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Back in the race: Ayala grad discovers motivation in goals He’s the guy with the black gloves maneuvering his wheelchair down Pipeline Avenue on his way to the gym. Thomas Davila, 25, born with spin bifida, is training for the L.A. Marathon. Two weeks ago, the Chino Hills man journeyed to the gym for the first time in four months, making the almost two-mile trip trek from his Los Serranos home. He plans to increase his visits to three times a week. He’s not following a specific training plan.“I’m just winging it,” he said. Mr. Davila, a 2001 Ayala High graduate, is totally motivated after spending December in the hospital reflecting on his future. “Being in the hospital helped me get my mind straight,” he said. He emerged with four distinct goals: to obtain his driver’s license, enroll at Chaffey College, find a job, and compete in the marathon. His illness last winter forced him to drop out of Chaffey College two weeks before the semester ended, which discouraged him.” I’m going to return in the fall,” he said. “I want to major in accounting and stick with it. “He intends to overcome his apprehension and learn how to drive the 2003 S10 his dad purchased for him. “I know I can drive,” he said. “Fear has prevented me.” A few years ago, he was taking lessons from a friend, attempting to learn the vehicle’s hand controls. The lessons abruptly ended. “He was nervous and I couldn’t focus,” he said. Another friend, Greg Maris, 23, who also has spina bifida, has been encouraging him to learn to drive and become more independent. Mr. Maris said it took him a year to become proficient in the hand controls, but it was well worth it. The two friends talk every day and meet at the gym. Mr. Maris is also training for the marathon. Asked whose idea it was, they pointed at each other. Mr. Davila eventually conceded that it was his idea. A steady stream of fitness buffs greeted Mr. Davila at the gym last week, shaking his hand and patting him on the back. He has been a familiar face for a few years. Mr. Davila has been in a wheelchair for 20 years. He walked with leg braces and a walker until he was 5 year sold. Spina bifida means “open spine,” he said. His spinal cord never completely formed. His disability discourages him often. “I try not to let it bring me down,” he said. “There are times when I get depressed.” One thing that keeps him going is his 10-year-old brother, Jake. “He has so much energy and his energy keeps me going,” he said. Mr. Davila sees to it that his brother, a fourth grader at Glenmeade Elementary School, gets on the bus every morning. He won’t schedule anything in his day until his brother is safely on the bus. “With all the crazy people in the world, I’d never leave him alone,” he said. They play video games, watch television, and hang out at home. His parents, Tom and Laura, are supportive of him. “They both help me out a lot,” he said. “They take time off from their schedules and take me where I need to go.” Mr. Davila has done part-time work for his father, who owns Davila’s Custom Cabinets in Chino. He has helped his dad with paper-work, answering phones, and typing. His mom gets up early each day to work at Southern California Edison in Rosemead, he said. Mr. Davila loves music, attending concerts, and going on vacation with his family. He recently learned to swim and is enjoying water activities. Last weekend, he went to the Laughlin River Run. He’s a big fan of Harley Davidsons and chopper motorcycles. Although he doesn’t attend church every Sunday, he was raised Catholic and receives inspiration from his faith. A bracelet bearing images of the saints sustained him during his hospital stay. “Every time I looked at it, I knew God was helping me through my situation,” he said. Mr. Davila said he has enough upper body strength to maneuver himself in and out of his wheelchair to accomplish everyday activities. “I can do things other people can’t,” he said. “I’m going to run the marathon to prove I can do it — and I know I can.”
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Beef recall list identifies no new area businesses
State offers businesses way off beef recall list
Blood, sweat and tears
Beef recall affects local businesses Chino police arrest two in cruelty case Daniel Ugarte Navarro, 49, of Pomona and Jose Luis Sanchez, 32, of Chino were ordered to appear in Chino Superior Court for an arraignment hearing Feb. 15, but never showed up. The men were charged with abusing sick cattle at Chino-based Westland/HallmarkMeat Co., which is a supplier to the National School Lunch Program. Mr. Navarro was arrested last Saturday at his home at 11268 Dorset Ave. in Pomona. He is facing five felony counts of cruelty to animals and three misdemeanor counts of moving a non-ambulatory animal. He was released from the West Valley Detention Center after posting $75,000 bail, jail records show. If convicted, he could face up to eight years in state prison. Mr. Sanchez, 32, of Chino, was arrested Wednesday afternoon after he turned himself over to authorities. He is facing three misdemeanor counts of moving a non-ambulatory animal. Lt. Cheatham said the dis-trict attorney’s office is consid-ering filing a fourth misde-meanor charge against Mr.Sanchez for providing a falsename to police. “Based upon fingerprints, the jail has notified us that his name is actually Rafael Herrera,” Chino Police Lt. Al Cheatham said. He is being held without bail because of an immigration hold placed on him, according to jail records. On Thursday morning, he pleaded not guilty to the three misdemeanor charges.“We had been in contact with (Mr. Sanchez’s) family for the last several days and he knew he was wanted,” Lt. Cheathamsaid. “The family had been cooperating with police. He walked in to the police department and we immediately took him into custody based on the warrant that had been issued on him. He did not invoke his rights and spoke with investigators.”An arraignment hearing for Mr. Navarro has not yet been set, court records show. On a video released by the U.S. Humane Society, two men are seen jabbing sick cattle with forklift blades, spraying a high-pressure water hose into another’s mouth and nose and poking another animal in the eye.The day after the video surfaced, both men were fired. Westland President Steve Mendell said he was “shocked, saddened and sickened” by what he saw on the video.
Beef recall covers Westland output to Feb.2006 Agriculture Secretary Ed Schaefer said the slaughterhouse did not routinely contact its veterinarian when cows couldn’t move after passing inspection. “Because the cattle did not receive complete and proper inspection, the Food Safety and Inspection Service has determined them to be unfit for human food and the company is conducting a recall,” Mr. Schaefer said. The recall affects beef dating back to Feb.1, 2006. No evidence has indicated that the company slaughtered sick cows for human food, the USDA said. The previous record of recalled beef in the United States was 35 million pounds that was possibly contaminated with listeria, the USDA said. About 37 million of the 143 million pounds of beef was marked for the National School Lunch Program, but USDA officials said much of that beef has been eaten. Steps are being taken to learn where any of the beef remains, the USDA said. California State Superintendent of Public Education Jack O’Connell said information was sent to all school districts that received Westland beef on the proper method to destroy recalled beef and instruction on how to receive reimbursement. Chino Valley Unified School District was not on the list of 421 school districts, residential child care institutions and other educational facilities that were to receive instructions. Chino Valley Unified director of communications Julie Gobin said the district will continue its ban on serving beef items but has nothing to dispose of at this time. The district has 538 cases of beef products in storage, she said. Dairy operators, meanwhile, have been affected, but not greatly, by the closing of the Westland plant, said Rob Vanden Heuvel, general manager of the Milk Producers Council. The operators can still sell livestock to other slaughterhouses, Mr. Vanden Heuvel said. “They just have to go farther away.”
Schools vow to serve no beef before April We are going above and beyond the beef product ban, as many districts are doing, until we hear other-wise,” said Julie Gobin, director of communications for the district. “The Nutrition Services Department suspended using all beef products in meals until it is certain that the products are safe for students and staff.” Ms. Gobin said any beef in the district’s freezer will remain there until the USDA says it is OK to use. The U.S. Department of Agriculture placed an administrative hold last month on all beef products from Chino-based Westland Meat Co./Hallmark Meat Packing after a video surfaced showing alleged acts of cruelty to animals. On Friday morning, District Attorney Michael Ramos charged the two Westland employees shown in the video with animal cruelty. Luis Sanchez, 32, of Chino is facing three misdemeanor counts of using equipment to move a non-ambulatory animal at a slaughterhouse. Daniel Ugarte-Navarro, 49, of Pomona faces three similar counts and also five felony counts of animal cruelty. They were scheduled to be arraigned in Chino Superior Court Friday afternoon, after the Champion went to press. Westland supplies beef to the USDA, which supplies lunch programs in school districts across the nation, including Chino Valley Unified. The USDA placed an administrative hold until Feb. 8 on all Westland products produced between Jan. 1 and Jan. 31, 2008. The hold was extended10 days while the USDA continues its investigations, the agency said. Dr. Kenneth Petersen of the USDA said the department has launched a separate investigation into possible criminal charges against Westland employees in connection with the alleged abuse. “If evidence of criminal con-duct is found, the OIG (Office of the Inspector General) will work with the Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney’s Office to pursue the matter,” Dr. Petersen said. On the video, which was filmed by an undercover worker for the U.S. Humane Society late last year, Westland employees are shown using forklifts to pickup and roll cows too weak to stand, spraying water into their nostrils, shocking, kicking and jabbing them in the eyes. The USDA said last week no evidence has surfaced that downed cows were slaughtered for food at Westland. Westland, located at 13677 Yorba Ave. in Chino, was shutdown voluntarily a day after the video was made public. A few days later, the USDA ordered the plant closed, pending its investigation. Westland employs about 200 people and is the only major slaughterhouse and meat processing plant in California, the USDA said.
Feds close meat plant in Chino On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is conducting its own investigation, ordered the plant to stop operations. The consultant hired by Westland “is a veterinarian who worked for FSIS (Food Safety and Inspection Service) in a supervisory position for26 years all over the U.S.,” Westland president Steve Mendell said. Mr. Mendell said Jan. 29 that operations at Westland were voluntarily suspended. Protesters picketed the plant Thursday afternoon. The consultant recently spent two days at Westland, located at 13677 Yorba Ave. in Chino, had full access to documentation and plant personnel, and reported that the company’s records and programs are “the best he has ever seen in any plant,” Mr. Mendell said. “The Food Safety and Inspection Service suspended inspection at Westland/Hallmark Meat Packing Co., based on the establishment’s clear violation of federal regulations and the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act,” said Richard Raymond of USDA. The investigation began late last month after an undercover U.S. Humane Society employee released a video showing two West land employees allegedly abusing sick cattle. USDA regulations prohibit use of disabled cows for human food because they may pose a higher risk of illnesses such as mad cow disease. Investigators are trying to determine if Westland workers forced downed cows into the slaughterhouse or simply dragged them out of the line, the USDA said. In the video, the employees are seen using forklifts to pick up and roll cows too weak to stand, forcing cows to stand by spraying water into their nostrils under pressure, shocking, kicking and jabbing them in the eyes. Mr. Mendell said he terminated the two employees seen in the video and suspended their supervisor. In-N-Out Burgers and Jack-in-the-Box have banned meat from Westland. Chino Valley Unified School District is no longer serving beef until the USDA investigation is complete, said director of communications Julie Gobin. Mr. Mendell said Westland underwent 17third-party audits during 2007 to confirm humane handling and food safety standards were met.
Feds investigate ‘cruelty’ at Chino meat plant The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investigating a Chino-based slaughterhouse for possible mistreatment of sick and weak cows, the department announced. A video, shot by a Humane Society of the United States employee working undercover in late 2007, apparently shows workers at the Hallmark Meat Packing plant at 13677 Yorba Ave. using forklifts to pick up and roll cows too weak to stand and forcing sick cows to their feet by shooting a high-pressure water spray into their nostrils. The video has been posted online at the Humane Society website and numerous online news sites. In another part of the video, workers are seen shocking the cows with electricity, kicking them, ramming them with the blades of a forklift and jabbing them in the eyes, according to the Humane Society. According to the HSUS, the workers attempted to make the cows get up and walk into the slaughterhouse. If they could walk past the USDA inspector, or even just stand, they would be approved for slaughter, the Humane Society said. In a statement released Tuesday, Steve Mendell, president and CEO of Westland Meat Co./Hallmark Meatpacking, said he was “shocked, saddened and sickened” by what he saw on the video. He said the company terminated the two employees seen on the video and suspended their supervisor pending his explanation.” Operations have been immediately suspended until we can meet with all of our employees and be assured these sorts of activities never again happen at our facility,” Mr. Mendell stated. USDA said it has indefinitely suspended Westland as a supplier to federal food and nutrition programs.” The suspension will remain in effect until all investigations are complete and appropriate action is taken by the Department,” said Agriculture Secretary Ed Schaefer. “An administrative hold has been placed on all Westland meat products that are in, or des-tined for federal food and nutrition programs.” Meat processed by Hallmark is distributed by Westland, also based in Chino, which sold 27 million pounds of frozen meat last year to the National School Lunch Program and other federal aid programs, the Humane Society said. No beef products will be served at Chino Valley Unified School District schools until the USDA investigation is resolved, said Julie Gobin, director of communications. She said beef products were pulled as soon as the school district learned of the administrative hold. The school district purchases beef from a distributor that purchases through USDA, Ms. Gobin said, adding the district does not know whether that beef comes from Westland/Hallmark. USDA regulations prohibit the slaughter for human consumption of “downed” cattle– those too weak or sick to stand on their own. The regulations also prohibit dragging the cattle by chains or lifting them with forklifts.” It is unfortunate that the Humane Society of the United States did not present this information to us when the alleged violations occurred in the fall of 2007,” Secretary Schaefer said. Westland has operated in Chino for 10 years “under the strictest possible standards for animal welfare, occupational health and safety and food safety precautions,” Mr. Mendell said. The facility is the second-largest supplier of beef to the USDA’s Commodity Procurement Branch, which distributes beef to needy families, the elderly and to schools in the National School Lunch Program. In 2004-05, Westland/Hallmark was named USDA “Supplier of the Year.” The company has delivered beef to more than 100,000 schools and child-care facilities in 36 states.” Chino Police is continuing an investigation, but I can’t comment on it. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is the lead agency on that investigation and we are assisting them in this process,” said City of Chino spokeswoman Michelle Van Der Linden.
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