Off the I-15

Today’s Friday foto blog comes from the pages of the Printer-Review, the predecessor of the Desert Dispatch, circa 1947.

The above ad is for a vacuum that sucks up dust and moisture. The model, a 21-year-old from St. Louis, Mo. according to the ad, is demonstrating its sucking power by vacuuming her bathing suit dry.

I cover government and education for the paper. Between the Planning Commission, the City Council, two school boards and the occasional Barstow Community College board meeting, I spend a lot of time in public meetings. As such, I spend a lot of time with my posterior in folding chairs while I furiously take notes and officials discuss official business officially. While not scribbling unintelligibly in a notepad, I have time to think about equally weighty matters — like the comfort of Barstow’s public meeting accommodations. So here goes with my highly unscientific five star rating system: Barstow Unified School District — Four and half stars What can I say? Lots of legroom at the meeting table, plenty of space for note-taking or storing a camera bag and a comfy cushioned swivel chair, doesn’t get any better than that. The best part: I get an assigned seat and a little name plate that says “press.” I don’t really care where I sit, but I like the table and legroom. Barstow City Council — Four stars The council chambers hold standard metal chairs, sure— but there’s a folding table as a hard surface for note taking, a nice view of the action and water pitchers. Barstow Planning Commission— Three and a half stars Held in the same room as the City Council meeting. Same room, same chairs, same folding table. Life is good except — no water. No water, no disposable cups, no relief for the parched throat that inevitably occurs at the end of a long working day. Silver Valley School Board— Three stars Sorry, school board, no offense. I like the people, but the meeting setup could be better. Metal chairs are standard enough, but the room is pretty cramped, and I’m always afraid I’ll accidentally kick or trip the speakers who approach the microphone to give comment. And for those of you who are curious of what it takes to earn a five-star meeting seat ranking, the answer is simple: a plush recliner, a personal water cooler, and a bigscreen TV to catch all the meeting action (or a Seinfeld rerun). — Jason Smith | Staff Writer

Tuesday’s first day of school at Barstow Christian showed me that not much has changed since my first day as a senior in high school in 2001.

As I stood at the steps with students from Catherine Moore’s first-grade class, many talked about how much fun they had seeing their friends again and playing on the school’s playground equipment. Some showed me their new shoes, and other showed off new backpacks and folders. “Fun” was the word — if they said anything at all — when I asked how the first day went. First graders are either very talkative or very shy; there is no middle ground.

First days were always exciting for me in high school. As much as I enjoyed the summer mornings spent sleeping in, afternoons watching daytime television and evenings with friends — throw a summer job, band camp and mowing the lawn in there as well — I welcomed the change in routine and scenery of the new school year … for a day or so. There was always new stuff, new teachers, new students, new classes and new shoes. A summer of lawn mowing will destroy even the best of sneakers.

So not much changed, except that they, the first-graders, are small, and I, the reporter, am big. And not much will.

One parent I talked to, M.L. Baker, said her grandson, Noah Graham, 6, was a bit apprehensive about his first day of school. Noah sported new glasses on his first day, and Baker said kids that age worry about changes in their lives. However, Noah was all smiles as he walked down the steps and climbed into his grandma’s car. Apprehension about changes in life — even a first grader gets it.

Baker said she was taking Noah to Starbucks for a chocolate milk with whipped cream on top. Maybe I’ll stop by there on my way home.

— Aaron Aupperlee | Staff Writer

Area parents choosing sweets for their kids can rest easy. After the Desert Dispatch received a press release concerning the recall of lead-laden candy imported from Mexico, I spent two hours on Friday checking to see if there were any such sweets in Barstow.

Last week, the California Department of Public Health issued a recall for the Miguelito and Barrelito brands of candies after they tested positive for excess levels of lead. I wanted to see if area stores sold the dangerous candies, so I went market to market candy shopping. Thirteen markets later, I ended the search empty handed.

No, Barstow seems to be Miguelito- and Barrelito- free for now.  If you happen to find any, please call the department of health at 1(800)495-3232.

— Jason Smith

 When I overheard amused newsroom conversation that included the phrase “he escaped,” I should have known immediately. But I thought JoAnne Dutcher, our page designer, was joking. Surely Reggie couldn’t have escaped from a zoo exhibit?

But he did. Reggie (temporarily) liberated himself from his personal digs, although he got no farther than a loading dock at the zoo. The story prompted reporter Aaron Aupperlee to remark that it’s too bad Reggie isn’t a talking alligator — the point being that he’d make for an interesting interview. Assuming the governor has no legislation in the works to block the press from incarcerated wildlife, of course.

One question remains. A zoo spokesman noted that alligators are good climbers. OK, but isn’t that something that would be taken into consideration in building such a habitat? After all, I don’t remember hearing of any other fugitive ‘gators.  Surely this marks Reggie as exceptional. Now that my nephew has outgrown his fear of alligators, maybe I’ll get him a Reggie shirt. Reggie seems like a good superhero candidate. I just wish he could tell us (in a Desert Dispatch exclusive) WHY he’s such a determined fellow.

— Stevie St. John

Reggie the alligator escapes LA Zoo home, is recaptured

LOS ANGELES (AP) — You can’t keep a good gator down.

Reggie, the alligator who eluded trappers for nearly two years at an urban lake, managed to escape Wednesday from his new home at the Los Angeles Zoo and it was nearly opening time before he was caught.

Keepers discovered the 7 1/2-foot gator was missing from his personal exhibit pond at around 7:30 a.m. and a search of every rock and bush proved he wasn’t anywhere in the display. Reggie was finally found near a loading dock shortly before the zoo’s 10 a.m. opening time, spokesman Jason Jacobs said. He had managed to climb a mesh-covered side wall of the exhibit and crawl several hundred yards.

“They’re very good climbers. Alligators are superbly adapted,” Jacobs said. “It proves to us that he’s a very smart, healthy gator.”

Reggie was placed in quarantine while a mesh overhang was added to his exhibit to prevent another escape. He was expected to be returned to the display later Wednesday, and staffers planned to keep a close eye on him. Jacobs said fans of the gator were eager to see him.

Reggie was spotted in Harbor City’s Machado Lake in August 2005. Authorities say a man who illegally raised Reggie as a pet dumped the gator in the lake when it got too big. After several attempts, Reggie finally was captured in May. He was introduced to the public at his own zoo habitat last Thursday. His exploits made him a popular mascot for visitors to the lake. His photo appeared on T-shirts and at least one song was written about him.

“I am sure that Reggie simply wanted to explore his new home at the zoo and introduce himself to his neighbors,” City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who represents the Harbor City area, said of his escape. “Or maybe he was heading back to Harbor City.

“We all know that Reggie is a very smart and elusive gator,” she said. “It took us almost two years to catch him, and I would expect nothing less than at least one escape attempt from him.”

A little more than a month ago I got a flat tire while driving through town and discovered I didn’t have a jack in my car. I was stuck waiting around in the midday Barstow sun until a friend brought me a jack to change the tire.

While that wasn’t any fun, I can just imagine how metal band and Ozzfest tour member Nile felt when their tour bus broke down on the I-15 near Barstow. The band was stranded in Barstow before being towed to the Hyundai Pavilion in Devore by Freedom Towing.

I got word of the breakdown from Sports Editor Matthew Peters who discovered it on a post at blabbermouth.net. Calls and e-mails to the band and their management were not returned, and I attempted to track down the bus by calling every tow company in Barstow to confirm the rumor.

Nile were forced to use vans to play a show at the Hollywood House of Blues and to cancel a date in Phoenix due to the bus difficulties. Nile later rejoined the Ozzfest in Albuquerque.

Nile apparently isn’t the only band to breakdown in Barstow. Check out this video Michael Franti of Spearhead filmed during his adventure in the desert.
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— David Heldreth

With Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows scheduled to be released at midnight on Saturday thousands of people are preparing to stay up late to get their copy before anyone else.
That is everywhere except Barstow. There are no Harry Potter parties scheduled here at stores. Anyone looking to participate in some midnight magic will have to make the drive to Victorville’s Barnes and Noble bookstore. In fact, Wal-Mart is the only location I know of to get the book in Barstow. They will have 600 copies of the book, but you have to wait till they open at 6 a.m. on Saturday and you won’t get to try any Troll Mucous or Dragon Drool. What fun is that?
Apparently Barstow is full of Muggles. I ventured to the Barstow Library to talk to some kids about the book release only to find that none of the kids there had read any Harry Potter books. Not a single kid, in a library no less, had read the book. However, librarian Steve Smith, like I, read every book J.K. Rowling put out. Oddly enough I eventually found kids who had read the books at the Henderson Pool. Who would have thought to look for bookworms at a pool?

-David Heldreth Staff writer

At the Desert Dispatch, I listen to a lot of hold music and leave a lot of messages on answering machines. Sometimes I get through; sometimes people call us back. And although the usual, “leave a message after the beep” recording often frustrates me, especially when deadline approaches, some leave me wondering…

Calling the North Pole

I am working on a story about people injured by unexploded military ordnances. About a week ago, a private investigator from the Victorville area called me with the story of a local woman who had survived an explosion a few months ago. He left me his number.

When I called him today, I got the answering machine of Santa at the North Pole. According to the recording, Santa wasn’t in because he was out in the snow with the reindeer. Mind you, it was 100-plus degrees in Barstow, and there was no snow in sight. Snow in Victorville in the middle of July seemed just as unlikely as the possibility that I actually stumbled across Santa’s number and it had a 760 area code.

Worried I copied the number wrong and that my story was doomed, I called around trying to confirm his number. Yep, that number I had matched what others involved with the case had. Finally, one person asked me if I had gotten the investigator’s voice mail.

“Yes,” I said.

“Was it Santa’s?” she asked.

Apparently, the investigator looks a lot like Santa and recorded his message likewise.

— Aaron Aupperlee

Desert Dispatch reporters Jason Smith and Aaron Aupperlee saw splatters of rain on Aaron’s windshield as they drove on Lenwood Road near Highway 58 in Hinkley at about 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday.

According to the National Weather Service Forecast Office’s Web site, the Las Vegas station reports a 20 percent chance of thunderstorms for Barstow on Tuesday afternoon.

If it is raining near you, call the Desert Dispatch at 256-4121 and let us know.

No one offered to run up to Vegas and get married like thousands of other couples on 7-7-07, but a crew from the Desert Dispatch did meet at a gas station on West Main Street to try their luck with lottery tickets. The results? Less than lucky.

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