Governor Meets with San Bernardino County O Cials to Discuss Policies To

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4/19/2019 Governor meets with San Bernardino County officials to discuss policies to combat homelessness | Inland Empire News | fontanaheraldn…

https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/news/inland_empire_news/governor-meets-with-san-bernardino-county-ocials-to-discuss- policies/article_049d358a-62bf-11e9-8ee6-d30c8d8300c0.html Governor meets with San Bernardino County ocials to discuss policies to combat homelessness

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(Left to right) County CEO Gary McBride, Board of Supervisors Vice Chair Josie Gonzales, Board of Supervisors Chairman Curt Hagman and Gov. Gavin Newsom listen to presentations outlining the county’s eorts to combat homelessness on April 16. (Contributed photo by San Bernardino County)

https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/news/inland_empire_news/governor-meets-with-san-bernardino-county-officials-to-discuss-policies/article_049d3… 1/3 4/19/2019 Governor meets with San Bernardino County officials to discuss policies to combat homelessness | Inland Empire News | fontanaheraldn… San Bernardino County ocials and their community partners impressed California’s new governor with the various strategies being employed to combat homelessness in America’s largest county, according to a news release by the county.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was so inspired by the “big ideas” at work in San Bernardino County that he will work with the state Legislature to set aside funding in the state’s upcoming 2019-2020 budget to enhance support for the county’s eorts.

“This seems to me to be an extraordinary opportunity,” Newsom said. “I have the privilege of this moment to convince my legislative colleagues that this is a wise investment.”

He added: “I am going back home re-energized. I want to look to redirect some of that money in a much more robust way. … That’s missing from my budget, but it doesn’t have to be on May 1. We can gure out ways to bolster that eort.”

San Bernardino County’s innovative approaches to address homelessness focus on collaboration, creation of available dwelling units, whole-person healthcare, jobs, and technology.

Eorts are coordinated by the county’s Interagency Council on Homelessness, which is chaired by 5th District Supervisor Josie Gonzales and includes representatives from many cities within the county, along with a variety of county departments, non- prot organizations, and other service providers.

During the meeting with Newsom on April 16 at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center McKee Family Health Center in San Bernardino, county and private sector partners outlined some of the county’s approaches toward ending homelessness, including:

• Managed healthcare to ensure newly-housed people achieve and maintain physical and behavioral wellness to help prevent them from reverting to homelessness and relying on more costly emergency room care for their basic needs.

• The conversion of hotels and motels to provide homes for the homeless. The Housing Authority of San Bernardino County and its private sector partners are in the process of converting motels in San Bernardino and Victorville into housing for homeless people. Tod Lipka, president and CEO of Step Up, said there are 75 hotels and motels in the region that could be converted into https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/news/inland_empire_news/governor-meets-with-san-bernardino-county-officials-to-discuss-policies/article_049d3… 2/3 4/19/2019 Governor meets with San Bernardino County officials to discuss policies to combat homelessness | Inland Empire News | fontanaheraldn… housing if the state could provide funding for rent vouchers.

“There are wonderful things happening at the local level,” Newsom said. “We’ll have your back and we’ll be providing an unprecedented amount of resources, and we’re here for the long haul.”

https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/news/inland_empire_news/governor-meets-with-san-bernardino-county-officials-to-discuss-policies/article_049d3… 3/3 Ryuk malware hacked a county government website. It's been down for 6 days - Los Angeles Times

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L.A. NOW LOCAL Ryuk malware hacked a county government website. It's been down for 6 days

By COLLEEN SHALBY

APR 19, 2019 | 12:35 PM

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https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-imperial-county-website-down-20190418-story.html[4/19/2019 3:06:59 PM] Ryuk malware hacked a county government website. It's been down for 6 days - Los Angeles Times

The Imperial County Administration Center in El Centro

The Imperial County government website system has been down for six days due to an outside hack.

According to a document obtained by The Times, a Ryuk ransomware note appeared online following the incident. It warned that the system network had been penetrated and demanded payment in bitcoin.

“No system is safe,” the message concluded. The Times was unable to reach county officials to comment on the ransomware message, which was provided to the newspaper by a source who did not want to be identified. But on Friday, county officials confirmed that Ryuk was responsible.

“Imperial County has not and will not pay any form of ransom to any parties involved, now or in the future,” District 4 Supervisor and Chairman of the Board Ryan Kelley said in a statement.

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Staff members are working using Gmail accounts and communicating with the public via Facebook and Twitter. The online payment system through the treasurer and tax collector’s office has been affected, as has the Imperial County’s Department of Social Services, according to county posts on social media.

In January, the same malware program was believed to have been used in an attack that affected newspapers nationwide, including the Los Angeles Times. Typically, Ryuk infiltrates a system through a bad link or attachment.

County of Imperial on Monday

The County of Imperial understands the importance of maintaining the operational integrity of our systems. On April 13, 2019, we became aware of an incident impacting access to our website and some of our systems. We are working to bring the County of Imperial's website back online and to restore access to our systems. In addition, some departmental phone lines are experiencing connection difficulty. Staff is currently working on a solution to address these issues. Updates will be provided on the County of Imperial Facebook and Twitter pages. We appreciate your patience as we work through this incident.

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Imperial County was notified of an incident on April 13 that affected access to the county website and other systems, according to Linsey Dale, county public information officer. There have also been problems with the phone system. The county is working with a private security firm to address the situation and take precautionary steps.

“The county is operating as business as usual,” Dale said.

But the incident has already had an impact.

Johanna Caballero, a loan officer, said there was a three-day lag in processing transactions between house buyers and sellers. The incident has affected the Imperial County clerk-recorder’s office, preventing sellers from immediately receiving payment and buyers from receiving keys to their homes. That’s especially problematic for anyone who has already moved.

“A lot of people aren’t happy in Imperial County,” Caballero said.

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Colleen Shalby

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Colleen Shalby is an engagement editor for the Los Angeles Times. She previously worked at PBS NewsHour in Washington, D.C. She’s a graduate of George Washington University and a native of Southern California.

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https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-imperial-county-website-down-20190418-story.html[4/19/2019 3:06:59 PM] The [expletives] are flying at Board of Supervisors meetings. We counted them - Los Angeles Times

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L.A. NOW LOCAL The [expletives] are flying at Board of Supervisors meetings. We counted them

By MATT STILES

APR 19, 2019 | 5:00 AM

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https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-city-county-meetings-expletive-curse-racial-slur-language-20190419-story.html[4/19/2019 3:07:41 PM] The [expletives] are flying at Board of Supervisors meetings. We counted them - Los Angeles Times

Armando Herman, who goes by "Herman Herman," at the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting April 9. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

For decades, the weekly meetings of the Board of Supervisors have been family-friendly, orderly affairs — humdrum public discussions of the appointments, motions and ordinances that keep Los Angeles County’s $30- billion government in motion.

Lately, though, those discussions have turned offensive.

To the exasperation of supervisors, historically called the “five little kings” for their expansive powers, the county’s business is now increasingly interrupted by slurs, epithets and profanity from the public — an issue that’s long been a headache for their colleagues at City Hall and one the supervisors, for all of their power, seem powerless to stop.

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According to a Times analysis of a decade of board transcripts, the number of profanities uttered has escalated sharply since the beginning of the year.

A small but bold group of gadflies has discovered that they can routinely disrupt the supervisors’ expectations for decorum in the time allotted for public comment, sending routine discussions about housing policy or mental health resources into a “gauntlet of foulness,” as Supervisor Sheila Kuehl calls it.

(Los Angeles Times)

“It creates a really toxic environment, not for only us, but for the people in the auditorium,” she said. “It has a chilling effect on other people who come to the board to talk.”

County officials have been unable to muzzle public speakers — even when they use racial slurs and epithets that can inflame tensions in the audience — because of the widespread understanding that comments in public meetings are constitutionally protected. Various attempts have been rejected in federal court over the years.

It’s a common problem in government proceedings across the nation, including for the Los Angeles City Council and even the Los Angeles Police Commission. At those weekly meetings, profanity-laced tirades and middle fingers regularly outnumber the officers assigned to keep watch.

“In one of the largest cities in the world, it is to be expected that some inhabitants will sometimes use language that does not conform to conventions of civility and decorum, including offensive language and swear-words,” wrote U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson in a 2013 ruling on behalf of local residents who had sued City Hall over attempts to control their rants.

“It is asking much of City Council members, who have given themselves to public service, to tolerate profanities and personal attacks, but that is what is required by the First Amendment.”

That requirement has led to some awkward and tense moments at the Hall of Administration, where the supervisors meet each Tuesday.

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According to a Times analysis of a decade of board transcripts, the number of profanities uttered at Board of Supervisors' meetings has escalated sharply since the beginning of the year. These clips are from the April 2 meeting.

Members of the public are granted up to three minutes to opine about county business — as actor Brad Pitt did on April 9 to support funding a new building for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

At the same meeting, dozens of housing advocates pushed supervisors to approve an ordinance extending protections for renters through the end of the year.

Amid the mostly civil comments, a meeting regular named Antonia Ramirez used her turn at the microphone to unleash a torrent of profanity aimed at blacks and Latinos watching the meeting, using slurs like “wetbacks” and “chango,” the Spanish word for monkey.

“Deport them. Public safety must be restored. Shut the border and build the wall,” Ramirez continued. “Again, we want our beloved America back.”

Some in the audience stood, surprised by the outburst. Others booed.

“It’s obviously hurtful to see people who have these beliefs. It’s offensive to hear them,” said one attendee, Chris Estrada, director of community organizing with the tenants’ rights group, L.A. Center for Community Law In Action.

Estrada said he spends his time trying to get his clients to feel safe challenging the system. These types of comments in meetings don’t help.

“That adds more of a challenge to reassuring them and encouraging them to fight,” he said.

Supervisor Janice Hahn, who chairs the board and sometimes interacts with public speakers who use offensive language, later pleaded with Ramirez to steer clear of such talk.

“Now, you have the freedom of speech and you’re allowed to say what you want. But I will say your language is very offensive to a lot of people today,” Hahn said. “I’m just asking you. I can’t force you. But I’m asking you to work on your language.”

Ramirez was defiant.

“I make not apologies for my verbiage,” she replied. “And if they get offended, ask them why.”

Days later, Ramirez went to a City Council meeting and complained about “Masonic Jewish Zionists,” used the N-word and said “kill Eric Garcetti,” referring to L.A.’s mayor — all during a one-minute rant.

Earlier in April, Hahn sparred with another frequent speaker who often uses profanity, Armando Herman, who regularly exasperates the supervisors.

“What the hell is going on?” Hahn said in an exasperated tone, as the speaker dropped three F-bombs in one sentence.

By the end of the public comment period, Hahn exhaled with a “Lord, have mercy.”

The situation improved slightly this week, with speakers spewing fewer expletives. Still, Hahn jousted with Wayne Spindler, a local lawyer and frequent speaker who was arrested in 2016 after a particularly caustic appearance at City Hall. He has also sued in federal court over his right to free speech, with mixed results.

A transcript from a recent Board of Supervisors meeting details a profanity-filled exchange. The county replaces such words with "[EXPLETIVE]." (Matt Stiles / Los Angeles Times)

The Times analyzed more than 400 transcripts of weekly meetings between January 2010 and April 2019, counting uses of the word “expletive” — a catch-all redaction used by those who transcribe the meetings in real time for television closed captioning.

The word appeared only occasionally until recent years. In 2013, for example, more than 1.8 million words were uttered during supervisors meetings. Three were redacted with the word “expletive.”

But since last fall, “expletive” has appeared hundreds of times, spiking in the first two weeks of this month, when nearly 70 profanities and slurs were used. So far this year, offensive words have been used more than 170 times.

It’s unclear to observers what’s driving the trend, which also is evident in recent City Hall transcripts, where foul language aimed at black, Latino and LGBTQ communities has been a sore spot for years.

“That is the part of the price we pay for this experiment of freedom of expression,” said Stephen Rohde, a retired local civil rights lawyer who represented the plaintiff, Matthew Dowd, in the case involving L.A. City Hall. “It is literally one of the prices we pay for a robust democracy.”

Kuehl, who also is a lawyer, said she appreciates the right to freedom of expression, but not what she calls “assaultive” outbursts. She worries it will deter the public from experiencing the business of their government

When a public speaker uses certain words or slurs, Kuehl said people in the audience look stunned.

“They do expect that we will do something to protect them from this kind of verbal assault,” she said. “And the fact that we don’t makes them feel unsafe.”

Reporters Mark Puente and David Zahniser contributed to this report.

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Matt Stiles

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Matt Stiles covers Los Angeles County for The Times. He previously reported on North and South Korea from Seoul for the newspaper’s foreign desk, explaining the political and military tensions between the two nations — and recent efforts at diplomacy and peace. Before joining The Times, he worked for the Wall Street Journal, NPR and the Texas Tribune, among other news organizations. Stiles specializes in using data analysis and visualization to explain complex stories.

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https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-city-county-meetings-expletive-curse-racial-slur-language-20190419-story.html[4/19/2019 3:07:41 PM] 4/19/2019 High Desert Mental Health Summit provides full day of education - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

High Desert Mental Health Summit provides full day of education By Rene Ray De La Cruz Staff Writer Posted at 1:40 PM Updated at 1:40 PM VICTORVILLE — Hosted by St. Joseph Health and High Desert Church, the High Desert Mental Health Summit will offer a full day of speakers, workshops and networking.

Dubbed “Pathways to Hope - Cultivating Resilience,” the nearly 8-hour summit, which includes a “Resource Fair” and dinner, is scheduled for May 9 at HDC on Hook Boulevard in Victorville.

Keynote speakers at the summit include author and counselor Dr. Mike Marino; California Mental Health Services Authority Joseph Robinson and David Mandani, Pastor of Mental Health at Saddleback Church.

In his keynote “Journey Toward Hope,” Mandani will share his testimony, which includes being diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 18 and how faith played a role in his recovery from years of pain and suffering.

Breakout Sessions include:

It’s a Family Affair—Struggle is Contagious

The Wounded Healer—Help for the Helpers

Substance Abuse: Mental Health & Addiction

Support Groups: How to Select, Start, & Sustain

Spirituality & Mental Health

https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190419/high-desert-mental-health-summit-provides-full-day-of-education 1/3 4/19/2019 High Desert Mental Health Summit provides full day of education - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

Suicide: Signs & Support

San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health Update: Children & Youth

Crisis Response & Service in the High Desert

In the Support Groups: How to Select, Start, & Sustain session, attendees will learn the distinct differences, some similarities, the benefits and challenges of each type of group, and how to select the right one for yourself and/or for your diverse clients/patients that meet specific needs.

In the group session, attendees will also understand the role of group facilitators, how to start a group, create a safe environment for group members, tips on how to improve participation and maintain interests.

The panel speakers for the workshop include: Ahlam Axelrod, MFT facilitator of a Post-Partum Support Group; Pastor Tim Wheeler, oversees the High Desert Church Care Ministry’s peer support & recovery groups; Dr. Mike Marino, Ph.D., develops support group curriculums, and Barbara Redding & Marie Ballew promote family support groups through NAMI.

Our panel speaker will include a suicide survivor, family members who lost loved ones to suicide, and a subject matter expert/social worker from “Each Mind Matters”, an organization working to unite Californians to improve mental health and end stigma, organizers said.

Presenters include Pastor Tim Wheeler, April Poynor, Rick Klotz, Dr. John Benson, MD; Curt Emick, Mary Earhart, Pastor Mike Roberts, Rev., Richard Ross, Ahlam Axelrod, Evonne Tirado, April Dillow, Barbara Redding and Marie Ballew.

A partial list of exhibitors include San Bernardino County Behavioral Health, St. John of God Health Care Services, Genesis Counseling Services, IEHP, Kaiser Permanente, VA, Victor Community Services, NAMI-Inland Valley, https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190419/high-desert-mental-health-summit-provides-full-day-of-education 2/3 4/19/2019 High Desert Mental Health Summit provides full day of education - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

Community Health Association Inland Southern Region, Valley Star Crisis Walk-In Clinic, Each Mind Matters.

The High Desert Mental Health Summit begins with registration at noon on May 9 at High Desert Church, 14546 Hook Blvd. in Victorville.

Registration Fees include Full Day: $20, includes workshops, program materials, resource fair, evening keynote and dinner. Partial Day: $10, includes evening keynote, resource fair and dinner.

For more information, contact St. Mary Community Health Center at 760-946- 4241. Register online at https://tinyurl.com/HDMH2019

Reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227, [email protected], Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190419/high-desert-mental-health-summit-provides-full-day-of-education 3/3 4/19/2019 San Bernardino residents raise concerns over massive air cargo logistics center bound for airport – San Bernardino Sun

LOCAL NEWS San Bernardino residents raise concerns over massive air cargo logistics center bound for airport The facility is expected to generate nearly 4,000 jobsjobs andand generategenerate millionsmillions ofof dollarsdollars inin revenuerevenue within five years, airport officials have said

Ericka Flores of Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice speaks to residentsresidents fromfrom communitiescommunities aroundaround thethe SanSan BernardinoBernardino InternationalInternational AirportAirport airair theirtheir grievances about a project which will bring as many as 4,000 jobs to the area, but also dozens of daily flights to local airspace in San Bernardino on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

By BRIAN WHITEHEAD || [email protected] || SanSan BernardinoBernardino https://www.sbsun.com/2019/04/18/san-bernardino-residents-raise-concerns-over-massive-air-cargo-logistics-center-bound-for-airport/ 1/4 4/19/2019 San Bernardino residents raise concerns over massive air cargo logistics center bound for airport – San Bernardino Sun

Sun PUBLISHED: April 18, 2019 at 5:45 pm || UPDATED:UPDATED: April 19, 2019 at 12:46 am

Hundreds of San Bernardino residents who say they want clean air, good jobs and transparencytransparency fromfrom theirtheir electedelected officialsofficials gatheredgathered Wednesday,Wednesday, AprilApril 17,17, toto voicevoice theirtheir concernsconcerns aboutabout aa massivemassive airair cargocargo logisticslogistics centercenter toto bebe builtbuilt inin theirtheir neighborhood.

Late last year, San Bernardino International Airport and master developer Hillwood Enterprises moved forward with plans to build a nearly 700,000-square- footfoot logisticslogistics centercenter atat thethe formerformer NortonNorton AirAir ForceForce BaseBase thatthat wouldwould househouse upup toto 1616 aircraft and provide round-the-clock operations.

Brought together by area nonprofits and community-based organizations at a San Bernardino church, residents on Wednesday had the platform to share worries theythey believe,believe, toto thisthis point,point, havehave beenbeen ignored.ignored.

Environmental groups and area labor unions contend the project has been green- litlit withoutwithout addressingaddressing keykey quality-of-lifequality-of-life concernsconcerns raisedraised inin thethe EnvironmentalEnvironmental Impact Report, or EIR, approved in October by the commission of regional leadersleaders overseeingoverseeing airportairport operations.operations.

“We are not anti-warehouses, we are not anti-development,” said Ericka Flores, a senior organizer at the Jurupa Valley-based Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice. “Development is necessary and we need the growth. But throughthrough warehouseswarehouses isis notnot thethe onlyonly way.way. …… WeWe areare atat capacitycapacity (for(for warehouses)warehouses) toto begin with, and now we are going way beyond our threshold.

“The biggest issue with warehouses such as this one,” Flores continued, “is the proximity to residential areas, the exploitation of land and how they push communities, primarily communities of color, out of the area.”

Bound for a 101-acre lot west of Victoria Avenue and south of Third Street in San Bernardino, the Eastgate Air Cargo Logistics Center is expected to generate nearly 4,000 jobs and generate millions of dollars in revenue within five years, airport officials have said.

However, area labor union leaders have questioned the quality of those jobs and whether residents impacted by the development will even be considered for them.them.

https://www.sbsun.com/2019/04/18/san-bernardino-residents-raise-concerns-over-massive-air-cargo-logistics-center-bound-for-airport/ 2/4 4/19/2019 San Bernardino residents raise concerns over massive air cargo logistics center bound for airport – San Bernardino Sun “You look at the way development has happened in the Inland Empire the last 30 years, and you see this continued proliferation of a certain type of job over and over and over again,” said Randy Korgan, secretary-treasurer for Teamsters Local 1932. “These warehouses are being built without a tenant in it, or even knowing who the tenant is, and a third party or fourth party comes in, occupies it and they thenthen employemploy temporarytemporary employees,employees, part-timepart-time employees,employees, highhigh turnoverturnover andand compressed wages.

“So you don’t have good job quality, but rather, hundreds of thousands of poor jobsjobs inin thethe areaarea thatthat areare thethe byproductbyproduct ofof thisthis sortsort ofof development.”development.”

Pending approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, the Eastgate Air Cargo Logistics Center could be completed by the end of the year or early 2020.

Amazon, which already operates a fulfillment center at the airport, is a rumored tenant.tenant.

No matter who occupies the space, when the facility opens, as many as 12 daily flightsflights areare expectedexpected around-the-clock,around-the-clock, withwith thatthat figurefigure increasingincreasing toto 2626 byby 2024.2024.

Michael Burrows, the airport’s executive director, did not return calls for comment Thursday, April 18, but said earlier this year the influx of cargo jet activity into and out of San Bernardino has been met with no resistance from locallocal residents,residents, businessbusiness ownersowners oror environmentalenvironmental groups.groups.

Scores of residents beg to differ.

“We’re seeing more and more warehouses, distribution centers, logistics coming inin andand yetyet II stillstill seesee thethe city,city, andand thethe countycounty pocketspockets tootoo withinwithin thethe city,city, notnot thriving,”thriving,” saidsaid SallySally Sukdol,Sukdol, aa residentresident andand longtimelongtime SanSan BernardinoBernardino CountyCounty employee. “Where are we gaining anything? Our streets are so torn up already and now they’re talking about bringing in more flights, which means more trucks and traffic.

“The system, it’s benefiting the industry and these corporations,” Sukdol continued. “It’s not giving back to the community and it’s really keeping people down.”

Wednesday, environmental activists and community members lamented the project’s impacts, and broached crafting a community benefits agreement to present to the developer and elected officials. Such an agreement, which details a project’s contributions to the community and ensures community support, has been reached with other large projects in Southern California, including the construction of Staples Center in Los Angeles, Flores said.

https://www.sbsun.com/2019/04/18/san-bernardino-residents-raise-concerns-over-massive-air-cargo-logistics-center-bound-for-airport/ 3/4 4/19/2019 San Bernardino residents raise concerns over massive air cargo logistics center bound for airport – San Bernardino Sun “This is not the only way to have an Inland Empire that can thrive,” Flores said. “This is not the only way to have a thriving San Bernardino. There are different ways. If we’re going to bring in a warehouse like this one, let’s make sure it’s a responsible warehouse that’s retrofitted with the right technology and giving us proper jobs.

“This can really set the precedent and be an example of what we need and deserve here.”

Tags: airports,, business,, community,, environment,, Top Stories Sun

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Brian Whitehead Brian Whitehead covers San Bernardino for The Sun. Bred in Grand Terrace, he graduated from Riverside Notre Dame High and Cal State Fullerton. For seven years, he covered high school and college sports for The Orange County Register. Before landing at The Sun, he was the city beat reporter for Buena Park, Fullerton and La Palma.  Follow Brian Whitehead @bwhitehead3

https://www.sbsun.com/2019/04/18/san-bernardino-residents-raise-concerns-over-massive-air-cargo-logistics-center-bound-for-airport/ 4/4 4/19/2019 Officials laud 395 widening project at groundbreaking ceremony - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

Ocials laud 395 widening project at groundbreaking ceremony By Scott Nordhues Posted Apr 18, 2019 at 5:05 PM Updated Apr 18, 2019 at 5:12 PM ADELANTO — A groundbreaking ceremony at Adelanto Stadium on Tuesday signaled the start of a major reconstruction project along Highway 395.

Plans call for the highway to be widened from two lanes to four lanes between Palmdale Road and Chamberlaine Way. Turning lanes at key intersections, traffic signals, rumble strips and pedestrian-friendly improvements will be built in an effort to make Highway 395 safer for motorists.

The highway has long been dubbed “Blood Alley” because of the many fatal crashes that occur on it.

The improvement project, which is scheduled to be completed by spring of 2021, is “long overdue,” 1st District Supervisor Robert Lovingood said at Tuesday’s event.

The cost of the project, which is being done through the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority, is $60 million. Roughly $18 million of the total cost will be funded through Measure I, San Bernardino County’s half-cent tax measure approved in 1989 and extended in 2004.

Valencia-based contractor C.A. Rasmussen, Inc. is awaiting permits before beginning work in the next few weeks, an SBCTA spokesman said.

Adelanto Mayor Gabriel Reyes said the project benefits all cities in the region.

“To see something like this take place...it’s very, very humbling to be able to be a part of the transition, to see the growth in the Victor Valley,” Reyes said.

https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190418/officials-laud-395-widening-project-at-groundbreaking-ceremony 1/2 4/19/2019 Officials laud 395 widening project at groundbreaking ceremony - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

Reyes said roughly 30,000 motorists travel up and down Highway 395 every day, and making the highway safer for them “is huge.”

Victorville Mayor Gloria Garcia, Darcy McNaboe of the SBCTA, and Rebecca Guirado, deputy district director for right of way in the California Department of Transportation’s District 8, also attended Tuesday’s groundbreaking. Caltrans is partnering with SBCTA on the project.

Work along this stretch of Highway 395 is the first of three planned phases for a project set to widen 17 miles of Highway 395 from Interstate 15 north to Desert Flower Road. Two other phases, one spanning from Interstate 15 north to Palmdale Road, and another from Chamberlaine Way to Desert Flower Road, are contingent upon securing state and federal spending.

For more information on the Highway 395 improvement project, please visit www.gosbcta.com/sbcta/plans-projects/projects-freeway-us395.html

https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190418/officials-laud-395-widening-project-at-groundbreaking-ceremony 2/2 4/19/2019 Amazon program at Cajon High offers students a path to careers in logistics – San Bernardino Sun

LOCAL NEWS Amazon program at Cajon High offers students a path to careers in logistics The San Bernardino school's new Amazon Logistics Pathways Program is preparing students for careers in the field

Teacher Kalista Combs, with pathways student Zeth Santos, 15, map out a business plan on a interactive touchscreen displays, as part of Amazon’s Logistics and Business Management Pathways program, Friday, at Cajon High School in San Bernardino, Ca., April 19, 2019. In 2017, Amazon celebrated five years in California by donating $50,000 to Cajon High to launch a logistics pathway program to equip students with academic, technical and practical experience in the booming industry.. LateLate lastlast month,month, thatthat programprogram launched.launched. (John(John Valenzuela/Valenzuela/ ContributingContributing Photographer)Photographer) https://www.sbsun.com/2019/04/19/with-support-from-amazon-these-cajon-high-students-are-receiving-a-crash-course-in-logistics/?utm_so… 1/4 4/19/2019 Amazon program at Cajon High offers students a path to careers in logistics – San Bernardino Sun

By BRIAN WHITEHEAD || [email protected] || SanSan BernardinoBernardino Sun PUBLISHED: April 19, 2019 at 3:13 pm || UPDATED:UPDATED: April 19, 2019 at 3:16 pm

In a region presently enjoying the spoils of the logistics boom, Amazon and San Bernardino educators are shepherding future industry leaders inside a classroom at Cajon High School.

About 18 months after the online retail giant donated $50,000 to the northside school for a pathways program centered on logistics,, thethe inauguralinaugural classclass ofof teenageteenage innovatorsinnovators isis receivingreceiving dailydaily academic,academic, technicaltechnical andand practicalpractical experience in the field.

“We know that in this area, logistics is a growing industry,” Principal Teenya Bishop said. “And we would be remiss if we did not prepare our students to excel inin aa fieldfield that’sthat’s locallocal andand lucrativelucrative toto themthem here,here, wherewhere theythey don’tdon’t havehave toto traveltravel toto another country or across the country for this particular opportunity.

“We have it here.”

The Amazon Logistics and Business Management Pathways program is the first of itsits kind,kind, withwith aa curriculumcurriculum shapedshaped byby strategicstrategic partnerspartners ChaffeyChaffey College,College, NorcoNorco Community College and Cal State San Bernardino – all of whom offer logistics or supply chain-focused degrees.

Sophomore Zeth Santos is one of about two dozen students to enter the program after hearing from Amazon experts as freshmen.

Already this school year, Santos said he has gleaned much about management, communication and professionalism from various lessons. Additionally, he and his classmates have toured an Amazon fulfillment center to experience such a facilityfacility inin action.action.

“With this particular pathway, there’s a benefit and advantage to working with a company that has excelled in this area,” Bishop said. “Our students are being exposed to the logistics and business management fields at a high standard. And although we want to encourage our students to pursue their goals, maybe open theirtheir ownown businesses,businesses, theythey atat leastleast havehave aa standardstandard now.”now.”

https://www.sbsun.com/2019/04/19/with-support-from-amazon-these-cajon-high-students-are-receiving-a-crash-course-in-logistics/?utm_so… 2/4 4/19/2019 Amazon program at Cajon High offers students a path to careers in logistics – San Bernardino Sun Previously a special education teacher, Kalista Combs champions collaborative learning,learning, teamworkteamwork andand trust,trust, cultivatingcultivating aa trulytruly professionalprofessional environment.environment.

Students work in a classroom with modern furnishing – chairs, couches, tables, desks, interactive televisions and screens – and words of inspiration at every turn. As an added touch, Amazon’s 14 leadership principles have been written on a wall near the entrance.

Friday, April 19, a freestanding whiteboard had the class’ quote of the week:

“Awareness without action is futile.”

“We’re building the roadmap for success for these students,” said Eileen Hards, an Amazon spokeswoman. “This region is really rich for this kind of education.”

Less than a year in, the pathways program has gained popularity on campus.

Ahead of the 2019-20 school year, dozens of freshmen appear interested in joining,joining, BishopBishop said.said.

This time next year, Amazon could have as many as 50 future industry leaders off West Hill Drive.

“I hope these students leave with an open mind and the skills to operate positions thatthat areare notnot justjust entryentry level,level, butbut alsoalso paypay aa livablelivable wage,”wage,” CombsCombs said.said. “We“We knowknow college graduates who cannot get a job because they don’t have technical skills. With this program, students are going to be able to have those skills before they finishfinish college.”college.”

Tags: amazon,, education,, Top Stories Sun

https://www.sbsun.com/2019/04/19/with-support-from-amazon-these-cajon-high-students-are-receiving-a-crash-course-in-logistics/?utm_so… 3/4 4/19/2019 Adelanto community safety manager returns to work, cleared of wrongdoing - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

Adelanto community safety manager returns to work, cleared of wrongdoing By Garrett Bergthold Staff Writer Posted Apr 18, 2019 at 5:06 PM Updated Apr 18, 2019 at 5:23 PM ADELANTO — The city’s community safety manager returned to work Monday after nine weeks on paid administrative leave, his lawyer told the Daily Press.

Investigators cleared Steve Peltier of wrongdoing involving allegations that he “seriously violated the city’s rules and procedures” and “created a hostile work environment to the detriment of city employees,” according to James Alderson, Peltier’s lawyer.

Alderson said the allegations were included in a letter the city’s director of Development Services, Charles Rangel, handed Peltier on Feb. 7, the day after Peltier led a publicized raid of an illegal dispensary on Feb. 6.

Peltier was placed on leave about a week after he complained to city management that a building official working for the city had conducted a search on a Cassia Road property in the city’s green zone without probable cause, Alderson said. The building official was employed by JAS Pacific Inc., which staffs portions of multiple city departments, including the Planning Division, and Building and Safety. The city denied the allegations at the time.

According to Alderson, Peltier, who has been employed by the city for more than 10 years, was first interviewed by investigators 4½ weeks into his paid leave. The investigation centered around two alleged incidents, Alderson said.

The first incident occurred in mid-January, when an employee from another city department complained to management that Peltier shoved a chair inside City Hall. Although confirming investigators found Peltier “threw or shoved a chair,” Alderson said investigators concluded there were no rules or regulations broken.

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Alderson said the chair incident occurred after Peltier became frustrated when furniture and office supplies from his department were scattered on the floor due to a restructuring of offices.

The restructuring brought Planning Division and Building and Safety staffers — including many employed by JAS Pacific — downstairs. Today, they are located adjacent to code enforcment’s offices as part of Rangel’s idea to set up a “one stop shop” consisting of multiple city departments in close proximity to each other.

The other incident alleged Peltier created a hostile work environment by staring and mumbling hostile words to a coworker.

Investigators did not interview Peltier about this second allegation because of a lack of evidence, Alderson said.

City management did not return multiple requests for comment for this article.

The two employees who complained about Peltier were employed by JAS Pacific, according to Alderson. In late October, JAS Pacific presented a scathing report to the City Council detailing deficiencies it found within the city’s Code Compliance department, including a lack of rules and regulations.

Earlier in October, Alderson sent the city multiple letters alleging, among other things, that city officials ordered code enforcement officers to refrain from enforcing regulations against certain cannabis operators.

One letter, written on behalf of Peltier, says code enforcement personnel were asked to “stand down from citing, inspecting and executing warrants against specific cultivators.”

Weeks after the letters arrived, City Manager Jessie Flores announced on Oct. 25 that the city had “no plans to outsource code enforcement,” despite rumors that JAS Pacific was preparing a bid to take over duties performed by Code Compliance officers.

Peltier’s return comes just days after Mayor Pro Tem Stevevonna Evans introduced her idea for a Department of Cannabis within city government, which would fall under Rangel’s Development Services. https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190418/adelanto-community-safety-manager-returns-to-work-cleared-of-wrongdoing 2/3 4/19/2019 Adelanto community safety manager returns to work, cleared of wrongdoing - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

Evans said the city’s cannabis industry is growing, and in need of structure.

The Department of Cannabis would handle all things cannabis in the city, including making sure all cannabis taxes were collected, a task currently handled by the Finance Department, she said.

The department would also take over some of code enforcment’s cannabis- related activities, said Evans, who denied the new department is intended to push code enforcement out of day-to-day cannabis-related business.

“I was by no way trying to undermine anybody,” Evans told the Daily Press. “My point is (the cannabis industry) is overworking everybody. We added an industry that added so much additional workload to employees that it just makes sense for this industry to have its own department.”

Garrett Bergthold can be reached at [email protected] or 760-955-5368. Follow him on Twitter at @DP_Garrett.

https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190418/adelanto-community-safety-manager-returns-to-work-cleared-of-wrongdoing 3/3 4/19/2019 Plan to treat water OK’d | News | hidesertstar.com

http://www.hidesertstar.com/news/article_daa156ba-62e8-11e9-954e-5fa23cd5ddf5.html

TOP STORY Plan to treat water OK’d

By Jené Estrada Hi-Desert Star 38 min ago

JOSHUA TREE — Joshua Basin Water District directors on Wednesday tackled a project that will bring the largest well in the district back online after three years.

Well 14 was taken off-line in the summer of 2016 after its water tested positive for levels of coliform and chromium six that exceeded the state requirements. At the time, Well 14 had not been cleaned in 32 years, although it was by far the largest and most used well in the district.

The board of directors authorized three separate rehabilitation efforts over the next three years until nally it was decided that a treatment called 4-LOG was needed to bring the well back up to standards.

“The total cost to the district that has been spent on Well 14 today is about $1.2 million,” said Assistant General Manager Mark Ban.

The 4-LOG virus inactivation treatment for drinking water systems inactivates 99.99 percent of viruses using chlorine and other chemicals, according to JBWD staff. The cost of installing the system and a new motor control center for the well is $442,000.

“I feel like staff approached this logically and responsibly,” said Director Geary Hund. “None of us wanted to spend these costs but (the rehabilitation efforts) unfortunately didn’t work and we were all baed by this.”

Ban said after the new project is completed, Well 14 should easily produce for another 20 years.

After discussing Well 14, the board approved the purchase of PVC pipes and other materials for the Saddleback watermain replacement project.

The board was scheduled to hold a public hearing on changing its elections to a district-based system but, under the advice of county Special Districts, the meeting was postponed to May 1.

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www.hidesertstar.com/news/article_daa156ba-62e8-11e9-954e-5fa23cd5ddf5.html 2/2 4/19/2019 Chaffey College will host Job Expo on April 23 | Business | fontanaheraldnews.com

https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/business/chaey-college-will-host-job-expo-on-april/article_91751fb4- 62c3-11e9-a519-db7666282a97.html Chaey College will host Job Expo on April 23

Apr 19, 2019 Updated 5 hrs ago

A Job Expo will be held at Chaey College in Fontana on Tuesday, April 23.

About 40 employers in retail, banking, government and other industries will meet with job seekers during the Chaey College Spring Job Expo on Tuesday, April 23 at the Fontana campus.

The event will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 16855 Merrill Avenue.

https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/business/chaffey-college-will-host-job-expo-on-april/article_91751fb4-62c3-11e9-a519-db7666282a97.html 1/3 4/19/2019 Chaffey College will host Job Expo on April 23 | Business | fontanaheraldnews.com

Job seekers are encouraged to bring resumes and dress to impress. The event includes workshops on interviewing skills. Lunch will be provided.

Employers who will be participating in the event include Amazon, San Bernardino County, World Financial Group, the California Conservation Corps, Caliber Collision, the City of Fontana, and many others.

Job seekers can register at the event. Employers can inquire about registering with Roni Osifeso at roni.osifeso@chaey.edu.

https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/business/chaffey-college-will-host-job-expo-on-april/article_91751fb4-62c3-11e9-a519-db7666282a97.html 2/3 4/19/2019 Feds' space for holding migrant families goes mostly unused - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

Feds’ space for holding migrant families goes mostly unused By The Associated Press Posted at 12:30 PM The Trump administration has stopped using one of three family detention centers to hold parents and children and left almost 2,000 beds unused at the other two. It says it does not have the resources to transport migrants to the centers.

HOUSTON — President Donald Trump has warned that Central American families are staging an “invasion” at the U.S.-Mexico border. He has threatened to take migrants to Democratic strongholds to punish political opponents. And his administration regularly complains about having to “catch and release” migrants.

At the same time, his administration has stopped using one of three family detention centers to hold parents and children and left almost 2,000 beds unused at the other two. It says it does not have the resources to transport migrants to the centers.

Immigrant advocates accuse the administration of closing off family detention to further the perception of a crisis.

The Karnes County Residential Center in Texas used to hold up to 800 parents and children at a time, who would usually be detained before an initial screening to judge whether they qualified for asylum.

But ICE last month started to release families until they were all gone from Karnes. Advocates who work there say ICE is now restricting legal access to the roughly 400 adult women being detained there.

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The population at the family detention center in nearby Dilley, Texas, was also reduced and remains at roughly a quarter of its 2,400-person capacity. A 96- person facility in Pennsylvania had only 18 immigrants this week.

Meanwhile, the numbers of parents and children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border have surged, leading immigration officials to declare the situation a crisis. More than 50,000 parents and children were apprehended by the Border Patrol in March, setting a monthly record.

The number of border crossings in one day sometimes exceeds ICE’s total family detention space.

More than 4,800 people crossed the border in a single day this week. Almost 1,000 were traveling in three large groups, the largest of which was 375 people, Kevin McAleenan, the acting secretary of homeland security, said Wednesday.

The Border Patrol has stopped referring many families to ICE and instead releases them directly to nonprofit groups or drops them off at bus stations.

In a statement, ICE said the surge left it “overwhelmed” and unable to transport families from the border to the Karnes and Dilley facilities, even if both detention centers had available beds. As of Wednesday, 427 women were in custody at Karnes.

“As such, ICE has determined that, at this time, Karnes will better meet operational needs by also serving partially as an adult detention facility,” the agency said.

Immigrant advocates say they do not believe that ICE cannot transport people to the facilities. They say the government has reduced family detention space for political reasons — to show that Democrats’ refusal to change laws to allow for longer family detention and more deportations has left officials with no choice but to catch and release.

“We believe that this is part of trying to justify a narrative,” said Peter Schey, executive director of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law. “Trump’s policies have swung from one extreme to the other. There’s no consistency; there’s no strategic planning.”

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The legal services group RAICES goes to Karnes daily to consult with detained immigrants about their asylum cases. The group says subtle policy changes at the facility have reduced legal access for detained women seeking asylum.

Since Monday, authorities at Karnes have prevented attorneys and volunteers from meeting with many large groups of migrants at once, which prevents them from quickly consulting with more people, according to Andrea Meza, RAICES’ director of family detention services.

Karnes staff also stopped sending RAICES the names of detainees who put their names on sign-up sheets outside the visitation room, Meza said.

Meza said she received conflicting explanations from ICE for the changes, including that there were complaints by staff from the private contractor GEO Group, which operates Karnes.

ICE confirmed it had reduced group meetings at Karnes because “more residents are represented by private attorneys.” The agency said it provided 12 hours of legal visitation at Karnes every day, more than its detention standards require.

If the changes remain in place, fewer people will be able to consult with a lawyer before asylum interviews, Meza said, and it will be harder for the group to follow up with potential asylum seekers.

“We don’t know what’s happening to people after their interviews,” she said.

https://www.vvdailypress.com/zz/news/20190419/feds-space-for-holding-migrant-families-goes-mostly-unused/1 3/3 4/19/2019 Hesperia school district settles lawsuit with teacher for $850,000 - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

Hesperia school district settles lawsuit with teacher for $850,000 By Martin Estacio Staff Writer Posted Apr 18, 2019 at 6:38 PM Updated Apr 18, 2019 at 6:38 PM HESPERIA — The Hesperia Unified School District and its Joint Power Authority have settled a long-standing lawsuit filed by a former teacher for $850,000.

Former Sultana High School English teacher, Julia Frost, was the co-advisor of the school’s Gay Straight Alliance Club during the 2011 to 2013 school years. She sued the district, alleging she had been dismissed, in part, for supporting LGBTQ students.

The district did not specify the amount of the settlement. Lambda Legal, the Los Angeles law firm representing Frost, said the settlement of $850,000 is the largest discrimination settlement the firm has ever secured.

Frost sued in November 2013 after the district did not renew her contract that year. She taught for 16 years before being hired as a probationary teacher at Sultana in 2011.

Frost claimed the action was in retaliation for her earlier assistance with a student in making a formal complaint with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

Complaints made by several GSA members alleged censorship and a pattern of harassment towards LGBTQ students by school officials, according to a Daily Press report.

After Frost’s contract was unrenewed, the ACLU subsequently sent the district a letter demanding a change in its policies.

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The nonprofit later commended HUSD in August 2013 for instituting “concrete changes so LGBT students will be treated equally and will feel accepted,” according to an ACLU statement.

Frost’s lawsuit claimed her contract wasn’t renewed because of her sexual identity and attempt to challenge district discrimination. Frost is a lesbian.

A motion to throw out the lawsuit by the district was dismissed in 2015 by a San Bernardino County Superior Court judge. The lawsuit had been ongoing until the settlement decision on Thursday.

“It was important for me to bring this challenge, but I’m also happy it’s settled,” Frost said in a statement issued by her law firm. “I’m also pleased to know that there are now clear, written policies in place at HUSD that hopefully will not allow what happened to me to happen to anyone else who, like me, was doing their job and looking after the interests of students.”

The district has strongly denied her allegations.

HUSD Superintendent David McLaughlin said in a 2013 news release that the dismissal of her as a probationary teacher was legitimate and appropriate.

He added that Frost was “now trying to cloud the matter and turn it into legal action for personal gain.”

In a HUSD statement released Thursday, district officials said the decision to settle was an “appropriate, prudent financial decision” that was “not an admission of guilt or an acceptance of liability for any alleged wrongdoing by the District.”

The statement read that “while Ms. Frost has not yet produced any compelling evidence to support any of her claims, one can never predict what might happen at trial...The settlement will eliminate the potential risk of a huge plaintiff’s attorney fee award if the District didn’t win on all counts.”

Martin Estacio may be reached at [email protected] or at 760-955-5358. Follow him on Twitter @DP_mestacio.

https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190418/hesperia-school-district-settles-lawsuit-with-teacher-for-850000 2/2 4/19/2019 Inaugural California Welcome Center Art Festival in Yucca Valley, May 4th-5th - InlandEmpire.us

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Community Inaugural California Welcome Center Art Festival in Yucca Valley, May 4th-5th

By Press Release- April 19, 2019 TAGS: ARTS WELCOME CENTER YUCCA VALLEY

Inaugural California Welcome Center Art Festival in Yucca Valley, May 4 & 5, 2019

Yucca Valley, Ca – The first ever California Welcome Center (CWC) Art Festival will take place on Saturday and Sunday, May 4 and 5, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, at the California Welcome Center, 56711 Twentynine Palms Hwy., in Yucca Valley. Admission is free, and food and beverages will be available for sale on site. 

https://inlandempire.us/inaugural-california-welcome-center-art-festival-in-yucca-valley-may-4th-5th/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&… 1/14 4/19/2019 Inaugural California Welcome Center Art Festival in Yucca Valley, May 4th-5th - InlandEmpire.us The outdoor festival will be staged in the large parking lot behind the welcome center and will feature more than two dozen artist booths, offering California-themed paintings, photography, mixed media, ceramics, assemblage, fabric art, and jewelry, along with local food vendors, music and entertainment.

At 10 a.m. on Saturday, winners will be announced from the CWC Art Contest, which was launched in January inviting California artists to enter artwork in a competition for the opportunity to be a featured consigner in the welcome center gift shop for one year. Sixty entries were submitted by 30 artists from the desert and other California regions for the inaugural contest. In late March, a panel of five professional artists met to judge the entries, resulting in six winning artists chosen to represent various categories. The winning artwork will be unveiled at the festival.

Souvenir catalogs featuring artwork submitted for the CWC Art Contest and the artists’ booths participating in the Art Festival will be available for no charge at the California Welcome Center in advance of the festival and during the weekend event.

For questions or more information, see the Art Festival page at www.californiawelcomecenter.com or call the center at 760-365-5464.

INLAND EMPIRE ARTS

San Bernardino is Alive with Arts and Community Events, April 20th

April 18, 2019

Blindness Support Services Teams Up with RAM’s Creative Horizons Program

April 8, 2019

Mt. San Jacinto College Art Gallery Launches ‘Brace Yourself’ Exhibit  March 1, 2019 https://inlandempire.us/inaugural-california-welcome-center-art-festival-in-yucca-valley-may-4th-5th/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&… 2/14 Inland Empire Ronald McDonald House is home away from home for families – San Bernardino Sun

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LOCAL NEWS Inland Empire Ronald McDonald House is home away from home for families When a child is hospitalized, the home offers rooms, activities and support for parents, siblings.

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The Walk for Kids event in Fontana drew many participants Get the latest news delivered daily! https://www.sbsun.com/...e-for-families/?utm_content=tw-sbsun&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_medium=social[4/19/2019 3:05:57 PM] Inland Empire Ronald McDonald House is home away from home for families – San Bernardino Sun

Sunday, April 7. The walk supports the Inland Empire Ronald McDonald House, which is in Loma Linda. (Courtesy of Inland Empire Ronald McDonald House) SUBSCRIBE

By REBECCA K. O’CONNOR | |  PUBLISHED: April 19, 2019 at 2:00 pm | UPDATED: April Follow Us 19, 2019 at 2:01 pm   

When a child needs life-saving treatment, Inland Empire Ronald McDonald House brings families SPONSORED CONTENT together to offer support and hope.

For example, Sebastian Lopez, who family lives in Police Make Horrifying Discovery Causing Victorville, was born with congenital heart disease. Husband To Question Dead Wife's Identity...  Treatment required seven surgeries and he was By Upbeat News living with a tracheotomy — all before his second birthday. His parents, Jesus and Veronica, and brother, Matthew, spent three months in the Inland MOST POPULAR Empire Ronald McDonald House in Loma Linda so they could be together and by his side. Sebastian 1 San Bernardino school ordered to shelter in was sent home on hospice, but the family didn’t place, businesses evacuated after gas line rupture lose hope. 2 Rialto officer holds sign: ‘If you’re on a cellphone “They have a strong faith and loved him and right now, you’re about to get a ticket’ before they knew it, they were coming back for Turpin couple in Perris torture case sentenced to 3 25 years to life after children speak another surgery and having the trach removed,” Executive Director Karen Hooper said. “From a San Bernardino residents raise concerns over 4 massive air cargo logistics center bound for medical standpoint, children heal faster when their airport parents are near. A kiss, a hug, skin-to-skin 5 Small plane makes safe emergency landing on contact or reading a story to a newborn infant can 215 Freeway help them heal.” Rancho Cucamonga High wins San Bernardino 6 County Academic Decathlon for the first time The primary hospital that Ronald McDonald House 7 Severed natural gas line causes minimal serves is Loma Linda University Children’s evacuations in San Bernardino Friday Hospital, but the organization supports all area Woman arrested in hit-and-run death of San 8 Bernardino high school student hospitals where children receive treatment for life- threatening illnesses. Parents may live as far away California can guarantee clean water without tax 9 increases as Coachella or Hesperia, a distance that makes it https://www.sbsun.com/...e-for-families/?utm_content=tw-sbsun&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_medium=social[4/19/2019 3:05:57 PM] Inland Empire Ronald McDonald House is home away from home for families – San Bernardino Sun

difficult to stay nearby.

The Inland Empire Ronald McDonald House, in Loma Linda, provides a place to say for families whose children are being treated in hospitals. (Courtesy of Inland Empire Ronald McDonald House)

Parents who cannot afford a hotel find themselves sleeping at the hospital and in their cars, neglecting their own health. This also makes it more difficult to spend time with healthy siblings and keep their family together. At the Ronald McDonald House, families can stay together for free while their child is being treated.

The recently expanded house has 54 rooms, a kitchen, a large laundry facility and common areas for families to gather. There are also support services and activities, which include healthy siblings. Family support services interns meet with families to listen to their challenges and assess their needs. There are also fun clubs, music and art therapy, yoga, and movie nights on the back patio.

“We provide everything that we can think of,” Hooper said. “We have a library, sanctuary, foosball table, PlayStation and this all releases the stress on the family. Parents wonder ‘How do I https://www.sbsun.com/...e-for-families/?utm_content=tw-sbsun&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_medium=social[4/19/2019 3:05:57 PM] Inland Empire Ronald McDonald House is home away from home for families – San Bernardino Sun

keep my family connected and together?’ And the answer is the Ronald McDonald House.”

Having this support during treatment can have a tremendous impact, Hooper said. Today, Sebastian is 8 years old.

“He’s such a joyful little boy and it’s just amazing what love and faith does for a family,” Hooper said.

The Lopez family remains committed to their children and to the work done at the Ronald McDonald House. The whole family helps with fundraisers so that other families can get the help and support they experienced. Matthew Lopez, Sebastian’s brother, now works at the house as a guest service associate.

While McDonalds is a mission supporter, 50% of the organization’s $1.8 million budget is raised by four signature events each year. A large percent of this budget is also supported by grantors, including funds through the Harns Family Donor Advised Fund at The Community Foundation and individual donations.

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organization also depends on thousands of volunteers and is looking for more.

Those who wish to help can make financial donation or could download a wish list from the website and pick up items to help families living in the house.

“Tremendous support is provided to the families while they are here from the staff internally and the community externally,” Hooper said. “The items that are donated, like liquid detergent and dryer sheets, minimize their financial burden. When a child is sick, the whole family is sick and Ronald McDonald House is here to help them.”

Information: 909-747-1200 or rmhcsc.org/inlandempire.

The Community Foundation’s mission is to strengthen Inland Southern California through philanthropy.

https://www.sbsun.com/...e-for-families/?utm_content=tw-sbsun&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_medium=social[4/19/2019 3:05:57 PM] Starbucks opens near Ford Park in Redlands – Daily Bulletin

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THINGS TO DORESTAURANT REVIEWS + FOOD Starbucks opens near Ford Park in Redlands

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A Starbucks drive-thru has opened in a development near Redlands’ Ford Park. (Fielding Buck, SCNG)

By FIELDING BUCK | [email protected] | The  Press-Enterprise PUBLISHED: April 19, 2019 at 12:06 pm | UPDATED: April 19, 2019 at 12:07 pm

Ford Park in Redlands has a lot of attractions,

https://www.dailybulletin.com/...utm_content=tw-ivdailybulletin&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_medium=social[4/19/2019 3:07:49 PM] Starbucks opens near Ford Park in Redlands – Daily Bulletin

including a dog park, fishing ponds with ducks and geese, flying disc golf, and tennis and handball courts. Get the latest news delivered daily! And now it has food service in walking distance. SUBSCRIBE Starbucks opened at 1035 Parkford Drive on Thursday. Follow Us The drive-thru is at the 10 Freeway offramp at Ford Street, next to a 76 gas station with a    convenience store. It shares a parking lot with LA Fitness, and the rest of the center is under construction. SPONSORED CONTENT

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By American Upbeat Vietnamese food impresses at Lotus Restaurant in San Bernardino

Dine 909: Dine out on Thursday, April 25, MOST POPULAR and help support those living with HIV/AIDS Arrest made in death of Grand Terrace skating 1 rink owner 4/20 alert: Carl’s Jr. tests CBD burger on April 20 in Colorado that costs $4.20 Turpin couple in Perris torture case sentenced to 2 25 years to life after children speak

Stagecoach 2019: Smoked meat gets star 4 arrested in baby shower shooting that killed an status in the food lineup 3 18-year-old in Upland

You’ll never guess the most expensive and The last straw? The mother and daughter 4 affordable theme parks in California making these reusable Simply Straws hope so Los Osos High band teacher accused of 5 soliciting sexually explicit photos, videos from students Starbucks is an end-cap, meaning that it shares a 6 Former San Dimas doctor and associate 5,000 share-foot building with other, vacant retail sentenced in $7 million Medicare fraud scheme spaces. Rialto officer holds sign: ‘If you’re on a cellphone 7 right now, you’re about to get a ticket’ Before it opened, the nearest fast food was a 8 At 25, the daily special at Nancy May’s in Subway up a ridge on the other side of Ford Rancho Cucamonga is the staff and customers

Street. No hot water, bugs, dirty conditions: Restaurant 9 closures and other inspections in Riverside But nostalgia buffs will remember that Griswold’s County, April 12-18 Smorgasbord used to occupy the space, luring Los Osos High band teacher dies by suicide 10 after learning of police investigation, officials say drivers of the freeway for Scandinavian buffet in the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s. It was demolished in Dine 909: Dine out on Thursday, April 25, and 11 help support those living with HIV/AIDS 2003. Coachella 2019: Set times and schedule 12 announced, here’s when Ariana Grande, Blackpink, Childish Gambino are playing

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https://www.dailybulletin.com/...utm_content=tw-ivdailybulletin&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_medium=social[4/19/2019 3:07:49 PM] Arrest made in death of Grand Terrace skating rink owner – Daily Bulletin

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NEWSCRIME + PUBLIC SAFETY Arrest made in death of Grand Terrace skating rink owner

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During a candlelight vigil Brian Harsany points to a picture of him and his twin brother Ryan Harsany. At Cal Skate Grand Terrace roller-skating rink in Grand Terrace on Monday, March 18, 2019. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

By BEATRIZ E. VALENZUELA |  [email protected] | San Bernardino Sun PUBLISHED: April 19, 2019 at 2:33 pm | UPDATED: April 19, 2019 at 2:33 pm

A 25-year-old Moreno Valley man was arrested

https://www.dailybulletin.com/...utm_source=twitter.com&utm_content=tw-ivdailybulletin&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_medium=social[4/19/2019 3:05:49 PM] Arrest made in death of Grand Terrace skating rink owner – Daily Bulletin

this week in connection with the fatal shooting of Cal Skate skating rink owner Ryan Harsany.

San Bernardino County sheriff’s detective arrested Tre’elle Potts Wednesday, April 17, on suspicion of Get the latest news delivered daily! murder, officials said. SUBSCRIBE “Details surrounding the identification of Potts and his arrest are not being disclosed at this time,” according to a statement from the Sheriff’s Follow Us Department.    Potts was booked at Central Detention Center in San Bernardino and is being held without bail. SPONSORED CONTENT Deputies found Harsany fatally wounded inside his Grand Terrace skating rink, located at 22080 A Secret Door Was Found During Renovation. Commerce Way, March 16 when they responded When They Opened It, The FBI Was...  to a robbery at the business, officials said. By Inside Mystery When they arrived, smoke was rising from the building. San Bernardino County Fire Department crews extinguished two small fires, said Tracey Martinez, spokeswoman for the department. Firefighters and deputies pulled Harsany from the building. Paramedics then took him to a hospital where he died.

According to his twin brother Brian Harsany, the siblings used to skate at the rink as children.

“We RELATED ARTICLES lived at the rink. Corona man charged in stabbing death of half-brother during fight It was our Man suspected of January homicide place to among 4 arrested in Perris hang 4 arrested in baby shower shooting that out with https://www.dailybulletin.com/...utm_source=twitter.com&utm_content=tw-ivdailybulletin&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_medium=social[4/19/2019 3:05:49 PM] Arrest made in death of Grand Terrace skating rink owner – Daily Bulletin

killed an 18-year-old in Upland friends and Mother accused in Trinity Love Jones’ skate murder was visited by social workers in 2011 after alleged abuse, neglect; case around was closed to

Hearing delayed for pair accused in slaying of 9-year-old Trinity Love Jones

awesome 80’s music,” he said. “This is truly the hardest day of my life. I still can’t process the evil that was done to my brother. I see it daily in my line of work as a police officer, yet never thought it would touch me or my family and now it has. I just want whoever did this to my brother to be brought to justice and pay for what happened to my brother.”

Hundreds turned out to honor Ryan Harsany at a community vigil following his death.

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https://www.dailybulletin.com/...utm_source=twitter.com&utm_content=tw-ivdailybulletin&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_medium=social[4/19/2019 3:05:49 PM] 4/19/2019 Plane lands on 215 freeway - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

Plane lands on 215 freeway By Rene Ray De La Cruz Staff Writer Posted Apr 18, 2019 at 7:09 PM Updated Apr 18, 2019 at 7:09 PM SAN BERNARDINO — Afternoon motorists on Thursday were treated to an unusual sight as a single-engine plane landed on the 215 Freeway just before the University Parkway exit.

No serious injuries were reported and the plane did not strike any vehicles as the aircraft landed about 1:45 p.m. on the right shoulder of the northbound freeway, the California Highway Patrol reported.

Mechanic Fred Lindstrom, who lives in Phelan, told the Daily Press he was on his way home from Riverside when freeway traffic slowed as commuters tried to get a glimpse of the red and black plane on the side of the freeway.

“As I approached the scene, I thought a small trailer had broken down,” Lindstrom said. “That’s something you don’t see every day.”

Pilot Troy Hartman of Temecula said he took off from French Valley Airport near Murrieta and started experiencing engine problems, forcing the landing between the 210 Freeway and University Parkway, the San Bernardino Sun reported.

The aircraft, a single-engine Vans RV-4, lost engine power and made an emergency landing on the freeway, said Ian Gregor, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the incident.

The plane’s FAA registration described the aircraft as an experimental, amateur- built craft with a Lycoming engine, certified as airworthy in July 1990, the Sun reported.

https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190418/plane-lands-on-215-freeway 1/2 4/19/2019 Plane lands on 215 freeway - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

CHP officers and the pilot pushed the plane onto a flatbed truck that towed it from the freeway later in the afternoon.

Reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227, [email protected], Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190418/plane-lands-on-215-freeway 2/2 4/19/2019 Severed natural gas line causes minimal evacuations in San Bernardino Friday – San Bernardino Sun

LOCAL NEWS Severed natural gas line causes minimal evacuations in San Bernardino Friday

A firefighter sprays water onto a severed gas line on West Base Line Street near the corner of H Street in San Bernardino Friday, April 19, 2019. The line was accidentally severed by a construction crew at approximately 9:30 a.m. and caused adjacent buildings to be evacuated along with the shutdown of W. Base Line Street between H and G Streets. No injuries were reported. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

By WILL LESTER || [email protected] || DailyDaily BulletinBulletin PUBLISHED: April 19, 2019 at 1:52 pm || UPDATED:UPDATED: April 19, 2019 at 1:52 pm

https://www.sbsun.com/2019/04/19/severed-natural-gas-line-causes-minimal-evacuations-in-san-bernardino-friday/?utm_source=twitter.com… 1/3 4/19/2019 Severed natural gas line causes minimal evacuations in San Bernardino Friday – San Bernardino Sun

A gas line severed by construction workers along W. Base Line Street just east of H Street at approximately 9:30 a.m. prompted minimal evacuations in the nearby area Friday April 19, 2019 in San Bernardino. A local school nearby was not evacuated. Escaping gas could be heard from the severed line which caused traffictraffic toto bebe diverteddiverted aroundaround thethe area.area. W.W. BaseBase LineLine StreetStreet isis currentlycurrently closedclosed between H and G Streets until the line can be shut off.

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Will Lester Will is a Southern California native who grew up in Altadena and actually graduated high school in the Rose Bowl. He became a staff photographer for the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in 1998 aer graduating from Cal State Fullerton. He has covered nearly every event possible and excels in auto/drag racing, concerts, sports and breaking news photography. Will has won the coveted Russ Catlin Award for Motorsports Photojournalism 4 times, being the only non-full time motorsports photojournalist in the country to do so. He loves attending and shooting rodeos, whether it’s in Cheyenne or Norco because “it is pure America.” To unwind, Will lovesloves toto traveltravel (Wyoming/Montana(Wyoming/Montana andand anyany placeplace withwith warmwarm sandsand betweenbetween hishis toestoes areare hishis go-togo-to places),places), alwaysalways withwith aa cameracamera inin towtow ofof course.course. HeHe alsoalso enjoysenjoys kayaking, paddle boarding, and hanging out with his Huskies.  Follow Will Lester @willlesterphoto https://www.sbsun.com/2019/04/19/severed-natural-gas-line-causes-minimal-evacuations-in-san-bernardino-friday/?utm_source=twitter.com… 2/3 4/19/2019 Turpin couple in Perris torture case sentenced to 25 years to life after children speak – Press Enterprise

NEWSCRIME + PUBLIC SAFETY Turpin couple in Perris torture case sentenced to 25 years to life after children speak

David Turpin cries as he reads a statement prior to being sentenced at the Riverside Hall of Justice Friday, April 19, 2019. David and Louise Turpin, of Perris, were both sentenced to 25 years to life for the torture, and other charges, for mistreating 12 of theirtheir 1313 children.children. (Photo(Photo byby WillWill Lester,Lester, InlandInland ValleyValley DailyDaily Bulletin/SCNG)Bulletin/SCNG)

By BRIAN ROKOS || [email protected] andand RYAN HAGEN || [email protected] || TheThe Press-EnterprisePress-Enterprise PUBLISHED: April 19, 2019 at 10:05 am || UPDATED:UPDATED: April 19, 2019 at 3:05 pm

https://www.pe.com/2019/04/19/the-tuprins-children-talk-to-the-perris-couple-who-abused-12-of-them-in-court/ 1/5 4/19/2019 Turpin couple in Perris torture case sentenced to 25 years to life after children speak – Press Enterprise

Bringing to a close a trial that shocked the nation, a Riverside County Superior Court judge on Friday sentenced a Perris couple who abused a dozen of their children by shackling to starving them to 25 years to life in prison.

But before the sentenced was handed out, some of the children of David and Louise Turpin took the stand, saying they loved their parents and have overcome theirtheir extremelyextremely troubledtroubled childhoods.childhoods.

“My parents took my life away from me, but I am taking my life back now,” said one daughter, who is in college. She added that she is “a fighter” and watched her dad change her mom.

“I love both of my parents so much,” a brother said, speaking for a sibling who added she was glad her parents raised her although not the way they were brought up. “I want to thank them for teaching me about God and faith, and I hope they never lose their faith.”

Said another daughter, Joy, though a lawyer: “If at all possible, I would appreciate itit ifif thethe courtcourt wouldwould placeplace ourour parentsparents nearnear thethe detentiondetention centercenter they’rethey’re atat nownow soso we can visit, and (I) would like the restraining order removed. I feel like 25 years (in(in prison)prison) isis tootoo long.long. II believebelieve withwith allall mymy heartheart mymy parentsparents triedtried asas hardhard asas theythey could and tried to give us a good life.”

At least three of the children are now in college.

The judge had ruled that no victims’ faces could be photographed or videotaped during Friday’s sentencing hearing.

David Turpin had his lawyer read a statement for him: “I never intended for any harm to come to my children. I’m sorry if I’ve done anything to cause them harm. I hope and pray my children can stay close to each other since their mother and fatherfather cannotcannot bebe therethere forfor them.”them.”

Louise Turpin told the court: “I want them to know that Mom and Dad are going toto bebe OK.OK. II alsoalso wantwant themthem toto knowknow II believebelieve GodGod hashas aa specialspecial planplan forfor them.them. I’mI’m sorry for everything I’ve done to hurt my children. I love my children so much.”

David Turpin, 57, and Louise Turpin, 50, had been jailed in lieu of $12 million bail each.

The children, now ages 3 to 30, had never appeared in public before, in the wake of theirtheir parents’parents’ arrestsarrests onon Jan.Jan. 14,14, 20182018..

https://www.pe.com/2019/04/19/the-tuprins-children-talk-to-the-perris-couple-who-abused-12-of-them-in-court/ 2/5 4/19/2019 Turpin couple in Perris torture case sentenced to 25 years to life after children speak – Press Enterprise The children’s plight came to light when one of the girls, 17 years old at the time, escaped. She got through a window of their six-year-old, four bedroom house, and tooktook aa sibling’ssibling’s deactivateddeactivated cellphonecellphone alongalong withwith herher andand andand punchedpunched inin 911.911. SheShe toldtold aa dispatcherdispatcher thatthat thethe childrenchildren werewere shackledshackled toto furniturefurniture andand starvedstarved andand didn’t get proper educations. Prosecutors would say the children were cognitively and physically impaired.

Only a daughter, who was 2 at the time of the arrests, was supposedly not neglected or abused.

According to prosecutors, the children were given a diet of peanut butter sandwiches and frozen burritos. Their dad was their homeschool principal and only provided a little more than first-grade educations. If a child took food, he or she might get struck in the head or have their hair pulled, or the child was paddled or even thrown down a flight of stairs.

Punishment for subsequent infractions might get a child locked in a 7-by-5-foot enclosure or a smaller kennel-style container.

The children — whose names all begin with the letter J — had to wear soiled clothes and some could only shower once a year. There was testimony that the abuse had begun when the family lived in Texas, continued when the family moved to Murrieta in 2010 and to Perris in 2014.

Why the couple did all of this remains a mystery.

Brian Rokos @Brian_Rokos ·· 6h Replying to @Brian_Rokos The courtroom is not open to the media/public yet.

Brian Rokos @Brian_Rokos

The Turpins talk with their attorneys before sentencing. pic.twitter.com/VDeuyM1GHI 37 8:48 AM - Apr 19, 2019

https://www.pe.com/2019/04/19/the-tuprins-children-talk-to-the-perris-couple-who-abused-12-of-them-in-court/ 3/5 4/19/2019 Turpin couple in Perris torture case sentenced to 25 years to life after children speak – Press Enterprise

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On Feb. 22, the parents each pleaded guilty to 14 felonies: six counts of dependent adult abuse, four counts of false imprisonment, three counts of child endangerment and one count of torture, setting up Friday’s sentencing. They had facedfaced aa collectivecollective 8888 feloniesfelonies beforebefore cuttingcutting thethe deal.deal.

The Turpins agreed to maximum sentences of 25 years to life, although the judge could have imposed a different term. Under this deal, the Turpins were projected toto serveserve anan estimatedestimated 2222 years,years, fourfour monthsmonths beforebefore beingbeing eligibleeligible forfor parole.parole.

On Friday at the hearing, Elizabeth Flores, Louise Turpin’s sister who wrote the book “Sisters of Secrets,” was in the courtroom. So was Raider, the Corona Police Department’s comfort dog that goes to court hearings to help witnesses and victims.

Before the sentencing, the Turpins chatted busily with their attorneys. Louise Turpin smiled at times. Her husband’s expression ranged from neutral to grim.

Tags: Perris torture case,, Top Stories Breeze,, Top Stories IVDB,, Top Stories LADN,, Top Stories LBPT,, Top Stories OCR,, Top Stories PE,, Top Stories PSN,, Top Stories RDF,, Top Stories SGVT,, Top Stories Sun,, Top Stories WDN

Brian Rokos Brian Rokos writes about public safety issues such as policing, criminal justice, scams, how law affects public safety, reghting tactics and wildland re danger. He has also covered the cities of San Bernardino, Corona, Norco, Lake Elsinore, Perris, Canyon Lake and Hemet. Before that he supervised reporters and worked as a copy editor. For some reason, he enjoys movies where the Earth is threatened with extinction.  Follow Brian Rokos @Brian_Rokos https://www.pe.com/2019/04/19/the-tuprins-children-talk-to-the-perris-couple-who-abused-12-of-them-in-court/ 4/5 Working as a librarian gave me post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms - Los Angeles Times

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OP-ED OP-ED OPINION Working as a librarian gave me post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms

By AMANDA OLIVER

APR 19, 2019 | 9:50 AM

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https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-oliver-librarian-the-public-movie-20190419-story.html[4/19/2019 3:09:12 PM] Working as a librarian gave me post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms - Los Angeles Times

A Santa Ana library where study carrels were removed to discourage illegal activities activities like shooting drugs or sleeping hidden from public view. (Los Angeles Times)

Months before its release, friends and family began sending me links to the movie trailer for “The Public.” It made them think of me, they said.

In the film, a passion project of actor-director Emilio Estevez, homeless patrons, unable to face another night in the subzero Cincinnati winter, refuse to leave, and “occupy” the public library. While critics and moviegoers may view aspects of “The Public” as dramatic license, for me it was the first time I ever saw my job reflected on the screen accurately.

I quit my job as a librarian last fall. It was not because I had become bored living out the hackneyed stereotype of a cat-eye-glasses-wearing librarian shushing patrons from behind an imposing mahogany desk. No, I left the library because I had begun to burn out and experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

I’d been a school librarian for more than five years before taking a job at a branch within the Washington, D.C., public library system for the last nine months of my career. The movie’s opening scene of homeless people rolling up their sleeping bags and lining up outside the still-locked doors of a library mirrored my own mornings. I would arrive 30 minutes before the branch opened and find at least 10 familiar people waiting — more on particularly cold or hot days — who had slept outside or just walked over from the shelters. There was Wayne, the recovering addict who called me "Kiddo” and held the door open for me so I wouldn't spill my coffee. There was Miss Cook, hissing and growling at her imaginary sister, and Ms. Yin, yelling about not being able to get in to get her work done — which was designing a spy café for the roof of the National Air and Space Museum at the behest of the FBI.

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To work in a library today, one has to be a social worker, a first responder, an advocate for the underserved, and a human with very thick skin.

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There were no quiet days of reading at the desk at the library. Instead, hidden underneath the circulation desk was a panic button my coworkers or I would push to alert the district’s Library Police and the

Metropolitan Police Department that staff and/or patrons were in immediate danger.

There were incidents daily, including drunk patrons passing out, shoving arguments outside the bathroom, psychotic episodes that resulted in screaming matches with invisible entities. But the panic button was reserved for when things were truly bad. We pushed it three times in my first month. The first time was on my second day on the job. The librarians were behind the circulation desk as a patron began throwing books, newspapers and plastic sign holders at us, screaming that he would kill every one of us. I’d just finished a baby and toddler story time and watched as the caretakers scrambled to hide the children behind tall bookcases.

“The Public” sets out to be — and in many ways is — a love letter to urban libraries across the country and those who keep their doors open. But if it imbues its librarian characters with some moral superiority, I assure you this is something the majority of librarians do not feel.

There were days I lost my temper, days I felt extreme anger toward particularly difficult patrons, and days I sat in the back room and cried. I certainly never hung out in the bathroom with patrons, and I definitely never gave anyone a wad of cash out of my pocket as Estevez’s character does at one point. And yet, to work in a library today I also has to be a social worker and a first responder, an advocate for the underserved, and a human with very thick skin.

The act of civil disobedience that gives the film its dramatic structure asks big questions: What is the bare minimum we expect of society, and how does that differ from a fully human response? It is the bare minimum for a city to provide shelter beds to its homeless. It is human to create a sanctuary for them in their daily lives. It is the bare minimum to pay librarians to take on an unthinkable range of tasks to maintain this sanctuary. It is human to deal with the deep internal struggles and burnout this will cause.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion »

Maybe it is too much to hope that a movie or a bestseller like Susan Orlean’s “The Library Book” will truly ignite a civic conversation about the conditions of cities and their libraries, about librarians and patrons. But it is essential to understand that libraries are in this state because other systems failed. We have never remedied the mental health crisis that flowed from the closings of state psychiatric hospitals in the 1980s. Money for low-income housing and social service programs has dwindled for decades. In recent years, cities, including Los Angeles, have passed ordinances to prevent homeless encampments from becoming permanent tent cities. Restaurants, museums and other public places kick people experiencing homelessness out onto the streets, where they are also told they cannot be. The library is one of the few remaining places they have to go.

Toward the end of the film, one of the senior librarians passionately declares the public library the nation’s last bastion of democracy. And it is. I’m so glad that I devoted seven years of my life to working in one. Libraries are great social equalizers. But we should be asking how other institutions can emulate their work as caring advocates and providers for society’s most vulnerable. Libraries can’t be the only ones.

Amanda Oliver is a graduate student in nonfiction creative writing at UC Riverside. She is currently at work on a book about being a librarian. Twitter: @aelaineo.

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https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-oliver-librarian-the-public-movie-20190419-story.html[4/19/2019 3:09:12 PM] 4/19/2019 Los Angeles County Locates Missing Seniors With Technology (/)

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (/health) Los Angeles County Locates Missing Seniors With Technology The county hopes to reduce the number of lost or missing seniors with the aid of special bracelets worn by individuals that can be tracked by radio technology. Initial results look promising.

BY LUCAS ROPEK (HTTPS://WWW.GOVTECH.COM/AUTHORS/LUCAS-ROPEK.HTML) / APRIL 16, 2019

SHUTTERSTOCK/ABOIKIS

(https://www.govtech.com/health/Los-Angeles- Locates-Missing-Seniors-With-Technology.pdf)

https://www.govtech.com/health/Los-Angeles-Locates-Missing-Seniors-With-Technology.html 1/6 4/19/2019 Los Angeles County Locates Missing Seniors With Technology More than 10,000 adults went missing in Los Angeles County last year, according to California state records. A substantial number of those people were elderly, with cognitive impairments, including dementia or Alzheimer's, which puts them at a higher risk of getting lost.

Now, a program launched by L.A. County is using a radio tracking system to keep an eye on the whereabouts of those most at risk. The LA Found Initiative, launched last October, uses voluntary monitoring devices to find at-risk individuals in the event that they become lost. It is coordinated by the County’s Sheriff’s Department and Workforce Development, Aging and Community Services Department.

Concern over the issue was partially sparked by the disappearance and death of Nancy Paulikas (https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Missing-Woman-Remains- Sherman-Oaks-Manhattan-Beach-Alzheimers-Nancy-Paulikas-Search- 503555041.html), a 55-year-old woman with early onset Alzheimer's who wandered away from her family while touring a Los Angeles museum in 2016.

Paulikas' disappearance and death was a big catalyst for change, according to Veronica Sigala, program manager for the County's Adult Protective Services department, which oversees the program. “It was a tragedy,” she said. “But what we learned from that is that we needed to do better in L.A. County.”

Public concern manifested into a task force convened in 2017 by the county's Board of Supervisors. The task force would eventually settle upon a number of suggestions for increasing its efficiency in locating lost people, one of which was partnering with a tracking technology vendor to assist law enforcement in finding lost individuals.

The county decided to partner with Project Lifesaver (https://projectlifesaver.org/about-us/), a public safety nonprofit founded by former law enforcement officials that utilizes arm bands equipped with radio frequency technology police can use to triangulate the approximate location of someone wearing one.

“If the individual wearing a device goes missing, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department can quickly deploy personnel to help law enforcement agencies locate the individual,” said Rebecca Friedman, who works with L.A. County. The goal of the

https://www.govtech.com/health/Los-Angeles-Locates-Missing-Seniors-With-Technology.html 2/6 4/19/2019 Los Angeles County Locates Missing Seniors With Technology program is to create a “uniform and coordinated response to missing persons,” she said.

Cinthie Lopez Paz, a county human services administrator working with LA Found, said the county’s program is fairly unique because it uses a more “case management style” approach, emphasizing mental health, outreach and client care alongside its law enforcement operations.

The county's human services and the sheriff’s department have worked well together on the project, according to Paz. “In my many years with the county, I haven’t seen a collaborative effort like this, in how well we are able to navigate the entire county system in order to provide assistance to our clients.”

Families or caregivers may come forward to request that their loved one be fitted with a bracelet designed by Project Lifesaver. The bracelets carry a rechargeable battery and the caregiver is trained how to maintain it.

So far, the program has used the bracelets to successfully locate and recover four individuals who had wandered off, said Sigala and Paz.

While the program originally only had 30 bracelets, the state soon secured additional funding and was able to purchase more bracelets. The county currently has 235 people enrolled in the Project Lifesaver pilot, said Friedman.

While initial funds for the program came from the county, funding has grown through donations from a diversity of state and local organizations. In the future, Sigala said, the program hopes to grow its donor base and be able to expand services significantly — with potential investment in a host of other tracking technologies.

Lucas Ropek (https://www.govtech.com/authors/Lucas-Ropek.html) Staff Writer

Lucas Ropek is a staff writer for Government Technology. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and writer in Massachusetts and New York. He received his Bachelor's degree in English from Kenyon College in Ohio. He lives in Northern California.

Los Angeles' Stressed Trees Could Benefit from Technology (https://www.govtech.com/fs/infrastructure/Los-Angeles-Stressed-Trees- Could-Benefit-from-Technology.html) https://www.govtech.com/health/Los-Angeles-Locates-Missing-Seniors-With-Technology.html 3/6