San Manuel Casino Reveals More Details About Forthcoming Hotel

6/25/2019 San Manuel Casino reveals more details about forthcoming hotel – San Bernardino Sun

THINGS TO DOCASINOS San Manuel Casino reveals more details about forthcoming hotel The casino has already made several changes as part of its $550 million expansion and is on the cusp of completing its first big phase, its parking garage.

San Manuel Casino is currently in the midst of a multi-year, multi-phase $550 million expansion that will give it a parking garage, event center, hotel and new restaurants. (File(File photophoto byby RachelRachel Luna,Luna, TheThe Sun/SCNG)Sun/SCNG)

By ALEX GROVES || [email protected] || TheThe Press-EnterprisePress-Enterprise PUBLISHED: June 25, 2019 at 9:05 am || UPDATED:UPDATED: June 25, 2019 at 9:12 am https://www.sbsun.com/2019/06/25/san-manuel-casino-reveals-more-details-about-forthcoming-hotel/?utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_sour… 1/4 6/25/2019 San Manuel Casino reveals more details about forthcoming hotel – San Bernardino Sun

San Manuel Casino is eyeing the second quarter of 2021 to have a 450-room hotel, restaurants and a 3,000 seat event center all completed, San Manuel Casino General Manager Peter Arceo said.

Arceo, who spoke to Southern California News Group during a recent tour of the casino’s new high limit room, provided an update on the casino’s $550 million multi-phase, multi-year expansion and some of the elements that will be a part of that.that.

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The general manager said the complex’s 2,200-stall parking structure, already well underway, will be completed later this year and that land located behind the parking garage and casino would become the site of the event center, restaurants and hotel.

Second quarter of 2021 is a more specific time frame for when the hotel might be completed. When the expansion got underway in July 2018,, itit waswas announcedannounced thatthat thethe parkingparking garagegarage wouldwould bebe completedcompleted inin 20192019 andand thethe eventevent centercenter wouldwould bebe completed in 2021, but no specific date was given for when the hotel and restaurants, said to be the final phase of the expansion, would be completed. https://www.sbsun.com/2019/06/25/san-manuel-casino-reveals-more-details-about-forthcoming-hotel/?utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_sour… 2/4 6/25/2019 San Manuel Casino reveals more details about forthcoming hotel – San Bernardino Sun As the Highland area casino’s expansion has gotten underway, several smaller projects have also been completed. The casino has renovated its Tukut Lounge,, has opened a new smoke-free slots area onon thethe firstfirst floorfloor andand hashas openedopened thethe newnew high limit gaming space, The Vault Gaming & Provisions..

A high limit room on the first floor, which closed with the opening of The Vault, will be redesigned and reopened as two separate spaces — one high limit slots room and one high limit table games room. Arceo said the look for those spaces is still being designed.

“What I can tell you is that we’re aiming for a more elevated experience than what you see here (The Vault),” Arceo said. “So you can only imagine what that would be like and we’re taking the same approach where the entire team is working cross functionally on that program so everyone from food and beverage to table games to slots are all contributing.”

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Gaming: The Vault Gaming & Provisions || Smoke-free slots area || Blazing 7’s Blackjack arenaGrowth: $550 Million ExpansionPersonnel changes: Loren Gill || Peter Arceo || Kenji HallDining and drinks: Rock & Brews musical brunch || Collection 86 || JBQ || Chingon Kitchen || Tukut Lounge

Alex Groves Alex Groves writes about casinos for the entertainment team at Southern California News Group. He started his rst full-time gig as a breaking news https://www.sbsun.com/2019/06/25/san-manuel-casino-reveals-more-details-about-forthcoming-hotel/?utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_sour… 3/4 6/26/2019 Public input vital for Highland/Redlands bikeway project | Public Works | highlandnews.net

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https://www.highlandnews.net/news/public_works/public-input-vital-for-highland-redlands-bikeway- project/article_73748d28-9767-11e9-86bf-6fb9b308bfd5.html

FEATURED Public input vital for Highland/Redlands bikeway project The cities of Highland and Redlands continue collecting public input for bicycle and pedestrian trail to cross Santa Ana River at Orange Street.

Hector Hernandez Jr. Jun 25, 2019 Updated 22 hrs ago

https://www.highlandnews.net/news/public_works/public-input-vital-for-highland-redlands-bikeway-project/article_73748d28-9767-11e9-86bf-6fb9b308… 1/6 6/26/2019 Public input vital for Highland/Redlands bikeway project | Public Works | highlandnews.net

Courtesy city of Highland

On Thursday, June 20, the cities of Highland and Redlands held the third in a series of public meetings aimed at collecting public input and citizen support for the Highland Redlands Regional Connector Trail for bicyclists and pedestrians, support project leaders say is vital to winning additional grants needed to widen the project’s scope to more than a basic commuter system.

Thursday’s meeting, held at the Redlands Senior Center, was the rst in Redlands, and it drew the attendance of approximately 20 people, about half of them recreational cyclists. The rst two meetings were held at Beattie Middle School and Arroyo Verde Elementary in Highland and https://www.highlandnews.net/news/public_works/public-input-vital-for-highland-redlands-bikeway-project/article_73748d28-9767-11e9-86bf-6fb9b308… 2/6 6/26/2019 Public input vital for Highland/Redlands bikeway project | Public Works | highlandnews.net drew a total of 45 attendees, according to Dennis Barton, principal project manager for city of Highland.

The project, four years in the making, aims to connect the extensive bikeways and trails systems in each of the cities by constructing a trail crossing the Santa Ana River at Orange Street.

While outlining the project’s design and status, Highland City Engineer Earnest Wong shared that approximately $4 million in federal and state funding has been obtained for the project. Most of that, $3,636,000, came from an Active Transportation Program grant awarded in October 2015.

The project will create a continuous bikeway/walkway from Arroyo Verde Elementary at Church and Love streets in Highland to Citrus Valley High School at Pioneer and Texas streets in Redlands. It will feature class 2 bikeways (painted bike lane) on Glenheather Drive and on Orange Street from Tonner Drive south to Greenspot Road. The majority of the trail Orange

Street south of Greenspot to Domestic Avenue and on Domestic west to Citrus Valley⎯ will feature a class 1 bikeway and pedestrian trails, separated from vehicle trac. ⎯

Arroyo Verde Elementary, Beattie Middle School, Israel Beal Park and Citrus Valley High School will be the major designations making biking to work and school safer and more convenient. City leaders are hoping will entice Redlands residents to explore Highland and vise versa while recreational riding.

The trail will also connect to the Santa Ana River trail allowing cyclists and hikers to explore as far west as the sea.

https://www.highlandnews.net/news/public_works/public-input-vital-for-highland-redlands-bikeway-project/article_73748d28-9767-11e9-86bf-6fb9b308… 3/6 6/26/2019 Public input vital for Highland/Redlands bikeway project | Public Works | highlandnews.net One of the main, and most expensive, features is a pedestrian bridge crossing Plunge Creek along the east side of Orange Street bridge.

The prefabricated bridge is expected to cost up to $1 million and will be installed with enough separation to allow for future widening of the vehicle bridge.

The bicyclists in attendance expressed strong support for the project saying it was vital from a bicyclists’ safety point of view as the area oers no ideal route for cyclists to traverse north and south of the river. Cyclists use Greenspot Road on the east, which is considered dangerous, and Mountain View Avenue about 10 miles to the west, the cyclists said.

According to Wong, the project is about 30 percent through the design phase, two years into its environmental process and is expected to be completed by 2020.

The project is funded for the trail and bikeways, but, due to the more informed scope and rising construction costs since preliminary estimates were made more than four years ago, additional funds will be needed to give the trail the features desired to make it more appealing for recreational users.

Project is need of an additional $2.5 million to $3 million in order to include all the features desired by the community and the cities, said Barton.

“On the practical side, we will build what we can aord, but that is not what we want. We want to get more funds so we can build everything the community wants,” Barton said.

The project leaders have collected more than 50 recommendations from residents during the rst three meetings. They include trail lighting, speed limits for bicyclists, water stations, interpretive trail signs, way-nding signs and special trail surfaces for bicyclists and joggers.

Cyclists also recommended the city consider ways to keep sand and gravel o the trail, particularly where the trail crosses the entrances to local mining facilities.

Wong and Barton each emphasized the importance of public attendance and participation during the outreach meetings in strengthening the project’s bid for grants, asking that people continue attending the meetings and submitting comments.

https://www.highlandnews.net/news/public_works/public-input-vital-for-highland-redlands-bikeway-project/article_73748d28-9767-11e9-86bf-6fb9b308… 4/6 6/26/2019 Public input vital for Highland/Redlands bikeway project | Public Works | highlandnews.net The next meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, June 29, at Israel Beal Park, Colorado Street and River View Drive, Redlands.

For more information on the regional connector project, contact the city of Highland at (909) 864-6861 ext. 217 or the city of Redlands at (909) 798-7698.

Future meetings 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, June 29, at Israel Beal Park, Colorado Street and River View Drive, in Redlands

3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, July 8, at Citrus Valley High School, 800 W. Pioneer St., Redlands

Highland Bikeways Plan 41.6 total miles when completed

24.7 miles of existing bikeways

5.8 miles of future bikeways planned and funded

11.1 miles of future bikeways planned but not yet funded

https://www.highlandnews.net/news/public_works/public-input-vital-for-highland-redlands-bikeway-project/article_73748d28-9767-11e9-86bf-6fb9b308… 5/6 6/26/2019 Cannabis career fair packs stadium, brings some drama - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

Cannabis career fair packs stadium, brings some drama By Garrett Bergthold Staff Writer Posted Jun 25, 2019 at 6:15 PM Updated Jun 25, 2019 at 9:07 PM ADELANTO — There was no pungent cannabis smoke coming from inside Adelanto Stadium on Tuesday, just job opportunities and a bit of drama.

By 9 a.m., one observer estimated upwards of 100 people stood waiting in line, many with resumes in hand, ready for the doors to swing open for the Cannabis Career Fair.

The fair was hosted by Mayor Pro Tem Stevevonna Evans in her private capacity as an event planner.

Evans said 737 applicants participated in the event, which provided an opportunity for eight companies to accept resumes and interview job candidates.

“Overall, it was great,” Evans said. “I hope a lot of people get jobs. All the operators I talked to said they got what they needed.”

One job seeker was Allison Zervopoulos, who saw the job fair posted on social media.

“I met a lot of great people,” said Zervopoulos, 32, from Los Angeles, who moved to Adelanto last year to grow cannabis.

After moving from line to line to speak to several company representatives, Zervopoulos said she felt comfortable with the connections she made at the event.

Karen Gibbs, who heads human resources for the Jet Room cannabis dispensary, sat beside about three inches worth of resumes stacked on her portable desk.

https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190625/cannabis-career-fair-packs-stadium-brings-some-drama 1/4 6/26/2019 Cannabis career fair packs stadium, brings some drama - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

“And that doesn’t even include those who didn’t bring a resume,” Gibbs said, pointing to a ledger with pages of contact information.

She said she sought cannabis extractors to make manufactured cannabis oil and applicants with experience in internet technology, among other positions.

But mid-way through the event, one incident in particular caught the attention of social media.

A Facebook Live video appears to show a stadium manager snatching the phone from an Adelanto resident who is known to be an odds with the city administration.

Diana Esmeralda Holte recorded the tense moment on Facebook Live in front of Adelanto Stadium following her immediate removal after entering the building, she said.

Evans contends Holte was snapping pictures inside using a camera, not a cellphone, an accusation Holte denies. Evans also said social media posts by Holte regarding the cannabis fair led her to believe Holte was there to cause trouble.

In the video — which was widely shared and viewed 1,400 times as of 5 p.m. Tuesday — Holte can be seen outside the stadium talking to her viewers while standing in front of the doors to the conference room.

At the 30-second mark, a security guard asks her to step away from the entrance and into the parking lot. Stadium management then quickly got involved.

“Excuse me, this is a private event,” stadium co-manager Darrel Courtney can be heard saying as Holte’s video feed begins to shake prior to flipping upside down.

“Give me my phone back,” she yells before seemingly regaining possession of her phone. “This guy just took my phone and assaulted me,” Holte said while adjusting her video back to selfie position with Courtney in the background.

Courtney said he acted to preserve the privacy of the job applicants in attendance. Cannabis still has a stigma attached to it, he said, despite legalization.

https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190625/cannabis-career-fair-packs-stadium-brings-some-drama 2/4 6/26/2019 Cannabis career fair packs stadium, brings some drama - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

“There are a lot of people here who are applying for jobs, whose employer may or may not know they are even here,” he said. “Marijuana is not widely accepted, so it’s an invasion of their privacy for her to come in here to livestream it on YouTube. It is unacceptable.”

Evans said the career fair was a private, not public, event she paid to have hosted at the conference center. The event was publicized heavily on social media and in the Daily Press.

“You can’t come into a private event if you are not welcomed into a private event,” she said.

Holte, a former Adelanto City Council candidate, is often seen with “fire Jessie Flores” signs inside Council chambers. She is also the secretary of the High Desert Cannabis Association.

She said she intended to collect information on prospective job opportunities in town for job seekers, until being stopped at the sign-in desk prior to entering.

“Stevevonna looks at me and says ‘you can’t be here, you have to leave,’” Holte said, which is when Holte said she went outside and began filming.

Holte said she refrained from both filming and taking pictures inside the conference room, and only recorded outside. She also said nobody warned her about recording without permission.

“I will be suing the city,” said Holte, who alleged Courtney, by stripping her phone away from her, assaulted her. She added she intended to press charges with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

Holte is a fixture on Adelanto-related Facebook groups, where she is often seen posting about the current and former City Council majority, both of which she has claimed are corrupt.

Holte’s boyfriend, Tim Graston, who is also president of the High Desert Cannabis Association, filed a legal claim against the city which was rejected by the city in January, he said.

https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190625/cannabis-career-fair-packs-stadium-brings-some-drama 3/4 6/26/2019 Cannabis career fair packs stadium, brings some drama - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

Graston alleges past city administrators lost his dispensary application intentionally to prevent him from opening a cannabis dispensary. A move he says was to preserve the monopoly of the few cannabis dispensaries in operation.

He said he expects to file a lawsuit soon.

Less than an hour later, Victorville Councilwoman Blanca Gomez took to Facebook Live herself. In her video, she can be seen freely recording video both inside the conference room and in the parking lot.

Evans, in her own promotional Facebook Live feed at the event, also panned around the inside of the event where she captured dozens of job applicants waiting in line.

Holte maintains that she, like Gomez and Evans, pointed her phone only in her own direction while recording.

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

https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190625/cannabis-career-fair-packs-stadium-brings-some-drama 4/4 6/26/2019 Barstow Resource Fair set for Thursday - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

Barstow Resource Fair set for Thursday By Rene Ray De La Cruz Staff Writer Posted Jun 25, 2019 at 7:10 PM Updated Jun 25, 2019 at 7:10 PM BARSTOW — After last year’s successful Resource Fair, organizers say they expect this year’s event at the Cora Harper Center to be bigger and better.

Hosted by the Barstow Community Coalition, Thursday’s 6th annual Resource Fair will allow community members the opportunity to connect with various resources providers, said BCC Secretary Judy Mack.

“From mental health providers to homeless programs and veteran resources, there are 57 resource providers signed up this year,” said Mack about the fair that drew over 400 people last year.

“The local Bureau of Land Management will be there with their reptiles for the kids, and many vendor tables will have activities for the children,” Mack said. “The Borrego Health van will also be in attendance, and there will be multiple health screenings inside the Cora Harper Center.”

Rite Aid will offer a number of adult vaccines, Jang Dental will be there for dental exams and they’ll be hourly free raffles for all adult visitors, Mack said.

Last year, many resource fair visitors walked away with valuable information, including one homeless veteran and resident seeking a “much-needed doctor’s appointment,” Mack said.

Vendors donated nearly $1,000 in prizes last yea that were given away via a ticket drawing every 30 minutes. During that event, children visited craft tables and took selfies various mascots.

The BCC is a group of nonprofits that come together to provide information regarding resources. The group has held various seminars dealing with issues of suicide awareness, human trafficking, mental health and synthetic drug use.

https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190625/barstow-resource-fair-set-for-thursday 1/2 6/26/2019 Barstow Resource Fair set for Thursday - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

The 6th annual Resource Fair is scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday at the Cora Harper Center, 841 Barstow Rd. in Barstow. For more information, email [email protected] or text 702--280-6737.

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

https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190625/barstow-resource-fair-set-for-thursday 2/2 12-year-old accidentally shoots twin brother to death in San Bernardino; mom arrested – Press Enterprise

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NEWSCRIME + PUBLIC SAFETY 12-year-old accidentally shoots twin brother to death in San Bernardino; mom arrested

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Gabriela Keeton, 45, of San Bernardino, was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment June SUBSCRIBE 24, 2019, after her 12-year-old son accidentally shot his twin brother to death. (Courtesy of San Bernardino Police Department) Follow Us By BRIAN ROKOS | [email protected] | The Press-Enterprise  PUBLISHED: June 25, 2019 at 2:38 pm | UPDATED: June 25, 2019 at 3:07 pm    

https://www.pe.com/...arrested/?utm_content=tw-pressenterprise&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=socialflow[6/25/2019 3:20:00 PM] 12-year-old accidentally shoots twin brother to death in San Bernardino; mom arrested – Press Enterprise A 12-year-old boy handling a gun at his San Bernardino home MOST POPULAR accidentally shot his twin brother to death Monday, June 24, prompting

the arrest of the boys’ mother, police said. Man lying in road in Riverside 1 and killed Gabriela Keeton, 45, was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment, The 15 Freeway is closing for the San Bernardino Police Department said. The boys’ father has been 2 hours in south Corona Saturda night hospitalized for an unrelated reason and was not arrested, Sgt. John Echevarria said Tuesday. A 200-foot hole keeps Highway 3 near Idyllwild closed for at leas more months ADVERTISING EASTVALE: Marijuana cultivat 4 house busted

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The boys were alone at home in the 900 block of East Central Avenue San Manuel Casino reveals mo 10 details about forthcoming hote about 7:30 p.m. Monday when one of the boys found the unsecured gun in the master bedroom, Echevarria said. The gun went off, striking his brother. The victim was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Keeton was arrested at the scene.

Police on Tuesday reminded weapons owners to keep them locked and out of reach of children and to educate their children on the danger of weapons if improperly handled.

Police ask anyone with information on the case to call Detective Reyna at 909-384-5638 or Sgt. Flores at 909-384-5659.

https://www.pe.com/...arrested/?utm_content=tw-pressenterprise&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=socialflow[6/25/2019 3:20:00 PM] Search of Victorville landfill for boy’s body is called off – San Bernardino Sun

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NEWSCRIME + PUBLIC SAFETY Search of Victorville landfill for boy’s body is called off

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San Bernardino County sheriff’s investigators announced June 25, 2019, that they are no SUBSCRIBE longer searching a Victorville landfill for the body of 6-year-old Duke Flores after being unable to find it. His mother and aunt have been charged with murder in connection with his disappearance. (Courtesy of San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department) Follow Us

By BRIAN ROKOS | [email protected] | The Press-Enterprise  PUBLISHED: June 25, 2019 at 4:03 pm | UPDATED: June 25, 2019 at 4:03 pm   

https://www.sbsun.com/...y-is-called-off/?utm_content=tw-sbsun&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=socialflow[6/25/2019 4:48:02 PM] Search of Victorville landfill for boy’s body is called off – San Bernardino Sun SPONSORED CONTENT The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department has ended its search of a Victorville landfill for the body of a boy without finding 6-year-old Duke Flores. If You're Over 40 And Own A Computer, This Game Is A M Sheriff’s and district attorney investigators dug through an estimated 14 Have! million pounds of material in a 75-yard area from April 29 to June 21 after By Vikings: Free Online Game they concluded that Duke’s mother and aunt killed him and put his body in a trash bin near the family home on Cherokee Avenue in Apple Valley.

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The 15 Freeway is closing for 5 hours in south Corona Saturda Detectives have no other places to search for the boy unless new night information becomes available, sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodi Miller said Cockroaches, no health permit 6 Restaurant closures in San Tuesday. Bernardino County, June 14-20

“This is not the outcome we had hoped for,” Sheriff John McMahon said Search of Victorville landfill for 7 body is called off in a news release, “but we knew going into this search that there was a San Bernardino marks 25 year chance we would not locate Duke. I am extremely proud of the 8 since closing of Norton Air For dedication shown by every person who continued to show up day after Base, eyes future day, desperately hoping to locate the young boy.” Sugarloaf woman identified as 9 motorist who died in rollover cr On April 25, Duke’s grandmother requested deputies check on the San Bernardino Mountains brown-eyed boy because she had not seen him and was concerned for State Supreme Court upholds 10 conviction, death sentence in R his welfare, the release said. His mother, Jakee Raquel Contreras, 29, man’s 2005 shooting spree told deputies that she had not seen him for two weeks. But she had not Loma Linda University Health l reported Duke missing. 11 new resident physicians on tou

San Bernardino On April 27, she and Duke’s aunt, Jennifer Rachel Contreras, were 12 Bald eagle chick is still learning arrested on suspicion of murder. fly, so part of Big Bear Lake re closed The 29-year-old twin sisters pleaded not guilty to murder on April 30. They are due back in court Wednesday for a pre-preliminary hearing. They are in custody in lieu of $1 million bail each.

Investigators ask anyone with information on the case to call Detective Narcie Sousa at 909-387-3589 or dispatchers at 909-387-8313. Tips may be left anonymously with We Tip at 800-782-7463 or on the website at wetip.com.

12-year-old accidentally shoots twin brother to death in San Bernardino; mom arrested

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State Supreme Court upholds conviction, death sentence in Rialto man’s 2005 shooting spree

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https://www.sbsun.com/...y-is-called-off/?utm_content=tw-sbsun&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=socialflow[6/25/2019 4:48:02 PM] 6/26/2019 Search for 6-year-old Duke Flores called off - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

Search for 6-year-old Duke Flores called o By Martin Estacio Staff Writer Posted Jun 25, 2019 at 4:25 PM Updated Jun 25, 2019 at 5:01 PM VICTORVILLE — After an exhaustive eight weeks of combing through the Victorville Landfill, authorities announced on Tuesday that the search for 6- year-old Duke Flores’ body has ended.

According to a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department statement, the two- month “recovery effort ended with no remains found.”

The landfill search began on April 29th and continued through June 21st, the statement said.

A team of Sheriff’s personnel, homicide detectives, investigators from various departments, K-9 units and volunteers ultimately searched 13 to 14 million pounds of material in an area “75 yards in length, 60 yards in depth and 20 feet in height,” authorities said.

“This is not the outcome we had hoped for,” Sheriff John McMahon said in the statement. “But we knew going into this search that there was a chance we would not locate Duke. I am extremely proud of the dedication shown by every person who continued to show up day after day, desperately hoping to locate the young boy.”

The case of the missing boy attracted national media attention after deputies conducting a welfare check on Duke in Apple Valley on April 25 were told by his mother, Jackee Contreras, that he had not been seen in approximately two weeks. Contreras was booked on suspicion of child neglect.

Two days later, detectives booked Contreras, 29, on suspicion of murder after interviewing her.

https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190625/search-for-6-year-old-duke-flores-called-off 1/2 6/26/2019 Search for 6-year-old Duke Flores called off - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

Her twin sister and Duke’s aunt, Jennifer Contreras, was also arrested and booked that day for the same charge “following interviews with family members,” the statement read.

The search at the landfill began the following Monday.

Detectives believe the sisters “discarded the boy’s body in a dumpster near the family home on Cherokee Avenue,” authorities said.

Both sisters are being held at West Valley Detention Center in lieu of $1,000,000 bail.

They are scheduled for a hearing on Wednesday at Victorville Superior Court.

Wednesday’s hearing will determine whether the sisters are prepared for a preliminary hearing on Thursday morning.

If a preliminary hearing is scheduled, evidence will be presented in open court through testimony of witnesses, the prosecutor, San Bernardino County District Attorney Justin Crocker, told the Daily Press previously.

“If the judge finds that there is probable cause to believe that the defendants are guilty, then the case would move to the trial department,” Crocker said.

A criminal defense attorney and lecturer at UCLA School of Law told the Daily Press that the prosecutor’s job will likely be harder if a body isn’t found, but that detectives probably have strong circumstantial evidence to charge the sisters with murder.

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

https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190625/search-for-6-year-old-duke-flores-called-off 2/2 ___6/25/2019 Bullied Teen Girl Beaten in Caught-on-Video Campus ‘Attack’ Files Claim Against Yucaipa School District | KTLA Bullied Teen Girl Beaten in Caught-on-Video Campus ‘Attack’ Files Claim Against Yucaipa School District POSTED 1:56 PM, JUNE 25, 2019, BY NOURAN SALAHIEH AND KAREEN WYNTER, UPDATED AT 01:59PM, JUNE 25, 2019

Video Shows Attack in Yucaipa High School

The family of a 15-year-old girl led a claim Monday against the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unied School District alleging the district could have prevented a brutal caught-on-video beating on school campus.

Following months of bullying, Savanna Blakkan was repeatedly punched and shoved to the ground by another student just feet away from the Yucaipa High School's administration building in May, and ended up suffering a severe concussion, pain and emotional trauma, attorney Brian Claypool of the Claypool Law Firm said at a Tuesday news conference.

Savanna Blakkan, 15, speaks to members of the media on June 25, 2019, in Pasadena. (Credit: KTLA)

A video provided to KTLA shows a girl identied as Blakkan standing with another girl at a school. They appear to be in conversation before the girl is seen repeatedly striking Blakkan, pushing her onto the ground and continuing to beat her before a person pulls her off Blakkan.

“When you drop your kids off at school, you expect them to be safe and secure," Claypool said. "You don’t expect, as a parent, that your kids are walking into a UFC ghting ring on the school premises.” https://ktla.com/2019/06/25/family-files-claim-against-yucaipa-school-district-after-brutal-caught-on-video-beating-of-teen-girl/ 1/9 Blakkan6/25/2019 said that her alleged attacker,Bullied another Teen Girlstudent Beaten at the in Caught-on-Videoschool, had been following Campus her,‘Attack’ pushing Files her Claim and Againstyelling at Yucaipa her along School with otherDistrict students | KTLA prior to the incident.

“She grabbed me from my backpack and she kinda just started yelling at me," the teenager said, with her friends and family standing behind her. "She swung on me three times and I ended up on the oor, and she swung on me 10 more times and hit me worse.”

Blakkan's attorney said the girl seen beating his client in the video was suspended after the incident, when she should have been expelled.

Savanna Blakkan, 15, and her father embrace at a news conference after the Yucaipa student was beaten on campus. (Credit: KTLA)

“She nearly killed my client and she got two days of suspension,” Claypool said.

The teenager described a large crowd watching the beating, and several people walking past her as she lay on the oor, including an assistant vice principal and other teachers.

“Those administrators are heartless and that terrible conduct on the part of the school shows that they really don’t care about students that are being bullied and physically assaulted,” Claypool said.

Blakkan said that she was seeing a therapist after she started having suicidal thoughts because of the bullying, and ended up signing a "suicide contract," which she told school ofcials about. The teenager explained that the attack at school only made it harder for her emotionally and physically.

“I have nightmares,” she said. “I try to sleep as much as I can to avoid the day.”

The teenager's mother, Crystal Blakkan, said she reported the bullying to school ofcials on several occasions and "they didn’t take it seriously.”

The mother said she felt helpless after the beating and said, “there was nothing I could do to stop this attack from happening.”

She described watching the video of the attack along with other family members. “We can’t sleep because of it,” the mother said.

The teenager said she will no longer attend any school in the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unied School District.

Claypool said this is the 6th bullying case against the district that his rm has worked on—four of which included assault.

This attack comes after the 2017 bullying and subsequent suicide of another Yucaipa High School student, Rosalie Alivia, said Claypool, who also represented Alivia in a lawsuit.

“They simply do not take bullying seriously and kids continue to get injured and beaten up at their schools,” Claypool said. "The Yucaipa-Calimesa Unied School District has created a culture at their schools that promotes bullying."

The attorney said that schools in the district lack adequate security to deal with on-campus incidents and don't have proper protocols in place to address bullying. Blakkan's family intends to sue the district.

Th Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unied School District released a written statement addressing the claim, saying that it's aware of the "reported altercation."

"We take incidents of this nature extremely seriously. We responded according to our policies for student discipline, and have been working in cooperation with law-enforcement. Student safety is our rst priority. We will continue to look into this matter, our policies, and our procedures to ensure that we are maintaining safe school environments for all of our students," the district's statement read.

https://ktla.com/2019/06/25/family-files-claim-against-yucaipa-school-district-after-brutal-caught-on-video-beating-of-teen-girl/ 2/9 Lawyer files 6th lawsuit against Yucaipa-Calimesa school district over bullying – San Bernardino Sun

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LOCAL NEWS Lawyer files 6th lawsuit against Yucaipa-Calimesa school district over bullying

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In this file photo students stand outside the Yucaipa High School gym. (Stan Lim/The Press SUBSCRIBE Enterprise)

By BEAU YARBROUGH | [email protected] | Inland Valley Daily  Follow Us Bulletin PUBLISHED: June 25, 2019 at 5:06 pm | UPDATED: June 25, 2019 at 9:11 pm   

https://www.sbsun.com/...over-bullying/?utm_content=tw-sbsun&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social[6/26/2019 7:41:27 AM] Lawyer files 6th lawsuit against Yucaipa-Calimesa school district over bullying – San Bernardino Sun

Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District has been hit with a sixth SPONSORED CONTENT lawsuit over allegations that it’s endangering students by not taking bullying seriously. Gamers around the world hav waiting for this game! “This is the sixth lawsuit that we have had to file against this hapless school district,” Pasadena attorney Brian Claypool said at a news By Vikings: Free Online Game conference Tuesday, June 25, announcing the lawsuit.

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Bald eagle chick is still learning 5 fly, so part of Big Bear Lake re closed “Six lawsuits against the same school district because they simply do not 6 Colton man arrested in homicid take bullying seriously,” Claypool said. “Kids continue to get injured and woman believed to have been in Fontana beaten up at their schools. Four of the cases that we have right now Search of Victorville landfill for against this school district involve students who have been physically 7 body is called off assaulted. The fifth student is dead. The sixth student was mentally Lawyer files 6th lawsuit agains traumatized so much that she was suicidal.” 8 Yucaipa-Calimesa school distr over bullying Claypool filed a notice of claim with the courts on Monday, he said, and 9 The 15 Freeway is closing for notified the school district of the coming lawsuit. hours in south Corona Saturda night Yucaipa-Calimesa school district Superintendent Cali Binks did not 10 San Manuel Casino reveals mo immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon. details about forthcoming hote Man dead after single-vehicle c Rosalie Avila, 13, was an eighth-grader at Mesa View Middle School in 11 between Menifee and Hemet Yucaipa-Calimesa. She was the target of “incessant” bullying, according to her family, before she killed herself in November 2017. Claypool is

representing the Avila family in their lawsuit against the district.

“Since Rosalie Avila killed herself, nothing has changed at the Yucaipa- Calimesa school district,” Claypool said. “This school district still does not take serious reports of bullying. And the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District has created a culture at their schools that promotes bullying.”

On Tuesday, Claypool announced a lawsuit on behalf of Yucaipa High School student Savanna Blakkan, who will be 16 on Wednesday. In a May 20 incident recorded by fellow students on video, Claypool said, his client was attacked by another girl who knocked her to the ground and continued punching her before another student separated them.

“When you drop your kids off at school you expect them to be safe and secure,” Claypool said. “You don’t expect, as a parent, that your kids are walking into a UFC fighting ring on the school premises.”

Prior to the incident, Claypool said, his client already was in therapy due to prior bullying and had signed a contract with her therapist saying she would not commit suicide and had her access to means of killing herself limited.

“She told a teacher and a counselor about being on that suicide contract and nothing was done by the school to help her or protect her,” Claypool said. “This is a common theme at Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District. This school district does not have any effective suicide- prevention policies in place. And a lot of school districts in Southern

California do not have effective suicide prevention policies in place.”

Savanna was attacked when she came out of class, with a large group of students standing by and watching, next to the school administration building, according to Claypool.

“And, by the way, they have windows, they can look out,” he said. “And they could have sat there and watched the whole fight, eating their popcorn, for all I know.”

The girl who attacked Savanna was identified and punished, Claypool said, though he called the district’s response the equivalent of “laughing” at bullying.

“The girl that attacked my client, guess what discipline she got?” Claypool held up two fingers. “Two days of suspension. She nearly killed my client and she got two days of a suspension. And guess what, she’s still playing on the girls’ basketball team. The girls who bullied Rosalie Avila into her grave are still attending Yucaipa-Calimesa schools.”

At the news conference, Savanna said she now has a severe concussion and her arms regularly go numb. She said she has trouble sleeping, and when she does, she has nightmares.

“I’m scared to go out and my confidence is super-low,” she said.

The other girl attacked her, Savanna said, because she’s friends with someone the other girl used to date.

Another girl helped Savanna up. But there were others, she said, who could have.

“The assistant principal walked past me, as did many teachers,” she said. “My friend was the reason I got to the nurse’s office and got to get help.”

Savanna will not be attending school in the Yucaipa-Calimesa district in the fall, she said.

“Because this district has no policy on effectively disciplining the bullies it has created a culture that promotes bullying,” Claypool said. “If there are no consequences attached to bullies, then the bullying will continue.”

About 2,800 students attend Yucaipa High School. During the 2016-17 school year, the most recent for which the California Department of Education has data available, 142 students were suspended, 82 of them for violent incidents. That same year, two students were expelled, one of them for a violent incident.

“These school districts, like Yucaipa, they don’t want to punish the bullies. They don’t want parents to even know about the bullying, because they’re worried about kids being pulled out of their schools, so then they lose funding,” Claypool said.

A large part of the state funding California public schools receive is based on their average daily attendance.

“The Yucaipa-Calimesa school district is placing financial gain above student safety,” Claypool said.

Claypool and Yucaipa-Calimesa are due in court for a hearing on Aug. 13, in the case relating to Rosalie Avila’s death.

“We’re not going to see another student in Southern California commit suicide because school districts like Yucaipa-Calimesa don’t take bullying serious. If it takes filing this,” Claypool said, holding up the document informing the school district of his intent to sue, “to create the

awareness in this community and create the proper change, then let’s get it on.”

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https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-county-lawsuit-records-20190625-story.html[6/26/2019 7:41:05 AM] 6/25/2019 Homes cost 9 times more than 1 year’s pay in L.A.-Orange County, Harvard study says – San Bernardino Sun

BUSINESSHOUSING Homes cost 9 times more than 1 year’s pay in L.A.-Orange County, Harvard study says Homebuilding is failing to keep pace with household growth, driving up rents and home prices nationwide, Harvard reports.

(File(File photophoto byby PaulPaul Bersebach,Bersebach, OrangeOrange CountyCounty Register/SCNG)Register/SCNG)

By JEFF COLLINS || [email protected] || OrangeOrange CountyCounty RegisterRegister PUBLISHED: June 25, 2019 at 8:00 am || UPDATED:UPDATED: June 25, 2019 at 8:36 am

https://www.sbsun.com/2019/06/25/homes-cost-9-times-more-than-1-years-pay-in-l-a-orange-county/?utm_content=tw-sbsun&utm_medium… 1/6 6/25/2019 Homes cost 9 times more than 1 year’s pay in L.A.-Orange County, Harvard study says – San Bernardino Sun

A lack of homebuilding since the Great Recession wiped out more than a third of thethe low-costlow-cost rentalsrentals inin LosLos AngelesAngeles andand OrangeOrange counties,counties, whilewhile aa fifthfifth vanishedvanished fromfrom thethe InlandInland Empire,Empire, aa newnew reportreport says.says.

At the same time, house prices in the region vastly outpaced incomes. As of last year, the L.A.-Orange County metro area had the fourth-highest ratio of home prices to incomes out of 382 U.S. metro areas, with home values more than nine timestimes greatergreater thanthan thethe medianmedian income.income.

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The Inland Empire had the 36th highest ratio, with house prices averaging almost six times median incomes. That’s a higher ratio than in the Boston and New York metro areas, which both have significantly higher median incomes.

And while low-income residents continue to pay substantially higher proportions of their incomes on housing, middle-income residents increasingly are “cost- burdened” as well.

Those are among the findings in the annual State of the Nation’s Housing report released Tuesday, June 25, by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.

The number of Americans moving into their own homes or apartments is on the rise, thanks to the strong economy and rising incomes, report authors said. But construction hasn’t kept pace.

https://www.sbsun.com/2019/06/25/homes-cost-9-times-more-than-1-years-pay-in-l-a-orange-county/?utm_content=tw-sbsun&utm_medium… 2/6 6/25/2019 Homes cost 9 times more than 1 year’s pay in L.A.-Orange County, Harvard study says – San Bernardino Sun The result is a housing shortage nationwide, driving down affordability by loweringlowering vacancyvacancy rates.rates. BothBoth homehome pricesprices andand rentsrents areare up.up.

“The housing markets are really feeling the effects over an extended period of timetime ofof thethe lacklack ofof construction,”construction,” saidsaid DanielDaniel McCue,McCue, aa seniorsenior researchresearch associateassociate and principal author of the report. “It’s been a very slow recovery for homebuilding. We’re eight years into the recovery and still only 75% back to normal construction rates.”

The report cites rising land prices and local regulations as the chief culprits behind lackluster construction rates. Most new housing is being built for the luxuryluxury marketmarket becausebecause it’sit’s unprofitableunprofitable toto buildbuild forfor thethe middlemiddle market,market, thethe reportreport says.

“These constraints, largely imposed at the local level, raise costs and limit the number of homes that can be built in places where demand is highest,” said Chris Herbert, the Harvard housing studies center’s managing director.

And despite a decrease in the number of renter households nationwide last year, rents still are rising at twice the rate of overall inflation, the report said.

In Southern California, that results in more “cost-burdened” renters, or those paying more than 30% of their income on housing costs. The report shows 57% of tenantstenants inin LosLos Angeles,Angeles, Orange,Orange, RiversideRiverside andand SanSan BernardinoBernardino countiescounties werewere cost-cost- burdened in 2018, compared with 54% in California as a whole and 47% nationwide.

Of those, almost a third – 31% in L.A./Orange County and 30% in the Inland Empire — pay more than half their income in rent and other housing costs. By comparison, 28% were “severely cost-burdened” in California and 25% were nationwide.

Meanwhile, housing challenges are rising up the income ladder. Middle-income renters – earning from $45,000 to $75,000 a year — are seeing the fastest growth in cost-burdened households, McCue said. Nationwide, the percentage of cost- burdened renters nearly doubled to 25% last year, up from 13% in 2001.

“What that means is cost burdens are affecting a wider segment of the population,” he said. “It’s not just an issue for the lowest-income renters anymore.”

The report shows further:

https://www.sbsun.com/2019/06/25/homes-cost-9-times-more-than-1-years-pay-in-l-a-orange-county/?utm_content=tw-sbsun&utm_medium… 3/6 6/25/2019 Homes cost 9 times more than 1 year’s pay in L.A.-Orange County, Harvard study says – San Bernardino Sun

Last year’s median house price of $653,600 in the L.A.-Orange County area was 9.4 times greater than that metro area’s median income of $69,300, the Harvard center calculated. That’s up from 4.7 times the median income in 2000. The numbers represent a ratio for both Los Angeles County and pricier Orange County combined. The only metro areas with even higher ratios were Silicon Valley, Santa Cruz County and Honolulu, where home prices averaged 10-11 times more than incomesincomes lastlast year.year. Last year’s median house price of $365,300 in the Inland Empire was almost six times greater than the metro area’s median income of $61,300, up from 3.2 times the typical household’s income in 2000. Although the ratio of house prices to income has risen steadily over the most recent eight years, it remains below peaks reached at the height of the housing bubble in 2006. The number of L.A.-Orange County units renting for $800 or less decreased 35 percent from 2011 through 2017, when they made up 12% of all rentals. In all, the L.A.-Orange County area had nearly 142,300 fewer $800-or-less rentals in 2017 than in 2011. The number of Inland Empire rentals available for $800 or less fell 20% over thatthat six-yearsix-year period,period, accountingaccounting forfor 21%21% ofof allall rentalsrentals inin 2017.2017. TheThe areaarea hadhad nearly 28,600 fewer $800-or-less rentals in 2017 than in 2011.

Rents for many lower-cost units have been driven up, McCue said, or owners have improvedimproved them,them, furtherfurther bumpingbumping upup rents.rents. OthersOthers havehave beenbeen demolished.demolished.

“It adds up to tight rental markets into the foreseeable future,” he said. “There’s steady demand on the horizon. Markets are tight now, and construction is growing modestly.”

Tags: Housing data,, housing-crisis,, Top Stories Breeze,, Top Stories IVDB,, Top Stories LADN,, Top Stories LBPT,, Top Stories OCR,, Top Stories PE,, Top Stories PSN,, Top Stories RDF,, Top Stories SGVT,, Top Stories Sun,, Top Stories WDN

https://www.sbsun.com/2019/06/25/homes-cost-9-times-more-than-1-years-pay-in-l-a-orange-county/?utm_content=tw-sbsun&utm_medium… 4/6 Claiming to be Cherokee, contractors with white ancestry got $300 million - Los Angeles Times

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L.A. NOW LOCAL Claiming to be Cherokee, contractors with white ancestry got $300 million

By ADAM ELMAHREK and PAUL PRINGLE

JUN 26, 2019 | 4:00 AM | ST. LOUIS, MO.

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https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-na-cherokee-minority-contracts-20190626-story.html[6/26/2019 7:38:43 AM] Claiming to be Cherokee, contractors with white ancestry got $300 million - Los Angeles Times

In telephone interviews, Kenn “Grey Elk” Descombes, the chief of the Northern Cherokee Nation, said federally recognized Cherokee tribes have unfairly denounced his organization because they don’t want competition for federal funds. (Shane Keyser)

Two years ago, when the mayor’s office in St. Louis announced a $311,000 contract to tear down an old shoe factory, it made a point of identifying the demolition company as minority owned.

That was welcome news. The Missouri city was still grappling with racial tensions from the 2014 fatal police shooting of Michael Brown, a black 18-year-old, in nearby Ferguson. After angry protests, elected officials had pledged to set aside more government work for minority-owned firms.

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There was only one problem.

Bill Buell, the owner of Premier Demolition Inc., has no verifiable claim to being a member of a minority group. His ancestors are identified as white in census and other government records. And his claim to being a Native American rests on his membership in a self-described Cherokee group that is not recognized as a legitimate tribe.

Bill Buell, owner of Premier Demolition Inc. and a member of the Northern Cherokee Nation. (Adam Elmahrek / Los Angeles TImes)

The case highlights a major failure in the nation’s efforts to help disadvantaged Americans by steering municipal, state and federal contracts to qualified minority-owned companies. In many instances, government agencies have not vetted those companies to protect the interests of taxpayers and legitimate minority contractors.

Since 2000, the federal government and authorities in 18 states, including California, have awarded more than $300 million under minority contracting programs to companies whose owners made unsubstantiated claims of being Native American, a Los Angeles Times investigation found.

The minority-owned certifications and contract work were issued in every West Coast state, New Mexico and Idaho, Texas and four Southern states, several states in the Midwest and as far east as Pennsylvania, The Times found.

In applying for the minority programs, 12 of the 14 business owners involved claimed membership in one of three self-described Cherokee groups, according to government records and interviews.

Those three groups have no government recognition and are considered illegitimate by recognized tribes and Native American experts, however.

The three groups are the Northern Cherokee Nation, based in Clinton, Mo.; the Western Cherokee Nation of Arkansas and Missouri, based in Mansfield, Mo.; and the Northern Cherokee Nation of the Old Louisiana Territory, based in Columbia, Mo.

(Priya Krishnakumar / Los Angeles Times)

The applications for the other two of the 14 owners were not available. Their businesses were identified as Native American-owned in a Small Business Administration database and in federal contracting records.

For each of the 14 companies, one or more census, birth, marriage or other government records identified the owners’ ancestors as white. The ancestors also do not appear on rolls that government-recognized tribes use to confirm Cherokee citizenship, according to census records and an expert on Cherokee genealogy.

In response to questions from The Times, the governing body that oversees minority contracting certifications for St. Louis held a hearing on June 6 and moved to strip five contractors — including Buell’s demolition company — of their minority status.

Matt Ghio, an attorney who represents four of the five companies, including Buell’s, argued that the city rule defining a Native American as a member of a federally recognized tribe was unconstitutional. He said it set a “stringent” standard that other minority groups don’t face when seeking certification under the minority business enterprise program. He vowed to sue the city.

Ghio also said his clients could prove their Cherokee heritage, but would not do so at the hearing because the rules did not require it. The city of St. Louis subsequently said it reached an agreement with Ghio to put the decertification of the four companies on hold pending the filing of the lawsuit.

The total awarded to questionable Native American contractors is almost certainly significantly higher than $300 million.

But the Small Business Administration, or SBA, which issues minority certifications for federal contracts, discards records six years after companies graduate out of its program. Some state and local agencies also frequently destroy records or refuse to release them.

Others, such as the Kansas Department of Transportation, don’t require proof of tribal enrollment, only a signed affidavit swearing that one is Native American.

Under federal regulations, minority contracts are reserved for companies whose owners can demonstrate social and economic disadvantages because of their race or ethnicity. Among the eligible groups are Native Americans.

Each year, the federal government awards several billion dollars in contracts to Native American-owned companies in the SBA’s minority contracting program, often without competitive bidding.

State and local agencies award additional contracts under separate affirmative action programs, using criteria similar to the SBA’s to determine who is Native American.

But the vetting process for Native American applicants appears weak in many cases, government records show, and officials often accept flimsy documentation or unverified claims of discrimination based on ethnicity. The process is often opaque, with little independent oversight.

The contractors are concentrated in the Midwest and none could substantiate claims to Cherokee heritage, according to the Times review of census and other data. The Times worked with the Cherokee Heritage Center in Park Hill, Okla., which is part of the nonprofit Cherokee National Historical Society.

“It’s infuriating,” said Rocky Miller, a state lawmaker in Missouri and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, the largest of the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes. “They’re enriching themselves based on a nonexistent recognition.”

“It’s taking those resources not just from our community, but from all communities of color,” said Rebecca Nagle, a community organizer and citizen of the Cherokee Nation. “It’s really problematic.”

Twila Barnes, a Missouri-based researcher and a Cherokee Nation citizen who has written extensively

about false claims to Cherokee heritage, said it’s wrong for people to get minority contractor status based on membership in unrecognized groups. “They are milking the system,” she said.

They are milking the system.

— TWILA BARNES, A CITIZEN OF THE FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED CHEROKEE NATION, ABOUT SOME CONTRACTORS

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Some of the cases involved tens of millions of dollars, according to a Times analysis of federal contracting databases and other government records.

A Texas company, AFCO Technologies Inc., received about $90 million in federal contracts earmarked for Native Americans or other minorities. The owner claimed membership in one of the unrecognized Cherokee groups and available census and birth records identify his ancestors as white.

A Missouri company, American Legacy Construction Group Inc., got more than $19 million in such contracts — including for work at a federally-run college in Kansas for Native Americans. The owner also claimed membership in one of the unrecognized Cherokee groups and his ancestors are identified as white in available government records.

The SBA continued to approve members of the Northern Cherokee Nation, or NCN, as minority contractors even though another federal agency, the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, has barred the group since at least 2003 from selling their wares as Native American-made because it is not a recognized tribe.

It is a federal crime to sell arts and crafts falsely labeled as Native American.

In a written response to questions from The Times, the SBA said that it did not violate its rules in certifying the contractors for the minority program.

The agency said it “certified businesses as eligible based upon the information provided to it and the regulations in place at the time of the eligibility determinations,” which was before 2011.

Contractors seeking minority status as Native Americans prior to 2011 had to have “held himself or herself out” as Native American and be recognized by others as a member of a Native American community, according to federal regulations at the time.

Federal regulations were simplified in 2011 and 2014 to limit the set-aside contracts primarily to members of state or federally recognized tribes.

But even after the regulation change, companies owned by members of the unrecognized Cherokee groups were awarded set-aside contracts through at least 2018, federal contracting records show. The SBA said this was because previously approved companies were grandfathered into the program.

The SBA did not specifically address The Times’ findings that the contractors’ ancestors were identified as white in government records available for review. The agency said it “takes allegations of fraud very seriously and routinely refers such matters” to its inspector general.

William Wages, whose brother-in-law is House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), says he is one-eighth Cherokee. Wages' company, Vortex Construction, has won more than $7 million in federal contracts set aside for minorities. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Cherokee genealogists and other experts say spurious claims to be Native American are common. They typically are based on family stories of tribal ancestry.

But some claims become politically charged. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who is running for president, long asserted Cherokee ancestry based on family lore, for example. Although she never claimed tribal citizenship, she identified herself as “American Indian” or minority on several documents before she entered politics.

After President Trump mocked her with the nickname Pocahontas, Warren had her DNA tested in October and the results showed she had a Native American ancestor six to 10 generations ago. She subsequently apologized for claiming to be Native American.

Last year, a Times investigation found that a company owned by in-laws of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) won more than $7 million in federal contracts because of his brother-in-law’s membership in the NCN, one of the three unrecognized groups.

Most of the work awarded to the company, Vortex Construction, was for military projects in and around McCarthy’s district, including projects he supported in Congress.

McCarthy and the brother-in-law, William Wages, said they did nothing wrong. Wages, whose sister is married to McCarthy, said he is one-eighth Cherokee. Census and birth records available to The Times dating to 1850 show no Cherokees among his ancestors.

After the Times story was published, the SBA asked its inspector general to investigate how and why Vortex qualified for the contracts. A spokesman for the inspector general declined to comment on the investigation.

The Times’ reporting also triggered reviews by the California Department of Transportation and state authorities in Missouri. Vortex did not reapply for its Caltrans minority certification last August.

Caltrans examined the minority certification of Octane Concrete Pumping LLC, based in Paso Robles, Calif., because of owner Brad Dunn’s membership in the Western Cherokee Nation of Arkansas and Missouri, one of the groups that is not a federally recognized tribe.

Dunn got his minority certification last year through Caltrans. The state agency said Octane Concrete did not receive any contracts.

Dunn’s name and the date appear in handwriting on the tribal ID card that he submitted to CalTrans.

In a telephone interview, Dunn said his grandmother lives on a Cherokee reservation in Oklahoma. The state has no Cherokee reservations, although the Cherokee Nation has authority in some areas. Asked if the mother and father named on his birth certificate were his parents, Dunn said “nope” and hung up.

In response to The Times’ reporting, a Caltrans spokesman said, the agency removed Octane's minority certification in April because Dunn did not respond within the required 30 days to a request “for information to verify his affiliation with a federally recognized tribe.”

Also as a result of The Times’ reporting, Miller, the Missouri state legislator, has asked the state attorney general’s office to investigate the recognition claims of the NCN, which has registered as a tax-exempt nonprofit. A spokesman for the attorney general’s office said the complaint was under review.

The NCN has claimed on its website and membership cards that it is recognized by Missouri as a Native American tribe, citing a state bill, proclamations it received from two governors and resolutions from the Legislature.

But the bill died in the state Senate and the proclamations and resolutions did not confer official

recognition or have the force of law, according to spokespersons for the Missouri attorney general and secretary of state.

In telephone interviews, Kenn “Grey Elk” Descombes, the chief of the NCN, said federally recognized Cherokee tribes have unfairly denounced his organization because they don’t want competition for federal funds.

Descombes said the group has a secret Cherokee ancestry roll that is kept in a bank vault. He declined to show it to The Times, saying: “We would never let anyone get their hands on it. … It’s not for white people.”

Asked whether NCN members should benefit from minority contracting programs, Descombes said they should, and he then called African American contractors “professional liars and thieves.”

Descombes has long promoted the potential rewards of minority contracts for NCN members. The group’s website says it is recognized by a Missouri diversity program for “members wishing to become minority contractors.”

In Texas, San Antonio-based AFCO Technologies obtained its $90 million in federal minority contracts between 2000 and 2012. They included a $35.8-million contract in 2001 by the Air Force to construct pipelines in the San Antonio area.

SBA records state that AFCO is Native American-owned and Ronnie Earl Green is its president. The firm is also listed as Native American-owned in the federal contracting database, which is separate from the SBA.

Green is identified as a member of the Northern Cherokee Nation of the Old Louisiana Territory, the third self-described Cherokee group that is not recognized as a tribe, in a book that its chief wrote as a history of the organization.

Green’s ancestors do not appear in membership rolls of the recognized Cherokee tribes, according to Gene Norris, the lead genealogist for the Cherokee Heritage Center. Norris assisted The Times with researching the contractors’ claims to be Cherokee due to membership in one of the three unrecognized groups.

“They have no basis in representing themselves as Cherokee through their organization,” Norris wrote in a memo summarizing his research.

Gene Norris, the lead genealogist for the Cherokee Heritage Center in Park Hill, Okla., helped The Times research contractors' claims of Cherokee heritage. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

The Times tried to reach Green through phone calls, emails, letters and queries with his relatives and with attorneys who have represented him, but he did not respond. His company filed for bankruptcy in 2012 and appears to be inactive.

St. Louis has certified about 550 minority businesses, mostly owned by African Americans, according to city records. Of the 12 companies owned by Native Americans, the database shows, five were certified through NCN membership.

Kansas City certified three other contractors who claimed membership in the NCN or the Western Cherokee Nation of Arkansas and Missouri.

In response to an inquiry by The Times, a Kansas City spokesman said the municipality had reviewed the certifications and found no reason to revoke them.

Randal McKinnis, owner of American Legacy Construction Group, based in Lee’s Summit, Mo., has won $19.3 million in Kansas City and federal contracts since 2009, according to Kansas City and federal contracting records. His NCN membership card states he is 1/16th Cherokee.

In an email to The Times, McKinnis said his great-great-grandfather was listed on a 19th century Cherokee census. The person on the Cherokee census had the same name as McKinnis’ ancestor, but census records show McKinnis is not related to him.

Asked about the discrepancy, McKinnis said a cousin gave him “bad information” about his great-great- grandfather, but he said an uncle’s DNA test proved the family was Native American. He declined to provide the result to The Times.

In his 2008 application to the SBA, McKinnis wrote that larger contractors denied him the opportunity to bid on a job because they discriminated against Native Americans.

In an interview, however, he said his only memories of suffering racial prejudice involved other NCN members belittling his small percentage of Native American blood.

“I think everybody’s discriminated against to some extent,” McKinnis said.

I think everybody’s discriminated against to some extent.

— RANDAL MCKINNIS, OWNER OF AMERICAN LEGACY CONSTRUCTION GROUP

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One of American Legacy’s contracts was for carpet and seating work at Haskell Indian Nations University, the tribal college in Lawrence, Kan., that is run by the federal Bureau of Indian Education. Haskell did not respond to interview requests.

Global Environmental Inc., based in Berkeley, Mo., got $4.1 million in minority construction contracts from the federal government, and nearly $80,000 from St. Louis, federal and city records show.

In her application, owner Vicki Dunn, a member of the NCN, described the discrimination she had faced. Such narratives are part of the certification process.

Dunn said the vice president of a company that once employed her told her she did not understand the true meaning of the CEO acronym.

“Then he stated, ‘Me Chief, you Indian,’” Dunn wrote.

Dunn’s ancestors are identified as white in census and death records reviewed by The Times. The Cherokee Heritage Center genealogist said his research found no Cherokee ancestry for Dunn, who did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Vicki Dunn and Brad Dunn, owner of Octane Concrete Pumping LLC, did not respond to emails asking if they were related.

An Idaho firm, Purgatory Fence Company LLC, obtained $3.1 million in contracts for work on federal projects, contracting records show. The SBA-certified minority contractor was grandfathered into the program.

SBA records show that the owner, Neva Gardner, is a member of the Western Cherokee group, one of the three federally unrecognized groups.

Contacted by The Times, Gardner refused to talk about the Western Cherokee organization or her family heritage. In an email to The Times, an attorney for Gardner said his client is Native American by virtue of her membership in the Western Cherokee group. The attorney said Gardner’s mother is also Native American.

Murl Pierson, who identified himself as a Western Cherokee spokesman, said members relied on notes ancestors wrote in old Bibles and stories told by elders to verify their heritage.

The Northern Cherokee Nation has its headquarters in Clinton, Mo. The group is not a federally recognized tribe, but its members have won roughly $31.5 million in government contracts set aside for minorities. (Shane Keyser)

The saga of Columbia Curb & Gutter Co. highlights the phenomenon of business owners getting minority contracts based on unsubstantiated claims of being Native American.

In 2000, Billy Boyce Sr. and his son set out to convince the Missouri Department of Transportation that their membership in the Northern Cherokee Nation of the Old Louisiana Territory group, qualified them as minority contractors.

The state had sought to overturn the Boyces’ certification because the Northern Cherokee group was not

federally recognized.

They appealed and were granted a hearing in Jefferson City, the state capital.

Beverly Baker Northup, chief of the group, testified that the elder Boyce’s grandmother was listed on the Guion Miller Roll, an old list of people who claimed to be Cherokee. That helped qualify the Boyces for membership in the group, Northup said, according to a transcript of the hearing.

But the woman identified on Guion Miller was not Boyce’s grandmother or even related to him, according to a Times review of application records on file with the roll, which is in the National Archives.

The document, compiled in the early 20th century, contains ancestry information on people who applied for government funds disbursed to Cherokees. Many were rejected for lack of proof that they descended from Cherokee citizens.

Northup’s own ancestors were turned down. None of her forebears is identified as Native American in census and birth records reviewed by The Times.

(Priya Krishnakumar / Los Angeles Times)

Her former husband, Robert Northup, then a deputy principal chief for the Northern Cherokee group, testified that one of the Boyces — he didn’t say who — had employed his “Indian-ness ability” to locate 100 gravesites of Native Americans at a rural cemetery in Boone County, Mo. A faded sign nailed to a post amid the weed-choked tombstones still labels it a Northern Cherokee burial ground.

Missouri officials seemed ill-prepared to challenge the testimony. The state attorney said he was unaware of the Dawes Roll, the document used to confirm Cherokee citizenship, and relied on Beverly Northup’s explanation.

The Boyces also got a major boost from the SBA, which had earlier granted minority status to Columbia Curb under its affirmative action program. The Boyces made a case to the SBA that they suffered economic hardships in general and, separately, social disadvantages as Native Americans, according to the attorney who represented them, Diana Carter.

The SBA dismissed pleas by Missouri officials to investigate the Boyces’ claim of being Cherokee.

“It was very frustrating,” recalled Sharon Taegel, a civil rights administrator with the state Transportation Department at the time. “The SBA … they didn’t like to be questioned.”

The Boyces prevailed and Columbia Curb ultimately received more than $67 million in minority contracts from the federal government, Missouri and other states.

Shortly after the hearing, Dan Akin, a former deputy principal chief of the Northern Cherokee, resigned from the group and disavowed its claims of legitimacy. He said his own ancestors are primarily Scottish and Irish.

While still in the group, Akin said in an interview, he had helped Northup write the history of the Northern Cherokee Nation of the Old Louisiana Territory.

It presents a theory that some members might have descended from survivors of the 1st Century Roman massacre of Jews in the siege of Masada in what is now Israel. In this tale, they escaped the slaughter and eventually drifted in boats across the Atlantic.

Northup “just made that stuff up,” Akin said.

In response, Northup said in an email that Akin “did not help write my book and it is not full of lies.”

Boyce died in 2011. His son, Billy Boyce Jr., now runs the company from a two-story industrial building in Columbia.

Boyce Jr. declined to be interviewed when a Times reporter visited the office. A framed 2007 newspaper article on the wall lists the Boyces as one of 10 “power families” in local business circles. As of this week, the company was still enrolled in the state program for disadvantaged minority contractors.

Boyce Jr. said he was a “tribal citizen” and referred all questions to Descombes, the NCN chief.

“I have nothing to say to you,” Boyce Jr. said. “Get off my property.”

A third generation of the family has gone into the minority-contracting business.

Columbia-based Bell Contracting Inc., owned by Billy Boyce’s granddaughter, Christine Bell-Pfannenstiel, has received about $112 million in federal contracts under the SBA program — bringing the total in minority contracts for the family to nearly $180 million, records show.

The SBA said its records documenting how Bell-Pfannenstiel qualified for the program were discarded after they became moldy because of a leak in a storage room ceiling.

Contract records identify her business as Native American-owned and the Northern Cherokee seal appears on the company’s website. She did not return phone calls and no one answered the door at her office and home.

Bell Contracting subsequently sent an unsigned email disputing The Times’ account. “My heritage is Native American and I do not need to prove that to you,” it said.

Times researcher Cary Schneider and staff writer Anthony Pesce contributed to this report.

Essential California Newsletter Monday - Saturday

A roundup of the stories shaping California.

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Adam Elmahrek

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Adam Elmahrek is an investigative reporter for the Los Angeles Times. He started his journalism career in 2010 at the nonprofit news website Voice of OC, where he broke award-winning stories that exposed corruption in municipal government around Orange County. In 2013, he uncovered a land swap between a powerful local politician and a government contractor that led to federal and local criminal investigations. Since joining The Times in 2016, he has written about political consultants paid with public money to read news stories, and a government official who made hundreds of thousands of dollars by falling headfirst into a wall. He also exposed the failings of a public corruption task force that accomplished little before it collapsed.

Paul Pringle

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Paul Pringle is a Los Angeles Times reporter who specializes in investigating corruption. He won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting with colleagues Matt Hamilton and Harriet Ryan in 2019, was a finalist in 2009 and a member of reporting teams that won Pulitzer Prizes in 2004 and 2011. Pringle won the George Polk Award in 2008, the same year the Society of Professional Journalists of Greater Los Angeles honored him as a distinguished journalist. In 2012, he shared in Harvard University’s Worth Bingham Prize. Pringle won the California Newspaper Publishers Assn.’s First Amendment Award in 2014 and the University of Florida’s Joseph L. Brechner Award in 2015.

COMMENTS (15)

https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-na-cherokee-minority-contracts-20190626-story.html[6/26/2019 7:38:43 AM] Orange County assemblyman accused of misconduct by four women - Los Angeles Times

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POLITICS Orange County assemblyman accused of misconduct by four women

By CHRISTINE MAI-DUC

JUN 26, 2019 | 5:00 AM

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Four women have accused Assemblyman Bill Brough, left, of unwanted touching and other misconduct. Brough denies the claims. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

https://www.latimes.com/...mblyman-misconduct-20190626-story.html?outputType=amp&hootPostID=39e0b508d25a64e5e7414bf5029efecf[6/26/2019 7:38:15 AM] Orange County assemblyman accused of misconduct by four women - Los Angeles Times

Four women, including an Orange County supervisor, have accused Assemblyman Bill Brough (R-Dana Point) of unwanted touching and other misconduct.

The allegations came to light last week, when Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett spoke out against an endorsement for Brough at an Orange County Republican Party meeting and claimed she had a past negative encounter with the lawmaker. In an interview with The Times, Bartlett said Brough propositioned and “attacked” her at an official event in 2011 when they were both on the Dana Point City Council.

Three other women, who spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal, have also alleged that Brough made unwanted advances toward them. One woman, a governmental affairs manager who filed a 2017 complaint against Brough with the Assembly Rules Committee, alleged that Brough propositioned her in a Sacramento hotel lobby. An Assembly investigation later found Brough did not violate Assembly policy. And a former Assembly staffer and former lobbyist claim that the legislator sexually harassed them in separate incidents in Capitol-area bars and implied he could help their careers if they obliged his overtures.

Brough, who is married, denies the claims, calling them a “coordinated effort of unsubstantiated allegations” that are politically motivated by rancor over his attempts to rein in a local toll road agency. He introduced a bill earlier this year that would have curtailed the powers of Orange County’s Transportation Corridor Agencies to build new roads and bridges but later pulled it, saying he would seek an audit instead.

“I have been on the end of many political attacks but I will not stand for personal attacks on me and my family. I have done nothing wrong,” Brough said.

A public accusation

Bartlett said she decided to speak up against Brough’s endorsement because she was a “recipient of inappropriate behavior” by the legislator.

“I stated [in the meeting] that I still have nightmares about that incident, and that, sadly, I am not the only one,” she said.

Bartlett told The Times that the alleged incident occurred at the end of a March 2011 retirement party for a Marine colonel at a Dana Point restaurant. She said she was in a dark, empty section of the restaurant, looking in her purse for her car keys when she felt someone grab her from behind.

When she looked up, she saw the person was Brough and asked him what he was doing, she said.

“He said something to the effect of, ‘Let’s get out of here and go for a drink and do something,’” Bartlett said, adding that she could smell alcohol on his breath. She says she interpreted Brough’s actions as a sexual proposition.

Bartlett said she could feel Brough trying to steer her toward an exit door on the side of the restaurant. She said she repeatedly asked Brough to let go of her and that his grip was

so strong that she initially couldn’t wriggle free.

“I was thinking, ‘I don’t really have anything to protect myself, I’m in high heels, I can’t run,’” Bartlett said. “I was petrified.”

Bartlett said she was eventually able to pull herself downward and twist away from Brough before running to the front of the restaurant to try to find then-Dana Point City Manager Doug Chotkevys.

When Bartlett learned Chotkevys had left the party, she called him and he returned to the restaurant, she said.

Chotkevys confirmed to The Times that Bartlett called him that evening. He said that she was “visibly upset” and that he returned to the restaurant to ensure she got home safe, but declined to comment further, citing personnel issues.

Bartlett filed a complaint with the city the day after the alleged incident. A 2011 memo from Dana Point city attorney A. Patrick Muñoz provided by both Brough and Bartlett to The Times stated that Muñoz didn’t have “sufficient facts or evidence to come to any conclusions regarding the matter.”

The memo, which cited conflicting accounts from Brough and Bartlett, stated that Bartlett told the city attorney that she believed Brough was “very intoxicated.” Concerned about his condition, Bartlett said she called Chotkevys prior to the alleged incident and asked him to return “to take care of [Brough],” according to the memo. When Chotkevys

arrived, the city attorney wrote, Bartlett was helping him look for Brough when Brough allegedly accosted her. According to the city attorney’s report, Bartlett initially said the incident occurred in the parking lot, a claim Bartlett denied at the time.

Bartlett said she disputes the summary of the incident in the city attorney’s report and that she believes Muñoz misrecorded her version of events. Muñoz did not respond to a request for comment.

Brough’s endorsement was tabled at the GOP meeting where Bartlett made her public accusation last week. An email obtained by The Times that was sent to the county party central committee last Wednesday indicates that Brough later withdrew his request for an endorsement.

The Republican Party of Orange County declined to comment on the allegations in a statement, but said it has “no tolerance for sexual misconduct.”

Assembly complaint

Assembly Rules Committee records obtained by The Times also show that Brough was investigated in late 2017 and early 2018 by the committee for a separate incident that it later determined did not violate Assembly policy.

In that case, a governmental advocate with business in the Capitol alleged that in February 2015, Brough followed her into the lobby of her Sacramento hotel and propositioned her for sex. In a March 2018 appeal letter to the Assembly Rules Committee, the woman described being “sexually battered” by Brough, claiming that he pressed his erection against her and said, “You know I’m really into you, right?” She wrote that when she told Brough she was married, he replied, “So am I.”

The woman also alleged in the letter that Brough’s behavior followed “almost two years of sexual innuendo and advances,” which she said began when he was an Assembly staffer. She said that in other alleged incidents, she declined Brough’s requests for a walk on the beach during a business lunch and his offer of a hotel room should she decide to volunteer on another candidate’s political campaign.

“[Brough] repeatedly propositioned me for an extramarital affair,” the woman wrote in the letter. “I repeatedly declined or ignored his propositions, and his propositions were severely unwelcome and caused me an immense amount of stress.” https://www.latimes.com/...mblyman-misconduct-20190626-story.html?outputType=amp&hootPostID=39e0b508d25a64e5e7414bf5029efecf[6/26/2019 7:38:15 AM] Orange County assemblyman accused of misconduct by four women - Los Angeles Times

The woman also said in the letter that she believed Assembly investigators brushed off Brough’s alleged ongoing behavior and had said to her in a phone call that the incidents she reported were interactions between “consenting adults,” a characterization she disputed.

A friend of the woman who filed the complaint, who works in Orange County Republican politics and requested anonymity to speak freely about the matter, confirmed to The Times that she told him about the 2015 incident shortly after it happened and said he was later contacted by an Assembly Rules investigator in late 2017 as part of the inquiry. Another friend and coworker of the woman also confirmed that she relayed the same details to him before filing her complaint in 2017.

Former state Sen. Dick Ackerman, an Orange County Republican whom the woman considers a mentor, told The Times that she first spoke to him about alleged ongoing harassment by Brough as early as 2012 and said that he has spoken to her more than a half dozen times since about her claims.

Ackerman said he was contacted multiple times by an Assembly Rules Committee investigator as part of the investigation. He said he also told the investigator about Bartlett’s 2011 allegation, which Bartlett had recounted to him. Ackerman said he was told that the earlier allegation was discounted by the committee because it occurred prior to Brough’s election to the Assembly.

“Quite frankly, I was shocked,” Ackerman said. “When you have sexual harassment-type things, you have to be looking at a course of conduct and how he conducted himself https://www.latimes.com/...mblyman-misconduct-20190626-story.html?outputType=amp&hootPostID=39e0b508d25a64e5e7414bf5029efecf[6/26/2019 7:38:15 AM] Orange County assemblyman accused of misconduct by four women - Los Angeles Times

before he was there should be relevant to the investigation.”

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) declined to comment on the 2018 investigation into Brough’s conduct. In a statement responding to Bartlett’s allegations, Rendon said that “The Assembly takes all allegations seriously. Allegations will be reviewed by the Workplace Conduct Unit, the independent body created by the Legislature to investigate claims of workplace misconduct.”

Other allegations

In another alleged incident, a former Assembly staffer told The Times that Brough propositioned her at a March 2015 political event at a Sacramento bar that she attended with her former boss, who was then a Republican Assembly member.

The woman said she, her former boss and Brough were talking before she was briefly left alone with Brough at the bar and he allegedly told her, “I’ve been watching you for a long time and I’ve always wondered why you weren’t married yet.” He then commented on a dress he'd seen her wear at a previous event, noting the color, she said.

“I remember that really gave me a creepy feeling," the woman said. “I hadn’t really had any interaction with him before.”

Brough allegedly told the woman that he was on a key caucus committee and that he could “help” her boss. He added that his apartment was “right around the corner,” she said.

“That’s when I told him, ‘I’m disgusted that you would even think that you can talk to me like this,’” she said. The woman said she recounted the incident to her boss and another coworker shortly after it happened.

Brough denied the allegation and said he remembered speaking to the woman and her boss at the bar and that he asked her to send him a business proposal for her fundraising services but did not have any other conversations with her that night.

The woman’s former boss, who asked for anonymity to freely discuss the alleged incident, confirmed that he attended the event with the woman and said he remembered leaving her and Brough at the bar briefly. He confirmed that she relayed her account to him immediately after she said the alleged incident occurred, and said they left the venue https://www.latimes.com/...mblyman-misconduct-20190626-story.html?outputType=amp&hootPostID=39e0b508d25a64e5e7414bf5029efecf[6/26/2019 7:38:15 AM] Orange County assemblyman accused of misconduct by four women - Los Angeles Times

shortly afterward.

“She was having a rough time with it,” the former legislator said, noting that he urged the woman to file a complaint with the Assembly Rules Committee. “I do remember her being shaken and upset.”

A friend and Democratic labor leader also said the woman recounted the incident to him a few days later.

The woman said she didn’t file a complaint at the time because she didn’t have faith in the Assembly’s internal investigation process.

A fourth woman, who is a Democratic activist and former registered lobbyist involved in Orange County politics, told The Times she was in Sacramento for a lobbying day in March 2018 when she attended a dinner with several Orange County elected officials, including Brough.

Following the dinner, the woman said, she accompanied some of the attendees to a bar near the Capitol. While there, the woman said, Brough followed her to the bar when she went to order a drink and put his arm around her shoulder. After she turned and backed away, the woman said, Brough put his hand on a wall behind her, blocking her from moving, and began touching her face and neck with his other hand.

The woman said Brough then propositioned her, saying, “We should get out of here. Do you want to have fun with me? You look like the kind of girl who would like to have fun.”

The former lobbyist said she tried to laugh Brough’s comments off, and said they should get back to the group.

A friend, who was not present at the event, confirmed that the woman shared details of the alleged incident with him earlier this year.

Brough did not respond to requests for comment regarding the fourth accuser, reiterating in a text message, “I have done nothing wrong.”

In addition to serving on the Dana Point City Council, Brough previously served as a White House liaison at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs under the administration of George W. Bush and ran a public affairs consulting firm before being elected to the

Assembly in 2014. He is deputy Republican floor leader in that chamber.

In a joint statement, California Assembly Minority Leader Marie Waldron (R-Escondido) and Senate Minority Leader Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) said that “California State Legislative Republicans will not tolerate sexual misconduct of any kind.”

“These accusations are serious and troubling,” Waldron and Grove said in their statement. “Any allegation of this nature deserves a thorough, fair and transparent investigation by the Legislature's Workplace Conduct Unit. The Legislature has worked hard to improve its process for reviewing these types of claims and we are committed to cooperating with any investigation into this matter.”

Christine Mai-Duc   

Christine Mai-Duc covers California politics and breaking news from Los Angeles. She has previously written for Capitol Weekly in Sacramento and The Times’ bureaus in Washington, D.C., and Orange County. Christine grew up in Sacramento, graduated from UC Berkeley and left her heart in Oakland. She is coping well with healthy doses of breakfast burritos and baguettes from Figaro.