Corral Fire suspects’ arraignment postponed
The arraignment hearing for two of five Corral Canyon fire suspects, Brian Alan Anderson and William Thomas Coppock, scheduled for Thursday of last week has been postponed to March 2. The preliminary hearing for suspects Eric Matthew Ullman and Dean Allen Lavorante remains schedule for Feb. 26 intact, and the sentencing of Brian David Franks is scheduled for Feb. 19.
Franks pleaded no contest Oct. 1 to a felony charge of recklessly causing a fire and faces five years probation and 300 hours of community service. As part of his plea deal, Franks agreed to be available to testify against the other four defendants in the case.
Cuneo to be hired as permanent SMMUSD superintendent
Tim Cuneo, who was hired half a year ago to temporarily steer the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District through turbulent times, will be officially hired as permanent superintendent on Thursday, district officials announced last week.
Since being hired as interim superintendent last July to replace Dianne Talarico, Cuneo has worked to reshape the district’s controversial special education program and tackle a looming budget deficit that could reach $10 million during the next 18 months.
“We are pleased to have Mr. Cuneo agree to lead our district for the next two and a half years,” Board of Education President Ralph Mechur said.
“He has brought stability to the district, which will help us to focus on important educational issues and continue the district’s efforts to close the achievement gap.”
An education consultant who has held top positions at numerous California public school systems, Cuneo helped to successfully lobby the Santa Monica City Council last month to release $840,000 in additional funding it had withheld for nearly two years.
Cuneo holds a bachelor’s degree in biological science from Chico State University, a master’s degree in counseling and guidance from University of Santa Clara, and a California Administrative Credential from San Jose State University.
Group files lawsuit against SMM Conservancy over YMCA pool
The Friends of Temescal Pool, an ad hoc volunteer group, has filed a lawsuit against the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, alleging that the public funding behind the conservancy carries with it an obligation to maintain the Palisades-Malibu YMCA Temescal Canyon swimming pool. The pool was shut down in early January despite community protest.
The battle to save the pool had been spearheaded by Friends of the Temescal Pool, with the collection of 2,000 signatures on petitions, but the pool was filled with gravel and covered with grass on Jan. 8.
The Palisades-Malibu YMCA had leased the pool from the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy for $1 per year for the past 50 years. When the water pipes for the pool gave out a year ago, the rest of the structure was determined to be “grossly stable” by environmental engineers, who said it would cost $400,000 to make repairs to the 50-year-old pool.
The YMCA had offered to pay for the repairs, if a shorter lease could be negotiated. However, Conservancy Executive Director Joe Edmiston said the organization must also assume legal liability for the pool.
California tests horses for contagious disease
California is among 39 states testing horses that may have been exposed to a highly contagious venereal disease of horses, contagious equine metritis, or CEM.
California Department of Food and Agriculture veterinarians have quarantined 14 mares and are working with the USDA and regulatory veterinarians in other states to identify any additional exposed horses as a nationwide disease investigation unfolds. The closest counties with quarantined mares are Santa Barbara (2) and Ventura (1) counties. Following a course of negative cultures and treatment, the mares will be released from quarantine.
To date, nine stallions have been confirmed to be infected: four in Kentucky, three in Indiana, one in Wisconsin and one in Texas; and a total of 334 exposed stallions and mares in 39 states have been identified and placed under quarantine by state animal health authorities, pending test results.
CEM is considered a bacterial foreign animal disease. CEM is not known to affect humans or other livestock. It is spread between mares and stallions during mating or with infected semen used in artificial insemination. It can also be transmitted on contaminated breeding equipment. Stallions do not exhibit any clinical symptoms, but the infection may cause fertility problems in mares.
-Olivia Damavandi