how vince lovato sees the world
Ciera rubs Nidua's chest Friday during the Lake County Public Health Department's monthly Parents as Teachers program. Licensed massage therapist Mary Gertson demonstrated how to safely massage babies. Nidua, 20 months, lives with his mom in Pablo.
A Sense of Touch:
Local moms learn art of baby massage
Posted: Monday, Dec. 29,
Story and photos
By VINCE LOVATO
Lake County Leader
POLSON -- Ciera Kennedy rubbed her son’s chin and listened to him gurgle his appreciation while turning his head from side to side.
Kennedy, who was learning baby massage techniques, then picked up her 6-month-old son, Nidua, and placed him tummy down on a blanket and softly caressed his back.
Nidua stared off in a contented haze.
As part of its Parents as Teachers program, the Lake County Public Health Department hosted a baby massage demonstration Dec. 19 at the offices in Polson.
Licensed massage therapist Mary Gertson, of Polson, demonstrated infant massage techniques for about an hour to six moms who practiced on their own offspring.
“It aids in helping the babies fall asleep faster, sleep deeper and sleep for longer periods of time,” said Gertson, who took her first baby massage classes in 2000. “It also supports bonding with parents and relieves child muscle tension.”
Kennedy is a member of the Parents as Teachers program which gives parents free opportunities to learn teaching and child-rearing techniques.
“I just came out of interest and to see if he would like it,” Kennedy said. “He’s going through teething right now and I want to try it when he’s in a better mood.”
Crystal Johnson is an OB/GYN nurse who lives in Polson. She took her 8-month-old daughter, Olivia, to the demonstration.
“I thought it would be fun to learn and Olivia will love it,” she said.
Before the massaging started, health department family support specialists shared information about the Parents As Teachers program and provided a light lunch. Afterwards, the mommies received health-focused gift bags.
Gertson was happy with Friday’s session.
“I got some really great feedback from the moms,” she said. “They just seemed like it was really validating for them and the (massage) went well with things they are already doing.”
The success of the class was clear.
“One baby was out like a light afterwards,” said Gertson, who has helped deliver 19 babies over her career.
She will host a class on essential oils for first aid in March.
Research shows infants who are caressed regularly develop cognitive and emotional skills faster, gain weight and deal better with constipation, teething and gas pains, Gertson said.
“Massage has been used throughout the world for eons,” said Gertson, who received her first massage while recovering from severe burns. “It’s becoming more accepted here over time.”
As a massage therapist, Gertson believes she gets as much therapy out of giving the massage as her client does receiving it.
“I was taught to love people and I want to work until I’m 80 years old,” she said. “I’ve never been bored and it’s a gift to help people.”
Lake County Public Health Department
802 Main St. in Polson
Toll Free: (888) 445.3269 or (406) 883.7288
Sexual assault on 4-year-old's corpse leads to arrest of two
2/15/03
By VINCE LOVATO and C.J. SCHEXNAYDER
L.A. Daily News
ADELANTO -- Two employees of a company hired to transport corpses for the San Bernardino County Coroner's Office were arrested Friday afternoon, accused of sexually assaulting the body of a 4-year-old Adelanto girl.
Donald Luis Cooper Jr., 32, and Chaunee Marie Helm, 30, both of Hesperia and employees of All-County Transportation, were arrested on suspicion of mutilation of human remains, a felony.
Robyn Gillette, 4, suffered a seizure Wednesday night and died at Victor Valley Community Hospital in Victorville.
On Friday night the girl's mother, Kathleen Jones, 36, of Adelanto, said the day she learned what happened to her daughter, "was the longest day from hell."
"She was a loving child, always hugging and kissing, always smiling," the mother said. "She had the greatest little personality. She was happy all the time, always singing and dancing."
Jones said San Bernardino County sheriff's investigators told her the man was caught on videotape sexually assaulting her child's body in the morgue. The woman, she was told, acted as a lookout.
Sheriff's department spokeswoman Cindy Beavers said mutilation was the charge because the assault occurred after the child died, and not because there had been any other injury to the body.
San Bernardino County Coroner Brian McCormick described the incident as "horrendous and tragic."
"What has been described constitutes the grossest violation of trust and decency imaginable," he said in a written statement. "Our hearts go out to the family and we share their anger."
The county immediately suspended its use of the company pending a review of the case. All transportation of bodies will be conducted by coroner's officials. Officials with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said they also used the company to transport bodies and they were looking into any possible improprieties as well.
According to the family, the girl suffered a seizure Wednesday night and had stopped breathing. She was taken by paramedics to Victor Valley Community Hospital and died at 9:22 p.m. Her body was transported to the Coroner's morgue for a postmortem examination.
After the examination, the girl's body was taken to the Inland Eye and Tissue Bank so her corneas could be harvested. At 7:50 p.m. a technician performing the operation noticed the child had suffered a sexual assault and notified the on-duty coroner and a pathologist.
After confirming that the child had been assaulted, coroner's officials contacted the Sheriff's Department.
Investigators with the department's homicide and crimes against children details interviewed the girl's family and were able to determine the assault did not occur at her home. Jones said her five other children were put in the custody of Child Protective Services for more than 12 hours Wednesday during the investigation.
Jones said paramedics had to take Robyn's pajamas off to treat her when they arrived and there was no evidence of sexual assault at that time.
Investigators then interviewed Coroner's Office personnel and county employees and determined none were suspects in the assault. They then focused on the employees of All-County Transportation, Beavers said.
The two were arrested at 4:30 p.m Friday at the Budget Inn Motel in Victorville.
McCain lends weight
October 12, 2005|By: Vince Lovato
Arizona Sen. John McCain announced his support of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's four reform propositions Monday
The senator, whom Schwarzenegger referred to as "The Great Reformer," was surrounded by about 30 Southern California supporters
during a press conference at the Hilton Burbank Airport and Convention Center.
"Our state needs reform in order to move it forward," Schwarzenegger said. "McCain is known for being the Great Reformer."
Among the supporters at the press conference were Beverly Morrow, past president of the La Crescenta Valley Republican Women, and
Marcia Tookey, Vice President of the Los Angeles County Federation of Republican Women.
"We were having a [executive committee] meeting this morning and they called so we adjourned to join the press conference," Morrow said.
They all wore T-shirts with REFORM-REBUILD emblazoned on the fronts.
Tookey believes McCain's foray into California politics is an indication that he plans to mount another run for the White House.
"I think he shows all the signs of a candidate," she said.
McCain, who has often been contentious with his own party leaders, addressed the obvious question of why he is sticking his nose in
California politics.
"I have been campaigning for reform efforts all over the country," McCain said. "We all know that when something happens in California
it has an effect on what we do."
As for a presidential run, McCain did not commit or rule it out but did say California has been left out of the presidential landscape for too long.
"The Republican Party cannot ignore the state of California for a long time," McCain said. "We can't write off California on every national issue.
"If we decide the illegal immigration issue in a Judeo-Christian manner we'll be competitive for the Hispanic vote."
Schwarzenegger tried to make McCain sound like a presidential
candidate that could draw the attention of California voters.
"A responsible leader represents everyone regardless of party affiliation," Schwarzenegger said.
He gave a playful jab that underscored his point when he said.
California still steals water from Arizona.
McCain said the gerrymandering was so strong in California that it was easier to lose a "Politburo in Havana" than for an incumbent to
lose an election in California.
"When you have unchallenged politicians it drives people to positions of extreme," McCain said.
"I believe the system needs to be reformed," McCain said. "[Former California Gov. Gray] Davis' money is proof of a system that needs to
be reformed. I think the governor played by the rules of the game. Do I like the game? No. But [Schwarzenegger] shouldn't have to play with
one arm tied behind his back."
Far from being a rubber stamp organization, the executive committee of the Los Angeles County Federation of Republican Women
analyzes legislation before endorsing it, Tookey said.
"We have to read props and decide how we will vote," Tookey said. "We debate them and people speak for and against them and we make up our own minds. Sometimes we agree with our party and sometimes we don't but with these we are solidly behind the governor."
About 30 protesters lined Hollywood Way in front of the hotel waving signs that read "Schwarzenegger must go" or "No On Prop 75."
Nurses wearing blue scrubs waved signs that read "Nurses Heal."
Some drivers honked their support as they drove by.
http://www.ummah.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-14281.html
'American Taliban' reportedly beset in High Desert prison
By VINCE LOVATO
San Bernardino Sun Staff Writer
VICTORVILLE - The FBI is investigating a reported attack on American Taliban John Walker Lindh by one or more white supremacists at the Federal Correctional Institution here.
"I can confirm there was an incident regarding Lindh (on) Monday night," said FBI spokeswoman Laura Bosley. "There was a report that Lindh was assaulted by another inmate but I cannot disclose any details beyond that."
At the request of his attorneys, Walker Lindh was placed in the general population in February and was working as an orderly cleaning indoors where guards could keep him under close scrutiny for his safety, said a source who works at the 960-acre prison complex.
The source, who asked not to be identified, said Muslim inmates had been protecting Walker Lindh because they viewed him as a hero. But they pulled back their support because they decided he was not a radical dissident, the source said.
Since Monday, Walker Lindh has been in special housing, a type of solitary confinement for his protection, the source said.
The prison workers see him as young, vulnerable and socially immature, the source said.
Walker Lindh was moved to the Victorville prison after pleading guilty to one count of supplying services to the Taliban and carrying a rifle and two grenades while fighting against the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance.
He was taken into custody after U.S. military forces found him bloodied and dazed during a prison uprising near Mazar-e Sharif in northern Afghanistan.As part of his plea bargain, the government dropped all other counts in a lengthy criminal indictment, including one of the most serious charges conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals.Walker Lindh, 21, is expected to serve most of his 20-year term in the Victorville medium-security prison.
When crimes are committed in federal prisons the FBI investigates and the Justice Department decides whether to prosecute, Bosley said.
The Sun was tipped to the incident by an anonymous male caller who left a voice message at the newspaper office Tuesday morning.
The message said, 'Yes, I'd like to inform your newspaper that John Lindh Walker, who is incarcerated in Victorville, was assaulted this night by a white-supremacist organization that is imprisoned there. Thank you."
The caller's identity could not be determined.
George Harris, an attorney with the San Francisco firm that represents Walker Lindh, said he was not aware of any incident regarding his client and was concerned for his safety.
"I don't know anything about an attack,' Harris said. "We would be concerned if my client would be in danger."
He said the more information about Walker Lindh that is public, "the more danger he's in.'Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman Dan Dunne said in Washington, D.C., that to preserve the safety and security of inmates, the bureau does not release information about them.
He said the prison bureau only releases information about a crime if the U.S. attorneys decide to prosecute.
"Walker Lindh remains safely housed at Victorville,' Dunne said. "He's being housed there in a unit that is consistent with security needs."
Dunne said he could not comment on the existence of any white-supremacist gang that might be incarcerated in the prison.
"If there were any concerns about any inmate's security," they would be addressed immediately, Dunne said.
Walker Lindh, his parents and his legal representatives are under a gag order as a condition of his plea bargain and are barred from talking to the media, Dunne said.
Inmates, including Walker Lindh, have the right to contact certain people outside the prison, Dunne said.
The complex, which is directly south of Southern California Logistics Airport on Air Expressway, includes a minimum-security camp.
The two facilities have a combined 1,650 inmates and 362 full-time employees.
A high-security penitentiary and a second medium-security prison are under construction on the site.
Walker Lindh was moved to Victorville to be closer to his parents, who live in Marin County. His father, Frank Walker Lindh, is an attorney for Pacific Gas & Electric.
LOVATO
AT
LARGE:
'Free' fruit and the demise of Seattle
Some well-intentioned Seattle dwellers decided to grow fruit trees in a city park. The fruit is free to everyone.
I believe it will be very effective.
The vandals and the bums and the birds will destroy the fruit before it ripens. Rotten fruit falls on the ground and kills the grass, and dogs and birds poop on it.
People who step on the poop and rotten fruit and trip over the bums and get ticked off. They find the bums and vandals and beat them to death. They fire BB guns at the birds. The cops arrest the killers and bird assassins, who are easy to find because they have poop on their shoes.
The park now contains no fruit, lots of dead grass, skinny bums and neurotic birds.
The scurvy-suffering vandals move back to the nearby apartment complexes to vandalize and steal and survive on convenience store food.
Chaos breaks out. Martial law is enacted. Communists and right-wing fanatics form a strange union in an attempt to overthrow the government.
In the vacuum, Chinese forces invade the country and take over the U.S. government and we all have to learn how to speak Mandarin, pick up dog poop, plant our own fruit trees, and give 50 percent of the fruit to the government which gives it to the bums and vandals and birds.
Meanwhile, politicians in D.C. become fluent in Mandarin and are re-installed in office once the Chinese discover the politicians were in it for themselves anyway, and they were already running a form of collectivism.
They create subsidies for fruit growers so urban areas can afford to eat fresh fruit (while farmers starve) and it soon creates an over abundance. Well-connected liberal urbanites start giving fruit away to bums, birds and vandals.
Actual working people get nothing.
Commies and socialists declare victory for the people stemming from the City Park Fruit Tree Revolt.
Two percent of the people still control 98 percent of the wealth but now we have to drive badly made Sino-American cars, wear high-collared Nehru jackets, and live in homes where the countertops, toilet seats and windows are too low.
All because some well-intentioned liberals tried to do something nice.
photos by Vince Lovato
Anneke Mulders, left, and Casey Jackson were ahead of the rest of the class but didn’t know whether their structure would preform any better.
From left to right,
teacher
Kevin Grayum
gives advice to
A.J. Acord and Brad Yarbrough on how to put together their final bridge assembly.
11/1/2012
Bridging the gap
Chelan science students using hands-on techniques
By Vince Lovato
Editor
Chelan High School students Brad Yarbrough and A.J. Acord were putting the finishing touches on a miniature bridge in Kevin Grayum's freshman industrial engineering class.But this was not just a model. It had to work.The assignment was to build a bridge about 1 foot long and 4 inches high out of lightweight basswood then see how much weight it can sustain before failing.Acord used thumbtacks to hold one side of his bridge together on a piece of project board, while he added a long piece of wood across the top with glue and tiny pieces of tape."It's an abutment board so when it gets pressed down it can support the test plate," said Acord. He simply stated in layman's terms the design theory of evenly spreading the stresses through a structure to make it as strong as possible with the least amount of materials.The students used a engineering design process created by NASA to create their bridges."It's a method of trial and error and improvement," Grayum said as he moved from one pair of students to another giving advice and lending a hand. "I try and tie it to the scientific method they've learned in other classes."Grayum's class is one of many in the Lake Chelan School District focusing on science, technology, engineering and math - or STEM - courses designed to prepare students for real-world jobs in growing industries that calls for blending theory with hands-on skills.Industry leaders such as Microsoft and Boeing recently joined forces to create Washington STEM, a statewide nonprofit organization devoted to improving education in science, technology, engineering and math at a time when the need for STEM-trained workers exceeds the number of jobs by more than 2 to 1 in Washington.On the other side of Grayum's class, Anneke Mulders and Casey Jackson are well ahead of most other teams. Mulders said it was because of the method they used when pieces didn't fit just right."Instead of starting over, we modified the pieces we had," she said.When another students questioned the effectiveness, Mulders said, "I didn't say it would work any better."Since much of science is based on trial and error, Grayum and other STEM teachers are happier letting the students work through their own problems instead of giving them specific instructions.It must be working. One of last year's teams built a bridge that weighed 9 grams and held up 9 pounds, or 453 times its own weight."I am more of a hands-on learner I prefer tactile learning," said Acord, 15.He builds computers and would like to design cars."The design is important to understand how a piston moves when it pulls backs and forth," he said. "And the design of a chassis is only successful if it holds up structurally. If the (engine) produces a lot of torque, it could twist right off."Grayum, in his second year at CHS, is past president of the Washington Industrial Technology Education Association, a group of educators who were promoting STEM education before it was known as STEM."Engineering is everywhere. That's why its so important because it illustrates the significance of all those math and science classes in an industrial tech class," Grayum said. "When people hear 'industrial' they think of the old wood shop. But we teach everything now from web design to wood shop."In a previous assignment, Grayum's students build mini cars propelled by CO2 to see how fast they could go. The students started with one block of wood over a foot long and shaped it into a car. They had to take into consideration aerodynamics, weight and other factors to make the cars as efficient and fast as possible.
Layoff rumors at Disney Studios
June 06, 2006|By Vince Lovato
BURBANK -- Despite speculation that Walt Disney Studios plans to lay off 10 percent of its workforce this summer due to job redundancy created by its purchase of Pixar in April, experts say the layoffs would be routine and would not have an impact on the local economy.
Disney spokeswoman Heidi Trotta would not confirm or deny the layoffs.
"We are constantly evaluating our business to make it better and more efficient," Trotta said Monday.
Media companies usually streamline workforce after a buyout or merger, said Gigi Johnson, a lecturer at UCLA's Anderson School of Management.
She has heard conflicting rumors about the layoffs and pondered where they might hit.
"I have heard the rumblings," said Johnson, who has many students who are Disney employees. "And I've talked to friends who work at Disney who weren't aware [of impending layoffs].
"Still, it would not be surprising if there was a reduction in live-action production staff and an increase in animation," Johnson added. "The Pixar purchase was looked at for the creative talent it brought Disney. [Pixar] is a creative, fun spontaneous environment."
A company as large as Disney could easily reduce its workforce without firing employees, said Glendale Community College Assistant Supt. Steve White who used to teach media business.
"If it's only 10%, they might do it through attrition or through buying people into early retirement," White said. "It would be bad for morale for the people who remain if they fired people. You can usually handle [the reduction] in a year or two [of attrition] and you have to keep the institution going."
Disney is one of the major employers in Burbank and participates in many philanthropic ventures, Burbank Community Development Director Sue Georgino said. "I haven't heard anyone getting any notification that Disney is laying anyone off. But we know that there is a change in this environment very often."
When Warner Bros. and CBS bought and merged the UPN and WB television networks, creating the CW network, it took some time before the employment climate settled, she said.
"We have very low unemployment rate in this city," she said. "The media industry is so strong and there are so many opportunities for media employment here."
Disney is a publicly traded company that reported a 22% dip in quarterly earnings and might want to soothe investors' minds, Johnson said.
"Sometimes they float a rumor to see where the market goes," she said. "If shareholders think they will get the same product with less cost, that makes them happy."
But layoffs would not have a major effect on the region, Johnson said.
"Some media people will shift from one company to another using the same skill set," she said.
"It would not have an impact on the local economy because there are so many new media companies in the area. The employees move back and forth with great fluidity."
The media industry is in a state of constant flux, Johnson said.
"So [the layoffs] might have nothing to do with the Pixar deal," she said.
"Every sector of the business is changing almost weekly, if not monthly. So they may have a need to re-deploy."
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYOFF
116 points, 1,200 yards,
1 painful loss
Wed Nov 5, 2014.
Vince Lovato, Leader Editor
ARLEE – After scoring a combined 116 points and racking up more than 1,200 yards of offense Saturday, the Arlee-Great Falls Central playoff game came down to the final minutes.
The Warriors trailed 12-0, 30-8 and 46-30 and 54-42 in the Class C 8-man playoff game but clawed their way back each time on a dark, drizzly, chilly day before an emotional home crowd that seemed to consist of every person in the city.
Trailing 54-48 with 5:11 left in the game, Arlee’s Harold Yocum picked off a Mustang pass to thwart a crucial drive and set up the Warriors at their own 18-yard line.
From there, the Warriors mounted a furious drive with short runs and passes to P.J. Haynes. Coach Mike Rogers stubbornly stuck with the run game despite trailing most of the game with Haynes as the workhorse. Based on the number of weary Mustangs who rested their hands on their hips, the strategy paid off.
On second-and-7 from their own 38-year line, Patrick Big Sam ran a perfect deep crossing pattern and quarterback Riley Rogers hit him in stride at about the 15-yard line and Big Sam bolted in for the touchdown to tie the game at 54-54 with 3:11 left to play.
Before the crowd stopped cheering, Haynes swept over the left side for the two-point conversion and the Warriors led for the first time, 56-54.
Undaunted, the Mustangs started the ensuing drive at their own 16 and the Warriors gave up time and ground grudgingly before quarterback Reid Nelson tossed a 5-yard TD pass to Nolan Donisthorpe with 58.6 seconds left.
But for the sixth time, the Warriors stopped the 2-point conversion pass and trailed just 60-56.
The fans prepared themselves for a potential game-winning drive, but the slippery ball escaped the hands of the Warrior return team and the Mustangs covered the ball at the 18-yard line to all but end the game.
It was a bittersweet loss for a team that started the season posting basketball scores on the way to seven consecutive victories, including a 42-22 victory over Charlo in an Oct. 10 homecoming game.
Arlee finishes 7-2 overall while Great Falls Central moves on to the second round Nov. 8 against Wibaux on a neutral field.
Riley’s numbers were cartoonish. He completed 25 of 33 passes for 527 yards and seven touchdowns and ran for 99 yards.
Arlee’s Tyler Tanner snagged eight throws for 184 yards and five TDS. Big Sam, a master of the diving catch, had nine receptions for 204 yards and two TDs.
The stalwart Haynes scored one rushing touchdown on 24 carries , picked off one pass on defense and returned a few kicks.
The Mustangs started the game with two long, quick scores in the first three minutes but missed both 2-point attempts and led 12-0.
In fact, the Warriors stopped the Mustangs’ first five 2-point conversion attempts. The lack of points came back to buck the Mustangs.
Needing a big play to get back in the game, Arlee’s Kyler Clinkenbeard blocked a punt to set up his offense on Central’s 30-yard line.
Six plays later, Riley threw to Tanner from 13 yards out then the paid hooked up again to close the score to 12-8 with 3:59 left in the frenetic first quarter.
The Mustangs scored on three successive drives to build a 30-8 lead with 5:35 left to halftime.
The scrappy Warriors struck back when Big Sam made a juggling catch to put Arlee in position to score at Central’s 23-yard line. On the next play, Riley threw in the face of a big pass rush and hit Big Sam again for the TD. Arlee’s 2-point conversion failed but the score stood at 30-14 with 4:43 to the half.
It looked like the Mustangs would score again but a penalty, a big tackle by Bradley Brazil and a batted pass stopped them on fourth down at the Arlee 15 with 58 seconds left to halftime.
The teams exchanged turnovers before Riley, again under pressure, hit Tanner for a 33-yard TD. Rogers ran for 2 and the Warriors trailed 30-22 at halftime.
Tanner caught a 33-yard strike from Rogers and, after a penalty, Rogers scrambled in from 13 yards out to knot the score at 30 three minutes into the second half.
The Mustangs regained their advantage a minute later when Nelson ran in from the 2. His pass added 2 more points and Central led 38-30.
With 1:27 left in the third, Nelson scrambled over from 18 yards and converted the 2-pointer with a pass to extend the lead to 46-30.
The Warriors then drove 60 yards on 10 persistent plays and scored when Rogers pump faked the defenders then threw a bolt to Tanner for a 35-yard score. The pass failed but the Warriros were within 46-36 with 10:35 to play.
The Warriors squibbed the kickoff and recovered the ball near midfield.
After a 12-yard pass from Rogers to Haynes set them up inside the 1, Rogers punched over. His kick was wide but Arlee had new life, trailing 46-42 with 7:42 to play.
Their joy was short-lived when Nelson broke away for a 55-yard TD run on the next play from scrimmage then he threw for the 2-point conversion and suddenly the lead was 54-42. The entire exchange took 11 seconds.
Highlighted by a 25-yard Big Sam catch, the Warriors rove downfield again to score when Tanner caught a 2-yard toss for the score. That set the score at 54-48 with 5:54 remaining and set up the cardiac ending.