4/14/2017 Crisis care: Residential treatment facility breaks ground in Victorville, where it's 'so greatly needed'

Crisis care: Residential treatment facility breaks ground in Victorville, where it’s ‘so greatly needed’

Thursday Posted Apr 13, 2017 at 1:16 PM Updated Apr 13, 2017 at 5:31 PM

The $6.6 million facility was lauded as a lower-cost, community-centered treatment option that should ultimately reduce emergency room visits, hospitalizations and incarcerations.

By Staff Writer

VICTORVILLE — The second crisis residential treatment facility in San Bernardino County and first in the High Desert ceremoniously broke ground Thursday, expected to treat individuals with mental health and/or co-occurring substance use disorders when operational at the beginning of next year.

The $6.6 million facility, on the northwest corner of Hesperia Road and Sunhill Drive, was lauded by policymakers and stakeholders as a lower-cost, community-centered treatment option that should ultimately reduce emergency room visits, hospitalizations and incarcerations.

“As you break ground for this crisis residential treatment facility,” Mayor Gloria Garcia said, “I am so excited and thankful to see this facility being built here in Victorville, where it is so greatly needed.”

County Supervisors in August approved the facility, the second of six similar projects countywide assisted by $50 million in grant funding. With 16 beds, the facility will serve adults 18 years and older and “maintain stabilization and http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170413/crisis-care-residential-treatment-facility-breaks-ground-in-victorville-where-its-so-greatly-needed 1/2 4/14/2017 Crisis care: Residential treatment facility breaks ground in Victorville, where it's 'so greatly needed'

promote recovery following a crisis episode in an unlocked, voluntary facility,” according to a county-provided fact sheet.

The county’s Department of Behavioral Health is the lead agency on the project, but the department’s chief insisted that it’s ultimately a multi-pronged effort among various agencies.

“The essential components of us doing these types of projects is that we have to have political buy-in, we have to have community buy-in,” said Veronica Kelley, director of the Department of Behavioral Health.

“It’s not just about political will, it’s not just about having the money to build,” she continued, “it’s about the community input and the community’s will, and that’s what we see here today.”

Robert Lovingood, 1st District Supervisor and board chairman, referred to the facility’s ability to mitigate the burden on public safety resources.

“This allows law enforcement the facility where when they have the call, they can treat and bring individuals that are challenged,” he said, “and then be back on the street doing their first-most task.”

A hallmark of this facility, officials say, is the program in a home-like setting where expectations are set that clients participate in the day-to-day operations of running a household while having access to extensive treatment.

Shea Johnson can be reached at 760-955-5368 or . Follow him on Twitter at .

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170413/crisis-care-residential-treatment-facility-breaks-ground-in-victorville-where-its-so-greatly-needed 2/2 4/14/2017 This Desert Life: Of first-graders and public officials

This Desert Life: Of ꃦrst-graders and public o⺰cials

Thursday Posted Apr 13, 2017 at 7:15 PM Updated Apr 13, 2017 at 7:20 PM

By Staff Writer Follow

I try to avoid talking politics here; however, I want to discuss , and politics are intrinsic to their story.

On Feb. 14, I submitted a California Public Records Act request with San Bernardino County asking for all county emails related to the Newton T. Bass Apple Valley Branch Library, closed since April 18, 2015.

In response I received two DVD-R discs containing more than 800 emails each. My goal was twofold: gain a sense of the county’s process as it related to repairing the library and understand why that process had taken nearly two years.

More on that later.

Included in the second disc was Phoenix Academy teacher Violet Carter’s Jan. 11 email to 1st District Supervisor Robert Lovingood, which expressed concern over how the closure was affecting her students.

The email, in part, was a plea for transparency, a word thrown around a lot (usually in anger or desperation) in the political world. I felt for Ms. Carter, but was unsure if she would speak to me about her frustrations.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170413/this-desert-life-of-first-graders-and-public-officials 1/4 4/14/2017 This Desert Life: Of first-graders and public officials

Then came the coincidence. Mere days after reading the email, my phone rang. None other than Violet Carter was on the other end of the line, and she proceeded to tell me about a two-day, literacy-themed event at Phoenix Academy spurred by her students’ letters, sent a little after her email.

Ain’t life funny? I thought before informing Ms. Carter I was aware of her email to the supervisor and would definitely cover the event.

Initially, Lovingood was to visit the school on Wednesday — the day I attended — but the tragedy at North Park Elementary School forced him to alter his schedule, and he arrived to the campus Tuesday morning.

That day, an envelope was placed on my desk containing copies of the hand- written letters Ms. Carter’s first-graders wrote to him. They were endearing, and I wondered if “Mr. Lovinggood” smiled at the frequent misspelling of his name.

Smile or no, Lovingood deserves credit for the way he responded. He engaged with these kids in an admirable way, giving them something more than the time of day, and I commend him for it.

Cynics will argue he should be visiting schools unprovoked by letters. Maybe that’s true. And yet, maybe he does. I don’t know because I don’t shadow his every move.

But anyway, I’ve grown weary of cynicism. It’s a dull, myopic way to look at the world that produces little more than a cranky attitude fat with hopelessness.

In this case, the guy did the right thing, as did County Library officials who brought their mobile library and Wacko the Magician to the entire Phoenix Academy student body.

That might sound silly, but had you heard the jubilant cries of wonder echoing through the school’s gymnasium, you’d understand what a man dancing with a levitating table means to the imagination of children.

And all this — the supervisor, the books, the magic show, the reminder of how powerful the written word can be — came courtesy of a teacher and some students who communicated their concern. They, too, are deserving of praise for

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170413/this-desert-life-of-first-graders-and-public-officials 2/4 4/14/2017 This Desert Life: Of first-graders and public officials

they’ve proven what can happen when we care about anything more than ourselves and choose to act.

But, of course, there exists a difference between cynicism and skepticism, the latter being necessary to my chosen profession. Skepticism surrounding the county’s initial reaction to that closed library adjacent to Apple Valley’s Town Hall resulted in my records request.

. That’s a fact those officials should be held accountable for considering further inspections revealed the building to be a detriment to public safety.

With that said, I’ve made a few observations amid my, thus far, cursory review of more than 1,600 emails related to the closure:

1) County officials, early on, were not privy to either the extent of the damage or the repair work needed, which is now a reconstruction of the roof and truss system that will cost about $4 million. Had they been aware, their initial estimates would not have indicated a closure that was or lasting only

2) There are many, many moving parts to this puzzle. Among other issues, the county had trouble nailing down a contractor, communicating updates to Lovingood and discerning the right design to ensure the repairs and upgraded trusses would be permanent fixes. This is understandable, though, as all problems require abundant brain wracking.

3) There are people at work on this. When a public building is closed for this long, it’s easy to conclude nothing is being done. But the emails prove the opposite. Much has been done, largely behind the scenes via unsexy, yet productive, decisions.

And while the county can do more to provide substantive updates to the community that don’t distract from the issue, smart decisions have been made in the last two years that mitigated the closure’s effects. The temporary library is one example. The county and Lovingood’s response to Ms. Carter’s first-graders is another. http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170413/this-desert-life-of-first-graders-and-public-officials 3/4 4/14/2017 Our View: Kids demand action on Apple Valley library - Opinion - VVdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

Our View: Kids demand action on Apple Valley library

Thursday Posted Apr 13, 2017 at 10:33 AM Updated Apr 13, 2017 at 10:33 AM

By Daily Press Editorial Board

The wheels of government sometimes barely move. That’s especially true when there is a disagreement over whose responsible for paying the piper.

Take the Apple Valley Newton T. Bass Branch Library, for instance. If it seems like that library has been closed forever, well, you’re close.

It was two years ago this month that the library was shuttered because of damage to its roof, trusses and other structural supports. What was expected to take just a few months and less than a million dollars to fix somehow wound up taking years and many millions.

When repairs start on Friday, it will be another 15 months before the library reopens, three months longer than anticipated just last month. The tab now for this wind damage? Well, it stands at $6 million, but keep your fingers crossed that no change orders come in.

Naturally, not all residents of Apple Valley have taken this well. First some of the books were moved to the Victor Valley Museum on Apple Valley Road, then to a “pop-up” temporary library right next to the Newton T. Bass branch.

A very vocal group of Phoenix Academy first-graders recently expressed their frustration, writing letters to Supervisor Robert Lovingood asking — some actually demanded, others pleaded — when their library would be reopened and couldn’t anything be done to speed up the process?

We second the frustration, kids.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/opinion/20170413/our-view-kids-demand-action-on-apple-valley-library 1/2 4/14/2017 Our View: Kids demand action on Apple Valley library - Opinion - VVdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

Government works pretty quickly when it wants something from those it governs, such as tax money. If the San Bernardino County treasurer/tax collector’s building had been damaged, we’re pretty sure the fix would have been done by now, probably in record time.

But a library? What’s the hurry?

To his credit, Lovingood went to Phoenix Academy to speak to the kids and visit their classrom. He also sent over a book mobile.

But should it take two years and the hand-written pleadings of first-graders to get some action? (On second thought, if that’s what it takes, we’ll be signing up some of those youngsters to write Gov. Jerry Brown in Sacramento.)

Seriously, when the wheels of government are turning slowly, we need our elected officials to make an effort to explain what’s going on and why it’s taking so long. And that doesn’t just apply to damaged libraries.

Meanwhile, we applaud the Phoenix Academy first-graders for getting involved. What a great civics lesson for them, courtesy of teacher Violet Carter.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/opinion/20170413/our-view-kids-demand-action-on-apple-valley-library 2/2 4/14/2017 Why San Bernardino County is mum on abduction from supervised visit – Press Enterprise

LOCAL NEWS Why San Bernardino County is mum on abduction from supervised visit

By BRIAN ROKOS | [email protected] | The Press-Enterprise PUBLISHED: April 13, 2017 at 12:46 pm | UPDATED: April 14, 2017 at 6:36 am



The public may never learn why authorities say a woman was able to abduct her children from a supervised visit at Children and Family Services in Rancho Cucamonga or what the taxpayer-funded agency is doing to prevent a recurrence.

But a San Bernardino County supervisor said the public deserves to know that information.

“Transparency must be a priority,” Josie Gonzales said in an interview.

http://www.pe.com/2017/04/13/why-san-bernardino-county-is-mum-on-abduction-from-supervised-visit/ 1/4 4/14/2017 Why San Bernardino County is mum on abduction from supervised visit – Press Enterprise

Cristable Peralta (Photo courtesy of San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department)

Children and Family Services of䃀cials cited client and personnel privacy rules in declining to say what went wrong the morning of Feb. 11 when, according to a Sheriff’s Department news release, Cristable Peralta made off with children Rodrigo Peralta, 6, and Abril Millian-Peralta, 8, a㋀er taking them to the bathroom. All three were found safe that evening.

Previously: Woman accused of abducting her children in Rancho Cucamonga is found

http://www.pe.com/2017/04/13/why-san-bernardino-county-is-mum-on-abduction-from-supervised-visit/ 2/4 4/14/2017 Why San Bernardino County is mum on abduction from supervised visit – Press Enterprise Peralta, 24, has not been charged with any crime. Her case is being reviewed by the child abduction unit of the District Attorney’s Of䃀ce, DA spokesman Christopher Lee said this week.

CaSonya Thomas, assistant executive of䃀cer of Human Services, and Marlene Hagen, director of Children and Family Services declined requests to be intereviewd about the actions not of Peralta, but of the employees. Both of䃀cials instead responded with emailed statements through spokeswoman C.L. Lopez.

“The county cannot comment on any aspect related to speci䃀c CFS cases,” wrote Thomas, whose department oversees Children and Family Services. “Children and Family Services works closely with community partners such as law enforcement to ensure safety of children and families and will continue to maintain this successful partnership. CFS o㋀en reviews practices to identify ways we can better meet the needs of our children and families.”

Hagen wrote that procedures for supervised visits vary depending on the juvenile court order.

“We are committed to the safety and well-being of our children and families. We cannot comment on speci䃀c cases,” Hagen wrote.

Lopez, in a separate email, wrote that when an incident occurs during a visit, Children and Family Services informs the court, which would determine whether there will be any changes to the level of supervision for a family visit.

Records in juvenile cases are not open to public inspection.

Gonzales, the county supervisor, said the public should receive more information about whether employees made any mistakes and what Children and Family Services is doing to correct them.

“Any incident that puts our children at risk, we must assess any weak links,” she said. “… We are responsible for the well-being and safety of the children we have custody of.”

Tags: public safety, Top Stories PE

BRIAN_ROKOSBrian Rokos

http://www.pe.com/2017/04/13/why-san-bernardino-county-is-mum-on-abduction-from-supervised-visit/Brian Rokos writes about public safety issues such as policing, criminal justice, 3/4 4/14/2017 3.3-magnitude quake rattles Loma Linda

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

3.3-magnitude quake rattles Loma Linda

By Beatriz Valenzuela, San Bernardino Sun

Friday, April 14, 2017

LOMA LINDA >> A 3.3-magnitude quake shook the Loma Linda area Friday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The temblor hit at 7:14 a.m., according to initial information.

There have been no reports of damage as of 7:20 a.m.

URL: http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20170414/33-magnitude-quake-rattles-loma-linda

© 2017 San Bernardino County Sun (http://www.sbsun.com)

http://www.sbsun.com/article/20170414/NEWS/170419685&template=printart 1/1 4/14/2017 Youth Poverty Symposium seeks solutions to the 'defining challenge of our generation'

Youth Poverty Symposium seeks solutions to the ‘de¼ning challenge of our generation’

Thursday Posted Apr 13, 2017 at 12:28 PM Updated Apr 13, 2017 at 5:17 PM

By Charity Lindsey Staff Writer Follow

VICTORVILLE — Nearly 200 students assembled at Victor Valley College on Tuesday for a symposium on an issue facing nearly a quarter of the High Desert — “the defining challenge of our generation,” according to Assemblyman Jay Obernolte — poverty.

The High Desert’s first locally held Youth Poverty Symposium was hosted by the Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County (CAPSBC). It brought together community leaders with local high school students who were invited from throughout the Victor Valley, Barstow and Lucerne Valley areas for a discussion about how poverty affects them. The poverty rate in San Bernardino County is 24.7 percent, according to CAPSBC, and the group argues that “if we’re going to bring it down, we must start now.”

“I want to start by saying to students that you guys are here for a reason,” keynote speaker and local teacher Dr. Tayari Kuanda said. “Somebody, somewhere, chose you, sought you out and picked you to come here and find a purpose.”

The students were in fact selected by their respective school advisers, according to the CEO of CAPSBC, Patricia Nickols-Butler, to attend the event and then “go back and share what they learned with the student body.”

And as Kuanda said, “Once you know, you can’t go back.”

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170413/youth-poverty-symposium-seeks-solutions-to-defining-challenge-of-our-generation 1/3 4/14/2017 Youth Poverty Symposium seeks solutions to the 'defining challenge of our generation'

Before students broke out into sessions — including “Poverty & Public Policy” led by Obernolte and “Civic Engagement & Voter Registration” led by Marcelino “Chico” Garza, special assistant to the San Bernardino County School Superintendent Ted Alejandre — Kuanda shared his personal story.

While he was in high school, Kuanda had to work to keep himself fed.

“I fell asleep in physics every morning, and I remember what they said about me — they said I’m lazy,” Kuanda said. “When really at 17, I worked until 4 a.m. every day.”

He challenged educators to “not give up on students” and to look for the other possible circumstances in a student’s life before judging them too quickly.

When he was a teenager struggling with homelessness in South Central Los Angeles, Kuanda said he almost became a drug dealer.

“I thought, ‘I know these streets well, I could sell drugs easy,’” Kuanda said. “But I thought ... ‘What type of shame would I bring to my family?’ ... and ‘What am I about to do to my own community?’”

So he flushed the drugs down the toilet, and soon after joined the military instead.

When he later picked back up on his education at Victor Valley College, Kuanda said it was one of the times he learned that “racism is real” after he was “written up for reading.”

“I haven’t stopped reading since,” said Kuanda, who now has his doctorate in leadership for educational justice from the University of Redlands.

Kuanda credits VVC as being the launching pad to his continued education, noting that it was in part the leadership opportunities that he had at the community college level — including serving on the Associated Students Body Council — that inspired his career path.

VVC spokesperson Robert Sewell said that it’s “vitally important” to provide youth with opportunities to share how poverty affects them personally.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170413/youth-poverty-symposium-seeks-solutions-to-defining-challenge-of-our-generation 2/3 4/14/2017 Youth Poverty Symposium seeks solutions to the 'defining challenge of our generation'

“Through their valued input we can develop and share tools that help mitigate youth poverty,” Sewell said.

CAPSBC Board Chair Margaret Hill said it’s important to talk to youth directly, as they are the ones whom their peers will listen to when they say, “It’s important to stay in school.”

“In spite of any stumbling blocks, if you can’t get over it, walk around it and you’ll find success,” Hill said.

CAPSBC was established 52 years ago and is a part of a National Community Action Network under the Economic Opportunity Act of 1962/President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty” movement. For more information on the National Community Action Partnership, visit www.communityactionpartnership.com.

Charity Lindsey may be contacted at [email protected] or 760-951-6245. Follow her on twitter @DP_Charity.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170413/youth-poverty-symposium-seeks-solutions-to-defining-challenge-of-our-generation 3/3 4/14/2017 Firefighters at San Bernardino school shooting donned body armor

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

Firefighters at San Bernardino school shooting donned body armor

By Doug Saunders, The Sun

Thursday, April 13, 2017

SAN BERNARDINO >> When describing a firefighter’s uniform, most people would generally picture a fireman’s helmet and big, heavy fire-resistant coats.

But the San Bernardino County Fire Department recently added a new piece to that uniform — body armor — which was used when they were dispatched to the shooting earlier this week at North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino.

“County fire began pursuing an Escalated Threat policy and load-out well in advance of the Inland Regional Center terror attack in San Bernardino,” fire spokesman Eric Sherwin said. “A grant was secured, and the first round of equipment arrived in mid-fall of 2015. Training and gear issuance had been scheduled but had not taken place prior to the events of Dec. 2.”

On Monday, when first responders swarmed the area at Northpark Boulevard and H Street, in response to the initial call of an active shooter inside North Park Elementary, firefighters donned body armor before heading onto the campus.

“While county fire does have operational directives that determine when ballistic protection will be used, nothing precludes any county fire personnel from utilizing any part of the equipment at any incident where they feel it necessary,” Sherwin said.

The gear consists of a military grade ceramic chest and back plate carrier equipped to provide protection against high-caliber rounds.

On Monday morning, Cedric Anderson, 53, of Riverside went to the school where his estranged wife, teacher Karen Elaine Smith, 53, a 10-year veteran of the school district, was working.

Anderson took just a few steps into Smith’s classroom and, without saying a word, pulled out a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver and fired 10 shots, reloading midway through, authorities said. Smith was killed immediately.

A student, Jonathan Martinez, 8, also was killed. Another student, 9-year-old Nolan Brandy, was wounded but survived the shooting.

Anderson turned the gun on himself.

The vests for firefighters, designed by Safariland in Ontario, were based on recommendations from county fire officials.

The body armor, costing just under $400,000, was purchased through a grant provided by the Department of Homeland Security. http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20170413/firefighters-at-san-bernardino-school-shooting-donned-body-armor&template=printart 1/2 4/14/2017 Firefighters at San Bernardino school shooting donned body armor “Goals in developing the vest were to provide the highest degree of protection balanced with the ability to move quickly in a variety of positions with a minimal amount of shifting,” Sherwin said. “An additional grant was secured along with funds from the county to complete the outfitting of all county fire suppression personnel.”

URL: http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20170413/firefighters-at-san-bernardino-school-shooting-donned-body-armor

© 2017 San Bernardino County Sun (http://www.sbsun.com)

http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20170413/firefighters-at-san-bernardino-school-shooting-donned-body-armor&template=printart 2/2 4/14/2017 New security policy announced for San Bernardino school after deadly shooting

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

New security policy announced for San Bernardino school after deadly shooting

By Richard K. De Atley, The Press-Enterprise

and Ryan Hagen, The Sun

Thursday, April 13, 2017

SAN BERNARDINO >> Fingerprinted volunteers will be the only non-staff members allowed through the campus office and into the classrooms at North Park Elementary School in the wake of a campus shooting that left three people dead, school district Superintendent Dale Marsden told a gathering of parents Thursday.

The campus access question became an issue after Cedric Anderson, 53, killed his estranged wife, teacher Karen Elaine Smith, and 8-year- old Jonathan Martinez in Smith’s special-needs classroom Monday at North Park.

Anderson, who had been admitted to the campus as the spouse of a teacher, also wounded 9-year-old Nolan Brandy before killing himself.

Nolan is said to be improving.

Marsden said the new rule applies only to North Park, and the district will review possible larger application later.

“After I spoke to Virginia Tech, Columbine and Sandy Hook, they all had some of the same advice,” Marsden said, referring to the sites of three school shootings going back several years. “It’s not a marathon, it’s a sprint. We have a lot of emotion now, but we want to make the decision after careful consideration.”

District staff and others would put together an after-action report analyzing what happened, how everyone responded and what could have been done differently, as the district did after the Dec. 2, 2015, terrorist attack in San Bernardino, he said.

Marsden made the announcement at a gathering for parents and the community at Bob Holcomb Elementary School.

North Park is to reopen for instruction Monday, and Marsden said staff was sensitive that not all parents may want to put their children back in the school.

“You may want your kids to return to North Park now, and you might change your mind Monday. That’s OK. Whatever you need,” Marsden said.

Staff members were available to help any family who wanted to transfer their children to other schools.

Marsden also said North Park classrooms will be fitted this summer with secure doors that lock, another issue that came up after the shooting. http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20170413/new-security-policy-announced-for-san-bernardino-school-after-deadly-shooting&template=printart 1/2 4/14/2017 New security policy announced for San Bernardino school after deadly shooting Classroom B1, where the attack took place, didn’t have a door, just a curtain. The classroom since Monday has been cleaned, re-carpeted and painted but will not be used for students. Marsden said a decision about how to use it would be made much later.

About 100 parents attended the meeting, many bringing children who said they were happy to see their friends for the first time since Monday.

“I really want her to get that socialization,” April Jones said of her second-grade daughter.

However, Jones said she is considering home-schooling.

“There’s just no way to be sure of the security,” Jones said. “I’ll decide later, but she probably won’t go to school Monday.”

Jones said she has four children. One is grown, and the 17- and 13-year-olds are home-schooled for reasons unrelated to security.

Parent Loni Mejia says her kids are looking forward to returning to class, and she’s confident the district will keep them as safe as possible.

“I’m actually surprised with how well (the district) has handled this,” Mejia said. “I’m happy with every decision and especially with how involved we are.”

North Park staff members all returned to the school for the first time Thursday, Principal Yari Downing said.

It was a difficult week for staff as well as families and the community, but they were determined to move forward, she said.

“We’re a family and that’s what we do,” Downing said. “They want to go back; they want to begin the healing process. ... They said, we want to go back for our kids. We put ourselves second.”

The San Bernardino City Unified School District event was not a school board meeting, and purposely had only three of the seven school board members present to avoid conflict with California’s open-government rules.

URL: http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20170413/new-security-policy-announced-for-san-bernardino-school-after-deadly-shooting

© 2017 San Bernardino County Sun (http://www.sbsun.com)

http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20170413/new-security-policy-announced-for-san-bernardino-school-after-deadly-shooting&template=printart 2/2 4/14/2017 San Bernardino school shooting: What Rep. Pete Aguilar can do

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

San Bernardino school shooting: What Rep. Pete Aguilar can do

By Beau Yarbrough, The Sun

Thursday, April 13, 2017

SAN BERNARDINO >> Federal government grants can help train school employees and other government workers to prepare them for future incidents like Monday’s San Bernardino school shooting, according to Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-San Bernardino.

“There are grants available,” Aguilar, former mayor of Redlands, said Thursday. “We’re working on the application that San Bernardino County is involved with that would basically work in an inter-agency perspective that is completely applicable to hospitals and schools.”

The Department of Homeland Security grant was applied for before the shooting at North Park Elementary.

Riverside resident Cedric Anderson shot his estranged wife, Karen Elaine Smith, and two students in the special education classroom where she taught. Jonathan Martinez, 8, was fatally shot, but Nolan Brandy, 9, survived and is expected to recover. After shooting them, Anderson killed himself, police said. The other two adults and 12 children in the classroom escaped without sustaining physical injuries.

Jennifer Downing, one of two instructional aides inside Classroom B1 on Monday morning, said she hadn’t received the same active shooter training that Smith had. If approved, the DHS grant money could be used to give public safety training to San Bernardino City Unified School District employees.

North Park, which was built in 1968, was designed to support an open classroom model and has few real interior walls, with mobile dividers between classrooms. Classroom B1 doesn’t even have a door, just a curtain.

The grant that San Bernardino County has applied for wouldn’t help with upgrading North Park in those or other ways.

“Most school security funding comes from school bonds and infrastructure funding,” Aguilar said.

In the meantime, Aguilar has been staying in the loop, working with local authorities and attending the vigils for the victims this week.

“My job is just to be there for the community,” he said.

And if San Bernardino City Unified needs him, Aguilar will be there for them as well, he said.

“As they go through their after-action reports, if they identify areas where they need help, we’ll be happy to help them.”

URL: http://www.sbsun.com/government-and-politics/20170413/san-bernardino-school-shooting-what-rep-pete-aguilar-can-do http://www.sbsun.com/government-and-politics/20170413/san-bernardino-school-shooting-what-rep-pete-aguilar-can-do&template=printart 1/2 4/14/2017 Los Angeles Times

‘W e can’t let what happened conquer us’

Educators at school where teacher and pupil were slain ask to be allowed to return.

ELLIE PAEZ places homemade “stars of hope” along the fence at North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino the day after special-needs teacher Karen Smith, 53, and student Jonathan Martinez, 8, were killed. (Gina Ferazzi Los Angeles Times)

http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 1/3 4/14/2017 Los Angeles Times

MARK MORALES visits a memorial for the shooting victims. Nolan Brandy, 9, remains hospitalized. (Irfan Khan Los Angeles Times) BY VERONICA ROCHA

Looking to heal from this week’s deadly shooting inside a San Bernardino classroom, North Park Elementary educators have asked district officials to be allowed to return to campus and carry on with the school year.

Teacher Joyella Beuler told San Bernardino City Unified School District members at a special meeting Wednesday night they had a plan to move students who used the classroom where the shooting occurred to another space on campus. She also asked that locks be placed on classroom doors throughout the school, which is closed this week. “It is important that our entire school community be able to heal together our school,” said Beuler, who stood alongside a group of educators from North Park. “We can’t let what happened conquer us. We need to conquer it and we will. We believe that Karen would want us to carry on at North Park and she is forever with us.” Beuler’s pleas came days after she and fellow educators scrambled to get their students to safety Monday when a gunman entered the North Park classroom and opened fire on special-education instructor Karen Smith. The gunman was Smith’s estranged husband, Cedric Anderson. An employee at the school saw Anderson and recognized him as Smith’s husband. She asked him to sign in and http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 2/3 4/14/2017 Los Angeles Times allowed him to walk unescorted to Smith’s classroom. Once inside, he fired 10 shots, stopping once to reload, and then shot himself. Smith, 53, was killed. Two students were struck by gunfire. Jonathan Martinez, an 8-year- old boy with Williams syndrome, was airlifted to a nearby hospital and died before entering surgery. Nolan Brandy, 9, was wounded and remains hospitalized. District Supt. Dale Marsden said he met with Nolan on Wednesday and “touched his cheeks and saw a beautiful smile.” He said Nolan could be released from the hospital this weekend. “He’s doing great,” Marsden said. “We are so grateful to see he and his family in very, very good spirits.” Marsden said he received a call from U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos this week, saying “they stand ready to provide support.” District officials planned to meet with North Park students and their parents on Thursday to talk about the idea of returning to school Monday. Parents of students who were taught by Smith had also expressed a desire for their children to come together and talk about how they are coping, he said. “We will go through these things the rest of our lives,” Marsden said. “None of us will be the same.” [email protected]

http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 3/3 4/14/2017 High school students create 1,000 paper cranes for North Park Elementary after shooting – Press Enterprise

LOCAL NEWS High school students create 1,000 paper cranes for North Park Elementary after shooting

Cajon High School’s Jahdai Gonzalez, 17, strings together peace cranes on Thursday created by students at the school in support of North Park Elementary students in San Bernardino. JOHN VALENZUELA — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

By RYAN HAGEN | [email protected] | San Bernardino Sun April 13, 2017 at 10:18 pm



http://www.pe.com/2017/04/13/sbs-l-northpark-cranes/ 1/4 4/14/2017 High school students create 1,000 paper cranes for North Park Elementary after shooting – Press Enterprise SAN BERNARDINO >> Students at Cajon High School folded and strung together more than 1,000 paper cranes this week to give to North Park Elementary School, a㋀er a shooting there Monday le㋀ three people dead.

One thousand cranes symbolize hope in Japanese culture, so art teacher Elisabeth Payne asked students at Cajon – where parents picked up North Park students a㋀er the shooting and where many students have relatives who will return to North Park on Monday – to fold cranes and donate them.

Within a day, she had about double the goal.

“I wasn’t surprised they wanted to help – the students here have some big hearts,” Payne said. “I was maybe surprised by how fast it was. I stopped counting a㋀er I got to 1,000, but I probably have a crane here for every student.”

Cajon’s enrollment is 2,820 students.

Andrew Hickerson, 16, was one of about a dozen students who volunteered a㋀er school Thursday to string together the cranes in groups of 40.

“No parent should ever have to see their baby die, especially at 8 years old, and no kid should ever be afraid to go to school,” he said. “I want to do whatever I can to make them feel comfortable at their school.”

Many students wrote inspirational messages on the cranes they folded.

“Even though it’s hard times,” one read, “it’s best to have a smile on your face.”

High school students will directly present those to North Park students, while the others will be hung and displayed at North Park, Payne said.

Based on input from parents and staff members, district of䃀cials plan to welcome students back to North Park Monday.

That will be one week a㋀er Cedric Anderson, 53, of Riverside, went to the special education classroom of his estranged wife and teacher, Karen Elaine Smith, then shot Smith and two students. Anderson then killed himself.

Smith and one of the students, 8-year-old Jonathan Martinez, died. The other, Nolan Brandy, is reportedly recovering in the hospital.

Tags: education, North Park school shooting, Top Stories PE http://www.pe.com/2017/04/13/sbs-l-northpark-cranes/ 2/4 4/14/2017 Fundraiser started for wounded boy in San Bernardino school shooting

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

Fundraiser started for wounded boy in San Bernardino school shooting

By Doug Saunders, The Sun

Thursday, April 13, 2017

SAN BERNARDINO >> A GoFundMe account was created Thursday to raise money for 9-year-old Nolan Brandy, who was wounded in the shooting at North Park Elementary School on Monday.

“We as a North Park family are coming together to raise money to help support our hero Nolan and his family with medical expenses and recovery,” the page reads.

Nolan’s parents said in a statement released Wednesday that he’s doing well.

Leon and Rachel Brandy said in a news release sent by the San Bernardino City Unified School District that they want to thank the community for the outpouring of support.

“We are grateful,” the family stated. “Please continue to pray for him and also for Jonathan Martinez’s and Karen Smith’s families.”

Nolan remains hospitalized.

On Monday, Cedric Anderson, 53, of Riverside went to the school where his estranged wife, teacher Karen Elaine Smith, 53, a 10-year veteran of the school district, was working.

Anderson took just a few steps into Smith’s classroom, and, without saying a word, pulled out a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver and fired 10 shots, reloading midway through, authorities said. Smith was killed immediately.

Jonathan Martinez, 8, also was killed.

Anderson then turned the gun on himself.

URL: http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20170413/fundraiser-started-for-wounded-boy-in-san-bernardino-school-shooting

© 2017 San Bernardino County Sun (http://www.sbsun.com)

http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20170413/fundraiser-started-for-wounded-boy-in-san-bernardino-school-shooting&template=printart 1/1 4/14/2017 Crews at work Thursday at North Park Elementary, site of San Bernardino school shooting

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

Crews at work Thursday at North Park Elementary, site of San Bernardino school shooting

By Staff reports

Thursday, April 13, 2017

SAN BERNARDINO >> Crews were at North Park Elementary School on Thursday, bringing out large trash cans filled with items.

Electric saws could be heard on campus as a truck from Belfor National Disaster Team waited near the school. School police monitored the process.

Cars remain in the campus parking lot, which is cordoned off.

On Monday, Cedric Anderson, 53, of Riverside, killed his estranged wife and North Park teacher, Karen Elaine Smith, and student Jonathan Martinez, before killing himself. Another student, Nolan Brandy, was wounded but is recovering.

Staff writers Beatriz Valenzuela and Ryan Hagen contributed to this report.

URL: http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20170413/crews-at-work-thursday-at-north-park-elementary-site-of-san-bernardino-school-shooting

© 2017 San Bernardino County Sun (http://www.sbsun.com)

http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20170413/crews-at-work-thursday-at-north-park-elementary-site-of-san-bernardino-school-shooting&template=printart 1/1 4/14/2017 Former county attorney testifies in Colonies trial about erratic actions by former supervisor

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

Former county attorney testifies in Colonies trial about erratic actions by former supervisor

By Joe Nelson, The Sun

and Richard K. De Atley, The Press-Enterprise

Thursday, April 13, 2017

SAN BERNARDINO >> Former San Bernardino County Counsel Ronald Reitz concluded his testimony Thursday at the Colonies corruption trial, recounting increasingly erratic actions by then-Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Postmus in 2005-06 as the board approached a $102 million settlement with a Rancho Cucamonga developer.

Reitz had testified that he resigned in April 2006 rather than go forward with a study Postmus ordered to outsource the duties of the county counsel’s office, a move which Reitz said could have cost about 50 jobs.

On Thursday, Reitz told defense attorney Jon Phillips, one of several attorneys representing defendant Jeff Burum, that he also had a heart condition at that time that necessitated a pacemaker.

But under questioning from prosecutors, Reitz stood firm that the primary reason he left was the conflict with Postmus and the possibility of being fired by the Board of Supervisors.

“I liked my job, so the pacemaker thing could’ve gotten solved,” Reitz testified.

Postmus’ bizarre behavior in 2005-06 has been the focus of several witnesses in the trial.

Prosecutors allege it was during Postmus’ trade mission trip to China in September 2005 when he hatched a plan with Burum to settle the county’s long-standing litigation with Rancho Cucamonga real estate investor group Colonies Partners LP, of which Burum is a co-managing partner.

Reitz’s testimony Wednesday recounted that Postmus wanted Reitz to fire Deputy County Counsel Mitch Norton, the lead county attorney in the lengthy litigation with Colonies.

“He came to me and said, ‘You need to fire Mitch Norton, he’s trying to prevent settling this case,’ ” Reitz testified Wednesday.

Reitz refused, saying Norton had all the background on the case. “He never came back to me on the issue after that.”

Postmus, elected county assessor in 2006, was once a defendant in the Colonies case, but has since entered a plea bargain with prosecutors and has become one of their key witnesses who has yet to testify. He has admitted being addicted to methamphetamine from 2004 through 2012, and now claims he has been sober for more than four years. http://www.sbsun.com/government-and-politics/20170413/former-county-attorney-testifies-in-colonies-trial-about-erratic-actions-by-former-supervisor&templa… 1/2 4/14/2017 Former county attorney testifies in Colonies trial about erratic actions by former supervisor The Colonies settlement ended a long and contentious legal battle over flood control improvements at Colonies Partners’ 434-acre residential and commercial development in Upland, Colonies at San Antonio and Colonies Crossroads, respectively.

The case is about how three former county officials each allegedly took $100,000 bribes from Burum to gain approval of the settlement.

Also charged in the case are former county Supervisor Paul Biane, Mark Kirk, former chief of staff for former county Supervisor Gary Ovitt, and former county Assistant Assessor Jim Erwin, who has a separate jury because some of the evidence against him is not admissible against the other defendants.

All defendants have denied any wrongdoing, saying contributions prosecutors call bribes were made as public donations to political action committees and were easily traceable online.

Attorney Alan Mohill, who represented Erwin in lawsuits with the San Bernardino County Public Attorneys’ Association in 2007 and the county in 2009 in connection with a public corruption scandal at the Assessor’s Office, testified about legal expenses Erwin accrued in the 2007 litigation with the attorneys’ union.

Testifying before Erwin’s jury only, Mohill confirmed for prosecutor Lewis Cope he had billed a total of $12,500 to political consultant David Ellis in 2007 for Erwin’s legal expenses related to the SBCPAA lawsuit.

Maline said Ellis agreed to assist Erwin with the legal expenses because he had recommended Erwin to the attorneys’ union in 2005 to help negotiate a new employment contract and felt bad about how things turned out.

The union wound up suing Erwin in 2007 for delivering a 3-year contract that did not meet the expectations of its members, but the lawsuit was ultimately dismissed.

Prosecutors allege the money Ellis paid for Erwin’s legal expenses was a gift that Erwin failed to report to the state.

Maline said legal expenses do not fall within the purview of state reporting guidelines for public officials.

In other trial developments, Judge Michael A. Smith on Tuesday will hear a motion from Maline, who contends a recent appellate court ruling should bring dismissal of five felony charges against his client.

Erwin is charged with, among other things, failing to report a Daytona Rolex watch, valued at $12,765, and a trip to New York City and Washington, D.C., by private jet in January 2007 that Burum treated him and others to in celebration of the Colonies’ settlement.

Maline contends that a state appellate court decision published in January holds that Erwin should have been charged with misdemeanors, not felonies, for allegedly failing to report the gifts on his Form 700 statement of economic interest, a document listing all income, assets and gifts valued at $50 or more received by public officials.

Erwin is charged with 12 felonies, but if Smith grants Maline’s motion, five of the charges would be reduced to misdemeanors. They include three counts of perjury and two counts of filing false or forged documents.

Maline said Thursday if the five charges are reduced to misdemeanors, they should be dismissed given a four- year statute of limitations that has lapsed.

URL: http://www.sbsun.com/government-and-politics/20170413/former-county-attorney-testifies-in-colonies-trial-about-erratic-actions-by-former-supervisor

© 2017 San Bernardino County Sun (http://www.sbsun.com)

http://www.sbsun.com/government-and-politics/20170413/former-county-attorney-testifies-in-colonies-trial-about-erratic-actions-by-former-supervisor&templa… 2/2 4/14/2017 New Hampton Inn hotel in consideration for construction off Mariposa Road

New Hampton Inn hotel in consideration for construction o戂 Mariposa Road

Thursday Posted Apr 13, 2017 at 3:43 PM Updated Apr 13, 2017 at 3:53 PM

By Staff Writer Follow

VICTORVILLE — Planning Commission staff voted unanimously to recommend the City Council approve building permits for the proposed construction of a new Hampton Inn hotel in Victorville.

If the recommendation gets approved, developer Mariposa Land Development, LLC is looking to build a four-story, 85-room Hampton Inn hotel that would be located on a 1.56-acre lot on the northeast corner of Mariposa Road and Talpa Street, just north of the Southwest Gas facility.

The vote, which occurred during a workshop Wednesday evening, passed on a 4-0 decision.

The recommendation calls for the Council to consider the following items all associated with the proposed construction of the new hotel: a recommended zone change from C-M Commercial Manufacturing to C-2 General Commercial; a conditional use permit; and a site plan for construction approval.

“The proposal includes a deviation in parking of seven stalls and a deviation in height of 13 feet for the tower element and 5 to 7 feet for the main building,” staff members stated. “This entire proposal needs to go through the City Council due to (the) zone change.”

The project must go before the City Council for consideration and could go before the Council “sometime in May,” according to city spokesperson Sue Jones.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170413/new-hampton-inn-hotel-in-consideration-for-construction-off-mariposa-road 1/2 4/14/2017 Marines move imperiled desert tortoises out of harm’s way

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

Marines move imperiled desert tortoises out of harm’s way

By David Danelski, The Press-Enterprise

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Wildlife biologist Scott Welch looked out over the Mojave Desert and readied for action when he heard a distant helicopter flying in.

Just seconds after the aircraft landed, he and two others began loading it with plastic storage bins containing desert tortoises captured at an expansion area of the U.S. Marines Corps training base at Twentynine Palms.

They carefully packed 26 of the imperiled reptiles — one or two per bin — onto cargo carriers on the helicopter that looked like oversized saddlebags.

And within minutes, the tortoises were flying toward a safer haven of the recently created Mojave Trails National Monument — about 25 miles away from the crushing treads of tanks, the boots of soldiers and the blasts of bombs.

Operation Desert Tortoise was in its fifth day. As of Wednesday morning, 266 of the animals had been moved out of the Johnson Valley, about 30 miles northwest of Yucca Valley.

Before the end of the month, the Marines, working with about 125 wildlife biologists expect to have moved 1,156 tortoises, with a focus on clearing transportation corridors and other areas expected to be most disturbed by live-ammunition training missions.

It’s part of a multi-year, $50 million-plus tortoise relocation and study program at the base that was OK’d by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service following a 2013 vote by Congress to add about 88,000 acres in Johnson Valley to the combat center.

For the Marines, the expansion will allow them to hold longer and more-involved live-ammunition desert training missions to prepare Marines to intervene in global hot spots, such as the Middle East, should it be necessary. Such training is expected to start this summer.

For the tortoise, a species listed as threatened with extinction, it means the loss of more than a hundred square miles of quality habitat, as evidenced this year by robust blooms of yellow desert dandelions and other annual plants that are their primary food source.

The resources of the U.S. Defense Department were put to work to minimize harm to the tortoises, said Brian Henen, an ecologist for the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms.

Analysis and field work for the move began more than two years ago. Scores of specially trained biologists have methodically walked the valley and fitted each tortoise they found with radio transmitters, so the animals could be gathered for this month’s move. It’s the largest tortoise move yet in the Mojave Desert.

http://www.sbsun.com/environment-and-nature/20170413/marines-move-imperiled-desert-tortoises-out-of-harms-way&template=printart 1/3 4/14/2017 Marines move imperiled desert tortoises out of harm’s way The five areas of public land around the base that are receiving the animals were carefully chosen for their quality habitat and their distances from human habitation, Henen said.

Tortoises that lived near each other are being released in similar proximity in the recipient areas to preserve their social structure.

“We are moving them in groups. We are trying to sustain the similarity and the structure of their origin,” said Henen, standing by a makeshift medical checkup station for the tortoises.

There, Peter Praschag, a world-renowned tortoise and turtle expert from Austria, was working with veterinarian Shannon DiRuzzo to screen tortoises for signs of disease and other health issues.

A large male dubbed MC-2013 appeared frightened by the checkup and voided the water stored in his bladder, called a coelomic cavity. This was a serious matter, because a tortoise may get only one or two chances a year to get a good drink of water.

So Praschag used a syringe to carefully refill the animal’s coelomic cavity with a saline solution of water.

The work of the biologists won’t be finished until long after the last load of tortoises are flown out this month. Henen explained that the biologists will return frequently during the next four years to search for any reptiles that may have been left behind. They expect to move another 300 tortoises during that time.

The plans also include tracking and studying the relocated tortoises, as well as those already in the recipient area, for as long as 30 years. For this research, three groups of 225 tortoises — relocated ones, those already there and an unaffected control group — will be fitted with transmitters to track their movements and survival rates.

Biologists hope that the knowledge gained from this research will help the species recover.

But the loss of more than 100 square miles of prime habitat is still harmful to the tortoises, which has faced declines since the 1970s, prompting its 1990 listing under the Endangered Species Act, said Ileene Anderson, a biologist with the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity.

“It is going to be a big hit on the species,” she said.

She said it is not known if the public property outside the base will have enough food and other resources for both residents and newcomers to survive, and that wildlife biologists don’t know for sure why tortoises numbers have dropped in those areas.

She’s also worried that the tortoises may try to find their way back to their birthplaces in the base expansion areas.

But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) determined in January that moving the tortoises from the Johnson Valley won’t jeopardize the survival of the species.

Scott Hoffman, who was observing the relocation effort for the FWS, said the species may benefit in the long run.

“Yes, we are losing habitat. But are we are using the relocated tortoises to supplement the populations in the critical habitat areas,” said Hoffman, referring to some of the recipient areas.

URL: http://www.sbsun.com/environment-and-nature/20170413/marines-move-imperiled-desert-tortoises-out-of-harms-way

© 2017 San Bernardino County Sun (http://www.sbsun.com) http://www.sbsun.com/environment-and-nature/20170413/marines-move-imperiled-desert-tortoises-out-of-harms-way&template=printart 2/3 4/14/2017 Los Angeles Times

Liquid assets? Oh, yes

Sierra Nevada sees wettest winter in nearly a century

SKI RUN BOULEVARD in South Lake Tahoe is covered with snow in January. Sierra Nevada precipitation is significant because the range supplies large amounts of water to the rest of the state. (Gary Coronado Los Angeles Times) BY SARAH PARVINI A series of late-season storms has vaulted this winter into the history books, making it the wettest for California’s northern Sierra Nevada in nearly a century of record-keeping, according to the California Department of Water Resources. As of Thursday, an astonishing 89.7 inches of precipitation across a zone of eight stations in the northern Sierra has been recorded since October. That surpasses the record 88.5 inches in the 1982-83 rainy season. Sierra Nevada precipitation is significant because the mountain range supplies large amounts of water to the rest of the state.

http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 1/2 4/14/2017 Los Angeles Times “When we receive a record amount of rainfall in the north, that translates to everybody who benefits from water down the state,” said Doug Carlson, spokesman for the California Department of Water Resources. Carlson noted that California is only six months into the water year, and although the state doesn’t normally see much rainfall in the latter part of the year, rain and snow in the months ahead could break other records. The San Joaquin index, which covers a zone of five stations, could also set a record this year. That region is tracking close to the 1982-83 record year. Experts and state water officials say California is seeing more of these intense weather swings as temperatures warm, making wet years wetter and dry years drier. “California is North America’s most variable climate,” said Jeffrey Mount, a water expert at the Public Policy Institute of California. “The year-to-year differences in precipitation are unmatched.” Still, Mount said, this is a “benign extreme wet year.” “What’s happening here is great for Southern California. This relieves pressure on and creates an opportunity for Southern California to store more of their water and groundwater,” he said. “It’s really nice to take some pressure off of everybody, including the environment.” Two years ago, the lack of snow left locals in many parts of the Sierra anxious. The drought hurt ski resorts and changed the landscape of the mountains. In some areas, trees died at an alarming rate. In others, the typically snow-capped peaks were bare and dry. This winter, many residents say they’ve never seen so much snow. “There’s just been too many road closures, too many power outages, and just too much snow and nowhere to put it,” said Janet Tuttle, who with her husband owns Donner Ski Ranch, one of the oldest ski resorts in the state. She had a better season financially in the very ordinary weather of last year.

The intense winter prompted Gov. Jerry Brown last week to finally declare the drought over in all counties except Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Tuolumne, where diminished groundwater levels mean there is still a need for emergency drinking water.

But right now, the above-ground water supply is much improved for most parts of the state. [email protected] Twitter: @sarahparvini Times staff writer Rong-Gong Lin II contributed to this report. http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 2/2 4/14/2017 Los Angeles Times

Rift opens over effort to revise pot laws

Lawmakers and police chiefs say Brown’s streamlining proposal benefits marijuana industry over public.

ASSEMBLYMAN Ken Cooley was among the authors of the 2015 bill. (Rich Pedroncelli AP) BY PATRICK MCGREEVY SACRAMENTO — A proposal by the Brown administration to revise marijuana laws in California is drawing backlash from lawmakers and police chiefs who say it would repeal rules approved by the Legislature two years ago and benefit the pot industry over the public.

http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 1/4 4/14/2017 Los Angeles Times Gov. Jerry Brown wants to merge medical marijuana regulations approved by the Legislature in 2015 with standards set by Proposition 64, an initiative approved in November by California voters that legalizes the sale of cannabis for recreational use. The proposal, to be acted on in a budget trailer bill, may not win the necessary two-thirds vote of the Legislature in its current form, some key lawmakers say. If the rift results in a prolonged legislative stalemate, it could delay use of Brown’s proposal in some state licensing that is required to begin in January, activists worry. Law enforcement officials and legislators object that the administration proposal jettisons some provisions of the 2015 regulatory scheme, including a requirement that pot shops get permits from the cities in which they are located before the state will issue a license. The Legislature’s bipartisan approval of regulations in 2015 was “one of the most significant accomplishments” of that legislative session, Assemblyman Ken Cooley (D- Rancho Cordova) said in a letter last week to Nancy McFadden, the governor’s top aide. “To undo that work now in favor of a pork-barrel proposition run by the industry is antithetical to good governance,” wrote Cooley, a coauthor of the 2015 law. “If the governor intends to move forward with this proposal, I will vigorously oppose the trailer bill and urge my colleagues to do so as well.” The proposal also faces opposition from Ken Corney, president of the California Police Chiefs Assn. “It’s shocking,” said Corney, who is Ventura’s police chief. “It’s a giveaway to the commercial marijuana industry which will not be good for California.” The language proposed for the budget trailer bill by the state Bureau of Cannabis Control would, if adopted by the Legislature, become the framework the agency would use to draft regulations. “The first priority of the administration in implementing the new regulatory system that will govern the cannabis industry in California is to protect public and consumer safety,” says a report by the bureau.

State law requires any change in Proposition 64’s execution to be approved by a two- thirds vote of the Legislature and be consistent with the intent of the initiative.

The Brown administration concluded that having different rules for medical and recreational marijuana would result in waste and confusion from using parallel systems.

The rules proposed by the administration include eliminating a requirement that those who grow and sell pot use a third-party distributor and not distribute it themselves. The provision was sought to provide accountability and prevent monopolistic businesses. The 2015 legislation requires licenses for cultivation, manufacturing, retail, distribution and testing of medical pot. But medical marijuana businesses are allowed under the law to get licenses in only two of those categories — and they can’t be a distributor and a seller. http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 2/4 4/14/2017 Los Angeles Times Proposition 64 and Brown’s proposal would allow one corporation to get licenses in all of the categories at once, except testing. “Allowing for a business to hold multiple licenses including a distribution license will make it easier for businesses to enter the market, encourage innovation, and strengthen compliance with state law,” according to the 79-page Brown administration report. Supporters of the legislation’s restrictions say Brown’s proposal could create a conglomerate with a competitive advantage. “We think that having an independent distributor prevents a vertically integrated industry that is susceptible to monopoly control,” said Barry Broad, a lobbyist for the Teamsters union, which is seeking a role in the burgeoning industry. But industry leaders said requiring an independent distributor would increase the costs of cannabis for consumers, who might choose the black market as a result.

“We believe that open distribution is the best way to ensure that small and medium-sized businesses have access to the market and consumers,” said Lynne Lyman, California state director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which co-wrote Proposition 64. Cooley said the industry is behind provisions of Proposition 64 that allow businesses to dominate multiple levels of the industry, from cultivation to distribution to sales. “It is so outrageous to take what was one of the notable accomplishments of 2015 and shunt everything into the framework of the self-interested, moneyed backers of Proposition 64,” Cooley said. Another point of contention involves a requirement in the 2015 law that every medical marijuana sales and farming business get a permit from the state, which would issue a license only if the business first obtained a permit from its city or county. That provision was meant to guarantee that pot shops would not violate city ordinances because cities would have the power to shut them down by revoking a permit. The administration’s proposal outlines a mandate for a state permitting process, but permits would not be required from local agencies. “With 58 counties and 482 cities, it is unrealistic to expect the licensing entities to verify that each applicant is in compliance with any local law or regulation,” said the report from the Brown administration.

The Brown proposal would allow applicants for state licenses to voluntarily submit a local permit if one is available, arguing some cities will decide to issue permits. In cases where a city does not issue permits, the applicant for a state license must abide by local ordinances and submit an environmental impact report to the state. “The Bureau [of Cannabis Control] will have to contact someone at the local jurisdiction to ensure that the potential licensee is in compliance” with local planning rules, said bureau spokesman Alex Traverso. If a city bans marijuana farms or shops, the state would not issue a license, Lyman said. http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 3/4 4/14/2017 Los Angeles Times But she said an alternative was needed where cities have not banned pot businesses but also do not have a license procedure. “Otherwise we feared we would have large swaths of the population and the state without access,” she said. Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Oakland), who co-wrote the 2015 marijuana law with Cooley, said he sees the proposals drafted by Brown’s bureau as a place to start negotiations. Asked if he could support the Brown budget trailer bill, Bonta said: “Not in its current form. It has to change.” Assemblyman Tom Lackey of Palmdale, one of several Republicans who voted to support the 2015 law, shares the same concerns. “There will certainly need to be some improvements before it is something I can support,” Lackey said. “Law enforcement and local governments have some serious concerns about the proposed changes by Gov. Brown’s administration.” Lyman said she has heard that some lawmakers may try to obstruct the Brown proposals. But she said her side has a strong argument in the fact that Proposition 64 should be deferred to, because it was approved by 57% of the voters in the state. [email protected]

http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 4/4 4/14/2017 Los Angeles Times

Hom eless housing’s next big roadblock

Eastside project shows local support is hard to win

EL MERCADO mall, above, sits next to a Boyle Heights lot where a developer plans to build homeless housing. The mall’s owners appealed the project’s environmental report, stalling the proposal as it awaits a hearing. (Photographs by Mel Melcon Los Angeles Times)

http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 1/5 4/14/2017 Los Angeles Times

THE PLAN calls for 49 units of affordable housing, with half dedicated to chronically homeless people. () BY DOUG SMITH

A vacant lot between two venerable Eastside landmarks — Evergreen Cemetery to the west and the El Mercado mall to the east — is the focus of a dispute that portends difficulties for the city’s plans to spur the construction of 1,000 units of housing each year for the chronically homeless.

A nonprofit developer has an option to build 49 affordable-housing units on the property, with half of them dedicated to chronically homeless people who have been diagnosed as mentally ill. It’s exactly the kind of project the city intends to support with the $1.2-billion homeless housing bond that voters approved in November. But it’s been stuck for nearly a year in the committee headed by one of the most vocal supporters of that bond, Councilman Jose Huizar. The Los Angeles City Planning Department approved the plan last year. That decision would have been the last hurdle for the developer, A Community of Friends, after nearly three years spent meeting with government and neighborhood groups to come up with a plan that had widespread support. But one prominent opponent remained: the lot’s next-door neighbor. The family that owns El Mercado — known for Mexican crafts and food and a popular nightclub — appealed the project’s environmental report, saying the project was too dense, would http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 2/5 4/14/2017 Los Angeles Times adversely affect schools and libraries, and lacked adequate parking. Since then the project has been stalled, waiting for a hearing on the appeal. After family patriarch Pedro Rosado died in 2015, his son Tony Rosado took up the fight. He is being represented by attorney Robert Silverstein, a veteran of legal challenges over Hollywood development. Huizar chairs the City Council’s planning committee, which could recommend either that the full council reject the appeal and allow the project to proceed or require A Community of Friends to do more environmental analysis, up to a costly environmental impact report. Dora Leong Gallo, chief executive of A Community of Friends, found Huizar’s failure to schedule the hearing ironic considering his support for Proposition HHH in the fall. Huizar stumped for the bond measure so enthusiastically that council President Herb Wesson dubbed him one of the Three H’s, along with himself and Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson. Gallo said the stalemate reflects the challenges of building housing for the chronically homeless. The construction of supportive housing in Los Angeles is currently limited to about 300 units a year by competition for scarce subsidies. Proposition HHH will provide funds to greatly increase the pace, but leaders of the mostly nonprofit development community worry that constituent backlash will be a new roadblock. “This happens everywhere,” Gallo said. “People support it in concept. They think we’re doing an important thing. And then when it comes to being in your neighborhood, it becomes getting over that hurdle. Despite the rhetoric that’s out there, the political will is most in need to get these projects done.” “What elected people tend to do is reflect the wishes of their constituencies,” said Mike Alvidrez, chief executive of Skid Row Housing Trust, a large nonprofit developer. What’s needed, Alvidrez said, is for those elected officials to take the lead in convincing communities that projects like the one proposed near El Mercado would make neighborhoods better, not worse.

“Now that we’re faced with the prospect of doing this on a large scale, we need that political support to affirm that is true,” he said.

Huizar did not respond to emailed questions from The Times, and neither Silverstein nor Tony Rosado returned calls. Huizar and both Rosados, however, spoke out against the project when it was before the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board nearly four years ago. Metro was considering an exclusive negotiating agreement with A Community of Friends for use of the land, which had been a staging area during construction of the Eastside’s Gold Line extension. http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 3/5 4/14/2017 Los Angeles Times The Rosados objected to the plan to house mentally ill people there. Many of the 30,000 people who visit El Mercado every week are children, Pedro Rosado said. “Our children will be at high risk with mentally ill people only 10 feet away,” he told Metro board members at a public hearing. “Why are you people hiding it and calling it only affordable housing?” Huizar said he never liked the project because he thought the location needed more retail businesses. “We don’t want to create more dead space,” Huizar, a Metro board member, told the hearing. “We want to create more retail space for this location. And it has been significantly reduced.” Initially conceived as 43 housing units with 26,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, the plan was changed to 53 units and only 5,000 square feet of retail after Metro built a power substation on the lot that took more space than anticipated. “I try to stay calm,” Huizar said, his voice cracking with emotion as he castigated Metro’s staff for changing the plan without consulting him or the community. “I keep getting misled,” he said. “If I keep getting misled, I can imagine what the community has to put up with. This is unacceptable.” Gloria Molina, then a member of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, tried to assuage him, describing her experience with a similar project that had gained community acceptance. “I can assure you once this is in place, you’re going to be very proud of it,” Molina said. “You should meet with them. You should work with them.” Huizar cast the only vote against the project. Over the next three years, Gallo attended more meetings and made additional changes to allay opposition, among them agreeing to reserve half the units for veterans.

In July 2015, the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council endorsed the final plan — 49 housing units and 10,000 square feet of retail — on a 15-1 vote.

“They tried to engage as many folks as possible,” said Mynor Godoy, president of the Boyle Heights council, who was head of its planning committee at the time. In response to community requests, Godoy said, the developer made modifications to the lighting and landscaping and agreed to include day care in the retail space. The architect changed the building’s profile to interact better with the street, Godoy said. Gallo said she also eliminated all windows facing El Mercado after the owner’s representative expressed concern that an apartment next door might bring complaints about noise from the popular nightclub. http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 4/5 4/14/2017 Los Angeles Times In March 2016, the L.A. City Planning Department granted the required approvals for height, street setback and parking. But the green light turned red when lobbyist Harvey Englander filed an appeal on behalf of the Rosados. It challenged an administrative findingthat allowed the project to avoid the burden of a full environmental impact report. Asked why Huizar had not scheduled a hearing after nearly a year, Huizar spokesman Rick Coca said in an email that the councilman was waiting for the parties to negotiate. Gallo said she offered to discuss changes to the project with the Rosados’ lawyer, but he has not responded or returned her calls. Gallo said she would be prepared to do more environmental work if she knew what was required. “Schedule the darn thing so we can have that conversation,” she said. “Why isn’t it being scheduled?” Huizar’s office said in an email April 7 that it would schedule the issue in May or June. Meanwhile, time is running out, Gallo said. Metro has twice extended the deadline for conclusion of a development agreement. The deadline is now June 30. After that, Metro would be free to look for a new developer. [email protected]

http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 5/5 4/14/2017 Los Angeles Times

ATF flags arm s dealing by officers

Agency warns of trend in unlicensed resale of restricted weapons by law enforcement. BY GREG MORAN AND LYNDSAY WINKLEY SAN DIEGO — The head of the ATF’s office in Los Angeles has sent a memo to Southern California police chiefs and sheriffs saying the agency has found law enforcement officers buying and reselling guns in what could be a violation of federal firearms laws. The memo from Eric Harden, special agent in charge of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Los Angeles field division, describes the finding as an “emerging problem” and expresses concern about “the growing trend of law enforcement officials engaging in the business of unlicensed firearms dealing.” He did not say how many officers the agency has found purchasing and reselling weapons, but the March 31 memo says some officers had bought more than 100 firearms. Some of the guns have been recovered at crime scenes. But Harden states that the goal is “to educate, not investigate, to ensure law enforcement officials comply with federal law in order to avoid unnecessary public embarrassment to themselves and your department/agency.” His memo focuses on the purchase and resale of “off roster” firearms. Those are guns that are not on an approved list of weapons that can be sold to the public. The California law establishing the roster has an exemption that allows sworn peace officers to purchase such weapons, and an additional one that allows officers to resell the guns under certain conditions. But if officers are buying and reselling weapons for profit as a business, they need a federal firearms license, or FFL.

The lack of a license is the conduct that ATF has uncovered and is the subject of the memo.

That amounts to a violation of federal law, the memo says. In addition, if a gun is bought with the intent to sell it or on behalf of someone else and that was not disclosed on federal transaction records — known as a “straw purchase” — that also breaks federal law. Selling without a license can carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Lying on the federal form carries a maximum 10-year penalty. It is unclear when the ATF discovered the problems, or what specifically prompted the memo.

http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 1/2 4/14/2017 Los Angeles Times Ginger Colbrun, spokeswoman for the ATF Los Angeles office, said the agency noticed that some firearms recovered at crime scenes were found to have been purchased within the last three years. That “time to crime” measure developed by the ATF shows the time frame from when a gun is sold by a licensed dealer to when it is recovered by police during a criminal investigation. The national average is 10 years. A shorter time period can indicate the gun was the product of a straw purchase — bought in order to be sold quickly. After spotting the trend in routine trace reports, the agency looked closer, Colbrun said. “After further investigation, ATF noticed some law enforcement officers had been making significant purchases of firearms,” she said. She declined to be more specific, saying there were ongoing investigations. Colbrun said the memo, addressed to “Dear Law Enforcement Partner,” didn’t indicate that officers who might be breaking federal gun laws were getting special treatment. “There is no extra consideration,” she said. “We believe the most effective way to stop the behavior is to educate law enforcement in what the laws are.” The California Police Chiefs Assn., which represents chiefs and sheriffs across the state, emailed the memo to its members this week. It was then forwarded to local agencies. Federal prosecutions of state law enforcement officers for selling off-roster weapons are rare. The most recent occurred in Sacramento County, when former Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan McGowan was found guilty in June 2015 of selling guns illegally and falsifying federal records to do it. Prosecutors said he sold 25 guns at an inflated price between 2008 and 2011. McGowan also worked with a licensed gun shop to further circumvent federal law. One buyer converted two guns to assault weapons and later got into a six-hour standoff with a SWAT team. He was sentenced in June to 18 months in prison. [email protected] [email protected] Moran and Winkley write

for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 2/2 4/14/2017 Immigrant rights groups want changes to police manuals

Immigrant rights groups want changes to police manuals

Thursday Posted Apr 13, 2017 at 5:26 PM Updated Apr 13, 2017 at 5:27 PM

By Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Immigrant rights advocates want a California company that makes police manuals to eliminate guidance for officers who suspect someone entered the country illegally — including whether the person speaks good English.

The pre-packaged manuals from Lexipol provide “legally erroneous policy language” that could lead to illegal arrests and detentions, the American Civil Liberties Union of California, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and other groups said in a letter Wednesday to the company.

The letter urged the Irvine company to eliminate those policies, which are in manuals used by at least 11 California communities, the Los Angeles Times reported.

They include suburban Culver City, whose City Council last month declared it a “sanctuary city” and barred police from detaining people for immigration violations.

“The only time immigration would come into play is if they came to our jail and they were booked,” Culver City police Lt. Troy Dunlap, who heads the department’s community relations bureau, told the Times. “Specifically stopping someone and asking about immigration status is not our practice.”

Police officials in Blythe, Brisbane, Fremont, Rialto and Walnut Creek also told the Times that they do not actively engage in immigration enforcement.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170413/immigrant-rights-groups-want-changes-to-police-manuals 1/3 4/14/2017 Immigrant rights groups want changes to police manuals

Other California cities using Lexipol manuals include Azusa, Fontana, Irwindale, Laguna Beach and Murrieta.

One Lexipol police manual policy cites “a lack of English proficiency” as one of several factors officers can use in deciding whether to detain someone on suspicion of entering the country illegally, which is a misdemeanor violation of federal law.

The 2013 U.S. Census found that 19 percent of California’s population had limited English proficiency, the letter to Lexipol said.

“By suggesting that officers may systematically consider characteristics widely shared by Californians to arrive at reasonable suspicion of a crime, the policy encourages profiling and illegal detentions, and runs afoul of the Fourth Amendment,” the letter read.

Lexipol’s policies emphasize that lack of English proficiency shouldn’t be the only reason for determining if there’s enough evidence to make an arrest and that is “a pretty loud pronouncement of caution,” Ken Wallentine, a senior legal adviser for the company, told the Times.

Another factor cited is possession of immigration papers that indicate the person isn’t in the country legally.

The critical letter said police manual policies also encourage officers to detain people for federal crimes without reasonable suspicion and to make arrests for misdemeanors committed outside their presence and without probable cause.

About 3,000 police agencies nationwide have purchased some form of policy from Lexipol, Wallentine said.

Lexipol’s website says it offers policy manuals for public safety organizations that are customized by state. Clients can add, delete and ignore policies.

Local police chiefs should take local circumstances into account when turning policies into practice, Wallentine said.

Fremont police said they have removed the section of the policy regarding English-speaking proficiency, the Times said.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170413/immigrant-rights-groups-want-changes-to-police-manuals 2/3 4/14/2017 Immigrant rights groups want changes to police manuals

California is home to an estimated 2.3 million immigrants who do not have legal authorization. The state has set itself in opposition to an immigration crackdown promised by President Donald Trump and his administration.

Earlier this month, the state Senate passed a bill that would bar police and sheriffs from arresting or detaining people just for immigration violations unless a judge issues a warrant.

Some police agencies say they are concerned that recent activities, such as federal immigration officials arresting people at courthouses, will chill the relationship between law enforcement and immigrants, who may fear deportation when they report a crime or testify in a criminal case.

“Obviously we cannot do our jobs to the fullest if we don’t have the cooperation of witnesses or victims,” Rialto Police Chief Randy De Anda told the Times.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170413/immigrant-rights-groups-want-changes-to-police-manuals 3/3 4/14/2017 Los Angeles Times

This election m akes no sense

Can we finally stop electing the members of the state Board of Equalization? The Times’ editorial board has argued for years that the five-member board, which administers more than 30 state taxes and fees, ought to be disbanded and either reconstituted entirely with appointees or subsumed into the Franchise Tax Board. The quasi-judicial Board of Equalization, the nation’s only elected tax commission, is little more than a well-paid landing place for politicians on their way up (or down). It’s problematic to have tax disputes decided by politicians, especially when they raise campaign money from people whose cases may come before the board. And it’s unfair and unrealistic to ask voters to make informed decisions about whom to elect to such obscure posts. As if we needed one, now there’s another reason. According to a recent audit, elected board members may be misusing the agency’s staff and funds to serve their own political interests. That was one of the findings of the state Department of Finance after it examined the agency, which handles $60 billion in sales, property and other tax revenue every year. The audit was launched after another inquiry found the board had misallocated $47.8 million in sales tax revenue. According to the audit, board members spent millions on “educational and outreach” materials that seemed more like self-promotion, and commandeered administrative staff to work on pet projects. In one example, 113 Board of Equalization office workers were directed to do parking and registration duties for a “Connecting Women to Power” conference put on by a board member. Also, the administration still couldn’t adequately explain what happened to that $47.8 million. Given the behind-the-scenes nature of the board’s work, it’s not surprising that its four elected members may struggle to connect with voters across their gigantic and oddly shaped districts. Still, tax auditors pulling parking duty?

Elected board member Jerome Horton decried the audit findings as an incomplete picture and based on hearsay. But the sole member of the board who wasn’t directly elected to it — State Controller Betty Yee, an ex officio member who spent 10 years as an elected member — says there’s “prevalent misuse of resources.” She wants the Legislature to strip the board of its administrative duties so it can focus on hearing tax appeals.

That won’t remove all the potential conflicts of interests or reduce the burden on voters, however. When the audit goes before a state Senate budget subcommittee for a hearing next week, all the options for reform should be part of the discussion.

http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 1/2 4/14/2017 Riverside County could cut Fire Department jobs, change staffing mix on engines – Press Enterprise

NEWS Riverside County could cut Fire Department jobs, change stafng mix on engines

Courtesy of CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department Firefighters rescue a woman when her vehicle became stuck on a flooded Bridge Street between Ramona Expressway and Gilman Springs Road in February 2017. Proposed cuts to the Riverside County Fire Department would eliminate 11 administrative positions, close a fire station in Blythe and do away with a hazardous materials team.

By JEFF HORSEMAN | [email protected] | The Press- Enterprise PUBLISHED: April 10, 2017 at 2:47 pm | UPDATED: April 11, 2017 at 10:13 am



http://www.pe.com/2017/04/10/riverside-county-could-cut-fire-department-jobs-change-staffing-mix-on-engines/ 1/5 4/14/2017 Riverside County could cut Fire Department jobs, change staffing mix on engines – Press Enterprise Cutting 11 jobs and changing the staf䃀ng mix on 䃀re engines are two ideas Riverside County supervisors will consider as they try to close an $11.9 million shortfall in the Fire Department’s budget for next 䃀scal year.

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, April 11, will take up recommendations from supervisors Kevin Jeffries and John Tavaglione, who sit on an ad-hoc 䃀re service committee.

Like other county agencies, the Fire Department is struggling to make ends meet as new expenses outpace revenue. The county has a contract with Cal Fire for 䃀re protection, an arrangement that dates to 1921.

A tentative deal between Cal Fire and the union representing 䃀re䃀ghters gives raises to 䃀re䃀ghters whose pay lags behind their counterparts. The raises are expected to add almost $12 million to the county’s labor costs next 䃀scal year, which starts July 1.

Last month, Fire Chief John Hawkins detailed a list of cost-cutting suggestions, from closing the Poppet Flats 䃀re station to replacing some three-䃀re䃀ghter engines with two-䃀re䃀ghter rapid response units. Hawkins also proposed seeking reimbursement for emergency medical services from patients served by Cal Fire.

The ad-hoc committee’s suggestions keep Poppet Flats open and don’t include the two-䃀re䃀ghter model, which the union said would compromise public safety. There’s also no plan to seek EMS reimbursement.

Instead, the committee suggests doing away with 11 administrative positions in a bid to have Cal Fire cover the cost of those jobs through the yearly administrative fee the county pays. County of䃀cials contend they’re not getting their money’s worth from the fee they pay Cal Fire, which went from $14.8 million in 2012 to almost $21 million for next 䃀scal year.

Deputy Chief Scott McLean, a Cal Fire spokesman in Sacramento, said Cal Fire had not received any documentation from the county as of Monday.

To cut staf䃀ng costs, Jeffries and Tavaglione also want to replace captains and engineers on 䃀re engines with more 䃀re䃀ghters. They propose reclassifying 49 䃀re䃀ghting positions to re㐪ect the new staf䃀ng mix.

That’s a bad idea, said Mike Alvarado, Riverside district vice president for Cal Fire Local 2881. Engines manned by three 䃀re䃀ghters already are one 䃀re䃀ghter below minimum standards, and replacing captains and engineers would make a bad situation worse, Alvarado said.

Other changes proposed by Jeffries and Tavaglione include: http://www.pe.com/2017/04/10/riverside-county-could-cut-fire-department-jobs-change-staffing-mix-on-engines/ 2/5 4/14/2017 Riverside County could cut Fire Department jobs, change staffing mix on engines – Press Enterprise — A three-year extension of the Cal Fire contract, which expires June 30.

“The committee recommends a three-year renewal due to the outstanding concerns relating to the (administrative fee) although the county desires a longer contract term,” read a report from Jeffries and Tavaglione to their colleagues.

— Eliminating one of the county’s hazardous materials teams.

— Closing a 䃀re station in Blythe, cutting a medic squad in Mecca and adding a medic squad to a station in Ripley in eastern Riverside County. Blythe has its own 䃀re department.

— Using $2.5 million in fund balance to close the budget gap.

If enacted, the changes proposed by Jeffries and Tavaglione would take the Fire Department’s shortfall from almost $12 million to $4.166 million, with county of䃀cials seeking other ideas to cut the shortfall further.

If you go

Riverside County supervisors will consider possible changes to the Fire Department that call for cutting 11 administrative jobs and changing the staf䃀ng mix on 䃀re engines.

When: 9 a.m. Tuesday

Where: First-㐪oor Board of Supervisors chambers, 4080 Lemon St. in Riverside.

Tags: public safety

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?” A㋀er 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 wild䃀res, a tropical storm, 9/11 and the Dec. 2 terror attack in San http://www.pe.com/2017/04/10/riverside-county-could-cut-fire-department-jobs-change-staffing-mix-on-engines/Bernardino. If you have a question or story idea about politics or the inner 3/5 4/14/2017 Why some Riverside jail inmates are on a hunger strike – Press Enterprise

LOCAL NEWS Why some Riverside jail inmates are on a hunger strike

Some inmates at Riverside’s Robert Presley Detention Center are on a hunger strike to denounce policies they see as unfair. RICHARD K. DEATLEY, FILE PHOTO

By ALI TADAYON | [email protected] | The Press-Enterprise PUBLISHED: April 13, 2017 at 10:58 pm | UPDATED: April 14, 2017 at 8:00 am



http://www.pe.com/2017/04/13/why-some-riverside-jail-inmates-are-on-a-hunger-strike/ 1/5 4/14/2017 Why some Riverside jail inmates are on a hunger strike – Press Enterprise

Twenty-one inmates at Riverside’s Robert Presley Detention Center started a hunger strike Thursday, April 13, denouncing certain jail policies that they see as unfair.

The inmates are housed in the jail’s administrative segregation unit or “ad-seg,” authorities con䃀rmed.

The inmates are demanding that administrators “end frivolous and irrelevant policies” that limit their phone access and give them little “day room time,” according to an announcement posted on the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity website. The inmates also demand revision of policies regarding solitary con䃀nement, as well as other policies.

Riverside County Assistant Sheriff Jerry Gutierrez, who is in charge of local jails, said the policies that the inmates are denouncing are in place to maintain the safety and security of everyone at the jails.

“Our inmates are absolutely being treated fairly,” Gutierrez said. “We have a responsibility to maintain safety and we take it seriously.”

Two of the 21 inmates in the strike skipped breakfast Thursday but stopped participating at lunchtime, Gutierrez said. Others stocked up on items from the jail’s commissary in preparation for the 18-day strike, he said.

The strike was orchestrated by Rigoberto Villanueva, who is currently awaiting trial in the murder of 37-year-old Rosemary Barrasa of Bloomington. Last September, Villanueva was charged with 䃀rst-degree murder in the fatal beating of Tom Carlin at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.

Nancy Markham, who City News Service describes as Villanueva’s wife, told CNS that Villanueva believes he doesn’t have adequate “day room time,” or time out of his cell, to take care of himself. “He’s locked down 23.5 hours a day, and he and the other segregated inmates are supposed to take showers, make phone calls, get exercise in 30 minutes? How does anybody do all that stuff in so little time?” Markham said.

Gutierrez said ad-seg inmates are given day room access for 30 minutes a day at the least. Inmates are let out of their cells for 30 minutes at a time in a rotation. Depending on how many inmates are in the unit at a time, inmates could be let out twice in a day.

Inmates are placed in ad-seg when they are deemed a threat to other inmates, Gutierrez said. Jail staff review inmates’ classi䃀cations once a month. http://www.pe.com/2017/04/13/why-some-riverside-jail-inmates-are-on-a-hunger-strike/ 2/5 4/14/2017 Why some Riverside jail inmates are on a hunger strike – Press Enterprise Villanueva’s chief complaint has been lack of access to the jail phones to speak with his and Markham’s two children, she said. In addition to a 15 minute limit to speak on the phone, he never knows when he’s going to get out of his isolation cell to use it — and whether the line will be active at that time, according to Markham.

Gutierrez said the rotation schedules vary so that inmates aren’t let out at the same time every day.

The jail also routinely shuts down phone services six hours a day three days a week while inmates are transported to and from other facilities. Gutierrez said the services are shut down for of䃀cers’ safety.

Vonya Quarles, who organizes Riverside All of Us or None, an advocacy group for incarcerated people, said this is the second hunger strike at Robert Presley Detention Center in the past 6 months. She said the inmates don’t feel as though their concerns are being taken seriously by jail administrators.

“They believe this is the only tool they have, they’ve expressed concerns about the grievance process but they don’t believe they’re being listened to,” Quarles said. “…they believe their families are also being harmed by some of the practices when it comes to access to the phones.

Quarles suspects that local jails are not equipped to house inmates for a long period of time. Most inmates, she said, are awaiting trial. Under AB 109 – which went into effect in 2011 – some offenders and required to serve their sentences in local jails rather than state prisons.

“The population is different and practices are going to have to change,” Quarles said. “We hope the county jail system here will rise to the challenge and address these long-term folks.”

City News Service contributed to this report.

This story is developing. Check back for updates.

Tags: public safety, Top Stories PE

Ali Tadayon

http://www.pe.com/2017/04/13/why-some-riverside-jail-inmates-are-on-a-hunger-strike/Ali Tadayon primarily covers crime in western Riverside County 3/5 4/14/2017 United Airlines shows how to make a PR crisis a total disaster - Apr. 11, 2017

Our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy have changed. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to the new Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

U.S. + Business Markets Tech Media Personal Finance Small Biz Luxury stock tickers

United Airlines shows how to make a PR crisis a total disaster by Alanna Petro㴂 @AlannaPetro㴂 Recommend 20K     April 11, 2017: 6:22 PM ET

Social Surge - What's Trending

Facebook targets 30,000 accounts in crackdown on fake news in France

Investors call for Tesla changes. Musk tells  them to buy Ford Trump is dialing back his economic promises. Bigly

Man dragged o㴂 overbooked United flight

Last month, United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz was named U.S. Communicator of the Year by the magazine PRWeek.

Now he's being raked over the coals for his response to a violent passenger incident on a United Airlines flight.

Public relations experts say the CEO should have quickly o㴂ered an unreserved apology after a customer was filmed on Sunday being forcibly removed from his seat and dragged down an overbooked aircraft's aisle.

Instead, Munoz apologized only for "having to re-accommodate ... customers."

Many customers found the response to be overly callous -- and said so on social media, where video of the incident had gone viral.

But Munoz doubled down in a letter sent to United employees on Monday afternoon, describing the passenger as "disruptive and belligerent." He also said that "employees followed established procedures for dealing with situations like this."

Advertisement http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/11/news/united-passenger-pr-disaster/index.html 1/5 4/14/2017 United Airlines shows how to make a PR crisis a total disaster - Apr. 11, 2017

Mortgage & Savings Powered by LendingTree

Mortgage Personal Loans Credit Cards

Loan Type Rate

30-yr fixed 3.75%

15-yr fixed 3.25%

5/1 ARM 3.13%

Loan Purpose Loan Amount Refinance 5/1 $225,000 ARM Purchase 5/1 $350,000 $1,523/mo ARM

Get Personalized Rates

Terms & Conditions apply United Follow @united

United CEO response to United Express Flight 3411. Paid Content 9:27 AM - 10 Apr 2017 · Houston, TX 21,852 7,743 Your $20 Bottle of Wine is Worth $3 FirstLeaf

The Newest Look in It wasn't until Tuesday afternoon that Munoz issued a full-throated apology, calling the episode Desktops Is Triangular "truly horrific." PC Mag

"I want you to know that we take full responsibility and we will work to make it right," he said in a What is real estate statement. "I promise you we will do better." crowdfunding? Financial Samurai

Related: United CEO apologizes for 'truly horrific' passenger incident 3 steps to better Munoz also said the company will investigate how it moves crews and deals with oversold flights, Cassandra performance as well as how it works with airport authorities and local law enforcement. selectstar.io

Rupert Younger, a PR expert and director of the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation, said that Munoz's initial response was a major disappointment, and that United Hot List should have moved much more quickly to limit damage from the video. Elon Musk tells Tesla "The apology by the CEO was, at best, lukewarm or, at worst, trying to dismiss the incident," investors wanting Younger said. change to buy Ford

Related: The often-overlooked reason United can kick you o㴂 your flight United passenger dragged o㴂 plane has a strong legal case… United is still struggling to contain fallout from the incident. On Tuesday, the top trending topic on Twitter in the U.S. was #NewUnitedAirlinesMottos, with users suggesting slogans such as "not enough seating, prepare for a beating." How United could have avoided this fiasco United Continental (UAL ) shares, which weathered the storm on Monday, slipped by just over 1% on Tuesday. Earlier in the day the company's stock was o㴂 by about 4%. United says Flight 3411 wasn't overbooked. It Meanwhile, video of the incident attracted huge attention in China, which is a key growth market just had no open… for United.

How much it costs ICE to deport an United was the top trending topic Tuesday on Weibo, China's answer to Twitter, attracting more undocumented http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/11/news/united-passenger-pr-disaster/index.html 2/5 4/14/2017 United Airlines shows how to make a PR crisis a total disaster - Apr. 11, 2017

United was the top trending topic Tuesday on Weibo, China's answer to Twitter, attracting more undocumented than 100 million views. immigrant

Related: Outrage in China over United viral video

CNNMoney Sponsors James Fallows, a journalist who has written a book about China's aviation industry, called out United for failing to respond while the incident dominated social media discussions in such a key market.

NextAdvisor Paid Partner "[United is] su㴂ering *profound* damage in most important international market right now, and no sign of response," he said in a post on Twitter. Pay no interest until June 2018 with this card

James Fallows Follow Top 7 credit cards for those with @JamesFallows excellent credit Point to note in real time: 85,000-emplye US co suffering *profound* damage in most important intl market right now, and The best credit cards for 2017 no sign of response twitter.com/damienics/stat… 10:14 PM - 10 Apr 2017 10 cards charging 0% interest until 216 356 2018

The highest paying cash back card has arrived Ed Zitron, a PR expert and the author of "This Is How You Pitch," said that United may not be o㴂ering a full apology because of fears over a potential lawsuit.

The Motley Fool Paid Partner But that's not an e㴂ective strategy, he said. Trump's plan could make investors "Had United shown compassion and intent to make things right, they could have come out of very wealthy this at the very least looking like an airline that cares," Zitron said. "Instead they've just made it even worse." This stock could be like buying Amazon for $3.19 Editor's Note: This article was updated following the apology by Munoz on Tuesday. Legendary tech investor boldly endorses one stock

Motley Fool issues rare triple-buy alert

Apple quietly leases 5,000 acre abandoned military base

United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz joined the company in late 2015.

CNNMoney (London) First published April 11, 2017: 8:44 AM ET http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/11/news/united-passenger-pr-disaster/index.html 3/5 4/14/2017 It may be time for United to 're-accommodate' CEO Oscar Munoz—commentary

   MĚŇŲ

BŲȘİŇĚȘȘ

BŲȘİŇĚȘȘ ĚǺŘŇİŇĢȘ ĿĚǺĐĚŘȘĦİP ȚŘǺŇȘPǾŘȚǺȚİǾŇ ĐĚFĚŇȘĚ MǺȚĚŘİǺĿȘ ǺŇĐ MĚȚǺĿȘ

İț mǻỳ bě țįmě fǿř Ųňįțěđ țǿ 'řě-       2.6Ķ ȘĦǺŘĚȘ ǻččǿmmǿđǻțě' ČĚǾ Ǿșčǻř Mųňǿż Ǻ Ųňįțěđ pǻșșěňģěř ẅǻș fǿřčįbŀỳ řěmǿvěđ fřǿm ǻ fŀįģħț ǻňđ đřǻģģěđ đǿẅň țħě ǻįșŀě ǻfțěř Ųňįțěđ fǻįŀěđ țǿ ģěț ěňǿųģħ vǿŀųňțěěřș țǿ ģįvě ųp țħěįř șěǻțș. Ǻ vįđěǿ ǿf țħě įňčįđěňț ẅěňț vįřǻŀ, șpǻřķįňģ ǿųțřǻģě ǻģǻįňșț Ųňįțěđ Čǿňțįňěňțǻŀ. Ųňįțěđ ǻňđ ČĚǾ Ǿșčǻř Mųňǿż ħǻňđŀěđ țħě įňčįđěňț pǿǿřŀỳ ǻňđ įňșěňșįțįvěŀỳ. İț mǻỳ bě țįmě fǿř țħě Ųňįțěđ bǿǻřđ țǿ řěțħįňķ įțș čħǿįčě ǿf Ǿșčǻř Mųňǿż ǻș ČĚǾ.

Mǻřķ Mǻčįǻș | @mǻřķmǻčįǻș Țųěșđǻỳ, 11 Ǻpř 2017 | 11:28 ǺM ĚȚ

Today's Mortgage Rate 3.25% APR 15 Year Fixed Ǿșčǻř Mųňǿż ķěěpș đįģģįňģ țħě ħǿŀě đěěpěř: Bįŀŀ Ģěǿřģě  Select Loan Amount Țųěșđǻỳ, 11 Ǻpř 2017 | 11:32 ǺM ĚȚ | 02:40

İț'ș ňěvěř ǻ ģǿǿđ țįmě țǿ đǿ PŘ fǿř țħě ǻįřŀįňě įňđųșțřỳ. Čųșțǿměřș ǻřě fěđ ųp ẅįțħ ěșčǻŀǻțįňģ fěěș, ẅħįŀě mǻňỳ ǻįřŀįňě ěmpŀǿỳěěș șěěm țǿ ŀǻčķ ěmpǻțħỳ bǿțħ ǻț țħě čǿųňțěř ǻňđ įň țħě čǻbįň. $225,000

Ỳǿų ẅǿųŀđ țħįňķ țħě ČĚǾ ǿf Ųňįțěđ Čǿňțįňěňțǻŀ, Ǿșčǻř Mųňǿż, ẅǿųŀđ řěčǿģňįżě țħě pųbŀįč pěřčěpțįǿň ǿf ħįș įňđųșțřỳ ǻňđ ħě ẅǿųŀđ ħǻvě ħǻđ ǻ běțțěř pŀǻň įň pŀǻčě țħǻň ǻň "ǻŀģǿřįțħm" țǿ řěșǿŀvě ǿvěřbǿǿķįňģ įșșųěș țħǻț řěșųŀțěđ įň ǻ pǻșșěňģěř běįňģ đřǻģģěđ ǿff ǿf ǻ Ųňįțěđ fŀįģħț įňvǿŀųňțǻřįŀỳ. Bųț țħǻț ẅǻșň'ț ħįș bįģģěșț mįșțǻķě įň ħǻňđŀįňģ țħįș čřįșįș.

Ųňįțěđ ǻňđ Mųňǿż ǻčțųǻŀŀỳ mǻđě țħřěě čřųčįǻŀ mįșțǻķěș țħǻț ěvěřỳ ěxěčųțįvě șħǿųŀđ řěměmběř ẅħěň đěǻŀįňģ ẅįțħ đįșģřųňțŀěđ čųșțǿměřș.

Șțřįķě ǿňě: Ųňįțěđ'ș ČĚǾ ųșěđ țǿňě-đěǻf ŀǻňģųǻģě įň řěfěřřįňģ țǿ țħě FŘǾM ȚĦĚ ẄĚB Sponsored Links by Taboola įňčįđěňț. 238 Point Market Drop Could be Sign of What's to İň ǻ vįđěǿ ǿf țħě ěvěňț țħǻț ħǻș șpřěǻđ ǻřǿųňđ țħě įňțěřňěț ŀįķě ẅįŀđfįřě, Come țħě pǻșșěňģěř įș șčřěǻmįňģ ǻș ħě'ș běįňģ řěmǿvěđ fǿřčįbŀỳ fřǿm ħįș șěǻț The Motley Fool ǻňđ đřǻģģěđ đǿẅň țħě ǻįșŀě. Țħǻț pǻșșěňģěř ħǻđ ěvěřỳ řěǻșǿň țǿ bě

ųpșěț. Ħě pǻįđ fǿř ǻ fŀįģħț ǻňđ ěxpěčțěđ ǻ șěřvįčě įň řěțųřň. Țħįș Why Bonds Matter In A Post-Post-Crisis Era http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/11/it-may-be-time-for-united-to-re-accommodate-ceo-oscar-munoz-commentary.html 1/4 4/14/2017 It may be time for United to 're-accommodate' CEO Oscar Munoz—commentary ěxčħǻňģě fǿř șěřvįčěș șħǿųŀđň'ț ħǻvě ěvěř běěň ųp fǿř đěbǻțě bųț Capital Group    MĚŇŲ șǿměħǿẅ, Mųňǿż fǿųňđ ǻ ẅǻỳ țǿ břįňģ įț įňțǿ qųěșțįǿň. Ħįș fįřșț șțǻțěměňț ųșěđ ŀǻňģųǻģě țǿ řěfěř țǿ țħě čųșțǿměř, ẅħǿșě fǻčě ẅǻș 20 Rarely Seen Historical Photos From The Past Lifestylogy bŀǿǿđįěđ įň țħě přǿčěșș, ǻňđ țħě țħřěě ǿțħěřș ẅħǿ ẅěřě bųmpěđ ǿff țħě pŀǻňě, ŀįķě țħěỳ ẅěřě șǿmě ķįňđ ǿf čǿmmǿđįțỳ: Thinking About Installing Solar Panels? Read This "Țħįș įș ǻň ųpșěțțįňģ ěvěňț țǿ ǻŀŀ ǿf ųș ħěřě ǻț Ųňįțěđ. İ ǻpǿŀǿģįżě fǿř First ħǻvįňģ țǿ řě-ǻččǿmmǿđǻțě țħěșě čųșțǿměřș." Energy Bill Cruncher Solar Quotes

by Taboola

Ųňįțěđ ČĚǾ đįđ ěxǻčțŀỳ țħě řįģħț țħįňģ, fǿřměř Ǻměřįčǻň Ǻįřŀįňěș ČĚǾ șǻỳș Ǿp-Ěđ: Șțǿp čǻŀŀįňģ fǿř ħįș ǿųșțěř. Ųňįțěđ Ǻįřŀįňěș ČĚǾ Ǿșčǻř Mųňǿż șħǿųŀđ ňǿț řěșįģň Țħěřě'ș ňǿț mųčħ mǿřě țħě Ųňįțěđ ČĚǾ čǻň đǿ, șǻỳș fǿřměř Ǻměřįčǻň Ǻįřŀįňěș čħįěf JěțBŀųě'ș fǿųňđěř ǿň United Follow țħě Ųňįțěđ fįǻșčǿ: Ỳǿų @united ẅǿň'ț ħǻvě țǿ đřǻģ United CEO response to United Express Flight 3411. pěǿpŀě ǿff pŀǻňěș įf 9:27 AM - 10 Apr 2017 · Houston, TX ỳǿų ǿffěř țħěm ěňǿųģħ mǿňěỳ 21,852 7,743 Țħě Ųňįțěđ fįǻșčǿ ħǻppěňěđ běčǻųșě Pěǿpŀě mǻķě fųň ǿf "čǿřpǿřǻțě șpěǻķ" ŀįķě șỳňěřģỳ ǻňđ čįřčŀě bǻčķ ǻŀŀ țħě įňđųșțřỳ įș ǻ 'ňěǻř mǿňǿpǿŀỳ,' șǻỳș ǻ țǿp țħě țįmě bųț pǻřțįčųŀǻřŀỳ įň ǻ čřįșįș, ẅǿřđș ŀįķě "řě-ǻččǿmmǿđǻțě" ħǻvě čřįșįș mǻňǻģěř ňǿ pŀǻčě. Țħěỳ jųșț čǿmě ǿff ǻș țǿňě đěǻf ǻňđ įňșěňșįțįvě. Țħįș ẅǻș ǻřģųǻbŀỳ Ųňįțěđ ǻňđ Mųňǿż'ș bįģģěșț mįșțǻķě. İf ǿțħěř ČĚǾș țǻķě ǻẅǻỳ Ųňįțěđ'ș șŀǿģǻň įș ǿňě ŀěșșǿň fřǿm țħįș ħǿřřįbŀě įňčįđěňț, țħǻț șħǿųŀđ bě įț. ģěțțįňģ ǻ mǻķěǿvěř ǿň șǿčįǻŀ měđįǻ Șțřįķě țẅǿ: Mųňǿż șħǿųŀđ ňěvěř ħǻvě čřįțįčįżěđ țħě pǻșșěňģěř.

Běỳǿňđ ħįș ẅǿřđ čħǿįčě, Mųňǿż mǻđě ǻ ħųģě mįșțǻķě įň čřįțįčįżįňģ țħě pǻșșěňģěř, șǻỳįňģ ħě ẅǻș "đįșřųpțįvě ǻňđ běŀŀįģěřěňț." Țħǻț mǻỳ ħǻvě běěň țřųě bųț țħǻț'ș įřřěŀěvǻňț. Ẅħěň țħě ǻňģřỳ mǿb ǿň țħě įňțěřňěț įș șỳmpǻțħįżįňģ ẅįțħ țħǻț pǻșșěňģěř ǻňđ đěmǿňįżįňģ ỳǿųř čǿmpǻňỳ, țħě ŀǻșț țħįňģ ỳǿų đǿ įș čřįțįčįżě țħǻț pǻșșěňģěř. Țħǻț jųșț đųģ țħě ħǿŀě fǿř Mųňǿż — ǻňđ Ųňįțěđ — đěěpěř.

Șțřįķě țħřěě: Ųňįțěđ čǿųŀđ ħǻvě přěvěňțěđ țħįș fřǿm ħǻppěňįňģ įň țħě fįřșț pŀǻčě.

Ěvěřỳ đįșģřųňțŀěđ čųșțǿměř čǻň bě "břįběđ." İf ǻň ěňțįřě pŀǻňě ǿf čųșțǿměřș řěfųșěđ țǿ șųřřěňđěř țħěįř șěǻțș, țħěň įț ẅǻș ǿbvįǿųș Ųňįțěđ Ǻįřŀįňěș ẅǻșň'ț ǿffěřįňģ ěňǿųģħ čǿmpěňșǻțįǿň fǿř țħįș įňčǿňvěňįěňčě. Țħě Ųňįțěđ čřěẅ șħǿųŀđ ħǻvě běěň ǻbŀě țǿ ǿffěř čųșțǿměřș mǿřě țǿ ģįvě ųp țħěįř șěǻțș — ǻ fįřșț-čŀǻșș ųpģřǻđě, ǿř mǻỳbě ǻ $1,500 vǿųčħěř fǿř ǻ fųțųřě fŀįģħț.

İț șħǿųŀđ bě čŀěǻř țǿ Ųňįțěđ ňǿẅ țħǻț ǻňỳțħįňģ ẅǿųŀđ ħǻvě běěň ẅǿřțħ țħě čǿșț ǿf přěvěňțįňģ țħįș čřįșįș. Țħěỳ ňěěđ țǿ țẅěǻķ țħěįř pǿŀįčįěș qųįčķŀỳ ǻňđ țřǻįň ěmpŀǿỳěěș țǿ ķňǿẅ ħǿẅ țǿ čįvįŀŀỳ đěfųșě ǻň ǿvěřbǿǿķěđ șįțųǻțįǿň běfǿřě įț ěșčǻŀǻțěș įňțǿ ǻň ěpįč đįșǻșțěř ŀįķě țħįș. http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/11/it-may-be-time-for-united-to-re-accommodate-ceo-oscar-munoz-commentary.html 2/4 4/14/2017 It may be time for United to 're-accommodate' CEO Oscar Munoz—commentary Běfǿřě șǿčįǻŀ měđįǻ ǿř pħǿňě čǻměřǻș, fěẅ pěǿpŀě ẅǿųŀđ ħǻvě șěěň ǿř    MĚŇŲ ħěǻřđ țħįș pǻșșěňģěř'ș čřįěș ǻș ħě ẅǻș đřǻģģěđ ǿff ǻ Ųňįțěđ Ǻįřŀįňěș fŀįģħț. İ'm șųřě čǿmpǻňįěș ģǿț ǻẅǻỳ ẅįțħ țħįș șǿřț ǿf běħǻvįǿř ǻŀŀ țħě țįmě. Bųț, țįměș ħǻvě čħǻňģěđ ǻňđ ǿňě vįřǻŀ įňțěřňěț vįđěǿ čǻň ŀǻșț fǿřěvěř ǿň țħě įňțěřňěț, đěňț ỳǿųř șțǿčķ ǻňđ ỳǿųř řěpųțǻțįǿň — mǻỳbě ěvěň pěřmǻňěňțŀỳ.

Ųňįțěđ ǻňđ ǿțħěř čǿmpǻňįěș șħǿųŀđ ŀěǻřň fřǿm țħįș ǻňđ țřǻįň ěmpŀǿỳěěș țǿ ǻŀẅǻỳș bě ǿň, ǻŀẅǻỳș bě ǿň țħěįř běșț běħǻvįǿř — țħěỳ ǻřě șțěẅǻřđș ǿf țħě čǿmpǻňỳ. Țħěỳ șħǿųŀđ ǻșșųmě țħǻț čǻměřǻș ǻřě ǻŀẅǻỳș řǿŀŀįňģ ǻňđ běħǻvě ǻččǿřđįňģŀỳ.

Ųňįțěđ șħǻřěș ẅěřě đǿẅň mǿřě țħǻň 4 pěřčěňț ǿň Țųěșđǻỳ ǻș țħě įňčįđěňț ǻňđ țħě čǿmpǻňỳ'ș ħǻňđŀįňģ ǿf įț řįppŀěđ įňțǿ țħě șțǿčķ přįčě.

İ țħįňķ țħě Ųňįțěđ bǿǻřđ ňěěđș țǿ țħįňķ ŀǿňģ ǻňđ ħǻřđ ǻbǿųț țħįș șįțųǻțįǿň ǻňđ ħǿẅ įț řěfŀěčțș ǿň Mųňǿż'ș ŀěǻđěřșħįp. İț mǻỳ bě țįmě țǿ đěmǿțě ħįm țǿ čǿǻčħ — ǿř řěmǿvě ħįm fřǿm țħě pŀǻňě ǻŀțǿģěțħěř.

Čǿmměňțǻřỳ bỳ Mǻřķ Mǻčįǻș, ħěǻđ ǿf Mǻčįǻș PŘ, ǻ ģŀǿbǻŀ pųbŀįč- řěŀǻțįǿňș fįřm, țħǻț ħǻș řųň měđįǻ ǻňđ břǻňđįňģ čǻmpǻįģňș fǿř pǿŀįțįčįǻňș, țěčħ șțǻřț-ųpș, fįňǻňčįǻŀ fįřmș, ňǿňpřǿfįțș ǻňđ čǿmpǻňįěș. Ħě'ș ǻŀșǿ ǻųțħǿř ǿf țħě bǿǿķ, "Běǻț țħě Přěșș: Ỳǿųř Ģųįđě țǿ Mǻňǻģįňģ țħě Měđįǻ." Fǿŀŀǿẅ ħįm ǿň Țẅįțțěř @mǻřķmǻčįǻș.

Fǿř mǿřě įňșįģħț fřǿm ČŇBČ čǿňțřįbųțǿřș, fǿŀŀǿẅ @ČŇBČǿpįňįǿň ǿň Țẅįțțěř.

Mǻřķ Mǻčįǻș Měđįǻ Čǿňșųŀțǻňț

ŘĚĿǺȚĚĐ ȘĚČŲŘİȚİĚȘ

Șỳmbǿŀ Přįčě Čħǻňģě %Čħǻňģě

ŲǺĿ 69.07 -0.86 -1.23%

FROM THE WEB Sponsored Links by Taboola

238 Point Market Drop Could be Sign of What's to Come The Motley Fool

Why Bonds Matter In A Post-Post-Crisis Era Capital Group

20 Rarely Seen Historical Photos From The Past Lifestylogy

Thinking About Installing Solar Panels? Read This First Energy Bill Cruncher Solar Quotes

Distribute your job to 100+ job sites with one click. Try for free! ZipRecruiter

Got a Home Project? Find a Remodeling Pro to Get it Done Porch http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/11/it-may-be-time-for-united-to-re-accommodate-ceo-oscar-munoz-commentary.html 3/4 4/14/2017 Why ‘Sorry’ Is Still the Hardest Word - The New York Times

https://nyti.ms/2oq0eSV

MEDIA Why ‘Sorry’ Is Still the Hardest Word

By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM APRIL 12, 2017 “I’m sorry.” Two simple words, not so simply said.

On Wednesday, the public representatives of two embattled American institutions — United Airlines and the White House — found themselves on national television grappling with a delicate and increasingly common ritual of the corporate and political worlds: the public apology.

Oscar Munoz, United’s chief executive, recalled his “shame” upon seeing a cellphone video, shared by millions of people, of a paying passenger being violently evicted from one of his airline’s flights. Face taut, voice soft, Mr. Munoz’s televised prostration was a far cry from the robotic statement issued by United days earlier, expressing regret for “re-accommodating” a traveler.

Around the same time, President Trump’s press secretary, Sean Spicer, was denouncing himself as “reprehensible” for having favorably compared Hitler to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and referring to Nazi death camps as “Holocaust centers,” all while standing at the White House podium.

The fine art of repentance is a skill taught in business schools and promoted by high-priced consultants. But all kinds of offenders in public life still seem to struggle with the execution. Corporations like BP and Wells Fargo have faced criticism for

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/business/media/apology-sean-spicer-holocaust-oscar-munoz-united.html?_r=0 1/4 4/14/2017 Why ‘Sorry’ Is Still the Hardest Word - The New York Times

dawdling responses to cascading crises, while politicians from Bill Clinton to Anthony Weiner have had difficulty admitting to peccadilloes.

The key to contrition, according to public-relations experts, is projecting sincerity, humanity, and a plain-spoken demeanor — the better to convince a cynical public. And in this age of whipsawing social media, you had better do it fast.

“The head of United should never have been allowed to take three swings at correcting and apologizing for an incident that was on more social media than Kim and Kanye’s wedding,” said Mortimer Matz, a New York consultant who has guided decades’ worth of clients through crises small and large.

United issued several halting statements about the plane episode, which first emerged Monday morning, before Mr. Munoz made his abject appearance on Wednesday on ABC. Mr. Matz said the airline had missed its moment.

“You’ve got to be a fast thinker in the digital age,” said Mr. Matz, who will be 93 in July.

Many companies now take steps to be nimble and responsive when a furor erupts online. Last week, Pepsi took less than 24 hours to apologize and retract a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign that used populist imagery to sell soda. It was a rapid U-turn that would have been unthinkable a few years ago.

This week, Mr. Spicer was quick to recognize the damage done by his ill- considered remarks, which prompted immediate denunciations on Twitter as well as calls for his resignation. He appeared on CNN within hours of his gaffe, while Mr. Munoz waited two days.

Still, Mr. Spicer’s apology came only after his office tried to clarify his remarks with several statements that, while remorseful, did not clearly admit error.

On Wednesday, in a previously scheduled interview at the Newseum in Washington, Mr. Spicer took a new tack: no excuses.

“I made a mistake; there’s no other way to say it,” Mr. Spicer told Greta van Susteren, the MSNBC anchor, his tone notably subdued. “I got into a topic that I

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/business/media/apology-sean-spicer-holocaust-oscar-munoz-united.html?_r=0 2/4 4/14/2017 Why ‘Sorry’ Is Still the Hardest Word - The New York Times

shouldn’t have, and I screwed up.” He added: “It really is painful to myself to know that I did something like that.”

Mr. Munoz, interviewed on “Good Morning America” on Wednesday, was similarly solemn.

“That shame and embarrassment was pretty palpable for me,” he told the correspondent Rebecca Jarvis, emotion in his voice. “This can never — will never — happen again on a United Airlines flight. That’s my premise and that’s my promise.” Later on Wednesday, United said it would refund the fares of all passengers on the affected flight.

Both Mr. Munoz, who was named “communicator of the year” by PR Week magazine last month, and Mr. Spicer took pains to personalize their apologies. It’s a technique that, conscious or not, is recommended by crisis experts.

“That’s on me, I have to fix that,” Mr. Munoz said when asked about the airline policies that led to the violent ejection. Mr. Spicer described his blunder as “mine to own, mine to apologize for, mine to ask forgiveness for.”

That plead-no-contest approach, consultants say, is one of the few ways to start rebuilding trust. The accounting firm PwC, for instance, gave a detailed explanation, and quick apology, for this year’s Oscar best picture fiasco, eventually holding onto its Academy Awards account.

“People want someone to throw the book at,” said Katie Sprehe, a senior director at the communications firm APCO Worldwide.

Ms. Sprehe, who studies reputation maintenance, said United had erred by not moving swiftly to mirror its customers’ outrage.

“You need to speak your stakeholders’ language, and coming out with P.R. mumbo jumbo, like ‘re-accommodate,’ is the wrong thing to do,” she said.

Stu Loeser, an adviser to executives in the technology and finance industries, said that a high-profile apology must be considered in context.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/business/media/apology-sean-spicer-holocaust-oscar-munoz-united.html?_r=0 3/4 4/14/2017 Why ‘Sorry’ Is Still the Hardest Word - The New York Times

“Oscar Munoz answers to more than 85,000 employees who want to know that if they were the ones caught in a viral video maelstrom, he’d back them up,” said Mr. Loeser, who was press secretary to former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York. “Sean Spicer ultimately answers to one person and one person only” — Mr. Trump — “someone who sees backing down or apologizing as not only a weakness, but a character flaw.”

“In both cases,” Mr. Loeser added, “what might appear to be an irrational series of statements that got you into trouble makes more sense, when you think about who they’re actually answering to.”

Mr. Munoz ended his interview by saying he had no plans to resign. “I was hired to make United better, and I’ve been doing that, and that’s what I’ll continue to do,” he said. Mr. Spicer, asked by Ms. Van Susteren if he enjoyed being press secretary, said he loved it.

“I truly do believe it’s an honor to have this job,” he said. “It is a privilege. And if you don’t believe it, then you shouldn’t be here.”

Whether the apologies outlive the gaffes remains to be seen. Ken Sunshine, who founded the public-relations firm Sunshine Sachs, said he was skeptical. “My rule?” he said. “You get one shot.”

A version of this article appears in print on April 13, 2017, on Page B1 of the New York edition with the headline: Why ‘Sorry’ Is Still the Hardest Word.

© 2017 The New York Times Company

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/business/media/apology-sean-spicer-holocaust-oscar-munoz-united.html?_r=0 4/4