REAL Desert News » hesperia

Hesperia City Council to Vote on Computer Use During Council Meetings

Andrew Perry — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 17:23:57 +0000

Photo from Alton, CC

Hesperia, California – City Council will be voting on whether to ban the use of cell phones or portable computers during council meetings. The vote has sparked some serious debate from the council.

Councilman Paul Bosacki, for example, says that when new information comes up at a council meeting, he uses his IPad to research the subject. “Getting rid of personal computers inhibits the ability of the council to research and come to an informed decision.”

On the other side of the aisle, Mayor Pro Tem Russ Blewett said any research should have been prior to the council meeting, and when a meeting is in session, they owe the public 100 percent of their attention.

Apparently, Bosacki has been caught playing solitaire during council meetings. Bosacki defends his the solitaire incident because it was during a particularly long argument between two councilmembers.

Most of the audience seemed to support Bosacki. Former Mayor Rita Vogler said, ““Not one of you should police your fellow council members. … Learn to trust each other.”

Whatever happened to the simple admonishment of someone? I imagine that Bosacki hasn’t played solitaire during a council meeting since being criticized during that meeting which occurred earlier last year. Yet, these guys want to legislate their criticism? This is ridiculous. Tomfoolery. And, by restricting themselves, they’re going to wind up regretting it in the future.

Antelope Valley’s Vietnam Memorial Wall to be displayed May 14

Andrew Perry — Wed, 12 May 2010 16:21:25 +0000

Wanted to let you know and invite you to join us as the AV Wall moves out on its first display since the dedication last November.

The next display will be in Ridgecrest from May 14th-23rd and we will be heading up there starting at 0900 the morning of May 14, 2010. The wall will be moving from Park & Ride on the eastside of Sierra Hwy, just south of Grace Resource Center starting at 0800 and will take off at 0900. They expect to have an escort of about 100 motorcycles from motorcycle groups in Ridgecrest, Bakersfield, Antelope Valley and other areas.

Palmdale officials said schoolchildren, civic groups, businesses and private citizens were among those who helped raise more than $100,000 to fund construction and engraving of the wall by local company Signs & Designs. Standing about 6 feet high at its apex and measuring about 250 feet in length, the Antelope Valley wall is engraved with the names of service personnel who were killed or went missing in action during the Vietnam War.

There have been some changes to the Wall since November’s dedication, the most visible of which is a ‘wrap’ that Signs & Designs did for the trailer.

The managers of the wall, Point Man Antelope Valley, say they’d love to have a great crowd for the send off and hope that the local press will be out in force to cover this.

Radioactive device stolen from construction site

Andrew Perry — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:22:29 +0000

ABOVE: The red nuclear density probe looked similar to this.

Someone, hopefully just some desert tweeker, stole a radioactive device at a construction site in Hesperia, according to Victor Valley’s Daily Press.

The device is a probe that measures moisture content in the soil, but it contains radioactive chemicals that can obviously be harmful to people.

Nuclear Density meters like this one are a quick and accurate way of determining density and moisture content. The meter uses a radioactive isotope source (usually Cesium 137) at the soil surface (known as backscatter) or from a probe placed into the soil (direct transmission).

ABOVE: An illustration of how a nuclear density meter works.

The isotope source gives off photons (usually Gamma rays) which radiate back to the mater’s detectors on the bottom of the unit. Dense soil absorbs more radiation than loose soil and the readings reflect overall density. Water content can also be read, all within a few minutes.

I’m not sure what someone can do with this, except get in trouble; or through sheer ignorance hurt themselves or others. It isn’t so radioactive that it can be used effectively as a weapon of mass destruction, of course. In fact, it’s available commercially.

According to the Daily Press, this particular device is in a red case with radioactive stickers on it. The probe manufactured by CPN is inside the case along with a hammer, metal plate and plastic box. It’s model number is MC3 and the last four serial numbers are 6989.

If anyone has information about this case they are asked to contact the Hesperia station at (760) 947-1500 or call WeTip at (800) 78-CRIME.