Have you recently opened a new business, renovated, relocated or about to have a business anniversary? Ribbon cuttings are a great opportunity to increase your visability and give a behind the scenes look into your business. Simply call for a Ribbon Cutting Packet today, we will be happy to assist in planning your ribbon cutting – FREE FOR MEMBERS!!
For additional information, call the Chamber office at 760.347.0676
Jonathan Roberson, Business Services Coordinator
INDIO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
82-921 Indio Blvd., Indio, CA 92201
Desert Hot Springs, CA, January 12, 2012 –Russell Augustine ASHI- ACI Inspector #102354 with Home Inspections by Russ Augustine serving the Coachella Valley, and the High Desert recently attended The American Society of Home Inspectors’ (ASHI) annual InspectionWorld conference, the premier conference and exhibition for the home inspection industry, in Phoenix, January 4-7, 2012.
The four-day conference provided attendees with the opportunity to acquire new skills, enhance their professional knowledge and network with some of the best professionals in the industry. As a result of attending the full InspectionWorld conference, Mr. Augustine received 20 ASHI CE credits fulfilling his CE requirements for 2012 ASHI membership.
This year, ASHI offered 45 educational sessions broken into six different tracks from the inspection essentials track designed for beginning home inspectors to the advanced learning track, and tracks covering business management, specialty inspections and the 2012 International Residential Code.
“ASHI remains committed to offering us the resources and essential tools so I can provide my customers with the services they want and need. I am proud to be part of an association like ASHI – the only home inspection organization with a certification program recognized by The National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA),” said Mr. Augustine
Russ has been with ASHI since 1993 as a candidate, and a Certified Inspector since 1996, and has over 5000 Inspections in his career. Mr.Augustine passed the Peer Review Inspector program with the Great Lakes Chapter of ASHI in 2002 and has received the designation of “Master Inspector by Review” from ASHI-GLC.
He can be contacted at (760) 288-7400, or found on the web at www.ashi.org.
Yucca Valley, Calif. – Today the Town of Yucca Valley was profiled as part of the ongoing “Strong Cities | Strong State” campaign highlighting local government success stories across California. “Strong Cities | Strong State” is a project of the League of California Cities and the California Town Management Foundation (CCMF).
Dawn Rowe, Mayor of Yucca Valley
“Our residents enjoy outstanding service at the local level and love the small Town atmosphere where neighbor helps neighbor,” said Yucca Valley Mayor Dawn Rowe. “With all the dissatisfaction of constituents at the federal and state level, it’s refreshing to hear that people love living in the Town.”
The “Strong Cities | Strong State” website is the centerpiece of a campaign broadly promoting City success stories alongside profiles of the elected officials and City managers working together to build and maintain a high quality of life for California City and Town residents.
Highlights of Town of Yucca Valley’s profile include:
· The continued collaboration with other Agencies, such as the Hi-Desert Water District on the wastewater treatment facility and the County of San Bernardino on the replacement animal shelter.
· The numerous community celebrations held throughout the year, the arts and culture found here and the hometown atmosphere that makes Yucca Valley an enjoyable place to live and visit.
“The Town has a strong track record of overcoming significant hurdles in our 20 years since incorporation,” said Yucca Valley Town Manager Mark Nuaimi. “That experience allows us to collaborate today with a number of agencies as we tackle the latest challenges.”
The overarching goal of the “Strong Cities” campaign is to promote the innovation and experience of local officials in delivering vital services at a time when this expertise is vitally needed by state leaders struggling with fundamental issues of governance. “Strong Cities | Strong State” seeks to position cities as vital, necessary and equal partners in building a better California.
The Strong Cities | Strong State campaign will continue profiling individual cities each day, with a goal of highlighting all California cities over the coming year-and-a-half. Profiles include photos, video and other media articulating how each individual City has been working to both provide essential services, as well as elevate the quality life of its residents. Success stories will range from public safety initiatives to educational partnerships, infrastructure improvements to community engagement strategies and more.
Without sounding too condescending or putting down the average citizen, I think it’s fair to say that we Americans don’t keep close tabs on the ups and downs of the world’s Nobel laureates. Granted, we have had great success in the sciences and other fields but can only list seven Americans to have received Literature’s greatest prize – a Nobel.
In 1998 Jose Saramago, playwright and novelist, became the first Portuguese citizen ever to receive the Nobel Prize. His award was in the field of Literature. This great honor went to a man who had a fourth grade education, and didn’t begin writing until he was sixty years old! His journey is the stuff of legends – producing more than 30 novels and plays in the process.
In the documentary movie “Jose And Pilar” by Brazilian filmmaker Miguel Goncalves Mendes, the love story of Jose and his fiery Spanish wife, Pilar Del Rio, is wonderfully captured and chronicled over a two-year period. Mendes, with complete access to the larger-than-life famous couple, makes the most of each and every moment in their incredible life story. He lovingly and honestly presents his subjects for the camera to examine and explore, to see every nuance in their day-to-day existence; warts and all. He doesn’t spare Jose when it comes to recording candid comments concerning Jose’s atheism and/or his Communist background, or in his disappointment when the President of Portugal officially requested some his writings be removed from the libraries of Portugal, after the publication in 1993 of his book “The Gospel According to Jesus Christ”. Jose’s response to Portugal’s public humiliation was simply to move to the Canary Islands, a Spanish possession, and continue to write.
Although it is a documentary, at times the film “reels off” as if the audience is watching a feature film. That’s to the credit of the 83 year-old Jose and his much younger wife Pilar. They are a perfect pair of lovebirds; constantly touching, holding hands, and reassuring one another. It’s Pilar, Jose’s gatekeeper, who handles all of the administrative duties, and the decisions concerning Jose’s appointments, interviews, travel schedules, radio and TV interviews and book signings. It’s an exhausting and a highly detailed job but it is just what Jose needs in order for him to continue creating and writing. Director Mendes presents visually what Saramago internalizes in voice-over portions as he expresses his philosophy of life via his many books, plays, and novels.
I had an opportunity to chat with Pilar Del Rio Saramago following the screening of the Mendes film at The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF). She is a highly intelligent, very personable, vivacious and easily accessible person. She is a former well- known journalist in Europe (that is how she first met Jose. As an admirer, as well as a journalist, she requested an interview. They met, and as they say, ‘the rest is history’).
Her ideas on the role of women in world politics, was one subject we briefly discussed. She is a huge fan of Hillary Clinton. With Pilar being a non-English speaker, we pressed Director Mendes into being our translator (I have zero language skills in Portuguese). We agreed that if more women were in positions of power, there would be less violence and fewer wars raging around the world. She says, “…the women of the world are tired of continually cleaning up the messes made by men”. She has a lot company in voicing that opinion.
Just as a mother lion defends her cubs, Pilar fiercely protects the legacy of her famous husband (Jose Saramago died in June 2010, at the age of 87). As the oldest of 14 children she is a natural born leader and negotiator which writer/director Mendes fully displays in his provocative, incisive, informative, and entertaining documentary film.
There are a lot of philosophical points of view and information one can glean from viewing “Jose And Pilar”, which in my opinion, is a bona fide Oscar contender. Make sure you catch this outstanding and engrossing film when it screens at a multiplex near you.
The inscription currently reads: "I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness." The phrase is chiseled into one side of a massive block of granite that includes King's likeness emerging from the stone.
WASHINGTON — A quote carved in stone on the new Martin Luther King memorial in Washington will be changed after the inscription was criticized for not accurately reflecting the civil rights leader’s words.
The Washington Post first reported on Friday the decision to change the inscription, which currently reads: “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.” The phrase is chiseled into one side of a massive block of granite that includes King’s likeness emerging from the stone. It became a point of controversy after the memorial opened in August.
The phrase is modified from a sermon known as the “Drum Major Instinct,” in which the 39-year-old King explained to his Atlanta congregation how he would like to be remembered at his funeral. He made the February 1968 speech just two months before he was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn.
In the speech, King’s words seem more modest than the paraphrased inscription: “Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.”
Poet Maya Angelou previously said the truncated version made King sound like “an arrogant twit” because it was out of context.
A spokesman for the U.S Department of the Interior confirmed on Friday that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar decided to have the quote changed. It’s not clear how much the cost of any change might be or how it would be paid for.
Salazar gave the National Park Service, which the U.S Department of the Interior oversees, a month to consult with the King Memorial Foundation, which led the effort to build the memorial, as well as family members and other interested parties. The committee is supposed to come up with a more accurate alternative to the quote.
AnSams rescued these 12 puppies and their momma from a public shelter on Thursday.
Thanks to everyone who has responded and donated puppy formula and pet carriers! We are using every donation we’ve received! But we still need more items. With the growth of our pet foster program, we need more puppy formula to bottle feed newborn puppies. Unfortunately, cows milk is not healthy for infant dogs and cats. Most pet stores carry kitten and puppy formula.We also need pet carriers to transport homeless dogs and cats to and from our animal shelter and foster care.
If you would like to donate a pet carrier or puppy formula to Animal Samaritans, you can bring items to our animal shelter in Thousand Palms: 72-307 Ramon Road. Thanks for helping! The shelter is open Tuesday – Friday, from 9am – 4:30pm, and Saturday from 9:30am – 3:30pm
Have you recently opened a new business, renovated, relocated or about to have a business anniversary? Ribbon cuttings are a great opportunity to increase your visability and give a behind the scenes look into your business. Simply call for a Ribbon Cutting Packet today, we will be happy to assist in planning your ribbon cutting – FREE FOR MEMBERS!!
