.” During most of the first half of the performance I watched him with Amanda. I couldn’t help but think that when he and I first was Denver at the Forum, Amanda wasn’t even a twinkle in our eyes. She has become a beautiful 18-year-old, both inside and out, and I basked in watching her stroke her father’s cheek and hold his left hand where he has a little bit of feeling. During particularly moving songs I would get up from my aisle seat and go wrap my arms around him. This concert, the shoe was on the other foot. My husband was the one who was so active, with the little part of his body he could move. He even yelled out a few John Denver-isms, “Faaarrrr Out!”

After watching Peter keep time with his arms, since he can’t use his hands to clap or his feet to stomp, at some point during the evening I realized that………..I had, in fact, married a dancer. I now have what I sought all those years. He can’t dance with his feet, but he dances with his arms, his eyes, his upper body and he sings the words. Even more importantly, Peter now dances with a free heart and soul. This is one of the gifts he has been given; the freedom to be himself and not care what he may look like to others. The shy boy has become, out of the tragedy of this accident, a more self-assured man.

Arthur Murray would be so proud!

I owned my own newspaper in Running Springs at the time and so not only was I their guest, I got to sit in the VIP section at the front by the stage for the July 13, 1990 John Denver concert. I am eternally grateful to the chamber, and John Denver, for giving me and hundreds of people wonderful memories of that special evening.

As everyone knows John Denver sang of the environment, the trees, the animals, the skies and life and as we all sat under the stars I remember looking up at all the stars in the sky that were shining so brightly. It was extraordinarily beautiful and you truly could have heard a pin drop, regardless of the number of people who sat in small folding chairs on the ski slopes. It was a beautiful summer night and to have the opportunity to hear this man sing songs of nature, love and emotion was truly an unbelievable experience.

How fortunate I was! While I saw him a total of three times throughout the years it was this concert, under the stars, was unforgettable.

John Denver loved it. It must have been a wonderful experience for him to sing about nature, the environment and our planet in an outdoor venue like Snow Valley rather than in a closed venue.