The Capistrano Insider

Bates: Orange County Moving Ahead on New Animal Shelter

One of the complaints/concerns of local animal-rescue folks is that the Orange County Shelter, where lost pets and strays are taken, is so far away. The county is working on building a new shelter in Tustin, Fifth District Supervisor Pat Bates says.

From Bates:

New OC Animal Care Center Update

The Board of Supervisors continues to make progress on the development of a new Animal Shelter. On January 24, the Board approved an Exchange Agreement with the South Orange County Community College District (SOCCCD) for a land-swap of ten-acre parcels at the former MCAS Tustin Base. Five acres of the parcel to be received by the County, following release by the Department of Navy, has been designated as the site for a new Animal Care Center, which will replace the existing Animal Shelter currently in the City of Orange.

The planned Tustin site is centrally located in the County and easily accessible to all. OC Parks has been tasked with developing an 84-acre park directly across from the site, which will include one of the landmark blimp hangars. Conceptual plans have already been completed for the new Animal Care Center.

The County is continuing to work with the City of Tustin and SOCCCD to revise the documentation required by the Department of Navy as part of the Re-Use Process. It is hoped that a decision from the Department of Navy regarding conveyance can be obtained in late 2012 or early 2013.

Once the Department of Navy issues the decision on conveyance, construction plans will be developed and ground will be broken on the new site. Timing on construction will depend upon the actions of the Department of Navy and any requirements set forth in that action.

Previous cost estimates for the new Animal Care Center ranged from approximately $25 million to $30 million. Initial funding already has been set aside by the Board. Additionally, preliminary discussions have been initiated with an advisory group of city managers from the cities that contract with OC Animal Care regarding the balance required to complete the project, with more formal discussions on a funding agreement being initiated in the fall. Staff is also looking at other ideas for fundraising, including a non-profit fundraising effort.

Development of a new Animal Care Center is a high priority for the County and our partner contract cities. To that end, I will continue to provide updates on the progress as we move forward.

Attorney Generals Going After Mortgage Fraud

this just in:

Attorneys General of California and Nevada Announce Mortgage Investigation Alliance

LOS ANGELES -- Attorneys General Kamala D. Harris of California and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada today announced that their states have entered into a joint investigation alliance designed to assist homeowners who have been harmed by misconduct and fraud in the mortgage industry.

By forging this alliance, California and Nevada will combine investigative resources, including litigation strategies, information, and evidence gathered through their respective ongoing investigations, assisting each state as it pursues independent prosecutions.

This alliance will link the offices' civil and criminal enforcement teams, speeding along the full, fair and adequate investigation of wrongdoing in the two states, which have experienced similar foreclosure and mortgage fraud crises.

"The mortgage crisis is a man-made disaster that has taken a heavy toll on the country, but it saved its worst for California and Nevada," said California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris. "The mortgage crisis is a law enforcement matter, and we will prosecute to hold accountable those who are responsible and also protect the homeowners who are targeted for fraud. I am delighted that California and Nevada are entering into this alliance to leverage the best results for our investigations and look forward to forging similar collaboration with other states."

"I am pleased to join forces with General Harris to fight against fraudulent mortgage and foreclosure practices that continue to devastate lives, homes, and the economy in Nevada and California," said Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto. "This strong partnership will allow our states to make an even more concerted effort to hold fraud perpetrators accountable and ensure law-abiding homeowners receive justice."

By most objective measures, California and Nevada have been the states hardest hit by the nation's foreclosure crisis. In October 2011, Nevada and California ranked first and second, respectively, for the percentage of their housing units that entered the foreclosure process, reflecting a parallel surge in foreclosures in the two states. One in every 180 Nevada properties entered the foreclosure process in October, and one in every 243 California homes received a filing that month. In 2010, California led the nation with a total of 546,669 foreclosure filings (4 percent of the state's housing units), while Nevada led the nation with 9.4 percent of its homes receiving a foreclosure filing (totaling 106,160 units).

The crisis in these Western states is similar because both states share a foreclosure system in which a bank can foreclose on a borrower's home without court oversight, also called "non-judicial foreclosure." The collective result has created a rich opportunity for predators, leading both states to make mortgage-related law enforcement action a top priority.

In May 2011, Attorney General Harris formed a Mortgage Fraud Strike Force, now composed of nearly 40 attorneys and investigators, that has launched a wide series of investigations and litigation. The Mortgage Fraud Strike Force has instigated legal actions in cases including a fraudulent multi-million dollar "mass joinder" lawsuit operated by the law firm Kramer and Kaslow, and the arrests earlier this month of three top officers of a Stockton real estate company who took thousands of dollars in up-front loan modification fees and made false promises to assist struggling Central Valley homeowners with lowering their mortgage payments.

In 2007, Attorney General Masto formed the Nevada Mortgage Fraud Strike Force that launched a wide series of investigations and litigation into areas including violations of the law related to mortgage lending, servicing, and foreclosure practices and the creation, rating, marketing, sale, and management of mortgage backed securities. The Nevada Mortgage Fraud Strike Force has taken action against predatory "mortgage rescue" companies and individuals claiming to offer services to stop foreclosures. Last month, the Strike Force announced the indictments of Gerri Sheppard and Gary Trafford, who led a massive robo-signing scheme which resulted in the filing of tens of thousands of fraudulent documents. Nevada is also suing Bank of America and its subsidiaries, including Countrywide, for violations of a Consent Judgment for mortgage servicing and mortgage origination irregularities.

The Mortgage Investigation Alliance is the product of weeks of discussion between Attorneys General Harris and Masto regarding the most effective and efficient means of achieving justice for their respective states. Today's announcement formalizes an agreement reached between the two officials last week.

There Goes His 'Father of the Year' Honor ....

No Capistrano angle, but sometimes you just have to shake your head ...

September 14, 2011

 

Case #11HF2320

FATHER CHARGED WITH CHILD ENDANGERMENT FOR THROWING 7-YEAR-OLD SON OVER THE SIDE OF BOAT IN NEWPORT BEACH HARBOR

NEWPORT BEACH - A father was charged today with throwing his 7-year-old son over the side of a boat in Newport Beach Harbor into the path of busy oncoming boat traffic and resisting and delaying police officers while being arrested. Sloan Steven Briles, 35, Irvine, is charged with one felony count of child abuse and endangerment and one misdemeanor count of resisting an officer. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of six years in state prison. Briles is out of custody on $100,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 26, 2011, at 8:30 a.m. in Department H-2, Harbor Justice Center, Newport Beach.

At approximately 1:00 p.m. on Aug. 28, 2011, Briles is accused of being on a Newport Beach harbor cruise aboard the Queen with his girlfriend and two young sons from a prior marriage. The defendant is accused of being under the influence of alcohol and poking his 7-year-old son in the chest. He is accused of repeatedly slapping his son in the face, making him cry and ask the defendant to stop because the defendant was hurting him.

Briles is accused of then picking up the little boy and throwing him approximately 10 feet over the side of the boat. At that time, the Queen was in a busy boating area with a large amount of boat traffic, so the first mate stalled the boat and maneuvered it to protect the child from being struck by another vessel. The captain threw the crying child, who was treading water, a life ring.

Briles is accused of then jumping into the water to avoid the angry passengers on the Queen who began to yell at him. He is accused of making no attempt to swim to his son's aid. Another boat helped the child out of the water, but the crew of the Queen asked the other boat not to help Briles, who was eventually pulled back onto the Queen.

When contacted by deputies from the Orange County Sheriff's Department (OCSD), who patrol the harbor, Briles is accused of ignoring the deputies orders to stand, struggling with them as they attempted to help him to his feet, and making his body go limp to make it difficult as deputies tried to remove him from the boat. Briles had to be dragged from the Queen to the OCSD Harbor Patrol boat.

Deputy District Attorney Cyril Yu of the Family Protection Unit is prosecuting this case.

That Guns in Parks Idea Could have Brought Us This

For those who believed a well armed citizenry is a safer citizenry ... This from the Tuscon Citizen:

 

As Chandler residents Joshua Seto, 27, and his fiance, Cara Christopher, walked over to a Fry’s Food Store for refreshments, he tried securing her pink handgun in the front waistband of his pants.

The gun fired, striking Seto’s penis and continuing through his left thigh. The bleeding started immediately and was heavy, according to police dispatch recordings released Sunday.

“He is still conscious, there is just a lot of blood,” Christopher , 26, told 9-1-1 operators and dispatchers.

One operator told Christopher to apply direct pressure to the wound with a dry towel or T-shirt, but to avoid looking at the wound.

“I did look at it,” Christopher said. “It’s pretty bad.”

The accidental shooting took place about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday on the 900 block of W. Elliot Road.

When the emergency call first went through, Chrisopher was asked if they needed paramedics, she said yes.

“He’s still coherent and everything but he’s bleeding quite a lot,” she said.

In the wake the accident, police are warning armed residents to use holsters, not waistbands.

I Hope You Looked Nice Monday if You Were on the Streets of Capistrano ...

Spotted this Googlecar on Ortega Highway, as it was leaving town. These are the vehicles used to shoot 360-degree photos for the street view function on Google Maps.

There's been some privacy complaints over the years, because these cameras (now in HD) capture everything. Here's a website of goofy google pics.

From wikipedia:

On each of these vehicles there are nine directional cameras for 360° views at a height of about 8.2 feet, or 2.5 meters, GPS units for positioning and three laser range scanners for the measuring of up to 50 meters 180° in the front of the vehicle. There are also 3G/GSM/Wi-Fi antennas for scanning 3G/GSM and Wi-Fi hotspots.[3] Recently, 'high quality' images are based on open source hardware cameras from Elphel.

 And if you're wondering, Google has cameras on a tricycle to reach places cars can't, and has even used snowmobiles ...