Lawsuits Filed After Inmates Deaths in San Bernardino County Jails - KESQ

5/25/2018 Lawsuits filed after inmates deaths in San Bernardino County jails - KESQ

News Lawsuits filed after inmates deaths in San Bernardino County jails Sheriff's dept. statement at article bottom.

By : Jeremy Chen (http://www.kesq.com/meet-the-team/jeremy-chen/87431108)  (mailto:[email protected]) Post ed : May 24, 2018 03:06 PM PDT Updated : May 24, 2018 05:53 PM PDT

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Lawsuits filed after inmate deaths in SB County jails

JOSHUA TREE, Calif. - After a series of deaths in San Bernardino County jails, a group gathered to protest in Joshua Tree Thursday morning. Attorneys along with several family members are accusing the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department of not doing enough to help inmates suffering from mental illness.

Passionate chants were heard across the street from the Joshua Tree jail. Family members angry at the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, accusing them of neglecting their loved ones who died in custody this past year.

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“And I don't know what else to say, but I want my son back!” Cynthia Ames said. “There's not a day that goes by that I don't cry and he's been gone since September.”

Emotions were raw for the mother of Henry Simmons, who clutched his ashes as she spoke. He was one of five inmates who died at county jails during the past several months. Lawsuits were filed against the sheriff's department, with one case settling for nearly 2 million dollars. Attorneys say the inmates were not given the necessary hospital care, which resulted in their deaths, some by suicide.

Jeremy Chen @JeremyChenKESQ

Protesters are outside the #JoshuaTree Courthouse and jail accusing the SB county Sheriffs dept. of neglecting inmates with mental illness in jail. 9:42 AM - May 24, 2018

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“These individuals might have suffered from mental health issues. They were asking for help and instead what they got is their family member murdered,” Attorney Sharon Brunner said.

"You turned your back on him...now he's dead. I'll never have my child again.”

Tammy Shidler, the mother of Joshua Pitts, is still emotional and angry over her son's death of an apparent suicide in March. She said correctional officers had knowledge of his fragile mental health which included feelings of suicide.

http://www.kesq.com/news/lawsuits-filed-after-inmates-deaths-in-san-bernardino-county-jails/745879757 2/4 5/25/2018“And I'm sure and I know he feltLawsuits hopeless filed after I know inmates he deaths felt in alone.San Bernardino My son County killed jails - himselfKESQ in this place,” she said.

Attorneys said there need to be changes at the jails.

"They need better training. They need better supervision and they need to stop violating their own laws. None of these people should have been taken to the jails. All these people should have been taken to medical facilities,” Attorney James Terrell said.

Changes family members are hoping for.

"Something needs to be done at this jail. this whole county,” Ames said.

The Sheriff's Department released the following statement relating to the issue of in-custody deaths.

“"In custody, deaths are and always have been tragic. Our sympathies go out to the families and loved ones grieving," reads a statement from Lieutenant Robert Warrick of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Public Affairs Division. "It is our department’s practice to refrain from discussing specifics related to individual cases involving pending litigation. The Sheriff and personnel of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department work diligently to ensure the safety of those in our custody."

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http://www.kesq.com/news/lawsuits-filed-after-inmates-deaths-in-san-bernardino-county-jails/745879757 3/4 5/25/2018 Families to sue San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department over in-custody deaths | abc7.com

MORE FROM LOS ANGELES

http://abc7.com/ie-law-enforcement-officers-recognized-for-heroism/3518178/ 2/4 5/25/2018 A long life in law enforcement | Community | highlandnews.net

https://www.highlandnews.net/community/a-long-life-in-law-enforcement/article_94031882-5f84-11e8-a618- 9757ad753789.html A long life in law enforcement

James Folmer May 24, 2018 Updated 20 hrs ago

Sgt. Je Bohner talks to the Highland Kiwanis Club on Thursday, May 17, at the Old Stone House in East Highlands Ranch.

Sgt. Je Bohner delivered a self-deprecating and amusing talk to the Highland Kiwanis Club last week recalling his adventures over 30 years with the San Bernardino County Sheri’s Department.

“One thing about law enforcement is that you can’t really make this stu up,” said Bohner. A resident of Yucaipa and a past president of its Kiwanis Club, he works in the Highland Police Department, which he described as “always busy.”

https://www.highlandnews.net/community/a-long-life-in-law-enforcement/article_94031882-5f84-11e8-a618-9757ad753789.html 1/4 5/25/2018 A long life in law enforcement | Community | highlandnews.net He said that recently a man parked his car at a gas station at Sterling Avenue and Base Line.

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“He went in to pay for his gas and when he came back to his car there was a person sitting in it,” he said. “He told him to get out of his car and he refused. So the citizen did what any normal person would do — he grabbed a box cutter out of the glove box and started slashing at him.”

When a deputy arrived, the guy who was sitting in the car ran up in the middle of the intersection and said, “Hey, hey, you need to take me to jail.” The man was bleeding profusely.

“Meanwhile, the guy with the box cutter came running over” and the deputy took him down at gunpoint.

“While he was busy with him, the guy that was bleeding took o,” Bohner said. He was taken down at gunpoint, too. “At the end of the day, I think someone went to jail.”

One Kiwanian asked if he had ever been wounded.

“No, but my feelings have been hurt,” he said.

Bohner was born in New York, the oldest of six children. There’s an 18-year gap between Bohner and his youngest brother.

“My mom was pregnant for almost 20 straight years,” he said.

The family moved to California when he was 5.

https://www.highlandnews.net/community/a-long-life-in-law-enforcement/article_94031882-5f84-11e8-a618-9757ad753789.html 2/4 5/25/2018 A long life in law enforcement | Community | highlandnews.net When Bohner was in fourth grade, his father was active in the Catholic Church and moved the family to St. Cloud, Minn., so he could study at a seminary.

“I tell ya, it’s cold there.”

The family later went to Charleston, S.C., and then back to California — to a 300-acre ranch in Monterey County, where he became a cowboy in his teens. He went to high school in King City. Bohner said he didn’t know what he wanted to do for a living when he left high school. He studied agriculture at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and interned at a Nevada cattle ranch.

“It was old-school,” he said. “They fed us three times a day for an hour and if you were late you didn’t eat.”

It was good work, he said, but it didn’t pay lot.

“We got $14 a day and room and board,” he said, “and they got 12 hours of hard labor out of us. I didn’t think there was much of a future in that.”

Lisa Henley, a longtime services specialist in the Highland station who invited Bohner to speak, sneezed during the talk.

“Somebody must be allergic to bs,” Bohner quipped.

He dropped out of college and worked for a commercial printer for nine years, where he eventually became supervisor.

Bohner’s brother became a sheri’s deputy for Monterey County and took Bohner ride-along. He liked the idea of working outside, and both his grandfathers had been New York City policemen.

After Monterey County declined to hire him, he took the job with San Bernardino County. His plan was to work here for a while and then move back to “God’s Country.” Instead, his wife and three children settled in Yucaipa, where they have been for almost 30 years.

https://www.highlandnews.net/community/a-long-life-in-law-enforcement/article_94031882-5f84-11e8-a618-9757ad753789.html 3/4 5/25/2018 A long life in law enforcement | Community | highlandnews.net Like many deputies, he started at the Central Detention Center. His rst patrol assignment came in 1990 in Yucaipa when it became a city. After six of seven years in that job, he was promoted to detective and transferred to Highland, where he worked for about 18 months. He then joined the narcotics squad, where he worked for eight years.

For about ve years on a task force, he worked in the basement of the Redlands Police Department.

“There were a lot of meth labs in those days,” he recalled. “I missed out on my kids growing up because I was at work all the time. If I didn’t turn in 30 hours of overtime every two weeks, I could hardly look at myself in the mirror.”

He carried a machine gun, had a company car and wore T-shirts and blue jeans in that job. Then he got promoted to sergeant. He was back working in the jail — Glen Helen Rehabilitation Center — with no car, no expense account and no overtime.

“That rst year was a rough year for me,” he said.

Then he went back on patrol and landed back in Yucaipa.

“Honestly, I thought that was going to be my last stop,” Bohner said. “Great circle of life, here I am.”

It was then that he got involved with the Yucaipa Kiwanis Club, where he became board president within two years.

However, the department tends to move its employees around a lot and Bohner was sent back to Highland about a year ago, and he’s ne with that.

James Folmer

https://www.highlandnews.net/community/a-long-life-in-law-enforcement/article_94031882-5f84-11e8-a618-9757ad753789.html 4/4 5/25/2018 Yucaipa’s new lieutenant meets city council | Local News | newsmirror.net

https://www.newsmirror.net/news/local/yucaipa-s-new-lieutenant-meets-city-council/article_0281aaa4-5ecb- 11e8-9899-238d58b2d350.html

FEATURED Yucaipa’s new lieutenant meets city council

Adam Askenaizer 14 hrs ago

Yucaipa Mayor Greg Bogh, Councilwoman Denise Allen, Police Chief James Williams, Lt. James Porter, Councilman Dick Riddell, Councilman David Avila and Councilman Bobby Duncan. Photo by Adam Askenaizer

San Bernardino County Sheri Lt. James Porter was introduced to City Council at its meeting on May 14 by Chief of Police Capt. James Williams. Williams noted that Porter has worked with the Sheri’s Department for 22 years and last worked at the High Desert Detention Center before his posting in Yucaipa.

“He came to law enforcement with a desire to work patrol and be involved in the community,” Williams said. “He’s proud to come to Yucaipa, a town with a solid community and law enforcement relationship, and bring his spirit of engagement and interaction with him.”

https://www.newsmirror.net/news/local/yucaipa-s-new-lieutenant-meets-city-council/article_0281aaa4-5ecb-11e8-9899-238d58b2d350.html 1/3 5/25/2018 Yucaipa’s new lieutenant meets city council | Local News | newsmirror.net

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Lt. Porter expressed his excitement at working in the city. “Yucaipa is awesome,” he said. “The city has been so accommodating … and everyone I’ve met in the community has been fantastic so far.”

Porter worked as a patrol sergeant in both Morongo and Highland before his promotion to lieutenant.

Williams also noted that Porter enjoys working with animals, and does yearly volunteer work with Yucaipa Animal Placement Society. Porter is a resident of Yucca Valley and enjoys reading, gardening, and playing the piano.

Adam Askenaizer Reporter

https://www.newsmirror.net/news/local/yucaipa-s-new-lieutenant-meets-city-council/article_0281aaa4-5ecb-11e8-9899-238d58b2d350.html 2/3 5/25/2018 Law enforcement officers are recovering after Highland crash – San Bernardino Sun

NEWSCRIME + PUBLIC SAFETY Law enforcement officers are recovering after Highland crash

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s officials investigate the scene where three law enforcement officers, investigating a shooting, were seriously injured after being struck by a car on Rogers Lane near 11th Street in Highland, CA., Wednesday, May 23, 2018. (Staff photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, The Sun/SCNG)

By BEATRIZ E. VALENZUELA | [email protected] | San Bernardino Sun PUBLISHED: May 24, 2018 at 1:04 pm | UPDATED: May 24, 2018 at 4:43 pm

 https://www.sbsun.com/2018/05/24/law-enforcement-officers-are-recovering-after-highland-crash/ 1/3 5/25/2018 Law enforcement officers are recovering after Highland crash – San Bernardino Sun

One sheriff’s deputy was released from the hospital and two others are still recovering Thursday aer an unlicensed driver crashed into them Wednesday aernoon outside an elementary school, San Bernardino County sheriff’s ofcials said.

“The deputy was treated and released last night,” said Jodi Miller, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department. “The sergeant and (District Attorney’s Ofce) investigator remain in the hospital and are recovering well.”

The three ofcers were on standing on the side of the road near Rogers Lane south of 11th Street investigating a report of a shooting when a Nissan Sentra veered from one lane and struck a parked patrol car, ofcials said. The Sentra ipped, struck another patrol car and then hit the trio of ofcers.

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The driver, Hugo Pineda Jr., 20, of Highland, was not injured. He was questioned but not arrested or cited at the time although authorities did say he was unlicensed.

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No arrests were made in the shooting investigation and nearby Warm Springs Elementary was temporarily placed on lockdown. https://www.sbsun.com/2018/05/24/law-enforcement-officers-are-recovering-after-highland-crash/ 2/3 5/25/2018 County loan bridges slow state's payment gap | Needles Desert Star | mohavedailynews.com

http://www.mohavedailynews.com/needles_desert_star/county-loan-bridges-slow-state-s-payment- gap/article_6bb4aeea-5f9d-11e8-9738-07fd1d384ba2.html County loan bridges slow state's payment gap

By SAUL A. FLORES Needles Desert Star 17 hrs ago

NEEDLES — The Needles Unied School District requested a temporary cash loan from the San Bernardino County Auditor Controller-Recorder in the amount of $1,296,334.

According to background information provided by school sta, the loan has restrictions that apply to it:

1) The maximum amount of authorized borrowing shall not exceed 85 percent of the anticipated property taxes accruing to the district;

2) Constitutional advances are subject to Auditor Controller-Recorder review and Board of Supervisors approval;

3) Cash will be advanced on a per-expenditure basis once the district's funds enter into cash decit;

4) Funds borrowed shall be replaced from revenues accruing to the district before any other obligation of the district is met from such revenues.

“The way it works is school districts receive their money at dierent times from the state but it’s almost never the time of the year that we need the money,” said Mary McNeil, NUSD superintendent. “We need cash on a monthly basis, especially in the rst couple of months of the school year, in order to start paying our payroll and other expenses. So what the county does is they lend you part of the money from the allocation that we are going to get so when we do get our allocation they take back the money that we borrowed.

“This is basically a nancial advance that we get from the county,” McNeil continued. “For example, we have teachers’ salaries who are dependent on Title 1, which is federal money, and Title 1 doesn’t come in until December or January. So we have to be able to pay them all year long.”

http://www.mohavedailynews.com/needles_desert_star/county-loan-bridges-slow-state-s-payment-gap/article_6bb4aeea-5f9d-11e8-9738-07fd1d384ba2.html 5/25/2018 County loan bridges slow state's payment gap | Needles Desert Star | mohavedailynews.com The NUSD Board of Trustees approved the request be sent to the SBC Auditor Controller- Recorder for a loan in the amount of $1,296,334 during their meeting on May 15.

http://www.mohavedailynews.com/needles_desert_star/county-loan-bridges-slow-state-s-payment-gap/article_6bb4aeea-5f9d-11e8-9738-07fd1d384ba2.html 5/25/2018 Flightpath Issue One Year Later - Mountain News : News Flightpath Issue One Year Later BY DAVID CAINE, FOUNDER Quiet Skies Lake Arr owhead | Posted: Thursday , May 24, 2018 10:00 am

OVERVIEW AND OPINION

Like a pandemic disease, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) unleashed NextGen upon the unsuspecting public, hitting Lake Arrowhead full force one year ago. There were no warnings, no public meetings (despite FAA claims to the contrary) and no announcement in our local newspaper. It was apparent that something had changed, but only when aircraft began flying low over Lake Arrowhead and our homes every few minutes day and night.

Residents and visitors watched in disgust as jet liners flew low, loud and frequently in a Planes route across the lake, heading toward Ontario International Airport (ONT). Cargo carriers (UPS/FedEx/DHL/Amazon Prime) and passenger jets began a constant assault on our The photo that started it all one year ago: solitude – with roar and thunder all day, all night and in the early morning hours. It didn’t No telephoto lens was used when David take long to realize that a new flightpath bisected Lake Arrowhead, crossing the mountain Caine took this picture, which illustrates communities from north to south and exiting at State Highways 18 and 173 near Rim of how seriously the flight path changes the World High School. affected residents after May 2017. SUMMER OF THUNDER As loud jet noise grew in frequency throughout the summer, Quiet Skies Lake Arrowhead (QSLA) became the group name of concerned mountain residents. Voices joined together in demands that the FAA restore our homes and community to the quality of life and quiet enjoyment that make mountain living a special retreat from hectic down-the-hill noise and stress. As more jets crossed the mountains, residents developed serious concerns over jet engine noise, pollution concentrations, particulates and health risks. Realtors recognized a need to disclose the new flightpath. People voiced concerns over adverse impacts to property values, shrinking home prices and a lower tax base. QSLA worked diligently to increase public pressure, producing significant effort by legislative leaders to push the FAA to respond. Most notably, County Supervisor Janice Rutherford, Congressman Paul Cook and U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein generated dialogue with the FAA. QSLA filed petitions with 5,000 signatures demanding that the flightpath be moved. Letters, emails, phone calls and news articles increased public pressure, calling on the FAA to consider residents’ concerns and supporting demands to return the flightpath to the uninhabited Heaps Peak area, the former “way-crossing” for aircraft inbound to ONT. THE PROBLEM The FAA, operating under a congressional legislative mandate to modernize air travel and air commerce, formed “NextGen.” The SoCal Metroplex is part of the national modernization program. Detailed information about the project is available at the FAA website, [https://www.faa.gov/nextgen/snapshots/metroplexes/?locationId=18]. Several important procedures are within NextGen project protocols. The program includes a direct tie to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which includes administrative law regarding the time frame within which individuals or groups can appeal a decision once it is issued. That time frame is 60 days from finalization of the report, known as “Finding of No Significant Impact” and “Record of Decision” (FONSI-ROD). [See https://www.faa.gov/nextgen/nextgen_near_you/community_involvement/socal/media/fonsi_rod_160818_final_electronic_signature.pdf]. THE DISPUTE The FAA claims that the community was informed about the flightpath but failed to participate in the process and failed to file a timely appeal. It claims that it conducted public workshops, held webinars and published information about the SoCal Metroplex affecting 21 airports in the greater Southern California area, but none of those included our community or representatives.

http://www.mountain-news.com/news/article_5c902bd6-5f72-11e8-bcbb-3bf0d893bc04.html?mode=print 1/3 5/25/2018 Flightpath Issue One Year Later - Mountain News : News The FAA published the FONSI-ROD in August 2016 and any appeal process legally expired after October 2016. However, legislative leaders, community activists, business leaders and everyone else normally notified of major projects affecting our communities confirmed that no one knew of the Metroplex plans to bring airplanes over our community in April 2017.

Legal notices were not published in the Mountain News or the Big Bear Grizzly. The only one was a small strip in the legal notices of Riverside’s Press Enterprise in early 2014.

Compounding local anger is NextGen protocol: The FAA mandates that pilots follow prescribed routes using GPS technology called RNAV (Required Navigation), flying at lower altitudes to approach ONT.

The result is that planes begin to cross Lake Arrowhead at 9,000 feet mean sea level (MSL), just north of lake homes, and continue across to exit the mountain at Highways 18 and 173 near Rim High School, averaging 7,700 feet MSL. Using Rim High School as a fixed elevation point of 5,780 feet MSL, the site at www.Planefinder.net has recorded planes as low as 1,640 feet above ground level (AGL) – just above our homes and schools in full throttle.

FAA’S MOTIVE

While driven by a legislative mandate to revamp the nation’s airway, the FAA claims that the NextGen program provides fuel savings, as well as greater safety and efficiency for the airlines. Cargo carriers and passenger planes into ONT are boasting savings through NextGen, regardless of the negative impact on communities. One cargo carrier boasts on YouTube a monthly savings of $1 million through NextGen. Airline lobbyists appear to have achieved enormous profits for their clients – on the heads of residents and communities nationwide. See FedEx Managing Director Dan Allen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGN7ns1Ntt0. Such monetary savings force communities to submit to FAA demands without compensation or consideration for the continuing noise of jets roaring overhead, sometimes only minutes apart. The FAA does not view negative economic outcomes or lost property values as a “significant impact,” even for a resort community where peace and quiet make Lake Arrowhead a destination of refuge. EFFECTS AND LITIGA TION Communities nationwide, particularly in California, are suing the FAA over the impact of NextGen flightpaths. The noise of frequent low-flying jets is devastating to the human spirit but, nonetheless, is driven by airline profits. QSLA has encountered angry residents demanding that “we” sue the FAA. This is a vexing problem, due to several factors. First, who are “we”? Our mountain communities are not cities, towns or recognized organizations, with funds to file and carry out litigation against the federal government. “We” did not exist to sue anyone within the 60-day window after the FONSI-ROD was issued in August 2016, or immediately after the first plane flew over on April 27, 2017. There was no “we” with sufficient funds to file a timely lawsuit, and court decisions favor the administrative rule of law that requires prosecution within the 60-day time frame, unless proof of egregious acts by the FAA demonstrates that the community was denied its timely remedy. That last item is perhaps an argument favorable to a community legal challenge, but there needs to be a cohesive organization of individuals seriously willing to fund and carry out the responsibilities of litigation, represented by quality legal counsel, and to pursue the matter through to conclusion. So far, public pressure and legislative representation have been effective in moving the FAA to provide a nighttime flightpath over less populated land, resulting in less noise to residents. Some believe the county should carry a case forward against the FAA, but that is a strategy filled with complexity and opposing interests. The county wants to build a thriving economic engine through growing the airport business model. The airport receives a substantial amount of federal funding from the FAA and is, therefore, at cross purpose to any litigation strategy when Lake Arrowhead is only one flightpath within the massive SoCal Metroplex affecting the airport. WHAT YOU/WE CAN DO “We” all need to thank our legislative leaders and encourage them to continue representing our concerns. Full- and part-time residents need to join QSLA volunteers by writing letters and documenting the nuisance of loud, low-flying jets with photographs, video recordings and other proof. http://www.mountain-news.com/news/article_5c902bd6-5f72-11e8-bcbb-3bf0d893bc04.html?mode=print 2/3 5/25/2018 Flightpath Issue One Year Later - Mountain News : News Everyone needs to continue calling elected officials, regardless of whether or not they represent Lake Arrowhead, and demand action to stop this runaway federal agency from destroying our community economically and our quality of life.

NextGen is a flawed program that gave the FAA impunity as abusive flightpaths were created to generate airline profits with no regard for the shattered lives of the people beneath them. Every member of congress needs to know that NextGen must be fixed. We need to raise our voices in protest now. Don’t delay! Don’t expect others to represent your concerns. Join the battle now to save our quality of life and property values!

David Caine received the 2017 Citizen of the Year award from the Lake Arrowhead Chamber of Commerce on March 23. He was honored for his work as the founder of the “Quiet Skies” movement, leading efforts to persuade the FAA to reroute airplanes that have been flying directly over Lake Arrowhead. He has also distinguished himself with Citizens on Patrol, the Municipal Advisory Council, obtaining funding for the Bark Beetle Tree Removal Program and numerous other efforts to benefit the mountain communities.

SIDEBAR:

FAA Automates JCKIE

The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Western Pacific Regional Administrator, Dennis E. Roberts, sent an update to San Bernardino County Supervisor Janice Rutherford, announcing implementation of the JCKIE arrival procedure, effective the night of May 23. The email from Roberts is reprinted here:

Dear Lake Arrowhead Colleagues:

I wanted to provide you with the latest update on the agency’s steps to implement the new satellite-based JCKIE (Jackie) Area Navigation (RNAV) arrival procedure into the Ontario International Airport (ONT). This RNAV arrival addresses Lake Arrowhead community concerns on nighttime operations.

As you are aware, since April 26, the Southern California TRACON has been manually directing nighttime ONT arrivals onto a path east of the current EAGLZ (Eagles) arrival route. Based on radar data obtained from the SOCAL TRACON, a large percentage of the nighttime ONT arrivals have been manually directed to this new path. But, until the new JCKIE procedure is formally implemented, air traffic controllers must manually redirect these aircraft.

Early tomorrow morning, May 24, the actual JCKIE procedure will be implemented, making it a fully automated RNAV arrival procedure with optimized profile descents available during nighttime hours. This will allow both air traffic controllers and pilots/dispatchers to automatically assign the new JCKIE satellite-based arrival procedure as part of their flight planning in the onboard flight management systems and further enhance its utilization to the greatest degree possible.

It is important to note, however, that there will be times during nighttime hours Air Traffic may have to redirect traffic due to a number of issues in order to maintain safe and efficient operations of the region’s airspace. These issues may involve, but not be limited to, weather, conflicting air traffic (either civilian or military), delayed implementation of the curfews at Long Beach and/or John Wayne airports, and/or pilot requests for specific procedures needed for operational necessity. Our intent is to utilize the new JCKIE RNAV procedure as much as possible, but deviations from this may be necessary at times.

I wanted to give you advance notice of this expected change and provide you the opportunity to notify your constituents. I also want to express my thanks for everyone’s continued leadership and assistance on this matter. Dennis E. Roberts Regional Administrator FAA – Western Pacific Region – AWP-1

http://www.mountain-news.com/news/article_5c902bd6-5f72-11e8-bcbb-3bf0d893bc04.html?mode=print 3/3 5/25/2018 Groundwater Authority, public discuss need for finance committee

Groundwater Authority, public discuss need for nance committee By Jack Barnwell Editor Posted at 12:01 AM “This has to succeed,” says rep

The question of whether or not the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority needs a finance committee bore some fruitful discussion as San Bernardino County representative Bob Page brought the topic up during May 17′s meeting.

Page noted that interested parties have been requesting a finance committee for months in order to keep an eye on finances. However, he asked why one was needed when the board meeting agenda provides a finance report detailing the information on a monthly basis.

“For the last two months at least, we have had this report which shows the expenses that have been paid so far, and an analysis of our cash flow issues and when certain revenues are expected to come in,” Page said. “I would like to know how this financial report isn’t sufficient for accomplishing what they want to accomplish [with a committee].”

IWV Water District representative Chuck Griffin said his issue was tracking income, because he anticipates a shortfall in revenue.

“This stresses me out because this [the groundwater authority] has to succeed,” Griffin said. But when the member agencies’ individual boards make their own decisions, they should have that information.

He said the water district’s board faced that issue at its May meeting when it couldn’t come to a consensus on an important decision that could positively affect the groundwater authority’s planned pump fee.

http://www.ridgecrestca.com/news/20180525/groundwater-authority-public-discuss-need-for-finance-committee 1/3 5/25/2018 Groundwater Authority, public discuss need for finance committee

“I think if you’re reviewing something, you need all the facts, so I think a finance committee would be good for that,” Griffin said.

Resident Stan Rajtora noted he has observed the groundwater authority board talking about several different budgets over the last three or four months.

“When you do that, you don’t have a real budget, you’re just shooting from the hip,” Rajtora said. “We need to have a real budget, what the income is at the start of the year.”

He added the groundwater authority needs to start looking at revenue sources other than its planned pumping fee. The fee would impact large water producers in the basin, including the IWV Water District, the city of Ridgecrest, agriculture interests, and others. Only the U.S. Navy, Bureau of Land Management and di minims users (domestic well owners who pump less than two-acre feet of water a year) will be exempt from the fee.

The monthly pumping fee, at $35 acre-feet pumped, goes before the groundwater authority board on June 21. If approved, it will be adopted by resolution; a corresponding ordinance that governs how it will be implemented and collected will also be voted on.

Rajtora said a finance committee could look for those additional revenue sources, like grants.

And then there’s the public component.

“I think a very important aspect of a finance committee is to allow the public to sit in on the discussions of the budget,” Rajtora said. He added that the allotted three minutes of public comment before the board each month doesn’t work. “I don’t think what we are doing right now is responsive to the needs of the public.”

IWVGA staff member and Kern County Deputy County Administrative Officer Alan Christensen noted that the groundwater authority has already applied for and will receive $2.14 million in grant funding through California’s Proposition 1. While Prop. 1 will eventually have a second round, he wasn’t aware of any grants that apply to the requirements of the SGMA.

http://www.ridgecrestca.com/news/20180525/groundwater-authority-public-discuss-need-for-finance-committee 2/3 5/25/2018 Groundwater Authority, public discuss need for finance committee

“We would love to know and explore that,” Christensen said.

He also cautioned the board on forming any new committees due to costs. The board already has two: a policy advisory and a technical advisory committee.

He noted groundwater authority expenses are significant because it takes people to staff them.

“They are Brown Act committees, they do a lot of work, but they’re staffed and it costs money to do that,” he said. “For every committee meeting you decide to add if it’s Brown Act, you have to have someone review the agenda, someone to get that information out. There is no free staff [support] anymore and that meeting could be anywhere from $3,000 to $10,000.”

Derek Hoffman, legal counsel for Meadowbrook, suggested putting the item on the groundwater authority agenda for discussion. He said a regular standing committee doesn’t need to meet monthly, and it would address some of the missing line items or gaps that he said the financial reports have.

“There are always questions that come up on the financial reports, including being included in the consent calendar from month to month, with no staff report,” Hoffman said. The consent calendar is a list of items voted in one motion and often without discussion unless pulled from the queue.

“A standing finance committee would do a lot to help educate the public on what the finances are like, and address the broader issues that will ultimately result in cost-savings for this board through grants, loans and other mechanisms to derive the revenue you need,” Hoffman said. “Right now it’s a heavy lift for the board as a whole. I think you need a committee that can look at these issues and bring them back through a public process.”

http://www.ridgecrestca.com/news/20180525/groundwater-authority-public-discuss-need-for-finance-committee 3/3 5/25/2018 Police: Woman left 164 Pomeranians alone in U-Haul truck for 22 - WFSB 3 Connecticut

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Police: W oman left 164 Pomeranians alone in U- Haul truck for 22 hours Posted: May 24, 2018 8:29 AM PDT Updated: May 24, 2018 8:35 AM PDT Ashleigh Jackson, Digital Producer, Meredith CONNECT

(Meredith/KVVU) - A Nevada woman was arrested after abandoning 164 Pomeranians in a U- Haul truck with no food or water, according to authorities.

Noela Velasco was charged on Tuesday with 20 counts of animal cruelty nearly six months after police rescued the dogs in Goodsprings. Kevin MacCormack, a handyman who worked for Velasco, was also arrested.

Police said the woman left the Pomeranians unattended for nearly 22 hours on Nov. 29, 2017, and would have left them alone for another 12 hours if officers did not intervene. Several of the dogs had matted fur and were covered in feces and dirt, authorities said.

According to an arrest report, Velasco said she knew she had too many dogs and asked Animal Control for help finding them a new home. She said the agency told her it could only house about 15 dogs.

Trending Articles Warning issued after man was bitten by rabid raccoon A Brooklyn man was taken to the hospital on Tuesday after being bit by a…

"(Velasco) became concerned because the Animal Control sounded too interested in taking all the dogs, selling some and euthanizing the rest. Noella said she felt scared about what was going to happen to her dogs," the arrest report stated.

She then decided to load the dogs into a U-Haul truck with plans to remove them before Animal Control would return to seize the animals. Velasco said her plan was to move the dogs to MacCormack's in-law's home in Sandy Valley and bring them back after Animal Control had left.

http://www.wfsb.com/story/38269602/police-woman-left-164-pomeranians-in-u-haul-truck-for-22-hours 1/2 5/25/2018 Police: Woman left 164 Pomeranians alone in U-Haul truck for 22 - WFSB 3 Connecticut

The arrest report said that MacCormack helped Velasco load and transport the dogs and was aware of the conditions they were living in.

The rescued animals were taken to Animal Foundation Las Vegas for a 72-hour legal regulation hold during the investigation. The animal foundation confirmed one Pomeranian was euthanized after complications giving birth. All the others have been adopted.

Velasco is also dealing with legal issues in California. According to a San Bernardino County spokesperson, Velasco violated multiple county codes in the month of March, including having 18 dogs on her property.

The spokesperson said Velasco was working with code enforcement to resolve the problems.

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http://www.wfsb.com/story/38269602/police-woman-left-164-pomeranians-in-u-haul-truck-for-22-hours 2/2 5/25/2018 Taking the bite out of summer: Program reducing area mosquito population | News | mohavedailynews.com

http://www.mohavedailynews.com/news/taking-the-bite-out-of-summer-program-reducing-area- mosquito/article_d82b2700-5fdb-11e8-8c4a-db5b55d4dc30.html Taking the bite out of summer: Program reducing area mosquito population

By DK McDONALD The Daily News 10 hrs ago

The majority of mosquitoes caught in Mohave Valley are oodwater mosquitoes, which are not vectors for diseases, but are very aggressive biters, according to Mohave County Environmental Health Supervisor Rebecca Bramlett. Shown are mosquito larvae in a ooded eld. Bullhead City Pest Abatement Manager Joe Iburg trained county and tribal eld hands to locate, identify and treat with larvicide mosquito breeding grounds. BULLHEAD CITY PEST ABATEMENT DISTRICT/Contributed

BULLHEAD CITY — Local agencies have created their own “swat” team in an eort to bring the area’s mosquito population under control.

http://www.mohavedailynews.com/news/taking-the-bite-out-of-summer-program-reducing-area-mosquito/article_d82b2700-5fdb-11e8-8c4a-db5b55d4dc30.html 5/25/2018 Taking the bite out of summer: Program reducing area mosquito population | News | mohavedailynews.com Bullhead City Pest Abatement Manager Joe Iburg is working with Mohave County Environmental Health, Fort Mojave Indian Tribe Oce of Emergency Response and ocials in Nevada and California to stop mosquito development before the biting begins.

“I’m very excited about this,” Iburg said. “We’ve got a really good partnership between myself, the county and the tribe where we’ve identied what species are a problem around this area, where they come from and addressing the issue at the source.”

Mohave County Environmental Health conducts mosquito surveillance, which involves trapping mosquitoes, counting them, identifying the species and testing the appropriate species for viruses, said Rebecca Bramlett, Mohave County environmental health supervisor.

“The main diseases of concern in Mohave County are West Nile Virus and Zika,” Bramlett said. “West Nile Virus is commonly spread through Culex species. Although we have identied some Culex species in our traps, no specimens have tested positive for West Nile Virus. Additionally, no Aedes aegypti mosquitos, the species that can transmit Zika, have been identied in our surveillance traps.”

Southern Nevada Health District Vector Surveillance Program identied Aedes aegypti mosquitos in the North Las Vegas area in 2017, the rst time the mosquito has been detected in Clark County. Aedes aegypti mosquito is the main type of mosquito that spreads Zika, dengue, chikungunya and other viruses. To date, no Aedes aegypti mosquitoes identied in Nevada, California or Arizona have tested positive for Zika.

“The overwhelming majority of mosquitoes caught in Mohave Valley are oodwater mosquitoes,” Bramlett said. “They are not vectors for these diseases, but they are very aggressive biters and create a health nuisance for citizens.”

Floodwater mosquitoes can y 20 miles and lay their eggs anywhere there is moist soil, Iburg said. The eggs can remain viable for years.

“When I started, about 20 months ago, I was nding mosquito larvae in the grass at Rotary Park,” Iburg said. “They were attracted to the parks because of the lights and they were laying their eggs in our grass because it is constantly getting watered. There was quite a volume of eggs built up.”

Iburg said he has not found those eggs in the park in over a year. http://www.mohavedailynews.com/news/taking-the-bite-out-of-summer-program-reducing-area-mosquito/article_d82b2700-5fdb-11e8-8c4a-db5b55d4dc30.html 5/25/2018 Taking the bite out of summer: Program reducing area mosquito population | News | mohavedailynews.com “I consistently trap mosquitoes in Rotary Park and it’s much better than it was when I started,” Iburg said. “I have a lot of people who keep track of if they are getting bitten by mosquitoes, but rather than trying to fog around our park, I’ve partnered with these guys to go after the source, no matter what state or area it happens to fall in.”

The mosquito control collaboration extended to working out a plan with the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe to train tribe and county eld hands to identify mosquito hot spots and apply larvicide, Iburg said.

“We’ve worked out a plan to initiate aerial sprays if needed,” Iburg explained. “When we do have problems and we’ve identied where they are, they’ll be able to spray pretty safe pesticide over the eld itself, right over the source.”

Iburg is meeting with San Bernardino County Vector Control to talk about extending the program onto California elds close to the valley and Bullhead City.

The surveillance methods being used better identify areas where mosquito control eorts are needed, Bramlett said.

“By cooperating with the Bullhead City Pest Abatement District, Fort Mohave Indian Tribe and local farmers, we hope to drastically reduce the number of ood water mosquitoes in Mohave Valley,” Bramlett said.

Iburg said he is proud of the progress the program has made in reducing mosquito populations in the city.

“It’s not going to get them all, we’re still going to experience some mosquitoes here, but it’s been better the last couple of years,” he said.

$153

Graphic: A guide to code enforcement in W onder V alley

Amy DiPierr o and Rebecca Plevin , The Desert Sun Published 3:45 p.m. PT May 24, 2018 | Updated 4:05 p.m. PT May 24, 2018

Wonder Valley, a small community in the high desert of San Bernardino County, is known for its wide vistas, and star-filled skies, and homestead cabins.

But some of those homestead cabins aren't up to code, and the people that live in and near them wonder how they would fare if the authorities inspected their properties. Buy Photo The Desert Sun reviewed 20 records of recent code enforcement cases in the Wonder Valley area. Here's a

(Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert summary of what we learned. Sun) Main story: Off the grid and on the edge: Community and isolation in California's high desert (/story/news/2018/05/24/wonder-valley-life-threatened-nature-authorities-and-tourists/612176002/)

Related: Joshua Tree parents charged with child abuse reunited with their three kids, attorney says (/story/news/2018/05/17/joshua-tree-parents- charged-child-abuse-reunited-their-kids/621644002/)

 Speaking in  Code The Desert Sun asked San Bernardino County for records of recent code enforcement cases around Wonder Valley. This is what we found:

A code enforcement case usually begins with someone, often a resident, filing a complaint with San Bernardino Code Enforcement online or by phone.

After a complaint is filed, code enforcement personnel will conduct a field investigation to find out if there are any violations on the property.

The number of open code enforcement cases in the Wonder

Valley area as of May 2018. SHARE https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/05/24/guide-code-enforcement-wonder-valley/639460002/20 1/19 5/25/2018 Graphic: A guide to code enforcement in Wonder Valley Squatters Complaints Leaking roofs No water on property reported Exposed wiring Marijuana cultivations San Bernardino County Code Junk yards Enforcement received Barbed wire fencing complaints about: Burning trash Lights obscuring the night sky Animals and animal waste A campsite

Vacate recreational cabins and Actions vehicles Obtain building permits Convert cabins into permanent requested residences

San Bernardino County Code Remove trash, debris and certain Enforcement asked residents to kinds of fencing abate code violations by telling Shield and dim exterior lights them to: Repair electrical wires Stop growing marijuana

If you receive an administrative citation on your property:

There are three levels of penalties: $100/violation for the first citation, $200/violation for the second and $500/violation for the third and subsequent citations. Late fees apply. There is a right to appeal. Questions? Contact San Bernardino County Code Enforcement at: (909) 884-4056 or (760) 995-8140

Graphic by The Desert Sun Source: San Bernardino County

Speaking in Code (https://infogram.com/60784a7e-8c38-43a3-9ef8-84bf4ec2839a) Infogram (https://infogram.com)

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Off the grid and on the edge: Community and isolation in California's high desert

THIS WINTER A JOSHUA TREE COUPLE WAS CHARGED WITH CHILD ABUSE FOR CAMPING ON THEIR OWN LAND. THIRTY MILES AWAY, SOME WONDER VALLEY RESIDENTS SAW THEMSELVES.

Rebecca Plevin and (/staf f/10060714/rebecca-plevin)

Amy DiPierro (/staf f/10060346/amy-dipierro) , The Desert Sun

SHARE https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/05/24/guide-code-enforcement-wonder-valley/639460002/ 3/19 5/25/2018 Graphic: A guide to code enforcement in Wonder Valley PHOTOS BY ZOE MEYERS, RICHARD LUI AND JAY CALDERON | PUBLISHED MAY 23, 2018

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Pin (//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/? url=https%3A//www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/05/24/wonder- valley- life- threatened- nature- authorities- and- tourists/612176002/&media=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gannett- cdn.com%2F- mm- %2Fa25fff713b30df2b293ab5735644945dc12ec097%2Fc%3D0- 204- 4000- 2464%26r%3Dx803%26c%3D1600x800%2Flocal%2F- %2Fmedia%2F2018%2F05%2F23%2FPalmSprings%2FPalmSprings%2F636626759012204899- wonder- valley- 2.jpg&description=This winter a Joshua Tree couple was charged with (http://www.facebook.com/share.php? child u=https%3A//www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/05/24/wonder-abuse valley- for life- camping threatened- on nature- their authorities- own and- Share Share land. tourists/612176002/&image=https%3A//www.gannett-(//plus.google.com/share?(http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?Thirty cdn.com/- url=https%3A//www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/05/24/wonder-url=https%3A//www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/05/24/wonder-miles mm-/4912a0cc5f137cdf23b8ab23710cd634cb0e8315/c%3D667-valley- valley- away, 0- life- life- some 3334- threatened- threatened- Wonder 2667%26r%3Dx63%26c%3D60x60/local/-/media/2018/05/23/PalmSprings/PalmSprings/636626759012204899-nature- nature- Valley wonder- Tweet authorities- authorities- residents valley- (https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?and- and- saw 2.jpg&title=Off%20the%20grid%20and%20on%20the%20edge%3A%20Community%20and%20isolation%20in%20Califurl=https%3A//desert.sn/2xaqkRJ&text=Off%20the%20grid%20and%20on%20the%20edge%3A%20Community%20and%20isolation%20intourists/612176002/)tourists/612176002/)themselves.) Email Comment ornia%27s%20high%20desert)

Some come to Wonder Valley with a pioneering spirit. A plot of land and a modest homestead cabin is still affordable there. With a little grit, it’s possible to live under open skies, surrounded by mountains and bathed in golden light at sunset.

Some come to make art. Others are happy to sit on their porch late into the night, playing their guitars for the moon and the stars and, some say, the aliens, too.

Some come to Wonder Valley to escape. In the sparsely populated basin east of Twentynine Palms, it’s possible to live far away from old troubles.

“This is a great place to run away from something,” said Pastor Max Rossi, who heads one of the two churches serving Wonder Valley. “From a bad relationship, from debt, from bad parents, fears. People can run away into the desert and hide quite well.”

SHARE https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/05/24/guide-code-enforcement-wonder-valley/639460002/ 4/19 5/25/2018 Graphic: A guide to code enforcement in Wonder Valley Wide open desert The U.S. Census Bureau estimates 900 people live spread over this 1,300-square- mile area east of Twentynine Palms.

Map key Wonder Valley Census tract boundary

Source: U.S. Census Bureau Map: Robert Hopwood, The Desert Sun

But what makes it possible to build a new, freer life in Wonder Valley – space and isolation – is what makes it challenging to survive there. Living in Wonder Valley is not easy. Some fear it’s getting even harder.

Threats are baked into the desert and always have been: Blistering heat, venomous snakes and scorpions, bobcats and vultures. Scarce water and, perhaps more importantly, scarcer company mean any of these threats can carry life or death consequences.

Newer threats pose different challenges.

One is the peril – but also the promise – of tourism. As more visitors fill Joshua Tree National Park, some of the tourists drive further east, to a less-traveled destination, to Wonder Valley. There, some locals have refurbished cabins and turned them into short- term rental properties, which can be lucrative in a place with few jobs. But tourism begets more tourism. And as word of the serene desert getaway spreads, the increasing presence of transient desert-life voyeurs threatens to erase the rustic allure.

Finally, an increasingly pervasive fear has festered: In a place where authority and norms have felt so far away for so long, the residents of Wonder Valley worry they can no longer live how they please. Residents pass along rumors of county officials patrolling properties, telling people to tidy their yards, remodel their cabins or leave.

Sidebar: Graphic: A guide to code enforcement in Wonder Valley (https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/05/24/guide-code-enforcement-wonder- valley/639460002/)

SHARE https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/05/24/guide-code-enforcement-wonder-valley/639460002/ 5/19 5/25/2018 Graphic: A guide to code enforcement in Wonder Valley Older and poorer People in Wonder Valley tend to be older and have a lower household income compared to the California median. Additionally, the cost of living in the region is much cheaper than the rest of the state, as is evident in real estate prices.

Median household income Median home price

$63,783$63,783$63,783$63,783$63,783 $584,460$584,460$584,460$584,460$584,460

$16,379$16,379$16,379$16,379$16,379 $63,783$63,783$63,783$63,783$63,783

Wonder California Wonder California Valley Valley Get the data • Created with Datawrapper Get the data • Created with Datawrapper

Median age

Wonder Valley 59.3 California 36

Get the data • Created with Datawrapper

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Redfin and the California Association of Realtors Charts: Robert Hopwood, The Desert Sun

In February, in a community not too far from Wonder Valley, Daniel Panico and Mona Kirk were arrested on their five-acre property. They were camping with their three children in a fort that sheriff’s deputies interpreted to be their home. They were separated from their sons and daughter, handcuffed and sent to jail on charges of child abuse.

More: Three Joshua Tree children were living in a shack for years, parents arrested, police say (https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/crime_courts/2018/03/01/three-joshua- tree-children-found-living-boxparents-arrested-keeping-their-three-children-box-past- fo/387523002/)

More: Officials called it child abuse. Joshua Tree parents say 'we did very well with what we had.’ (https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/crime_courts/2018/05/11/joshua-tree- couple-accused-child-abuse-defend-themselves/592256002/)

In Wonder Valley, some saw themselves – or one of their neighbors – in this couple.

When Lindsey, a 35-year-old woman who has lived there in a run-down Winnebago for the past two years, read about Panico and Kirk in the news, one thing stood out to her: One of their friends, quoted in the article, remarked the couple didn’t really live in the fort on their property.

“I’m like that, a little bit,” Lindsey said. “I live here. I sleep more nights here than I don’t. But I have a network of friends that have slightly more resources than I do.”

Not everyone in Wonder Valley lives like Lindsey – on a limited income, perhaps with tenuous access to resources like utilities and transportation.

But to understand the particular segment of the population that does – people living on little means in the high desert – The Desert Sun interviewed Wonder Valley residents, reviewed real estate and demographic data, studied code enforcement records and visited the region several times between February and May.

In a place where people go to live simply and get away from it all, they can choose how

connected they want to be. This is especially true in Wonder Valley, a community of about SHARE 900 people located several miles off state Route 62, which cuts through the high desert. https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/05/24/guide-code-enforcement-wonder-valley/639460002/ 6/19 5/25/2018 Graphic: A guide to code enforcement in Wonder Valley Some, like Lindsey, disconnect from the common comforts of running water and electricity – but bond with fellow residents.

“There’s a pretty robust sense of community and neighborly charity out there,” Lindsey said.

Others live on the margins of an already deserted place – but by living in isolation, they must battle the desert’s threats alone.

One of Lindsey's ideas is to turn an abandoned cabin in W onder Valley into a tool lending library . (Photo: Zoe Meyers/The Desert Sun)

Chapter One

Off the grid but not alone

Lindsey felt trapped in Los Angeles.

SHARE https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/05/24/guide-code-enforcement-wonder-valley/639460002/ 7/19 5/25/2018 Graphic: A guide to code enforcement in Wonder Valley “I was out of money and looking for a way out of Hollywood and the city,” she said. “And I didn’t want to pay rent anymore. I was just like, ‘This is madness. I can’t do this.’”

So she traded the six lanes of stop-and-go L.A. traffic for a five-acre plot on a dirt road near Wonder Valley’s main drag.

The Desert Sun is not using her last name because she fears it could jeopardize her living arrangement.

Lindsey had just gotten out of a long-term relationship and lost her job as well. Then an acquaintance offered For the past two years Lindsey has been living in an RV in her an escape: Five acres out in the desert. She was Wonder Valley, Calif. She is building a space that can bring looking to sell it fast, for a few grand. artists and community together.

For the past two years Lindsey has been living in an R V in Wonder Lindsey cobbled together the cash. When she bought Valley, Calif. She is building a space that can bring artists and community together . the property for $9,000 in 2016, it had nothing but a (Photo: Zoe Meyers/The Desert Sun) rundown, one-room homestead cabin, filled with someone else’s rotting possessions.

“I stopped believing that I needed to live in an urban area to have a life that was worthwhile,” she said.

Today, Lindsey, a petite woman with strawberry blonde hair that often looks windblown, lives completely off-grid, on a property dotted with scrubby plants.

She’s converted the cabin into her living room and decorated it with potted succulents, wind chimes and found objects. From her couch, you can watch the wind whip up dust devils on the horizon.

Lindsey sleeps in a broken-down Winnebago with neither water nor an electrical hookup and cooks over a propane stove. She uses a 45-watt solar panel on the RV’s roof to charge her laptop. Nearby, she’s built a small wooden structure that encloses a composting toilet – a five-gallon bucket with sawdust. When it fills up, she buries the waste near plants.

Her property doesn’t have running water so she goes to the Joshua Tree visitors centers and fills up 20 or 30 gallons at a time. She uses about one gallon for showers and as little as possible for cooking and washing.

“I don’t wash my dish every time I use it,” she said. “I wash it once a week.”

To an outsider, Lindsey could appear isolated. Her Prius died a year ago, so she walks more than a mile to the community’s only bar and relies on others for rides out of town.

She’s had break-ins, but only when she wasn’t there. They took some tools, jewelry and her weed. She owns bear spray, but not a gun. Lindsey seems to have made peace with the risks.

“It’s not enough to just make it through your first few break-ins,” she said. “You have to make it through your first few break-ins and then be able to see the person at the bar who you know took your (stuff) and be cool.”

It’s a tough lifestyle, but it allows her to focus on creative endeavors.

She’s building a 120-square-foot artistic space from recycled materials and other people’s junk. She envisions her property becoming a place where people can create art, while experiencing the sanctuary and inspiration of the desert. She wants to turn another abandoned homestead cabin into a tool library, where residents could share building

equipment and enlist help with their own projects. SHARE https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/05/24/guide-code-enforcement-wonder-valley/639460002/ 8/19 5/25/2018 Graphic: A guide to code enforcement in Wonder Valley She’s poured her heart and sweat into the projects, while forgoing a steady income.

In LA, Lindsey worked as a wardrobe assistant while pursuing acting. Now, she makes just a few thousand dollars a year from reading tarot cards and making “weird art,” but she’s able to spend nearly all her earnings on her own work.

While she lacks a financial cushion, she has the support of other Wonder Valley residents.

She watches a neighbor’s dog when he travels. In exchange, she can bunker down at his air-conditioned home, which is nice when temperatures swell into the Lindsey sleeps in a broken-down W innebago in W onder V alley, Calif. with neither water nor an electrical hookup and cooks over a propane triple digits. Another friend regularly donates building stove. (Photo: Zoe Meyers/The Desert Sun) materials to Lindsey’s art project.

“I now have a network of friends that have slightly more resources than I do,” she said. “I can help them out with things and they can help me out.”

On Friday nights, Lindsey changes out of breezy pants and the loose shirts that protect her fair skin from the desert sun, and slips into jeans, before heading to the Palms Restaurant, essentially the only business in Wonder Valley. As her neighbors greet her, she slides onto a bar stool and orders a cold cocktail and a warm meal.

Soon, the weekly open mic event begins. Lindsey’s neighbor Jim plays the guitar, performing the songs he sings on his porch each night. A local known as Harmonica Bob jams with a trio.

The cozy roadhouse serves as a bar, concert venue and community hub. Patrons can get stiff drinks, cheap homemade food or Twinkies to satisfy a sweet tooth. Rummage sale t- shirts and used DVDs cost $1. The television behind the bar almost always shows classic, black-and-white movies.

Here, residents can catch up on local news by picking up a copy of the Wonder Valley Sand Paper, published by a civic-minded couple. They catch up on each other’s days, discussing each other’s latest photos posted on Instagram.

They all seem to know Lindsey.

“She’s a tough lady,” Wonder Valley resident Wendy Stone says when her name comes up during brunch at the Palms on a recent Sunday morning.

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Chapter Two

'Leave me alone'

Seven miles east of the Palms, Zena and Vandar Awesome live at the end of a sandy trail, in a cabin too small to contain the collected clutter of 30 years of marriage.

A computer table, tool chest and furniture spill into their side yard. Beyond the scattered houseware, their clothesline frames a sweeping desert vista.

They would like to stay there – but over the past few months, a minor issue has grown into something that threatens to cut short their future in Wonder Valley.

The two met in the U.S. Air Force, back when he was a welder named John Swestyn and she was an electronics specialist named Bonnie Watson. They became friends over rounds of Dungeons & Dragons, fell in love and were married on Aug. 8, 1988.

Bonnie became Zena. John became Vandar. And for their married surname, the couple decided on Awesome – memorable, easy to spell and near the top of any alphabetical list.

Since leaving the military, the couple has worked a smattering of odd jobs. They owned Awesome Computer Service, an IT business. They ran Awesome Farm, an animal boarding company. They Zena Awesome eats fried pork chops for lunch with her husband Vandar in their W onder V alley home. She cuts his into small pieces, sold zebra finches at swap meets, and even housed because he does not have teeth. (Photo: Zoe Meyers/The Desert Sun) sex offenders.

“You can’t forget me,” they’d tell business associates. “I’m Awesome.”

Then, things took a tragic turn.

One day in 2016, Vandar had a case of aphasia. Worried he was having a stroke, Zena took him to the emergency room. He was later diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer. Today, he wears a medical device on the crown of his head. SHARE https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/05/24/guide-code-enforcement-wonder-valley/639460002/ 10/19 5/25/2018 Graphic: A guide to code enforcement in Wonder Valley Zena, who has a slight frame and close-cropped greying hair, with streaks of red and purple, wanted to make the most of the time she had with her husband. The pair decided to move to Wonder Valley, where they’d purchased a cabin on five acres for $20,000 some years earlier. Why worry about animal boarding, or work, or distractions, at a time when they could be spending quality time with one another instead?

On a street where the sight of a car kicking up dust is almost as rare as rain, the couple figured they would be left alone.

They had a retirement plan, too. Without home payments or much in the way of monthly expenses, Zena and Vandar Awesome could leave for a road trip at whim. They could dote on their chihuahuas. They could make crafts, build sculptures, do what they wanted. They didn’t have deep savings and they wouldn’t need much.

“Without a house payment, you actually have a lot of freedom to spend money on what you want to spend it on,” Zena recalled thinking.

Their new home is a dimly lit cabin with a bed and two easy chairs facing a large television in the main room, with a small kitchen in one corner. The Photos of Zena Awesome and her husband V andar from a recent cruise hang on the wall of their home in W onder floors are concrete. Two lamps and an electrical Valley, Calif. cord dangle from the ceiling. (Photo: Zoe Meyers/The Desert Sun)

They make $1,200 a month – his Social Security check and their disability payments – and put some expenses on credit cards. Their medical care is covered by the Veterans Administration.

Expenses, meanwhile, are minimal. They get water delivered about every three months and try to fill up water bottles whenever they’re out. They use meal preparation services like Blue Apron – and to supplement their pantry, they get free food distributions at the Wonder Valley Community Center.

Their plan was to enjoy their time together, in the solitude of the cabin, on road trips and inexpensive cruises. For a while, it worked.

What the Awesomes hadn’t bargained for is that even in isolated Wonder Valley, neighborly disputes still exist.

In August, barely three months after moving to Wonder Valley, the couple received an unexpected visitor. Disturbed by the distant yapping of the couple’s chihuahuas, a neighbor had reported them to animal control. An official from the county came to their house to check on the dogs.

Things spiraled from there. Animal control discovered the Awesomes lived in the cabin full-time and referred the case to code enforcement, Zena said. Code enforcement came to the property and took photos. Zena Awesome collects clean clothes from a clothesline in W onder Valley. Zena is struggling to bring her home up to code after San Bernardino County officials cited her for code violations. (Photo: Zoe Meyers/The Desert Sun) That’s when they learned their home, legally, could

not be their home. The cabin was “not approved for SHARE permanent residence,” according to a violation notice https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/05/24/guide-code-enforcement-wonder-valley/639460002/ 11/19 5/25/2018 Graphic: A guide to code enforcement in Wonder Valley that arrived around Valentine’s Day. It said the couple would also have to permit or remove a storage container and relocate their dogs. They faced a choice: Convert the cabin into a single-family residence, or leave.

Their situation is not unique in Wonder Valley, where there are 20 open code enforcement cases. In some cases, like Zena and Vandar, homeowners were notified that their homes were not approved for permanent occupancy or were told to remove debris. Other code violations in Wonder Valley include lack of heating, lack of hot and cold running water and building without permits.

In the Wonder Valley area, about one out of every three housing units lack hot and cold running water, a flush toilet, a bathtub or shower or some combination of the three, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Even on the low end of the estimate, Wonder Valley homes lack plumbing at a rate more than 10 times that of San Bernardino as a whole.

So when Zena used the social media website Nextdoor to seek help responding to code enforcement, she was not surprised to find others wondering if they had similar problems. Four people responded, fearing code enforcement might take issue with their cabins, next.

“I know I’m not alone, but that doesn’t exactly help me,” Zena said. “My frustration is I don’t know what to do and nobody can tell me.”

In the past few months, Zena has found herself spending much of her time just trying to figure out what to do, and how to raise money to fix up the cabin.

She tried Craigslist first, seeking to sell many of the couple’s belongings.

“Lots of stuff. Do not want to give away,” she wrote. “Need money. Husband is sick and we have tools he won’t use.”

Later, she considered a different tactic: Asking for help directly. She set up a GoFundMe page in mid-March, aiming to raise $30,000. To-do items are stuck on a glass cabinet in Zena Awesome's home in Wonder V alley. Zena is struggling to bring her home up to code after she was cited for violations by San Bernardino County . (Photo: Zoe Meyers/The Desert Sun) “We are happy with what we have, but the government says it is not good enough,” she wrote.

But that was a dead end. Zena published the page online, but didn’t share it with a large social network. She’s connected with some old business acquaintances but doesn’t have hundreds of friends. She’s also uncomfortable relying on people, especially when she’s unsure what kind of help she needs.

And even now, after Zena has made noticeable progress cleaning her property, she still isn’t sure which parts of her home are up to code, which aren’t, and which will be the most expensive to fix. She’s consulted architects, engineers and loan officers. She’s discussed the problem with the county’s local representative at the Wonder Valley Community Center. But she remains confused. If only she could go back to August, when she and Vandar thought they could live quietly, undiscovered and undisturbed.

“The first part is, leave me alone,” Zena said. “But the second part is, not only are you not leaving me alone, you are actually sucking resources, sucking time and for me, with my husband, time is important.”

Fed up, Zena has decided it would be easiest to clean up the property, pack up Vandar

and their 7 dogs and hit the road. SHARE https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/05/24/guide-code-enforcement-wonder-valley/639460002/ 12/19 5/25/2018 Graphic: A guide to code enforcement in Wonder Valley “It sounds like I’m putting my head in the sand, but I’ve decided the best strategy is at least to try to be gone,” she said.

The Awesomes left this past Monday. Their first stop was Death Valley. They hope to still be traveling when code enforcement returns.

Chapter Three

'Don't want the world finding out about us'

By 10 a.m. on a recent Sunday morning, the Palms was full of happy customers drinking Americanos ($1) and digging into pancakes ($3.50) and hearty steak and eggs ($6.50).

Laura Sibley opened the bar in 1996 with her brother James and her mother, after a vision came to her in a dream.

“There was this roadhouse and people were happy and there was food and music and it was wonderful,” Sibley recalled of her dream.

Back then, she said, the customers were “a little more wild.” Sibley smiles shyly when she tell stories about rambunctious drunks and criminals on the lam.

SHARE https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/05/24/guide-code-enforcement-wonder-valley/639460002/ 13/19 5/25/2018 Graphic: A guide to code enforcement in Wonder Valley Today, the group at the Palms is a bit tamer. Wendy Stone, a military nurse who has lived in Wonder Valley for two years, had the vegetable omelette. She said the community is divided into three segments: People who don’t want community, people who do want community and criminals.

“The first two, we have to constantly be aware of the criminals,” she said.

Stone counts herself among those who seek out community. She and her husband recently painted a new “Welcome to Wonder Valley” sign; they planted it along Amboy Road, where the city of Twentynine Palms ends and their unincorporated community begins.

They often invite neighbors to their home for an activity they’ve created called “bong ball.” It’s a lawn game, but for the desert, named for the sound the softball makes when it hits a barrel.

“Out here, it’s so windy there’s not a lot of outdoor sports activities that you can do,” she said. “We can’t play tennis or badminton or any of that out here in Wonder Valley.”

Lindsey sat next to Stone and sipped a Bloody Maria (a Bloody Mary made with tequila). The criminals aren’t her enemies, she said.

“The meth heads and the squatters, they’re not my enemy,” she said. “They’re victims of the system in the same way that I am, they’re just further down the line.”

Lindsey knows she can survive without running water An old homestead cabin in W onder V alley. (Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun) on her property or a car. To her, the bigger threat is the possibility that unwanted attention – from authorities or the media – could jeopardize a way of life in Wonder Valley.

But she worries the secret is getting out.

At brunch, Stone and Lindsey talked about recent articles that purport to “discover” Wonder Valley, spurring visitors to rent cabins that have been converted into vacation rentals.

The tourists wander into the Palms, squinting as their eyes adjust from the bright sunlight to the dark bar. Some casually talk about scooping up a few cabins for themselves as investment properties, but the locals doubt the city folk could hack it in the harsh desert.

One such story ran in The New York Times in December (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/19/travel/in-the- A brightly-painted property in W onder V alley. (Photo: Jay Calderon and Richard Lui/The Desert Sun) california-desert-vast-darkness-vibrant-music-an- oasis.html). It said there’s an “unsettling sort of beauty in the challenges Wonder Valley presents, especially after dark.” At night, the author wrote, “it wasn’t only O.K. to be lost, it was somehow necessary.”

SHARE https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/05/24/guide-code-enforcement-wonder-valley/639460002/ 14/19 5/25/2018 Graphic: A guide to code enforcement in Wonder Valley Related: Is the Instagram generation filtering Joshua Tree's true character? (https://www.desertsun.com/story/life/2017/10/27/instagram-generation-filtering-joshua- trees-true-character/799361001/)

A couple from New York who’d read the Times article showed up at the Palms about a month ago. Stone said she chatted with them. She learned that the wife, an opera singer preparing to retire, hoped to make perfume.

“This is the problem: They came out here and bought two properties, but they have no idea what they’re doing,” Stone said. “They had this dream of living out here six months at a time. Your property can’t even go a weekend without being vandalized.”

Some residents didn’t want Wonder Valley named in this article. Some didn’t want the Palms named. They worry the bar will lose its locals-only feel and become a hip destination like Pappy and Harriet’s in Pioneertown, 40 miles west.

The Palm’s customers are already evolving from who they were when the Sibleys opened the bar more than two decades ago. Laura Sibley recalled her mom looking down the bar recently and realizing nobody had ever been arrested or jailed.

“That was sort of a new thing,” she said. “So when there are musicians and artists and creative types moving in who haven’t been to jail…it’s refreshing.” Siblings Laura and James Sibley own the Palms Restaurant in Wonder V alley. (Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun) Sibley and her brother used to perform country music classics at the bar. This year, the Palms hosted the 10th Wonder Valley Experimental Music Festival. The same weekend, 15 artists – including Lindsey – created sound installations across Wonder Valley, as part of an event called Incantations.

These types of changes are welcome – as long as they attract the right people.

“We don’t want the world finding out about us,” said the Palms bartender Kevin Bone.

SHARE https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/05/24/guide-code-enforcement-wonder-valley/639460002/ 15/19 5/25/2018 Graphic: A guide to code enforcement in Wonder Valley

Chapter Four

Finding community in the 'wild, wild east'

While customers at the Palms pondered their changing community over pancakes, churchgoers six miles away at Godwin Christian Fellowship were hugging one another hello while they waited for the 10:40 am service to begin.

The church is led by Pastor Max and Olympia Rossi, but this week Pastor Max was traveling, and attendance was low. Olympia took the stage, joined by a choir of two and a guest preacher from a nearby church.

The 15 or so attendees stood for much of the service, swaying gently and raising their arms as they sang church hymns. When it ended, a few members lingered to help Olympia tidy up.

There are certain things she’s learned from her years in the desert.

Olympia's learned to prepare for cold winters and “excruciatingly hot” summers. She’s learned, from experience, to expect the nearest sheriff’s deputy to be 20 minutes away. She’s learned to set aside more water than she needs, in the event of a blaze too remote for the fire department to reach.

And Olympia has seen all kinds of people in Wonder Valley. She’s seen young visitors from Los Angeles buy “old kitschy stuff” from the now-defunct thrift store, “the things that most people would say, ‘oh, that’s my mother’s.’” She’s seen wanderers trudging down state Route 62, headed toward Las Vegas. She’s seen neighbors rely on neighbors when they don’t have a car to ride into town. An old property is for sale in W onder V alley. (Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun)

So when she saw Daniel Panico and Mona Kirk, they looked familiar to her, too. They reminded her of some of the folks in the vicinity of the church, she said, families living without power or water.

“We came to find out very quickly that there are people that live like that, and they’re okay living like that,” she said. “They have water hauled in when they can afford it and they either have a generator, or somehow they can make it work.”

“It’s not a crime to be poor,” she added, but she also thinks social services is doing the right thing when it checks to make sure children are living in safe homes.

SHARE https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/05/24/guide-code-enforcement-wonder-valley/639460002/ 16/19 5/25/2018 Graphic: A guide to code enforcement in Wonder Valley In a place like Wonder Valley, those county resources can be remote. Neighbors are closer. They’re the ones you call when there’s a trespasser on your property or a coyote in your yard.

“Being out in the wild wild east,” she said in reference to the town’s location east of LA, east of San Bernardino, east of Yucca Valley, east of Twentynine Palms, “you have to do things a little bit differently. You have to be aware that you’re going to be needed, and you may need to call on your neighbor.”

And that’s how it happened with Daniel Panico and Mona Kirk. After they were arrested, when their lives were in freefall, it was neighbors that caught them. An aerial view of a W onder V alley property . (Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun)

One friend set up a GoFundMe page for the family, and people responded by donating tens of thousands of dollars to help them buy a home. Volunteers cleaned and refurbished it. Panico and Kirk moved in.

Then last week, nearly three months after they were separated, a San Bernardino County judge said the parents could bring their three children home. Kirk can’t imagine how long it would have taken if not for the support of their neighbors.

More: Joshua Tree parents charged with child abuse reunited with their three kids (https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/05/17/joshua-tree-parents-charged-child- abuse-reunited-their-kids/621644002/)

“There’s no possible way we could have gotten them back this quickly without all of that help,” she said.

The key to understanding what happened to this family might lie in Wonder Valley: It’s the paradox that even in a place where people go to get lost, it’s important to find your community.

Amy DiPierro covers business and real estate at The Desert Sun. Reach her at [email protected]. Rebecca Plevin covers immigration at The Desert Sun. Reach her at rebecca.plevin@desert

SHARE https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2018/05/24/guide-code-enforcement-wonder-valley/639460002/ 17/19 5/25/2018 Remembering the fallen: Memorial Day events to be held across the High Desert

Remembering the fallen: Memorial Day events to be held across the High Desert By Rene Ray De La Cruz Staff Writer Posted May 24, 2018 at 10:57 AM Updated May 24, 2018 at 4:15 PM APPLE VALLEY — Residents across the High Desert will attend several Memorial Day events that will remember those who have sacrificed their lives in service to their country.

Here is a closer look at Monday’s events:

APPLE VALLEY

Veterans and church members of The Church For Whosoever will host the annual Memorial Day Outreach at Thunderbird Park in Apple Valley. The event includes free hot dogs, groceries, haircuts, clothing, kids activities, raffles and drawings. The outreach is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Thunderbird Park located at 20700 Wichita Road in Apple Valley, just behind the Super Target. For more information, call 760-242-3191.

Sunset Hills Memorial Park will host its annual Memorial Day service and lunch at noon at the park at 24000 Waalew Road in Apple Valley.

BARSTOW

Mountain View Memorial Park will conduct a Memorial Day service and barbecue at 11 a.m. at 37067 Irwin Road in Barstow.

ORO GRANDE

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20180524/remembering-fallen-memorial-day-events-to-be-held-across-high-desert 1/3 5/25/2018 Remembering the fallen: Memorial Day events to be held across the High Desert

A Memorial Day Service will be held at historic Oro Grande Cemetery. Organized by community leaders Joe Manners and Felix Diaz, the event will begin at 11 a.m. at the cemetery located at 1414 Olive St. in Oro Grande.

PHELAN

A Memorial Day ceremony is planned at the Antelope Valley Mobile Vietnam Memorial Wall, which is on display next to Phelan Community Park and the Phelan Pinon Hills Community Services District. A Memorial Day ceremony will include a color guard, the laying of a wreath, a benediction and an appearance by Assemblyman Jay Obernolte, The event begins at 10 a.m. Monday near the district office, 4176 Warbler Road, Phelan. The Wall will be open to the public 24 hours a day through 8 a.m. Tuesday.

VICTORVILLE

The Route 66 Veterans Living Memorial Corridor Project will see the planting of several trees in honor of female veterans from San Bernardino County. Representatives of Assemblyman Jay Obernolte and County Supervisor James Ramos are expected at the event scheduled for 9 a.m. at the San Bernardino County Fairgrounds, 14800 Seventh St. in Victorville. For more information, search Route 66 Veterans Living Memorial Corridor Project on Facebook.

Victor Valley Memorial Park will host its annual Memorial Day Service. Past events have included guest speakers, local dignitaries, certificate presentations, vocal performances and taps. The event will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the park, 17150 C St. in Victorville.

WRIGHTWOOD

Sponsored by the Wrightwood Veterans Memorial Association, the 10th annual Wrightwood Veterans Memorial Service will feature speaker Marine Corps Lt. Colonel Kenneth Lee, the executive officer of Marine Corps Logistic Base, Barstow. The ceremony will begin at 10:50 a.m. with the Wrightwood School singers, followed by patriotic songs, a Boy Scout color guard and wreath laying. http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20180524/remembering-fallen-memorial-day-events-to-be-held-across-high-desert 2/3 5/25/2018 Remembering the fallen: Memorial Day events to be held across the High Desert

The event will be held at the Veterans Memorial at 1274 Evergreen Road in Wrightwood. There also will be a flyover.

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

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20180524/remembering-fallen-memorial-day-events-to-be-held-across-high-desert 3/3 5/25/2018 Where Inland residents can honor fallen soldiers on Memorial Day 2018 – Press Enterprise

NEWS Where Inland residents can honor fallen soldiers on Memorial Day 2018

A C-17 Globe Master from March Air Reserve Base performs a flyover during the 2016 Memorial Day ceremony at Riverside National Cemetery. (File photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

By STAFF REPORT | The Press-Enterprise PUBLISHED: May 24, 2018 at 2:38 pm | UPDATED: May 25, 2018 at 2:00 am



https://www.pe.com/2018/05/24/where-inland-residents-can-honor-fallen-soldiers-on-memorial-day-2018/ 1/9 5/25/2018 Where Inland residents can honor fallen soldiers on Memorial Day 2018 – Press Enterprise Thousands of motorcycles, many with attached American ags waving in the wind. Speeches about those who died for their country. Wreathes, tiles and prayers, all dedicated to fallen soldiers.

Such scenes will mark another Memorial Day in the Inland area on Monday, May 28.

For those wishing to publicly salute military personnel who made the ultimate sacrice, here are ve holiday highlights, followed by a list of other events across Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

MEMORIAL DAY HIGHLIGHTS

1. Thunderous engines to honor fallen

What: The annual West Coast Thunder motorcycle ride to Riverside National Cemetery starts with a pancake breakfast at 6 a.m. Riders will leave the Riverside Harley-Davidson about 9 a.m., stop at the cemetery’s ceremony and head to the Lake Perris Fairgrounds. A car show and musical performances from Tyler Rich and Granger Smith will be staged at the fairgrounds. Cost is $50 for the ride and a concert ticket. The price is $30 for a concert ticket or one car registration in the car show.

When: 6 a.m., Monday, May 28

Where: Riverside Harley-Davidson, 7688 Indiana Ave.

Information: 951-785-0100 or westcoastthunder.com

2. Solemn cemetery ceremony

What: The annual Memorial Day ceremony at Riverside National Cemetery will feature patriotic music, speakers and a yover. Greg Coffos, development and activities coordinator for U.S. Veterans Initiative-Inland Empire, will speak. Guests may bring lawn chairs and blankets. Riverside National is one of four national cemeteries in Southern California, is the United States’ busiest national cemetery and the rst outside of Arlington, Va., to erect monuments.

When: 12 p.m., Monday, May 28

Where: Riverside National Cemetery, 22495 Van Buren Blvd.

Information: 951-653-8417

3. Redlands event to mark holiday

https://www.pe.com/2018/05/24/where-inland-residents-can-honor-fallen-soldiers-on-memorial-day-2018/ 2/9 5/25/2018 Where Inland residents can honor fallen soldiers on Memorial Day 2018 – Press Enterprise What: A Memorial Day observation ceremony is set for Hillside Memorial Park. A lunch will be served aerward at the American Legion Post 650.

When: 10:45 a.m., Monday, May 28

Where: Hillside Memorial Park, 1540 Alessandro Road; Post 650, 1532 Church St.

Information: redlandslegion106.org

4. San Bernardino to salute soldiers who died

What: Annual Memorial Day event, hosted by American Legion Post 14.

When: 11 a.m., Monday, May 28

Where: Mt. View Mortuary and Cemetery, 570 E Highland Ave.

Information: 909-882-2943

5. Music, 21-gun salute set for Ontario event

What: A Memorial Day Remembrance will feature the Ontario/Chaffey Community Show Band and the Ontario Police Honor Guard. The event also will include a rider-less horse presentation, 21-gun salute and a helicopter yover. A dove release and ag raising by two Ontario hook-and-ladder re trucks are part of the ceremony.

When: A memorial Mass is set for 8:30 a.m., Monday, May 28, in the North View Chapel in Bellevue Mausoleum, followed by a 9:30 a.m. ceremony.

Where: Bellevue Memorial Park, 1240 W. G St., Ontario.

Information: 909-986-1201 or www.bellevuemp.com

Other holiday events

RIVERSIDE COUNTY

BEAUMONT

What: At the annual Memorial Day Ceremony, the names of ve military veterans will be inscribed onto the Veteran’s Memorial. The honor goes to military personnel who lived in Beaumont or Cherry Valley while on active duty, or who died later in those communities aer their service. https://www.pe.com/2018/05/24/where-inland-residents-can-honor-fallen-soldiers-on-memorial-day-2018/ 3/9 5/25/2018 Where Inland residents can honor fallen soldiers on Memorial Day 2018 – Press Enterprise When: 11 a.m., Monday, May 28

Where: Beaumont Civic Center, 550 E. 6th St.

Information: Beaumont-Ca.gov

CALIMESA

What: A free ceremony will remember fallen military members and their families. Food and refreshments will be offered.

When: 10 a.m., Monday, May 28

Where: Desert Lawn Memorial Park, 11251 Desert Lawn Drive

Information: 909-795-2451

HEMET

What: The 6th Annual Memorial Day 5K, 10K & Kids 1K Run

When: Registration opens at 6 a.m., Monday, May 28. Races start at 7:30 a.m. Health and Wellness Expo closes at noon.

Where: Diamond Valley Lake Community Park, 1801 Angler Ave.

Information: runmemorialday5k.com

LAKE ELSINORE

What: The third annual Memorial Day Car, Truck and Bike show will support people with special needs. The free event organized by the Temecula Valley Civitan and Valley Cruisers of Hemet. Entry fees are $15 per car, $25 for vendors.

When: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday, May 28

Where: Lake Elsinore Casino, 20930 Malaga Road

Information: 951-805-6454

MORENO VALLEY

What: At the 11th annual Memorial Day ceremony, Col. Matthew J. Burger of the 452nd Air Mobility Wing, Air Force Reserve Command at March Air Reserve Base, will speak. The event also will feature Blue Eagles Total Force Honor Guard, Moreno Valley Master Chorale, student speaker Malia Hernandez of Vista Heights Middle School and vocalist Bernard Dafney from Sandals Church. A reception and display of student artwork honoring fallen soldiers will follow.

https://www.pe.com/2018/05/24/where-inland-residents-can-honor-fallen-soldiers-on-memorial-day-2018/ 4/9 5/25/2018 Where Inland residents can honor fallen soldiers on Memorial Day 2018 – Press Enterprise When: 2 p.m., Monday, May 28

Where: Veterans Memorial, Moreno Valley Civic Center, 14177 Frederick St., between the Conference and Recreation Center and the Public Safety Building.

Information: http://www.moreno-valley.ca.us/things2do/t2do-annual.shtml

MURRIETA

What: A Memorial Day ceremony will include a monument unveiling. The monument will honor prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action.

When: 8 a.m., Monday, May 28

Where: Town Square Park, 1 Town Square

Information: 951-304-7275

NORCO

What: A Memorial Day tribute will include the introduction of a new monument. A ceremony will honor two veterans recently inscribed on the Lest We Forget Wall. The POW MIA Monument at the George A. Ingalls Veterans Memorial Plaza will be unveiled. A continuous salute is set for 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. A Pitchfork Steak Fun-Do, hosted by Norco/Eastvale Rotary, is set for 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the pole barns, with proceeds to benet the monument.

When: 10 a.m., Monday, May 28

Where: George Ingalls Equestrian Event Center, 3737 Crestview Ave.

Information: http://www.norco.ca.us/depts/parks/veteran/default.asp, www.pitchforksteakfundo.com

PERRIS

What: Retired Marine Capt. Altie Holcomb will speak at the annual Perris Memorial Day Remembrance. Activities include Patriot Guard Motorcycle Riders, taps and recital of names of Perris veterans who have died in the past year.

When: 8:30 a.m., Monday, May 28

Where: Perris Valley Cemetery, 915 North Perris Blvd.

Information: cityofperris.org

RIVERSIDE

https://www.pe.com/2018/05/24/where-inland-residents-can-honor-fallen-soldiers-on-memorial-day-2018/ 5/9 5/25/2018 Where Inland residents can honor fallen soldiers on Memorial Day 2018 – Press Enterprise What: The 16th annual Chili Cook-off and Car/Cycle Show will include live music, food, a beer garden, kid’s zone, vendors and classic cars.

When: 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, May 26

Where: Arlington Village, on Magnolia Avenue between Van Buren Boulevard and Jackson Street

Information: 951-509-1100

SAN JACINTO

What: American Legion Post 53 in Hemet will stage its annual ceremony. Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Palm Desert, and San Jacinto Mayor Crystal Ruiz are set to speak. Flags are placed at the graves of 2,600 veterans.

When: 9 a.m., Monday, May 28

Where: San Jacinto Valley Cemetery, 2555 Santa Fe Ave., San Jacinto

Information: 951-658-4923

TEMECULA

What: The 15th annual Memorial Day service will salute veterans buried at the Temecula Cemetery and include a special tribute to the family of Jack Williams, the most recent veteran buried there. The guest of honor is Riverside County Supervisor Chuck Washington. Retired U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Tawanna Blanche will speak. The event is organized by the Temecula Public Cemetery District, Knights of Columbus Padre Pio Assembly 2247 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4089.

When: 10 a.m., Monday, May 28

Where: Temecula Public Cemetery, 41911 C. St.

Information: 951-699-1630

TEMECULA

What: A Memorial Day observance ceremony will include light refreshments.

When: 8:30 a.m., Monday, May 28

Where: Civic Center, 41000 Main St.

Information: 951-694-6480

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY

https://www.pe.com/2018/05/24/where-inland-residents-can-honor-fallen-soldiers-on-memorial-day-2018/ 6/9 5/25/2018 Where Inland residents can honor fallen soldiers on Memorial Day 2018 – Press Enterprise CHINO

What: Memorial Day ceremonies will include a wreath-laying ceremony sponsored by American Legion Post 299 Auxiliary. A potluck lunch follows aer noon at Post 299, which organized the event.

When: 10 a.m., Monday, May 28

Where: Chino Community Center, 5443 B St.; Post 299, 13759 Central Ave.

Information: 909-628-2080

GRAND TERRACE

What: A ceremony will honor fallen soldiers. The Veterans Wall of Freedom Organization and Foundation of Grand Terrace organized the event, at which Boy and Girl Scout troops will raise the colors and present wreaths. The names of veterans killed in action will be read.

When: 10 a.m., Monday, May 28

Where: Veterans Freedom Park, 21950 Pico St.

Information: Don Larkin, 951-756-4711, or veteranswalloffreedom.org

HIGHLAND

What: Annual Memorial Day ceremony will be hosted by American Legion Post 421.

When: 10 a.m., Monday, May 28

Where: Corner of Base Line and Central Avenue, next to Highland Police Station

Information: 909-904-8769

MONTCLAIR

What: Patriotic songs, refreshments and readings will salute city veterans who have plaques on the Veterans Memorial Wall. New plaques can be purchased annually and are dedicated each Memorial Day.

When: 6 p.m., Monday, May 28

Where: Memorial Garden, next to Montclair City Hall, 5111 Benito St.

Information: 909-625-9479

RANCHO CUCAMONGA https://www.pe.com/2018/05/24/where-inland-residents-can-honor-fallen-soldiers-on-memorial-day-2018/ 7/9 5/25/2018 Where Inland residents can honor fallen soldiers on Memorial Day 2018 – Press Enterprise What: A Memorial Day ceremony hosted by the city will include light refreshments.

When: Refreshments are at 8:30 a.m., Monday, May 28, followed by the 9 a.m. event.

Where: Freedom Courtyard at Central Park, 11200 Base Line Road

Information: 909-477-2780 or rcpark.com

RIALTO

What: Annual tribute to those who served in the military.

When: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday, May 28

Where: Rialto Park Cemetery, 200 N. Willow Ave.

Information: 909-820-2519

UPLAND

What: A Memorial Day ceremony will include reections, comments from Upland ofcials and a 21-gun salute. The public can buy tiles to display at Upland Veterans Monument Plaza. They can be engraved with the names of military service personnel, their military branch and rank. Tiles will be installed on one of four pillars at the plaza’s east entrance. Reservations: http://www.uvmp.org.

When: 10 a.m., Monday, May 28

Where: Upland Veterans Memorial Plaza, in between City Hall and the library, 460 N. Euclid Ave.

Information: 951-990-4595 or http://www.uvmp.org

Tags: memorial day, Top Stories IVDB, Top Stories PE, Top Stories RDF, Top Stories Sun, veterans

Staff report

https://www.pe.com/2018/05/24/where-inland-residents-can-honor-fallen-soldiers-on-memorial-day-2018/ 8/9 5/25/2018 Apple Valley, Liberty Utilities settle CEQA suit with agreement

Apple Valley, Liberty Utilities settle CEQA suit with agreement By Matthew Cabe Staff Writer Posted May 24, 2018 at 1:17 PM Updated May 24, 2018 at 1:17 PM SAN BERNARDINO — An agreement reached this month between Apple Valley and Liberty Utilities put to bed the water company’s years-long California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) lawsuit, but came with sacrifices on both sides.

In April, following San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Donald Alvarez’s final ruling on the matter, the town — as the prevailing party — began looking toward the recovery of more than $23,400 in legal and administrative costs, court documents show.

But a letter memorializing settlement terms shows the town instead opted to waive its right to recoup that money in exchange for Liberty foregoing its ability to appeal the CEQA judgement. The agreement could uncomplicate, to a degree, the town’s eminent domain suit against Liberty, which remains in the trial- setting phase more than two years after it was filed.

Town Manager Doug Robertson said avoiding an appeal in order to progress that attempt to take the Apple Valley water system factored into Apple Valley’s side of the agreement.

“Liberty, early on, had talked about fighting this with every possible option, so this limits the exposure on a go-forward basis,” he said. “The other piece that is not as obvious is there was a CEQA portion to the right-to-take (trial) that was also dropped. So that should speed up (that) case because that’s another argument that won’t be addressed in court.”

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20180524/apple-valley-liberty-utilities-settle-ceqa-suit-with-agreement 1/3 5/25/2018 Apple Valley, Liberty Utilities settle CEQA suit with agreement

A statute in the California Code of Civil Procedure allows for recovery of attorney fees in most civil cases; however, that convenience is not afforded to public agencies who prevail against private petitioners. Therefore, the town was limited in what it could attempt to recoup from the onset.

The $23,452.91, as a result, represents less than 5 percent of the town’s known CEQA costs, which stood at more than $474,000 in March. The smaller amount includes money Apple Valley paid Best Best & Krieger (BBK), town staff and Rincon Consultants Inc. for work related to the suit.

BBK paralegal Tammy Ingram received $15,775.80 for 96 hours of work; former Deputy Town Clerk Debra Thomas and Executive Secretary Maribel Hernandez were paid a combined $749.34 for 14 hours; and three Rincon staffers earned a collective $1,102.50 for fewer than eight hours, according to court documents.

The town also paid $5,069.55 for the production of four Council meeting transcripts, $715.72 in court fees and $40 for the “reproduction of thumb drives” on two DVDs.

Liberty filed its CEQA suit in December 2015, one month after the Town Council voted to take the company’s water system by eminent domain. In court documents, the company alleged an “incomplete and misleading environmental impact report (EIR) prepared for acquisition, which they argued resulted in CEQA violations.

The company sought to have the town commanded to vacate certification of the EIR, as well as a restraining order that would have prohibited further action until the town complied with CEQA, according to a previous Daily Press report.

In the wake of Alvarez’s ruling, which cited “substantial evidence” to support the town’s argument that its acquisition was exempt from CEQA, Greg Sorensen — president of Liberty’s western region — said the agreement reflects the company’s acknowledgement of the court’s decision.

“The settlement does not protect the town from the enormous costs of its eminent domain lawsuit,” Sorensen said. “Assuming that the town continues with its lawsuit, millions more will be spent. Should the town lose, as was the case in Claremont, taxpayers could have to pay all legal expenses, which are likely to exceed $10 million.” http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20180524/apple-valley-liberty-utilities-settle-ceqa-suit-with-agreement 2/3 5/25/2018 Apple Valley, Liberty Utilities settle CEQA suit with agreement

Sorensen said he remains hopeful the town will accept “our offer to find a solution that allows Liberty Utilities to continue owning and operating the local water system and prevents the costly and divisive conflict of an eminent domain trial in the San Bernardino Superior Court.”

The parties are due back in court Aug. 24 for a trial-setting conference in the eminent domain case.

Matthew Cabe can be reached at [email protected] or at 760-951-6254. Follow him on Twitter @DP_MatthewCabe.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20180524/apple-valley-liberty-utilities-settle-ceqa-suit-with-agreement 3/3 5/25/2018 Letner, former Hesperia Chamber CEO, named acting city manager in Adelanto - News - VVdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

Letner, former Hesperia Chamber CEO, named acting city manager in Adelanto By Shea Johnson Staff Writer Posted May 24, 2018 at 1:30 PM Updated May 24, 2018 at 4:03 PM Letner said he had “no reservations whatsoever” about accepting the Council’s offer, even as it thrusts him directly into the middle of an unpredictable City Hall.

ADELANTO — Brad Letner, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and four-year leader of the Hesperia Chamber of Commerce, has been appointed acting city manager.

Letner, 50, immediately fills the void created by the recent departure of G. Michael Milhiser, who had reportedly met CalPERS hours restrictions and stepped in after City Manager Gabriel Elliott was placed on paid administrative leave in December.

The City Council unanimously approved Letner’s appointment in closed session Wednesday. Perhaps tipping the hand, Letner was a surprise attendee in council chambers two weeks ago, but elected officials chose then not to act.

Letner had previously met with officials behind closed doors for an interview. Earlier this month, the Daily Press reported that an unspecified number of candidates were being vetted for the role.

In Letner, city officials see a proven leader who can navigate the city through growing pains and offer a steady presence during a rather volatile period despite having no previous municipal administration experience.

“That was more important to them than a depth of understanding of city operations,” Letner said after Wednesday’s meeting.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20180524/letner-former-hesperia-chamber-ceo-named-acting-city-manager-in-adelanto?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email& 5/25/2018 Letner, former Hesperia Chamber CEO, named acting city manager in Adelanto - News - VVdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

In a statement Thursday to announce his hiring, Mayor Rich Kerr said Letner “happened to be the right person at the right time.”

Letner declared last month he would be stepping down as CEO/president of the Hesperia Chamber by this summer or earlier if a replacement was identified, saying in an April interview with this newspaper he understood the future held “big challenges and great potential.”

Ironically, former Adelanto Mayor Cari Thomas was hired to replace Letner as the Chamber CEO/president earlier this week, opening the door for Adelanto officials to act on Letner.

“Someone gave the Council and the city attorney my name,” Letner said Wednesday, “and so they reached out after that article in the Daily Press and asked if I would be interested in coming here to interview.”

After he was sworn in Wednesday, he assumed a seat at the dais — at least the seventh person to do so since 2015 either as an acting, interim or full-time city manager. Officials were sure to point out the nuanced difference between “acting” and “interim.”

“Acting” generally equates to a temporary fill-in while the regular employee is away. “Interim” usually signifies holding down the fort until a full-time employee is chosen, which sometimes can be the interim employee.

Ultimately, Letner said he believed his goals and skill set aligned with the criteria set forth by elected officials in selecting a short-term top administrator.

“As you saw, this was an acting city manager, and with the changes in city manager and with many of the news items that you reported on,” he said, “I believe they were looking for leadership, steadiness and the ability to come in and quickly assess an organization and find the most critical needs to meet.”

A High Desert resident of 18 years who lives in Spring Valley Lake, Letner has served on the Adelanto Elementary School District.

A graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Letner’s military career includes two tours in Afghanistan, his role with the Army’s Emergency Operations Center at the Pentagon and multiple moves across the

country.

Additionally, he’s held positions in the U.S. Army’s Western Region Recruiting Command as a global transportation planner, market analyst and operations officer.

He now inherits a city moving the needle economically after years of floundering finances and stagnant commercial outlook, but which has also been stung by a federal public corruption probe and a slew of other controversies. As Adelanto’s profile has risen, so too has the scrutiny.

But Letner said he had “no reservations whatsoever” about accepting the Council’s offer, even as it thrusts him directly into the middle of an unpredictable City Hall.

Instead, he suggested the role will be “a wonderful opportunity” to employ his knowledge of cohesive team building to draw staff together and ensure “that our face going forward is one of stability, one of confidence, one of hope.”

The Council is expected to discuss and vote on the terms of Letner’s contract during a Council meeting next month.

Meanwhile, there has been no movement on whether to bring Elliott back, according to his lawyer, Tristan Pelayes. Elliott was suspended after sexual harassment complaints by two women. The city hired a third-party investigator to review, yet has refused to provide even a summary of the completed probe’s outcome.

Elliott has refuted those claims and accused Kerr of devising them in order to remove him from day-to-day operations and move ahead unobstructed by Elliott’s strict policy adherence. Kerr has rejected the notion.

The Council has met on multiple occasions to discuss Elliott’s future, but is reportedly split on whether Elliott should return to his job.

— Staf Writer Rene Ray De La Cruz contributed to this report.

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

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20180524/letner-former-hesperia-chamber-ceo-named-acting-city-manager-in-adelanto?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email& 5/25/2018 Wildlife Conservation Board Funds Environmental Improvement and Acquisition Projects | CDFW News

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CALIFORNIA WILDLIFE CONSER VATION BOARD

Wildlife Conservation Board Funds Environmental Improvement and Acquisition Projects

MAY 24, 2018 | DANAMICHAELS2013 At its May 24 quarterly meeting, the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) approved approximately $13 million in grants to help restore and protect fish and wildlife habitat throughout California. Some of the 12 approved projects will benefit fish and wildlife—including some endangered species—while others will provide public access to important natural resources. Several projects will also demonstrate the importance of protecting working landscapes that integrate economic, social and environmental stewardship practices beneficial to the environment, landowners and the local community.

Funding for these projects comes from a combination of sources including the Habitat Conservation Fund and bond measures approved by voters to help preserve and protect California’s natural resources.

Funded projects include:

$186,250 in two grants to the Mojave Desert Land Trust to acquire approximately 367 acres of land from two separate owners for the protection of desert habitat corridors in the Morongo Basin, near the community of Joshua Tree in San Bernardino County. A $600,000 grant to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) for a cooperative project with the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Food and Agriculture to implement a large scale Nutria eradication project in riparian corridors and associated wetland habitats located in various Central Valley counties of the San Joaquin Valley and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. A $610,000 grant to the Pacific Forest Trust for a cooperative project with the California Department of Transportation and CDFW to acquire a forest conservation easement over approximately 1,346 acres of land for protection of working forest lands, forest reserve areas, watersheds, fisheries and habitat linkages near the town of McCloud in Siskiyou County. A $2,440,000 in-fee acquisition of approximately 5,849 acres of land by CDFW for the protection of critical cold water aquatic habitat for a variety of anadromous fish species, including the state and federally listed coho salmon, the protection of migration corridors vital to many plant, bird and mammal species, and to provide ongoing dryland grazing and future wildlife-oriented public use opportunities near Montague in Siskiyou County. A $4.4 million grant to The Nature Conservancy for a cooperative project with CalFire, the State Coastal Conservancy and the California Natural Resources Agency to acquire a conservation easement on approximately 23,681 acres of native forest habitats, including redwood, Douglas fir and Grand fir in the upland zones, and mature red alder forests within the riparian zone along the Ten Mile River. The easement is needed to preserve wildlife area linkages, provide habitat to numerous wildlife species, and reduce soil erosion and sustain water quality near Fort Bragg in Mendocino County. A $950,000 grant to the National Forest Foundation for a cooperative project with U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to thin approximately 230 acres of forest, five miles southwest of Tahoe City in Placer County. A $511,000 grant to the California Waterfowl Association for a cooperative project with the City of Woodland and Explorit to enhance and restore approximately 20 acres of wetlands at the Woodland Regional Park, approximately five miles southeast of the City of Woodland. A $1.6 million grant to the Trust for Public Land for a cooperative project with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to acquire approximately 51 acres of land for the protection of threatened and endangered species, riparian and floodplain habitat along the Santa Clara River and to provide the potential for wildlife-oriented public use opportunities near Acton in Los Angeles County.

For more information about the WCB please visit www.wcb.ca.gov (hp://www.wcb.ca.gov).

https://cdfgnews.wordpress.com/2018/05/24/wildlife-conservation-board-funds-environmental-improvement-and-acquisition-projects-27/ 1/3 5/25/2018 Bill to Separate Sheriff, Coroner Duties in Up to 9 Counties Advances | PublicCEO

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Duties in Up to 9 Counties Advances SIGN UP FOR OUR DAILY

POSTED BY : PUBLICCEO MAY 24, 2018 NEWSLETTER!

By Chris Reed. Name: Email: An effort to force up to nine California counties with nearly a fifth of the state’s population to use Register independent medical examiners to investigate deaths reported by law enforcement has passed early tests in the Assembly Public Safety Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Senate Bill 1303 – introduced by Dr. Richard Pan, a Democratic senator from Sacramento – would require non-charter counties with a population of 500,000 or bigger to have an independent medical examiner who reported to county civilian leaders, not the sheriff. Pan said his goal is to “bring our autopsy system up to the modern age” and scrap a system that inevitably prompts concerns about conflicts of interest.

Presently, six such counties with more than 500,000 residents – San Joaquin, Riverside, Contra Costa, Stanislaus, Kern and Sonoma – have a sheriff-coroner who makes final decisions on how to classify medical cases involving fatalities and law enforcement. Three counties with sheriff-coroners may soon pass the 500,000 population threshold as well – Santa Barbara, Tulare and Solano.

The measure could face much stronger opposition going forward. The California State Sheriffs’ Association opposes Pan’s bill. Outside of law enforcement circles, a key issue is whether the bill is found to be a state mandate requiring local governments to bear additional costs, in which case state taxpayers could have to pay the affected counties’ tab.

The proposed legislation was prompted by Dr. Bennet Omalu’s December decision to resign as chief medical examiner of San Joaquin County. Omalu – a national figure because of his pioneering http://www.publicceo.com/2018/05/bill-to-seperate-sheriff-coroner-duties-in-up-to-9-counties-advances/ 1/3 5/25/2018 Bill to Separate Sheriff, Coroner Duties in Up to 9 Counties Advances | PublicCEO

work identifying brain damage in football players – alleged that San Joaquin Sheriff-Coroner Steve Moore repeatedly interfered with the work of forensic pathologists by attempting to get them to describe officer-involved killings as accidents, including three times in 2016 alone.

Omalu and fellow former medical examiner Susan Parson provided the county district attorney and supervisors and the media with more than 100 pages of memos in which they contemporaneously complained about pressure brought to bear on them and documented substandard conditions that led to corpses needed for investigations deteriorating and becoming useless.

Sheriff-coroner questions get caught up in larger national debate

The Omalu case caught the attention of the Washington Post’s Radley Balko, one of the nation’s leading authorities on police practices. Balko noted how for more than a century, local governments without independent medical examiners across America have been plagued with allegations about FOLLOW PUBLICCEO conflicts of interest when investigating claims of police misconduct.    While Sacramento County has an independent medical examiner’s office, the office’s work in a recent fatal police shooting of an unarmed African-American man has led to Pan’s bill – and to Omalu – 3,314 0 Subscribe becoming a part of the larger debate over how law enforcement and the criminal-justice system Followers Fans Rss respond to officer-involved shootings. Stephon Clark, 22, was shot to death on March 18 in the backyard of his grandmother’s Sacramento home by officers responding to reports of vehicle break- ins.

Clark’s family hired Omalu to do an autopsy, which concluded Clark had been shot eight times, with six in his back, prompting activists to claim he had been “executed.” The official autopsy, released after Omalu’s, concluded he had been shot seven times, three times in his back. This discrepancy has been cited by reformers as one more reason to back Pan’s bill.

Investigations into the Clark shooting continue.

Next up for SB1303 is an evaluation of its fiscal impacts on the six counties that it would immediately affect.

Back in San Joaquin County, over the objections of Sheriff-Coroner Moore, supervisors have taken initial steps toward setting up an independent medical examiner.

But counties which like their present systems have a way out if Pan’s bill is enacted: They can seek to become charter counties, which have more autonomy than general-law counties and wouldn’t be covered by SB1303.

Originally posted at Cal Watchdog.

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http://www.publicceo.com/2018/05/bill-to-seperate-sheriff-coroner-duties-in-up-to-9-counties-advances/ 2/3 5/25/2018 California’s housing shortage is not sustainable – Orange County Register

OPINION California’s housing shortage is not sustainable

A house is under construction Friday, May 4, 2018, in Roseville, Calif. Federal data released Friday shows California has surpassed the United Kingdom to become the world fifth largest economy, with real estate and financial services leading other economic sectors in driving the state’s economic growth. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD | [email protected] | PUBLISHED: May 24, 2018 at 7:00 am | UPDATED: May 24, 2018 at 9:06 am



New reports from the nonprofit California Housing Partnership provide insight into just how significant the shortage of affordable housing in Southern California really is.

According to the reports, Southern California needs upward of a million new affordable housing units just to meet current demand.

In Los Angeles County, it is estimated another 568,000 more affordable rental homes are needed to keep up with demand. According to the report, the county’s poverty rate rises from 17.2 percent to 24.9 percent when adjusting for housing costs and social benefits.

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In Orange County, it is estimated another 92,738 more affordable rental homes are needed to keep up with demand. According to the report, Orange County’s poverty rate nearly doubled from 11.9 percent using the official poverty measure to 21.3 percent when factoring in housing costs and social benefits.

In Riverside County, it is estimated another 64,526 more affordable rental homes are needed to keep up with demand. According to the report, about 25 percent of low-income households in the county are “severely cost burdened,” meaning they put 50 percent of more of their income toward housing.

In San Bernardino County, it is estimated another 72,032 more affordable rental homes are needed to keep up with demand. According to the report, about 15 percent of low-income households in the county are severely cost burdened, while 49 percent of very low-income households are severely cost burdened.

Considering the wide income disparities across California, it’s also worth highlighting that while median income households in the four counties tend to spend about a third or slightly less on housing, for households earning half or less of the median incomes, they on average spend anywhere from 66 percent (in Riverside County) to 78 percent (in Orange County) of their incomes on housing.

That leaves little for all the other needs of life.

This is not a sustainable situation.

Solving it is the hard part, for it will require convincing NIMBYs to stop blocking housing developments they just don’t like, and for zoning to become more accommodating to development and for CEQA regulations not to be abused so as to simply tie up housing.

On each of these fronts, there is no simple way forward. The message has to be gotten across to those who resist the development of new housing in their communities that communities are better off when people can not only afford to live, but can do so without having to commute long hours away from home to work.

With respect to the restrictions local governments place on developable land, it will take a concerted effort to facilitate greater liberalization, because local governments are particularly susceptible to NIMBY complaints.

And finally, CEQA reform has so far been one of those things almost everyone acknowledges needs to be done, but no one has been able to get very far with. It’s critical that well-intended laws are no longer abused just because some people don’t like a particular development.

Absent greater pushes on these efforts, this isn’t a problem the state can spend its way out of.

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Orange County The Editorial Board Register The editorial board and opinion section staff are independent of the news-gathering side of our organization. Through icon/logo our staff-written editorials, we take positions on important issues affecting our readership, from pension reform to protecting our region’s unique natural resources to transportation. The editorials are unsigned because, while written by one or more members of our staff, they represent the point of view of our news organization’s management. In order to take informed positions, we meet frequently with government, community and business leaders on important issues affecting our cities, region and state. During elections, we meet with candidates for office and the proponents and opponents of ballot initiatives and then make recommendations to voters.

https://www.ocregister.com/2018/05/24/californias-housing-shortage-is-not-sustainable/ 2/3 5/25/2018 Commentary: State Says New Homes Must Have Solar Panels | PublicCEO

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Click here for more headlines Commentary: State Says New Homes

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POSTED BY : PUBLICCEO MAY 24, 2018 NEWSLETTER!

By Timothy L. Coyle. Name: Email: Turning a deaf ear to the new housing costs its decision would generate, a state panel recently ruled Register that beginning in 2020 all new homes built in California must include solar rooftops. The action by the five-member California Energy Commission (CEC) makes good on a decades-long threat that the mandate was coming.

But, is this mandate as good as we can get? Especially given the exorbitant cost of putting solar on every new house?

Estimates are that new solar systems cost anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000 per home. According to the CEC directive, the total cost will be absorbed by state homebuilders – which surely means it will be passed on to consumers, already suffering from housing-price sticker shock.

Indeed, the mandate comes at a time when homebuyers in California are anguishing over the question of how much they can they afford to buy. Home prices in most California markets are well past the reach of typical households who want to live there. The solar mandate is just another example of the state forcing housing consumers to do more (become “energy efficient”) with less (income to buy).

It’s understandable that CEC commissioners took their action. California law requires at least 50 percent of the state’s electricity to come from non-carbon-producing sources by 2030. Solar power is easy to install and, therefore, has become increasingly popular and a driver in the growth of the state’s alternative energy production. But, it costs an arm and a leg. http://www.publicceo.com/2018/05/commentary-state-says-new-homes-must-have-solar-panels/ 1/3 5/25/2018 Commentary: State Says New Homes Must Have Solar Panels | PublicCEO

The true-believers who promoted the CEC vote – as well as the panel’s five appointed commissioners – argue that the acknowledged additional cost of solar will be all but invisible. “Any additional amount in the mortgage is more than offset (by energy savings),” said Commissioner Andrew McAllister. “It’s  good for the customer.”

Tell that to the loan officer who’s trying to qualify you for a new home loan. The lender is just looking for the additional money to pay for extras. According to the CEC, for residential homeowners, solar rooftops will add about $40 to an average monthly payment, but save consumers $80 on monthly heating, cooling and lighting bills. Keep in mind, that’s an offset – not new cash.

If you believe that, as the solar advocates are saying, then at some point we don’t need utilities, right? Or, are new rate hikes on the way? Those things should have been considered before approving the solar mandate. Moreover, did the CEC explore to what extent is putting solar atop all those vacant rooftops covering the state’s ample commercial space? Correspondingly, why couldn’t those FOLLOW PUBLICCEO commercial facilities rent out their rooftops for housing the solar panels?    Indeed, doing that completes the economic circle: power is generated using solar as the preferred alternative energy source, rent goes to those who space is being utilized and utilities recoup their 3,314 0 Subscribe expenses – including the capital costs associated with system installation – through rate-payer income. Followers Fans Rss

If fact, in a way the CEC mandate already contemplates this. As I understand it, builders may choose the approach they can take to implement the new requirement: 1) make individual homes available with solar panels, or 2) build a shared solar-power system serving a group of homes. In the case of rooftop panels on single-family homes, they can either be owned outright and rolled into the home price, or made available for lease on a monthly basis.

In today’s super-hot real estate market, putting solar on commercial and not on residential rooftops makes sense. Why homebuilders didn’t argue for this, I don’t know. Maybe they consider solar energy is an economic plus for homebuyers. Maybe it’s the extension of the federal credit available to solar system consumers. Maybe it’s the mandate’s delayed implementation they were able to get. Or, that for the industry’s principal trade group – the California Building Industry Association (CBIA), which has been doggedly working with the CEC for the past few years – it was just good defense.

The bottom line is that California can become more energy-efficient without laying the cost at the feet of new homebuyers. That’s the policy we all should be working toward.

Originally posted at Fox & Hounds Daily.

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http://www.publicceo.com/2018/05/commentary-state-says-new-homes-must-have-solar-panels/ 2/3 5/25/2018 Los Angeles Times

Fix sentencing in California

Who overpacked California’s prisons? It was first-term Gov. Jerry Brown, when he signed into law the Uniform Determinate Sentencing Act in 1976. And it was the Legislature’s Democratic majority, who’d sent Brown the act in the first place and then tried to outflank tough-on-crime Republicans by adding one sentence-lengthening provision (or “enhancement”) after another. In his second go-round, both Brown and the Legislature have been trying to make amends for the prison growth and over-incarceration that they helped to set in motion. Lawmakers are considering — and should send to Brown — two bills to undo some of the enhancement excesses. One would give judges the discretion to ignore a particularly stiff enhancement now required for serious felons: an additional five years for each previous serious conviction, even if the defendant already served time for those crimes. The other would eliminate a one-year enhancement that’s currently tacked on to nonviolent felony convictions for every previous jail or prison term the defendant has served. If there was evidence that the extra prison or jail time deterred repeat offenders, the enhancements might make some sense. But years of experience show instead that many repeat offenders are driven by untreated mental illness or addiction. Treating those problems, rather than expanding prisons and jails to hold more offenders longer, should be the priority. Meanwhile, California has in place safeguards such as the three-strikes law to protect the public from repeat violent offenders.

For most of its history, California had what was known as indeterminate sentencing, under which a judge would sentence a convicted criminal to an indefinite term rather than a set number of years. A burglar, say, might get five years to life. Then the judge’s sentencing role was finished, and the actual term spent behind bars would be determined by a parole board.

That gave inmates an incentive to behave in prison and to participate in rehabilitation programs. After they had served the low end of the range, they could take their case to a board, whose members would measure the inmates’ progress and grant or deny parole accordingly. And the system generally worked: The return-to-prison rate for paroled inmates hovered near 15%.

http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 1/2 5/25/2018 Los Angeles Times But Brown and lawmakers moved to determinate sentencing, which — counterintuitively — became even more convoluted. Judges could choose a standard sentence, a stiffer one or a lighter one, depending on the defendant’s prior convictions or other extenuating circumstances. All decisions were made on the front end, in court. So in prison, fewer inmates bothered with rehabilitation programs because they couldn’t lead to earlier release. And, as a consequence, fewer were ready to responsibly go home to their neighborhoods after serving their time. The return-to-prison rate skyrocketed to 70%. Brown completed his first tour of duty as governor in 1983, but lawmakers kept adding enhancements. For example, on top of the base term for committing the crime, new laws layered on additional time for being in a gang, for using a gun, for having been in jail or prison before, and on and on. The three-strikes penalties were also enacted. Other states followed California’s lead. And still recidivism rose. When Brown returned from the political wilderness and was elected state attorney general in 2006, he faced an overflowing prison system he had helped to create: Instead of 10 prisons, California had 33, and its inmate population had grown by 900%. In 2016, he presented and voters adopted Proposition 57, which brought back much of the former parole system and with it the incentive for inmates to participate in programs that will make them better bets to return safely to their neighborhoods. It also brought back some of the better aspects of indeterminate sentencing. But all those enhancements remain in place, even in the absence of evidence that they protect the public from repeat offenders. Some make sense. But some don’t, including the requirement that new felony convictions carry an additional year for each jail term already served for a previous felony. SB 1392 would properly eliminate it. And the extra five years for having previously committed a serious crime — that’s something that judges should be able to keep or dismiss, in the interests of justice. SB 1393 would give them that authority.

http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 2/2 5/25/2018 Los Angeles Times

USC DORNSIFE/L.A. TIMES POLL Repeal of gas tax hike is favored by majority Majority of voters back gas tax hike repeal

Brown pushes to save levies as GOP strikes a chord with voters

A BILL approved in 2017 raised the gas tax by 12 cents a gallon and increased vehicle fees. The new charges will raise $5.4 billion annually for road and transit projects. Above, Cristian Rodriguez in Sacramento last year. (Rich Pedroncelli Associated Press) http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 1/4 5/25/2018 Los Angeles Times BY PATRICK MCGREEVY SACRAMENTO — As a new poll found a majority of California voters want to repeal increases to the state’s gas tax and vehicle fees, Gov. Jerry Brown has begun campaigning to preserve them, arguing the sacrifice is needed to fix long-neglected roads and bridges and improve mass transit. Repeal of the higher taxes and fees was supported by 51% of registered voters in the state, according to a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times statewide poll. The survey found that 38% of registered voters supported keeping the higher taxes, 9% hadn’t heard enough to say either way and 2% said they wouldn’t vote on the measure. The results bode well for a measure that Republican members of Congress hope to place on the November statewide ballot that could boost turnout of GOP voters by offering the chance to repeal the gas tax increase, said Bob Shrum, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC. “If it qualifies for the ballot it will be, I suspect, very hard to sustain it,” Shrum said of the tax. “It’s almost dead.” At issue is Senate Bill 1, approved by the Legislature and governor in April 2017. It raised the gas tax by 12 cents per gallon, boosted the diesel fuel tax by 20 cents per gallon and increased vehicle fees. The new charges will raise $5.4 billion annually for road and transit projects. In launching a campaign to preserve the taxes, Brown has come out swinging, calling the proposed repeal initiative “devious and deceptive” in a speech Friday to Southern California transportation leaders. “The test of America’s strength is whether we defeat this stupid repeal measure, which is nothing more than a Republican stunt to get a few of their losers returned to Congress, and we’re not going to let that happen,” Brown told the transportation officials at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. The California Transportation Commission has so far allocated $9.2 billion for transportation projects throughout California as a result of SB 1.

The governor’s comments drew a sharp rebuke as “disgraceful name- calling” from Carl DeMaio, a Republican leader of the initiative drive who is a former member of the San Diego City Council.

The poll results are encouraging, he said. “It just goes to show you that in order for Gov. Jerry Brown and his backers to prevail in keeping the tax in place they are going to have to pull out all stops, and the level of dishonesty is going to be breathtaking,” DeMaio said. The governor and other supporters of the tax “might have a chance” to succeed, Shrum said, if they make the question about safe bridges, fixing the state’s crumbling roads and http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 2/4 5/25/2018 Los Angeles Times boosting the economy. That is the tactic that seems to be emerging. Caltrans officials held a news conference Tuesday in Oxnard to announce $68.6 million in SB 1 funds to build an overpass for Rice Avenue over busy rail tracks. The project will end delays as cars wait for trains to pass and make safer an intersection that has been identified as one of the most dangerous in the state, officials said. Brown had planned to attend the Oxnard event, but his flight from Sacramento was delayed. The governor plans similar events throughout the state, aides said, and he made his case to reporters in a conference call. “It’s great to recognize this, one of many projects that SB 1 is going to finance,” Brown said. “It’s going to save lives. It’s going to make commuting and traveling easier and safer.” That supporters of the tax are addressing voters outside of Los Angeles and San Francisco is also noteworthy. The poll found only 44% of voters in Los Angeles want to repeal the tax, but the number goes to 55% in the suburbs, 56% in the state’s Central Valley and 64% in Orange and San Diego counties and the Inland Empire. Shrum said supporters of the tax should be concerned about the level of opposition by voters, including the poll findings that half of Latino voters want to repeal the taxes. “That’s not a promising number, given you have to use a Democratic base” to mount a campaign to keep the tax, he said. “If Democrats are going to save this they are going to have to spend a lot of money,” Shrum added. Hoping to boost turnout of GOP voters, Republican leaders providing major funding of the repeal initiative include House Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, who, because he is poised to be the next speaker, has a lot on the line when it comes to who controls Congress.

The campaign against the initiative is backed by a coalition of deep-pocketed big businesses that often align with Republicans to fight higher taxes, and it also has support from labor, law enforcement and cities.

The “Fix Our Roads” coalition fighting repeal includes the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, the Bay Area Council, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, the League of California Cities, the State Building & Construction Trades Council of California and the California Assn. of Highway Patrolmen. A political committee set up to fight any attempt to repeal the gas taxhas raised more than $1 million so far.

http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 3/4 5/25/2018 Los Angeles Times The poll did not shake the confidence of anti-repeal coalition leader Michael Quigley, executive director of the California Alliance for Jobs. “This campaign will be about whether voters want to rip away thousands of local projects, whether they want unsafe, congested roads, and whether they want to let partisan politicians take us backward,” Quigley said. The governor’s leading role could help to keep the gas tax on the books, but his ability to assist is limited, said Mike Murphy, a Republican strategist and consultant to the poll. “The governor’s numbers aren’t what they used to be.” The poll found that 48% of voters approved of the job Brown has done and 40% disapproved. The online survey was conducted from April 18 to May 18 and included 691 registered voters. The overall margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points. [email protected] Twitter: @mcgreevy99 Jill Darling, survey director of the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research, contributed to this report.

http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 4/4 5/25/2018 How Public Pensions Can Start Healing Themselves

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May 25, 2018 Print | Reprint | Share « Previous Article | Next Article » SUBSCRIBE FREE How Public Pensions Can Start Healing Themselves MAY 21, 2018 • BARRY RITHOLTZ

Our discussion last week about representatives of the League of California Cities urging the CalPERS, the state’s huge pension fund for public employees, to juice up investment returns generated a lot of interesting feedback.

It is clear that public-pension funds need some help. Rather than offer specific investment recommendations, I am going to make some suggestions to help them think about what they should be considering when reviewing their own portfolios.

Other Articles: Hedge-Fund Mediocrity Is The Best Magic Trick • Every Illinoisan Owes $11,000 For Pensions With No Fix in Sight Current Issue Past Issues

SUBSCRIBE TO Trending Articles: Red Flags That Can Trigger An IRS Audit Of Client Tax Returns • Here's How Much Money You Need for Bankers To Think You're Rich Other Articles: Hedge-Fund Mediocrity Is The Best Magic Trick • Every Illinoisan Owes $11,000 For Pensions With No Fix in Sight

CONFERENCE NEWS Trending Articles: Red Flags That Can Trigger An IRS Audit Of Client Tax Returns • Here's Invest In W omen 2018 How Much Money You Need for Bankers To Think You're Rich Conference V ideos It is important for managers and public representatives to understand what they know, what they Inside ETFs Conference 2018 don’t know, and what they can’t possibly know. Some of the biggest mistakes in asset Inside Alternatives management come from not knowing the answers to those deceptively simple questions. Conference 2017 Invest In W omen 2017 What do we know? : Begin with that simple question of what any pension fund, consultant, or Inside Retirement 2017 investment committee member knows. I’ll limit it to five issues that can be answered with a high Morningstar Conference 2017 degree of confidence. TD Ameritrade 2017 Schwab IMP ACT 2017 Smart Beta Conference 2016 What’s in the portfolio?: This should be a simple question, especially when it comes to publicly traded equities and fixed income. You can find out exactly what those holdings are. However, the ADVISOR SERVICES increase in alternative investments such as private equity, hedge funds and venture capital during Broker-Dealers the past few decades means that parts of the portfolio are opaque. Being aware of exactly what is Custodians/Fee Only in the portfolio is a key to answering many of our other inquiries. FinTech Social Media What are our future liabilities?: This usually can be answered with some confidence: you know how many people participate in your pension, their average ages and typical career lengths. A fair ADVICE estimate should allow the calculation of future yearly obligations. The caveat is the further out we 401(k) Plans look, the greater the possibility of unforeseen events that might affect your projections. Annuities Benefits What are our funding contributions: How much of our current obligations are funded? And what Business T ransitions does the present funding level look like relative to future needs? Note that this is a political Charitable Giving decision made by state or city legislators, who typically want to get re-elected and are averse to DOL/Compliance/Fraud Economy raising taxes. All that is really known with a high degree of confidence is the present funding Education/529 levels. Estate Planning Health Care What are our costs?: Part of this can be known with great specificity -- namely, contractual Insurance management fees and published costs of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. Some costs, Practice Management such as trading fee and salaries, can be estimated with a reasonable degree of confidence. But Retirement Income some items -- namely, performance fees -- can only be known retrospectively, based upon how Retirement Planning well a manager performs. Social Security Tax Planning https://www.fa-mag.com/news/how-public-pensions-can-start-healing-themselves-38797.html 1/3 5/25/2018 How Public Pensions Can Start Healing Themselves Variable Annuities How much risk are we assuming? There is a range of risks that a fund portfolio can have relative Women and Planning to the safest investment (aka risk-free) U.S. Treasuries. Do we understand what our risk profile is and how much more or less risk we might be taking? INVESTING Alternative Investments What is unknown? The next set of questions pension funds should be considering is the Analysis unknowns: we can break this down into three broad categories of what might happen in the Commodities future: ETFs Fixed Income Impact Investing First « 1 2 » Next International To read more stories , click here Mutual Funds Real Estate/REIT s Smart Beta U.S. Equity « Previous Article | Next Article »

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https://www.fa-mag.com/news/how-public-pensions-can-start-healing-themselves-38797.html 2/3 5/25/2018 Segregation’s legacy persists across Southern California real estate, report shows – Orange County Register

BUSINESS Segregation’s legacy persists across Southern California real estate, report shows

White tenants seeking to prevent blacks from moving into the housing project erected this sign in 1942 in Detroit. The legacy of segregation persists in some major metros because minorities have struggled to move up the housing ladder. (United States Farm Security Administration, Library of Congress)

By ANDREW EDWARDS | [email protected] | Inland Valley Daily Bulletin PUBLISHED: May 25, 2018 at 8:00 am | UPDATED: May 25, 2018 at 8:01 am



The high cost of housing in California and a legacy of long-banned discriminatory practices have a consequence many casual observers might overlook: segregation.

Los Angeles and Orange counties are in a four-way tie for 10th-most segregated area among the nation’s largest metros, according to a new report from ApartmentList.com. The problem is less prevalent in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, despite a slight uptick in observed segregation in that region.

The findings come from ApartmentList’s analysis of Census Bureau tract data and come 50 years after President Lyndon Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act, which made it illegal to refuse to sell or rent housing to someone for such reasons as race, religion or whether a would-be buyer or renter has children. https://www.ocregister.com/2018/05/25/segregations-legacy-persists-across-southern-california-real-estate-report-shows/ 1/4 5/25/2018 Segregation’s legacy persists across Southern California real estate, report shows – Orange County Register

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Despite the law being on the books for a half-century, the ApartmentList concluded housing segregation remains a blemish on American life, going as far as to title their report “The Persistent Effects of Residential Segregation.”

“It would be naive to think this stuff stopped overnight once this bill was signed into law,” said Chris Salviati, an ApartmentList economist and the report’s author.

Exclusionary zoning or redlining — denying someone a mortgage based on the racial makeup of their neighborhood — once blocked many African American families from the benefits of homeownership and have resulted in lasting harm, he wrote.

“These policies and other related factors led to higher concentrations of poverty in minority neighborhoods, and the persistence of significant wealth gaps has served to reinforce patterns of residential segregation,” the report states.

Potential means to reduce segregation include offering aid, such as Section 8 vouchers, to low-income renters that enables them to move into areas offering better opportunities and zoning rules favorable to more affordable housing, Salviati said.

That solution isn’t so simple in Los Angeles County, where the Housing Authority has more than 38,000 people on its waiting list for Section 8 vouchers, agency legislative analyst Debra Solis said. Some 23,000 people are receiving Section 8 benefits.

Those who have vouchers must find landlords willing to accept government-approved rent levels. Vouchers in Los Angeles County can be worth about $1,500 for a two-bedroom apartment, while average rents for an apartment of any size in the county run more than $1,800, according to CoStar.

Calculating segregation

ApartmentList calculated the percentage of minorities — African-American, Latino or Asian-American — that would have to move to another neighborhood within the same metro for the region to have a balanced demographic blend.

Data for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro area shows that in 2016, 53 percent of the metro’s non-white residents would have to relocate to rebalance the demographics. That study’s so-called “segregation index” for the region was 0.53, down from 0.56 in 2009.

Here’s how the other counties fared:

Orange County on its own scored a segregation index of 0.43 in 2016, down from 0.46 in 2009.

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metro shows a 0.39 segregation index, up a notch from 0.38 in 2009. Riverside County is the less segregated of the two inland counties, with a 0.36 segregation index, up from 0.35 in 2009.

Although Salviati acknowledged the data does not provide a definitive explanation as to why segregation has declined in Los Angeles and Orange counties, it’s possible the change is an outcome of upper-income newcomers moving into neighborhoods where people of other racial groups have historically composed majorities of the local population.

“That’s certainly one factor that could be at play,” he said.

His report also suggests this dynamic applies in other expensive metros such as San Francisco, Boston and New York.

Riverside and San Bernardino counties may have less segregation than their coastal neighbors because a larger share of its development happened after the Fair Housing Act was signed. ApartmentList found segregation to be most prevalent in metros that have had relatively little growth since 1970.

Los Angeles and Orange counties already had 64 percent of their 2016 population levels living within their boundaries in 1970. Riverside and San Bernardino counties, however, had only reached 26 percent of their 2016 population level by 1970.

https://www.ocregister.com/2018/05/25/segregations-legacy-persists-across-southern-california-real-estate-report-shows/ 2/4 5/25/2018 Segregation’s legacy persists across Southern California real estate, report shows – Orange County Register

As for that four-way tie: the LA-metro area scored the same as Chicago, Miami and New Orleans on ApartmentList’s segregation rankings. The Milwaukee area was the most segregated metro in the nation.

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andrew- edwards Andrew Edwards Andrew Edwards is part of the Southern California News Group's business team and focuses on housing stories for the Inland Empire. He's based at the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and has also worked for publications including the Long Beach Press- Telegram and The San Bernardino Sun. He graduated from UCLA in 2003 after studying political science and history.  Follow Andrew Edwards @AndrewEdwardsIE

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https://www.ocregister.com/2018/05/25/segregations-legacy-persists-across-southern-california-real-estate-report-shows/ 3/4 5/25/2018 Los Angeles Times

Social media ruling a win for defense attorneys Court rules in social media case

State’s high court says Facebook and others should furnish public communications in reply to subpoenas.

FACEBOOK Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg testifies about data collection before Congress last month. (Shawn Thew EPA/Shutterstock) BY MAURA DOLAN

Facebook and other social media companies should turn over users’ public communications to criminal defendants in response to subpoenas, the California Supreme Court decided unanimously Thursday. http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 1/3 5/25/2018 Los Angeles Times The ruling, a victory for the criminal defense bar, overturned an appeals court decision that said the defense lawyers could not force media companies to comply with such subpoenas prior to trial. Defense lawyers have been fighting since 2008 to be able to have access to social media accounts to defend their clients. The media companies have refused access, saying a federal privacy law barred cooperation except in limited circumstances. Police and prosecutors, though, are able to obtain the communications through warrants and subpoenas. Thursday’s decision, written by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, said the companies would have to comply with subpoenas for users’ information that was public at the time of the request. “A provider must disclose any such communication pursuant to a subpoena that is authorized under state law,” Cantil-Sakauye wrote. Although defense lawyers, like anyone else, can obtain users’ information that is public, those communications are not admissible in court until the media company or the user confirm their authenticity. “It is so significant,” said Janelle Caywood, a criminal defense lawyer in the case who has tried to subpoena user information. “Whenever criminal defendants subpoena records that we think we need to prove our clients are innocent, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram ignore us completely,” she said. She said the California Supreme Court was the first state high court to take up the issue and the first to rule on it. “We have had public defenders calling us from throughout the country who have been waiting for this,” she said. “This is the first step in the right direction to full and fair access.” The decision stemmed from a gang-related prosecution of a killing and attempted killing in a drive-by shooting in San Francisco. One of the participants, a 14-year-old, told police the victim had “tagged” him on Instagram in a video featuring guns.

The boy admitted that he shot the victim six times — and said the victim “would have done the same thing to us.”

A grand jury indicted the boy and two others. Defense lawyers for two of the defendants served subpoenas on Twitter for communications that had been posted by a witness. One also served subpoenas on Facebook and Instagram for the accounts of both the witness and the victim. The media companies said the federal Stored Communications Act prevented them from disclosing stored electronic communications except in limited circumstances. http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 2/3 5/25/2018 Los Angeles Times The court said the companies may still challenge a subpoena if the person requesting it can obtain the information by other means, or show that the burden on the company is not justified. A lawyer for the media companies could not be reached for comment. [email protected] Twitter: @mauradolan

http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 3/3 5/25/2018 Los Angeles Times

USC DORNSIFE/L.A. TIMES POLL Majority favors tax hike on businesses

A potential 2020 ballot measure would modify Prop. 13 for commercial property.

A POLL found that 54% of California voters surveyed approved of a plan to ease Proposition 13’s tax protections on large commercial and industrial properties. (Rick Loomis Los Angeles Times) LIAM DILLON

SACRAMENTO — A majority of California voters back a potential 2020 ballot measure that would increase property taxes on businesses, according to a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll. http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 1/2 5/25/2018 Los Angeles Times Of the 691 registered voters surveyed, 54% said they supported a measure that would ease property tax protections established by the landmark 1978 ballot measure Proposition 13. Under the proposed 2020 initiative, local governments and schools could tax larger commercial and industrial properties based on their market values rather than the values based on when the properties were purchased, resulting in as much as $10 billion annually in new revenue. Backing for the proposed change was high among Democrats, with 64% in favor, and a majority of those surveyed across regions of the state were behind it. Support was weakest among Republicans, with just over a third in favor. Analysts warned that the poll results do not mean a 2020 campaign is necessarily in a strong position. Supporters of charging higher taxes on commercial and industrial properties have debated such a measure for years, but have never put it on the ballot. Business groups have long warned the change would hurt California’s economy. Mike Murphy, a GOP strategist, said that pushback to the Proposition 13 change could knock down support. “Even when something like this as a pitch tests well, in real life, it melts very quickly,” Murphy said. The online survey was conducted between April 18 and May 18 in English and Spanish. The margin of sampling error was four percentage points in either direction. [email protected] Twitter: @dillonliam Jill Darling, survey director for the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research, contributed to this report.

http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 2/2