One of the ongoing problems in the greater Chino area is the overcrowding that exists at Chino Institution for Men (CIM). This adversely affects Chino Hills, Upland and Ontario as well as Chino. The Institution has been under court order to reduce the inmate population for a couple of years. A plan, by Governor Schwarzenegger, to contract with other states to relieve prison overcrowding was rejected by the courts earlier this year.

I’ve participated in meetings with local and state officials to review critical issues at CIM including multi-jurisdictional communication, law enforcement mobilization and reimbursement payments to local cities and law enforcement agencies as a result of their responses when assisting prison authorities. Members of my staff have toured the facility to view conditions first hand. We need to be proactive and responsive to the current situation. As elected officials, we need to be tough on crime and on those who commit them. Those who break the law should receive their just desserts. That should not include early release.

Last Week, two federal judges ordered the creation of a special panel whose mission would be to recommend ways to relieve California’s overcrowded prisons, which might ultimately lead to capping the inmate population resulting in the release of some prisoners.

With this decision, the judges rejected a key solution initiated by Governor Schwarzenegger and state legislators to address this decades old crisis. Last spring, they agreed to an ambitious $7.8 billion program to build 53,000 new prison and jail cells. The judges ruled that plan, only makes matters worse for the state Departments of Corrections and Rehabilitation. They said the state cannot hire enough guards and medical professionals to provide adequate care and oversight for the present inmate population, let alone the thousands more that might be added by the building program.

Governor Schwarzenegger has said he will appeal the judge’s decision. He feels that the state has taken sufficient steps to reduce current and future prison overcrowding and he wants to make sure dangerous criminals are not returned into communities prematurely. The appeals process could take years. In the meantime, the state will press ahead with its building program and the transfer of 8,000 inmates to prisons in other states.

I applaud the Governor’s actions in this matter. The last thing we need is to release prisoners early into our communities and neighborhoods. The periodic uprisings and altercations at CIM are unsettling at best. We don’t need a full-blown incident to tackle problems that need to be addressed in the best interests of Fourth District Residents. It should not take a criminal released early from detention, who then commits a serious crime, for us to realize that this option is not a way to protect our neighborhoods. Our policy should be; you do the crime, you do the time.
 

This past year and in the coming months the state’s air-quality regulators will pursue a frenetic schedule of activity that will have important consequences for millions of Californians, whether in their cars, on the job or at home.

There are four agencies: The California Environmental Protection Agency (CAL-EPA), the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) and the Air Quality Management District (AQMD) who play an important role in determining air quality standards and requirements in California.

CARB has taken action on a number of fronts including the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, diesel discharge from diesel trucks and heavy equipment, cigarettes and indoor air cleaners. All the agencies are looking at coming up with a policy that meets federally mandated clean air guidelines by 2012. However, there is hardly a consensus as to what the policy should look like and include.

The first step was taken by CARB at the end of July, when the Agency adopted tough emission standards for off-highway diesel vehicles such as bulldozers, airport baggage trucks and ski resort snowcats. The rules will eventually force the oldest and most polluting pieces of equipment out of service and require construction firms and other companies to spend billions on new equipment or engine retrofits. It would require emissions from backhoes, forklifts and other types of diesel equipment to be cleaned up gradually beginning in 2010. The rules would be phased in through 2020 for fleets of large vehicles and 2025 for smaller equipment.

The pollutants targeted in the rule – particulate matter and nitrogen oxide – are blamed for premature deaths, respiratory ailments and cardiovascular problems. The standards under consideration are projected to prevent 4,000 premature deaths, 110,000 asthma-related cases, 9,200 cases of acute bronchitis and 680,000 lost work days lost over 20 years, according to an analysis by the CARB Board. The Board further projects that the requirements will save up to $26 billion in health care costs by 2030.
 

Just because our weather locally has been bone dry does not preclude the presence of mosquitoes that carry the West Nile virus. In this past week new cases have appeared in Sacramento and Orange Counties and infected birds have been found in San Bernardino County. Last year seven people died in California as well as 177 nationwide.

About 80% of those infected won’t show symptoms according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Others have mild symptoms such as fever, nausea, vomiting and a rash on the chest and back. But one in 150 people infected will become seriously ill, with high fever, disorientation, tremors, convulsions, vision loss, coma and even paralysis. Symptoms can last for years and neurological damage can be permanent.

The West Nile season generally runs from May through October, with the virus transmitted by mosquitoes that feed on the blood of wild birds. Only a few of the 22 species of mosquitoes carry West Nile. Surprisingly, drought has little effect on the mosquito population. More than twice the number of birds infected with the virus have been detected this year than at this time last year, even though the number of birds tested is similar according to state officials.

Public health officials are advising people to apply insect repellent containing either DEET, picaradin or oil of lemon eucalyptus when outdoors, especially in the early morning and early evening. People should ensure that screen doors and windows are intact and should eliminate sources of standing water, where mosquitoes can breed. West Nile virus was first detected in California five years ago.