Every year the Moraga-Orinda Fire Department tests their hoses out to make sure it’s in proper working order. I was going for a jog one morning and happened across this scene. The hoses stretch all the way back out of frame for hundreds of feet. Pretty cool! In case you were wondering, the wider yellow hoses are for connecting from the hydrant (especially useful in hilly Orinda), while the white ones are what the firefighters hold closer up. They both fit on the fire engine itself.
After word got out that the Moraga School District maintained that a Joquin Moraga middle school student who was sexually abused by a teacher back in the nineties was “careless and negligent”, school district trustees apologized to the former student.
The Contra Costa Times reported that the district said:
“The governing board and its attorneys, Stubbs and Leone, apologize to Ms. Cunnane for any anxiety or distress caused by the inclusion of this defense in its response to her pleading,” he said.
This is good they did this of course, but what I found interesting is that the Moraga School District attorney that used this language also represents the Lafayette School District and used similar language in a separate sex abuse case involving a Stanley Middle School teacher and student.
The same article notes:
Lafayette school trustees met in special closed session Wednesday afternoon to discuss Jane Doe’s lawsuit, and later announced a unanimous vote to “withdraw the defense of comparative fault and any assertion of carelessness or negligence” on the part of Jane Doe.
The question that comes to mind for me is what other sex abuse cases has this attorney been involved in? Someone should review them and see what other schools need to apologize.
The 15th annual California Independent Film Festival is taking place at the Rheem Theatre in Moraga and the Orinda Theatre from November 8th through 11th. You can check out the complete schedule here. The films that will be playing are listed here. More information is available at the film festival website here.
Continuing its coverage of the sex abuse scandals in Moraga during the 90s, the Contra Costa Times reported over the weekend that:
“Carelessness and negligence on (Cunnane’s) part proximately contributed to the happenings of the incident and to the injuries, loss and damages,” they claim.
How on earth can anyone, let alone a school district claim that a middle school student is careless and negligent when it comes to sex abuse is beyond me. If they’re posturing in order to lower any future settlement amount I think they’re taking the wrong tack as this might make the victim less likely to settle. Maybe I’m just misunderstanding how the legal system works in terms of strategy, what am I missing here?
The lawsuits against the Moraga School District over sex abuse cover-ups in the 90s keep piling up. Just yesterday the Contra Costa Times reported that two “Jane Does” are suing the district for $30 million. This comes on the heel of the initial lawsuit against the school district by Kristen Cunnane who was also sexually abused in the 90s as well.
The article notes that when school officials were informed of the abuse:
Instead of passing the allegations on to law enforcement, as required by law, Walters sat on the complaint for two months before showing Witters the letter — revealing the girl’s identity to her alleged abuser. Witters denied the abuse allegations.
A district memo says Walters shared the girl’s letter with vice principal Simonin, and the two administrators decided “not to pursue the issue,” according to district records.
I wonder how this will affect Moraga school finances in these times of financial difficulties. Will money raised by the PTA and local community be used to offset district money used to settle the case? Maybe they can use that in their donation plea as they attempt to persuade people to donate. “We need your help to offset money from the Moraga school district as they settle all these sex scandals from the 90s. Think of the children. Thank you.”
From a press release:
What: Walnut Creek’s Lindsay Wildlife Museum’s wildlife rehabilitation hospital will release four gray foxes back to the wild.
Facts: A release of four baby foxes is unusual; this will be the museum’s last baby fox release for 2012. Three of these fox kits were orphaned when they were about two weeks old and weighed less than half a pound and the fourth one, about 10 weeks old, suffered from a leg injury. Now, all four are grown and have learned to hunt, so it is time to return them to the wild. The hospital, one of the largest wildlife rehabilitation facilities in Northern California, has cared for over 5,100 native wild animals this year.
To participate: A limited number of guests will be allowed to attend this release. Interested people can sign up to receive email alerts of upcoming releases at the Hospital Webpage, including the date, time, city, and requested donation amount to participate.
When: Sunday, October 28; 5 pm
Where: Moraga; exact location TBD
Cost for each program: A donation is requested, 100% of which goes to help the rehabilitation hospital continue to care for sick, injured and orphaned California wildlife.
About Lindsay Wildlife Museum: Lindsay Wildlife Museum is home to a wide variety of animal ambassadors, including Richard the female turkey vulture who is 38 years old and a resident since 1974. The 57-year-old Museum is a unique natural history and environmental education center where live wild animals are just inches away from visitors. Guests can listen to the cry of a red tailed hawk, go eye-to-eye with a gray fox, stare down an owl and watch a bald eagle enjoy lunch. There are many daily activities for children of all ages, including raptor presentations, animal training demonstrations, and petting circles. More than 50 species of live, non-releasable native California animals live at the museum. The Museum also includes a behind-the-scenes look at its wildlife rehabilitation hospital where they provide care for more than 5,000 wild animals annually. Lindsay Wildlife Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday; admission is $7/adults, $5/children and free for members.
The Moraga Farmers’ market in the Moraga Center on Sunday has recently been ranked as one of the Top Ten farmer’s markets in the nation, and top 2 in California by the American Farmland Trust. Having checked out the Farmland Trust website, it looks like anyone can vote so I guess the Moraga Farmers’ market has some serious fans in Moraga. Count me in as a fan, I think it’s great. (I also enjoy shopping at the Orinda, Lafayette and Walnut Creek farmers’ markets.)
Photo by Flickr user Daniel M. Reck
By now you’ve probably heard the controversy surrounding a boy scout from Moraga who was denied his Eagle Scout award for being gay. The scout’s mother posted a petition on Change.org that currently has over 390,000 signatures.
From the petition website:
Ryan is now a senior in high school, and just completed the final requirements to earn his Eagle Award. He’s an honor student with great SAT scores, who’s hoping to attend the University of San Francisco. But because he recently came out to his friends and family as gay, leaders from our local Boy Scout troop say they won’t approve his Eagle award.
Troop 212 released a statement explaining why they rejected him:
“Recently, a Scout proactively notified his unit leadership and Eagle Scout Counselor that he does not agree to Scouting’s principle of ‘Duty to God’ and does not meet Scouting’s membership standard on sexual orientation,” the statement reads. “While the BSA did not proactively ask for this information, based on his statements and after discussion with his family he is being informed that he is no longer eligible for membership in Scouting.”
Note that in addition to sexual orientation it mentions not agreeing to “Duty to God” although the boy scout’s mother denies that:
“The Boy Scouts of America’s statement that Ryan does not agree to Scouting’s principle of “Duty to God” is inaccurate,” she said in a statement released Friday. “Ryan has never said that he does not believe in a higher power, and the only reason he’s being denied the rank of Eagle is because the Boy Scouts of America has a problem with Ryan being gay.”
On the one hand the Boy Scouts are a private organization so they can pretty much make their own rules regarding who gets awarded, on the other hand not awarding a kid just for being gay is not very nice. The girl scouts don’t have such a rule by the way which I think is interesting. Do you think the boy scout, Ryan Andersen, should have been made an Eagle Scout?
I was driving around Moraga recently and noticed that every sign for Karen Mendonca, who is running for reelection for the Moraga Town Council is accompanied by a “Dump Mendonica” sign. Someone must really have it out for her given the amount of time and money they spent. Does anyone find this uncalled for or is negative campaigning expected these days?
In case you were wondering, this is from Karen Mendonca’s Council page:
Karen Mendonca was elected to the Moraga Town Council in November 2008. She served as Vice Mayor in 2010 and the Mayor of the Town of Moraga for 2011. Karen represents the Town of Moraga as its delegate to the League of California Cities (LOCC) and to the Contra Costa County Mayors’ Conference. She is Moraga’s liaison to the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG).
