The Antelope Valley Times

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Readers Speak Out!

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Speak Out 9.1.13‘Readers Speak Out!’ is your chance to sound off on ongoing community and political issues around the Antelope Valley that have not been covered by The AV Times.

We only ask that you refrain from using obscenities or racial slurs, from engaging in personal attacks on other commenters (name-calling) and from knowingly posting false information.

Additionally, comments made solely to point out someone’s grammar or spelling errors will be removed, and so will blanket condemnations of entire races, ethnicities, religious groups, etc.

Read what others have to say or post a comment of your own.

Let your voice be heard… Speak Out!

Previous related articles:

Readers Speak Out! (August 4, 2013)

Readers Speak Out! (George Zimmerman verdict)

Readers Speak Out! (But read this first…)

Readers Speak Out! (Comment ratings removed)

Readers Speak Out! (Important message)

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116 comments for "Readers Speak Out!"

  4. What happened to the LASD patrol that was supposed to keep the Blvd safe for shoppers and residents?
    If the skateboard creeps aren’t intentionally bumping you as you walk from your car to a restaurant or hitting your car with their boards, they are straight cussing you out and calling you filthy names.
    There were a couple of places I went to eat fairly often. I will no longer go to either one after the beating incident last weekend.

    • Since it was redone, I’ve only gone to the BLVD at lunch or in the afternoon and never felt unsafe. But, now it looks like it isn’t even safe in the daytime. Is the sheriff’s station open for business or is it just for show.?

      So, that’ the last of my trips to the BLVD. It sure got seedy fast, didn’t it? These main street do-overs tend to deteriorate eventually except for the most well-designed locations in popular parts of town. The BLVD isn’t in a popular part of town.

      It’s got too many things about it that don’t work well. And, Parris thinks recorded bird songs will do the trick along with the bats in his belfry. I’m picturing Rex trying to talk with his arms in a straightjacket. He is usually waving them like those guys that direct planes on the tarmac.

      Why do you think he is so determined to make nice with Palmdale and pushes for the merging of the cities? His BLVD isn’t the grand world class destination he kept bragging about and people from all over were going to come and spend their vacations and money there and buy their cars at the Lancaster Auto Mall. Really?

      Someone should write an book chronicling his terms as mayor and the consequences of it.

      • I’ve never heard bird sounds on the BLVD, just recorded music. Maybe you should actually go there to brush up on your rant.

        • Why don’t ‘real’ birds provide the bird sounds? There are trees there. There’s probably stuff on the ground to eat.

          What? Did you vote for Parris?

          • Do you have nothing better to do than to write perfectly composed, grammactically correct, somewhat coherant rantings and ravings about stuff that only pertains to the little world of Palmdale/Lancaster? Are you confined to your home? Are you challenged physically? Wait…maybe you’re just a typical elitist liberal…..

          • @Boo. Or is it ‘Boo Hoo”.

            You tpartiers really got run over today.

            They got nothing and had to re-open the government.

            And, it sounds like you’re one of them.

        • Hate to tell you Cary, Birdsong is piped into the 70 speakers on Lancaster Blvd, 5 hours a day. Articles all over the internet on it. To quote Rexy, he does so to give members of the community “a heightened sense of well-being”. He even claims the soothing sounds have resulted in a lower crime rate.

          You couldn’t even try to make this stuff up. The truth is SO much more entertaining.

          • Real, live, actual birds avoid the BLVD.

            Thanks, Wildbologna, for setting Cary straight on what’s what on the BLVD. It’s funny when someone digs a hole and then steps in it himself.

            We’ve probably seen the last of that username.

          • I’ve been to the Library once or twice a week for the last 2 years. Always music, never birds.

            I guess if you read it somewhere, maybe it happened. But apparently not that often.

          • Cary. Cary. Cary. Parris bragged about the bird songs hisself. Another one of his grand ideas.

            Maybe, the laughter caused them to nix the idea.

      • The Lancaster Station is close enough to the “Blvd” that Deputies could walk the sidewalk…if they dare. Perhaps LASD showing a presence would influence the issues and make people feel safe (r). Having a LASD car drive the Blvd does no good, when the driver never looks to the left or right.

      • I really don’t understand all the constant negative rants all the time about Lancaster Blvd from Palmdale residents. If you don’t like it don’t go, go hang out at your Famous Daves Fake BBQ.

        • There are no good restaurants on the BLVD. Mayor Parris said so. If he said it is has to be true. He would not say something untrue. He gave us the birds on the BLVD to lower crime. Someday he will give us great restaurants on the BLVD and we will not have to got to Palmdale. Just like he will give us thousands of jobs and a lot of new friends from China who will deliver babies at our hospital. He kept the Mongols out of our town and stood up to David Abber in a fight. We do what Mayor Parris says we should do.

          • The Mongols are forever grateful that they didn’t spend 1 night in Lancaster. What were they thinking?

        • @buffalo bill. Tell your mayor to keep his nose out of Palmdale’s business then.

          Heck, even Lancaster residents complain about the BLVD. For all the bluster from Parris, it ain’t that big a deal. It is what is known as a ‘vanity project’ for Rex.

          It is not the ‘heart of the Valley’ as he brags. It constantly needs CPR.

          Go on Yelp and read the reviews about how disgusting the service and restrooms are at BeX, the BLVD’s ‘crown jewel’ that had a B grade from the health department a year after opening.

          • Mongols wow, you actually like scumbags, the lowest life form on the earth, that says allot about you and your incoherent rants on this site, btw go read about Palmdale on yelp if your that interested in that site. Lancaster blvd does look better than Palmdales downtown international swap meet, they don’t have a down town. If your afraid of a few skaters and bums have you been to palmdale lately or the mall? Yep go to Macys and pay the corporate [removed].

          • Well, buffalo bill. The scumbag Mongols DID want to stay in Lancaster, didn’t they? A perfect match for the city. They thought they’d be right at home.

            They didn’t choose Beverly Hills, Santa Clarita or Palmdale.

            Fresca II picked up and moved from Lancaster to Palmdale. Why didn’t they go to the BLVD? BTW They have good reviews on Yelp.

            You’ve got the greedy good ol’ boys in Lancaster who do everything for their benefit and you complain about Macy’s with your 3 Walmarts.??? Now go back and tell Rex you tried.

    • You should be placing blame where blame is due. Most of the issues we see on the BLVD these days come directly from the Pharmacy Boardshop. Get rid of that place and you’ll get rid of 90% of the trouble on the BLVD! There also needs to be some basic precautions such as cameras and such like the mall has. You can’t expect the same level of safety without the same level of security. But for the most part, I still don’t see that much crime happening on the BLVD that isn’t also happening in the mall. I was in the mall the other day and there was a large group of youths causing trouble and fighting. Not a lot different. The bottom line is the dessert is a crappy place to grow up and neither city does a good job of giving them something very productive to do.

    • There are LASD deputies assigned to the BLVD during peak traffic times from Thursday through Saturday night. Additionally there are deputies assigned to the patrol area that includes the BLVD the remainder of the time.
      The fact of the matter is deputies are going to respond to issues that are of the greatest direct risk to the public and rowdy kids illegally skateboarding and congregating in front of a local business is not exactly a high priority in the eyes of LASD.
      Ultimately it’s still a work in progress and will require a little involvement from both the businesses and LASD to overcome the issues that periodically pop up.

      In the exact isolated case, there was an event at a local business that produced the larger than normal crowd and that eventually caused a problem with the public.. It should have never happened and it is totally the fault of the business.. Had the proper procedures been followed the city and LASD would have provided the necessary support for the event in relation to the expected crowd..

      I have hosted numerous events on the BLVD; Earlier this spring we had over 100 cars, live bands and thousands of people in front of my business. There were no incidents and everyone had a good time that resulted in many of the businesses posting higher than normal revenues for the evening..
      When it’s done right everyone wins.. when it’s done wrong everyone loses..

      • I believe their post was in reference to his majesty the mayor stating that the city now pays a special additional fee for the “BLVD Deputy” in a much publicized news conference. If I remember correctly his majesty stated that the deputy would only work the BLVD. I am wondering whatever happened to that? I also believe that we are all well aware of “priority calls” but the issue was “where is the “BLVD Deputy” and what calls are being handled/disregarded?

        • @Boscoe, That’s exactly what I was referring to. The Patrol that was suppose to make the Blvd, the safest place in the valley, day or night. When the (new) Blvd was first unveiled and I heard the Mayor make the statement about a Patrol every few minutes to keep it safe, I laughed! At that time, I was still eating at the Lemon Leaf, Gianinni’s and Bex. We would see the black and white LASD cars driving slowly, back and forth, and did feel safe knowing an officer would arrive within moments if there was a problem.
          We don’t feel safe there at all anymore.

          • @Nancy P. Correction. Parris said that the BLVD would be the safest place in the UNIVERSE. Yes. THE universe. The one scientists talk about all the time. That one.

            He also said that he was thinking of selling his big house and moving to a condo off the BLVD because it was so wonderful.

            Can you imagine what he says when the cameras aren’t rolling?

  5. The embracing of birth tourism is not solely on the back of Dr. Farroukh. For years, Mayor Rex Parris approached former CEO Ed Merzibegean with the idea, which incidentally, was met with the same disdain as 95% of the population has. The difference here is with the absence of a competent CEO, there is a power grab at AV Hospital, resulting in the kinds of under-the-table and back-door decision-making you all see.

    Rex Parris is an absolute disgrace; a man willing to sell his country and town to the highest bidder. He is a man willing to exploit the Constitution for his own personal profit. But are we all really surprised by the actions of a lawyer/politician? Has anyone questioned the fact that this man is bringing Chinese companies to the very heart of this country’s military and aerospace R&D? Why do we have birdsong piped into the BLVD? Why are there bike lanes outside of Wal-Mart? I mean, when I do all my heavy shopping, I always take my bicycle! The next thing to happen will be area rickshaw stations so the Chinese can hurry expectant “vacationers” to AVH more effectively.

    Absolute insanity in Lancaster. I am so glad I moved to a much more normal place; Los Angeles.

    • B-b-but, Parris said he only heard about the ‘plan’ a couple weeks before it was made public last month. He wouldn’t lie would he?

    • Haha,rickshaw rides on the Boolevard can replace the horse and buggy rides that never materialized;brilliant idea and no manure.

      • B.L.V.D. = Bearded Lawyers Vain Display

        Ever try to back out of a parking space there?

        B.L.V.D. = Backup Lane Vehicle Destroyer

        • Ever try to cross the street in a handicapped scooter, might as well be invisible, no one sees you or stops, I have taken to yelling Thank you at those who disregard my safety.

        • Yup, over there today and got on the blvd by accident, it is a clusterf ***;some cars stop, some don’t, good thing there’s a low speed limit, and there is no scarcity of low life’s .
          From there I drove over to Joshua, very depressing.
          No wonder he’s so jealous of Palmdale.Yeah, we have some problem areas but not like Lancaster.He could be using his time better in his own back yard.

          • I’ve always wondered how he gets his business guests from China into Lancaster without them passing by and seeing Palmdale. Does he blindfold them on the car trip or bring them in by helicopter?

  6. Everyone in Littlerock/ Sun village Please be aware there is a planning commission meeting Thursday evening October 10,2013 regarding a change of zoning towards ANOTHER Quarry to be located Just north of Jackie Robinson Park Please look on the Palmdale City planning Site for exact location This is Important!

  7. Last week.I saw the news reporting bone and grave found in acton.. But,I never saw a follow up on t.v news or here. Does anyone know what happened?

  9. ATTEN-HUNNN! CAP’N LANCASTER HERE WITH YOUR LANCASTER UPDATE.
    IT LOOKS LIKE THERE IS ONE LESS LAWSUIT ON THE BOOKS TODAY. THE CASE WITH ALLIED ARTS HAS BEEN SETTLED COSTING THE RESIDENTS WHO PAY TAXES AND UNDISCLOSED SUM OF MONEY. ONCE AGAIN OUR FEARLESS MAYOR’S BIG YAPPER HAS COST US BIG BUCKS.
    HERE IS THE LIST OF CURRENT LAWSUITS, MOST OF THEM DUE TO OUR FEARLESS MAYOR’S BIG YAPPER –

    Coalition for Open Government v. City of Lancaster, Case No. BC499047
    Quartz Hills Cares v. City of Lancaster, Case No. BS 122336
    Palmdale v. Lancaster – Case No. BC443280
    Lancaster v. Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles (HACoLA) Case No. MC023649
    Rubin v. Lancaster – United States District Court Case No. CV 10-4046 DSF (JCx)
    Miracle Star Women’s Recovering Community, Inc. et al. v. City of Lancaster, et al. LASC Case No. MC 020079
    Save Our Neighborhood Group v. City of Lancaster, et al. Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. BS 121501.

    IN OTHER DEVELOPMENTS , CONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER TO OUR NEWEST PLANNING COMMISSIONER RYAN CRIST. IF HIS NAME SOUNDS FAMILIAR IT IS BECAUSE IT IS FAMILIAR. HE IS THE SON OF VICE MAYOR MARVIN CRIST. AFTER OUR FEARLESS MAYOR PREVIOUSLY APPOINTED HIS EMPLOYEE KIT SZETO AS DEPUTY MAYOR, THIS LATEST MOVE SHOWS HOW FAR AND WIDE THE APPOINTMENTS ARE IN THIS TOWN. WORD ON THE STREET IS THAT THE NEXT APPOINTMENT WILL BE A THIRD COUSIN OR STEP UNCLE OF A YET TO BE NAMED COUNCILMAN.
    LASTLY, IT IS SAD TO SAY GOODBYE TO RAE’S CUPCAKES ON THE BLVD. ALWAYS A GREAT CUPCAKE.
    THIS HAS BEEN CAP’N LANCASTER WITH YOUR LANCASTER UPDATE. AT EASE!

    • Rae’s Cupcakes are still available on the BLVD at Xogurt yogurt located directly in front of their previous location. You can also find them at Vince’s Pasta and Pizza on L and 30th West.

      • So, Adam, why is that? The BLVD is the ‘heart of the Valley’ and how many businesses there have come and gone so far? Or, just gone?

        • They outgrew that location and directed their focus on business to business services from what I understand. They now offer their cupcakes at various retail locations including some outside of the Antelope Valley.
          That spot on the BLVD along with many others are great incubators for businesses to ‘feel out’ an idea and potentially grow from. There have been a few and will always be businesses moving on and off the BLVD.. It happens all over the A.V. (everywhere for that matter) in the same way..
          CAPN LANCASTER – Is so out of the loop that he didn’t even know that Rae’s has been out of that location for so long that another business had already been in and out of it before Maribel’s Bakery opened a second location there.

          • Well put Mr. Chant,
            It’s a great idea for the up and coming to see if their business will fly up here or not…great exposure…
            as for CAPN LANCASTER…. enough said, he speaks for himself, out of tune and out of touch :)

          • Boy, Adam Chant, you sure know how to ‘spin’. This is the first I’ve heard about the ‘incubation’ idea. It would have made sense if that is how Parris had promoted the BLVD from the start.

            Did you just make it up?

            Why don’t they just line up food trucks on the BLVD so they are portable. Then, after the incubation period, they can just drive them somewhere else.

          • I would not say Rae’s outgrew anything. They got rid of all their employees and closed their store front, that is not out growing at all. They also closed because Scott Elrich wanted to open more stores down below, focusing their attention to his stores out of our town, not only getting rid of jobs but also taking taxes away. Thanks a lot

          • Rae’s moved in January of this year, and has become a wholesaler. XOgurt and Vince’s Pasta and Pizza are carrying Rae’s cupcakes & cake pops as well as shops in Agoura Hills and Santa Anita/Arcadia. New stores are opening in Thousand Oaks, Huntington Beach/El Segundo. Employees that ran the storefront were let go, true. However, there is still a staff in Lancaster handling the business. This business has been growing non-stop since it’s introduction on the BLVD. (just to set the facts straight:)

    • There are ‘banana republics’. Is Lancaster a ‘banana city’?

      You betcha, to borrow from the Queen of the teapartiers, Sarah Palin, who spends 6 months of the year in darkness.

      And, those are the summer months.

  10. @Frank the Rizzo.

    It is officially called the Affordable Care Act but the tea partiers called it ‘Obamacare’ as a pejorative from the beginning.

    Now that millions of Americans rushed to the website, apparently wanting health insurance, the sleazy tea party types, you sound like one, want to stop calling it Obamacare. Too funny. They and you are like children.

    You would have fit right in in Germany in the 1930s, Rizzo.

    • I repeat. The tea party republicans are liars. I see no one is here to defend their lies.

      BTW. What happened to the ‘birthers’? Did they die off? About 30% of the party still thinks the President is a foreign born non-citizen while they accept Cruz’s birth in Canada. They are also hypocrites. They’ve got it all. Democrats just need to stay out of their way as they self-destruct.

      Historians are going to have to get stoned to write about this period of history to match the material. The GOP has gone off the cliff and wants to take the country with them.

      Oh, Rizzo, the tea partiers also called themselves the ‘teabaggers’ before they found out what it meant. They are always fooling with the language and end up shooting themselves in both feet.

  11. Last night on Rachel Maddow’s show, she played over a dozen video clips of tea party candidates campaigning on wanting to SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT. It’s on tape. She didn’t make it up. They ran on it.

    Then, when they got to Congress they began working on shutting down the government, over and over from January 2011.

    Now, the liars are saying they didn’t want to shut down the government. Obama and Reid wanted to. And, all the pundits on Fox News are saying the same thing. There seems to be only 1 brain in the tea party and a million mouths all saying the same thing.

    They are liars. Plain and simple and now the government is shut down and they were giddy last night and drunk as well as their plan succeeded.

    So, if any of you folks here try to blame the Democrats for the shutdown, I’m here to remind you of who is really responsible. Like I said, it’s on tape.

    • I saw that the night of the shutdown. At a rally, the crowd starts to chant “Cut it or Shut it!” repeatedly. Such a sad day for American democracy. The worst part is, is that the ACA isn’t a new law that was being thrown in the mix like the Keystone XL. It’s already been here! Cry babies will be just that. No matter how flawed the ACA may be, suddenly cutting off millions of Americans from bgeing able to even have insurance is insane. Funny how conservatives spew there religous message about God and Jesus but when it comes to taking care of one another they all harmoniously become Judas. And taking care of each other is not the same as gov’t dependence, not the same as leeching, and not the same as fraud. It’s a basic principle all humankind should live on. Crazy how people can actually treat health insurance as a luxury, not a necessity. But in any case, this shutdown clearly falls to the red state and I think everyone knows that. Latest polling shows Congressional approval in the single digits, SINGLE DIGITS!! How embarassing. Oh well, right? Who cares about that polling data and doing the job you were elected to do, right? All that matters to them is the future of their political career. What’s even more disturbing is that Ted Cruz had no prior political experience and now he’s leading the GOP. What a shame.

    • Who’s responsible? Let’s see… The House Republicans first voted to fund all of government — except Obamacare. Obama refused to negotiate and Senate Democrats refused to pass it. Then the Republicans voted to fully fund the government, but merely delay the implementation of Obamacare for one year. Obama refused to negotiate and Senate Democrats refused to pass it. Obamacare is such a disaster that the people who wrote it refuse to live under it themselves. That’s right, Congress won a waiver from Obamacare. Finally, the Republicans voted to fully fund the government, but added a requirement that everyone live under Obamacare. No more special waivers for Congress and their staff, and no waivers for big business without the same waivers for individuals. Obama refused to negotiate and Senate Democrats refused to pass it. That is the only reason the government isn’t funded.

      • Tparty republicans RAN on shutting down the governemnt in 2010 and were planning it snce they took office. They create one of these crises every few months.

        If it wasn’t Obamacare, it would be something else.

        But, it’s OK. GOP poll numbers are in the tank and they might lose some House seats next year.

        People are catching on to the craziness of the tparty.

        • @ William – it doesn’t bother you that (the) government won’t have to follow the same “laws” as the rest of us?

          • The government already doesn’t follow the same laws as the rest of us. This is nothing new. For instance, corporations don’t buy our votes or lobby the American people to vote a certain way with looming threats. We’re not challenged to be replaced if we don’t play ball. Yes, it is bothersome, but the ACA is nothing new as far as government compliance in conjunction with the rest of us.

          • NO! What bothers me are the crazy tea party people who don’t know nuttin’ ’bout nuttin’ and ran the country into the ditch over and over. They’ve done more damage than anything the government has ever done to me or millions of other Americans.

            Got it?

          • I “got it” all right. And, if you think all that bleeding heart bull crap helps our Country then, you are a nut. You’re so busy name calling that you make no point. Saying things like “They’ve done more damage…”, isn’t saying anything. What EXACTLY do you mean?

          • Well, Lindakins. They estimate that the shutdown cost the coutnry $24 BILLION because the teaparty people ran on shutting down the government in 2012, won seants in the House and eventually forced Boehner to do it.

            After all that, the republicans got NOTHING and shut down the government for over 2 weeks just because they are crazy.

            Are you one of those tea party people?

          • (No William I don’t drink tea) Im just your average American who loves her FREEDOM country. I feel the President of the United States of America should run the Country, you know make us some money, and leave his personal opinion at home. So what do you think about the $300 million its costing to fix your Obamacare website?

          • @Linda s. ‘Freedom’ in all caps? Yes. You are a tea party person and you don’t make much sense either. I don’t blame for you not wanting to admit you’re a tea person. They are not too popular nowadays.

            You are complaining about $300 to fix something while the tea party cost us $24 billion with a ‘b’ and we and they got nothing.

            You are looking in the wrong place in order to complain.

  12. Day 1 of gov’t shutdown. Edwards AFB civilian employees receiving immediate furlough notices, among a long list of other detrimental effects. As an Independent, I am curious to know if any local Republicans think a shut down was the right way to go…
    The count, I think, to alter/abolish/repeal/defund/delay/starve the ACA is upwards to almost 50 now. Do any Republicans in the AV think this is acceptable by the House GOP to keep beating this dead horse? The House (since 2010), has yet to pass any legislation that positively impacts the US of A. Instead they’ve taken to try to just undo laws and come up with legislation that never stands a chance. Lest we forget the Farm Bill, too. Happy with your House. I most certainly am not.

    • Back around late 2009 after the summer’s town hall meetings where the tea partiers threw hissy fits, I concluded that the GOP was not the ‘loyal opposition’ but needed intervention by mental health professionals.

      How right I was. They are stark raving mad and they’ll take down the country if they aren’t stopped.

      It’s amazing how all the nuts in this country migrated over to the republican party. Unfortunately, the few remaining sane ones seem helpless or indifferent to what has happened to their party.

      The same arrogant and divisive behavior of Rex Parris is no different than a Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich or any one of a number of nutty, lying republicans. Remember those GOP debates, caucuses and primaries where one after another was #1 for about a week till people found out how crazy they were? Then, they settled on a nominee that even the republicans didn’t like.

      They lost the election but act like they won. Un-*%$#ing believable.

      “It’s their party. Let them cry if they want to”. My apologies to Leslie Gore.

  13. Just read on the Get Parris Out Of Lancaster website that the judge said there won’t be an election in Palmdale.
    Districts will have to be formed.

    NOW IS THE TIME TO BOYCOTT SHOPPING IN LANCASTER EVERY CHANCE YOU GET.

    There is nothing there that we can’t live without. If I had the money, I’d put up billboards on every street approaching Lancaster from the south. I invite Quartz Hill residents to shop and dine in Palmdale as well. Palmdale didn’t put a Walmart in the middle of your neighborhoods.

    The ‘birthing tourism’
    The lawsuits here, there and everywhere
    The unwanted roundabouts.
    The crime in Lancaster
    The unwanted LEAPS
    and so on.

    If you live in Lancaster, how has your life improved since Parris took over the town like he owns it? Have solar panels out in the desert made your life any better. Have a few new restaurants on the BLVD made the quality of your life significantly improved? If you’re not a fanatical Christian, do you want prayers at your council meetings while the behavior of the mayor and council is anything but Christian? Do you like having your neighboring cities hate your mayor and council for the unbelievable stunts they’ve pulled? Be careful what you say, however, as there’s a spy plane over your house right now.

    Parris has got to go before he does any more damage to the Antelope Valley. Ask Quartz Hill and Palmdale. Even Lancaster residents are suffering under his dictatorship. Remember, Lancaster voters, Parris said THAT WE NEED SECTION 8 IN THE ANTELOPE VALLEY TO OCCUPY THE EMPTY HOUSES. Yes, he did. I wonder how many he and his friends own Section 8 rentals and receive our tax dollars to cover the rent/mortgage payments.

    • Lancaster residents are suffering and so now will all of the businesses too if anyone listens to you. Boycotting the businesses will do nothing to improve the situation and in fact make it worse because hundreds of people will be unemployed.. real smart..

      • If they’re suffering let them oust that despicable excuse for a human being who is their mayor.
        BOYCOTT Lancaster, shop Palmdale, get out of your apathy and fight with your wallet.
        R Rex Parris is depriving you of your most precious right as a citizen, the right to vote.

      • No way. It’s up to Lancaster voters AND business owners to set Parris straight.

        What? You want Palmdale and Quartz Hill residents to pretend Parris has done nothing harmful to either city. Their cities and their tax dollars.

        Suffer or get rid of him. Take your pick.

        I tell everyone I talk to about what’s going on and to boycott Lancaster if they think it’s appropriate for them. It’s their choice once they know what Parris and his gang have done.

        Many of my Palmdale friends and neighbors don’t read the Antelope Valley Press and are probably aware how bad it’s gotten with him and his antics. We need to protect our city and if it causes you distress, too bad, John Howard. Just who do you think you are telling me not to protect the interests of my city?

        If you don’t like it, write or talk to Parris and not me. Got it?????

    • Why would anybody shop in Lancaster? The minute you get out of the car your life is endangered by gangs, hoodlums, etc. Plus Lancaster is just filthy. I’d much rather shop and do business in Palmdale. I feel safe in most places and the city is well maintained.

      • You people are funny. I think you are referring to all the AV and not just Lancaster. All of the AV is a dump. People here even dump their trash on the roads around all over the AV. Stop all of you Lancaster vs Palmdale petty crap, its getting old. (Id rather get an enema than shop at X), really loll’s.

        • Sounds just like the Republicans blaming the Democrats & the Democrats blaming the Republicans.
          Actually, except for Costco in Lancaster or Trader Joe’s in Palmdale I shop online or Santa Clarita. The stores in both towns are pretty crappy & the AV Mall is the worst I have ever been in!

    • William:
      Very well stated. I only set foot in Lancaster to go to the VA clinic. Lancaster is not a very friendly city. I shop in Palmdale because it is a friendly city.

  14. I wish there was a lay or ordinance to prevent “yard” signs being placed all over the Valley during election times. There are already a lot of signs for Barbara Willibrand for High School Board….. there should only be large 4×8 signs aloud every mile max for these types of “advertising”. The small signs meant for private yards littered throughout the valley looks bad, and most get blown and litter the fields. I really hate it when numerous signs are placed along the road every 100 feet.

    • I think the best you can hope for is homeowners’ association neighborhoods putting regulations in place. Otherwise it can be argued that such a law would impede free speech.

      • Maybe littering? Or can anyone put out signs for anything? It just makes a trash littered landscape that much worse….

        • I can see littering….Most yard sell signs have an address on them so if the person having the yard sell does not remove the signs or they end up in the streets or fields they would know who to charge with littering…Why don’t they do that now and enforce it??

    • There are ordinance against littering couches and matress box springs etc., around the city doesn’t seem to help.

  15. Does anybody know what was going on 30th west in Palmdale last night around 11? There seemed to be some sort of pursuit from what I could hear and it seemed to end around Cottonwood or Highland.

  16. I’ll bet all those newly minted citizens (when they return) will be certified spies for the Red Chines. They’ll pose a risk for all military ops in the AV.

    Rex should be investigated by DHS for being a suspected spy and terrorists.

  17. So the Valley Press appears to be on the fritz… This little gem was forwarded to me just now: http://jimromenesko.com/2013/08/02/california-newspaper-reduces-staffers-work-week-to-39-hours-and-ends-their-benefits/

    Apparently the big wigs at the Valley Press will be scaling back their workers to 39 hour work weeks to avoid paying benefits??? The article is sketchy and doesn’t have a whole lot of info. Anyone care to enlighten me? That paper snatches $16 from by bank account every month and I need to know what I’m paying for!

    • I quit the AV Press a couple years ago and almost immediately discovered the AV Times which fills me in on much of the local news.

      I’d just as soon the AV Press go out of business. They raised their prices a while back and it’s pretty expensive for a local right wing rag. The front section has some local news which the Times also has. The national/international section, I never bothered with because I already knew the stories from the previous night’s tv news shows.

      I used to read the Letters to the Editor and the Opinion page but usually got sick of the same old tea party letter writers same old, same old.

      Maybe, if the AV Press goes under, we won’t have to hear so much from Rex Parris which is a good thing.

      • On that same note, why don’t they print local obituaries instead of people from other countries, etc?

      • I’ll wager you that R. Rex ‘protecting you’ buys (or invests) in the paper to keep it alive and have editorial control. he did that with AV News (via buying large ads.)

        The Fern Street mafia has their evil tentacles in everything they can get their meat-hooks into. They want to control ALL of the AV.

        • The tables might be turning on Rex. He’s stepped on so many toes. A person can’t do that forever and ever.

          I wonder what his next outrageous statement or action or lawsuit will be. He’s not gonna wait till next July to whine about fireworks in Palmdale.

          • Rex’s pay for citizenship baby scheme may have finally opened people’s eyes about this guy. First it was the Mongols, then his Christian Community, then fighting David Abber, then his bird sounds, then his eye in the sky, then his Walmart, then his war on section 8, then his support of bigot Stan and bigot Sherry, then his lawsuits. Quite a guy he is.

    • Thanks to your president and his “Obamacare”!

      Get used to this! More and more places are going to have to cut back on their employees hours. Your president has successfully punished what’s left of the working class by taking away their health insurance from them! Take a bow!

      • So the problem is that people should be allowed to have healthcare at a fair cost and not be exempted for pre-existing conditions?
        Or is the problem that coporations/companies posting record profits, don’t care enough about their employees’ well being?
        The problem is greed and no real care for the average American who makes the company what it is. Not that a president is trying to ensure everyone has access to health care at a fair cost.

          • Well, for starters, they aren’t uninsured Americans. I’m retired and on Medicare and United Health Care, so I don’t need to sign up for ACA.

            Nice try, though.

            Oh, and it’s called ‘Obamacare’. Why are you guys going back to calling it ACA? Is it because millions of Americans overwhelmed the website yesterday, perhaps, and they like it and they want it?

            In Kentucky, it’s called KentuckyConnect or something and when asked, people don’t realize it’s that state’s version of Obamacare under a different name to hide the fact. Those republicans, always up to tricks.

            The tea party republicans should be renamed the Titanic Party or the Donner Party causing they are eating each other and are sinking fast.

            I’m making popcorn while I enjoy their last days.

          • ITs not called Obama care or Sotorro Care, its the affordable care act. I think the affordable care act would be better if at retirement age old people could choose doctor assisted suicide for themselves and put themselves out of misery. There are allot of miserable old people here in the AV. That would be a win/win for everyone willy, don’t you agree???

          • Yeah that’s the problem with it, and that’s exactly the manner in which I was responding to an ignorant comment. Basically these companies are choosing to shaft the little man because they are heartless and need to pinch every penny. So they would rather pay a penalty, cut hours, or issue WARN notices because providing benefits for the very employees that are the face of the enterprise, is blasphemous. Someone said jobs being lost are because of the ACA. I say no, it’s because of corporate greed. What’s even more disgusting is that these companies can provide the most expensive, robust plan to their employees and still come out on top with a nice profit margin.

          • The ACA is more than just an insurance policy. The government will be involved in every aspect of your health care, from deciding when and which specialist you get to see to determining what treatments you will be authorized to receive. Doesn’t matter where you got your insurance from. Enjoy.

          • Turn off your conservative media outlets because your just regirgitating what they are saying. You will not be forced to eat veggies, you will not be dictated on your healthcare, and you will not be told where to go. The doctors choose if they’ll accept your insurance or not, the receptionist let’s you know when you can and when you cannot come in based on availability, and the gov’t will just have your info via the exchanges. But guess what? They’ve had your info since the all-intrusive PATRIOT ACT was passed. Joe, cite your sources. Maybe straight from the act itself.

          • And William, since your so wise maybe you can tell me just who Obama buys his health insurance from?

            Oh and Mister, my source, My daughter, a registered nurse who works at a hospital and is already watching it happen. But then I’m sure you will tell me she’s crazy or something, right?

          • Hmmmm…watching it happen huh? Considering the exchanges opened only 2 days ago for enrollment, effective 2014, I would say she isn’t crazy, just ill-informed. Again cite it in the ACA, you know, the actual legislation regarding the healthcare. I have not been dictated on when/where to go for my care. Nothing has changed for me. The only limitations I have, are set forth by Blue Cross/Blue Shield, just the same as with any insurance company. They set the rules, not the government, on when/where you receive your care. Read the law, not take someone’s word for it.

          • Yea I guess she could be imagining things or just hallucinating but then again being a trained nurse working in the healthcare system she might be right.

          • Yes, she very well could be right, just because she is trained in the field. Similarly to Marines that abused a fellow Asian Marine so much so, that he died. But they must be right in doing so because they were trained for their profession. Look, I don’t doubt your daughter’s intelligence and comprehension of the way things may be presented to her, but the law is the law. I do encourage you to read it.

        • LOL – another bleeding heart. Here are some facts: Obamacare will allow insurers to charge 50 percent higher premiums for smokers, but prohibits insurers from increasing premiums for those with HIV/AIDS. Health plans valued at $27,500 or more for a family of four will be taxed at a rate of 40 percent. No doctors who went to an American medical school will be accepting Obamacare. Congress thought it was so great that they voted themselves a waiver. Obamacare is turning America into a part-time nation. According to a recent report by economist John Lott, 97 percent of all jobs added to the economy so far this year have been part-time jobs.

          • LOL-another greed-stricken person. Obamacare charging more for smokers certainly isn’t a problem with me, and I smoke. Life insurers do the same thing already. HIV/AIDS is beyond your control once contracted, whereas smoking is a choice; makes sense. Please support your 40% tax claim with some proof(and not from a conservative wensite please, maybe the actual legislation itself). Obamacare isn’t an insurance plan that a doctor can refuse, it is a law. The insurance providers will still be Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Kaiser, Aetna, Healthnet, etc. You know those names, right? Good ol’ insurance companies participating in the exchanges. Highly doubt your claim of no doctors that attended American Medical School will refuse the same insurance policies they already accept because it’s now subsidized (or in other words…guaranteed payment from the gov’t). Obamacare isn’t turning the nation’s workforce part-time, it’s the companies. Nowhere in the law does it state to reduce hours or eliminate jobs, that is PURELY the comapnies’ doing. It’s called penny pinching with no moral regard for the workers, who are the very face of their companies. These are the same people harking about Jesus and Biblical morals who show anything but. Yes, Congress did vote themselves a waiver, a little shameful, yes, but they also take advantage of tax credits and loopholes as well, that they refuse to close. No outrage there? Turn of the Fox News and read things for what they ARE, not for what they are PRESENTED to be.

          • @Mr Mister

            Well said, especially about the ‘greed-stricken’ person. The greed monster was let out with Reagan. The greed really took off starting with his blessing and huge tax cuts for the rich. But, that wasn’t enough for them. They upped the executive compensation while workers wages remained stagnant since then despite increased productivity.

            Plus, the 1% floated all kinds of schemes and scams since then that caused one recession after another. These weren’t normal business cycle recessions but the result of greed and fraud, y’know like bundling toxic home mortgages, reselling them while saying they were good investments and taking out insurance against them when they failed. Yeah, unions, teachers, government workers, welfare recipients, etc., all got together and caused the crash of 2008. They are the ones being punished for the work of the Wall Street crooks.

            Scratch the surface of any GOP/tparty policy or position and it falls apart.
            We’ve been hearing them whine about poor workers being reduced to part-time. Out of the other side of their mouths, they love that businessmen are cutting costs by doing so. So, which is it. Hypocrites to the max.

          • @William, exactly. And what’s worse is they try to flip the script and call anyone with common sense and logical reasoning an elitist, when they themselves are the elitists with elitist funds. What’s even funnier, or scarier rather, is that if an idea is gets stuck in their heads, it is tatooed there despite research, facts, and ever-conclusive data. If someone on the right said the sky was green, they would all die with that idea in their heads despite numerous facts concluding the contrary. So disturbing. I know this isn’t true of all on the right, but a vast majority. Some on the left are guilty of hypocrisy as well, but it’s far worse on the right. I was watching crossfire last week and Jesse Ventura was there and he had some excellent ideas. One being that they should remove the candidate’s party from the ballots. That way people find out who they are voting for as opposed to what they believe they are voting for. Got to love that Independent thinking.

          • The GOP tea party or whateve ii is now is so nutty, they vote against their own bills or bills they’ve amended.

            My favorite act of idiocy was when they voted in the House a couple years ago for a budget bill that they really didn’t want passed but just for show. The Democrats outfoxed them by simply voting ‘Present’ and so Boehner had to hold the voting open a couple more minutes so some republicans could change their ‘Yes’ votes to ‘No’. That’s truly how disgusting and ridiculous they are.

            I think it was Eric Cantor, a couple years ago, that exclamed that a bill that was passed by the GOP in the House was already the law of the land even though it hadn’t gone to the Senate or was signed by the President.

            Not only are they nutty but ignorant of how the government works.

            I hope we’ve seen the last of Linda s and her silliness. When I saw her write ‘bleeding heart’ I thought it might be FOREWARNED under a new username. The comment had that same hateful quality to it.

          • John Lott is also a Fox News opinion contributor, so I guess that’s where Linda s gets all her ‘knowledge’.

            Fox won a lawsuit in Florida allowing them to lie and/or distort when reporting the news as a First Amendment right. And, they sure take advantage of it. Canada won’t allow Fox News to operate there because they have rules against dishonest news reporting. Wish we had that rule.

  18. Remember a while back when the previous hospital administrator left, supposedly the finances of the AV Hospital were in great shape.

    What the heck happened since then or was it all a big lie?

    That place has regularly been in the news since I moved here in 1990 with some controversy or another.

    • Part of the problem is that the county/state does not pay medical/medicare the same as before. There was also something a few years ago about how bonds and other debts become due and money was needed to pay those off.

  19. Regarding the Dr. Farroukh wanting to make the A.V. Hospital NICU a birthing center for foreigners, I say NO!!!!. Firstly, the reason he wants to do it is because he got $100 million bond to give the hospital a face lift. Have you seen it. It looks more like a factory than a hospital. I’m sure the INS won’t be happy either. If a foreign child is born there, they are a US citizen. Dr. F knows and doesn’t care. I see future fleecers of the A.V. Once the child is born, fat chance you can deport the child’s mom. I see welfare candidates and future jobs of my grankids gone. Dr. F has to take the fall for his money crisis. They can’t promise a return on the bond, and he is so desperate to get this going, he has allegedly lied to the public by saying certain key officials endorse him when they never even knew of his proposal. Time to step down Dr. F

    • THIS IS CITIZENSHIP FOR SALE WITH NATIONAL SECURITY AT STAKE. WHAT OTHER SECRET DEALS HAVE BEEN MADE INDERT THE CLOAK OF DARKNESS?

      • Rex is connected at the hip with the Red Chinese. When t hey kick our butts in WWIII he wants to be in t heir good graces.

    • After reading several articles on this, it is happening all over. Usually the mothers return to China with their children. They are only here for the US citizenship that is granted to their children. Now, in the future those same children can return and that could cause some issues in 15-20 year. Plus they can apply for green cards for their parents to also move here.

      The mothers who participate in this are defrauding both governments it would seem.