Valley View Casino held a groundbreaking Monday for its Four Diamond all-suite casino—scheduled to open in early 2010.
Designed exclusively for adults, the hotel will feature lavish suites, expanded guest service and luxurious amenities.
Designed by JMA Architecture Studios, the hotel will feature 161 suites, including 16–1,000 square foot luxury suites and one 2,000 square foot penthouse suite.
It will also feature a 5,000 square foot spa; 3,500 square foot fitness center; infinity edge pool with cabana service; a new lobby bar and lounge; gift shop; event center and a new Asian concept restaurant.
The new Valley View Casino hotel will have an adults-only policy.
Because of guest services and amenities, the casino anticipates that the resort will become a luxury destination for high-rollers, discriminating travelers and the entertainment industry.
“Our guests have been asking for a hotel and now we are extremely pleased to be able to not only deliver that to them but exceed their wildest expectations,” said Mike Gorczynski, general manager at Valley View Casino. “This hotel is going to be a first-class property that will allow our guests to elevate their Valley View Casino experience to a whole new level.”
“Breaking ground for our hotel is an exciting step in our expansion process,” said Joe Navarro, president and CEO of the San Pasqual Casino Development Group, Inc. “We have already achieved excellence in the gaming, dining and entertainment arenas. Now we are going to take our commitment to guest service and excitement and create a luxury casino hotel that will be unmatched in San Diego.”
This marks the third major expansion project for Valley View Casino. In December of 2007 Valley View Casino completed a $114 million expansion of the casino adding additional gaming and dining space.
Last June construction began on its smoke-free casino addition and live poker room that will open Dec. 19, 2008.
For more information please call 1-866-VIEW-WIN or go to www.valleyviewcasino.com/
Last week Ryan Armstrong, of VC’s largest chicken ranching family, appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show to defend his way of life against the Humane Society of the United States.
Wayne Pacelle, chief executive officer of the society, and a close friend of Winfrey, had asked for time to promote California’s Prop. 2, the “Standards for Confining Farm Animals,” initiative that would change how laying hens are housed—and which will, if passed, probably put the Armstrongs out of business.
It will also, says Armstrong, increase the cost for a dozen eggs to consumers by about 100%. And it won’t stop eggs produced by caged birds from being sold. It will simply cause them to be imported from places like Iowa or Mexico, which such restrictions don’t exist, he says.
The proposition requires that enclosures for farm animals allow the animals to lie down, stand up, turn around and extend their limbs.
Armstrong was invited on the show to provide “balance.”
“They needed someone on the other side. I was the only one they could get,” he told The Roadrunner.
From Armstrong’s perspective, “it was the Humane Society’s show.” Note: This Humane Society is different from the one that runs shelters in San Diego County. The one in question is a national lobbying organization.
“We were treated fairly as far as we could be considering that it was their show. We weren’t invited because Oprah wanted to be neutral but because Wayne Pacelle wanted to be on there,” says Armstrong.
He credits the show with doing some fact checks on some of Pacelle’s allegations about animal cruelty. “They were fair in that respect. They gave me a lot more time than anyone else. We had probably 15 minutes.”
Armstrong notes that every major newspaper in the state, except the San Diego Union Tribune, opposes Prop. 2. Polls show that the initiative is leading statewide.
“Our birds can stand up, sit down and spread their wings, they just can’t do it without touching the cage, their neighbors or the barn,” says Armstrong.
The proposition would, in effect, get rid of caged chickens on egg ranches.
The Armstrongs, like other area egg producing ranches, have both caged and cage free chickens. The cage free eggs sell about twice the price of the caged chicken eggs.
“California has the highest food safety standards. By importing eggs we throw our standards out of the window. Even if we wanted to compete even in cage free we wouldn’t be able to compete,” says Armstrong.
If Prop. 2 passes, “it kind of looks like we would go out of business. We would have to figure out something else to do, but I don’t think it would be with chickens. That’s why we are fighting so hard,” he says.
The family has 650,000 chickens in Valley Center.
Even if they could switch over they don’t have enough room to produce the same amount of eggs under the new rules.
“They would want us to go from a cage 1.5 square feet to to 5.4 sq feet. Mind you, raising chickens in the back yard is perfectly fine, but if you want to feed California it’s not feasible.
“They claim it’s an animal welfare issue, but it does nothing to improve bird health. All they are doing is moving chickens in from Mexico or Iowa,” says Armstrong.
“If they wanted to improve the birds they would have gotten the state veterinarians involved. Their goal is to get rid of animal agriculture in California and they are doing a good job of it.”
Valley Center High School celebrated Homecoming this weekend with a big win over Mt. Carmel in football, complete with the crowning of a king and queen at halftime.
The Jaguars took advantage of Mt. Carmel’s mistakes to run away with a 66-14 victory in front of a full house of Valley Center fans.
Before the game, each of the classes showed off its float, and when the votes were tallied, the seniors’ float, “Freak Show,” was declared the winner. The class of 2009 also raised the most money in fund-raising leading up to the weekend.
At halftime, the Homecoming court was announced, and each of the princes and princesses was accompanied by his or her parents across the stage. They are, Freshmen: Mitchell Bohnstehn, Larisa Lucero; Sophomores: David Last II, Jocelyn Felicano; Juniors, Haydne Shimer, Rebecca Stehly.
The voting came down to three candidates for king and three more for queen, with Jonathan Reveles named king and Alejandra Soria named queen.
For more photos of the homecoming court, see page B8, and for the full story of the football game, see page B1.
The official ground-breaking ceremony to launch the construction of St. Bartholomew’s Catholic Church took place on Thursday morning, Oct. 16 at the Rincon reservation.
The original historic church was burned in the Poomacha fire almost a year ago on Oct. 24, 2008.
“It is a great day that we are here to break ground for the new chapel that was destroyed in the fire,” said George Arviso, Rincon tribal member and steward of the church. “We are anxious to build this chapel and place of worship for the surrounding communities.”
About 60 community members gathered outside for the groundbreaking ceremony, which included parish members, tribal members from La Jolla, Pala, Pauma, and Rincon. Supporters from the Rincon Kateri Circle and the Los Angeles Tekakwitha Club were also present. Spirits were high in the warm weather that morning.
“We are very honored and privileged to have Shepherd Bishop Braun to bless the ground, signifying that this place is a holy place for worship, so that people can come and worship the Creator,” Arviso said.
Arviso introduced other clergy present including: Father Ray and Deacon Dan of Pala Mission, also Father Luke, previously of Pala Mission.
“This is a great day for the Rincon Catholic Community and the Rincon tribe,” Ed Reed, Rincon tribal member, and church steward said.
Reed talked about the devastation of the brush fire that raced through the reservation burning the church and causing damage of major proportions.
After the fire the church committee met to discuss plans to rebuild a new church. Through donations from the community, fund-raisers and the Rincon Tribal Council, a new church will be built. He thanked everyone for their support and making it possible to rebuild.
Shepherd Bishop Braun, of the Catholic Diocese of San Diego, prayed and blessed the construction site with holy water. After the traditional blessing, Bishop Braun, Father Luke Jauregui, Father Reynaldo Manahan, Deacon Dan Powers, the church committee and Rincon tribal council took up shovels and turned over the first pieces of ground for construction of the new building.
Arviso said he tried to research on the history of the original church but, the documents on St. Bartholomew’s church stored at Mission San Luis Rey were destroyed when the mission burnt. He said the blessing and rededication of the church today, was very important to him and the community.
“This day will go down in history,” Arviso said.
The architect for the new church is Architect Kevin de Freitas. The new church will be built where the former church was destroyed during the Poomacha fire. The new church will be expanded and handicapped accessible. The interior will also be expanded by 40-50 feet. It will include a new multipurpose room that can be used for church functions. The existing belltower will remain.
“The church will be double the size for the future of our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” Arviso said.
At the event, Bea Ornelas, Rincon Tribal elder, was honored for her years of dedication for cleaning and maintaining St. Bartholomew’s church.
“Within a year we can return here to dedicate the new chapel and we can rededicate ourselves in the journey with Jesus Christ, from sadness to joy, from darkness to light,” Bishop Braun said.
* * *
Colleen Turner is a member of the Rincon Tribe.
Robert Hamilton, Democratic candidate for the 49th Congressional District, visited VC recently on two occasions, to attend a candidate forum Oct. 9 at the library sponsored by the local Democratic Party, and to drop by The Roadrunner office for an interview.
The Fallbrook resident is running against incumbent Darrell Issa. Note: We would have interviewed Issa if he had ever contacted us and asked for an interview, or visited Valley Center.
Born in Kankakee, Ill., Hamilton grew up in Cuba, where his father had a job with Swift & Co. He lived there during the last days of the Batista dictatorship and the opening days of the Castro regime. When Castro nationalized Swift’s holdings, his family started over from nothing.
“Because of what I experienced I appreciate our constitution and Bill of Rights and appreciate the need of our officials to stand by it,” he says.
Hamilton settled in Los Angeles where he attended high school and UCLA and served in the Navy as a nuclear weapons officer, providing fire support in Vietnam.
Back in the states he joined Bank of America and later American Express, where he did a variety of functions in South America and Spain–helped enormously by being bilingual.
He returned to the U.S. in the 1980s to raise a family and retired four years ago.
“I moved to Fallbrook, played golf and was increasingly appalled at the state of affairs in our country and the world–so I got involved.”
Two years ago he was appointed to the county Democratic Central Committee, and campaigned with that year’s congressional nominee, Laurel Nickelson.
He was elected to the state central committee and became president of the Fallbrook Democratic Club, where he was increasingly asked to run for congress himself.
“I am a centrist and businessman retired,” says Hamilton. “The Iraqi War was a strategic blunder and it’s time to serve notice that we are going to be leaving.
“We need to give the veterans the care that we promised them and that we are not doing.
“We need to develop alternative sources of energy. I understand that some people feel we need to drill and I don’t have a problem with that, but we need alternative sources of energy so that we will be independent of the Middle East.
“We need to develop our infrastructure, highways, bridges that are now collapsing. We’ve been ignoring this stuff for 50 years. Investing in infrastructure creates jobs. so does investing in alternative sources of energy. We need to invest in education so our young people will have the education they need to compete in the global economy.
“We have a medical accessibility crisis. So we need to be working on some sort of healthcare for all of our citizens.
“I want to represent all of our district, not just special interests and a select partisan few.”
Hamilton describes himself as friendly to business. “I’m not against big business but I am for honest business.”
Speaking of his opponent Issa, he says: “The reason I say I’m for representing all of the people is that I find that he represents big business. I have been told by his office that he represents Republicans. That’s fine if you’re a Republican. He’s failed seniors, he’s failed veterans, he’s failed the environment, the working class, and the children. He just voted against the new G.I. bill.”
He criticizes Issa for opposing both economic packages. “I’m not for bailing out Wall Street but I am for stabilizing the financial markets so that we can avert a depression.
“The solution isn’t to just muddle through or walk away as Issa says. The solution is to dig in and work this out and make sure the proper controls, transparency, oversight and accountability are in place.”
Learn about Hamilton’s campaign by visiting www.roberthamiltonforcongress.com/
Vote yes on Prop. 8 signs have begun appearing around town. Larry Glavinic, directing the campaign locally, told The Roadrunner that some signs are being stolen. "So much for tolerance and supporting diversity!" he commented. He said that supporters will wave signs at intersections during peak driving hours starting this week. Shown are
Alan Hollingshead and Susan Glavinic.
The Valley Roadrunner
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