SUSPICIOUS DEATH RULED A SUICIDE
By Miriam Raftery December 2, 2014 (El Cajon) – Sheriff’s homicide investigators have concluded that a suspicious death was a suicide. A reported love triangle and missing weapon initially prompted a homicide investigation. Deputies responded on November 28th to a call of a suicide in the 8000 block of Rockview Drive in unincorporated El Cajon. Deputies and paramedics arrived and found a man inside the home who was dead of a gunshot wound. “The weapon that was used was missing,” Lieutenant John Maryon told East County Magazine. “There was also a bloody hand print on the wall.” The husband of a woman who was involved with the victim was seen taking the rifle from the scene. But witnesses later confirmed that they saw the body before the husband arrived and took the gun. “He ended up getting into a crash off Highway 67 and Bradley,” Lt. Maryon said, adding that the husband was arrested for driving under the influence. He is not considered a suspect in the death, which was determined to be a suicide.
COUNTY GIVING FREE SAND AND BAGS TO RESIDENTS AHEAD OF RAINS
December 1, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)–Rain is coming–and you want to be prepared. The County of San Diego is offering free sand and bags to people living in unincorporated areas to help protect homes, neighborhoods and streets from flooding and soil erosion problems. San Diego County has been drier than usual due to the prolonged drought. Heavy rains can cause severe soil erosion especially in areas not covered by lawns, trees, shrubs and plants. Water runoff, and especially mud and debris flows, can damage individual homes and properties and create even wider destruction by flooding roadways, clogging storm drains and culverts Here is a list of stations offering free sandbags. Just bring your own shovel to any of the locations below: Cal Fire Station 73: 28205 North Lake Wohlford Road, Valley Center Pauma Valley-Rincon, Cal Fire Station 70: 16971 Highway 76, Valley Center Cal Fire Station 50: 1587 Highway 78, Julian Alpine Fire Protection District, Station 17: 1364 Tavern Road, Alpine (Bags ONLY) Ramona Station: 3410 Dye Road, Ramona North County Fire Protection District, Station 4: 4375 Pala Mesa Drive, Fallbrook Cal Fire Station 30: 17304 Highway 94, Dulzura Bonita/Sunnyside Fire Department: 4900 Bonita Road, Bonita (Editor’s Note: The Boulevard Fire and Rescue Department located at 39223 State Route 84 in Boulevard has sand and is expecting to receive bags to give out to residents this afternoon. Check first at 619-766-4633.) Several areas in the county are prone to roadway flooding. The three most frequent are the dips at Quarry Road, Sandia Creek in the North County, and Country Club Drive in Harmony Grove. Gates at Quarry Road dip drop down automatically when activated by sensors in the stream. Public Works crews will post road closures at Country Club, Sandia Creek and any other areas where unsafe driving conditions exist. You can monitor the status of the dips by webcam and plan your trip accordingly. RELATED VIDEO: High-Tech Weather Center Keeps Watch for Flooding And here are some tips for when the heavier rains arrive: Never cross a flooded roadway if you cannot see the pavement. Even a few inches of water running at the right velocity can sweep a car, and even a truck, and its occupants off the roadway and downstream. You don’t want a swift-water rescue as part of your travel plans. During and immediately after heavy rainfall, do not go near storm channels, creeks or streams. It’s always a good idea to carry chains if planning a trip to the mountains. Chain controls, road condition updates, and other safety advisories are posted on Public Works’ Facebook and Twitter. During severe weather events, the Public Works Emergency page is activated with the latest information.
SUPREME COURT TO DECIDE WORKPLACE PREGNANCY CASE
“Biggest test of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act in a generation” – attorney Tom Spiggle, author of You’re Pregnant, You’re Fired! East County News Service December 1, 2014 (Arlington, VA)— On December 3 the Supreme Court will decide on the biggest test of the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act in a generation when it determines the outcome of the Young vs. United Parcel Services case. The case centers around a pregnant employee, Peggy Young, who was denied a request for light duty despite a letter from a medical provider requesting that she not be required to lift heavy packages. Young helped sort and deliver mail for United Parcel Service. When she got pregnant, her midwife sent a note to her employer saying that she could not lift over 20 pounds during her pregnancy. One of the requirements for Young’s job was that she be able to lift at least 70 pounds, so Young requested a light-duty assignment—something the company already provides to those with disabilities such as diabetes or injuries. UPS said no, noting that company policy only allowed light-duty assignments for those with work-place related issues and other limited circumstances. Because UPS did not consider pregnancy to be like a workplace-related injury, Young was not eligible to work until she could work without restriction. So the mother-to-be was forced to take unpaid leave. “For the last six and a half months of my pregnancy, by forcing me off my job UPS made me go without my pay and my benefits, causing my family financial distress,” Young writes in a blog post at the National Women’s Law Center. “ My UPS health benefits were one of the main reasons I worked there. Because UPS would not let me work, I lost my health insurance…I had to use less desirable medical care four times as far from home. I also lost my right to disability benefits related to my pregnancy and childbirth. What started as a very happy pregnancy became one of the most stressful times of my life. “ Young sued UPS for pregnancy discrimination and lost. She says, “I believe the courts failed to correctly apply the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which says that employers must treat pregnant employees the same way they treat other employees similar in ability or inability to work.” There was no strong evidence in the case that UPS had any desire to discriminate against pregnant women. UPS said it was just sticking to company policy. Young would have been eligible for a light-duty assignment if she had been injured at work. The primary, and narrow, issue in the case is whether the company’s policy violated the Pregnancy Discrimination Act by excluding pregnant women not injured on the job from light-duty assignments. Interestingly, UPS has since changed its policy and now offers light-duty assignments to pregnant employees. But it is sticking to its argument that it was lawful to deny Young a light-duty assignment at the time. Tom Spiggle, founder of the the Spiggle Law Firm, who focuses on discrimination due to pregnancy and other family care issues, and author of the new book “You’re Pregnant? You’re Fired!” says he believes pregnant women will not like the Court’s answer. “The Young vs. UPS is important for the average working pregnant woman,” added Spiggle. “Ultimately, the Supreme Court’s job will be to decide what protections the law provides and I predict the Court will favor UPS given that the Roberts Court has tended to line up in favor of business interests where employment matters are concerned. As a result, pregnant women requiring a change at work to help them keep working during pregnancy will have to show that they are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act.” He adds that the case also helps bring more awareness about pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, something he describes as “an ongoing problem. The attorney and author specializing in workplace pregnancy issues concludes, “While there are laws in place to protect women from this kind of discrimination, such as the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act, there are also loopholes and often not every women is protected.”
PASSAGES: WINEMAKER WILLIAM JOHN HOLZHAUER, 1955-2014
East County News Service December 1, 2014 (Ramona) – William John Holzhauer, winemaker and co-owner of Hacienda de Las Rosas Winery, died yesterday at his home in Ramona surrounded by his family and friends, after a long battle with cancer. Holzhauer was known to many as the proprietor of the winery’s tasting room in Old Town and later, Ramona. Teri Kerns, executive editor of the Ramona Valley Wine Region Magazine, remembered William Holzhauer as a “wonderful man and winery pioneer.” His wife and co-owner of the winery, Tammy Rimes Holzhauer, said the winery was William’s dream that began 15 years ago when the couple, living in La Mesa at the time, bought property in Ramona. William’s dream was to create a winery based on a Spanish mission, also including Tammy’s passion, Peruvian horses. “Drink fine wine, ride fine horses” became their motto. In March 2013, that dream came to fruition with opening of the winery. (See East County Magazine’s article, Dreams have come true at Hacienda de las Rosas.) “Almost five years ago, William was diagnosed with cancer and told that he would have no more than a year left,” Tammy reveals in an e-mail to the winery’s customers. “However, in his usual fashion, he took that as a personal challenge and surpassed all the doctor’s estimates. During that time and due to much of his efforts, we operated a successful tasting room in Old Town, San Diego, became featured in USA Today, interviewed on several programs including the San Diego Opera, and were voted in a Reader’s Poll as one of the top five wineries in San Diego County for 2014.” A few months ago, the couple closed the Old Town tasting room and moved all operations to their winery and tasting room in Ramona, fulfilling William’s final dream. Tammy concludes, “William was bigger than life at times, and brought great joy to the lives of many. My children and I will continue his dream and look forward to many years ahead of serving customers in his winery – an amazing family legacy. He was the love of my life, and an inspiration to many…he will truly be missed.” A celebration of life party will be held on William Holzhauer’s birthday in January, and Tammy promises, that it “will be something that he would have liked.”
JUDGE NOT, THAT YE BE NOT JUDGED!
Judging Me: One Woman’s Journey From Abuse And Betrayal To Triumph, by Mary Elizabeth Bullock (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, North Charleston, South Carolina, 2013, 162 pages). Book Review by Dennis Moore “The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer November 30, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – Honorable Mary Elizabeth Bullock’s inspiring memoir describes a hard-won life of achievement. In the face of overwhelming adversity, Bullock – who is blind and has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus – made her name as an experienced trial litigator, respected business law professor, and federal civil rights judge. Her motivation for becoming an attorney and later a federal judge, actually started in East County San Diego, as she became an elected official for a pilot program stemming from the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), referred to as Utilities Consumer Action Network (UCAN). But in Judging Me, the dark suits and proverbial black robes are off. As a helpless child, Bullock suffered her father’s sexual abuse for ten years. She was beaten and molested in physically and psychologically unbearable ways. Perhaps worst of all, her father taught her to believe this evil was her own fault. This heart-wrenching memoir takes the reader from a childhood of horrific abuse where Bullock, despite her chaotic home life, garners high academic honors and earns the necessary education to advance her from the degrading life she grew up in. As a young woman, she is driven to succeed, attaining a successful career where she makes conscious choices to build a life that would make anyone proud. Donning the armor of achievement and success, she rises to a position of power and influence. However, ghosts of the past continually pursue her, as evidenced in her relationships. At last finding her own peace, Bullock made truce with the unforgotten past and gained the self – concept to build genuine relationships. Judging Me is a vital story – passionate, terrifying, inspiring, penetrating, insightful, and sensitive – with the intensity to change your life forever. Having written more than 150 book reviews, I thought that I had read and heard it all, but Bullock has written a book that is so graphic and candid that it makes me blush. She actually caught me off guard with this well-written and insightful memoir, as I actually expected something different from a former federal judge. The author is unflinching in her candor in the telling of this story about the horrific acts perpetrated against her starting as early as 6-years old, as she gives us “A PRIMER ON CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE”, stating: “Childhood sexual abuse is not a disease or disorder but rather an experience. A sexual act is imposed upon a child who lacks maturation and emotional and cognitive development. Authority and power, silence and secrecy enable the perpetrator to coerce the child into sexual compliance.” This well-researched and documented scholarly work, that balances eroticism and morality, is the most profound book that I have ever read. Certainly not to condone or rationalize childhood sexual abuse, it does give us insight as to why and how something like this might occur. Bullock indicates by statistics, and states: “This book is further dedicated to the forty-two million survivors who, according to the Center for Disease Control, suffer from sexual abuse: a malignant cancer that still manages to lurk in our society relatively unnoticed and that victimizes one in every six young boys and one in every four little girls.” She further emphasizes a study comparing the post-traumatic stress symptoms in Vietnam veterans to adult survivors of childhood abuse, specifically stating: “The study revealed that childhood sexual abuse is traumatizing and can result in symptoms from war-related trauma. This study was done by J. McNew and N. Abell in 1995 in an article titled ‘Posttraumatic Stress Symptomology: Similarities and Differences between Vietnam Veterans and Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse,’ published in Social Work (Volume 40, Issue 1, pages 115-126).” From Marvin Gaye’s iconic song Sexual Healing to Bill Clinton’s sexual escapades with Monica Lewinsky in the White House, our preoccupation with sex and eroticism is emphasized in this book, although grossly perverted. Additionally, the author has shared with me medical documentation; “Chadwick’s ‘Child Maltreatment’ ‘Sexual Abuse And Psychological Maltreatment” which has direct bearing on her experiences, and the “Adverse Childhood Experiences” (ACE) study, championed by Dr. Vincent J. Felitti. The author further states, and it puts her story and this book in perspective: “This book focuses on familial childhood sexual abuse. Familial relationships – such as incest (for example, father and daughter or son), uncles, other close family relatives, or close family friends – are one type of abuse. Incest is the most common type of childhood sexual abuse. Most sex between children and adults involves a grooming process in which the adult, known by the child, skillfully manipulates a child into participating in a sexual act.” What Bullock describes happened to her as a little girl borders on the barbaric, and she is unflinching in her graphic detail and depiction of it. She speaks of being beaten and sexually violated by her father thru every orifice of her young and tender body. And for punishment, she speaks of being tied to a tree in a snake-infested swamp by her father overnight. Bullock makes an “Author’s note” which is significant, by stating: “This book was not written as an intellectual endeavor, per se. The author concludes that the definitions that experts hale as necessary and sufficient for sexual abuse are weak and pathetic. Where, I must ask, are the outrage and the bloodcurdling screams that come from such an atrocious act perpetrated on a child? Where is the horror? Significantly absent. The author understands that any definition is flatlined and can only be aided by proper adjectives and further explanation; even then, the definition remains two-dimensional. Since this book is not an academic treatise, the remaining sections of this chapter