Remembrance

Remembrance is a golden chain
Death tries to break, but all in vain.
To have, to love, and then to part
Is the greatest sorrow of one’s heart

The years may wipe out many things
But some they wipe out never.
Like memories of those happy times
When we were all together.

It is with heavy hearts and great sadness that COCRA regretfully informs our members that Kathy Helmkamp, founding President of the California Official Court Reporters Association, passed away Thursday, April 28, 2011.

Kathy was President of COCRA from 2000-2002, and she was a dedicated Official Court Reporter in the Los Angeles Superior Court for over 30 years. Kathy led COCRA through its formative years holding the office of President. She never failed to recognize everyone around her; and her gentle, though persistent, prodding of members to become active invigorated the organization.

Kathy was a natural leader, who gathered the disenfranchised official court reporters of California that lead to the establishment of the California Official Court Reporters Association in 2000. She selflessly gave of herself, personally and financially, to ensure that official court reporters could all be represented. At a time when her own professional status was threatened through intimidation, she persevered, knowing that not-so-subtle pressures would be brought to bear because she dared to speak out to protect the welfare of officials throughout the state.

Along with her efforts in promoting the profession of court reporting, Kathy was known as a fierce animal activist in the Los Angeles area. She was a member and active participant of many animal rescue organizations.

In light of Kathy’s tireless efforts on behalf of animals, Kathy’s family is asking that those who may wish to do so, make donations to Animal Rescue Volunteers or Valley Vet Non-Profit.

If you would like to donate to both organizations, please feel free to mail individual checks made to each organization in one envelope to:

Remember Kathy’s Fight
C/O Animal Rescue Volunteers
1464 Madera Rd #N350
Simi Valley, CA 93065

Kathy is survived by her husband Craig, her children Melissa and Jeff, and grandchild Isaiah.

Kathy gave so much of herself, and she was one of the most courageous people those who knew her have ever known. She was our hero, and we will deeply miss her.

COCRA’s Preserving Access to Justice Report authored by COCRA Past President Janice Scott has been updated for 2011. The new report includes most recent fails by electronic recording to maintain a complete and accurate record. You may download the newly revised report by clicking here.

COCRA members will soon be participating in the Crossroads Irish Oral History Archive Project. Reporters will be taking down and transcribing 60-minute oral histories of Bay Area Irish-Americans.

The Crossroads Irish Oral History Archive of the San Francisco Bay Area is dedicated to capturing the experience and contributions of men and women who emigrated from Ireland and settled in the San Francisco Bay Area, and their Irish-America counterparts, in their own words.

Court Reporters will be putting their magnificent talents to good use for the benefit of the community.

Several COCRA members have already volunteered for this project. If you would like to help, please email Patty Dowling at dowling.patricia@yahoo.com.

You can learn more about the project by clicking here and here.

Pursuant to the Bylaws of the California Official Court Reporters Association, Regional Representative Nominations are being sought for the following Regions:

Bay Area/Northern Coastal Region. Counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Solano, Sonoma, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz;

Northern/Central Region. Counties: Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Kings, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Tulare, Tuolumne, Trinity, Yolo, Yuba;

Southern Region. Counties: Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Ventura.

To be eligible for election as a Regional Representative, a member must work as an official court reporter in the respective Regional District, be an Official member of COCRA in good standing for ninety (90) days prior to nomination and must not be employed by any court in a management position in that district.

Elected Regional Representatives will serve a one-year term.

All applications/nominations must be in writing, signed and dated by the applicant/nominator, and must be received at the COCRA office by March 9, 2011. Submit your nomination by mail to COCRA, One Capitol Mall, Suite 320, Sacramento, CA 95814 or by fax to (916) 444-7462.

COCRA is happy to announce the winners of our recent membership drive. Congratulations to our winners and thank you to all of you who decided to renew your membership early or become new members of COCRA.

THIRD PRIZE WINNER

MARY STOLL of LA CRESCENTA

$200
Amazon Gift Certificate

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SECOND PRIZE WINNER

MARCIA HUNTER of LOS GATOS

$300
Best Buy Gift Card

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FIRST PRIZE WINNER

JULIE COPELAND of STOCKTON

$500
Target Gift Card

COCRA has received the following email from NCRA regarding the RPR.

NCRA Extends RPR Skills Deadline Until Tuesday, October 12th

Dear State Leaders,

Please spread the word — For the first time, NCRA is making the RPR exam available to non-member stenographic reporters! This means that stenographic reporters do not have to join NCRA to register for the exam.

NCRA recognizes the importance of the RPR certification setting the standard not only for the profession, but for individual reporters. If membership with NCRA has ever been an obstacle holding you or someone you know back from taking the RPR exam, now is the time to reconsider it. Please remember, however, that the cost of the RPR exam will be less expensive for members and with membership arrives all of the advantages that will benefit reporters for years to come.

For more information, please see www.ncraonline.org/certification/testing. Remember, registration closes October 12th

COCRA thanks everyone who showed up for our Fall Seminar in San Francisco today. We hope you all had a wonderful time and that you found the sessions to be enlightening. The day began with Linda Harris and Gordon Aiavao who guided the audience through an overview of certain Codes and Rules of Court that govern officials. Then the extremely popular grammarian Margie Wakemann Wells took over for the rest of the day with her always informative lessons on grammar for officials. Based on the survey results, both sessions were incredibly popular.

During the day COCRA held drawings for various prizes and we’re posting the names of the winners below. Our thanks once again to the officials from the Stockton Superior Court who donated the wonderful gifts for door prizes. Also, COCRA thanks the San Francisco Official Court Reporters Assn for their generous underwriting donation. And of course, thanks go out to everyone who participated in our cash raffle.

We hope to see everyone again next year in May 2011 at the COCRA Spring Conference in Long Beach!!

EARLY REGISTRATION RAFFLE WINNERS

Candace Holroyd
iPod Shuffle Winner

Judith Thomsen
iPod Nano Winner

Giselle Casey
Ipod Touch Winner

DOORPRIZE WINNERS

Mary Ann Scanlan
“Court Reporting: Bad Grammar/Good Punctuation” book winner

Loretta Najera
DVD MPEG winner

Patty Dowling
Portable CD winner

Susan Lee
Mini Fridge winner

CASH RAFFLE

Gayle Alconzez
iPod Touch winner

Anne Hall
$250 winner

Troyette Scott
$500 winner

Katie Bersamin
$1000 Cash

COCRA would like to announce the winners of our membership drawing for new and renewal memberships. Thank you to everyone who became a new member or renewed their memberships. Your membership dues help COCRA to protect and promote your profession.

First Prize $200

Sheila Adams

Second Prize $120

Robin Famighetti

Third Prize $60

Jacqueline Plummer

Congratulations to our winners!!

Don’t forget! We’ll be drawing the winners for our cash raffle and our Fall Seminar early registration this Saturday, September 25th at our Fall Seminar in San Francisco.

Thank you to everyone who showed up for COCRA’s 2010 Spring Conference in Anaheim.  It was a smashing success.  We had a great turnout and we had lots of prizes given out during the event.  Margie Wakeman Wells’ Bad Grammar/Good Punctuation book sold like hotcakes.

From an article printed in USA Today.

Courts in Iowa, Minnesota and New York are considering replacing at least some court reporters with digital recording systems to cut costs.

If they do, they would follow Utah, Vermont, New Hampshire, Alaska and Kentucky in using electronic recording systems. Utah and Vermont switched exclusively for budget reasons in 2009, according to SueLynn Morgan, president of the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA), and officials in those states.

“The budget crisis since January 2009 is behind the push now,” Morgan said.

Click here to read more.