** MEDIA ALERT **
CONTACT: Lori Whalen, Director of Education, Environmental Nature Center, lori@encenter.org, 949-645-8489
ENC PRESENTS Summer nature camp open house
WHAT: The Environmental Nature Center (ENC) will host a Summer Camp Open House to showcase its eight-week summer camp. The Open House is free to attend. Continue reading
The SAUSD’s Superintendent, Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana, Ph.D., has issued a formal statement regarding the arrest of a former SAUSD teacher on charges of molesting two students and possessing graphic child pornagraphy, as follows, “We are deeply troubled to learn that a former teacher allegedly engaged in this reprehensible behavior and took advantage of the trust inherent in his profession. We are cooperating fully with the authorities, and encourage anybody with information that might aid their investigation to contact either the District Attorney’s office or the Newport Beach Police Department immediately.”
Anyone with additional information or who believes they may have been a victim is encouraged to contact NBPD Detective David Syvock at (949) 644-3771, SAUSDPD Sergeant Manuel Chavez at (714) 558-5739, or Supervising District Attorney Investigator Lou Gutierrez at (714) 347-8794.
UPDATE: My daughter Becky told me this evening that she complained about the teacher who was arrested, Alex Bassinne, in 2007, when she was a student at Santa Ana High School. Apparently Bassinne tried to touch her neck while he admired a necklace she was wearing. Becky met with the Assistant Principal at Santa Ana High. Unfortunately the Assistant Principal refused to conduct an investigation. Becky was transferred to another class but Bassinne was allowed to continue teaching. The girls he allegedly molested in 2009 and 2010 would have never been molested if the Assistant Principal my daughter complained to had done his job! Continue reading
GET THERE, GREENER – RIDE THE BUS WITH THE ENC AND OCTA
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., February 22, 2012 – As the cost of gas steadily rises throughout Orange County, reaching an average of $4.12 per gallon according to www.orangecountygasprices.com as of February 22, the Environmental Nature Center has partnered with the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) to put together a program focusing on greener alternatives to driving personal vehicles.
On Thursday, March 1 at 6 p.m., the ENC will host its “Getting there, Greener” program, alongside OCTA representatives, in an effort to get people out of their cars and onto a bus, train, bicycle, or into a ridesharing program. Continue reading