HARD Summer Music Festival Requests Move to Glen Helen Amphitheater from Auto Club Speedway

San Bernardino County Sun (http://www.sbsun.com)

HARD Summer Music Festival requests move to Glen Helen Amphitheater from Auto Club Speedway

By Neil Nisperos, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Monday, July 10, 2017

San Bernardino County on Monday was still considering a request by Live Nation for the Hard Summer electronic dance music festival to be held at the Glen Helen Amphitheater this year, according to a county spokeswoman.

While a press release Monday from Hard Summer organizers announced the move, the decision from the county has yet to be made, said Felisa Cardona, spokeswoman for San Bernardino County, which owns and operates the amphitheater.

“They made the request to hold the Hard Summer Music Festival there last Friday, and the county is considering the request,” Cardona said. “It would be a last-minute addition to the venue.”

She did not have a timeline for a decision by the county.

The event was held in 2016 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.

Speedway spokesman David Talley referred questions about the change to the Hard Summer organizers.

Sources close to talks said Live Nation’s decision to move the venue might have had to do with the number of tickets sold. A representative for the event did not immediately return a request for comment.

“I think these concerts go by the number of tickets they sell, the size of the business,” San Bernardino County Supervisor Curt Hagman said in a phone interview Monday. “We have several facilities throughout the region. We have several events there a year and (Glen Helen Amphitheater) would be an appropriate place for it.”

All tickets purchased for the Hard Summer music festival this year will allow the ticket holder admission to the Glen Helen Amphitheater, according to organizers. Ticketmaster will begin shipping tickets this week.

The festival hasn’t been without its share of controversy; three people died at the 2016 festival. The San Bernardino County coroner’s office determined those deaths were caused by Ecstasy overdoses.

Hard Summer had previously garnered negative attention for its 2015 event in Pomona, where two people died of drug overdoses, authorities said.

In an effort to crack down on unruly conduct, heavy traffic and noise levels associated with raves at the amphitheater in Devore, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors formed an Electronic Dance Music Task Force last year. Supervisor Janice Rutherford, in response to more than 100 resident complaints, proposed terminating the county’s contract with Live Nation last year to host the Nocturnal Wonderland rave and its sister events, which have been held annually at the amphitheater since the county entered into a three-year contract with Live Nation in 2013. But Rutherford’s proposal failed last year due to lack of board consensus.

“The county is always concerned with safety, and we don’t want anybody to lose their life at any event,” Cardona said. “That’s why the county has assembled an Electronic Dance Music Task Force to look at these issues.”

Hard Summer’s artist lineup and schedule that previously had been announced is expected to remain the same for the Glen Helen event, organizers said in a release. Doors would open at noon each day and the box office at 11 a.m., according to organizers.

The music festival at Auto Club Speedway last year attracted 146,000 fans.

One person hoping for a boost in business from the crowds is Jose Luis Gallegos, manager at Papa Tony’s Diner, the closest restaurant to the amphitheater, at 18291 Cajon Blvd. in San Bernardino.

“When events like that happen and a lot of people come to the restaurant, it’s good for the business because a lot of people come,” Gallegos said. “It helps the restaurant and we just love having more customers come in.”

Information: http://bit.ly/HARD10YRfbevent

URL: http://www.sbsun.com/arts-and-entertainment/20170710/hard-summer-music-festival-requests-move-to-glen-helen-amphitheater-from-auto-club-speedway

Survival of key Colonies case charges on the line this week

By Joe Nelson, The Sun and Richard K. De Atley, The Press-Enterprise

Monday, July 10, 2017

Attorneys in the Colonies bribery case in San Bernardino County continued their arguments Monday for and against dismissal of charges in the trial, after the prosecution rested its case late last month.

Judge Michael A. Smith did not issue any rulings during the court session, and he will hear more arguments Tuesday. The dismissal motions are procedural, coming at the end of the prosecution’s presentation and before the defense offers its witnesses.

At stake is whether some of the case’s key charges, including counts of aiding and abetting in the receipt of a bribe and agreeing to receive a bribe, will proceed to jury deliberations.

Smith last week dismissed a forgery charge against defendant and former county Assistant Assessor Jim Erwin and also tossed out a charge alleging Mark Kirk, the former chief of staff for Supervisor Gary Ovitt, had asked for or received a bribe.

The hearings in Smith’s San Bernardino courtroom this week are taking place outside the presence of the 7- month-old trial’s two juries.

Prosecutors allege three county officials each took $100,000 bribes, which were reported as campaign contributions, from Rancho Cucamonga developer Jeff Burum to gain approval for a $102 million court settlement over flood control work at Colonies Partners’ 434-acre residential and commercial development in Upland.

Defendants include Burum, Erwin, former county Supervisor Paul Biane, and Kirk.

All the defendants have denied any wrongdoing, saying the contributions, which were from Colonies Partners, where Burum is one of the managing members, were public donations to legal political action committees and were part of the Colonies’ attempts to mend fences after the contentious legal dispute and were available online for public review.

URL: http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20170710/survival-of-key-colonies-case-charges-on-the-line-this-week

3 hikers rescued in 2 days from Lytle Creek and Deep Creek areas

By Beatriz Valenzuela, San Bernardino Sun

Monday, July 10, 2017

San Bernardino County sheriff’s officials were recently busy rescuing injured and stranded hikers including a woman who became sick after drinking river water, officials said.

A man called sheriff’s officials from a person’s home Friday evening after he became separated from his sister during a hike in the Lytle Creek area, according to a news release.

Authorities used a helicopter to search for the woman, Louisa Guillen, 29, of Bloomington and found her along the mountainside near where the siblings became separated, officials said.

A flight officer was lowered about 125 feet down to Guillen. She was hoisted up to the helicopter and flown to an awaiting ambulance along Lytle Creek Road. Paramedics then took her a hospital, according to the release.

Officials learned after the two became separated “the victim became disoriented and unclothed herself while suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration,” the statement said.

She then became ill after she drank water from a river creek bed, officials said.

She is expected to recover.

The same day as Guillen’s rescue, a Hesperia woman became dehydrated while returning from a hike down to Deep Creek Hot Springs near Apple Valley, sheriff’s officials reported.

Luzelena Velasquez, 19, was also airlifted after San Bernardino County Fire Department responded and requested an air rescue due to the remote location she was in.

Air rescue units were also called to Deep Creek Hot Springs Thursday for a man who was having a diabetic emergency on a trail, sheriff’s officials said.

The crew spotted the hiker, Scott Erickson, 55, of Maryland and flew down to an area where a deputy was able to hike down to the man.

“The crew determined the quickest way to get Erickson out of the area would have been to conduct a hoist rescue,” according to the sheriff’s release.

Authorities hoisted Erickson up to the helicopter, which then flew him to an awaiting ambulance.

Sheriff’s officials remind hikers to always be prepared when embarking into the wilderness. They advise people bring plenty of food, water, clothing and medication. They also suggest people check weather reports and prepare accordingly.

URL: http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20170710/3-hikers-rescued-in-2-days-from-lytle-creek-and-deep-creek-areas © 2017 San Bernardino County Sun (http://www.sbsun.com) San Bernardino County Sun (http://www.sbsun.com)

Victoria Gardens demolishes building to make room for new store. Here’s what’s coming

By Neil Nisperos, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Monday, July 10, 2017

RANCHO CUCAMONGA >> A building at Victoria Gardens has been demolished to make way for another along South Main Street, mall officials said.

Construction will continue through summer 2018 in a space near the Apple Store.

The outdoor mall has already signed a tenant for the space: Zara, a clothing and accessories retailer with headquarters in Spain.

The Rancho Cucamonga store, expected to open in 2018, will be Zara’s first in the Inland Empire. Its nearest locations are in Arcadia and Pasadena.

Online reviews are mixed, with shoppers loving the clothes if not the shopping experience.

The fashion retailer has more than a dozen locations in Los Angeles and Orange counties, and a distribution center in Redlands. The company has about 2,100 stores worldwide across 88 countries, with flagship locations on Fifth Avenue in New York City and Oxford Street in London.

“I think it’s great to see a retailer that is located throughout the world, and (here), mostly in Los Angeles and Orange counties,” said real estate expert Brad Umansky, president of the Rancho Cucamonga-based commercial real estate firm Progressive Real Estate Partners. “I think (Zara at Victoria Gardens) is going to appeal to young women in their teens and 20s, and it definitely will bring an appeal and increased foot traffic to that part of Victoria Gardens.”

Zara’s need for a second story prompted the demolition, according to officials with Cleveland-based Forest City Realty Trust, which owns Victoria Gardens. An email said it was not the first time the mall knocked down a building to accommodate a new tenant.

Pandora and Loft, which occupied the building now demolished, were relocated, according to mall officials.

Neither a representative for Zara nor the mall could be immediately reached for an interview.

The announcement of Zara comes as malls nationwide have been allotting more of their space for dining and entertainment as online shopping cuts into traditional brick-and-mortar retail sales. Victoria Gardens saw the opening in May of the 19,000-square-foot Punch Bowl Social restaurant and bar. In March, a cafeteria-style restaurant called Jacks Urban Eats opened.

“It’s great to see Forest City making a commitment to reinvest in (Victoria Gardens, which is) relatively new, and I think this is very indicative of the way the retail industry is going to end up being, which is, there are fewer quality tenants out there, and when you have an opportunity to secure a quality retailer, you’re going to need to reinvest in your property,” Umansky said. “Those who do are going to be successful in the long run. Those who don’t are definitely going to be facing more challenges.” Apple Valley adopts ‘at’ budget: General Fund expenditures exceed revenues by more than $124K

By Matthew Cabe Staff Writer Follow Posted at 8:08 AM Updated at 8:08 AM APPLE VALLEY — The Town Council has unanimously approved a nearly $82 million budget that comes with a General Fund that’s more than a $124,000 in the hole due to at least three funding challenges led by increasing law enforcement expenses.

In total, the Fiscal Year 2017-18 budget increased by $1.1 million compared to the $80.6 million budget approved for FY 2016-17, documents show. Assistant Town Manager Marc Puckett described 2017-18 as a “carry-over budget.”

“It’s a flat budget with very little changes from the prior fiscal year,” Puckett told the Council during its June 27 meeting. “Just changes in priorities in terms of how the funding will be spent.”

It is also, however, a budget that contains at least three areas that negatively impact the General Fund in the wake of a decade-long period in which service levels have increased while revenue sources have not, according to Puckett.

“As a result of that, we’ve instituted a number of fiscal austerity measures,” Puckett said, “which include an annual review of all of our service-delivery methods as part of the budget development process to determine where we can pare down and provide a service differently while maintaining the same level of service delivery.” The biggest challenges exist in the town’s Golf Course Fund, which comes with a 2017-18 operating shortfall of $436,601; the Parks and Recreation Fund, which is deficient by $691,181; and a public safety contract with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department that increased by $828,415 over the previous fiscal year.

The combined shortfall of more than $1.1 million between the Golf Course and Parks and Recreation funds is balanced with financial support from the General Fund, according to Puckett.

Meanwhile, costs associated with the Sheriff’s Department contract account for 48 percent of General Fund expenditures, a figure Puckett said will increase to more than 54 percent over the next two years.

The annual cost for law enforcement services has increased each year since 2011, documents show, rising from approximately $9.8 million to more than $13.7 million.

As a result of these and other challenges, the town’s General Fund expenditures — $28.7 million — outpace revenues — $28.6 million — by $124,621 for 2017-18, documents show.

Over the last five years, more than 5,000 golf courses have closed in the United States, according to Puckett, who said while the fund shortfall is “too high,” the town believes the golf course to be an important recreational opportunity for residents.

As such, he proposed two potential avenues the town has to reduce costs, including improving play and lowering the cost of water.

“Water is a significant cost in the operating budget of a golf course,” Puckett said. “If the town is successful in its acquisition of the water company, we’ll be able to further reduce that shortfall by reducing the cost of water at the golf course.”

The degree to which both the Golf Course and Parks and Recreation funds have been in the red has significantly reduced over the last few years, Puckett said; however, he added the town needs to “address the structural deficit that exists within the Parks and Recreation Fund.” “Our current user fees do not support the recreational opportunities that are received based on the fees for those services,” Puckett said. “We need to review and examine a new revenue source as discussed and has been recommended by the Parks and Recreation Commission in the Master Plan.”

The alternative to not addressing the deficit would be to reduce or further cut recreational programs and services, like the live-theater program which was cut in 2016 due to a lack of funds.

As for the town’s public safety contract, Puckett said it has increased by $4.1 million over an eight-year period with “no change in staffing at all.”

Additionally, documents show contract costs are projected to increase by $1.2 million within the next two years. That’s a figure that does not factor in future costs, including an estimated $500,000 for body cameras.

Puckett noted concern is not reserved for the job being performed by the 37 sworn officers in the town, as overall crime in Apple Valley was reduced by 10 percent in 2016. He added, however, that annual increases of $500,000 or more are currently “not sustainable.”

“We have 100 other employees in the town, and the cost for those sworn officers (51 total Sheriff’s Department employees) exceeds the cost for the other 100 employees,” Puckett said. “It would be very hard for us to absorb those increases without cutting services in other areas.”

Mayor Scott Nassif said much of the public safety costs were administrative, before remarking on the lack of opportunities for additional revenues.

“Even if we have a robust year in building and development, property values and taxes, it’s really not enough to cover that increase,” Nassif said, which led Puckett to add that sales tax collections would need to increase by 30 percent to recover public-safety costs.

That led Councilwoman Barb Stanton to offer a suggestion.

“I do have a thought on resources and it’s called cannabis,” Stanton said. “There’s a new arena next year that we could consider in this community in some way that may benefit our community.” Cannabis-related businesses are currently banned within town limits, and if the other Council members were in favor of Stanton’s proposition, they were silent on the matter from the dais.

Matthew Cabe can be reached at or at 760- 951-6254. Follow him on Twitter .

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Girl greets a 80 beach-goers Museum nds After Rob Six foods to eat policeman every formed a human cases of wine Kardashian for a mood boost morning, but on… chain to rescue… nearly as old as… posted explicit… Posted Jul 10 at 11:45 AM dayPosted at 8:30 AM she’s gone Posted at 7:00 AMdrowning Florida thePosted United Jul 10 at 2:00 PM States photosPosted Jul 10 at 1:00 PM online, Blood supply shortage: LifeStream says levels are dangerously low

By Rene Ray De La Cruz Staff Writer Follow Posted Jul 10, 2017 at 5:12 PM Updated Jul 10, 2017 at 5:12 PM VICTORVILLE — LifeStream is asking the public for help after the agency announced blood supplies in San Bernardino County are at dangerously low levels.

Extreme heat in Southern California has resulted in low turnouts at recent blood drives, with the nationwide shortage estimated at 67,000 units over the past few months. Deficits are projected through August, the agency said.

For LifeStream, blood is constantly in demand to assist hospital patients all across Southern California. The severe decline of blood began when donations began decreasing leading up to and following the Fourth of July holiday.

During the summer months, when brush fires are prevalent, it is crucial to maintain a readily available blood supply to treat burns. Cancer patients and trauma or car accident victims also require a steady supply, LifeStream reported.

Lovella Sullivan, spokeswoman for Victor Valley Global Medical Center, told the Daily Press the medical facility relies heavily on LifeStream.

“There have been so many accidents in the High Desert lately, which is the reason we need our blood supply to be replenished,” Sullivan said. “And with summer activities and travel, it’s imperative that our community comes together to donate blood. You never know when you’re going to need it.” LifeStream urges both existing and first-time donors of all blood types to visit www.LStream.org or call 800-879-4484 to schedule an appointment.

Five climate-controlled donor centers are located in San Bernardino, Riverside, Ontario, Victorville and La Quinta. Donors may also visit the LifeStream’s bloodmobile, which will make several stops in the High Desert this summer and throughout the year.

Walk-ins are welcomed and blood donors must be at least 15 years of age, feel well on drive day, present current photo ID, and weigh at least 110 pounds. Donors under 18 years must present a signed parental consent form, which can be found at LifeStream’s website.

LifeStream is a local, nonprofit blood center that provides blood products and services to more than 80 Southern California hospitals.

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

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Girl greets a 80 beach-goers Museum nds After Rob Six foods to eat policeman every formed a human cases of wine Kardashian for a mood boost morning, but on… chain to rescue… nearly as old as… posted explicit… Posted Jul 10 at 11:45 AM dayPosted at 8:30 AM she’s gone Posted at 7:00 AMdrowning Florida thePosted United Jul 10 at 2:00 PM States photosPosted Jul 10 at 1:00 PM online, Business is booming: Hesperia ooded with housing, commercial development projects

By Rene Ray De La Cruz Staff Writer Follow Posted Jul 10, 2017 at 9:13 AM Updated Jul 10, 2017 at 1:33 PM HESPERIA — City officials shared several development highlights that will keep staff of the “Gateway City of the High Desert” busy for years.

In a City Hall conference room Wednesday, analyst Lisa LaMere and director Rod Yahnke with Hesperia’s Economic Development Department shared several housing and commercial projects currently in the works.

According to Yahnke, the ALDI supermarket, Les Schwab Tire Center and Wendy’s, located on Main Street across from the Hesperia Marketplace Shopping Center, will be completed this year.

“Every since ALDI’s broke ground, there has been a lot of people asking questions,” Yahnke said. “We’ve heard wonderful things about ALDI’s and were excited they’re coming to Hesperia.”

The Marketplace Shopping Center, which is the home to the Walmart Supercenter, has attracted Pieology Pizzeria, The Habit Burger Grill, Yogurtland, Panda Express. MetroPCS, Hesperia Speedwash and Petco over the last two years.

“We have been proactive in not only drawing businesses to Hesperia, but also helping those businesses to succeed way beyond the permitting stage,” LaMere said. “Working for and with businesses is part of the ‘Hesperia works for business’ theme.” Infrastructure improvements garnering attention

LaMere told the Daily Press that the completion of the Ranchero Road Interchange project has prompted many inquiries from developers, brokers and industry leaders.

“Some of these projects are under development, entitled or going into negotiation,” Yahnke said. “On the northwest corner of the interchange, we have a project that includes a hotel, a 10,000-square-foot convention center, a restaurant and some retail.”

Yahnke said the construction of a gas station has begun on the northwest corner of the interchange, with a restaurant possibly being built on the parcel

The widening of Ranchero Road, from two to four lanes between Kern and Topaz avenues, will begin soon and should be completed by mid-August.

In addition to the widening project, the city will install traffic signals at several intersections along Ranchero Road. The first signals will be installed at Maple, Seventh and Cottonwood avenues, with additional signals installed at Oxford, Farmdale and Danbury avenues, located east of Summit Valley Road. There are no confirmed dates for installation.

Businesses flocking to Hesperia

A developer is currently searching for industrial and traditional business tenants for Covington Capital’s 3.5-million-square foot Hesperia Commerce Center project, which is located west of the I-15 and north of the interchange, LaMere said.

“They are completely open to any kind of real estate transactions or construction,” Yahnke said. “The Covington site is on 225 acres and it’s basically a build to suit situation.”

The center will consist of a 13-parcel industrial park on 232 gross acres, with 34 industrial warehouse and office buildings, warehousing and wholesale distribution facilities, commercial storage facilities, health and fitness clubs, restaurants, vehicle repair, medical services and schools, the Daily Press previously reported. Mag Bay Yachts will relocate from its Adelanto location to a new facility near Joshua Street and Caliente Road, just north of the Covington site. The project will include the construction of three metal buildings totaling nearly 81,000 square feet on 20.3 acres.

“The Main Street area west of the freeway has seen a tremendous amount of development over the last few years,” LaMere said. “Phase I of High Desert Desert Gateway shopping center has been completed, with Famous Footwear, Leslie’s Pools and Planet Fitness some of the businesses completing the south end of the center that includes Super Target and Golden Corral.”

Phase II of the project is currently under construction, with Jimmy John’s, Fatburger, Starbucks, a Shell gas station and 5-Star nails some of the first tenants in the project adjacent to the 19,000-square-foot Tractor Supply Co., which opened last year.

“We’ve heard our Super Target is the second highest sales-generating store in the company,” LaMere said. “We also heard Golden Corral reached their entire first year sales projection in six month. That speaks to the drawing power of this area.”

LaMere said Hesperia has been a city of “firsts” in the region by being first to draw a number of businesses over the years, including In-N-Out, Cardenas Market, Country Kitchen, Firehouse Subs, Five Guys Burgers & Fries, Wood Grill Buffet, Courtyard by Marriott, Holiday Inn Express, SpringHill Suites and La Quinta Inn & Suites.

Apartment complex, senior communities under construction

The West Main Villas apartment project, which broke ground near the corner of Main Street and Mesa Linda Avenue, just east of Highway 395, is one of two housing projects that are under construction, Yahnke said.

The 200 luxury-style apartments, developed by Bruno Mancinelli and Joseph Chirco, will be high-end, market-rate, condo-style duplexes that will have a single-family neighborhood design. Located on 50 acres, the gated community will include 172 one-story units, along with 28 two-story units. Three acres of commercial property is also situated between Main Street and the project.

The Villa’s 55-plus senior community, located east of the I-15 on Avenal Street, just east of Mariposa Road, is nearly complete and rented out.

Developed by Eagle Real Estate Group, the 96-unit gated community that sits on just under 10 acres will incorporate a Spanish mission-style design and will include four two-story buildings. Each building will consist of 24 units each, with 629-square-foot one-bedroom and 875-square-foot two-bedroom apartments.

“We’re looking at an Aug. 30 ribbon cutting for The Villa’s,” Yahnke said. “Plans have already been submitted by Eagle for phase two of the project, which will mirror the first one.”

LaMere said Hesperia will also see the construction of a two-story senior living community on the north side of Main Street about 250 feet east of the California Aqueduct.

Apollo Construction will handle the project, which includes an 84-condominium facility, a 131-unit assisted living building and a 300-person adult day care center. The facility will also include a pad for a 4,000-square-foot retail building.

“When it comes to development, our staff has had their hands full for a while and there’s no easing up,” LaMere said.

Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227, RDeLa or on Twitter .

READ NEXT Girl greets a 80 beach-goers Museum nds After Rob Six foods to eat policeman every formed a human cases of wine Kardashian for a mood boost morning, but on… chain to rescue… nearly as old as… posted explicit… Posted Jul 10 at 11:45 AM dayPosted at 8:30 AM she’s gone Posted at 7:00 AMdrowning Florida thePosted United Jul 10 at 2:00 PM States photosPosted Jul 10 at 1:00 PM online, San Bernardino County Sun (http://www.sbsun.com)

Help save Sand to Snow, other national monuments: James Ramos

By James Ramos

Monday, July 10, 2017

On April 26, President Trump issued an executive order that jeopardizes national monuments designated since 1996, including the Sand to Snow National Monument in the district I represent in San Bernardino County.

Sand to Snow, along with the Mojave Trails and Castle Mountains national monuments, were designated in February 2016, and contain lands that are sacred to many indigenous desert peoples.

The Mojave, Chemehuevi, Cahuilla, Cocopah and Quechan tribes, among others, have been the caretakers for this extraordinary landscape for centuries. Our deserts and mountains hold rock art panels, ancestral remains, sacred sites, and artifacts representing the generations that have preserved this land, and their continued preservation by our government is critical for this and myriad other reasons.

The endangered desert tortoise calls this desert home. It became endangered through loss of its natural habitat, caused by, for instance, trampling, shootings and disease. Further, this region is home to diverse flora and fauna, which native peoples have used for medicines, clothing, housing and survival for centuries. The untouched landscape found in these national monuments allows for a beautifully dark night sky filled with stars, planets and the Milky Way.

The idyllic Mojave Desert is also well suited for stargazing, camping, off-roading and hiking. This land’s utility to diverse communities, and its necessity for the preservation of endangered species and irreplaceable artifacts, require a thorough review of the President’s executive order by the Department of the Interior. Conservation of the Sand to Snow National Monument, in addition to Mojave Trails and Castle Mountains, will undoubtedly benefit future generations.

The future of these lands has been the subject of years of public discourse that ultimately led to their protection as national monuments, an act that was widely applauded in the desert and throughout the region.

In conducting the review ordered by President Trump, it is vital that the Department of Interior conduct adequate consultation with all those impacted by the order, including tribes, elected officials, business organizations, veterans, clergy, historians, archaeologists, scientists, artists and conservation organizations, the vast majority of which have been satisfied with the designation of these three monuments.

Today is the last day that U.S. Interior Department will accept public comments on the 27 national monument designations. You can submit comments online at www.regulations.gov by entering “DOI-2017-0002” in the search bar. I strongly encourage you to help us preserve our natural wonders by submitting your own comments.

San Bernardino County Supervisor James Ramos represents the Third District.

BUSINESS How high can home prices go? A lot, say experts

STAN LIM, STAFF An open house sign sits outside model homes in the “Fallbrook” development by Richmond American in Riverside.

By JEFF COLLINS | [email protected] and FIELDING BUCK | [email protected] | Orange County Register PUBLISHED: July 11, 2017 at 4:28 am | UPDATED: July 11, 2017 at 7:55 am



Roberto Macias did his best to stay in Riverside. The supervisor for county social services was born and raised in Riverside, and his parents live in Jurupa Valley His wife Lucy lived in Riverside all her life and her parents still live here.

So Riverside was the Macias’ rst choice when it came to buying a home. But the rising costs of living in Southern California sent them looking in other directions.

“We had lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Riverside for about three years. We had our daughter so we needed at least a two-bedroom home,” he said.

Homes in and near Riverside in the $250,000-$300,000 range were not what they were looking for: small, about 1,000 square feet, built in the 1950s to 1970s, and “not in the best neighborhoods.”

So they expanded their search. Anything west, Corona, Norco, Eastvale, was “out of the question.” Then they looked at houses in Moreno Valley, Fontana, and some even out in Colton.

When they started looking in Perris, they were skeptical of the 25-minute commute to work, but thought the neighborhoods were pretty nice.

“We nally found one, placed a bid, bid was accepted, and within 30 days we were new homeowners.”

That was in September, and Macias said they are enjoying their 1,400-square-foot, three-bedroom home “in a very quiet neighborhood.”

The price in the low $200,000s, was well below Riverside County’s median price, which was $334,500 at the time. In May, CoreLogic said Riverside County’s median was $356,000 and San Bernardino County’s $310,,000, meaning a lot of homebuyers are facing the Macias’ challenges.

For 62 straight months, Southern California home prices have gone in one direction. Up.

What should a buyer do?

We asked a half-dozen economists and industry analysts what the future holds for home prices in the region. Among their answers:

Southern California home prices aren’t about to drop. In fact, they believe prices will keep rising for two more years, at least, and possibly longer.

The market isn’t in a bubble — yet — although bubble talk is starting to “raise its ugly head” at cocktail parties, one economist said. Some analysts are saying Southern California home prices are showing signs of being overvalued. If you’re thinking about buying a home, now just might be the time to act — provided you don’t overextend yourself and you plan to live there awhile.

Here are ve key questions about where Southern California home prices are heading in the future.

Are we at the peak?

Not one of the economists we interviewed thinks we are, at least not for entry- level homes. Luxury homes, priced at $2 million and up, may have reached a price peak and are facing an oversupply of listings, analysts said.

Nominal home prices have surpassed pre-recession highs in Orange and Los Angeles counties. Riverside and San Bernardino counties are about 18 percent below their price peaks. But none of those counties has reached pre-recession peaks in ination-adjusted dollars.

One back-of-the-envelope calculation shows if home prices were to keep rising at the current appreciation rate, and ination were to continue at the current rate, Orange County’s median home price won’t get back to the pre-recession peak aer ination for about two to three years.

Another fact to consider: During the last market run-up, Southern California home prices increased year over year for 126 consecutive months, or 10½ years. That’s twice as long as the current streak in home price gains.

Lastly, analysts say home prices aren’t rising that much.

Price increases averaged 6.3 percent in Southern California in the past year, ranging from a low of 5.4 percent In Orange County to a high of 7.9 percent in San Bernardino County.

Christopher Thornberg, a founding partner of Beacon Economics and director of the UC Riverside Center for Economic Forecasting at the School of Business Administration, noted that’s only slightly greater than the rate of ination. Pat Veling, president of Brea-based Real Data Strategies, believes the true rate of ination is closer to 4-5 percent.

How much longer will home prices go up?

Two years at least, most economists interviewed said. Possibly longer.

How much longer prices rise depends on what happens to the overall economy.

“At some point, there’s going to be a correction, but I don’t see it on the horizon,” said Veling. “Sellers want more than sellers got six months ago.” Projections by the California Association of Realtors show a gradual decrease in home price appreciation over the next few years, said Oscar Wei, a senior economist for the group. For example, CAR projects prices will go up 5 percent statewide in 2017, 4 percent in 2018, and 2.5 percent in 2019.

Home prices are forecast to rise 5 percent to 6 percent this year in Orange County, while rising between 8 percent and 9 percent in the Inland Empire, Wei said.

“But I don’t think in the next couple of years you’re going to see a dip in price,” he said.

Assuming the Gross Domestic Product continues to grow at 2.5 percent and mortgage interest rates stay below 4.5 percent, Southern California home prices could be going up at 6 percent a year for the next six to seven years, Thornberg said.

At 6 percent a year, the median home price could reach almost $700,000 in Southern California by 2023, $500,000 in Riverside County, $800,000 in Los Angeles County and nearly $1 million in Orange County.

“Given the supply shortage and the strength of the California economy, (that’s) perfectly reasonable,” Thornberg said. He added: “Reasonable here means it’s not a bubble and they won’t collapse.”

Are we in a bubble now?

No.

“To me, there’s nothing like these numbers that smells (like a bubble), that walks like a bubble. … We don’t have nearly enough housing to meet the demand,” Thornberg said. “The reason that (2005) was such a huge nasty bubble is because a lot of people were borrowing money they couldn’t afford to pay back. … Now, credit is hard to get. Credit is locked down.”

Statistics show vast differences between the pre-recession housing bubble and today’s market, Wei added.

Consider: Los Angeles and Orange counties had an 11½-month supply of homes for sale in the spring of 2007 compared with under four months available this year. Riverside County had an 8½-month supply of listings for sale, vs. just under four months today; San Bernardino County had a 16½-month supply, vs. four months today.

In California as a whole, 43 percent of borrowers had second mortgages in 2006, vs. 4.8 percent last year. California’s median down payment was 11.8 percent of the purchase price in 2006, vs. 18.6 percent last year.

“We don’t have as many people over-leveraging (their homes),” Wei said.

G.U. Krueger, president of Krueger Economics, said talk about a housing bubble “is starting to raise its ugly head.”

Some of that is “cocktail party talk” and some analysts are questioning whether the Southern California housing market is overvalued.

“It doesn’t mean there is a bubble. The problem with this talk is it could affect expectations,” Krueger said. “People will start to question whether to pay the prices the housing market is asking for. There could be more negotiation going on. … But I don’t think it will result in home price declines.”

CoreLogic data suggest that Orange and Riverside counties are overvalued and Los Angeles County is modestly overvalued, said Khater, the rm’s deputy chief economist.

U.S. home prices and rents are high relative to incomes and are back to 2003, pre- bubble levels, he said. Down payments also are higher today nationally and most likely in California than at the peak of the last housing boom in 2004-06.

“More importantly, prices continue to rapidly increase in the lower end of the price distribution, where borrowers are most stretched,” Khater said. “In Los Angeles, lower end prices are up 8 percent to 10 percent on a year-over-year basis, compared to 4 percent to 6 percent for the upper end.”

When is the next recession?

Not for at least two years, economists said.

“Over the next two years, the recession probability is very low,” said UCLA economics professor William Yu, a member of the team producing the UCLA Anderson Forecast. “But beyond two years, that is very difcult to say.”

A recent report by Newport Beach-based investment rm Pimco determined the probability of a recession in the next year is less than 10 percent. But, the probability is much higher for a recession in the next ve years, said the company’s annual “secular outlook.” “If history is any guide, we believe the probability of a recession sometime in the next ve years is around 70 percent,” the outlook said. A major global calamity — like a new Korean War, a messy breakup of the euro, or a surge in oil prices — could trigger a recession, but forecasting exactly when is an extremely murky business, said Joachim Fels, a Pimco managing director and global economic adviser.

“Everybody knows that it is impossible to forecast the ups and downs of the business cycle several years ahead,” Fels wrote in 2016.

Is it too late to buy a home?

Veling, the Brea industry analyst and consultant, has advised renters for the past four years to get into the housing market while interest rates and prices still are low.

“All those who did not act are in a world of hurt,” Veling said. But, he added, it’s not too late.

“Anybody who buys houses today will probably be ne,” provided they treat it as an asset, he said.

“It still boils down to buy what you can afford.”

While it’s denitely more expensive to buy a home today than it was a few years back, the cost of buying will be even greater down the road, added Wei, the CAR economist.

“If you wait, home prices probably will go up about 8 percent or so in the next couple of years. Plus you’re probably going to see some increase in mortgage rates,” he said.

For example, Wei predicted mortgage rates will go up half a percentage point this year and half a percentage point next year.

“You’re most likely seeing an increase of 10 percent or 12 percent in your mortgage payment” if you wait, Wei said.

Seasonal price uctuations mean home shoppers do get a bit of a breather during the latter half of the year, when homebuying slows and prices dip slightly.

For example, Southern California home prices for deals signed in December averaged 3 percent less than deals signed the preceding spring, CoreLogic gures show. In Orange County, prices averaged 2.5 percent less.

“If you see something you are interested in and you can afford it — maybe not a single-family home, but a condo or a townhome — (buy it) and start building equity,” Wei said. “I wouldn’t wait.” San Bernardino County Sun (http://www.sbsun.com)

Lack of air conditioning forces San Bernardino city building to close early

By Ryan Hagen, The Sun

Monday, July 10, 2017

SAN BERNARDINO >> The building at 600 N. Arrowhead Ave. that provides the public with Community Development, business registration and other services will close at 1 p.m. each day this week because the air conditioner isn’t working.

Temperatures inside climbed to 91 degrees last week, according to City Manager Mark Scott.

That led to early closures two days last week, and employees will work in other locations during the afternoon this week, he said.

• READ MORE: When will it start cooling down in Southern California?

A longer-term plan was not available Monday afternoon, but Scott said he expects everyone to be moved to new locations this week.

About 100 employees, many of whom work in the field except at the beginning and end of their shift, moved into the building in May when City Hall closed because officials determined it would be unsafe in a major earthquake.

The city chose the Arrowhead Avenue building as one of the sites where City Hall employees were relocated — along with 201 N. E St., 215 N. D St. and 290 N. D St. — because it had an unexpired lease for the building, Scott said. The city-run San Bernardino Employment and Training Agency was in the building until it closed in 2016.

“If the owner cannot make the AC work, however, then we would take action accordingly,” Scott said in an email.

The Arrowhead Avenue building includes Public Works/Engineering, business registration and some Community Development services.

URL: http://www.sbsun.com/government-and-politics/20170710/lack-of-air-conditioning-forces-san-bernardino-city-building-to-close-early

Morning earthquake rumbles through Wrightwood, Pinon Hills area

By Gail Wesson, The Press-Enterprise

Monday, July 10, 2017

A 3.0 magnitude earthquake rattled the area between Wrightwood in the San Gabriel Mountains and Pinon Hills in the High Desert at 10:43 a.m. Monday, according to a U.S. Geological Survey report.

The shaking was described as light from Wrightwood north to Pinon Hills and east to Phelan, according to the quake shake map. The tremor was about two miles from Pinon Hills and five miles from Wrightwood.

Mountain High ski resort in Wrightwood said in a tweet that the rumbling quake “had the cabins shaking for a second.”

URL: http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20170710/morning-earthquake-rumbles-through-wrightwood-pinon-hills-area

By The Daily Press Editorial Board Posted at 12:01 AM San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon told the Victor Valley Chamber of Commerce last week that violent crime is up more than 20 percent in the High Desert so far this year.

Though most in the area probably figured crime was on the rise, we’re not sure anyone could have been prepared to learn it had increased so much.

But the High Desert isn’t alone. McMahon said crime is up all over the state and the nation. It’s easy to understand why, at least here in California and the High Desert.

Thanks to Assembly Bill 109, which reduced our state prison population, criminals who should be spending more time in prison are now back on the streets picking up where they left off.

Propositions 47 and 57 just added to the problem. Prop 47, referred to by some as “catch and release,” reduced several crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. So even when law enforcement officers catch some of these crooks, often they are out of jail and back on the streets within the week, sometimes within a day. Sometimes all they get are citations!

Meanwhile, we have more people in the state than ever before, so it shouldn’t be surprising that we have more criminals too. But because Gov. Jerry Brown and the legislature have no desire to build more prisons, there isn’t enough capacity to incarcerate all those who belong in the clink.

Talk about a situation where the bad guys and gals are winning the war, this appears to be it. We need more prisons to house the criminals who should be locked up. We need more officers on the street to catch them. We need more District Attorneys to prosecute them. And we need new ballot measures crafted to overturn Props 47 and 57 and make the punishment fit the crime.

It won’t be easy to accomplish all of this, but unless we want the good people of California to live in fear or be forced to take extreme measures to keep the criminals out of their homes and off the properties, we probably don’t have a choice.

The system is only working for the crooks now, certainly not for the law-abiding citizens of the High Desert or the state.

It’s time for California to get tough on crime again, build some new prisons and then lock up these criminals for a very long time. Anything less will be a waste of time.

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Girl greets a 80 beach-goers Museum nds After Rob Six foods to eat policeman every formed a human cases of wine Kardashian for a mood boost morning, but on… chain to rescue… nearly as old as… posted explicit… Posted Jul 10 at 11:45 AM dayPosted at 8:30 AM she’s gone Posted at 7:00 AMdrowning Florida thePosted United Jul 10 at 2:00 PM States photosPosted Jul 10 at 1:00 PM online, THINGS TO DOMUSIC + CONCERTS Ozzfest Meets Knotfest returns to Southern California in November

Black Sabbath with frontman Ozzy Osbourne performs their final SoCal show as they headline Ozzfest at San Manuel Amphitheater in Devore, CA. Saturday, Sep. 24, 2016. (File photo by Terry Pierson)

By VANESSA FRANKO | [email protected] | The Press-Enterprise PUBLISHED: July 10, 2017 at 12:00 pm | UPDATED: July 10, 2017 at 12:07 pm

 Get ready for the blizzard of Ozzy. Ozzfest Meets Knotfest will return and it will be headlined by the Prince of Darkness himself, Ozzy Osbourne, as well as Rob Zombie.

The two-day event happens Nov. 4 and 5 on the grounds of Glen Helen Amphitheater (formerly known as San Manuel Amphitheater) in San Bernardino County and will feature more than 40 acts.

Ozzfest happens rst, on Saturday, Nov. 4, with Osbourne headlining. Other performers across the festival’s three stages include Prophets of Rage, Deones, Children of Bodom, Orange Goblin, Kreator, Baroness, Possessed and more.

Zombie will headline Knotfest, which is set for Sunday, Nov. 5, with support from Marilyn Manson, Stone Sour, Eighteen Visions, Prayers, Testament, Life of Agony, Repulsion and others across three stages.

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However, for the rst time since bringing the festival to Southern California in 2014, Slipknot, the masked metal band that curated the Knotfest half of the festival, will not perform.

“Knotfest was never supposed to be exclusively about Slipknot. It was always about the things that fueled the spirit of Slipknot: music, art, passion, insanity, and the tribes that give it power. So it would make sense for Knotfest to carry on these ideas, even without Slipknot,” the band’s singer Corey Taylor said in a press release about the festival. Taylor will still be on stage, though. He’s the frontman of hard rock band Stone Sour, which plays Knotfest.

This marks the second year for the hybrid heavy metal event. In 2016, the two festivals combined, with Slipknot headlining one night and Black Sabbath topping the other. It was one of the last shows in the U.S. for the latter before the band ofcially retired and Ozzfest Meets Knotfest was the nal California gig for the “Iron Man” and “Paranoid” band.

Like many rock festivals, from Cal Jam to the Us Festival, Ozzfest’s roots are in the Inland Empire. When the festival began its run in October 1996, there were two dates–one in Arizona and one in the hills of San Bernardino County. It then became a popular touring festival in the U.S., running with some international dates.

Sharon Osbourne, Ozzy’s wife and manager, said she hoped that Ozzy would come back and do another year of Ozzfest, in an interview before the inaugural Ozzfest Meets Knotfest last year. She said that the venue was very special to the family and to Black Sabbath, noting it was where her kids grew up and where Black Sabbath’s guitarist Tony Iommi met his wife.

In a press release about this year’s festival, Sharon Osbourne said more than 75,000 fans attended the inaugural Ozzfest Meets Knotfest and that this one would be special as Ozzy’s rst L.A. show in six years.

Knotfest made its Southern California debut in Devore in 2014 as a two-day festival, with Slipknot headlining both nights. The festival’s attractions included a drum circle on busted cars and a Slipknot Museum complete with a gong. In 2015, the festival returned, with Judas Priest and Korn topping the bill one night and Slipknot ending the festival. Before it came to Southern California, Knotfest had its original kickoff in the band’s home state of Iowa in 2012.

The festival will include camping options, and campers get a special kickoff event Friday, Nov. 3.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, July 14, at ozzfest.com and knotfest.com. Initial ticket prices range start at $29 for a single-day general admission lawn ticket to $239 for two-day general admission pit passes. There will also be various VIP packages available.

See the full Ozzfest Meets Knotfest lineup below:

Ozzfest Main Stage

Ozzy Osbourne

Prophets of Rage

Deones

Children of Bodom

Orange Goblin

Second Stage

Kreator

Baroness

High on Fire

Iron Reagan

1349

Havok

Kyng

Tombs

Night Demon

Thrown Into Exile

Nuclear Blast Extreme Stage

Possessed

Suffocation

Fallujah

Rings of Saturn

Knotfest

Main stage

Rob Zombie Marilyn Manson

Stone Sour

Eighteen Visions

Prayers

Second stage

Testament

Life of Agony

Black Dahlia Murder

Upon a Burning Body

Goatwhore

Death Angel

Code Orange

ONI

Stitched Up Heart

DED

Nuclear Blast Extreme Stage

Repulsion

Exhumed

Warbringer

Ghoul

Tags: Top Stories OCR, Top Stories PE

Vanessa Franko

Vanessa Franko is the Digital Director of Entertainment for the Redlands Daily Facts (http://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com)

Redlands agrees to enhance benefits for city manager, attorney

By Sandra Emerson, Redlands Daily Facts

Saturday, July 8, 2017

REDLANDS >> The City Council has agreed to enhance some of the benefits given to two of its top executives.

This past week, the City Council approved giving City Manager N. Enrique Martinez and City Attorney Dan McHugh an additional three months’ notice of termination or severance pay, an additional 10 hours of leave time annually and city-paid memberships to the YMCA.

“We’ve very lucky to have our city attorney and city manager,” Mayor Pro Tem Paul Barich said Wednesday. “I think they’re doing an excellent job.”

Martinez will receive 402 hours of annual leave, 15 months’ written notice or 15 months of severance pay if he were to be terminated without cause, and a city-paid membership to the YMCA for himself and his family.

Previously, Martinez was given 392 hours of annual leave and 12 months’ notice of termination or severance, according to his contract.

McHugh will get 120 hours of annual executive leave, 12 months’ written notice of termination or 12 months of severance pay, and a city-paid YMCA membership for himself and his spouse.

McHugh was previously receiving 110 hours of annual executive leave and 9 months’ notice of termination or severance pay, according to this contract.

Martinez and McHugh will continue to pay their 7 percent employee share into the state employee pension fund. Both received salary increases in 2015 and 2016.

The council discussed the employment contract amendments during closed session Wednesday and a placeholder was included on the open session agenda.

The amendments were not made available to the public prior to the meeting, held a day later than usual due to the July Fourth holiday, which struck a chord with resident Steve Rogers.

“I know they’re minor adjustments, but we can’t see them,” Rogers said. “We don’t see this agreement. It’s not attached.”

Rogers also questioned why McHugh did not mention the amendments during his report following closed session.

McHugh said it was not in his report because the council did not take action on the agreements during closed session. “The agreements have been presented to the City Council in advance of this meeting,” McHugh said. “They’ve also been presented to the Human Resources director. She has copies that would be available to all of the public and it would be distributed. All has been done in accordance with law.”

URL: http://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/government-and-politics/20170708/redlands-agrees-to-enhance-benefits-for-city-manager-attorney

By Staff Reports Posted Jul 10, 2017 at 9:54 AM Updated Jul 10, 2017 at 9:54 AM The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Aviation crew rescued hikers in the Deep Creek and Lytle Creek areas on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Pilot Deputy Ryan Conner and Tactical Flight Officer Deputy Carlos Quezada responded in Sheriff’s helicopter 40King3 to an area check for a hiker suffering an unknown medical emergency in the Deep Creek Hot Springs at approximately 9:19 p.m. Thursday, according to authorities.

The hiker, identified as 55-year-old Scott Erickson, of Maryland, was located and Deputy Conner landed in the area, allowing Deputy Quezada to hike down to Erickson.

Erickson was determined to be suffering from a diabetic emergency and a hoist rescue was performed to get him out the area, with 40King1, piloted by Deputy Jon Roberg and Tactical Flight Officer Deputy Brad Heard, responding to assist, authorities said.

Deputy Quezada placed a rescue harness on Erickson and both of them were hoisted approximately 90 feet up to the awaiting helicopter and Erickson was flown to a waiting ambulance at Bowen Ranch.

A day later, Louisa Guillen, 29, of Bloomington, was rescued from the Lytle Creek area.

Fontana Sheriff’s Station deputies requested aviation assistance in locating a possible injured hiker at approximately 9:30 p.m. Friday. According to authorities, Guillen was hiking with her brother when they got separated. She became disoriented and unclothed herself while suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration.

“The victim became ill after drinking water from the creek bed,” sheriff’s officials said in a statement. “The victim’s brother was able to hike to a residence and call 911.”

Sheriff’s Desert Patrol helicopter 40King2 responded to the area and located Guillen along the mountainside of the north fork, authorities said, and she stated that she could not move.

It was determined that a hoist rescue would be required due to Guillen’s medical condition and the terrain and a flight officer was lowered approximately 125 feet down.

Guillen was placed in a rescue harness and hoisted up to the helicopter before being flown to an awaiting ambulance along Lytle Creek Road, which transported her to a local hospital.

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Girl greets a 80 beach-goers Museum nds After Rob Six foods to eat policeman every formed a human cases of wine Kardashian for a mood boost morning, but on… chain to rescue… nearly as old as… posted explicit… Posted Jul 10 at 11:45 AM dayPosted at 8:30 AM she’s gone Posted at 7:00 AMdrowning Florida thePosted United Jul 10 at 2:00 PM States photosPosted Jul 10 at 1:00 PM online, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (http://www.dailybulletin.com)

To fight wildfires, LA County may buy new combat helicopters for $29 million

By Susan Abram, Los Angeles Daily News

Monday, July 10, 2017

Los Angeles County leaders on Tuesday are poised to approve a $29.4 million agreement for a pair of custom-modified military helicopters to help bulk up the region’s aerial fire-fighting fleet.

If the plan is approved, the county would lease the two Sikorsky S70i Black Hawks for 10 years, then have the option to buy them. Fire officials have said the helicopters can easily siphon 1,000 gallons of water and swoop into hard-to-reach areas to help battle raging wildfires.

“These new aircraft will provide upgraded operational capabilities to meet current and anticipated future mission requirements,” the Los Angeles County Fire Department said in a staff report.

For more than a decade, the department operated a fleet of nine “multi-mission helicopters,” including three Sikorsky S70a Firehawks and six Bell 412 helicopters. But in 2015, the department lost a Bell after it was damaged in an accident.

After the damage wreaked by last year’s Sand Fire, deemed the worst blaze in the area in a decade, former Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich requested that the county fire department prepare a report assessing its aircraft program and whether the county should buy or secure a year-around lease on additional aircrafts, including Super Scoopers.

The Sand Fire scorched more than 41,000 acres in and around the Santa Clarita Valley, forced 20,000 people to evacuate, destroyed 18 homes and killed one person. The two Super Scoopers that the county leases each year were unavailable at the time, and the cost to battle the blaze came to $30 million.

An aviation consulting firm hired for the report found that the fire department’s aerial fire-fighting fleet could benefit from “five S70 Fire Hawk helicopters on high fire hazard days.”

The board of supervisors’ vote Tuesday comes as the region has been facing an already-active wildfire season because of dry weather, hot temperatures, wind and high brush that has grown in the wake of last season’s heavy rain.

“Approval of the recommended actions will allow the District’s helicopter fleet to meet the ever increasing emergency response challenges associated with protecting lives and property,” according to the fire department’s staff report to the board.

URL: http://www.dailybulletin.com/government-and-politics/20170710/to-fight-wildfires-la-county-may-buy-new-combat-helicopters-for-29-million

The Wounded Fight On to Survive in Aurora Editorial Observer By FRANCIS X. CLINES JULY 8, 2017

“I don’t know who I am any more,” Ashley Moser said, trying to account for the manifest harm done to her by a gunman who sprayed a movie theater audience with bullets five years ago in Aurora, Colo.

As the audience screamed and ducked for cover, Ms. Moser had turned to shield her 6-year-old daughter, Veronica. But the girl was fatally wounded in the thunderous volley. Ms. Moser, 25, was shot in the spine, and collapsed. Soon after, the fetus she carried was lost in the hospital struggle to keep the mother alive. Ms. Moser survived, paralyzed from the waist down.

“I was a mom when I was 18, and that’s all I knew how to be,” Ms. Moser testified two years ago, bewildered and weeping, at the trial of James Holmes, who killed 12 and wounded and injured 70 in his shooting spree with a military style rifle equipped with a 100-round ammunition drum. “And now I’m not a mom,” Ms. Moser said with desperate finality from her wheelchair.

As the fifth anniversary of the Aurora carnage approaches, Ms. Moser and her family fight daily for survival, like so many in the sizable but little noticed cohort of those wounded in the nation’s gun assaults. For them, closure — the cliché of so many gun death stories — is not easily attainable.

Across town from Ms. Moser, 23-year-old Stefan Moton survives his gunshot wounds as a quadriplegic in a wheelchair. He needs help to eat but finds Ashley Moser an inspiration. “I see her at the rehab gym,” he says. “She’s like me — works to be positive.”

There also is 28-year-old Caleb Medley, who had worked local clubs as an aspiring stand-up comic. Now he struggles at life after being shot in the right eye, paralyzed on his left side with bullet fragments still in his brain. “For sure, he still has his sense of humor,” says his wife, Katie, who translates his slurred speech. “We’re not going to let this situation take everything away from us,” she vows.

Stefan Moton at home in Aurora, Colo., on Friday. CreditGeorge Etheredge for The New York Times By one accounting, an average of 315 people are shot every day in this country. While 93 of them die in murders, assaults, suicide attempts and gun accidents, there are 222 who were shot and survive with various degrees of trauma, much of it lifelong, according to a five-year survey of federal data by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

“A mass tragedy of astounding proportions every day — concentric circles outward to family and community,” says Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign, whose brother struggles and suffers every day from the effects of being shot in the head during a shooting spree at the Empire State Building in February 1997. “Twenty years later, his hard work at therapy is heartbreaking still, and inspiring still.”

The emotional trauma is no easier for physically unscathed family members who lost loved ones to the Aurora shooter. Lately, Theresa Hoover, whose son A. J. Boik was killed, works on planning an Aurora memorial garden (7- 20memorial.org) with Jansen Young, who lost her boyfriend, Jonathan Blunk. Ms. Hoover, who saw hundreds of residents mourn her 18-year-old son at his funeral, at first talked to gun safety groups about his talent and promise. But she soon found people “numb” to the reminders of mass shootings. “Unless it happens to you, you can’t understand my pain,” she realized. “It’s just another story.”

”Everyone has their own story, their own grief,” says Heather Dearman, Ashley Moser’s cousin, who became active in the memorial after the family’s initial reaction of grief and firm public silence. “There was the whole element about it being a mass trauma and: Don’t say anything!”

But that is changing with time, Ms. Dearman says. Ashley needs morning nursing help, but she shares an apartment now with her brother and can drive a specially equipped car. “She wants everyone to treat her the same way as they did before the shooting.”

As they struggle, barely noticed years after the Aurora headlines, the wounded survivors of the movie house massacre are like countless others across the land where gunmen have struck; there is no definitive accounting of their numbers, their wounds or the suffering families. Like shipwrecked searchers, connections are made among victims of the separate, continuing tragedies. They realize that after each gun outrage gets its burst of attention, nothing substantially changes, and the need for definitive action is ignored.

The dedication of Aurora’s assorted casualties to labor beyond ineffable tragedy is heartening. But they admit there are limits.

“This happens, and we live with it,” notes Katie Medley, “while for everyone else the world keeps on spinning.” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/08/opinion/sunday/aurora-movie-theater-shooting-colorado.html

A lack of affordable housing is strangling county's economy

Tyler Hersko , [email protected], 805-437-0312 Published 12:07 p.m. PT July 6, 2017 | Updated 11:25 a.m. PT July 7, 2017

For Leticia Chavez, a Ventura resident and mother of two, affordable housing is not a controversial political issue, but an important factor in providing a safe environment for her family and an opportunity to be a contributing member of society.

“I used to live in a garage with my family,” Chavez, 49, said. “Now, instead of sleeping on a couch, each of my

Buy Photo daughters has their own room and I can provide a safer, better standard of living for my family. It’s a priority to have dignified, safe housing for our community.”

(Photo: CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR) Chavez is one of approximately 248 tenants in Ventura’s Azahar Place Apartments, a complex that dedicates 60 of its housing units to low-income families and farmworkers. The property, managed by Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation, which advocates for and provides affordable housing initiatives, allows individuals such as Chavez to raise their families in a clean and affordable community. Chavez has lived in the Azahar Place Apartments since it opened five years ago and noted that without the property’s affordable rent, her family would be forced to live in substandard and unsafe housing such as garages.

Although similar affordable housing complexes exist throughout the region, demand for such properties far outstrips what’s currently available in Ventura County. Median home prices in Ventura County are consistently above $500,000 — among the highest in Southern California (/story/money/business/2017/06/22/latest-sales-figures-show-decrease-ventura-county-home-prices/420234001/) — and rising housing costs have far outpaced average wage growth. Housing is considered affordable if occupants are paying no more than 30 percent of their income for gross housing costs, including utilities, according to information on the Department of Housing and Urban Development website.

Rising median

The county’s median home price was $535,000 in 2016, while the median wage during that period was $52,330, according to data from the Ventura County Civic Alliance’s 2017 State of the Region Report (http://civicalliance.org/2017-state-of-the-region-report/) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_37100.htm), respectively. Median monthly housing and rental costs require county residents making an average salary to spend well beyond 30 percent of their income on housing. As a result, an increasing number of Ventura County residents are being priced out of their own communities, which is an issue that is approaching breaking point, said Margarita de Escontrias, CEO of the Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation.

“We have 1,120 units of affordable housing and have close to 6,000 people on our waiting list for units,” de Escontrias said. “There’s no place for farmworkers to call home in our county, so they are electing not to work here, which is a tremendous loss of resources for Ventura County. Agriculture is a large part of our county and we will, unfortunately, lose potential farmworkers if we cannot provide housing for these workers.”

While Ventura County relies heavily on its agricultural workforce, the lack of affordable housing affects more than just Ventura County’s farmers. Fullscreen Affordable housing is one of the county’s longest-running and most pressing economic concerns, and the issue is closely related to job growth, employee and business retention and a variety of other key business factors. Gallery: A lack affordable housing remains an issue in Ventura Count As the county’s job and wage growth fail to match its growing housing costs, major employers may have no incentive to invest in the region, said Matthew Fienup, an economist and executive director at California Lutheran University’s Center for Economic Research and Forecasting. Due to the ongoing and increasingly drastic nature of the issue, Ventura County’s economy is beginning to noticeably suffer, Fienup said.

“The magnitude of the problem has gotten big enough that it is dragging down the economy,” Fienup said. “I would look at Amgen’s recent announcement that it is relocating 10 percent of its workforce and investing heavily in its new facility in Tampa, Florida. They listed affordable housing and the lack of skilled labor among their concerns and if you lack the former, it means that employers have difficulty attracting and retaining qualified staff.”

Jobs leaving

Amgen Inc., a Thousand Oaks-based biopharmaceutical company and one of the county’s largest employers, announced plans to reassign, relocate or lay off (/story/money/business/2017/03/27/amgen-announces-layoffs-and-relocations-thousand-oaks/99688980/) nearly 500 of its employees earlier this year as part of the company’s plan to open a new facility in Tampa. That said, the issue of affordable housing and its relationship with the county’s job market extends beyond medical and scientific careers. Leisure and hospitality are among the few local job sectors that have seen noticeable growth in employment since the Great Recession, and their median annual wage of $20,176 is grossly insufficient when compared to the county’s median annual housing costs. Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting industries, another leading component of Ventura County’s economy, don’t fare much better at a $24,444 average annual salary, according to data from the 2017 State of the Region Report.

The problem is such that if Ventura County continues to move toward a retirement or otherwise affluent-only community, there will not be enough housing to support the service workers who maintain the restaurants and retail establishments, according to Rick Schroeder, president of Many Mansions, an organization that provides affordable housing to the region’s low-income residents.

“There’s going to be a huge increase in our elderly population that frankly fought against affordable housing years ago,” Schroeder said. “They’ll realize the benefit of affordable housing when they’re on a fixed income and won’t be able to afford big homes, and they will be the ones that will push for senior housing. The people who live here want to go to restaurants and use retail and to have the community that they want to live in. You need all sorts of people living here.”

Beyond job and economic problems, the lack of affordable housing is also a social issue, said Alex Castillas, a property portfolio supervisor at Cabrillo. He noted that the lack of affordable housing is an issue compounded by a general lack of rent control that forced farmers to live in substandard housing that presented safety and health issues.

“People are sometimes renting garages and tool sheds to live here,” Castillas said. “Our average farmworker family makes about $19,000 a year which is really unbalanced. Affordable housing creates opportunity and families with affordable housing can allow one parent to stay behind to take care of their kids, engage in academic activities and volunteer in our community.”

Most experts agree a lack of developable land is restricting the growth of affordable housing. Economists and affordable housing advocates alike argue that while initiatives such as Save Open-space & Agricultural Resources (SOAR) protect the county’s scenic landscape from overdevelopment, they place building restrictions on land that makes housing construction and other economic boosters difficult. Voters renewed SOAR, which prevents agricultural land from being rezoned for development without a vote, to 2050 in the November election.

For others, the issue isn't the amount of developable land that is available, but what it is used for. When land is developed in Ventura County, it is often used for large, luxurious properties as opposed to affordable housing units, said county Supervisor Steve Bennett, who is on the SOAR board of directors and is one of the architects of the original measure.

Bennett argued that even in Southern California counties without measures such as SOAR, developers often fail to build sufficient affordable housing.

“The other counties that don’t have SOAR don’t have affordable housing either,” Bennett said. “When Orange County paved over their ag land they were building big, high-end homes, not the high-density affordable units that you need to solve the affordable housing issue. Developers make more money off of the larger, sprawling units.”

Bennett also urged residents to consider SOAR's economic benefits. The measure ensures agriculture remains a profitable industry in Ventura County and by preserving farmland and keeping the quality of life high, SOAR helps attract higher-quality businesses, Bennett said. Like others, Bennett considered civic engagement a key to solving the affordable housing issue and added that residents would need to encourage their cities to support and enact more affordable housing initiatives.

Regardless, measures such as SOAR will remain in effect for years to come, and it’s crucial to dedicate what land remains developable to affordable housing initiatives, said Steve Dwyer, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County.

“The more you restrict land usage, the more you restrict the potential economic growth of the county and that’s why we have chosen to focus our energies on those pieces of property that are still available,” Dwyer said. “Every jurisdiction in Ventura County should be focused on securing land that is dedicated to the creation of affordable housing since land is the most constrained commodity in the equation. People can influence the change by advocating for the need of affordable housing.”

Dwyer stressed that activism was of paramount importance to expanding affordable housing in Ventura County. He said civic engagement has played a major role in Habitat for Humanity’s success — such as the recent completion of eight affordable homes in Santa Paula (/story/money/business/2017/06/05/housing-block-party/371686001/) by over 3,000 volunteers — and that affordable housing initiatives thrive when supported by an active community.

Though land availability is one of the primary roadblocks to affordable housing, public perception is another issue. Parking and density complications are common concerns associated with expanding affordable housing, though longtime advocates such as Dwyer argue that affordable housing projects are designed to minimize such issues. Dwyer also noted that a lack of affordable housing would result in other issues such as increased traffic due to residents being required to commute to higher-paying jobs out of the county to pay rent.

In addition to supporting individual housing projects, experts urged residents to be more accepting of affordable housing on a city and county level and to actively encourage city officials and local politicians to enact affordable housing initiatives.

Some optimism

Most advocates expressed cautious optimism regarding the future of affordable housing. Influential community members have begun serious dialogues about the subject in the last year, according to Fienup, while Dwyer and de Escontrias considered the need for affordable housing to be at least generally supported. Still, not all experts had a positive outlook on Ventura County’s affordable housing situation.

For Barbara Macri-Ortiz, an Oxnard attorney and longtime affordable housing advocate, there’s little indication things will change for the better in the foreseeable future. While county leaders actively discuss affordable housing, they do precious little to actively deal with the issue, Macri-Ortiz said.

“The standard for affordability used to be that you pay 25 percent of your income on your housing and housing expenses such as utilities and maintenance,” Macri-Ortiz said. “It got to the point where nobody could meet that so it changed to 30 percent and now in some Section 8 programs they will allow the recipients to pay up to 40 percent of income on rent. After being an affordable housing advocate in this county for 27 years, I am not hopeful because we still hear the same arguments: Rather than fix a problem we try to change the definition to make us feel better but the reality is people pay 40 percent of their income or higher on rent.”

Though she didn’t share other experts’ positive outlook on affordable housing, Macri-Ortiz agreed that public engagement and support of affordable housing initiatives would be key to improving the situation. Instead of only going to city council meetings to complain, Macri-Ortiz encouraged residents to make their voices heard and support council members when they make difficult decisions in favor of affordable housing.

Political support will play a pivotal role in establishing more affordable housing in Ventura County, said Linda Braunschweiger, CEO of the Ventura County Housing Trust Fund, which works to fund housing for low to moderate-income families. She added that California was one of the few large states that lacked a dedicated source of funding for affordable housing at the state level and that advocating for affordable housing measures could help secure resources that would greatly benefit affordable housing developers.

Legislation making its way through the California Legislature could help address that.

On Thursday the Senate approved a bill that would add a new fee on some real estate transaction documents to raise money for affordable housing.

The bill, authored by Sen. Toni Atkins, a San Diego Democrat, could raise between $200 and $300 million dollars a year from a $75 fee on documents like deeds and notices. The bill, which now heads to the Assembly, would cap fees at $225 per transaction.

Braunschweiger agreed with other experts that unless significant changes are made, Ventura County would increasingly become an affluent-only community.

Although California's housing element laws mandate that cities plan to accommodate set amounts of affordable housing properties, Braunschweiger noted that there's no statewide requirement to actually construct affordable housing and that actual development was up to a region's developers.

Still, Braunschweiger stressed that affordable housing is a universally beneficial concept that would allow the county to support public servants and foster a diverse and productive community.

“It’s important that people understand that we’re trying to house teachers, 20-year-olds, workers serving in restaurants and people who are in police or firefighting,” Braunschweiger said. “Folks have a belief that (affordable housing) brings blight or crime and I think there’s a misconception of what affordable housing is. We’re trying to house hardworking individuals.” Home price vs. wage growth in Ventura County

$500,000 $65,177

$450,000 $58,659

$400,000 $52,142

$350,000 $45,624

$300,000 $39,106

$250,000 $32,588

$200,000 $26,071 Median Home Price $150,000 $19,553

$100,000 $13,035 Annual wages per employee(average)

$50,000 $6,518

0 0 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Median Home Price Annual wages per employee(average)

Sources: Zillow, consumer real estate; Bureau of Labor Statistics

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