Controversial Cadiz Water Pipeline Gets OK from Federal Government

Controversial Cadiz water pipeline gets OK from federal government

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management now says Cadiz Inc. can lay a 43-mile water pipeline down an existing railroad right-of-way. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

By Bettina Boxall

OCTOBER 16, 2017, 6:55 PM

n an about-face, the federal government has given Cadiz Inc. the go-ahead to lay a pipeline for its I proposed desert water project in an existing railroad right-of-way. The decision by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management follows other Trump administration moves to eliminate a legal hurdle erected in the company’s path when President Obama was in office.

In 2015, the BLM said Cadiz couldn’t use the right-of-way and would have to obtain federal permission to run the 43-mile pipeline across surrounding federal land. That would have triggered a lengthy environmental review that could have imposed new restrictions on Cadiz’s plans to pump groundwater from its desert holdings 200 miles east of Los Angeles and sell it to Southland communities. The project has been approved under state environmental law, but Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and public lands advocates long have fought Cadiz, arguing that the groundwater pumping would deplete the local aquifer and harm the fragile desert ecosystem on nearby wilderness areas.

Following the BLM’s 2015 ruling, the company founded by investor Keith Brackpool enlisted support from 18 members of Congress and lobbied the Interior Department to rescind the 2011 legal opinion that had underpinned the denial.

The agency’s solicitor’s office did just that last month, clearing the way for the BLM to make a 180-degree turn on the question of whether the water pipeline furthered a railroad purpose and could therefore be built in the right-of-way granted by the federal government under an 1875 law.

In a letter Friday, the BLM’s acting director in Washington wrote that after “further review of the relevant law,” his agency concluded that the Arizona and California Railroad could let Cadiz use the right-of-way without BLM authorization.

“The company is very pleased to receive this letter from the BLM,” Scott Slater, Cadiz president and chief executive CEO, said in a statement. “We have long maintained that the 2015 evaluation by BLM was wrong on the law, wrong on the facts and inconsistent with the policy driving co-location of infrastructure in existing rights-of-way.”

But opponents are likely to challenge BLM’s latest decision in court.

“The BLM is not the first or last word” on the federal law that governs railroad rights-of-way, said attorney Adam Keats, who has challenged the project on behalf of nonprofit groups. “The courts are,” he said. “And the courts have already interpreted the law in a way that is completely contrary to this new alternate perspective by the Trump administration.”

Even with the BLM ruling, Cadiz’s pipeline faces another challenge.

The California lands commission recently informed the company that the right-of-way crosses a 200-foot-wide strip of state land — meaning that to use it, Cadiz will need a lease from the state. [email protected]

Twitter: @boxall

This article is related to: Donald Trump, Barack Obama NEWS New obstacle in the Cadiz water project in the Mojave Desert? The company says no

A pumping station designed to help Cadiz project researchers understand how quickly water seeps into the earth, migrate to the subterranean lakes. The Cadiz project hopes to pump water that would otherwise evaporate from their unique Mojave Desert site and make it available for municipal use and agriculture. Picture made at the Cadiz project site in the Mojave Desert on Monday, June 1, 2015. Publication Date: March 31, 2016 Page: 011 Section: PENB Zone: 1 Edition: 1 ORG XMIT: RIV2016051019285615

By JIM STEINBERG | [email protected] | San Bernardino Sun PUBLISHED: October 14, 2017 at 11:59 am | UPDATED: October 16, 2017 at 8:23 am 

The state of California is asserting landownership rights along a proposed pipeline’s path that would help carry groundwater from a remote part of the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County to Orange County and other communities.

The California Lands Commission asked Cadiz Inc. to ll out an application for a lease permit on a 200-foot-wide by 1-mile-long slice on the project’s proposed 43- mile pipeline.

Environmentalists say this is a major development that could derail, or slow down, a project that’s gained steam in the Trump Administration.

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Cadiz says that it “is condent we will ultimately receive validation of our position that the project is within the scope of the right-of-way.”

The Cadiz project involves the transfer of groundwater from the Mojave Desert to parts of Orange County and other locations where it could serve as many as 400,000 people. The pipeline, across a railroad right-of-way, is vital to the project’s plans to bring its water to market. “This letter is a reminder that any use of state-owned lands under the commission’s jurisdiction will require a lease from the commission,” said the communication dated Sept. 20 and signed by Brian Bugsch, chief of the Land Management Division.

“Because the commission will be making a discretionary decision when considering the lease, a subsequent EIR, or its equivalent, may be required to meet the California Environmental Quality Act requirements,” the letter said.

The move by the state Lands Commission follows a blocked effort to bring a new environmental review to the Cadiz project under AB 1000. The bill championed by Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, D-Glendale, who was asked to sponsor this legislation at the request of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, a longtime opponent of the Cadiz project.

Aer the bill died in the Senate Appropriations Committee, State Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, the committee’s chairman, said the bill failed to advance to the Senate oor because there was already a process in place to review such projects.

“Making an exception for one particular case will create a precedent for the Legislature to block other controversial projects,” he said on Sept. 1.

The bill, called the California Desert Protection Act, would have prohibited the transfer of groundwater for a vast part of the eastern Mojave Desert unless the State Lands Commission, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, “nds that the transfer of the water will not adversely affect the natural or cultural resources, including groundwater resources or habitat, of those federal and state lands.”

Lt. Gov. Galvin Newsom, a strong supporter of AB 1000, said, in a letter to the Senate leadership prior to the vote that “at a time when the Trump Administration is threatening to roll back environmental protections, and the future of our nation’s protected National Monuments – including Mojave Trails National Monument – are under threat, the proposed Cadiz project to pump Mojave Desert groundwater merits additional scrutiny.”

Newsom is chairman of the state Lands Commission. Asked why the state Lands Commission is only now asserting its land ownership, Newsom’s spokesman Rhys Williams said, “when AB 1000 was introduced, commission staff began to review its les and research its property interests in the geographic area identied in the bill. Through that research, staff determined that the commission retained a property interest in an approximate 200-foot wide and one-mile long parcel, based on the commission’s historical property records and the information contained in the Cadiz Water Project 2012 EIR (Environmental Impact Report.).”

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Said Courtney Degener, a Cadiz spokeswoman:

“The state never participated in the California Environmental Quality Act process for the Cadiz Project, which began in 2011…They failed to show during the entire process. Yet suddenly, aer a review of property ownership apparently conducted aer the AB 1000 legislative push…they would like us to execute a lease to cross it.”

Aer Cadiz submits its application, the land commission staff will make a nal determination about possible ownership of other lands within the project area and the level of environmental documentation to be required, the letter said.

The pipeline, which involves the use of a railroad-right-of-way for pipeline construction, something the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, a huge landholder in the Mojave Desert, opposed under the Obama Administration and before.

But under the Trump Administration, a recent opinion by the Department of the Interior’s Ofce of the Solicitor, appears to the allow the use this 1875 railroad right of way for the critical water pipeline from the Fenner Valley — about 40 miles northeast of Twentynine Palms — to the Colorado River Aqueduct, where it would be delivered to future customers.

Under the railroad right-of-way permit granted to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway System by the California Surveyor General in June 1910, there was no mention of a water pipeline, said Sheri Pemberton, the Land Commission’s external affairs chief and legislative liaison.

“That use was not contemplated in the permit,” she said.

“Ultimately, whether the many railroad purposes fullled by our project satises the statute is not a question for the SLC to determine. This is a question about construing property rights, which is not a matter for the SLC but for the courts where our track record before an impartial judge speaks for itself: 12-0,” said Denenger. The state never participated in the California Environmental Quality Act process for the Cadiz Project, which began in 2011, she said.

“They failed to show during the entire process. Yet suddenly, aer a review of property ownership apparently conducted aer the AB 1000 legislative push,” Cadiz is focused on clearing up questions related to the scope of the railroad right- of-way before the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, she said.

“Aer that, we will turn our attention to the question of whether the state holds any fee title along our preferred route.”

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Join the Conversation 10/17/2017 Slideshow: Land grab: What happens when warehouses move in next door? | 89.3 KPCC

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Ana Carlos still remembers the day last November when the letter came in the mail.

"I get inside the kitchen, I open it up, and it basically looks like an escrow contract," she recalls.

An Orange County developer was offering her $440,000 for her house. She paid less than half that six years ago. The offer still stands.

"I wouldn’t even considering selling," she says, looking out at her property. It spans two acres, with a barn, horses and goats. "They could have come here with an offer of $1 million, and I would have said, no thank you."

Carlos lives in Bloomington, an unincorporated area in San Bernardino county about four miles southwest of the city of San Bernardino. A drive through reveals custom homes spaced far apart and the occasional roadside stand selling eggs.

"We have three young children, so for us it was exciting for them to grow up and be outside with animals, in the garden," she says. "We liked the feel of this rustic town."

But developers have other plans for Bloomington. The community is nestled deep in the Inland Empire, which has become a mecca for the logistics and e-commerce industries. Over the past decade, warehouses have become a common sight in this part of Southern California.

http://www.scpr.org/news/2017/10/16/76105/land-grab-what-happens-when-warehouses-move-in-nex/ 8/17 10/17/2017 Slideshow: Land grab: What happens when warehouses move in next door? | 89.3 KPCC

As e-commerce and rapid shipping have become a way of life, the Inland Empire has become a mecca for logistics warehouses. Inside are mountains of online inventory. Maya Sugarman/KPCC, Google Earth

As Americans buy more of their merchandise online, the industry is in a frenzy to build more warehouses to keep up with demand. But land in San Bernardino and Riverside counties isn’t as easy to find these days. Much of it has been built out or bought up.

So some developers are getting creative – buying up patches of neighborhoods so they can demolish the homes and squeeze warehouses into the open space.

"I see it when I go to south Fontana," Carlos says. "To the left are homes, and to the right are these massive warehouses that don’t end. They keep going and going, miles and miles of warehouse."

In some areas, it’s clear that a few homeowners simply refused to sell.

"[The warehouses] have them caged in. An itty bitty house with these huge warehouse walls [around it]," says Carlos.

She mentions a family she knows in Fontana who refused to sell, even as the developers offered them more money. But as the months passed, more of the neighbors took the offers.

"And little by little, they started seeing the land leveled behind them, to the right and left of them," she says.

Then the warehouses were built. The offer from the developer increased to more than $1 million.

"With the walls going up, and the warehouses, and the traffic from all these workers coming in, the trucks, they caved, they said, fine, have our house," Carlos says.

http://www.scpr.org/news/2017/10/16/76105/land-grab-what-happens-when-warehouses-move-in-nex/ 9/17 10/17/2017 Slideshow: Land grab: What happens when warehouses move in next door? | 89.3 KPCC

Maya Sugarman/KPCC

She worries it could happen to her. The letter she received makes it clear that the developer, Howard Industrial Partners, is trying to acquire 30 adjoining acres. It’s unclear what the company intends to build, but its website shows mostly logistics and distribution centers in its portfolio.

Carlos says it would be strange to have a big white building overlooking her horse stable, or to feel "caged in" by warehouses on either side of her. And then there's the traffic, the noise of heavy trucks, and the pollution, she says, her voice trailing off.

Long-term studies of the Inland Empire show that pollution is high in communities with high concentrations of warehouses and diesel trucks. There are also higher incidences of asthma and other health problems, especially with children.

"These developers know that once the neighbors start seeing the community go, we’re going to budge," says Carlos. "We’re going to throw in the towel and say, fine. Would we really want to be enclosed in walls of warehouses with our kids? This is not what we signed up for."

A vicious cycle

Rigoberto Diaz owns a home up the street from Carlos. He’s lived here for 17 years.

He got the same letter from the developer, and he's already accepted the offer. A few other neighbors did too, he said.

"They’re afraid to say it, because [some neighbors] may get mad," says Diaz. "But the reality is, they already signed up. I know quite a few of those. They’re keeping it to themselves."

Diaz won't say how much money he was offered – just that it was more money than he could make in a traditional sale, and it’s money he can give his kids someday.

He doesn’t have it yet, or even a guarantee from the developer. The deal is contingent on whether the neighbors living closest to him also agree to sell. One hold out would block it from happening.

But Diaz thinks most people in the neighborhood actually want out. He says this area has its share of problems, which the county can't fix.

To explain, he pulls out some photos of his backyard after it rained last year.

"It's a lake," he groans, pointing at the sizeable body of water that he says forms every time it rains. Water streams in from several other properties. Diaz has asked the county to fix it many times over the years.

"They say they don't collect enough money from taxes," he says. "They don't have the resources, so they won’t be able to fix it."

As Diaz sees it, Bloomington is stuck in a vicious cycle. The community generates very little tax revenue because the residents pay low property taxes. So the county provides only basic services. There are few sidewalks, no sewer and a limited law enforcement presence.

With such minimal county services, the community can't attract traditional businesses, such as restaurants, stores and office buildings. And without those companies, the community can't generate more tax revenue.

Diaz believes warehouse development could generate enough tax revenue to break that cycle.

Others agree. Gary Grosich is a longtime businessman and city planner in the Inland Empire. He also chairs the Bloomington Municipal Advisory Council, a county- appointed board that represents residents. Locals call it the MAC.

"There are several things we need, and the public has been asking for it – more public safety, we need an additional sheriff, we need to provide more services in the way of parks, we need infrastructure improvements," Grosich says. http://www.scpr.org/news/2017/10/16/76105/land-grab-what-happens-when-warehouses-move-in-nex/ 10/17 10/17/2017 Slideshow: Land grab: What happens when warehouses move in next door? | 89.3 KPCC He insists that Bloomington isn’t going to allow warehouses to "hopscotch" all over the community. The MAC recently recommended that three small sections of town be designated for future industrial development. That would keep most of the warehouses clustered together, away from the central part of town. Ana Carlos and Rigoberto Diaz live in one of the designated areas.

Developers would still be required to go through the same county approval process, which includes an environmental review and a vote from the board of supervisors. Projects in the designated areas would be more likely to receive the required zoning changes.

"The areas identified by the council for rezoning were selected because of their proximity to the I-10 and 60 freeways, the railroad tracks, existing industrial areas and truck routes," said Lee and Associates, the real estate firm that sent the offer letters to Carlos and Diaz. "We have been in contact with property owners in those areas, and most have told us that they support the council’s proposal," the firm said in an emailed statement.

Grosich says the MAC spent months gathering public feedback from residents as it developed Bloomington's updated community plan, and that most residents support the idea of limited warehouse development in exchange for enhanced public services.

But others in the community say the MAC has turned a deaf ear to their concerns, and they don’t believe a plan like this will limit warehouse development.

Thomas and Kim Rocha formed Concerned Neighbors of Bloomington and collected 1,000 signatures from residents who oppose warehouses. Maya Sugarman/KPCC

A community divided

Kim and Thomas Rocha live a few blocks east of Rigoberto Diaz.

For the past three years, they’ve been fighting to keep a warehouse from being built behind their home (it’s still in the planning approval process).

In that span of time, several other warehouse projects have been proposed around town.

http://www.scpr.org/news/2017/10/16/76105/land-grab-what-happens-when-warehouses-move-in-nex/ 11/17 10/17/2017 Slideshow: Land grab: What happens when warehouses move in next door? | 89.3 KPCC

"We realized that, 'Oh my God, they’re going to surround us.' So it doesn’t [matter] if I win [the fight against] this warehouse here, I’m still going to have one right there," says Kim Rocha. "So I’m going to have the trucks anyway. Smog, pollution, the quality of my life...and our community, it’s a poor community, and a lot of poor people sometimes don’t have a voice."

Earlier this year, the Rochas formed a group called Concerned Neighbors of Bloomington. Kim says they’ve collected more than 1,000 signatures from residents who oppose warehouses, so they find it hard to believe the MAC’s claim that most residents support this kind of development.

"It's like, where are these people?," she asks, growing frustrated. "We don't find these people saying they want the warehouses. To me, it's like, who is telling you this? Because we are in this community too."

Bloomington residents don't often attend county meetings to protest the warehouses, says Kim Rocha. They work long hours, some are elderly and don’t speak or read English, she says. So when the county sends a postcard to inform them of a future warehouse project, many people don’t see it or understand what it says, adds Rocha.

Residents may not find out what's going on until a project is about to break ground. That's similar to what happened this summer after the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors approved a warehouse project near an elementary school. Many parents were shocked that they weren’t informed beforehand.

"It’s like David and Goliath," Kim Rocha sighs. "Like, we’re fighting big business, big money, and we’re just little people."

The Rochas have been to many of the MAC meetings, and they know about Bloomington's tax revenue problem. They don't think warehouses are the way to solve it.

Ultimately, Kim Rocha says, if they can’t get county leaders to see it their way, it’ll be up to residents to hold the line.

http://www.scpr.org/news/2017/10/16/76105/land-grab-what-happens-when-warehouses-move-in-nex/ 12/17 10/17/2017 Slideshow: Land grab: What happens when warehouses move in next door? | 89.3 KPCC

For the past three years, the Rochas have been fighting to keep a warehouse from being built behind their home. The project is still in the planning approval process. Maya Sugarman/KPCC

"If you don’t sell, you may be the major block that’s stopping them. Just don’t sell, don’t give in," Thomas Rocha says, recounting the advice he recently gave a retiree who lives nearby.

He and his wife also realize the developers have deep pockets, and that worries them.

"Remember the lady who lived over there?" Kim Rocha says, gesturing over her head.

Her husband nods.

"Her house value came in at $375,000, and they offered her $800,000."

The woman took the offer.

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http://www.scpr.org/news/2017/10/16/76105/land-grab-what-happens-when-warehouses-move-in-nex/ 13/17 OPINION Protecting our children from environmental hazards in Bloomington

Jim Steinberg, staff photo Bloomington community member Thomas Rocha brings an anti-warehouse message to San Bernardino County planning commissioners on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2017.

By ERICKA FLORES | October 16, 2017 at 5:04 pm



The unincorporated area of Bloomington in the county of San Bernardino is a hidden gem. Widely known for its strong community values and rural living, it has attracted hundreds who want to call this place home. Until recent years, Bloomington remained a quiet area with large empty acres scattered across its 7-mile radius, a secure place to raise a family in a safe environment. However, all this has drastically changed with incoming warehouses that have been approved or are being proposed for this area. The rst signs of these impending industrial developments often begins with the rezoning of land from residential to industrial. Since most of the land is residential, these new land uses encroach upon sensitive receptors, such as homes and schools, bringing deadly diesel emissions to an unsafe and close proximity to our children and families.

To be clear, our community is not against economic development. Bloomington could surely benet from more revenue and jobs, but there is no reason we must trade the health of our children for this growth. We have always urged the common-sense solution, for industrial development to be placed at a safe distance from schools and homes. In May, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors voted to grant permission to the applicant Western RealCo for the construction of a 676,983 square foot, high cube warehouse in a 34-acre lot – less than 52 feet away from Zimmerman Elementary and down the street from Crestmore Elementary. All of the nearby residents and parents with children in these schools argue that they were never notied of this project, either by the county or by the Colton Unied School Board, which oversees K-12 schools within Bloomington. The Colton Unied School Board claims they are not obligated to inform parents of proposed industrial development near schools. When some of the parents heard of the vote, they were concerned, upset and unsure of what type of protections their children would now have with a massive warehouse across and down the street from what is supposed to be a safe place to study, learn, play and grow. As a group, we decided to attend the Colton Unied School District Board meetings to urge the School board adopt a resolution that would address warehouse development in close proximity to schools and homes. As parents and community members, we expect school ofcials to take a strong stand to protect the health and wellbeing of school age children. We later found out that some members of the school district did in fact know of the massive warehouse project near Zimmerman Elementary School and made their concerns known in a comment letter to the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the project proposed by the developer, Western RealCo. The district however sent a second letter to the San Bernardino planning commission on April 5, 2017, in which the school district discussed a negotiation reached with developers. The agreement between the school district and developer is an absolute. The school district negotiated a meager agreement with developers and on May 3rd it issued a letter which gave the county its blessing to advance the project.

As members of the Center For Community Action and Environmental Justice, Concerned Neighbors of Bloomington and parents from various schools across town, we came to voice our reasons as to why the resolution letter was necessary. We thought that the board would be compelled with parents’ concerns. Although, we believe some members of the school board members understood the parents’ concerns and had their support against industry next to or near schools, it was with disbelief that we found out that they did not grant the resolution letter. Instead, an opposition letter would be drafted that would address general industrial development taking place but not specify any particular project.

This is not want the parents wanted and it is not good enough for the residents who will now have to live with the aftermath of seeing their health deteriorate because of diesel exposure from idling trucks and the noise pollution that comes from an industry that never sleeps. The health of the most vulnerable members of our society is put at risk with a polluting site so close to a school, and – unlike what some might believe – warehouses lack proper regulations from agencies placing community members at risk.

It is disappointing that the school board did not see this as an opportunity to stand with the community and the children they are charged to protect. Instead, they played it safe by giving a letter that only focuses on general statements already publicly known by those concerned. Through its inaction, the school board members passed the buck of their most important responsibility – to protect the health and safety of our children. Yes, the school district has no jurisdiction over the rezoning of any land, but they do have an opportunity and responsibility to challenge anything or anyone who might affect the environment where our children learn. Why will they not advocate for common sense, simple zoning solutions that will both generate economic growth and keep our air clean? Why will they not stand up for those they represent and protest a measure that will put our children’s health at stake? The bottom line is, for our children, we must demand more.

Ericka Flores, San Bernardino resident and community organizer with the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice.

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Ericka Flores

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If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing [email protected]. OPINION Elizabeth McSwain serves up physical fitness and healthy cooking to kids

Courtesy photo Elizabeth McSwain and Vice Chairman Hagman.

By CURT HAGMAN | October 16, 2017 at 3:52 pm



As the owner of an award-winning southern cuisine restaurant, Elizabeth McSwain knows a lot about food, healthy eating and down-home goodness.

Elizabeth joined the Ontario community just one year ago when she opened her business, Beola’s Southern Cuisine restaurant. She has not only made a name for herself with her mouth-watering creations, she found the time to use her knowledge about food to form the Caramel Connections Foundation which helps underserved children with tips on healthy eating and physical tness.

Teaching our children about physical tness is so important because 34 percent of youths in San Bernardino County don’t get the recommended amount of physical activity which is 60 minutes a day. Only 23 percent of adults in our county are getting the recommended 150 minutes a week of physical activity, according to according to the most recent data from the California Health Interview Survey.

It is my privilege to name Elizabeth as my “Action Hero” representing San Bernardino County’s Fourth District because of her commitment to the Countywide Vision’s Vision2BActive campaign to improve health and wellness by encouraging residents to increase their physical activity and connecting them to existing recreational programs, amenities and activities in their communities. Elizabeth started the Caramel Connections Foundation by hosting monthly healthy eating and cooking classes at her restaurant to teach kids how to cook their own fun and healthy meals.

“Some of these kids come from challenged households.” Elizabeth said. “When they come to a monthly cooking class and eat more salad than the adults, it’s because it’s tasty. For a lot of them, it’s also because they don’t know where their next meal is coming from.”

Elizabeth says her students – some as young as 8 years old – are energetic and extremely engaged in the lessons.

But Elizabeth knows healthy eating isn’t the only component to wellness. Her Caramel Connections Foundation also partnered with the Boys and Girls Club of San Bernardino to offer children physical activity classes. For those children not near the Boys and Girls Club, Elizabeth started a private social media group for parents to document their children’s physical activities.

Each picture of their child engaging in physical tness results in a rafe entry for a new bicycle the foundation gives away each year. The pictures provide visual and moral support for kids and their parents. The bicycle is a great incentive for kids to do a little more and try a little harder. The social media account lets them see how daily physical activity makes lives better and enables them to learn new skills and make new friends. Physical exercise is truly a win-win situation for our children. It benets them physically, socially, emotionally and psychologically. It brings people together and encourages teamwork and sharing.

“The social media account is a great way for kids to work with their parents to promote physical activity,” Elizabeth said. “Kids see their friends working out, riding bicycles, skateboarding, or swimming and they tell their parents, ‘Let’s go do that.’ So it gets kids and their parents out of the house. It gets them excited to be active. They’re sharing with their friends, they’re meeting up outside of the monthly meetings, and it’s great!”

I am pleased to hear kids who are using Elizabeth’s program are beneting from both learning about healthy and delicious food and learning about the health benets of regular physical exercise in accord with the Countywide Vision’s Vision2BActive campaign. Children are the future of San Bernardino County and Elizabeth’s leadership and dedication to furthering the goals and ideals of the Vision2BActive campaign make her the perfect person to be our Action Hero in the Fourth District.

Curt Hagman is San Bernardino county supervisor representing the Fourth District. For more information about the Vision2BActive campaign, check out Vision2BActive.com, an interactive resource that provides residents with information about physical activity events, tness tips and a GIS map featuring places to be active in the county.

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Subscribe Lake Gregory End of Season Shoreside and Trail Clean Up in Community News, Environment, For Your Information, Informational, Mountain Region, News, Subject, Ticker, Volunteering / by Michael P. Neufeld / on October 17, 2017 at 5:03 am /

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By Susan A. Neufeld

Crestline, CA – On Saturday, October 21, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., residents and friends of Lake Gregory are asked to come out and join in the end of the season beach and trail clean up.

Everything needed for the clean up around Lake Gregory will be provided. Bags, gloves, water and trash pick up will be available, and parking passes will be provided.

Please meet at 10 a.m. at the south shore parking lot, off San Moritz Drive near Lake Gregory Drive.

The clean up is sponsored by: Lake Gregory Yacht Club, Crestline Communities Development Alliance and Lake Gregory Recreation Company.

Come out to help make the lake cleaner going into the winter season.

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 Facebook 0  Twitter  Google+ 0 Apple Valley woman dies in husband’s arms in NorCal re By Rene Ray De La Cruz Staff Writer Posted Oct 13, 2017 at 6:01 PM Updated Oct 16, 2017 at 9:11 AM An Apple Valley woman who lived at Del Webb Sun City died in her husband’s arms earlier this week as they tried to escape a wildfire that swept through Northern California.

Carmen Caldentey Berriz, 75, died Monday while she and her husband, Armando Berriz, tried to escape the blaze by jumping into a pool at a hilltop rental in Santa Rosa, according to the Associated Press.

The couple escaped the flames of the Tubbs Fire by remaining in a swimming pool overnight, but Carmen Berriz died after she was overcome by smoke, her husband of 55 years cradling her as she took her last breath.

The Apple Valley woman was one of 33 victims of the fires that have ravaged parts of Northern California this week.

Carmen Berriz leaves behind her husband, three children and their spouses, seven grandchildren, and family and friends who are mourning her loss.

“Everything they did was as a team,” daughter Monica Ocon told the AP. “They had this bond and this strength that literally lasted a lifetime.”

The Berriz family was on vacation in Santa Rosa when a family member awoke just after midnight, saw the approaching fire and alerted the others.

As family members escaped through the thick smoke in their vehicles, they pulled over and waited for Carmen and Armando’s car, but it never came, the AP said.

When a fallen tree prevented Armando Berriz’s car from leaving the property, the couple took shelter in the backyard pool while the smoke became heavier and the blaze approached.

Armando Berriz held on to his wife and the side of the pool for hours, even as the hot brick burned his hands. He hung on to his wife even after she stopped breathing, the AP reported.

After the flames burned out, Armando Berriz laid his wife on the steps of the pool with her arms carefully crossed over her chest. He then walked 2 miles to find firefighters.

“They were wonderful people and everybody loved them,” Sun City resident Lorraine Yannone told the Daily Press. “They brought food for us and helped me when my husband, Mike, died about two and a half years ago. We’re all shocked by her death.” 10/17/2017 Authorities: Suspect in home invasion robbery in Hesperia shot by homeowner

Authorities: Suspect in home invasion robbery in Hesperia shot by homeowner By Kevin Trudgeon City Editor Posted at 8:09 AM Updated at 8:09 AM HESPERIA — A homeowner shot a suspect during a reported home invasion robbery here Monday evening, authorities said.

Deputies from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Hesperia Station received reports of a burglary in progress in the 7200 block of Kern Avenue at 9:39 p.m.

According to authorities, when deputies arrived they found Andrew Sanchez, 18, of Hesperia, suffering from gunshot wounds to his upper body.

Through interviews and evidence at the scene, detectives believe that Sanchez, for reasons still unknown, went to the residence and began to force open the front door while the residents slept.

“An adult male resident engaged in a confrontation with Sanchez at the door of the residence and called 911,” sheriff’s officials said in a statement. “As Sanchez gained entry to the house, the resident, who had armed himself during the confrontation, fired several shots, striking Sanchez.”

Sanchez was airlifted to Loma Linda University Medical Center in critical condition, according to authorities, and the homeowner was treated at the scene by paramedics for minor injuries suffered during the confrontation.

Several other residents at the home, including four juveniles, were not injured and were cooperating with the detectives, authorities said.

The firearm used during the shooting was recovered and detectives with the Hesperia Sheriff’s Station are continuing to investigate the shooting.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Detective Brian Waterhouse at the Hesperia Sheriff’s Station at 760- 947-1500. Callers wishing to remain anonymous may call the We-Tip Hotline at 1-800-782-7463 or visit www.wetip.com.

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http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20171017/authorities-suspect-in-home-invasion-robbery-in-hesperia-shot-by-homeowner 1/2 LOCAL NEWS For Las Vegas shooting survivors who want to talk, mental health professionals give free time to listen

Jenni Tillett writes a message at the Las Vegas Community Healing Garden, Monday, Oct. 16, 2017, in Las Vegas. The garden was built as a memorial for the victims of the recent mass shooting in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

By THERESA WALKER | [email protected] | Orange County Register October 17, 2017 at 8:06 am

 Mental health professionals can be thought of as the second responders aer a crisis in the community: They help people deal with emotional and behavioral trauma that follows both natural and man-made disasters.

In the aermath of the Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting in Las Vegas, a number of local counselors have stepped up to offer free services to survivors in Southern California – home to 23 of the 58 victims killed by a lone gunman and to many of the more than 500 injured.

Since the 10 minutes of terror on Oct. 1 at the outdoor country music concert, private therapists, counseling centers and government-funded crisis specialists around the region have been extending help on hotlines, in private sessions and through support groups.

Their focus has been on the thousands of Southern Californians who were in the audience that Sunday night when shooter Stephen Paddock, who later killed himself, red high-powered weaponry from his luxury suite high up in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.

One of those survivors, Patty Caretto Brown of Laguna Hills, was grateful she could share experiences in person with about 50 other concert attendees the Sunday aer the shooting. The gathering was led by a local member of the U.S. Army who Brown said routinely deals with soldiers possibly suffering post traumatic stress disorder.

“The groups are very therapeutic, listening to other people’s stories and knowing where they were and where we were and how everybody was affected by the whole thing,” said Brown, 66, who attended the concert with her husband and son.

The three family members were separated in the chaos. Before the shooting began, Brown’s husband had gone closer to the stage. Brown and her son had stayed toward the middle of the crowd, and hid from the bullets beneath a table by a bar until there was a lull in the barrage.

“My son said ‘Mom we’ve got to run’ and when the shooter was reloading or whatever he was doing and there was a pause my son grabbed me and we stood up and ran out an exit.”

The two reunited with Brown’s husband later. All three were physically unharmed but Brown said they are suffering from mental anguish, like many of the other survivors she has connected with through virtual support groups on Facebook and those at the Huntington Beach gathering.

A feeling of survivor’s guilt weighs heavy on their hearts and minds. “You know it’s very hard to deal with that we were survivors,” Brown said. “The other thing that’s hard to deal with is that we did not have the heroic situation or we weren’t injured or have a bullet wound, but we still are all survivors.

“We all have scars from what we heard, from what we saw, and what we had to go through.”

Some therapists and counselors have personal ties to the people and the place where the worst mass shooting in modern American history took place. Facebook and other social media outlets served as a means to reach out to larger numbers of those in need of support.

Stephanie Goldsmith, a licensed clinical psychologist with a practice in the eastern Los Angeles County community of Claremont, posted a message on Facebook Oct. 4 that said, in part, “Las Vegas is my hometown. I need to do something to help.”

Goldsmith said she received more than 50 emails and additional phone calls from Route 91 concert-goers wanting to attend a support group she’s leading for people in the Los Angeles area and the Inland Empire. Goldsmith said she had so many responses, she needed a bigger space for the survivors to meet. A church in town opened its doors.

At the rst group meeting Friday aernoon, 50 people showed up. Goldsmith plans to continue them weekly through Nov. 17.

“People seem to be really grateful to have a place to come to and not go through this alone,” said Goldsmith, who lived in Las Vegas starting in middle school and graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

It’s in the nature of mental health professionals to want to help people, and the proximity of the Las Vegas shooting and the number of Southern Californians who were there allows Goldsmith and other counselors in the area to respond directly.

“Aer something this horrible, it’s really wonderful to see people on their feet and mobilized to help,” she said.

An eight-week series of free group sessions that Mariposa Women & Family Center in Orange will start Wednesday night, Oct. 18, for survivors grew out of the response that poured into its director, Krista Driver, on her personal Facebook page and via emails and phone calls.

“I was overwhelmed by how many of my friends were either there or knew someone that was,” Driver said. “This has sent ripples through our community and I felt compelled to mobilize our resources to help these people.” A nonprot that has been in the community for 40 years, Mariposa sets aside a portion of its donations to maintain a scholarship fund to help cover free services. One Las Vegas shooting survivor who was referred to Mariposa will be getting one-on-one counseling with help from the scholarship fund, but with so many in need, the group sessions were necessary, Driver said.

As of Monday, 20 people had signed up with Mariposa, just about at capacity. Driver said more groups can be opened if needed and “if we get to eight weeks and they feel like they need more time, we’ll extend it.”

There also will be a separate group for adolescents.

“We’ve gotten quite a few calls for teens who were at the concert,” Driver said. “We don’t want teens and adults together.”

Phone operators at county-run mental health hotlines immediately stood ready to refer anyone in need of help to local resources and to the state victim compensation program that can provide nancial assistance for mental health treatment and other services.

San Bernardino County, which suffered the trauma of the December 2015 terror attack at a training session for county workers in San Bernardino that le 14 people dead and 22 seriously injured, held an all-day drop-in clinic in Ontario the Saturday following the Las Vegas shooting.

A few days later, the Riverside County Mental Health Department held regional group sessions for survivors of the shooting on the same night in three different locations in Riverside, Indio and Lake Elsinore and 75 people showed up. Those Oct. 11 gatherings were only for people who had attended the Las Vegas concert. Separate groups were offered for those not at the concert but knew someone who had been killed or injured.

Men and women in their 20s to their 50s came to what are described as “critical incident debriengs” by psychologist Andrew Williams, mental health services administrator with Riverside University Health System-Behavioral Health, who led the group at a family wellness center in Riverside.

All but one person spoke up, with many of them saying it was the rst time they had shared what they experienced outside of Facebook groups, Williams said, describing the gatherings as being more like triage than therapy sessions.

“The unique dynamic is these are complete strangers that don’t know each other but they feel completely unied and validated around each other,” said Williams, who in the past conducted similar debriengs for the survivors of the San Bernardino mass shooting. The structured two-hour meetings provided a safe environment for survivors to share their experiences, to debunk myths about what happened and for mental health professionals like Williams to provide guidance on processing thoughts and emotions aer a traumatic incident. Such reactions as nightmares, hyper- vigilance, trouble sleeping in the dark (because the shooting happened at night), and feelings of guilt are normal and even predictable, Williams said.

Initial shock can be followed by feelings of emotional numbness with no sign of anger or tears — a defense mechanism, Williams said — or a sense of helplessness, self blame, and physical symptoms that could include headaches, stomach aches, insomnia and loss of appetite. Some people might increase consumption of alcohol or turn to other drugs.

Coping strategies were discussed, along with providing resource information for those who may want or need clinical therapy services. Research shows that symptoms tend to dissipate on their own aer two to four weeks, Williams said. But if they go beyond that and become intrusive in daily life, he recommends seeking one-on-one professional help.

The woman in his group who did not speak during the meeting opened up aerward, Williams said.

“She ended up staying behind, talking to and hugging others she didn’t know at all.”

Where to get help Contact Mariposa Women & Family Center in Orange about its group sessions for Route 91 survivors at 714-547-6494 or email [email protected]. Stephanie Goldsmith in Claremont can be reached at [email protected], or nd more information on the resources page at stephaniegoldsmithphd.com. Also in Orange County, the Center for Individual and Family Therapy, a Christian counseling center, has been holding free group sessions. Another group will be held Tuesday night, Oct. 17, in Brea. More may be added. Call 714-558-9266. The county of Orange is referring people seeking short-term therapy to its HCA Prevention and Early Intervention program, Community Counseling and Supportive Services (CCSS) at 714-645-8000. The Los Angeles County ACCESS line is 800-854-7771; Riverside County CARES line is 800-706-7500; the 24/7 national SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline is 800-985-5990. For information on San Bernardino County 24/7 Crisis Walk-In Clinics, go to crisis services at http://wp.sbcounty.gov/dbh/. Reach the California Victim Compensation Board at 800-777-9229.

Tags: health, las vegas, Las Vegas mass shooting, mass shooting, Top Stories OCR, Top Stories PE

Theresa Walker. Theresa Walker Register Theresa Walker is a Southern California native who has been a Writer. // staff writer at The Orange County Register since 1992. She MORE specializes in human interest stories and social issues, such as INFORMATION:homelessness. She also covers nonprots and philanthropy in Associate Orange County. She loves telling stories about ordinary people Mug Shot taken who do the extraordinary in their communities. August 24, 2010 : by KATE LUCAS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER  Follow Theresa Walker @TellTheresa LOCAL NEWS Fundraiser to benet San Bernardino sheriff’s sergeant wounded in Las Vegas

By BRIAN ROKOS | [email protected] | The Press-Enterprise PUBLISHED: October 16, 2017 at 12:55 pm | UPDATED: October 16, 2017 at 2:14 pm

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A fundraiser has been set for San Bernardino County sheriff’s Sgt. Brad Powers, who was wounded in the Oct. 1 mass shooting in Las Vegas.

The event is planned for 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22, at J. Riley Distillery, 721 Nevada St., Unit 206B, Redlands.

A portion of the sales will benet Powers’ GoFundMe account. Rafe prizes include a skateboard signed by Tony Hawk and two tickets to the Nov. 4 USC-Arizona football game in Los Angeles.

Powers, a 19-year-veteran of the department, is assigned to the Fontana station. He was still hospitalized Monday, sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodi Miller said Monday. She did not have an update on his specic condition.

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Brian Rokos NEWSPOLITICS Rep. Pete Aguilar discusses health care, jobs, immigration during town hall in Redlands

Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-San Bernardino, takes questions from local residents Monday evening October 16, 2017 during a townhall meeting at the Esri Conference Center in Redlands. (Will Lester-Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

By SANDRA EMERSON | [email protected] | Redlands Daily Facts October 16, 2017 at 8:09 pm

 Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-San Bernardino, addressed health care, economic development and immigration during a town hall Monday evening, Oct. 16 in Redlands.

“I’m going to do everything we can so that we don’t cut and erode social security, Medicare and Medicaid for the poor,” Aguilar told residents of the 31st Congressional District, which spans from Redlands to Rancho Cucamonga.

Aguilar said he would not tolerate the erosion of health care benets for his constituents, but would try to work with his colleagues across the aisle to address challenges in the Affordable Care Act. Repealing the act has been a key priority for President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.

“These are programs that are essential for our community, essential for our seniors, essential for our young people,” Aguilar said.

Aguilar elded questions directly from the audience and from notecards submitted by attendees, while Jessica Keating, editor of the Redlands Daily Facts newspaper, moderated. The town hall was held at Esri.

A question about bringing the lm production into the Inland Empire dovetailed into a need to boost jobs and economic development.

Aguilar said the state is losing lm production to other states that offer tax credits, but a federal tax credit would apply to production in any state.

“This is something that has to have local buy-in and local help to the extent we could continue to work with local partners to make sure we pursue that,” Aguilar said. “It’s about economic development.”

Aguilar stressed the importance of renancing student loan debt and making sure young people know they have options besides college, such as technical career education programs.

“I know for so many young people, it is their entire focus while they’re in school and for so many you know this is becoming a barrier for them going to school in the rst place because of the high cost of tuition,” Aguilar said. “There is no reason to have student loan debt with 8, 9, 12 or 14 percent interest rates. That’s ridiculous.”

Aguilar said he is working with his colleagues in Congress to protect immigrants known as Dreamers following the Trump administration’s announcement in September that it would phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program. Under DACA, children brought to the country illegally by their parents can apply to be protected from deportation. Aguilar called the administration’s action wrong, but said he agrees there needs to be legislative action on the issue.

“It’s still important for us as the legislative branch to deal with this issue,” Aguilar said. “So we’re going to do everything we can to protect Dreamers, the thousands of young people here in our region who, through no fault of their own, are here and contributing to the Inland Empire.”

Monday’s town hall follows a similar event Aguilar held in April at the National Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino.

Aguilar’s town halls and public meetings stem from his time as Redlands mayor, when he launched the Coffee with the Council program.

“I can’t do my job, and none of us as elected ofcials can do our job, unless we hear from our community,” Aguilar said.

Lois Stuart of Redlands attended Monday’s town hall to ask about rent control. Stuart said she is very interested in politics.

“I want to be involved like never before and this is my community, so I care a lot,” Stuart said.

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EMERSON_SANDRASandra Emerson Sandra Emerson covers the cities of Redlands, Highland and Yucaipa for the Redlands Daily Facts and The Sun.  Follow Sandra Emerson @TheFactsSandra

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We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre- screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any Measure K mailers counter established anti-eort in Victorville By Shea Johnson Staff Writer Posted Oct 14, 2017 at 4:33 PM Updated Oct 14, 2017 at 4:33 PM Editor’s Note: This is the latest in a series of stories leading up to the Nov. 7 special election that will examine Victorville’s Measure K ballot initiative.

VICTORVILLE — The anti-effort to the city’s public safety tax met its rival this week as “Yes on Measure K” mailers were delivered to voters, the answer to the flood of vote-no signs plastered throughout Victorville.

Depicting images of San Bernardino County firefighters battling treacherous blazes and three Sheriff’s deputies on a call, the mailer offers a rather ominous rally cry for the proposed half-percent sales tax: “Let’s make sure they are there when we need them!”

“Measure K takes the money out of the hands of politicians and requires it to be spent on public safety personnel,” it reads on another side, underscoring a key point that city officials have sought to get across: The $8.5 million in projected yearly revenue must by law be spent only on law enforcement and fire services.

With less than a month until the Nov. 7 special election, the pro-campaign has finally emerged on the scene to counter the push of Measure K opponents: The Inland Empire Taxpayers Association and County Fire union being, arguably, the most visible.

“Yes on Measure K” is backed by the Quality of Life Coalition, a political action committee focused on pro-business and pro-jobs candidates and issues, according to its spokesman, Michael W. McKinney.

While the committee has members who are regional developers, McKinney insisted it was more diverse and included, among other members, Victorville residents.

“Residents, businesses, and former Fire Chiefs,” he wrote in an email, “recognize the importance of decreasing response times, increasing public safety personnel on the job, and ensuring the money raised only be used for public safety.”

He said by phone Friday that developers were not unlike residents of the city: “You want to see a thriving community and a safe community.”

But builders might also have an incentive to get behind Measure K, as it has been acknowledged by city officials that the alternative is an annexation into County Fire’s Service Zone FP-5, which carries a $153 yearly parcel tax.

“I don’t think there’s any guarantee that a property tax would pass in the city of Victorville,” McKinney said in response.

The pro-campaign’s offensive also comes more than a month after “Vote No on Measure K” signs first began appearing in the city, presenting many voters with their introduction to the ballot measure, but McKinney declined to discuss whether the pro-campaign had arisen too late.

“I don’t think that’s proper to address what our strategy is,” he said. “We’ll find out whose strategy won in November, won’t we?”

The pro-campaign effort, while assisting to highlight the city’s plans to boost law enforcement and fire services — particularly because the city can’t assume an advocacy role — also has a potentially awkward tenor.

In 2014, the Quality of Life Coalition had sought to upend Councilman Jim Kennedy’s re-election campaign through a series of mailers which were fiercely rebuked at the time by Mayor Pro Tem Jim Cox.

City Manager Doug Robertson had called the mailers — one seemed to suggest the city or Kennedy was subject to an FBI probe — “disappointing” and “potentially damaging to the city.” The committee also has links — strongly challenged by McKinney, however — to the Building Industry Association. Its principal officer is BIA Baldy View Chapter President Carlos Rodriguez, campaign finance records show, but McKinney said Rodriguez is not acting within his BIA capacity.

The BIA of Southern California’s official political action committee previously contributed to the coalition in October 2014, a month before Kennedy was re-elected to the dais, campaign finance records show.

Shea Johnson can be reached at 760-955-5368 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @DP_Shea.

 SIGN UP FOR DAILY E-MAIL  Wake up to the day’s top news, delivered to your inbox LOCAL NEWS Nine-member marijuana committee to be announced at Wednesday’s San Bernardino City Council meeting

FILE PHOTO San Bernardino City Council will introduce its nine-member marijuana advisory committee on Wednesday.

By BRIAN WHITEHEAD | [email protected] | San Bernardino Sun October 16, 2017 at 4:34 pm

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The nine nominees for a committee tasked with recommending regulations for marijuana use in San Bernardino will be announced during Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

Each council member has one nominee; Mayor Carey Davis has two. The body will vote on all nominations together as a single action.

The advisory committee is charged with “the duty to evaluate, analyze and propose options and standards to establish marijuana regulations that will protect the public health, safety and welfare of residents of San Bernardino,” a staff report says.

To be voted on before the appointees is an exception to a city law that requires all members of boards, commissions and committees to be San Bernardino residents. At least six council members must approve the exemption.

The committee will work with a hired consultant and is to discuss regulations relating to personal cannabis cultivation, consumption, and taxes and fees on marijuana sales – issues of the highest concern, a staff report says.

Recommendations must comply with Proposition 64, which allows marijuana statewide, and Measure O, a local law permitting dispensaries in a limited number of locations that San Bernardino voters passed in November. Measure O currently is being challenged in court.

Proposals are to be brought before the mayor and City Council by Dec. 20 to allow for any recommended ordinance to be in place by January.

All committee meetings will be open to the public. The date and time for the rst meeting has yet to be determined.

The City Council meets at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18, at 201 N. E St.

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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

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If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing [email protected]. LOCAL NEWS Omnitrans sidewalk chalk art contest in San Bernardino applauds creativity

Contestants take a look at their artwork during Omnitrans’ second annual San Bernardino Transit Center Sidewalk Chalk Art Contest on Saturday, Oct. 14. Winners received cash prizes. (Courtesy of Omnitrans)

By BRIAN WHITEHEAD | [email protected] | San Bernardino Sun PUBLISHED: October 16, 2017 at 3:03 pm | UPDATED: October 16, 2017 at 3:07 pm

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The artists didn’t need their paints or pastels. No need for a blank canvas or easel either.

On Saturday, 15 contestants needed only a 6-foot-by-6-foot slab of sidewalk and a medium commonly associated with schoolchildren and blacktops.

More than 100 spectators watched creativity in action as artists vied for cash prizes at Omnitrans’ second annual San Bernardino Transit Center Sidewalk Chalk Art Contest.

Held in celebration of the center’s two-year anniversary, the two-hour event, themed “Connecting Our Community,” hoped to combine local art talent and community partnerships at the regional transit center, said Wendy Williams, an Omnitrans spokeswoman.

“We look forward to integrating the transit center’s growth into next year’s contest,” she added. Arlette Ramirez, left, won $300 for her artwork at Omnitrans’ second annual San Bernardino Transit Center Sidewalk Chalk Art Contest on Saturday, Oct. 14. Dana Devereaux, from left, and David Mir took home $150 for finishing second, and Alicia Rubios won $100 for placing third. (Courtesy of Omnitrans)

First-place winner Arlette Ramirez drew Omnitrans’ mascot, Buster the Bus, greeting passengers at a bus stop and giving away balloons. She won a $300 Visa gi card.

The team of Dana Devereaux and David Mir came in second for drawing a man and a woman talking on the phone with the image of the world and ags from various countries between them. They won $150.

Alicia Rubios received $100 for a piece illustrating how music connects all communities.

“We are pleased that the sidewalk chalk art contest has become a true community event,” Williams said.

Children under 13 received a free movie ticket for their participation. The San Bernardino Teen Music Workshop, a program for sixth- through 12th-grade students, provided a soundtrack for attendees.

Artwork was judged on rst impression, creativity, originality, skill and use of color. Local art acionados deliberated and selected winners.

At Rialto Avenue and E Street in downtown San Bernardino, the transit center serves more than 5,000 passengers every weekday. The center has such environmental-friendly features as solar rooop panels, sustainable greenery and high-tech heating and cooling systems.

For information: omnitrans.org.

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Subscribe Skypark at Santa’s Village Presents Pumpkins in the Pines in Community News, Entertainment, For Your Information, Informational, Mountain Region, News, Subject, Ticker / by Michael P. Neufeld / on October 17, 2017 at 5:00 am /

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By Susan A. Neufeld

Skyforest, CA – Skypark, at Santa’s Village, presents Pumpkins in the Pines, October 21, 22, 28 and 29.

Activities at the Pumpkin in the Pines include: Pumpkin patch, attractions, live music, harvest games, apple orchard tours, crafts, cookie decorating and photo ops.

Trick or Treat nightly from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. and Saturday nights will be skate night, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.. While you are there visit The Pedal Pub and Artisan Fair.

Come out and enjoy the autumn nights at Skypark at Santa’s Village.

For more information about Skypark at Santa’s Village visit: http://SKYPARKSANTASVILLAGE.COM/EVENTS. Prisoner missing from inmate fire crew fighting O.C. brush fire; police searching for him

By City News Service

OCTOBER 16, 2017, 1:25 PM

uthorities today were searching for a prisoner suspected of walking away from an inmate firefighting A crew helping to battle the Canyon 2 fire near Peters Canyon Regional Park in Orange. Armando Castillo, 31, was last seen at 4:45 p.m. Sunday before the group of inmates to which he was assigned returned to Prado Conservation Camp in San Bernardino County, according to Krissi Khokhobashvili of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Castillo was serving a five-year sentence in a Yucaipa conservation camp for possession of a firearm and evading police while driving recklessly. Castillo, who was convicted in Los Angeles County and was sent to prison on Aug. 23 of last year, was due to be released and placed on probation next May, according to Khokhobashvili.

Inmates like Castillo earn $1 an hour for fighting fires and get two days for credit for time served for each day they battle a blaze. Castillo is 5-foot-11 and weighs about 190 pounds. He has brown eyes and black hair. Anyone who sees the inmate should dial 911, or call authorities at (209) 984-5291, ext. 5439, or (909) 797-0196 to provide information on his whereabouts.

Staff photo The Sun has moved to its new location. It opened its doors Monday, Oct. 16, at 473 E. Carnegie Drive, Suite 250, San Bernardino, 92408.

By STAFF REPORT | | PUBLISHED: October 16, 2017 at 9:35 am | UPDATED: October 16, 2017 at 2:30 pm

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The Sun opened in its new San Bernardino location today.

The ofce moved from the downtown area to its new site at 473 E. Carnegie Drive, Suite 200, San Bernardino, 92408. The Sun is in ofce 250.

Have questions? Here’s how to contact The Sun staff: sbsun.com/contact-us.

Tags: Top Stories Sun NEWS United Way, volunteers paint murals at Del Norte Elementary School in Rancho Cucamonga

About 150 volunteers gathered on Oct. 7 to paint murals at Del Norte Elementary School in Rancho Cucamonga. With the support of its corporate partners, Inland Empire United Way provided all of the paint, ladders, supplies and leadership to complete the project. (Courtesy photo)

By STAFF REPORT | Press-Enterprise October 16, 2017 at 5:47 pm

 With help from Inland Empire United Way and its partners, nearly 150 volunteers gathered last week to paint murals at Del Norte Elementary School in Rancho Cucamonga.

“Thank you to Inland Empire United Way and all the volunteers for giving a very symbolic meaning to our community and for breathing new life into this campus,” said Dr. James Hammond, Ontario-Montclair School District superintendent, said in a United Way news release.

“This is a legacy, something that will last for years to come. It sends a powerful message to our community that our school matters, that our kids matter, that our families mean a lot to you,” Hammond said.

With the support of its partners — QVC, Target, Cardenas, Safelite, UPS and QTC — IEUW provided all of the paint, ladders, supplies and leadership to complete the project on Oct. 7. The students got to see the nished campus when they came to school on Oct. 9.

The 61-year old school serves more than 500 students from preschool to 5th grade.

“Inland Empire United Way is committed to helping underprivileged youth succeed academically and reach future self-sufciency,” said Bill Hobbs, interim president and CEO at Inland Empire United Way. “Research shows that children learn better in an environment where they feel proud and comfortable, which is why we engage in these projects.

“They are not just about making a school look nice, they have a specic goal of bringing inspiration and motivation to students so they can succeed in life.”

Tags: education, Top Stories Sun

Staff report

SPONSORED CONTENT New MBA? Here NEWSPOLITICS Gov. Brown vetoes bill that would have closed loophole in the California Environmental Quality Act

Courtesy of Highland Fairview. An artist’s rendering of the World Logistics Center to be built in Moreno Valley.

By JEFF HORSEMAN | [email protected] | The Press-Enterprise PUBLISHED: October 16, 2017 at 5:18 pm | UPDATED: October 16, 2017 at 8:34 pm



Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed a bill from a Riverside assemblyman inspired by a massive warehouse complex planned for Moreno Valley. Brown’s ofce announced the veto of AB 890 on Monday, Oct. 16. The bill by Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside, would have closed a loophole in the California Environmental Quality Act, also known as CEQA, that allows projects approved by voters to bypass the act’s review process.

Medina on Monday said he was “denitely disappointed” by the veto.

“I think (the bill) would have been good for our area, good for our constituents,” Medina said, adding he regularly hears concerns about truck trafc and air quality.

“Trying to close that loophole, which developers have been able to use, would have been a good rst step,” he said.

The bill arose aer Moreno Valley’s City Council approved the World Logistics Center, a 40.6 million-square-foot logistics center – the size of 700 football elds – that would transform the city’s eastern side. Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside.

Opponents say the project’s environmental analysis fails to fully consider impacts to air quality and trafc. Developer Highland Fairview and city ofcials defend that analysis and contend the project will support 20,000 jobs and $2.5 billion a year in economic activity.

The project would draw close to 69,000 vehicle trips a day, about 14,000 of which would be trucks, according to a project environmental report.

Medina, who represents Moreno Valley, offered the bill aer Highland Fairview, led by CEO/President Iddo Benzeevi, bankrolled three ballot measures designed to thwart legal challenges to the project. Had the measures made the ballot, voters would have been asked to repeal the City Council’s August 2015 approval of the project and replace it with ordinances with identical language to what the council OK’d.

Had voters rejected the measures, the council’s approval would have stood. But if the measures passed, the logistics center would have been exempt from CEQA.

Eventually, council members adopted the three measures before they reached the ballot. Project opponents sued, arguing the city and Highland Fairview broke state law by using the initiative process for two of the three measures.

AB 890 would have barred developers from bypassing CEQA through the ballot box, a process used to fast-track football stadiums in Inglewood and Los Angeles.

“I am worried that there is undue inuence of money by developers in the politics of the city of Moreno Valley and it makes me question the decisions they make, if they are indeed for the interest, not only of their community but the surrounding communities as well,” Medina said in September.

The bill would not have applied to the logistics center. It only would have pertained to projects approved aer Jan. 1, 2018.

Moreno Valley Mayor Yxstian Gutierrez and Councilwoman Victoria Baca went to Sacramento to oppose AB 890, saying it threatened voters’ constitutional rights and the jobs the World Logistics Center project would create.

In 2014, the California Supreme Court ruled that CEQA generally does not apply to voter-approved development projects.

In his veto message, the governor wrote that he favored “a more comprehensive approach” to reforming CEQA rather than “the piecemeal approach taken in this bill.”

“I hope to work with the author who has shown a steadfast commitment to protect vulnerable communities from being disproportionately burdened by environmental harms,” Brown wrote.

Moreno Valley ofcials did not respond to a request for comment.

In a Monday evening statement, Benzeevi spokesman Eric Rose said the city followed all requirements of the act and that the project has “the highest environmental standards in the state and over $200 million in mitigation measures.” “Unfortunately, Medina has deliberately and continually misrepresented the WLC project to pander to special interests who support him … The Governor stood for jobs and the environment, Medina voted for special interests,” the statement said.

Penny Newman, executive director of the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, a Jurupa Valley-based group opposed to the World Logistics Center, said she was “really disappointed the governor didn’t sign that bill and close the loophole on projects that get through by being manipulated through the system and not addressing the impacts on the community.”

Newman, a 2018 candidate for Riverside County supervisor, raised the prospect of working to deliver a more comprehensive CEQA bill to satisfy the governor.

“One way or another, this loophole needs to be corrected,” she said.

Medina said he’s willing to include his bill in a larger effort to reform CEQA.

Staff Writer Imran Ghori contributed to this report.

Tags: California politics, Top Stories OCR, Top Stories PE, Top Stories RDF, Top Stories Sun

Jeff_Horseman_mugx.jpgJeff Horseman Jeff Horseman got into journalism because he liked to write and stunk at math. He grew up in Vermont and he honed his interviewing skills as a supermarket cashier by asking Bernie Sanders “Paper or plastic?” Aer graduating from Syracuse University in 1999, Jeff began his journalistic odyssey at The Watertown Daily Times in upstate New York, where he impressed then-U.S. Senate candidate Hillary Clinton so much she called him “John” at the end of an interview. From there, he went to Annapolis, Maryland, where he covered city, county and state government at The Capital newspaper before love and the quest for snowless winters took him in 2007 to Southern California, where he started out covering Temecula for The Press-Enterprise. Today, Jeff writes about Riverside County government and regional politics. Along the way, Jeff has covered wildres, a tropical storm, 9/11 and the Dec. 2 terror attack in San Bernardino. If you have a question or story idea about politics or the inner workings of government, please let Jeff know. He’ll do his best to answer, even if it involves a little math.  Follow Jeff Horseman @JeffHorseman

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“The board decided that it was not in the BIA’s best interest to continue,” said Mike Prandini, the association’s president and chief executive ofﬁcer. “If we won, it would just delay the inevitable. The builders felt the amount (the city) was charging wouldn’t go down much, if at all, so it wasn’t worth the resources to battle the city.”

Attorneys for the developers say the fees unjustly burden builders with extra charges that they say cannot be legally justiﬁed. They point to references in a water fee study conducted for the city that describe doubling the treatment capacity of the Northeast Surface Water Treatment Plant to help meet future water needs. They assert that the expansion requires a detailed analysis under the California Environmental Quality Act before fees for that portion of the long-term program can be charged.

“Basically the bottom line is primarily the 50 percent of fees for the northeast treatment plant,” said John Kinsey, one of the builders’ attorneys. “It increases the costs for people who are interested in buying new homes.”

They also argue that the fees are greater than what it will cost the city to assure a stable water supply for a growing population. As such, they should be considered a “tax” that requires approval from two-thirds of voters in an election rather than mere adoption by the Fresno City Council.

“The city’s position is that there’s no need to comply with CEQA because the funds are for unknown future projects, but the fees can’t be greater than needed to cover cost,” Kinsey said. Either the city has committed to a project with a known cost and has to do the environmental review, or hasn’t ﬁnalized a project with a known cost and hasn’t taken it to the voters, Kinsey added.

In their lawsuit, the builders and their attorneys want Petrucelli to declare the fees invalid and decide that they violate state law, and order the city to rescind its approval of the fees. They also want a court order barring the city from assessing and collecting the fees “unless and until the city complies with all controlling laws, including … CEQA.”

The city’s legal team – City Attorney Douglas Sloan and attorneys from the Irvine law ﬁrm Aleshire & Wynder – contends that the new fees don’t violate the state’s constitution. In court documents, they assert that the fees are only what’s needed to cover the cost of services. They add that the fees will bear a “fair or reasonable relationship” to new homeowners’ burdens on future water demands or their beneﬁt from a more reliable water supply.

The defense attorneys also argue that the fees themselves do not represent a project that triggers CEQA requirements for an environmental assessment. “CEQA applies only to projects which have the potential for causing a signiﬁcant effect on the environment,” they countered. “The fees do not have the potential to result in a direct physical change in the environment. ...” The $4,246-per-home fee adopted in April was lower than a previous proposal in December 2016 for $6,373. Fees would also be charged for commercial and industrial properties with larger water meter connections. The fees would only be charged for new development, not existing homes and businesses, because they are intended only to accommodate the water demands created by future growth. That includes $143.9 million in new water wells, groundwater recharge basins and distribution pipelines.

The city began charging the new fees in mid-June. Builders typically pay the fees when building permits are issued. Through the end of September, Fresno has collected just over $104,000 – about the equivalent of 24 single-family homes, said Mark Standriff, a spokesman for the city.

The two sides will argue their points in a March 22 hearing in Petrucelli’s courtroom in downtown Fresno.

Tim Sheehan: 559-441-6319, @TimSheehanNews

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IN OTHER NEWS Trailer Park Boys Star John Dunsworth Has Died Aged 71…

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U.S. Cleanup From California Fires Poses Environmental and Health Risks

By KIRK JOHNSON OCT. 16, 2017 SANTA ROSA, Calif. — Dr. Karen Relucio has heard reports of people digging into the ashes of their burned homes in recent days without gloves, wearing only shorts and T-shirts, looking for sentimental items that might have survived California’s horrific wildfires. And as the chief public health officer in Napa County, one of the hardest-hit places, she has used her office as a bully pulpit to urge them to stop, immediately.

“Just think of all the hazardous materials in your house,” she said in an interview. “Your chemicals, your pesticides, propane, gasoline, plastic and paint — it all burns down into the ash. It concentrates in the ash, and it’s toxic,” said Dr. Relucio, who declared a public emergency over the hazardous waste from the fires, as have at least two other counties.

California’s fires are far from out. They have killed at least 41 people and burned about 5,700 structures and over 213,000 acres since they exploded in force on Oct. 8 and 9 — record totals for a state that is used to wildfires. Thousands of firefighters are still at work fighting blazes and tens of thousands of people remain under mandatory evacuation from their homes, though fire officials have expressed cautious optimism about bringing the fires into containment. But even as the smell of smoke still wafts through this area north of San Francisco, public health officials and environmental cleanup experts are starting to think about the next chapter of the disaster: the huge amount of debris and ash that will be left behind.

In whole neighborhoods here, a thick layer of ash paints the landscape a ghastly white. Wind can whip the ash into the air; rain, when it comes, could wash it into watersheds and streams or onto nearby properties that were not ravaged by fire.

And the process of cleaning it all up, which has not even begun, is very likely to bring its own thorny set of issues, in the costs, timetables and liability questions — all compounded by scale, in the thousands of properties that must be repaired and restored.

“In modern times this has got be an unprecedented event, and a major hazard for the public and for property owners,” said Dr. Alan Lockwood, a retired neurologist who has written widely about public health. He said an apt comparison might be the environmental cleanup after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in New York, as debris and dust swirled through Lower Manhattan.

As could well happen too in California, Dr. Lockwood said, the health and environmental effects were felt long after the attack, in the chemicals or pollutants workers and responders at the site, and the public at large, may been exposed to as the cleanup went on.

Household building materials are obviously different from the components of a concrete tower. But they pose risks too. Treated wood in a house’s frame, for instance, put there to prevent bacteria growth, can contain copper, chromium and arsenic. Consumer electronics contain metals like lead, mercury and cadmium. Older homes might have asbestos shingles. Even galvanized nails are a concern because when they melt they release zinc. All are potentially harmful.

“It’s a completely complex mixed bag of different stuff that’s there,” said Geoffrey S. Plumlee, associate director for environmental health with the United States Geological Survey. Dr. Plumlee led a study after several Southern California wildfires in 2007 that found that ash from burned-out residential areas contained elevated levels of arsenic, antimony and metals including lead, copper and chromium. In most cases the levels were above federal Environmental Protection Agency guidelines for soil remediation.

After a fire in Slave Lake, Alberta, in 2011 that destroyed about 400 homes, the city landfill was found to be leaching toxins after fire debris was deposited there.

In California, the road ahead to cleanup and the safe return to properties will probably not be smooth or fast, public health officials and cleanup experts said. The sheer number of communities affected and properties destroyed creates a greater challenge than any the state has faced in recent history.

Local and state agencies, focused on active fires, have not yet sorted out who will take the leadership roles. Even determining how severely lands are affected and the estimated costs of remediation lay ahead in the weeks and months to come.

At a packed public meeting in the basketball gym at Santa Rosa High School on Saturday, some residents said they worried that the cleanup could go on for years and asked state officials if they could proceed on their own.

The answer they got was a qualified yes. An approved contractor can be hired, if one is available. Otherwise the cleanup should be free in most cases, residents were told, paid for with taxpayer money or private insurance if a homeowner has a debris- removal clause in the insurance policy on the house.

But state and federal officials said on Monday that many of the details of how this cleanup would work remained unsettled. That is partly because the focus has been on response to the fires and the fatalities, and the 40,000 people still evacuated from their homes, but also because of the complex mix of properties affected on both public and private lands.

“There are more questions than answers,” said David Passey, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He said, for example, that FEMA, the federal government’s lead disaster response agency, typically concentrated on public property, not private, unless individual counties declare the private properties a public health and safety risk. Counties and cities can also take the lead on cleanup, he said, and that too has not been fully sorted out.

“We don’t know yet which of those solutions, or mixture of those solutions, the cities and counties will choose,” Mr. Passey said.

Mark Oldfield, a spokesman for the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, which administers state-managed waste handling and recycling programs, said a typical situation for cleanup would include a kind of triage, with the most hazardous materials as a site handled first, typically by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control. That agency would evaluate and remove hazardous debris, which can range from asbestos siding or pipe insulation to paints, batteries, flammable liquids and electronic waste like computers and monitors.

After that, contractors under CalRecycle’s auspices could focus on remaining debris removal for recycling (metals and concrete) or disposal (ash and contaminated soil), Mr. Oldfield said. Then the land could be prepared for potential rebuilding. But, he added, “With fires still active in many areas, there is not yet a timetable for cleanup efforts to begin.”

Dr. Relucio, Napa County’s public health director, said that in the meantime, people who go back to their properties should protect their eyes, lungs and skin, with long sleeves and pants, boots, glasses, and a good quality N95-rated mask available in most hardware stores.

Dr. Lockwood said a secondary caution for anyone entering a burned site is human idiosyncrasy, in the things people store in garages, use in their hobbies or just never got around to throwing away.

“One never knows what people have stashed in their homes,” he said.

Henry Fountain contributed reporting from New York.

A version of this article appears in print on October 17, 2017, on Page A10 of the New York edition with the headline: When Flames Retreat, Risks to Environment and Health Remain. 10/17/2017 Power lines and electrical equipment are a leading cause of California wildfires - LA Times

Power lines and electrical equipment are a leading cause of California wildfires

Power poles and lines block a street at Brookdale and Aaron Dr. in Hidden Valley where most of the homes were destroyed by fire in Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

By Ivan Penn

OCTOBER 17, 2017, 5:00 AM

he deadliest wildfires in state history have raised questions about whether a repeat culprit might again be to blame for starting or spreading at least some of the Northern California blazes: utility T companies and their equipment. The explosive failure of power lines and other electrical equipment has regularly ranked among the top three singular sources of California wildfires for the last several years. In 2015, the last year of reported data, electrical power problems sparked the burning of 149,241 acres — more than twice the amount from any other cause.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-utility-wildfires-20171017-story.html 1/4 10/17/2017 Power lines and electrical equipment are a leading cause of California wildfires - LA Times And regulators have hit the state’s investor-owned utilities with tens of millions of dollars in fines related to wildfires, including $37 million for the 2007 Malibu fire (Southern California Edison); $14.4 million for the Witch, Rice and Guejito fires the same year (San Diego Gas & Electric); and $8.3 million for the September 2015 Butte Fire (Pacific Gas & Electric).

Investigators have yet to determine what sparked the Northern California fires.

But a review of emergency radio traffic recordings found that fire crews were dispatched to at least 10 spots in Sonoma County in response to reports of sparking electrical wires and exploding transformers as high winds pummeled the area on the night of Oct. 8, the San Jose Mercury News reported. The first fires were reported about the same time, the newspaper said.

The electrical lines and equipment are owned by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. Spokeswoman Jennifer Robison said the San Francisco utility is focusing on ensuring the safety of those affected by the fires, rather than engaging in debate over the cause before investigators complete their work.

“There will likely be reviews of these wildfires by the appropriate agencies, but right now we are focused on life safety and service restoration,” Robison said.

Even the speculation that PG&E might be liable has sent its parent company’s stock tumbling. On Monday, PG&E Corp. shares closed at $53.43, down 22% from their closing price Oct. 6, the last trading day before the fires began.

Utility critics blame lax regulation and enforcement for the continuing problem of wildfires caused by power equipment failures. They point to Gov. Jerry Brown’s decision last year to veto legislation that would have required the California Public Utilities Commission and the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, to identify steps that cities must take to prevent fires from overhead electrical equipment.

“It takes a catastrophe like this to show how bad the problem is,” said Jamie Court, president of advocacy organization Consumer Watchdog. “We’ve seen no comprehensive attempts to change the system because it’s costly.”

Mindy Spatt, a spokeswoman for the Utility Reform Network, said her organization has argued at the California Public Utilities Commission for years that the power companies need to give more attention to their equipment, such as ensuring trees are trimmed around power lines to prevent disasters.

“One question in this case may be whether PG&E properly assessed and responded to the increased risk,” Spatt said.

Cal Fire spokeswoman Lynne Tolmachoff said it is too early to blame PG&E when the cause remains undetermined.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-utility-wildfires-20171017-story.html 2/4 10/17/2017 Power lines and electrical equipment are a leading cause of California wildfires - LA Times “None of it’s clear right now,” Tolmachoff said. “They’re doing their due diligence, making sure the investigation is very thorough.

“There’s not a quick easy way to determine the cause,” she said. “After every fire like this, there’s all kinds of speculation.”

To Court and others, the utilities, regulators and government leaders need to do more to ensure public safety, such as ensuring that utility companies are properly managing trees and brush around electrical equipment and maintaining and reinforcing equipment to guard against hazardous conditions.

Southern California Edison said in a statement that the utility works with state, county, and local fire agencies to identify areas with high fire risk and takes appropriate steps to improve SCE’s vegetation management efforts, establish design and construction standards appropriate for high wind and high fire areas and identify operational practices to reduce fire risk.

For example, when red flag warnings are in place and circuits in high fire areas trip, Edison requires a patrol to inspect lines before they are re-energized.

SDG&E said it has made significant investments in fire preparedness over the last several years and have modernized infrastructure throughout our service area. That includes replacing thousands of wooden poles with fire-resistant steel poles to reduce the risk of damage to power lines in fire-prone areas.

The utility also developed and operates the nation’s largest utility-owned weather network, with models that provide a fire potential rating, giving a team of meteorologists and local fire agencies valuable information to help develop response strategies in advance of an emergency.

In 2013, SCE launched a comprehensive pole loading assessment and replacement program to ensure that its 1.4 million poles are strong enough to withstand high winds based on using accurate information on attachments from all utilities, including electric, phone, cable television, internet and wireless equipment.

This included a thorough meteorological study to update the potential highest wind speeds in every part of the service territory. The assessments were prioritized to address high fire areas first, and these areas will be completed by the end of this year. The remaining poles will be assessed by 2021.

Elizaveta Malashenko, director of the PUC’s safety and enforcement division, said the concern about fire safety has prompted more funding and personnel for her office.

Malashenko’s division had been operating with about 10 investigators who, in total, reviewed an average of 120 incidents a year of potential violations by various types of utilities, not just electrical. Now her office is in the process of increasing to about 36 staff members, with two dedicated to fire safety.

“We do need to grow our capacity in the area of fire prevention,” Malashenko said. “I think in an area like this, you can never say that you’ve done enough.” http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-utility-wildfires-20171017-story.html 3/4 10/17/2017 Power lines and electrical equipment are a leading cause of California wildfires - LA Times There are some limitations to strengthening the electrical system against disasters such as wildfires, said Ted Kury, director of energy studies at the University of Florida’s Public Utility Research Center.

Kury said utilities could use concrete or metallic poles instead of wooden ones but flying debris in a wind storm could strike a wire and cause it to break loose from even those poles and ignite a fire.

Underground wires also are an option, but every improvement comes with a cost, he said. And depending on the geography in a particular location — which is the primary factor in cost — underground power lines can range from $200,000 to $300,000 a mile. Kury has seen an extreme case that cost as high as $9 million a mile.

“Make no mistake, it’s the customers that spend the money,” Kury said. “Utilities don’t have money. Government doesn’t have money. They get their money from the people.”

Ultimately, Kury said, each area has to determine what is workable for the terrain and resources available based on reviews by regulators.

“When regulators are typically taking a look at this question, they have a statutory duty — all regulators, and this includes the California commission — the basic idea behind it is safe and reliable service at just and reasonable rates.” [email protected]

For more energy news, follow Ivan Penn on Twitter: @ivanlpenn

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This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit http://www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-some-malls-manage-to-stay-alive-years-after-losing-their-mojo-1508245202

PROPERTY REPORT How Some Malls Manage to Stay Alive Years After Losing Their Mojo

Long-term contracts and regulatory hurdles mean many malls will continue to muddle along

A shopper takes an escalator at a Sears store in a nearly-empty shopping mall in Waterbury, Conn., on March 28. PHOTO: SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES

By Esther Fung Updated Oct. 17, 2017 11:18 a.m. ET

The U.S. has far too many malls scrambling to attract consumers at a time when online shopping is tightening its grip.

That doesn’t mean middling malls will die quickly, however.

Projections for hundreds of shopping centers to close in the next five years could prove too pessimistic. A more likely outcome, analysts said: many weaker malls will turn into zombies, staying open for years as they cycle through increasingly less successful retailers before finally being repurposed or leveled.

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“It takes a very long time to transition these malls,” said Thomas Dobrowski, executive managing director of capital markets at real estate services firm Newmark Knight Frank. “They don’t die of heart attacks.” Part of the reason for weak malls’ persistence lies in contracts signed years or decades ago. Landlords typically strike leases of 10 or 20 years with multiple tenants, making speedy exits difficult. In some cases, lease buyouts can be negotiated, but the process can be expensive and lengthy.

Owners hoping to close malls and redevelop them for other uses might also run into regulatory hurdles. Getting buy-in from the local community takes time and rezoning approvals might not happen, especially in areas where sales tax revenue makes up a big chunk of the local government’s budget.

Of the 41 malls Mr. Dobrowski has helped to sell since 2012, most of which were distressed sales, only one, Granite Run Mall in Media, Penn., has been closed and redeveloped. The others are still operating as malls.

The two-story Granite Run Mall was foreclosed on in 2010 after struggling with vacancies. It was sold in 2013 to BET Investments, which is redeveloping the site into a mixed-use property with open-air retail, entertainment and roughly 400 apartments. The demolition started only in 2016 as the firm waited for leases to expire and for government approvals for the redevelopment.

“You can’t just tear it down while tenants are in there,” said Bruce Toll, principal at BET Investments and a co-founder of home builder Toll Brothers Inc.

Roughly 200 malls have closed since 2007, according to Newmark Knight Frank. But the amount of square feet of retail space has increased 10.4% over the same period, according to data from CoStar Group . Part of that is due to the continued development of mixed-use centers in urban markets, but the steady growth in supply is also partly due to the slow pace of demolishing or transforming struggling malls for other uses.

Between 2007 and 2016, at least 275 enclosed malls, strip malls and open-air shopping centers were foreclosed on after their owners ran into difficulties repaying their securitized mortgage loans, according to data from Trepp Inc. Most of the properties live on as retail entities, with some adding medical clinics, tax and insurance offices, and gyms to their tenant mix.

After foreclosure, distressed retail assets are sometimes sold at rock-bottom prices. Some owners do minimal work on their newly acquired shopping centers because operating them at high vacancy rates might still be profitable given lower property taxes and lower property maintenance bills.

Other landlords might be compelled to improve properties, buying out leases from tenants that have fallen out of favor and renovating the vacated space. Some retailers or restaurant owners on the fence of whether to stay open might be persuaded to remain even if vacancy rates go up during the renovation period.

“If you buy these assets dramatically below replacement costs and become one of the lowest cost providers of real estate within a region, you can repurpose these shopping centers for alternative uses,” said Andy Weiner, president at Houston-based real-estate investment firm RockStep Capital, which invests in shopping centers in small-town America alongside local businesses. Partners are aware of the regional and local issues and are able to identify substitute tenants such as entertainment, fitness, government offices, hospitality uses, he said.

But it can take time.

“There are some places where a mall shouldn’t have been built but has existed for 20 years,” said Brian Landes, a director of geographic information systems and location intelligence at real estate services firm Transwestern Commercial Services.

Write to Esther Fung at [email protected]

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit http://www.djreprints.com.