Saddleback College Jazz Faculty Kicks Off Fall Season

Posted By Cotoblogzz

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA - The Saddleback College jazz faculty kicks off its  fall season on Monday, August 26^th at 7:30 p.m. in the McKinney Theatre.

Saddleback Jazz Faculty perform in the McKinney Theatre L-R:  Jerry Pinter, Ron Stout, Joey Sellers, and Ariel Alexander

This world-renowned jazz faculty will present world premieres of original student compositions. The ensemble features Jerry Pinter on saxophone, Ariel Alexander on alto saxophone, Ron Stout on trumpet, Jamie Rosenn on guitar, Luther Hughes on bass, Paul Johnson on drums, and Director of Jazz Studies Joey Sellers on trombone. Tickets are $10 general and $7 students/seniors.

 Tickets may be purchased by calling 949-582-4656 (Wednesday through Saturday, noon-4:00 p.m.) or online at www.saddleback.edu/arts.

Jazz Studies at Saddleback College emphasizes creativity through improvisation and ensemble performance. Focusing on the historical, theoretical, and intuitive aspects of this American music, Director of Jazz Studies Joey Sellers and an outstanding cadre of nationally-recognized musicians comprise the jazz faculty. Curricula include Improvisation, Jazz Composition and Arranging, Jazz History Syllabus, Jazz History Audio, Jazz History Podcast, Jazz Piano, Saddleback Big Band, Jazz Lab Ensemble, and Combos.  Students in Jazz Studies at Saddleback College have transferred to prestigious institutions including University of Southern California, Eastman School of Music, Berkeley School of Music, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Cal State Fullerton, University of California at San Diego, and other regional institutions.  Some of our alumni have gone on to play professionally with Frank Zappa, Diana Ross, and other high-profile artists and organizations.

Saddleback College is located at 28000 Marguerite Pkwy in Mission Viejo, just east of Interstate 5 at the Avery Parkway exit.  Free parking is available in Lot 12.  Take Avery Parkway to Marguerite Parkway turn left to the third traffic light, which is Saddleback’s Marguerite entrance. Turn right into the campus and take the second left to Theatre Circle, turning right into Lot 12.

Located in Mission Viejo, Saddleback College provides quality higher education and training to the greater south Orange County community.  Having served more than 500,000 students since 1968, Saddleback College offers more than 300 degree and certificate programs to help students reach their personal, career, and educational goals.  For more information, please visit www.saddleback.edu.  For Fine Arts events, visitwww.saddleback.edu/arts. 

Free: Concert Hour, Individual and Ensemble Performances at Saddleback College

Posted by CotoBlogzz

 Rancho Santa Margarita, CA.   The Music Department at Saddleback College will presents Concert Hour, a variety of individual and ensemble performances on Thursdays, starting August 29^th, 2013  from noon to 1:00 p.m. in Fine Arts Room 101 and the McKinney Theatre. 

Admission is free

August 29^th-- Indie Artist Ryan Lerman - McKinney Theatre

Singer-songwriter Ryan Lerman kicks off this season’s noon concert series. Lerman has recorded, toured and performed with Ben Folds, Nataly Dawn, Jack Conte and Pomplamoose. A song from his newest CD, Pinstripes, The Sky, was recently featured on NBC’s Parenthood.

Dimitry Rachmanovtion

October 3rd -- Dmitry Rachmanov All-Scriabin Recital - McKinney Theatre International artist Dmitry Rachmanov performs a rare all-Scriabin program dedicated to the composer’s upcoming 100th anniversary. Don’t miss this rare appearance. November 7th--Cellist Michael Kaufmann with Brendan White - FA 101 "A fine cellist with a well-developed sense of musical characterization, Michael Kaufman plays with intensity, commitment and deep understanding," says Robert Levin, internationally renowned Mozart scholar and piano virtuoso

 . A recipient of numerous awards, the 25 year-old cellist has won the Cleveland Cello Society, Empire State and Alexander and Buono competitions as well as the Voices of Music Bach Competition and most recently the USC Performance and Presentation Award. Brendan White is an active musician appearing solo in ensembles and with orchestras in recital halls, churches, convention centers, schools, retirement communities, and theatres.

December 5^th --Saddleback Music Students in Recital.

McKinney Theatre 

Our talented voice, instrumental, piano, and jazz students perform in recital.  Come and show your support for these aspiring musicians!

Saddleback College is located at 28000 Marguerite Pkwy in Mission Viejo, just east of Interstate 5 at the Avery Parkway exit. Free parking is available in Lot 12.  Take Avery Parkway to Marguerite Parkway turn left to the third traffic light, which is Saddleback’s Marguerite entrance. Turn right into the campus and take the second left to Theatre Circle, turning right into Lot 12.

The Music Department has established a comprehensive program which is considered to be one of the finest in California:  a complete lower-division curriculum for transferring music majors, numerous performance groups, private and group lessons, a full concert series with faculty and guest artists, and general music courses.  The nationally-recognized faculty is dedicated to performance and to teaching in all areas such as vocal, instrumental, jazz, guitar, piano, music technology, and commercial music.  Other music classes include harmony, musicianship, composition, history, and appreciation of western art music, music business, rock, jazz, and world music.

Located in Mission Viejo, Saddleback College provides quality higher education and training to the greater south Orange County community.  Having served more than 500,000 students since 1968, Saddleback College offers over 300 degree and certificate programs to help students reach their personal, career, and educational goals.  For more information, please visit www.saddleback.edu and for Fine Arts information, please visitwww.saddleback.edu/arts.  

Couple in nasty battle with homeowners association

Couple in nasty battle with South Natomas homeowners association

By Hudson Sangree
hsangree@sacbee.com

Published: Sunday, Jul. 28, 2013 - 12:00 am | Page 1A

Last Modified: Sunday, Jul. 28, 2013 - 8:29 am

Allen Campbell is a disabled former U.S. Marine pilot who, as a civilian working in Africa, helped rescue nuns and orphans during the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

"He's someone I can call a hero," said Rwandan Ambassador Mathilde Mukantabana, a history professor at Cosumnes River College before her move to Washington, D.C. "He's one of the kindest people I've ever met."

Read More:  http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/28/5602206/couple-in-nasty-battle-with-south.html

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/28/5602206/couple-in-nasty-battle-with-south.html#storylink=cpy

Do homeowners have to pay for replacement fencing or gates?

Republished with permission from copyright holder
A unit owner balks at the cost, as well as the association board's choice of vinyl fencing to replace wood.
     

By Donie Vanitzian

July 26, 2013, 7:23 p.m.

QUESTION: The board sent letters to owners saying the association is replacing wood fencing with vinyl fencing. This decision was never discussed at open meetings. Owners were not given a chance to vote or choose the replacement fencing. The association pays for outside fencing around individual small backyards, but says any fence replacements between neighbors' units must be paid for by the unit owners. At $600 per gate, we're told vinyl gate replacements are cheaper than wood replacements and will last forever. The board warned owners not to put a barbecue within a foot of the vinyl fence because the fence could melt and the owner will have to pay for a new one. Our covenants, conditions and restrictions don't mention fencing or replacement. Do owners have to pay for fencing or gates?

ANSWER: A "fire caution" should be embedded on the vinyl fences and also on an indestructible monument next to the fence so there is no mistake that it is a fire hazard.

It appears that this board is aware of the liability it has caused by choosing vinyl fencing, and instead of taking responsibility for its actions, it has developed a scenario that places the burden on the owner to become legally obligated as the responsible party rather than the association.

Unless the association has a precedent of installing and replacing the individual gates, and presuming the association's governing documents do not state otherwise, it appears that the gates are intrinsically linked to the owner's "exclusive use common area." Therefore, the gates probably are optional features and the individual owner would be responsible for that payment. Civil Code section 1351 defines exclusive use common area as a portion of the common areas designated by governing documents for the exclusive use of one or more, but fewer than all, of the owners of the separate interests and which is, or will be, appurtenant to that owner's unit.

In Lamden vs. La Jolla Shores Clubdominium Homeowners Assn., the court used Nahrstedt vs. Lakeside Village Condominium Assn. as its springboard in adopting a new California standard consisting of a "rule of judicial deference to community association board decision making that applies, regardless of an association's corporate status." In subsequent review of this rule, Affan vs. Portofino Cove Homeowners Assn., courts were clear that this deference applies only to the "reasoned decision making" of the association and does not "create a blanket immunity for all the decisions and actions" of the association.

Therefore, while owners may be responsible for the cost of replacing gates and fences in exclusive use common areas, that deference could be lost as the board is not absolved of liability in the event of willful or bad decision making, or from failing to perform a modicum of due diligence. California courts often look to whether any director knew or should have known that such problems existed and then failed to take quantifiable action.

Civil Code section 7231 imposes a requirement on each board director to serve in good faith and in a manner that director reasonably believes to be in the best interest of the association. To meet these standards, the board must make reasonable inquiries and obtain the necessary information to make informed decisions before acting. Here, the board has clearly failed to take these necessary steps if it has selected fencing that poses such an obvious fire hazard and risk to owners.

Upon review of the association's insurance policies, the board may face further liability for its poor judgment. This blatant failure to mitigate fire danger may negate insurance coverage, leaving owners scrambling to fund damage claims. If any of this fencing is destroyed, catches fire, results in injury to property or life, the outcome could be catastrophic, subjecting the association to significant costs.

Zachary Levine, partner at Wolk & Levine, a business and intellectual property law firm, co-wrote this column. Vanitzian is an arbitrator and mediator. Send questions to P.O. Box 10490, Marina del Rey, CA 90295 or noexit@mindspring.com.

The FBI after Orange County Sups

The FBI Investigating Orange County Supervisors

By Chriss Street

The FBI confirmed today that a Task Force has been assembled from the FBI, IRS, District Attorney and U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigate reports of political campaign corruption in Orange County, California.

As America’s most Republican County, it is not surprising that a Democrat Attorney General under a Democrat Administration would put powerful Republican politicians in their cross-hairs. But with Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, a Republican and former Superior Court Judge, as part of the Task Force, my sources believe that over the next two months it is very likely the Supervisors homes will be raided and indictments will be issued for “pay to play” campaign corruption charges.

Although no details were made public about individuals or specific areas of corruption being investigated by the Task Force, Los Angeles FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said it was formally created in April. Similar task forces have been active in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties in recent years, investigating a variety of corruption charges involving elected officials.

But my sources indicate that the investigation has been ongoing for almost a year. A secret Grand Jury has taken testimony from dozens of county staff members and a large number of vendors to the county’s CalOptima, which manages regional Medicaid hospital and out-patient services, and the Orange County Waste and Recycling, which manages the dumps, trash and environmental services.

In April, the Orange County Grand Jury called for the creation of a county ethics commission, citing the county’s 40-year history of corruption. Supervisors ridiculed the idea, claiming the OC Grand Jury was mistaken. But on June 24th, the California Fair Political Practices Commission, based on the findings of the Orange County Grand Jury alleging wide spread corruption at the highest levels of county government, confirmed they were investigating a majority of Orange County Supervisors and the CalOptima Board of Directors for potential conflict of interest violations of the Political Reform Act,

The next day at the Orange County Board of Supervisors’ meeting, Supervisor John Moorlach angrily accused Grand Jurors of using irresponsible headlines to cover badly focused probes that triggered state reviews. Supervisor Todd Spitzer made a motion to slash future panel members’ individual stipends from $50 a day down to $15. A month earlier, the Supervisors had retaliated against Grand Jurors by rejected a request for $20,000 in supplemental spending to cover the cost investigating the Supervisors.

As John Moorlach menacingly glared at current Grand Jury members, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas and many former Grand Jurors stepped up to the public podium and steadfastly defended the integrity Grand Jury report.
Nineteen years ago on December 2, 1994, I helped Allan Abelson of Barron’s Magazine write an editorial exposing Orange County Treasurer’s failed $22 billion investment scheme in derivatives. Three days later, the County was forced to file the largest municipal bankruptcy in the history of the world after losing over $2 billion on speculative bets. Although only Orange County Treasurer Robert Citron, a prominent Democrat, was convicted for fraud, the FBI set up a permanent political corruption unit in Orange County to keep an eye on the Republican Supervisors who had encouraged Citron’s high risk strategy in hopes of making windfall profits to avoid tax increases.

The FBI Task Force allows federal agencies and the District Attorneys’ office to cooperate on all aspects of a case, not just the portions that may fall under their own jurisdiction. The FBI has is supplied agents who are experts in investigating campaign corruption by public officials, such as solicitation of bribes, deprivation of services, election fraud or illegal foreign corrupt practices. The IRS is looking into questionable accounting entries and tracing money flows, as well as violations of federal tax laws.
When was elected Treasurer of Orange County and served from 2006 to 2010, I learned that the Orange County Supervisors have a very visible salary, and several virtually invisible income streams. The Office of Supervisor pays about $135,000 per year in fully disclosed salary, but each Supervisor is also paid fees for sitting on a number of non-transparent regional boards that can add up to another $135,000 a year. The FBI Task Force is focused like a lazar on the huge amounts of fees and political contributions that have been slushing through these invisible regional boards.

As America’s “Most Republican County”, Orange County Supervisors portrayed themselves as paragons of fiscal conservatism. But there has been increasing alarm among Orange County conservatives and libertarians over the Supervisors big increases in spending and the County’s deteriorating balance sheet. It seems the FBI Task Force on Supervisor corruption may soon be able to tell us where the money went.

CHRISS STREET & PAUL PRESTON
Present On the Republic Radio Network in the USA and Canada
“The Agenda 21 Radio Talk Show”
Streaming Live Monday through Friday at 7-10 PM

http://www.republicbroadcasting.org/shoutcast/shoutcast.html

Visit Our Blogs: www.chrissstreetandcompany.com & www.agenda21radio.com

The Homeowners' Association Law Thing

What is this “association law” thing all about?

by George K. Staropoli

In the TimesDispatch internet column, “Housing”, two attorneys talk about “association law” (Mercer, Trigiani are guiding voices in homeowner association law). They are real estate attorneys. 

He [Mercer] and his business partner, Lucia Anna “Pia” Trigiani, with offices in Alexandria and Richmond, are considered the top Virginia lawyers in their field, their peers say. . . . “They are a major force in what goes on with association law, and they are equally good at what they do,” [a real estate attorney] said.

But the featured spokesperson, Trigiani, is not identified as a CAI member who received an outstanding person award this past April from CAI, the national lobbying organization for HOAs, the Community Associations Institute.

Lucia Anna “Pia” Trigiani, Esq., a principal with the Virginia-based law firm MercerTrigiani, received one of CAI’s most prestigious honors April 19 at the organization’s 2013 Annual Conference and Exposition. (Trigiani, Dyekman Among Members Honored by CAI).

What is not made clear is just what association law is?   It is not a recognized classification of law, but one promoted by the legal-academic aristocrats and CAI.  (“Community Association Law Seminar, Jan. 23–25, 2014 | Las Vegas, NV.”)  The massive Restatement of Law series consists of some 96 volumes covering 26 categories of law, but no “association law” category.  In fact, laws pertaining to HOAs and covenants/servitudes, the legal basis for HOA authority, can be found in the Property: Servitudes series.

From my research into HOAs reading law encyclopedias, treatises, journals, court cases, legislation, articles and books — I’m not claiming to be an expert, but well read — association law appears to be a conglomeration of constitutional, property, contract, corporation and tort law.  These laws are cherry-picked to support the legitimacy and validity of the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs) that is the fundamental basis of HOA legal authority.  Whatever aspect of each of these laws that serves to support HOAs is incorporated into association law. Where there are conflicts with laws or contrary laws they are ignored, or association law is declared superior, or first modified and then incorporated into association law. 

Attorneys like to promote association law as sui generis, or a unique thing in a class of its own not subject to other laws.  This new thing, this association law, is an attempt to establish as legitimate and binding a new set of laws that conflict with and repudiate the Constitution.  Laws that distinguish and repudiate the fundamental principles of our system of government and principles of justice, derived from the organic law of this country – the US Constitution, its Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence.  And for obvious reasons — for domination, power and control.

In his seminal book, Privatopia: Homeowners Associations and the Rise of Residential Private Government, Even McKenzie wrote in 1994,

HOAs currently engage in many activities that would be prohibited if they were viewed by the courts as the equivalent of local governments. . . . The balance of power between the individual and the private government is reversed in HOAs. … The property rights of the developer, and later the board of directors, swallow up the rights of the people, and public government is left as a bystander.

And this is the purpose in establishing “association law” — to avoid constitutional protections, to deprive people of their life, liberty, or property  without due process of law, and  to deny homeowners of the equal protection of  the laws that apply to all public bodies.

Creepy Crass Crawlers: The Media & the Teachers Unions

The Media and Teachers Unions: Creepy Crass Actors

by LARRY SAND FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE UNIONWATCH.ORG on JULY 23, 2013 

 

        Larry Sand

Joining a racially charged situation, largely inflamed by the media, the nation’s teachers unions hypocritically play the civil rights card.

To acknowledge the obvious, the February 26, 2012 events in Sanford, FL were tragic. Trayvon Martin is dead and George Zimmerman will be haunted – and very possibly hunted – for the rest of his life. While there are gray areas of the incident where good people can disagree, there is one overarching truth that cannot be denied: Much of the nation’s mainstream media behaved in a downright despicable way. They have done everything possible to stoke racial tensions with exaggeration, misrepresentation, pandering, deceit and lies. Just a few examples:

• March 21, 2012 – CNN accused Zimmerman of using a racial slur, which two weeks later it later retracted.
• March 22, 2012 – Zimmerman, of mixed race, was dubbed by the New York Times a “white Hispanic.”
• March 27, 2012 – NBC edited a tape to make Zimmerman appear to be a racist.
• March 28, 2012 – ABC News falsely claims Zimmerman wasn’t injured the night of shooting. 
• The whole narrative of Zimmerman as a rabid Klansman also disintegrates when you look at what the vast majority of the media didn’t report:
• He is of white and Afro-Peruvian descent.
• He and a black friend partnered in opening an insurance office in a Florida.
• He’d engaged in notably un-racist behavior, such as taking a black girl to his high-school prom.
• He tutored underprivileged black kids.
• He launched a campaign to help a homeless black man who was beaten up by the son of a white cop.

Now here’s where we go from contemptible to perverse. The heads of the two national teachers unions – Dennis Van Roekel (National Education Association) and Randi Weingarten (American Federation of Teachers) – are leading the charge to put Zimmerman behind bars by any means necessary. The two bosses urged their members to sign petitions to the Justice Department, saying that “Zimmerman must face the consequences of his actions.”

All of a sudden the teachers unions are worried about civil rights??!! What a brazen and sleazy attempt to divert attention from their day-to-day “we-really-don’t-give-a-crap-about-the-kids-but-can’t-come-out-and-directly-say-it” modus operandi. To wit:

In 2009, desperate to kill Washington, D.C.’s popular and successful opportunity scholarship program, NEA President Dennis Van Roekel wrote a threatening letter to every Democratic member of Congress. The union boss clearly declared that NEA strongly opposes the continuation of the DC private school voucher program. He went on to say that he expected that any member of Congress whom the union has supported will vote against extending the program and warned that, “Actions associated with these issues WILL be included in the NEA Legislative Report Card for the 111th Congress … Vouchers are not real education reform. . . . Opposition to vouchers is a top priority for NEA.”

The sad fact is that DC public schools have the lowest NAEP scores and the highest dropout rate in the country, whereas just about every student in the voucher program graduates from high school, almost all of them going on to college. The fact that thousands of children, a great majority of whom are African-American, would be forced to remain in their failing schools, thus closing the door on their future, didn’t seem to faze Mr. Van Roekel one bit. 

In 2011, AFT’s state affiliate in Connecticut neutered a Parent Trigger law and bragged about how it managed to snooker the mostly-minority parents. The union went so far as to post the step-by-step process on its website. Fortunately, writer RiShawn Biddle managed to save the document before AFT pulled the webpage, having realized that their gloating might not be in sync with its pro-minority persona. Parent leader Gwen Samuel, an African-American mother of two, saw through the union’s malfeasance, however. “When will parents matter?” she asks.

In 2011, the ACLU filed a lawsuit that would have exempted 45 of the worst schools in Los Angeles – predominantly black and Hispanic – from teacher union-mandated seniority rules, enabling those schools to keep good teachers instead of being subjected to constant turnover. In an Orwellian statement, United Teachers of Los Angeles elementary vice-president Julie Washington fumed,

This settlement will do nothing to address the inequities suffered by our most at-risk students. It is a travesty that this settlement, by avoiding real solutions and exacerbating the problem, actually undermines the civil and constitutional rights of our students.

The suit was successful, but subsequently the ruling was overturned on a technicality. Having no concern about the rights of the minority children disparately affected by the archaic last-in, first out statute, UTLA was thrilled.

If successful, the Students Matter  (Vergara v. California) lawsuit in California will remove the tenure, seniority and arcane dismissal statutes from the state education code, thus making it easier to get rid of incompetent and criminal teachers. While this lawsuit will help all students in the state, inner-city kids would benefit the most.

Collectively, the laws Vergara v. California challenges deprive those students arbitrarily assigned to the classrooms of ineffective teachers of their fundamental and constitutionally guaranteed right to equal opportunity to access quality education.

Though not named in the suit, the teachers unions just couldn’t sit idly by and accept a change in the rules that would benefit kids at their expense.

Two state teachers unions – the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers – released a joint press release … announcing that they had filed a motion “to intervene in litigation.” This means that CTA and CFT would like to be become involved in the case because they feel that the current defendants – the state and the school districts – are not adequately representing the interests of their teachers, whose rights they maintain could be adversely affected by the case.

There are countless other examples which exemplify the fact that the teachers unions’ raison d’être is preserving their influence, and doing so by any means necessary. That minority children are the ones who suffer the most from the unions’ ongoing power-lust is of no concern to them. That these raving hypocrites are now grandstanding and calling for the scalp of George Zimmerman boggles the mind.

Of course, it is highly unlikely that you will be reading about this latest outrage in the mainstream media. Like the teachers unions, these bad actors are doing their best to push their agenda and con the public.

Larry Sand, a former classroom teacher, is the president of the non-profit California Teachers Empowerment Network – a non-partisan, non-political group dedicated to providing teachers with reliable and balanced information about professional affiliations and positions on educational issues.

Grand Finale of the International Chamber Music Festival @Leavenworth, WA

Posted By Cotoblogzz

Leavenworth, WA – This weekend is the last chance to experience the International Chamber Music Festival at Icicle Creek Center for the Arts,  showcasing breath-taking chamber music in the intimate settings of Canyon Wren Recital Hall and Snowy Owl Theater. 

The line ups is as follows:

July 26, 8PM - Canyon Wren Recital Hall
On Friday, violinist Elisabeth Perry will join Festival’s Artistic Director Oksana Ezhokina in one of the most extraordinary and formidable works for violin and piano – Beethoven’s “Kreutzer” Sonata. 

July 27, 1PM - Canyon Wren Recital Hall
On Saturday afternoon at 1:00 PM, for the first time ever, young artists of the Chamber Music Institute join faculty artists in a joint performance of piano quartets by Brahms, Schumann and Mozart, as well as Beethoven’s Clarinet Trio, Op. 11. If you have not yet had a chance to hear these up-and-coming musicians, this is your opportunity to hear great works performed by the talented and committed young artists. 

July 27, 8PM - Snowy Owl Theater
Saturday night’s program is anchored by the tuneful and rustic Piano Quartet of Drovak featuring Elizabeth Perry, Richard Wolfe, Anthony Elliott and Francine Kay. Surrounding these two works is a constellation of smaller compositions including lyrical Schumann pieces for clarinet and piano, Mozart’s playful duet for piano four hands and Poulenc’s spectacular Cello Sonata performed by Avalon Quartet’s cellist Cheng-Hou Lee. 

Come drink a glass of wine…or two, and watch the moon rise over the Sleeping Lady during three marvelous concerts of chamber music at Icicle Creek!

during three marvelous concerts of chamber music at Icicle Creek!

All made possible by:

The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Sleeping Lady Foundation, The Woods Family Music & Education Fund, Icicle Fund, Community Foundation of North Central Washington, Artist Trust, Northwest Public Radio, Mark & Becky Curtis, Pamela Amoss, Paul & Susan Ballinger, Tony & Meleah Butruille, Ann & Fred Deal, Joshua & Janet Frank, Jane & Bob Hensel, Buford & Valla Howell, Walleye Cards - Heather & Pat Murphy, Caitlin & Walter Newman, Olsen Violins, Rudy Pauly, Barbara & James Patterson, Dr. John Schiefelbein, Russ & Jean Spiedel, Winston Addis, Lee and Anna Milner, and ACMP - Chamber Music Network

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NEXT UP:

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Icicle Creek Theater Festival - August 18, 1PM & 7PM (Snowy Owl Theater)

Each August in Leavenworth, ICTF offers playwrights the space, time and support they need to develop their new plays as they work alongside professional actors and directors, and then present their work to live audiences. Be the first to hear these plays!

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Wild & Scenic Music Fest - August 30-31 (Outdoor Meadow Stage and Snowy Owl Theater)

A weekend festival of barn dances, live music, jamming, great food, beer and wine. Bring your friends, family and instruments and kick back in the grassy meadow. Enjoy the music and stunning views of the mountains and the beautiful Icicle Creek Valley!

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Save the Date! Starstruck! - September 14, 4PM (Snowy Owl Theater and Outdoor Meadow)

Extravaganza under the stars...join us for our biggest event of the year - Icicle Creek's Annual Gala and Auction. Don’t miss this unforgettable, Hollywood-inspired event. Wine tasting, entertainment and more! If you are unable to attend, consider a donation or donating an item to our auction! Contact our office to learn more at (509) 548-6347 x41.

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Questions?...

Questions about events, dates, times? Purchasing tickets online? Viewing discrepancies on calendar? call  during business hours at (509) 548-6347 x41

MainStage Kids Theatre Company bring Broadway to Saddleback College

 Posted By CotoBlogzz

 

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA – Saddleback College Community Education and Performing Arts have come together again this summer to present MainStage Kids’ in Give My Regards to Broadway on August 2^nd through 4^th  in the McKinney Theatre.

Dance Rehearsal - Photo Nina Welch

These talented kids sing, dance and perform to tunes from newer Tony-nominated Broadway musicals including Matilda, 13 the Musical, Newsies and Shrek.  Directed and written by Jonelle Allen, musically directed by David Anthony and choreographed by Anthony Tuason, this original revue tells the story of kids who take an empty theatre hostage. With no set and no lights, audiences will delight at what these young actors can create using their imagination.

Dates are:  Friday, August 2^nd at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, August 3^rd at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, August 4^th at 2:30 p.m.  Tickets can be purchased by calling (949) 582-4656 (noon-4:00 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday) and online at www.saddleback.edu/arts. Prices are $16 general and $12 children 16 and under.

MainStage Kids is a Children's Theatre Company working in collaboration with Performing Arts and Community Education at Saddleback College to bring professional- level children's theatre to Orange County.  The company features young actors ages 8-18.  Their first production of Seussical Jr. the Musical was held in the summer of 2010 to sold-out houses and last year’s Disney’s The Jungle Book Kids sold out as well.

Saddleback College is located at 28000 Marguerite Pkwy in Mission Viejo, just east of Interstate 5 at the Avery Parkway exit.  Parking is available in Lot 12.  Take Avery Parkway to Marguerite Parkway turn left to the third traffic light, which is Saddleback’s Marguerite entrance. Turn right into the campus and take the third left to “Theatre Circle,” turning right into Lot 12.

Located in Mission Viejo, Saddleback College provides quality higher education and training to the greater south Orange County community.  Having served more than 500,000 students since 1968, Saddleback College offers more than 300 degree and certificate programs to help students reach their personal, career, and educational goals.  For more information, please visit www.saddleback.edu.  For Fine Arts events, visit www.saddleback.edu/arts. 

ACORN Style Community Organizers Encourage Obamacare Fraud

 Community Organizers Encourage Obamacare Fraud

By Chriss Street

Great card sharks distract you with one hand, while the other hand palms an ace off the bottom of the deck. This is essentially what the Obama Administration did on July 3rd, to distracted the media with an announcement of a one year delay in Obamacare’s “employer mandate,” while quietly dropping all income verification for individual to qualify for taxpayer-funded subsidies. 

The Administration is hiring Acorn style community organizers across the nation to encourage 13 million individuals, who currently pay for private healthcare, to fib on their ability to pay monthly insurance premiums, in order to get big discounts buying insurance from government run health exchanges. The Administration expects the beneficiaries of this new government entitlement to be a powerful new Democrat voting bloc in favor of a nationalized “single payer” healthcare system for next year’s elections.

“Liar loans” imploded the American banking industry after Congress made changes in the Community Reinvestment Act that were supposed to encourage commercial banks and savings associations to help expand home buyers in low and moderate-income neighborhoods. This allowed tens of millions of individuals to qualify without verification of income for mortgages they could not afford. Total losses to banks are estimated at $1.2 trillion and the federal government’s continuing losses in the bailout and stimulus has past $5 trillion.

The Department of Health and Human Services is hiring armies of “patient navigators” to inform individual Americans about the insurance “options” promised by Obamacare and assist them in filing out the enrollment forms. These community organizers gain access to the new Federal Data Hub, assembled from merging the personal data files of the IRS, Department of Defense, Veterans Administration and other federal and state agencies into the largest treasure trove of Big Data marketing information on Americans in the history of the republic.

The Federal Data Hub is designed to determine who qualifies for new benefits under Obamacare, which includes tax subsidies to purchase health insurance for Americans who earn less than 400 percent of the poverty line — about $45,000 for an individual. Those earning less than 133 percent of the poverty line — about $15,000 — will qualify for Medicaid coverage in the District of Columbia and 23 states that have decided to expand the program.

The real purpose behind the Administrations delay of the employer mandate is to speed up the transition period from our current employer-based health insurance and into a nationalized single-payer system. Their new 13 million person constituency of self-employed and young people who work for small businesses, must now enroll in health insurance or pay a hefty fine. These workers have no choice but to use the government-controlled health insurance exchanges, which will double the number of Americans forced to get health insurance from the health exchanges.

Obamacare was sold to the American public as ensuring that its costs would be borne by businesses, not taxpayers. But when the President decided to only enforce some portions of the law and delay others, he shifted the cost onto the backs of taxpayers. Obamacare’s new taxes, regulations, penalties, health Insurance exchanges and selective enforcement are powerful tools for Obama to mask his destruction of private healthcare. He knows the public still hates the idea of a nationalized single-payer healthcare system, so he cleverly renamed it as “Medicaid expansion.” This Trojan Horse has confused voters from calling Obamacare by its real name, “single payer.”

The IRS had ruled that if workers have access to affordable health insurance through their employer, their dependents are not eligible for taxpayer-funded subsidies on the Obamacare health insurance exchanges. Now that businesses are not required to offer health insurance until 2015, insured workers with low or no income dependents are now eligible to individually sign up for the taxpayer-funded subsidies to purchase health insurance on exchanges. This will result in a $100 billion loss to the Treasury in 2014 to cover the increased costs of subsidies and the loss of revenue from employer penalties.

You have to be impressed with the sleight of hand of the Obama Administration in distracting the public with the delay of the employer mandate, while pumping up subsidies and giving access to wildly valuable election Big Data to his community organizers. By 2015 there will be so many workers and their dependents trapped by subsidies in the government-run health insurance exchanges that they will support moving to a nationalized single-payer scheme, which was always Obama’s goal.

CHRISS STREET & PAUL PRESTON

Present On the Republic Radio Network in the USA and Canada
“The Agenda 21 Radio Talk Show”

Streaming Live Monday through Friday at 7-10 PM

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Does Homeowners Association Have to Carry Earthquake Insurance?

Republished with permission from copyright holder


The board is required to look into carrying earthquake insurance. If it decides not to,
it must have a plan for how to pay for repairs to quake-damaged property.

       

By Donie Vanitzian

July 19, 2013, 8:01 p.m.

QUESTION: I've been president of our homeowners association for several years. We have fewer than 20 units and have managed to keep our HOA dues low at around $330 a month, mainly because we don't have earthquake insurance. We've saved a lot of money because we haven't paid for earthquake insurance for more than 15 years and have been very lucky. Do we have to get it?

ANSWER: With one earthquake, your luck may run out. However, after 15 years of savings, and in the best interests of the association, the board should have been depositing those savings in an interest-bearing bank account. If so, your association would now have the money to purchase earthquake insurance.

Pursuant to Corporations Code section 7231, you and the other board directors have an obligation to act in the best interests of the association and its titleholders who fund the bank accounts. Business and Professions Code section 11018.1 states in part: "There are actions that can be taken by the governing body without a vote of the members of the association which can have a significant impact upon the quality of life for association members." Hence, your board duties do not stop at purchasing insurance policies. Your actions must simultaneously protect each titleholder's fractional interest in that development because their assets could be at risk.

Although keeping dues low is a valid concern, artificially suppressing dues at the expense of the safety and stability of the association's infrastructure is not a "good faith" course of action, let alone sound business judgment. The association as a whole was organized to manage the development and the board can, and should, levy assessments to fulfill that management obligation, according to Civil Code section 1366.

Unless the governing documents of an association impose more stringent standards, Civil Code section 1365(f)(1) requires the association to prepare and distribute to all of its members a "summary of the association's property, general liability, earthquake, flood, and fidelity insurance policies" not less than 30 days nor more than 90 days preceding the beginning of the association's fiscal year. This summary must include the name of the insurer, the type of insurance, the policy limits of the insurance and the amount of deductibles, if any. Although this section does not specifically require the enumerated policies to be carried by the association, it is mandatory that a lack of coverage be properly disclosed to all titleholders.

On an annual basis, every titleholder should demand that the board produce copies of all insurance policies under a document request pursuant to Civil Code section 1365(f)(4), which states: "Any association member may, upon request and payment of reasonable duplication charges, obtain copies of those policies."

The mere mention of "earthquake insurance" under Civil Code section 1365 should alert even the most foolhardy boards that it is an important element in association management. At the very least, for directors attempting to avoid individual liability, the board must make a reasonable inquiry into obtaining coverage and make responsible and informed decisions regarding such policies.

If no coverage is ultimately obtained, the board must provide its plan to titleholders, its reasoning as to why no policy was obtained and its plan for how the association will pay for repairs to earthquake-damaged property without insurance. That information must be discussed in an open meeting and documented in the board meeting minutes distributed to owners. Even if assessments for earthquake insurance premiums are prohibitively expensive, some alternative plan or fund must be in place.

The board's decision not to carry earthquake insurance may have an additional effect on each titleholder. Many insurance companies will not insure individual property, units or homes located in common interest developments unless that association is covered by adequate insurance, including earthquake coverage. If a catastrophic event occurs, these owners will be looking to past and present board directors who made these decisions, and the association, for indemnification and reimbursement for damages.

Zachary Levine, partner at Wolk & Levine, a business and intellectual property law firm, co-wrote this column. Vanitzian is an arbitrator and mediator. Send questions to P.O. Box 10490, Marina del Rey, CA 90295 or noexit@mindspring.com.