Why Veteran Housing in Redlands Is Pitting Residents Against County Officials

4/10/2017 Why veteran housing in Redlands is pitting residents against county officials

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

Why veteran housing in Redlands is pitting residents against county officials

By Sandra Emerson, Redlands Daily Facts

Saturday, April 8, 2017

REDLANDS >> Residents fighting against a proposed affordable housing complex in their northside neighborhood have met some heavyweight opponents — prominent San Bernardino County leaders.

The residents say the 80unit Liberty Lane apartment complex planned for the southwest corner of Texas Street and Lugonia Avenue is not compatible with their neighborhood. County officials contend the project, which would house veterans and lowincome families, supports their efforts to combat homelessness, especially among veterans.

“This is really asking for equal representation,” said Ed Flores, summing up the residents’ concerns. The City Council, he added, “needs to look at this thoroughly and not be pressured or influenced by the hierarchy in politics.”

The project, proposed by Los Angelesbased affordable housing developer A Community of Friends, was tabled by the City Council in February in response to public comments. The council will discuss the project in closed session April 18, but a public hearing has not yet been scheduled, said city spokesman Carl Baker.

The Northside Impact Committee has submitted a petition with 21 signatures and several signed letters to the city opposing the project, which residents say will impact traffic and air quality, decrease property values and increase crime, as some of the veterans living in the project may have mental illness.

Some residents also expressed concern about the project’s proximity to the Teledyne Battery Products facility on Brockton Avenue and Texonia Park across the street.

“We’re trying to get the City Council to listen to us and hear the concerns,” said Flores, chairman of the Northside committee. “One way to do that is get folks to start writing in and say we need your representation truly at this time.”

The project has the support of prominent leaders, meanwhile, including county Supervisors James Ramos and Josie Gonzales, District Attorney Mike Ramos and Sheriff John McMahon.

“San Bernardino County has made the commitment to end the homeless veteran population in the county and has been aggressively going after that,” said Supervisor Ramos, who oversees the Third District, which includes Redlands.

The county has gained national attention for its success in addressing homelessness among veterans, in particular.

According to a joint letter by the supervisors, as of 2015, the county has housed 450 veterans, but more needs to be done. http://www.sbsun.com/governmentandpolitics/20170408/whyveteranhousinginredlandsispittingresidentsagainstcountyofficials&template=printart 1/2 4/10/2017 Why veteran housing in Redlands is pitting residents against county officials Liberty Lane gives back to veterans, who must adjust to daily life upon return from deployment, Supervisor Ramos said.

“If there’s something we should all agree on it’s housing our homeless veterans and coming together on a project like this,” he added.

Dora Leong Gallo, CEO at A Community of Friends, said the organization is thrilled to have the support of county officials.

“It’s been very heartfelt and in some cases, emotional,” Gallo said. “I think people know, when we talk about the project, the importance of supporting our veterans. If the veterans have difficulty integrating back into society, we want to provide opportunities for them to reintegrate and get the help that they need.”

The developer is partnering with U.S. VETS, Loma Linda Veterans Affairs and the San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health to provide wraparound services for tenants. Staff from all three agencies will be on site to assist tenants, she said.

“People with mental illness are able to recover and manage their illness to lead productive lives,” she said. “Our nonprofit organization believes in the power of recovery and believe that with the right services people can live productive lives.”

The $26 million project would be the developer’s first in the Inland Empire. It is funded through county, state and federal grants as well as some private funding.

Environmental documents for the project were called into question by a Temecula law firm prior to the City Council’s decision to postpone the matter. City staff wanted time to review the comments to ensure the city would not be subject to litigation, Baker said.

Meantime, Gallo said, the developer continues to finetune the project.

“We continue to try to meet with community groups to answer questions and dispel misinformation and let people know who the project is intended to serve,” she said.

Flores said he plans to submit more signatures to the City Clerk’s Office.

“The council needs to really look at this and take consideration to what they’re proposing to do and the affects it will bring to this part of the community,” he said.

URL: http://www.sbsun.com/governmentandpolitics/20170408/whyveteranhousinginredlandsispittingresidentsagainstcountyofficials

http://www.sbsun.com/governmentandpolitics/20170408/whyveteranhousinginredlandsispittingresidentsagainstcountyofficials&template=printart 2/2 4/10/2017 San Bernardino County’s unsung heroes get special recognition

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

San Bernardino County’s unsung heroes get special recognition

By Michel Nolan, The Sun

Saturday, April 8, 2017

‘Tis the season of community awards.

Since March 28, we’ve had the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Yawa’ Awards, Children’s Network Shine a Light on Child Abuse Awards, and the Time for Change Foundation Community Heroes.

Those recognized in our communities were the heavylifters, the ones who identify a problem, roll their sleeves up and fix it. These are significant character validations.

They make a difference in peoples’ quality of life, giving hope to those who are struggling — and literally saving lives.

Often, those with a passion to help others have to be nudged into the kudos spotlight.

On Thursday morning, “Shine a Light on Unsung Heroes” did just that at the annual Shine a Light on Child Abuse Awards Breakfast.

The Valencia Room at the National Orange Show Events Center was filled to capacity as 16 award recipients were called to the stage — stepping in to that spotlight.

“Shine a Light” honors heroes for making a commitment to the safety and wellbeing of atrisk children and youth — the judges, attorneys, social workers, case workers, law enforcement, foster parents, businesses and community partners — who give kids a voice.

Also honored were 15 youth scholarship recipients — young people who had been in the county’s foster care system, but were now given a chance at a college education and a new life.

Now in its 19th year, the breakfast honors are presented by San Bernardino County Children’s Network.

Attorney Michael Markel, counsel for San Bernardino County, was honored with the Lifetime Advocate Award.

Other award recipients were David Foy, legal, who has spent 15 years in the district attorney’s office assigned to the family violence unit in the Victorville office; Golden Eagle Moving Service, business, which transports needed Children’s Fund donations from San Diego to San Bernardino; Faith Powell, community member; The Open Door, community partner, aiding victims of human trafficking; Frank Kelly, education, educates parents and children about the danger of drug use, specifically as it relates to children; Susan Culbertson, education, coordinator for the School of Social Work at Cal State San Bernardino; Jermaine and Amber Wright, foster parents, who have been foster parents so long they have seen 53 foster children go through their doors, adopting 10 of them; Robin Ferguson, health and medical, a member of the local Safe Kids Inland Empire coalition; Nikole Wilkins, volunteer, who sees something wrong and feels the urgency and compassion to do something http://www.sbsun.com/socialaffairs/20170408/sanbernardinocountysunsungheroesgetspecialrecognition&template=printart 1/2 4/10/2017 San Bernardino County’s unsung heroes get special recognition about it; Michelle Coit, legal, who goes out of her way to help youth, including buying dress shirts, ties, and blouses for kids to wear in court; Stacey Chapdelaine, legal, who investigated a domestic disturbance and contacted the single mother and two young children, going out of her way to help the family; Michelle Gilleece, legal, who represents both children in dependency and delinquency courts; Jennifer Karns, human services, who demonstrates exceptional devotion to the wellbeing of youth on her caseload; and Darren Guentert, human services; who exemplifies the passion of someone who cares deeply for children and families.

There was also a special “In Memoriam” award to Jeff Luther, children and family service advocate who was instrumental in the success of San Bernardino County’s Adoption Program.

I was especially pleased to see an award go to Faith Powell, the 12yearold former foster youth who is now a community leader.

Since she was adopted into her forever family, Faith has raised money for gifts for the county’s foster children by hosting used shoe drives, getting paid for the shoes — which helps people in developing nations — and then uses that money to purchase Christmas gifts for the foster children.

At the end of 2016, she had collected 3,525 pairs of shoes — 3,516 pounds worth.

Said Faith about her foster years, “I didn’t get a lot, so I’m going to give a lot.”

These are just some of the dedicated army of people in the county who are committed to giving a voice to our most vulnerable population — our children.

And here’s a thought for the day: “The best way to love is to love like a child — pure, innocent and without hesitation.”

Michel Nolan appears in The Sun on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @MichelNolan.

URL: http://www.sbsun.com/socialaffairs/20170408/sanbernardinocountysunsungheroesgetspecialrecognition

http://www.sbsun.com/socialaffairs/20170408/sanbernardinocountysunsungheroesgetspecialrecognition&template=printart 2/2 4/10/2017 San Bernardino deputies get benefit of favoritism by DA

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

San Bernardino deputies get benefit of favoritism by DA

Friday, April 7, 2017

The assault of Francis Pusok in 2015 by San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies was televised for the entire country to see. Unlike some cases in recent years in which one could plausibly explain away and even justify use of force by officers, the beating of Pusok was indisputably excessive.

Kicked and punched over a prolonged period of time, Pusok, himself no angel, became a victim of those who ostensibly swore an oath to protect and serve their community.

Last week, jurors convicted Charles Foster of felony assault by a public officer. They deadlocked 84 in favor of convicting two additional deputies, Nick Downey and Michael Phelps, for similar charges. On Monday, both deputies accepted generous plea deals dismissing felony charges in exchange for pleading no contest to disturbing the peace, a misdemeanor.

“After reevaluating the evidence and learning that the jury was hopelessly deadlocked, there is no reasonable likelihood that another jury would be able to reach a verdict,” Dist. Atty. Mike Ramos said in a statement. “It is time to move forward.”

It is a highly convenient resolution for Ramos, who publicly intervened in a spat between Deputy District Attorney Robert Bulloch and the Sheriff’s Employees’ Benefit Association, the deputy union. In his closing arguments last week, Bulloch appealed to jurors to take on the “culture of violence” in the sheriff’s department. Noting the case wasn’t an indictment of all police officers, Bulloch stressed the importance of standing up to the machine that is the sheriff’s department.

SEBA, seeing an opportunity for relevance, complained publicly that Bulloch did what he didn’t, which is to condemn all officers. Quickly thereafter, Ramos and Bulloch issued apologies to SEBA, which, beyond being a deputy union, also happens to have donated heavily in support of Ramos’ electoral campaigns over the years and thus has outsized political clout in the county.

It thus came as no surprise that Ramos, a career politician, chose to discard the pursuit of justice and gave SEBA members Downey and Phelps little more than a slap on the wrist for a beating anyone can clearly see was excessive. Unfortunately, this is just another reminder that justice isn’t as blind as we’d like to think.

URL: http://www.sbsun.com/opinion/20170407/sanbernardinodeputiesgetbenefitoffavoritismbyda

http://www.sbsun.com/opinion/20170407/sanbernardinodeputiesgetbenefitoffavoritismbyda&template=printart 1/1 4/10/2017 Homelessness draws help, hindrance from IE cities – Press Enterprise

OPINION Homelessness draws help, hindrance from IE cities

Gary Butler, 59, who is homeless, listens as San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Detective Reggie Pahia encourages him to get help.

By PRESS-ENTERPRISE EDITORIAL BOARD | Press-Enterprise PUBLISHED: April 5, 2017 at 7:00 am | UPDATED: April 5, 2017 at 11:45 pm



Homelessness in San Bernardino County has stabilized, according to preliminary 툁gures from the 2017 San Bernardino County Point-in-Time count, conducted in January. http://www.pe.com/2017/04/05/homelessnessdrawshelphindrancefromiecities/ 1/4 4/10/2017 Homelessness draws help, hindrance from IE cities – Press Enterprise There were 1,866 sheltered and unsheltered homeless individuals accounted for during the annual count, down 1 percent compared to last year, when 1,887 homeless individuals were identi툁ed. Though it is encouraging that the county’s homeless population is down signi툁cantly overall from over 2,300 in 2013 and over 2,100 in 2015, there is clearly more work to be done.

Of the 1,866 individuals identi툁ed in this year’s count, 1,179 were unsheltered. This includes 427 chronically homeless adults, 362 with chronic health conditions, 257 with mental health problems, 111 veterans and 106 seniors. San Bernardino County and cities across the county made a concerted effort to reduce homelessness particularly among veterans and young people, though there are clearly sizable subpopulations with particular needs and challenges.

Fortunately, there have been numerous positive developments in recent months. AЀer considerable 툁ddling by the City Council, which went back and forth for six months between supporting the project and opposing it, San Bernardino voted to approve construction and operation of Mary’s Village, which, upon its completion, will help provide long-term housing and services for 115 men in the city. The project, to be carried out by a private organization without public dollars, will certainly aid in the long-term reduction of homelessness.

Meanwhile, the city of Redlands recently caved in to pressure from NIMBYs who objected to the construction of an affordable-housing complex geared toward veterans, people with special needs and low-income families, populations at risk of homelessness. The complex would include social services to support residents. The project, headed by developer A Community of Friends, was approved by the Planning Commission in January. AЀer being set for consideration by the City Council in February, it was pulled and remains unscheduled for future consideration.

If the region is going to continue to make progress eliminating and mitigating homeless, politicians must get out of the way of sensible projects that will directly help homeless and at-risk populations.

Tags: Editorials

Press-Enterprise Editorial Board

http://www.pe.com/2017/04/05/homelessnessdrawshelphindrancefromiecities/ 2/4 4/10/2017 Why inhome care for California’s needy could strain county budgets – Press Enterprise

LOCAL NEWS Why in-home care for California’s needy could strain county budgets

Kristine Loomis’ on call care provider, Chris Long helps her from her motorized wheelchair in her in her Desert Hot Springs home, Friday, March, 31, 2017. Loomis, who is partially paralyzed, relies on caregivers, a motorized wheelchair and InHome Supportive Services program.

By JEFF HORSEMAN | [email protected] | The Press- Enterprise PUBLISHED: April 7, 2017 at 7:08 pm | UPDATED: April 10, 2017 at 8:32 am http://www.pe.com/2017/04/07/whyinhomecareforcaliforniasneedycouldstraincountybudgets/ 1/7 4/10/2017 Why inhome care for California’s needy could strain county budgets – Press Enterprise



It’s hard to pronounce but easy to see what af㰀icts Kristine Loomis.

Ankylosing spondylitis, an in㰀ammatory disease affecting the spine, robbed Loomis of movement in her joints. The 60-year-old’s spine and hips are paralyzed and she can’t bend at the waist or the hips. She can’t turn her head and relies on a motorized wheelchair.

Loomis, who lives in the rural Sky Valley community outside Desert Hot Springs, relies on three caregivers who work in shiЀs to help her out of bed, use the bathroom and cook her meals. They’re reimbursed through In-Home Supportive Services, a government-funded program in California that pays for caregivers to help indigent clients.

Without the program, people such as Loomis couldn’t live at home.

“I don’t think I would survive in an institution because I have too much spirit,” said Loomis, who credits the program’s help with allowing her to earn a community college degree and volunteer as an advocate for the disabled.

“Not only has IHSS provided me a way to survive,” she said. “It’s given me a way to be useful.”

But the cost of services provided to Loomis and others who depend on the program could skyrocket for California’s 58 counties. A looming end to a state cost-control experiment would force counties to shoulder a much bigger share of IHSS expenses — $623 million to start and almost $2 billion over six years.

It’s an enormous bill for a federally mandated entitlement that’s expected to get more expensive and popular. Riverside County expects its unfunded IHSS costs will go from $44 million next 툁scal year to $135 million by 툁scal 2023-24.

Southern California county of툁cials worry the program will devour money from other public services. Susan von Zabern, Riverside County’s social services director, recently outlined a nightmare scenario in which the program’s need for more money would force cutbacks to child welfare investigations and food stamps.

http://www.pe.com/2017/04/07/whyinhomecareforcaliforniasneedycouldstraincountybudgets/ 2/7 4/10/2017 Why inhome care for California’s needy could strain county budgets – Press Enterprise Orange County estimates that rising IHSS costs could take $21 million from public safety and $7.2 million from community services. The cost shiЀ would take $465 million from critical services to residents over six years, county of툁cials said.

Los Angeles County expects its budget hit from the program will be $220 million the 툁rst year alone. San Bernardino County warns its IHSS costs could rise to $160 million in 툁scal 2021-22.

“This will have a substantial impact on vital services provided by the County including health, child welfare, and social services programs,” San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Chairman Robert Lovingood wrote in a February letter to Gov. Jerry Brown.

State of툁cials said they’re sympathetic to counties’ concerns. But they insist the change is legally required.

CHEAPER TO STAY

IHSS serves about 531,000 people in California, with an average of $15,000 a year spent on a client as of 2015-16, according to the California State Association of Counties or CSAC. The program saves money because it’s cheaper to keep people at home than putting them in a hospital or institution, von Zabern said.

Those who are disabled or age 65 and up and qualify for Medi-Cal — the state’s health insurance program for the poor — are eligible. Roughly seven in 10 IHSS caregivers are relatives of the people they serve, per CSAC.

The big bill being handed to counties stems from the end of a trial effort started in 2012 to control the health care costs. The Coordinated Care Initiative, or CCI, sought to coordinate services provided by the program, Medi-Cal and Medicare – the federal health insurance program for seniors – to cut expenses and improve care.

The law behind the experiment called for it to end if the state didn’t save money, according to H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the state Department of Finance, which found that CCI will cost the state $278 million this 툁scal year and $42 million aЀer July 1.

In January, the 툁nance department sent counties a letter announcing that CCI will end on June 30.

CCI capped what counties paid for IHSS. That “maintenance of effort” cap ends with CCI, and money from a funding stream created in 1991 to cover the counties’ share won’t be enough, county of툁cials say.

Legally, the state must end CCI, Palmer said. http://www.pe.com/2017/04/07/whyinhomecareforcaliforniasneedycouldstraincountybudgets/ 3/7 4/10/2017 Why inhome care for California’s needy could strain county budgets – Press Enterprise “We stand ready to work with counties and local governments to 툁nd out if there are ways … to mitigate or minimize the 툁scal impact of what the law requires,” he said.

“I can’t tell you today that we have arrived at a solution that works for the state and local governments. We have indicated that our door is open.”

Other factors compound the price tag. Caregivers’ pay will rise as the minimum wages goes up, new federal rules require overtime for in-home health workers and state lawmakers in 2016 gave caregivers three paid days of sick leave and restored funding for hours cut during the Great Recession.

Demand for IHSS is projected to rise as Californians get older and more people enroll in Medi-Cal. Counties can’t cut or alter the program to save money, according to CSAC.

BAD TIMING

For Riverside County, the timing couldn’t be worse. The county already is wrestling with mounting expenses – the need to spend more on jail health care to settle a lawsuit, for example – that threaten to rip a $100 million hole in its budget.

ShiЀing money around to cover IHSS could leave less money to satisfy matching requirements for outside funding, which would mean fewer state and federal dollars for public services, von Zabern said.

CSAC, which lobbies for counties in Sacramento, is trying to prevent the cost shiЀ. Counties scored a win late last month when an Assembly budget subcommittee voted 4-0 to give the counties more money for IHSS costs.

But that doesn’t mean the cost shiЀ is gone for good. And clients like Loomis worry about the program’s future at the state and federal levels, especially with what might happen to the Affordable Care Act.

“This is a really important protection for all Californians,” she said. “People don’t realize until they hit them that they need this.”

“Being extremely disabled is a very frightening and vulnerable way of life. I depend very highly on my care providers. They are my lifeline.”

Tags: health http://www.pe.com/2017/04/07/whyinhomecareforcaliforniasneedycouldstraincountybudgets/Jeff Horseman 4/7 4/10/2017 If California becomes a sanctuary state, this county will resist San Francisco Chronicle

Local

If California becomes a sanctuary state, this county will resist

By Peter Fimrite | April 9, 2017

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

El Dorado County Sheriff John D’Agostini says he will follow federal law even if the sanctuary state bill passes.

PLACERVILLE, El Dorado County — Leaning back in his chair, his gold sheriff’s badge glinting in a shaft of light, John D’Agostini thought for a second about what he would do if Sacramento legislators imposed San Franciscostyle sanctuary laws to protect people living http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/IfCaliforniabecomesasanctuarystatethis11060428.php 1/7 4/10/2017 If California becomes a sanctuary state, this county will resist San Francisco Chronicle across the state illegally.

His dilemma is part of the complex immigration debate in California, where a bill passed last week by the state Senate would restrict cooperation with U.S. immigration agents everywhere, including not only liberal strongholds but bastions of conservatism like El Dorado County.

To D’Agostini, the proposed law, SB54, is tantamount to coddling criminals, and that doesn’t wash in the historic Gold Rush towns and foothill hamlets he serves. He said he would simply refuse to go along.

“I’m going to follow federal law on this issue,” said the sheriff from his office in Placerville, the county seat so closely associated with frontier justice that it was once known as Hangtown. “It’s concerning because its going to put me crosswise with state law.”

The lawman has quite a few backers in the region’s former mining towns — people like George Turnboo, the owner of George’s Truck & Auto Repair in the town of El Dorado and a frequent candidate for local office. He said the sheriff should be allowed to help pick out the bad apples in the community for deportation, like President Trump says the country should do.

“I have a lot of immigrants who are really good friends of mine, but a lot of them voted for Trump because they believe in doing the right thing — which is to immigrate legally,” said Turnboo, 63. “The problem is when immigrants commit horrible crimes and they release them into our community. That’s wrong.”

http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/IfCaliforniabecomesasanctuarystatethis11060428.php 2/7 4/10/2017 If California becomes a sanctuary state, this county will resist San Francisco Chronicle

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

IMAGE 1 OF 4 Mike Williams, a Vietnam War veteran who sells hot dogs to raise funds for homeless veterans in El Dorado, says “there’s something demented” about S.F. not turning over a man later accused of a killing to ... more

SB54, which still must be passed by the Assembly and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, would bar local law enforcement officers from enforcing immigration laws, including arresting and detaining people because they’re in the country without documentation. They couldn’t take part in federal investigations centered on immigration violations, either.

Sheriffs who run jails would have to limit cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, though a late amendment to the bill would allow them to notify ICE before certain serious or violent felons are released.

D’Agostini said his deputies have never gone out looking to make immigration arrests anyway, and he isn’t planning a crackdown. The law, he said, would mostly impact a handful of inmates who might be released every year from the El Dorado County Jail.

To him, the point isn’t the numbers, but that no politician should be able to tell local law enforcement officers to withhold information about criminal activity from federal authorities.

“I believe it’s not lawful,” D’Agostini said.

The largely conservative county, which stretches from the growing Sacramento suburb of El Dorado Hills through the touristy Mother Lode region and into South Lake Tahoe along the http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/IfCaliforniabecomesasanctuarystatethis11060428.php 3/7 4/10/2017 If California becomes a sanctuary state, this county will resist San Francisco Chronicle route of the old Pony Express, gave Trump 52.6 percent of the votes in November, compared with 38.9 for Hillary Clinton.

It’s one of several counties that may resist the sanctuary state bill, which was written by Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, DLos Angeles, and squarely places California on a collision course with the White House.

De León said Trump’s policies have caused so much fear in immigrant communities that people are afraid to report or testify about crimes, which hurts public safety, and even to take their children to school.

State Sen. Scott Wiener, the San Francisco Democrat who cowrote the bill, said D’Agostini is entitled to oppose it but “is obliged to follow it” if it passes.

“The purpose of this bill is to make it very clear to our immigrant communities that interacting with law enforcement in California is not the same as interacting with immigration authorities,” Wiener said.

But Vern Pierson, the El Dorado County district attorney, said the law’s restriction on most communication with immigration agents is dangerous.

“There is no doubt we have a number of people in this country illegally who have committed crimes,” he said, “and those are the people SB54 seeks to protect.”

http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/IfCaliforniabecomesasanctuarystatethis11060428.php 4/7 4/10/2017 If California becomes a sanctuary state, this county will resist San Francisco Chronicle

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

Shops and restaurants attract visitors to downtown Placerville.

El Dorado County is nearly 80 percent white, while Latinos make up about 13 percent of the population. Many immigrants, some without legal status, work in vineyards and apple orchards in the hills around Placerville, where farmers are conflicted about immigration policy.

“When you have confusion and overthetop rhetoric, people’s perceptions can be tied to fear, and its already difficult enough to find skilled labor without making all the immigrants scared,” said Paul Bush, 50, coowner with his wife, Maggie, of the 85acre Madroña Vineyards in the hillside community of Camino.

Ben Butler, the 55yearold owner and chef at Bene Ristorante Italiano in downtown Placerville, said he too relies on authorized immigrant workers. Then again, he said, he understands the need for immigration authorities to deport people who commit crimes.

“I struggle finding dishwashers,” said Butler, who, clad in his white chef’s smock, was greeting people outside his restaurant during lunch one recent day. “It’s a necessity to have immigrants, http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/IfCaliforniabecomesasanctuarystatethis11060428.php 5/7 4/10/2017 If California becomes a sanctuary state, this county will resist San Francisco Chronicle as long as there is a way to weed out the criminals.”

Many county residents believe farm laborers should be left alone, and D’Agostini said he has no intention of going out to the vineyards, orchards or restaurants searching for people to bust. He said he is only concerned about those who commit crimes.

Mike Williams, a Vietnam War veteran who MORE ON SANCTUARY CITIES was selling hot dogs in the town of El Dorado to raise money for homeless vets, was one of On sanctuary cities, conservatives are driven to distortion several locals who brought up Kathryn Steinle, the 32yearold woman who was shot ‘Sanctuary city’ policies harm public safety and the and killed in 2015 on San Francisco’s rule of Embarcadero.

The suspected gunman, Juan Francisco 4 Voices: Are sanctuary cities good for the LopezSanchez, was freed from jail weeks community? earlier by the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department, which rejected federal requests to turn him over for his sixth deportation under the city’s sanctuary laws.

“There’s something demented about that,” said Williams, 65. “I wonder how Gov. Brown would feel if his wife or kids were killed by an illegal alien?”

Supporters of sanctuary laws say incidents like the Steinle slaying are extremely rare, and shouldn’t be used to stir fear of immigrants who are in the country illegally. Studies over the last few decades have concluded there is either no correlation between immigration and crime, or a negative relationship.

If the bill passes, D’Agostini foresees a showdown between Sacramento and the Trump administration, which has threatened to cut off Department of Justice grants to places with sanctuary policies.

“I think its inevitable they are going to be at odds,” he said. The counties that defy SB54, he said, “will be the test bed for that case law, and I feel very confident federal law will prevail.”

http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/IfCaliforniabecomesasanctuarystatethis11060428.php 6/7 4/10/2017 KCDZ 107.7 FM MORONGO BASIN MAC GETS UPDATE ON COUNTY SHORTTERM RENTAL ORDINANCE

« MISSING PASADENA WOMAN FOUND NEAR JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL TWENTYNINE PALMS DEFENDANTS ACCEPT PLEA BARGAIN IN SEX PARK TRAFFICKING TRIAL »

MORONGO BASIN MAC GETS UPDATE ON COUNTY SHORT-TERM RENTAL ORDINANCE By Z107.7 News, on April 10th, 2017

The Morongo Basin Municipal Advisory Council will get an update tonight on the county’s plans to regulate shortterm vacation rentals of private homes to outoftowners in unincorporated areas. Reporter David Haldane has the details…

If you operate an AirBnB in Joshua Tree, heads up; you may soon be subject to county control. That’s the likely upshot of a report on shortterm vacation rentals to be presented at tonight’s meeting of the Morongo Basin Municipal Advisory Council. The presenter is Andy Wingert, chief code enforcer for San Bernardino’s Land Use Services Department. With the number of AirBnB and other shortterm rentals proliferating countywide, his department has been circulating an updated draft of an ordinance that, among other things, requires $700 permits, controls density and limits noise. Though the ordinance currently applies only to mountain areas, a staff report indicates that it may soon be expanded to include Joshua Tree and other unincorporated county areas.

Tonight’s meeting gets underway 6:30 p.m. at the Joshua Tree Community Center on Sunburst Avenue.

April 10th, 2017 | Category: Local News, Top Story

http://z1077fm.com/morongobasinmacgetsupdateoncountyshorttermrentalordinance/ 1/1 4/10/2017 'No longer a ghost town'

‘No longer a ghost town’

Sunday Posted Apr 9, 2017 at 8:57 PM Updated Apr 9, 2017 at 8:57 PM

By Staff Writer Follow

ORO GRANDE — A row of buildings once boarded up and abandoned along a piece of Historic Route 66 were alive and well during the third annual Oro Grande Days celebration on Saturday and Sunday.

Hundreds of visitors from across the High Desert — along with some from neighboring communities and even a few foreigners — turned out for the Old West celebration, featuring live entertainment and rows of vendors selling barbequed foods and handmade items.

All of the businesses on the short strip were open for the extra foot traffic, attracting shoppers interested in all things antique, knick-knacky and collectable.

“The shop owners are all very personable and welcoming of everyone,” Jennifer Ham, a Victorville resident, said. “It’s very family oriented. It does a lot to help the small community,” her husband, David Ham, added.

According to Johnnie McCain, who manages and services the buildings, it has been a community effort to breathe life back into the once-dilapidated area.

“Everybody knows there is something to do here now,” McCain said. “It’s no longer a ghost town.”

Jose Arellano, the buildings’ owner, said about 60 percent of the visitors to the shops are local, while the rest come from “all over the world.”

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170409/nolongerghosttown 1/2 4/10/2017 'No longer a ghost town'

A map on the wall inside JJ’s Furniture and Things is bordered with notes from faraway travelers, but it’s High Desert locals that often “don’t even know about Oro Grande,” JJ’s owner, Jamie Blanusa, said.

“I’ve noticed more since we’ve been here,” Blanusa said, noting that social media has helped boost recent business.

Many of the visitors stop in on their way to Las Vegas, Lona Horrelle, owner of Lona’s Treasures, said.

“This weekend has been great with a lot of people coming in that didn’t even know about us here,” Horrelle said. “But there’s also a lot of people from the community who have been coming here since they were young.”

All of the buildings sit atop historic soil, playing key roles in the gold and silver boomtown that the unincorporated community of Oro Grande once was, while Victorville was still a small agricultural outpost. Lona’s Treasures, for instance, was originally owned by Raymond “Penny” V. Morrow, according to a report from the San Bernardino Sun posted in the store, and the building used to serve as Oro Grande’s post office.

McCain said that right now, he and Arellano have “the perfect tenants,” who rally behind them in building up the community to what it is.

“Today is fun. I see the smiles on everyone’s faces and it just makes my heart swell,” McCain said.

Charity Lindsey may be contacted or 760- 951-6245. Follow her on twitter .

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170409/nolongerghosttown 2/2 4/10/2017 Real estate official believes High Desert is 'primed' for Trader Joe's

Real estate o潧cial believes High Desert is ‘primed’ for Trader Joe’s

Friday Posted Apr 7, 2017 at 5:34 PM Updated Apr 7, 2017 at 5:34 PM

By Staff Writer Follow

VICTORVILLE — An improving market and steady growth in the High Desert has “accelerated” work for one real estate brokerage.

President Brad Umansky of Progressive Real Estate Partners, who’s been leasing and selling shopping center properties in the High Desert since the early 1990s, said business has been booming for his company over the last couple of years.

“We just sold two parcels of land at Ranchero Road and Interstate 15,” Umansky said. “One will be occupied by a new Starbucks drive-thru and the other by a Union 76 service station. We are in escrow with another parcel, which should also be occupied by a service station assuming the transaction is completed.”

Umansky, who founded Progressive in 2009, said the future is “very positive” for the High Desert and Inland Empire markets. He said the High Desert continues to lead in affordability and is the only place for “suburban, family-style living.”

“I’ve been coming up here so many times for soccer games that I know the High Desert better than the Temecula area,” Umansky said. “The High Desert is a growing market, with a population that is primed and ready for new development and a Trader Joe’s.”

Umansky said the corner of Bear Valley and Apple Valley roads, or somewhere near The Mall of Victor Valley, would be an ideal location for a Trader Joe’s. He remarked that a local store would be so busy that it “wouldn’t be able to keep things on their shelves.” http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170407/realestateofficialbelieveshighdesertisprimedfortraderjoes 1/3 4/10/2017 Real estate official believes High Desert is 'primed' for Trader Joe's

“Furthermore, it should be noted that it is frequently difficult to get certain retailers to go to the High Desert — either because it requires a multi-store strategy to justify going to this market (from a management/distribution perspective) — or the retailer may not be prepared to make that commitment,” Umansky said.

He also said there’s a perception by some retailers, which he believes to be incorrect, that the High Desert does not have enough high-income consumers for certain products, citing a move by BevMo that did not go through.

Progressive has moved on several large properties over the last year, including the sale of property near the newly constructed Ranchero Road Interchange, the La Mesa Road/Nisqualli Road Interchange and the Barstow area.

Progressive negotiated the recent sale of properties located at the entrance to The Mall of Victor Valley, which includes one building that houses Big 5 and a multi-tenant building that is now home to a Sit ’N Sleep.

“To be clear, Big 5 is not going anywhere,” said Umansky, whose company also leased 18,311 square feet of space to Get Air on Amargosa Road in Victorville and a multi-tenant building on Main Street in Hesperia that houses The Habit Burger, Firehouse Subs, Pielogy, Metro PCS, Great Clips, Yogurtland and Nutrishop.

Other moves by Progressive include leasing 8,000 square feet to Kaiser Permanente for mental health services. The space was leased in September and is the former home of Fresh & Easy on Main Street in Hesperia.

In Barstow, Progressive leased a parcel of land to The Habit Burger, with plans to construct a free-standing building with a drive thru on Lenwood Road. The company is also looking at leasing 40,000 square feet of anchor space that will be renovated at the Barstow Mall.

“The improvements to the 15 and 215 interchanges should be a boon to the High Desert, making it easier for commuters to live in the High Desert, but work in other parts of the Inland Empire,” Umansky said. “Also, it will make it easier for businesses to locate in the High Desert, which will provide job opportunities in the High Desert so people do not need to commute down the hill.”

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170407/realestateofficialbelieveshighdesertisprimedfortraderjoes 2/3 4/10/2017 Real estate official believes High Desert is 'primed' for Trader Joe's

For more information on Progressive Real Estate Partners, visit .

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

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170407/realestateofficialbelieveshighdesertisprimedfortraderjoes 3/3 4/10/2017 Annual food drive feeds over 2,000 residents

Annual food drive feeds over 2,000 residents

Sunday Posted Apr 9, 2017 at 12:01 AM

By Staff Writer Follow

ADELANTO — Donning bright purple shirts and a smile, volunteers cheerfully handed out large bags of groceries while receiving a warm “thank you” in return.

Sponsored by the Adelanto Growers Association (AGA) and other organizations, the Second Annual Mayor’s Food Share delivered groceries and prepared food for more than 2,000 needy families Saturday morning at the Stater Bros. Stadium in Adelanto.

“It’s all about giving back to the community,” said AGA Founder Sammy Sayegh. “Our volunteers spent a week sorting, separating, and packaging the food in order to have everything ready for the event.”

According to Sayegh, approximately $100,000 of groceries were bought, packaged and handed out this year easily surpassing last year’s total of $20,000.

Predominantly open to residents in Adelanto and El Mirage, the event also included a clothing swap, and information about available services and volunteer opportunities. Adelanto Mayor Rich Kerr was also in attendance as he greeted guests as they made their way into the stadium.

“It’s exciting to see some many people wanting to get involved in helping others, not to mention all the food that was bought and donated,” said Volunteer Danny McPhail. “Not only is it beneficial for the city, but for those in need of help.”

Barbecue, hot dogs and hamburgers were also served up while volunteers gathered groceries for families. Each bag included a “box of love” with ingredients for Easter dinner. The Easter bunny also made a special appearance

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170409/annualfooddrivefeedsover2000residents 1/2 4/10/2017 Annual food drive feeds over 2,000 residents

as children and parents lined up to take their picture with him while Easter baskets were also handed out to children 10 years and under.

Esther Queen, of Adelanto, said she recently moved to the area a few months ago and has faced some difficult challenges but is grateful for the mayor and AGA for providing necessities for those in need.

“This is a wonderful event and we need more people like this who go out of their way to care for others,” Queen said.

“Even though Adelanto has gone down some turns in the past, it’s little things such as these that will help get the city back on its feet,” Sayegh said. “We hope to continue this tradition and seeing others commit to the community.”

Monica Solano can be reached or at 760- 951-6231. Follow her on Twitter .

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170409/annualfooddrivefeedsover2000residents 2/2 4/10/2017 Search and rescue underway for missing Mt. Baldy hiker

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (http://www.dailybulletin.com)

Search and rescue underway for missing Mt. Baldy hiker

By John M. Blodgett, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Sunday, April 9, 2017

MOUNT BALDY >> Search and rescue teams were combing Mt. Baldy Sunday for a man whose family reported him overdue from a hike he had begun Friday.

“He is a very experienced hiker and has hiked to the summit numerous times,” San Bernardino County sheriff’s spokesperson Jodi Miller said via email.

His car was found parked at Manker Flats, and he was reported to have food, water and proper clothing, she wrote.

Miller wrote that 18 people were searching for him. A sheriff’s helicopter dropped off three search teams near the summit to hike down, while other teams were hiking up from the trails below, she wrote.

The man’s family reported him overdue 8 a.m. Sunday.

At 7:20 p.m. an official said he still had not been found and the search would continue overnight if necessary.

URL: http://www.dailybulletin.com/generalnews/20170409/searchandrescueunderwayformissingmtbaldyhiker

http://www.dailybulletin.com/generalnews/20170409/searchandrescueunderwayformissingmtbaldyhiker&template=printart 1/1 4/10/2017 How the Upland library could expand

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (http://www.dailybulletin.com)

How the Upland library could expand

By Liset Márquez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Sunday, April 9, 2017

UPLAND >> Ralph Cavallo has found a new project — the children’s section of the Upland Public Library.

The longtime Upland resident is no stranger to fundraising. A couple of years ago, after the city was looking to pay homage to veterans, Cavallo stepped in, clinched the much needed funding and saw the project completed in less than a year.

Now he’s looking to raise $200,000 to create more room for the more than 100 yearold public institution.

At the March 29 meeting, the City Council appointed Cavallo to the Upland Public Library Board of Trustees for a term set to expire June 2019.

With his help, the library board is moving forward on a 12yearold project to expand the children’s center, which involves enclosing a 2,300squarefoot open air room on west side of the library, Cavallo said.

“The payoff for enclosing this room would be tremendous. This would provide a program area and flexible space, that’s also attached to the collection,” Library Director Yuri Hurtado said.

The project was first conceived in 2005 and first was estimated to cost $645,000, Cavallo said.

“We estimate this project is going to cost, 12 years later, $200,000 and that’s because we have a lot of wonderful people in Upland who volunteer their time,” he said.

Officials are still trying to finalize the total costs. Whatever the tally, the money would still need to be raised to pay for the materials and for some services not likely to be donated, he said.

The west side of the library is a patio space with wood beams. Primarily it has been used as storage, although it has also hosted occasional programming for summer events, Hurtado said.

“That’s what showed us how valuable an expanded programming area could be,” she said.

The city has not had funding available to enclose the patio and do the flooring. But a lot of the major infrastructure is already in place: The walls would be movein ready and the roof has welded wooden brackets and metal beams, Hurtado said.

“We were inspired by the success of the veterans memorial project,” Hurtado said. “Everyone is really excited, and we’re in the exploratory stage of doing the project and fundraising.”

Like the veterans project, the library update would take a community effort, she said.

http://www.dailybulletin.com/socialaffairs/20170409/howtheuplandlibrarycouldexpand&template=printart 1/2 4/10/2017 How the Upland library could expand Libraries are no longer just about providing books, magazines and newspapers but also offer programming and activities. The expansion would give the library the room to increase services to the children’s area, Loren Sanchez, president of the library board, said.

“The board is very enthusiastic about this project,” he said.

Sanchez said the board would work with the Friends of the Upland Library and the Upland Community Foundation on the campaign.

The board is still exploring options for raising the necessary funds, such as asking for sponsorships, donations or offering naming rights, Sanchez added.

Councilman Gino Filippi serves as the city’s liaison to the library board. As a nonvoting member since 2011, Filippi said Cavallo has already shared some project details in the two weeks Cavallo has served on the library board.

Since Cavallo’s appointment, the longtime community activist has already pulled drawing plans for the project and has been meeting with library staff about the expansion, Filippi said.

As the newest board member, Filippi said Cavallo has been welcomed with open arms.

Not only does Cavallo bring “tremendous fundraising experience” but enthusiasm to the Upland Public Library, added the councilman.

“He’s jumping in,” Filippi said. “He’s a fullthrottle kind of person, a rollupyoursleeves guy, and his track record is great in the community.”

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URL: http://www.dailybulletin.com/socialaffairs/20170409/howtheuplandlibrarycouldexpand

http://www.dailybulletin.com/socialaffairs/20170409/howtheuplandlibrarycouldexpand&template=printart 2/2 4/10/2017 Trusted Adelanto medical marijuana advisor now potential liability

Trusted Adelanto medical marijuana advisor now potential liability

Saturday Posted Apr 8, 2017 at 11:08 AM Updated Apr 8, 2017 at 5:14 PM

For the top two leaders on the Council, Salazar’s dip outside the city’s orbit was simply the result of him being overzealous and seeking control of an industry that developed slower than he might have liked.

By Staff Writer Follow

ADELANTO — Last fall, Mayor Rich Kerr attended what would be the first in a series of grand openings to follow in coming months. But Kerr said something didn’t feel right about this one, and he recalled uttering a phrase similar to: “Oh crap, we screwed up.”

On Bartlett Avenue, Johnny Salazar, a long-time medical marijuana advocate and champion for the city’s burgeoning new industry, was celebrating day one of his medical cannabis dispensary and, naturally, invited the city’s most visible policymaker.

But within a month, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department deputies raided the store with guns drawn and the bold, illegal endeavor was crushed on the runway.

At one time, as Adelanto leaders began to broach commercial medical pot as a viable enterprise in early 2013, Salazar was seen as the go-to expert — a serial dispensary entrepreneur seemingly impervious to fatigue after years of playing

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170408/trustedadelantomedicalmarijuanaadvisornowpotentialliability 1/4 4/10/2017 Trusted Adelanto medical marijuana advisor now potential liability

cat-and-mouse with law enforcement.

In fact, Salazar had acted as an informal advisor to the City Council in the early stages of developing Adelanto’s ordinance on cannabis cultivation prior to launching his 14th pot shop in the High Desert.

But after the Bartlett location shut down, the relationship between Salazar and the city he often described in affectionate terms appeared to deteriorate, shifting Salazar from confidant to potential liability.

While Salazar used to regularly attend Council meetings, he’s now barred by a restraining order filed on behalf of the city and City Clerk Cindy Herrera, a former city manager who’s known Salazar for years, according to court records in February and March.

He denied lobbying threats and claimed the order derived from a letter he read in front of the dais Jan. 11, in which he criticized Herrera for treating him like “an outcast.”

In that same oration, he alleged he dropped $28,000 in cash on Herrera’s desk as part of a “pay-to-play” agreement, where a former store on Highway 395 would have been left unbothered in exchange for fines viewed as revenue.

City spokesman Michael Stevens corroborated that Salazar did bring a bag of cash, but said he didn’t deposit it with Herrera. Instead, she directed him to pay fines, which were about $4,100, to a cashier.

“The city denies, and no evidence has even been brought forth to support Mr. Salazar’s claim, that ‘if fines were paid he would be shielded from enforcement,’” Stevens said.

Where Salazar was once close with city officials, he has since claimed that Kerr and Mayor Pro Tem Jermaine Wright also were complicit in vowing to shield his Bartlett store from enforcement — a suggestion both officials adamantly denied.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170408/trustedadelantomedicalmarijuanaadvisornowpotentialliability 2/4 4/10/2017 Trusted Adelanto medical marijuana advisor now potential liability

reciprocate Salazar’s hard feelings, while Kerr acknowledged the credit for his decision to educate himself on the start-up enterprise belongs at least partly to Salazar.

“He was one of the main reasons, if not the main reason, I did,” Kerr said.

Salazar was a no-show at a February hearing during a regular Council meeting where the city prosecutor laid out evidence to show that Salazar had fraudulently acquired the business license for “wholesale medical marijuana” by reneging on written promises to open merely an information center with accessory sales only, and not to sell the product itself.

Dispensaries in Adelanto remain illegal even as the ban seems likely to be lifted in the near future.

“Within days of getting his business license, he clearly and openly publicly admitted that he was operating a medical marijuana dispensary,” said James McKinnon, the city’s prosecutor. “The facts suggest that all along he had planned to operate this as a dispensary.”

Kerr said he initially believed the city’s business license contractor had erred in not applying stipulations to the license Salazar held at his shop, acknowledging that a “laymen” could conclude “it’s OK (to sell pot) because he has a license from the city saying he can.”

Much later, Kerr and Wright said, they were provided by city officials with a more detailed license that spelled out the restrictions.

But both also said the confusion never affected their expectations for the store. When Kerr and a code enforcement officer met with Salazar a week before the grand opening, Kerr was clear: “Under no circumstances are you to sell pot. If you sell pot, we’re shutting you down.”

Wright agreed with the sentiment and chalked up any appearance of complicity — most obvious, the fact Wright donated a refrigerator to the store — to being duped.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170408/trustedadelantomedicalmarijuanaadvisornowpotentialliability 3/4 4/10/2017 Trusted Adelanto medical marijuana advisor now potential liability

“He told me (the refrigerator) was going to be for giving juices and things out to the community,” Wright said, denying it had been known to be for marijuana brownies. Then, when Wright learned the store was selling pot to patients: “I told him he needs to stop.”

Yet in several conversations since January, Salazar remains undeterred in his new quest, not unlike the course he charted in driving “medicine for the people” into city limits. But this time, he has vowed to expose an industry he claims has been corroded and perverted, starting with officials at the top.

“As hard as I (expletive) worked to save my hometown, and as much effort — all the personal sacrifice and diligent work,” Salazar lamented, “and this is how my hometown treats me?”

He has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of operating an illegal dispensary in a case that is expected for trial as early as Monday, court records show.

And he insisted he wants a trial, claiming he even turned down a plea bargain that would have resulted in a $1,000 fine and three years probation.

“The reason I turned that down,” he said, “is so I can show the corruption that’s been done in my hometown.”

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

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170408/trustedadelantomedicalmarijuanaadvisornowpotentialliability 4/4 4/10/2017 What happens to Montclair Fire Department after its split with Upland

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (http://www.dailybulletin.com)

What happens to Montclair Fire Department after its split with Upland

By Liset Márquez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Saturday, April 8, 2017

MONTCLAIR >> It’ll be at least five months before City Manager Ed Starr knows how the split with the Upland Fire Department will change Montclair’s fire operations.

Up until late last year, the two cities jointly ran their fire departments. The partnership was born in 2013, when the neighboring cities announced they would merge their fire administration efforts and drop boundary lines. It was a move that saved Montclair about $500,000 a year, but according to Starr, Upland said wasn’t seeing the same savings.

Last year, cashstrapped Upland expressed interest in disbanding its fire department and annexing instead to San Bernardino County Fire. The cities terminated the merger in November, and since Dec. 1, 2016 Montclair has been operating the fire department as its own entity again.

Although the service level has not been impacted, Starr said he’s exploring the best options for the city, which could include:

• Adding a new fire squad and hiring six firefighters

• Changing dispatch services

• Or negotiating some type of contract agreement with a neighboring fire district

For now, everything is preliminary and Starr said he expects to present his final options to the City Council by September.

As part of the merger, Montclair switched its dispatching services. Starr said he might consider contracting with Ontario — which it used before the pairing.

“I have to analyze if we want to go back,” he said.

He’ll also consider possibly adding a new fire squad — which would mean hiring six firefighters — or whether some deal can be worked out with Chino Valley Fire District.

“It’s an economic thing I have to study,” Starr said.

Currently, Montclair has six firefighters working 24hour shifts.

Jim Grigoli, president of San Bernardino County Fire Professional Firefighters Local 935, said he’s skeptical about plans to hire firefighters or contract out with another agency.

“If the city can’t afford the Fire Department today, they can’t afford adding any new firefighters,” he said. http://www.dailybulletin.com/generalnews/20170408/whathappenstomontclairfiredepartmentafteritssplitwithupland&template=printart 1/3 4/10/2017 What happens to Montclair Fire Department after its split with Upland Grigoli has represented Montclair firefighters for the past two months. Montclair firefighters decided to join the larger union in hopes of getting better representation in talks with the city, he said.

The department is facing a number of challenges, Grigoli said: Montclair lost a captain who accepted a job in Orange County, and several other firefighters will be taking positions in Ontario. On top of that, the fire engines’ thermal imaging cameras are not working, he said.

The way he sees it, there are only two serious options, Grigoli said. The city must either choose to join with larger San Bernardino County Fire or continue to make cuts.

“They won’t be able to afford the bills because the bills will continue to rise,” he said.

That first option, to bring in San Bernardino County Fire to operate the department, is one Starr said he won’t consider.

Last year, both Starr and Upland interim City Manager Martin Thouvenell met with San Bernardino County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig, who presented the cities with separate proposals that would allow county fire to take over operations.

Starr rejected it.

“We do not have the same fiscal concerns as Upland does. We are on much more solid ground,” he said.

According to Starr, Montclair is in the middle of a fiveyear, $20 million plan to repave every street in the city. There are also plans for facility improvements at its two fire stations and City Hall.

That’s not how Grigoli sees it. The option from San Bernardino County would result in a $1.2 million savings to the city, he said.

“If their firefighters would change to county fire department, it would bring stability to them,” Grigoli said.

Starr disputes the savings suggested by Grigoli. The $1.2 million savings from the annexation would come from the annual parcel tax imposed on property owners.

“It obviously does not result in a true reduction,” Starr wrote in an email Friday. Montclair taxpayers would just shoulder more of the costs.

This was not the first time Montclair has received a proposal from county fire. The city requested a proposal in 2012 proposal. Ultimately the city declined because the city would have had to pay $1 million a year — for 14 years — to CalPERS to pay off its unfunded pension liabilities, Starr said.

Like the 2012 proposal, Montclair would still have to pay $1 million a year to the state’s retirement system for pensions to join with county fire.

The 2016 proposal was similar to what Upland is pursuing: Montclair would have had to disband its fire department, turn over property taxes and facilities, as well as institute a $154 parcel tax on land owners.

“I could not in good conscious recommend to the City Council that we give 100 percent of our property taxes,” he said.

Starr said the figure is based on the cost of fire services versus property taxes needed to pay it. In Upland, 54 percent of its property tax revenue will be transferred to help the city pay the county fire department for its services.

But Montclair doesn’t have the same number of housing units, he said. http://www.dailybulletin.com/generalnews/20170408/whathappenstomontclairfiredepartmentafteritssplitwithupland&template=printart 2/3 4/10/2017 What happens to Montclair Fire Department after its split with Upland Upland’s property taxes are coming from 21,000 parcels, a majority at a higher rate, compared to Montclair’s 7,500 parcels, he added.

“For us it’s not an acceptable program,” Starr said.

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URL: http://www.dailybulletin.com/generalnews/20170408/whathappenstomontclairfiredepartmentafteritssplitwithupland

http://www.dailybulletin.com/generalnews/20170408/whathappenstomontclairfiredepartmentafteritssplitwithupland&template=printart 3/3 4/10/2017 San Bernardino police welcome its newest member — Sherlock, the community affairs dog

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

San Bernardino police welcome its newest member — Sherlock, the community affairs dog

By Doug Saunders, The Sun

Friday, April 7, 2017

SAN BERNARDINO >> The newest member of the police department’s K9 corps hasn’t been through the academy nor does he detect drugs or take down armed felons.

However he does like to sneak into Chief Jarrod Burguan’s office and hang out on the couch.

Sherlock, an adopted Irish WolfhoundLabrador mix, is the newest member of the San Bernardino Police Department’s community affairs team.

On Friday he was treated to a bath and pedicure at Tina’s Pet Palace in Riverside by his handler, Lt. Vicki Cervantes.

Sherlock has a variety of jobs, she said.

“He won’t do anything police related,” Cervantes said. “His job and specific role is to interact with the public in a social manner.”

Many times, when police are asked to speak at school events they’re asked to bring a canine, but that takes the working dog out of the field so Sherlock will be the “spokesdog” for the department.

“He spent all evening with us at the Claim Jumper (in San Bernardino) for the San Bernardino Police Department’s ‘TipaCop’ fundraiser benefiting the Special Olympics,” Cervantes said. “Everyone loved him. Several people asked to take selfies with him.”

But he’s not just for show. Officials are hoping Sherlock will take a larger role when it comes to law enforcement.

“There are times when we (police) have to remove children from homes or when children are witnesses to crimes,” Cervantes said. “That’s when we’ll bring him in and kind of help keep them calm during a stressful time in their lives. He’s a lovable dog.”

All fees for Sherlock’s adoption were donated.

URL: http://www.sbsun.com/lifestyle/20170407/sanbernardinopolicewelcomeitsnewestmembersherlockthecommunityaffairsdog

http://www.sbsun.com/lifestyle/20170407/sanbernardinopolicewelcomeitsnewestmembersherlockthecommunityaffairsdog&template=printart 1/1 2 Dead, 6 Injured After SUV Strikes Parishioners Leaving Chino Church; Incident Appears Accidental: Police POSTED 10:00 PM, APRIL 9, 2017, BY ERIKA MARTIN AND STEVE KUZJ, UPDATED AT 10:38PM, APRIL 9, 2017

An incident involving an SUV that drove into a church parking lot in Chino Sunday and struck six people, killing two, was not terrorism-related, police said.

The scene of a church parking lot in Chino where a driver struck six parishioners, killing two. (Credit: KTLA)

The scene occurred around 7 p.m., just as the congregation was leaving service at East Sarang Community Church at 5540 Schaefer Ave., according to Chino Police Ofcer Cameron Olden.

The driver of the charcoal gray SUV reversed too forcefully when back out of the parking lot and hopped a curb, striking those exiting the church on the sidewalk, police said.

The driver then put the vehicle back in drive, hopped another curb and hit a tree, losing part of the car's bumper. He then drove across the parking lot and crashed into the side of a building, according to ofcers at the scene.

Two women were pronounced dead at the scene, Olden said.

Another four female churchgoers were taken to local hospitals with moderate injuries that were not life-threatening, police said, while the SUV's driver and passenger were also transported with moderate injuries, police said.

It was not immediately clear whether those in the vehicle had attended mass as well.

Ofcers were still processing the scene Sunday night, but said the fatalities appeared unintentional.

Authorities did not release the driver's identity, saying only that he is an older man.

No further details were immediately available. Police Fatally Shoot Man Who Walked Into Ontario Stater Bros. With Shotgun POSTED 7:15 AM, APRIL 10, 2017, BY ANTHONY KURZWEIL AND CHRISTINA PASCUCCI, UPDATED AT 08:04AM, APRIL 10, 2017

A man who allegedly walked into an Ontario grocery store with a shotgun was killed when police opened re Sunday night.

A man was fatally shot by ofcers after allegedly walking into an Ontario Stater Bros. with a shotgun. (Credit: Loudlabs)

The incident took place about 10:44 p.m. at the Stater Bros. located in the 1900 block of East 4th Street, Ontario Police Department Detective Melissa Ramirez said.

Police received multiple calls from customers reporting a man with a shotgun had walked into the store, Ramirez said.

Ofcers arrived and entered the Stater Brothers fearing customers were still in danger, Ramirez said.

Police found the man, who was still armed with a shotgun, and an ofcer involved shooting occurred, Ramirez said.

The man, who has not been identied, died inside the store, Ramirez said.

It was unclear why the man entered the store and why he brought a shotgun.

No ofcers, employees or customers were injured in the incident.

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APR 9, 2017, BY CONNATIX 4/10/2017 911, other police lines go down in Upland – Press Enterprise

LOCAL NEWS 911, other police lines go down in Upland

By PRESS-ENTERPRISE PUBLISHED: April 9, 2017 at 10:08 pm | UPDATED: April 10, 2017 at 1:36 am

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Upland police phone lines, including 911, went down shortly before 9 p.m. Sunday evening.

At 9:40 p.m., Sgt. M. Duran did not know when the phone lines would be operational.

He said until the lines are repaired, residents can use the temporary numbers 909-721-5029 or 909-721-5031 for all emergency or non-emergency needs.

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HONORING SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA'S EVERYDAY HEROES

Ofœcer Helps Girls Get Off of the Streets and Out of Prostitution

"They need somebody to be their voice," said Ofœcer Kim Hernandez. By Kathy Vara     

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VIDEO Jordan Clarkson Says Metta 1 World Peace's Leg Was 'Shaking Like a Stripper' A vice cop in San Bernardino is helping young girls and women leave prostitution. Kathy Vara reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m on Friday, April 7, 2017. (Published Friday, April 7, 2017) VIDEO Woman Claims Airbnb Host 2 Canceled Rental Because of Her Race   VIDEO Friends Gather to Remember Up Next 3 Family Killed in Plane Crash Volunteers Rescue OC Deputy Helps Reverend Keeps School Worker Does Rookie Fireœghter Hikers From Icy Homeless Find Hope Alive on Skid Double Duty as Saves Man Mountain Housing Row Security and Drum Threatening to Jump Coach Off FreewayPolice Shoot and Kill Armed Man in 4 Stater Bros. Market

San Bernardino Vice Officer Kim Hernandez helps get girls as young as 13 off the VIDEO 2 Killed When SUV Driver streets, out of prostitution and even into college. 5 Crashes in Church Parking Lot

Last year she was responsible, in part, for prosecuting more than 50 cases of human trafficking and making hundreds of arrests for prostitution. WEATHER FORECAST

Training Exercise Becomes RealLife Rescue Los Angeles, CA http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/OfficerCommittedtoHelpingGirlsgetofftheStreets418702153.html ° 1/4 4/10/2017 Officer Helps Girls Get Off of the Streets and Out of Prostitution | NBC Southern California "These girls, more than any other victim except for homicide, need our help," Home News I-Team Weather Entertainment 59° Connect Local U.S. &Hernandez said. World California News SoCal Sports 4 You Sports Health Tech Weird Weather NewsConference ° Clear 59 Feels Like 59 ° She regularly patrols G Street in San Bernardino, also known as "The Blade."

Orange County Deputy Helps Find Homes for Homeless Radar Forecast Maps

"It's called The Blade because this is where the girls walk up and down to find clients, customers or as they call it, 'tricks,'" she said. WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Instead of drugs, Hernandez said gangs are now trafficking girls, some as young Do you think Harrison Ford should've as nine and ten years old. been ⴴned for his taxiway landing?

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"You can only sell a bag of marijuana or bag of meth or gun one time, but a human I'm not following this story you can sell over and over," she said. NEXT

It may take several arrests and multiple contacts to finally get a girl to come out of Powered by CivicScience Privacy policy the life.

School Security Officer Doubles as Music Teacher

Hernandez said, "Some of my cases, especially with young girls, just started with me putting on a uniform and getting in a car and driving out and watching the girls on the street."

It's her only chance to connect with the girls, she says. NEWSLETTERS She said, "It's that first contact and treating them like a human and letting them Receive the latest local updates in your inbox know that there is more for them out there." Email Sign up

One of the two young women arrested by police on a recent stakeout had been Privacy policy | More Newsletters beaten by her pimp.

"It's an ongoing thing to try to care for these girls and try and make sure they know there is somebody there for them that will follow through," Hernandez said.

Hernandez was encouraged by their conversation because the woman agreed to accept help from a victim's advocacy group and wants to go back to school for computer technology.

San Bernardino Police Lt. Mike Madden said, "What Kim is doing is she is truly changing lives, she's changing behavior."

Helping these young girls and women requires persistence, but Hernandez is committed to changing lives one intervention at a time.

Hernandez said, "They need somebody to be their voice."

Published at 7:25 PM PDT on Apr 7, 2017

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Download the App Follow NBC4 Available for IOS and Android    http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/OfficerCommittedtoHelpingGirlsgetofftheStreets418702153.html 2/4 4/10/2017 Reasons why Inland Empire health care leaders fear the end of Obamacare

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

Reasons why Inland Empire health care leaders fear the end of Obamacare

By Neil Nisperos, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Sunday, April 9, 2017

Leaders in the Inland Empire health care community are concerned that any change to Obamacare could hurt recent inroads for patient coverage and have an alarming effect on health care sector jobs and economic growth in the region.

Under the Affordable Care Act, “we’ve gone from over 750,000 people with no health care to about 350,000 with no health care” in the Inland Empire, said economist John Husing.

“If they don’t keep those people covered, it would hurt both the people, but also the providers and the jobs that go along with that.”

House members headed home Thursday for a twoweek recess with the Republican health care bill that would replace Obamacare still in shambles. GOP leaders announced a modest amendment to curb some premium increases, but the party still faced sharp divisions over how to achieve their promise of repealing former President Barack Obama’s law.

Ontariobased Prime Healthcare Services operates 44 hospitals in 14 states. Fred Ortega, Prime’s director of government relations, is hoping any replacement bill will continue to insure the millions of Californians who gained coverage in recent years, so they “have access to the health care safety net they need and deserve.”

Since the ACA’s implementation, Prime’s hospitals now receive fewer uninsured patients, saving the company has $337 million in “bad debt and charity care,” Ortega said. That money, he said, instead went toward employment and capital improvements.

“(Any potential) reduction in the savings we’ve experienced will definitely impact the amount of capital that we can reinvest in equipment, employment and capital improvement for our hospitals,” Ortega said.

Harris Koenig, president of San Antonio Regional Hospital, is equally concerned, especially about a reduction in coverage.

“Either they won’t be getting coverage on the (insurance) exchange, or they will be losing coverage because they lose access to MediCal and the loss of medical funding in the state,” Koenig said Friday in a phone interview.

Accordingly, hospitals, often major employers in their communities, will see an impact on employment, capital expenditures and program accessibility, Koenig said.

As of last year, health care ranks as the sixth largest sector of the Inland Empire economy, Husing said.

Hospitals are just one source of employment in the sector, which also includes medical offices, pharmacies, laboratories and insurers, according to Bradley Gilbert, CEO of Rancho Cucamongabased Inland Empire http://www.sbsun.com/business/20170409/reasonswhyinlandempirehealthcareleadersfeartheendofobamacare&template=printart 1/2 4/10/2017 Reasons why Inland Empire health care leaders fear the end of Obamacare Health Plan. The IEHP organizes health care contracts for patients, doctors and hospitals in San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

In response to 335,000 ACAprompted new members, his organization grew from 700 employees in 2012 to 1,900 today, Gilbert said by phone.

“If we were not able to provide some alternative for those members for some kind of alternative insurance product, some way for them to be covered, our membership could be down by 25 percent, and that could have an impact on employment at IEHP. But it would also be pulling a billion dollars (from the regional economy in health carerelated revenue), and put 24,000 (regional) jobs at risk,” Gilbert said.

Another major health plan player in the region is Molina Healthcare, a managed health care company based in Long Beach, that serves 3.5 million people through governmentfunded health care programs in 15 states. With an administrative office in San Bernardino, Molina Healthcare has a significant presence serving members in the Inland Empire.

Repealing the Affordable Care Act without a replacement could lead to 24 million people losing coverage across the country, according to the Congressional Budget Office, creating a ripple effect on growth and employment, Deborah Miller, plan president of Molina Healthcare of California, said in an emailed statement.

Replacing the Affordable Care Act could be a viable solution — depending on the new plan’s details, including keeping costsharing reductions and holding onto the individual mandate, which requires that most Americans get health insurance, or an exemption, each month, or pay a tax penalty, Miller said.

Husing said that the Inland Empire health care sector is taking a waitandsee approach. He expects hiring to slow down because of the uncertainty with whatever may replace Obamacare.

“If in fact the Trump administration or the Congress combined savage the ACA, then one of the things it’s going to do is hurt the Inland Empire very badly,” Husing said.

Not all business experts agree.

Jay Prag, professor of economics and finance at the Claremont Graduate University, believes any change to ACA won’t be that great.

“The state has said they are going to try and maintain the same level of coverage that the ACA was providing the state to make up the difference,” Prag said. “They can certainly do it for a while with health insurance, but I don’t think California, at least in the short term, is going to see any substantial change.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

URL: http://www.sbsun.com/business/20170409/reasonswhyinlandempirehealthcareleadersfeartheendofobamacare

http://www.sbsun.com/business/20170409/reasonswhyinlandempirehealthcareleadersfeartheendofobamacare&template=printart 2/2 4/10/2017 A voting law meant to increase minority representation has generated many more lawsuits than seats for people of color LA Times

A voting law meant to increase minority representation has generated many more lawsuits than seats for people of color

Jose Moreno is joined by members of the community at a news conference in 2014 to announce an agreement with the Anaheim mayor and City Council to put the issue of district elections on the ballot later that year. Moreno was elected to the council last November. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

By Phil Willon

APRIL 9, 2017, 8:20 PM | REPORTING FROM SACRAMENTO

wo years ago, the city of Palmdale settled a lawsuit alleging that its system of electing all four council T members by citywide votes was rigged against Latinos and other minorities. In addition to a $4.5million payout, the city agreed to scrap its “at large” voting system and create four separate council districts, including two with Latino majorities.

The result? The city had one appointed Latino council member before the rules change. It still has just one, though that member was elected.

Facing the threat of similar lawsuits under the California Voting Rights Act, several dozen cities across the state have switched from citywide elections in which all voters choose everyone on the council, to district elections in http://www.latimes.com/politics/lapolcavotingrightsminoritiescalifornia20170409story.html 1/5 4/10/2017 A voting law meant to increase minority representation has generated many more lawsuits than seats for people of color LA Times which geographically divided groups of voters each elect their own representative. And more are preparing to switch.

But those efforts have so far failed to deliver a surge of Latino political representation inside California’s city halls.

Of the 22 cities that have made the move to district elections since June, only seven saw an overall gain in Latino council members, according to an analysis by GrassrootsLab, a consulting firm that specializes in local government politics.

The results underscore the challenges Latinos face in gaining representation in local government even in communities, such as Palmdale, where they make up a majority of the population.

A number of factors likely contributed to the low numbers, including historically low turnout by Latino voters and a lack of candidates with the means to run, experts said. Also, even in cities with large Latino populations, some residents can’t vote because they are too young, are here illegally or are not citizens.

The threat of legal action has forced cities to switch to council districts, but in some cases the move hasn’t resulted in more minority representation because the city already is wellintegrated and drawing districts where minorities predominate is difficult.

Among the cities that made the switch from “at large” citywide voting are the Central Valley city of Visalia, which moved to district elections last year after Latino residents filed a lawsuit. They noted that only one Latino had ever been elected to the fivemember council even though Latinos account for 46% of the population.

Even after the switch, though, not a single Latino was elected to the council last November — and none even ran for the two districts that were up for grabs, according to the Grassroots study. .

“These are not encouraging results,” said Robb Korinke, who helps run GrassrootsLab and is a former Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee official.

Of course, simply changing to district elections under threat of legal action doesn’t guarantee that Latinos will be elected. For that to happen, there must voter registration, strong candidates and robust participation by the electorate.

The push to carve cities into districts started almost 15 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, which was intended to increase opportunities for Latinos and other minorities to elect a representative of their choice.

Advocates argued that citywide elections for all council seats can dilute the political power of voters from underrepresented groups. The law allows legal action against a local government if an attorney or resident can show an underrepresented minority has voted as a group for certain candidates, and those candidates didn’t win because voters citywide chose a different one. It applies to city councils, school districts and other government bodies with elected representatives. http://www.latimes.com/politics/lapolcavotingrightsminoritiescalifornia20170409story.html 2/5 4/10/2017 A voting law meant to increase minority representation has generated many more lawsuits than seats for people of color LA Times California’s biggest cities — including Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco — held elections by district before the advent of the Voting Rights Act. But among California’s 482 cities, only 59 hold district elections, according to a report released in December by the government watchdog group California Common Cause.

Nine of those 59 had switched to district elections after the passage of the 2002 law until last year, when nearly two dozen suddenly made the change. At least 14 more are considering switching over the next two years and most of them are facing threats of a lawsuit if they don’t.

Eric Dunn, an attorney for the high desert city of Hesperia, said the main driver for Hesperia’s switch to district elections was the legal threat. No local government that holds citywide elections has ever won a California Voting Rights Act lawsuit, according to the League of California Cities.

“That’s tipped the scales for many cities,” Dunn said. “As the city attorney you’re in a position where you have to tell your client that your odds of winning are zero.”

Hesperia, which is nearly 50% Latino, currently has an allwhite City Council. The city’s first district elections are not scheduled until 2018.

Dunn said, however, that Hesperia is so wellintegrated it would be difficult to create a Latino council district that doesn’t resemble a Rorschach inkblot test — which would likely run afoul of federal voting rights law.

Hesperia began the process of moving to district elections after getting warning letters from two separate attorneys within a month. The first arrived in December 2015 from Malibu attorney Kevin Shenkman, the lead attorney in the successful lawsuit against Palmdale. The letter alleged Hesperia’s citywide voting system weakened the political influence of Latinos, and it advised the city to change to district elections.

Shenkman estimates that he’s filed roughly 10 Voting Rights Act lawsuits. He said he couldn’t remember how many warning letters he has sent to local governments, but this year alone he sent letters to Oceanside, San Marcos, Vista, Cathedral City and Fremont.

Some city officials complain that lawyers see the voting rights cases as a way to collect large attorneys’ fees. As Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford put it: “I didn’t think the lawsuit was about anything except making money.”

But Shenkman countered that, saying he worked for years on the Palmdale case, where he won the $4.5million settlement, even though he wasn’t sure he’d ever see a penny from it.

“We did very well on the Palmdale case. But people who criticized us don’t realize the enormous risk that we took,” Shenkman said.

Former state Sen. Richard Polanco, a Democrat who authored the Voting Rights Act, said the law included a provision for legal fee reimbursement in successful lawsuits because lawmakers believed it was better to have local governments pay millions in settlements than rob minority groups of fair representation.

http://www.latimes.com/politics/lapolcavotingrightsminoritiescalifornia20170409story.html 3/5 4/10/2017 A voting law meant to increase minority representation has generated many more lawsuits than seats for people of color LA Times But state lawmakers last year moved to protect cities from massive legal bills and to give them time to take steps to avoid lawsuits. The new law allows cities 135 days to switch to district elections through the ordinance process after it’s been warned it could be in violation of the Voting Rights Act. It also puts a $30,000 limit on the amount cities must reimburse attorneys or other groups that challenge their election system, so long as no lawsuit is filed against the city.

Douglas Johnson of National Demographics Corp., which has advised dozens of cities in voting rights cases, argues Latinos have made the most gains in cities where the switch to district elections was driven more by grassroots efforts than the threat of lawsuits.

“There are ... cases where a lawyer blasts out letters to 20 different jurisdictions to generate a lawsuit and make money. In those jurisdictions, there’s no candidate, no campaign organization,” Johnson said. “The most important factor … is having a good candidate who has a base of supporters and knows how to run an effective, energetic campaign. Once you have that, districts make it easier for a candidate to win.”

Thomas Saenz, head of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, argues that the sluggish increase in minority representatives isn’t necessarily a failure. The law was not just designed to elect minorities to local government, Saenz said, but also to increase geographical diversity on the councils and prevent one part of town, typically the wealthier neighborhoods, from having too much influence.

“Latino voters get to elect a candidate of their choice. That’s not always a Latino candidate,” Saenz said. “Maybe a nonLatino candidate is the choice of the community for whatever reason.”

Saenz’s organization has taken legal action against a handful of cities with citywide voting systems, including Bellflower and Placentia. As a result, voters in November approved ballot measures to switch to district elections. But he says his group only sues or threatens to sue when it can show that a Latinomajority district can be created in those cities.

That was the argument Jose Moreno made when he challenged the system in Anaheim. He had been trounced in a citywide run for the City Council in 2014 even though he did very well in heavily Latino neighborhoods.

Latinos make up more than half of Anaheim’s population, but they account for about 35% of eligible voters.

Latino political activists had been pushing for Anaheim to switch to district elections since the early 1990s, when the City Council rejected the idea. The switch finally came after Moreno, a former school board member, joined other Latino leaders and sued.

Last November, Moreno walked away with a victory.

“It’s about giving a community a voice,” said Moreno, chair of the Department of Chicano and Latino Studies at Cal State Long Beach.

With Moreno’s victory, the number of Latinos on the sixmember Anaheim council doubled — from one to two. http://www.latimes.com/politics/lapolcavotingrightsminoritiescalifornia20170409story.html 4/5 4/10/2017 California Moves to Become ‘Sanctuary State,’ and Others Look to Follow The New York Times

https://nyti.ms/2oQK9sE

U.S. California Moves to Become ‘Sanctuary State,’ and Others Look to Follow

By JENNIFER MEDINA and JESS BIDGOOD APRIL 10, 2017 A 42yearold immigrant was on her way to church in Mendota, a small city in California’s Central Valley, one afternoon last month when the police stopped her because the tinted windows on her 2006 Nissan were too dark. What happened next says much about the growing conflict between states like California and the Trump administration.

After inspecting her license, the police officer returned to the car and asked the woman, a mother of two, whether she knew that a deportation order had been issued against her. Yes, she replied, she was supposed to appear in front of an immigration judge in Texas nearly 15 years ago, but had no way of getting there.

After several minutes, the officer released her, but not before calling the federal immigration authorities. The police officer informed her that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers would come to her house. Fearing deportation to El Salvador, the woman did not return home — neighbors informed her that immigration officers appeared at her front door half an hour after she was pulled over — and she has not gone back since, one of her lawyers said.

For the Trump administration, that kind of assistance from local police officers is a model. For California lawmakers, it is the clearest evidence yet of the need to

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/10/us/sanctuarystatesimmigration.html 1/5 4/10/2017 California Moves to Become ‘Sanctuary State,’ and Others Look to Follow The New York Times

strictly curb communication between local law enforcement and federal immigration officials.

With the federal government vastly expanding who is considered a priority for deportation, the California State Senate approved a bill last week that increased protections for immigrants. The measure prohibits local law enforcement agencies from using resources to investigate, detain, report or arrest people for immigration violations.

Supporters say the law — essentially making California the country’s first “sanctuary state” — would prevent immigrants like the woman in Mendota, who faced no criminal charges, from being turned over for deportation. If approved, the law could directly contradict federal directives, putting local law enforcement agencies in the difficult position of deciding whether to obey Sacramento or Washington. Legal battles are considered likely.

“The federal government is going to have to step in and decide if this is worth a lawsuit, because I am not sure what we can do,” said Donny Youngblood, the sheriff in Kern County and the president of the California State Sheriffs’ Association, which is lobbying against the measure. “All we are doing is providing information to the federal government so that they can do their job. To restrict that doesn’t make sense.”

While California is moving more decisively and quickly than any other state, bills that restrict cooperation with immigration officials have been introduced in several legislatures throughout the country, including in Illinois, Maryland, Nevada and New York.

In Vermont last month, Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, signed a measure that bars state and local police officers from enforcing immigration laws without his approval and prohibits the collection of personal information, including immigration status and religion, for any kind of registry that could be used by federal officials.

If enacted, the California law could have a significant effect on federal immigration enforcement — at least half of immigrants living in the United States who are deported come from local jails and prisons, experts say.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/10/us/sanctuarystatesimmigration.html 2/5 4/10/2017 California Moves to Become ‘Sanctuary State,’ and Others Look to Follow The New York Times

The law goes next to the Assembly, where it is expected to pass. But Gov. Jerry Brown has not indicated whether he supports it.

Lt. Kevin Smith of the Mendota police said officers routinely run the name of anyone they pull over through a national database. If they find that immigration officials are looking for the person, he said, they alert the local ICE office. He said he was unsure whether the department would change its policy if the proposed legislation were approved.

Under a state law in place since 2013, local jails in California have not complied with “detainers,” or requests from ICE to hold immigrants who could be deported.

Still, nearly every county jail allows ICE officers inside, so they can easily keep track of who is brought in and scheduled for release, comparing names and fingerprints with federal immigration databases. The new law would end that policy and would also prohibit the police from notifying ICE about anyone they pull over.

The law is intended to prevent immigrants from being deported for minor crimes, said Kevin de León, president pro tem of the California Senate and author of the legislation. “It’s the absolute height of ridiculousness that ICE would come in and just deport somebody as opposed to that person having their day in immigration court,” he said.

Opponents of the policy argue that the state will effectively force the immigration authorities to make more arrests in public, where other immigrants who have not been convicted of any crime could also be swept up.

It is still unclear how Attorney General Jeff Sessions will follow through on the administration’s threat to withhold grants from socalled sanctuary cities, let alone states.

Many states are siding with the administration and have been drafting laws requiring local governments to cooperate with ICE requests to hold inmates for deportation proceedings.

In Texas, for example, Gov. Greg Abbott has already denied state funding from any local government that does not enforce detainers. He is also pushing for a bill

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/10/us/sanctuarystatesimmigration.html 3/5 4/10/2017 California Moves to Become ‘Sanctuary State,’ and Others Look to Follow The New York Times

that would require law enforcement to comply with detainers.

“I will not tolerate sanctuary city policies that put the citizens of Texas at risk,” he said after the bill passed the Senate in February. “Elected officials do not get to pick and choose which laws they will obey.”

Tactically, California appears to be taking a page from the playbook Texas used during the Obama administration by confronting the federal government on immigration. In 2014, Texas sued to block the administration’s plans to grant temporary protection against deportation to as many as five million undocumented immigrants who met certain requirements. The state argued that the president had changed the law without proper public review. The lawsuit effectively stopped the plans.

Rick Su, a law professor at the University at Buffalo, said the lawsuit in Texas and the legislation in California were both “efforts in some ways to goad, to sort of transform the partisan battle into a state versus federal fight.”

Other states have proposed bills to limit the role local officers can play in immigration enforcement, but their path forward is uncertain.

Democrats in Massachusetts have been gathering support for one such bill, but Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, has said he opposes Massachusetts’s becoming a “sanctuary state” and would rather leave the matter up to cities and towns. A similar measure in Maryland passed the House last month, but it drew the ire of some in law enforcement and a veto threat from the Republican governor, Larry Hogan. Only a small portion of the bill has moved forward in the Senate.

Immigration advocates say Vermont’s law is largely symbolic, because the Trump administration has not tried to collect information for a registry and because departments there do not currently enforce immigration law.

But the bill, which passed unanimously in the State Senate and overwhelmingly in the House, has raised alarms in the northern reaches of the state, where small town police officers frequently turn to federal officers, like the Border Patrol, for help in emergencies.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/10/us/sanctuarystatesimmigration.html 4/5 4/10/2017 California Moves to Become ‘Sanctuary State,’ and Others Look to Follow The New York Times

The law “sends a message that could be construed to imply that local law enforcement shouldn’t be working with our federal partners,” said Chief Leonard Stell, of the Police Department in Swanton, a community of about 6,400, eight miles from the Canadian border.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/10/us/sanctuarystatesimmigration.html 5/5 4/10/2017 California's drought is finally over, but its legacy will live on LA Times

California's drought is finally over, but its legacy will live on

Brandon Arthur, 10, crawls out of the muddy tailings left by his father Steve Arthur's water well drill site in Terra Bella in the Central Valley. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

By Joseph Serna and Shelby Grad

APRIL 7, 2017, 2:05 PM

t wasn’t that long ago that many wondered whether California’s drought would ever end. I For five years, the state endured significantly less rain than normal, cutting into the water supply and forcing the state to impose strict limits on water use.

That officially ended Friday when Gov. Jerry Brown declared the drought over.

So how did the drought end? That seemed pretty quick. The turning point began last winter, when Northern California began to see a significant uptick in rain. Then, this winter, the north had one of the wettest seasons on record. Southern California also saw more rain.

Northern California typically gets more rain than Southern California, and the state’s water system is designed with that in mind; it moves water from the Sierra into cities and farms to the south. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/lamedroughtlegacy20170407story.html 1/3 4/10/2017 California's drought is finally over, but its legacy will live on LA Times Another lateseason atmospheric river has pushed Northern California’s water year (Oct. 1 to Sept. 30) to the second wettest ever recorded, the National Weather Service said Friday.

The storm has dumped rain from the Bay Area north to Shasta and east to Susanville along the Sierra Nevada, where months of rain and snowfall have filled reservoirs and saturated soils to levels not seen since before the drought.

Experts say that for all the concerns, this drought ended like all the rest in California — years of dryness followed by a lot of rain.

Can I start hosing down my driveway again? Not so fast. Brown and water officials stressed the importance of continued conservation, even after restrictions are lifted.

“This drought emergency is over, but the next drought could be around the corner,” Brown said in a statement. “Conservation must remain a way of life.”

Brown’s executive order lifts the drought emergency in all California counties except Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Tuolumne, where emergency drinking water programs will remain in place to help communities that ran short of groundwater supplies.

The state is maintaining a ban on wasteful practices, such as hosing off sidewalks, and will continue to require urban water districts to regularly report local use.

In a related action, state agencies issued a plan to establish longterm conservation measures across California.

For now, many local water conservation rules remain in effect.

What are some of the legacies of the drought? There are quite a few that will have to be considered long after this emergency passes:

Delta tunnel Brown is still pushing his plan to build two giant tunnels to send Northern California water southward. The 40 footwide tunnels have been touted to ensure more reliable water deliveries to city and farm water agencies in Central and Southern California.

Opponents include some Northern California water districts and farmers, and environmental groups, which fear losing more water and habitat for salmon, steelhead, sturgeon and dozens of other native fish and other wildlife already suffering under the delta's more than halfcenturyold waterworks of pumps, pipes and canals.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/lamedroughtlegacy20170407story.html 2/3 4/10/2017 California's drought is finally over, but its legacy will live on LA Times Tree dieoff The parched years left a trail of death across the Sierra pine belt. A federal study released last year put the dead tree number at 102 million in what officials described as an unparalleled ecological disaster that heightens the danger of massive wildfires and damaging erosion. Scientists say five years of drought are to blame for much of the destruction. The lack of rain has put California’s trees under considerable stress, making them more susceptible to the organisms, such as beetles, that can kill them.

Unusually high temperatures have added to the trees’ demand for water, exacerbating an already grim situation. The majority of the dead trees are in the southern and central Sierra Nevada region, officials said, though they warned that high mortality levels are also creeping into forests in Northern California, notably Siskiyou, Modoc, Plumas and Lassen counties.

Rain damage For all the drought costs, the record rains caused problems of their own.

Officials estimate it will cost more than $860 million to repair the state’s roads, bridges and highways damaged from this winter’s storms.

The two spillways of the Oroville Dam were severely damaged in February. Permanent fixes to the facility’s flood control spillways and hydroelectric plant are estimated to exceed $200 million.

Have I seen this movie before? In some ways. California’s climate has always included cycles of drought and deluge.

Want proof? Here are some very old editorial cartoons The Times published during earlier droughts:

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Yes, California's drought is all but over, and the dramatically revived Cachuma Lake proves it

Native flowers aren't the only plants in 'superbloom' this spring — nasty weeds have also flourished

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/lamedroughtlegacy20170407story.html 3/3 4/10/2017 Daily Press, Desert Dispatch journalists honored for their work

Daily Press, Desert Dispatch journalists honored for their work

Friday Posted Apr 7, 2017 at 11:13 AM Updated Apr 8, 2017 at 11:14 AM

By Staff Reports

The Daily Press and Desert Dispatch received notification Friday that both newspapers have first- or second-place winners in the 2016 California Newspaper Publishers Association’s Better Newspapers contest. The precise placement of the winners won’t be revealed until the CNPA Press Summit and Awards Luncheon on May 20 at Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel.

The entire Daily Press staff — reporters, photographers and editors — won either first or second for breaking news coverage of the Bluecut Fire last August.

“This was a total team effort to provide blanket coverage online and in print for our readers of the biggest wildfire the High Desert has seen in years, perhaps ever,” Editor Steve Hunt said. “Every staff member had a hand in this coverage for more than a week. They told amazing stories, captured incredible images and posted spectacular videos throughout the week, many voluntarily working overtime to do so.”

Daily Press chief photographer James Quigg won either first or second for his photo essay titled “A Slice of Hope.”

“Jim captured some truly remarkable moments in photographing homeless people and their shoes throughout the High Desert,” Hunt said. “As Jim so correctly and poignantly noted, often shoes are the most valuable possessions the homeless have.”

For the Desert Dispatch, reporter Jose Quintero won either first or second for his profile feature story of Barstow mom Cathy Williams, whose 9-year-old son Caleb Lucas died of a heart condition last March. http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170407/dailypressdesertdispatchjournalistshonoredfortheirwork 1/2 4/10/2017 Daily Press, Desert Dispatch journalists honored for their work

“Jose did a wonderful job on this story, which is never easy when you’re dealing with a family tragedy,” Hunt said. “I thought he showed great sensitivity to Ms. Williams in telling what really was a heart-breaking story.

“I’m extremely proud of the work of the entire staff. As I’ve said many times in the past three years, I feel incredibly blessed to work with this talented and dedicated group of journalists.”

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170407/dailypressdesertdispatchjournalistshonoredfortheirwork 2/2 4/10/2017 Los Angeles County D.A.'s office sees a big drop in the number of public corruption prosecutions LA Times

Los Angeles County D.A.'s office sees a big drop in the number of public corruption prosecutions

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey said in a statement that the drop in complaints of corruption is one possible reason for the decline in prosecutions. (Los Angeles Times)

By Ben Poston and Kim Christensen

APRIL 8, 2017, 12:30 PM

he Los Angeles County district attorney’s public corruption unit has prosecuted hundreds of cases T and notched some big convictions, including seven officials who looted city coffers in Bell. In recent years, however, felony case filings have been on the decline, falling from a high of 39 in 2010 to 11 last year, records show.

Complaints of corruption, the main factor in triggering investigations, are also down, by 28% over the last five years. But figures show that felony prosecutions have declined even more: They’ve dropped by 69% during the same period.

It’s unclear whether the decreases are random fluctuations or signs of a larger change in the way the district attorney handles corruption cases or in the level of misconduct in local government.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/lamepublicintegritydivision20170408story.html 1/5 4/10/2017 Los Angeles County D.A.'s office sees a big drop in the number of public corruption prosecutions LA Times Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey declined requests for an interview. In a statement, she pointed to the drop in complaints as one possible reason for the smaller number of prosecutions. She also said that her office’s work has helped deter corruption.

“This office’s unprecedented and courageous efforts have signaled to those who receive taxpayer money — whether they be elected or appointed officials, government workers, vendors and others — that they will be held accountable if they betray the public’s trust,” Lacey said. “We believe our aggressive stance has resulted in greater compliance and fewer public complaints of corruption.”

Lacey said her office “is one of the few in California and the nation” with staff assigned full time to investigate and prosecute public corruption.

Former Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley won national attention for his prosecutions in several southeast L.A. County cities including Bell, which he famously described as “corruption on steroids.” In that case, officials in the workingclass Latino city paid themselves outsize salaries and collected fat pensions while imposing hefty taxes and fees on residents.

Cooley defended Lacey, his longtime deputy who succeeded him in late 2012, saying he has seen no decline in resources dedicated to the unit devoted to prosecuting public corruption, which has 23 prosecutors and investigators. Records from the district attorney’s office show that staffing levels have held steady over the last decade.

Cooley said that turnover in the team’s leadership might have had an effect because institutional knowledge is vital to the unit. Four head deputies have led the team since Cooley left office, staffing records show.

“The changeouts in head deputies over the last four years has created a certain amount of instability,” he said. “That’s probably the factor if I were a betting person.”

In another statement, Lacey said the team’s leadership changes were a result of regular personnel shifts, including promotions, retirements and transfers, and she expressed confidence in those who have led the unit.

“Setbacks in new areas of prosecution are inevitable. Seeking justice requires perseverance,” she said.

When Cooley created the Public Integrity Division in 2001, complaints of corruption poured in, he said.

“What we encountered was a targetrich environment,” Cooley recalled. “It was so pentup. There were so many very legitimate cases. They were all over the place.”

The unit’s track record under Lacey and Cooley has at times raised questions about how aggressively — and how effectively — it pursues cases involving the misuse of public funds, conflicts of interest and residency laws, and violations of election law and the Brown Act, the state’s openmeeting law.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/lamepublicintegritydivision20170408story.html 2/5 4/10/2017 Los Angeles County D.A.'s office sees a big drop in the number of public corruption prosecutions LA Times Cooley was widely lauded for his handling of the 2010 Bell scandal, which followed a series of disclosures in The Times, but his tenure also was marked by criticism of his Public Integrity Division’s selection and prosecution of cases.

Although Cooley prosecuted scores of public officials, he was criticized early on for zeroing in on small targets, such as officeholders in little towns, while not aggressively pursuing major figures in Los Angeles city politics.

Much of that criticism was put to rest in 2008, with the conviction of city commissioner Leland Wong on felony bribery, conflictofinterest and embezzlement charges. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

The unit does not initiate investigations — it acts on complaints from the public and sometimes pursues allegations reported by news outlets. Last year, 261 complaints were received, down from from 360 in 2012, records show.

District attorney records show the unit investigated a range of public corruption allegations it deemed did not warrant criminal charges. They included accusations that public employees engaged in political activity during work hours, falsified residency records, misused city credit cards and, in the case of one administrator, instructed a secretary to take an online trafficschool exam for him.

Many of those investigated and not charged were littleknown public workers, but prosecutors also declined to press charges against some highprofile political players. They include county Supervisor Mark RidleyThomas, who spent more than $10,000 in taxpayer money to remodel his converted garage into a home office. In 2014, prosecutors determined the spending was justified.

In February 2016, prosecutors dismissed what was left of the unit’s case against three Irwindale officials who had been accused of lavish spending of taxpayers’ money on meals and Broadway shows on trips to New York more than 10 years ago.

Court records show that a former Irwindale councilman alerted prosecutors in 2005 to the alleged misuse of city credit cards on the trips, which were intended to bolster the city’s bond ratings. The office closed an inquiry a year later but filed charges against four council members in 2010 — but only after the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reported details of the spending. A fifth defendant was indicted in 2011.

The unit’s handling of the case was marred by a series of missteps. An appellate court dismissed an early round of charges after concluding that prosecutors failed to present grand jurors with evidence favorable to the defendants. Then in 2015, a judge ruled that the district attorney’s office blew a deadline to file some charges.

Ultimately, two of the five defendants pleaded guilty to lesser charges and were sentenced to probation. The other three walked free in February 2016 when prosecutors asked a judge to dismiss the case.

The public integrity unit suffered another selfinflicted wound in August, when prosecution blunders in a briberyandconspiracy case involving managers of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum forced the office to accept nocontest pleas to lesser charges. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/lamepublicintegritydivision20170408story.html 3/5 4/10/2017 Los Angeles County D.A.'s office sees a big drop in the number of public corruption prosecutions LA Times The lead prosecutor, Dana Aratani, was removed from the case in 2015 after he acknowledged inappropriately viewing emails between one of the defendants and his lawyer, a violation of attorneyclient privilege. Aratani’s replacement, Terrie Tengelsen, later said she had contact with him about the case, despite a promise not to do so.

The mishandling of evidence in the Coliseum case prompted rebuke by Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy, who said the division seemed incapable of handling complex prosecutions.

"You guys are just tripping over your feet and falling on your faces," Kennedy told two prosecutors at a hearing in the case.

Some complex investigations have spanned years, overlapping the tenures of Cooley and Lacey.

In 2009, after The Times detailed the grip that exmayor David Perez’s family businesses had on lucrative City of Industry contracts for trash hauling, street sweeping and other services, the Public Integrity Division launched an investigation. Two years later, prosecutors closed the case, saying they’d found no evidence of wrongdoing.

In May 2015, as part of a citycommissioned review, KPMG auditors examining the same financial relationships found that Perez’s companies had reaped $326 million from city contracts over two decades.

A Perez company had charged six times the going rate for street cleaning and $28 million for vehicle and equipment rentals over 11 years — enough to buy the same machinery several times over, the audit found.

The KPMG findings, subsequently echoed by a state audit, triggered a new investigation by the Public Integrity Division.

Nearly two years later, the case remains “under review,” according to a spokesman for the office.

Times staff writer Marisa Gerber contributed to this report. [email protected] [email protected]

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http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/lamepublicintegritydivision20170408story.html 4/5 4/10/2017 Sheriff's Department misconductclaim payouts have soared, topping $50 million last year LA Times

Sheriff's Department misconduct-claim payouts have soared, topping $50 million last year

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies shot and killed Alfredo Montalvo in 2009 after a brief car chase in Lynwood. The county paid Montalvo's family $8.85 million to settle a lawsuit over the killing. (Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department)

By Richard Winton

APRIL 9, 2017, 5:00 AM

n one case, Los Angeles County paid more than $6 million to a woman who had been raped by a I sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop. In another, it took more than $7 million to resolve multiple lawsuits after deputies in West Hollywood mistakenly shot two hostages, killing one and seriously wounding the other.

Those payouts from 2016 helped drive a dramatic increase in the cost of resolving legal claims against the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department during the last five years, according to records reviewed by The Times.

The county’s annual payouts have jumped from $5.6 million to nearly $51 million over that time.

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/lamesherifflawsuitsmisconduct20170409story.html 1/5 4/10/2017 Sheriff's Department misconductclaim payouts have soared, topping $50 million last year LA Times The judgments and settlements often involved allegations of serious misconduct against law enforcement officers, including sexual assault, excessive force, shooting unarmed suspects and wrongful imprisonment.

Many of the payouts stemmed from incidents that stretched back several years and were settled after working their way though the legal system — so they don’t necessarily reflect current deputy conduct.

But attorneys, government officials and law enforcement experts say the increase nevertheless reflects growing distrust of law enforcement and the intense public scrutiny of how officers use deadly force. “ The numbers are pretty shocking. — Lael Rubin, a member of the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission, on the $50.9 million in legal payouts last year

Jurors are now less likely to give law enforcement the benefit of the doubt and more likely to award larger sums to plaintiffs, driving up the cost of judgments and emboldening attorneys to seek larger settlements during negotiations, experts said.

“The social climate of today has had an important impact on trials and outcomes,” said Steven H. Estabrook, litigation cost manager for the Los Angeles County counsel’s office. “Higher awards and higher costs are getting more common.”

The 42 cities that contract with the Sheriff’s Department have had to pay millions of dollars more to help cover settlements. The result is that cities are finding it harder to obtain insurance to cover law enforcement litigation, and some local officials say the county should pick up more of the costs.

“The numbers are pretty shocking,” said Lael Rubin, a former L.A. County deputy district attorney and a member of the county’s Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission.

Figures show that the number of lawsuits against the Sheriff’s Department has declined since the 2014 resignation of Sheriff Lee Baca and the election of Sheriff Jim McDonnell later that year. Baca was recently convicted of obstructing a federal investigation into corruption and brutality in county jails.

There were 132 cases filed against the Sheriff’s Department in the fiscal year that ended in June 2016, including 59 excessiveforce complaints and 18 involving shootings. That’s a drop of about 25% compared with the 2012 13 fiscal year, county data show.

Rubin said it would take time to see whether ongoing reforms within the department will have a significant impact on legal costs down the road.

McDonnell said in an interview that he’s concerned about the steep rise in litigation costs. “This is money that could be spent to help the community,” the sheriff said.

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/lamesherifflawsuitsmisconduct20170409story.html 2/5 4/10/2017 Sheriff's Department misconductclaim payouts have soared, topping $50 million last year LA Times He attributed the increase in part to increased public attention on police use of force after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, a black teenager, by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., in August 2014.

Still, McDonnell said, some of the incidents involve serious misconduct, and he’s made it clear to deputies that such behavior will not be tolerated.

“Everything we have done from Day One is designed to provide deputies with expectations of their behavior,” McDonnell said.

But L.A. County Inspector General Max Huntsman, who monitors the department, questioned whether the agency has properly staffed its internal affairs unit, which investigates deputy misconduct.

Two years ago, Huntsman said, the unit had 42 sergeants. Now, he said, it has 27.

“The result is a discipline system that neither deputies nor the public have confidence in, and for good reason,” Huntsman said. “It needs to be fixed.”

The costs of judgments and settlements resulting from alleged deputy misconduct were tallied in a report by the county counsel’s office that covered the last five fiscal years.

During the period from 2012 to 2016, 75% of the judgments and settlements for Sheriff’s Departmentrelated cases involved cases of excessive force, according to the county’s report.

One night in April 2014, deputies responded to a report of an assault at a West Hollywood apartment complex. Inside, Alexander McDonald had pulled a knife and slashed a friend, Liam Mulligan, in the neck.

Bleeding, Mulligan ran out of the building, followed by another friend, 30yearold aspiring TV producer John Winkler. Deputies mistakenly believed Winkler was the assailant and opened fire.

Winkler died of gunshot wounds. Mulligan was shot in the leg. Theninterim Sheriff John Scott later called the case a deputy’s “greatest nightmare.”

The county paid Winkler’s mother $5 million and $2.5 million to Mulligan. Those payments were made last year. L.A. prosecutors investigated the shooting and determined that there was no basis for criminal charges against the officers. Officials did recommend that the deputies involved receive additional training.

Seth Stoughton, a University of South Carolina law professor and former Florida police officer, said the national debate over policing in the last several years is affecting litigation costs. “ It hasn’t been a very good time for police departments across the country. http://www.latimes.com/local/california/lamesherifflawsuitsmisconduct20170409story.html— attorney David Ring, who represented a woman who sued after being raped by an L.A. sheriff's deputy 3/5 4/10/2017 Sheriff's Department misconductclaim payouts have soared, topping $50 million last year LA Times — attorney David Ring, who represented a woman who sued after being raped by an L.A. sheriff's deputy

Increased use of video by officers and bystanders means more evidence of misconduct winds up in civil court, he said. And jurors are more likely to doubt an officer’s version of events when it is not supported by video, he said.

“Many more members of the public are more skeptical of the police,” he said.

Attorneys who sue law enforcement agencies agreed that the national interest in police misconduct over the last few years has had a significant impact on legal judgments and settlements. But they said the outcomes still boil down to the actions of officers and how juries view that behavior.

“It hasn’t been a very good time for police departments across the country,” said attorney David Ring.

Ring represented a woman who sued after she was raped by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy during a 2010 traffic stop in Palmdale.

The deputy, Jose Rigoberto Sanchez, pleaded no contest to rape under color of authority and soliciting a bribe. He is serving a nineyear prison sentence. At Sanchez’s sentencing, the victim told him, “You essentially murdered a part of me, and I’ll never get it back.”

Her lawsuit was settled for $6.15 million — an amount paid by the county, the department’s contract cities and their insurance carrier.

Ring said government agencies have taken bad cases to trial rather than settling, resulting in costly legal defeats.

His firm handled a lawsuit that resulted in the largest payout against the Sheriff’s Department last fiscal year — to the family of Alfredo Montalvo, an unarmed 29yearold who was killed when deputies fired 61 shots after a brief 2009 pursuit in Lynwood.

Deputies said they opened fire as Montalvo reversed toward them after crashing his car. But the plaintiffs argued that his car was wedged between two other vehicles and that he reversed so that he could comply with deputies’ orders to open his door.

In that case, county lawyers thought they had a strong case. The Sheriff’s Department had determined that the shooting was within policy. But jurors awarded nearly $8.8 million to Montalvo’s family. The county later reached a settlement for $8.85 million — which included attorney fees — to avoid spending more money on an appeal.

The financial burden is shared by cities that contract with the Sheriff’s Department for patrol services. In the last fiscal year, those cities contributed $12.7 million toward the $50.9 million paid out in total. Their insurance carriers forked over an additional $19.4 million.

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/lamesherifflawsuitsmisconduct20170409story.html 4/5 4/10/2017 Sheriff's Department misconductclaim payouts have soared, topping $50 million last year LA Times Marcel Rodarte, executive director of the California Contract Cities Assn., said he has seen signs that the sheriff is cracking down on deputy misconduct and hopes McDonnell’s actions will help reduce legal payouts.

Still, he said, he is concerned that the surcharge that cities pay on their contracts with the Sheriff’s Department to cover litigation costs has climbed steadily from 4% to 10%.

At the same time, he said, cities have had to raise the deductible they pay in individual lawsuits from $1 million to $3 million in order to keep insurance costs down.

Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford said that the costs “are out of this world” and that the county should pay more because the Sheriff’s Department is a county agency.

“The county does the training, supervises these individuals and hires them,” he said, “so they should be responsible.”

To read the article in Spanish, click here

Times staff writer Kate Mather contributed to this report. [email protected]

Twitter: @lacrimes

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http://www.latimes.com/local/california/lamesherifflawsuitsmisconduct20170409story.html 5/5 4/10/2017 This is how much it’s going to cost California to repair rain damaged roads

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (http://www.dailybulletin.com)

This is how much it’s going to cost California to repair rain damaged roads

Sunday, April 9, 2017

By Ben Christopher

CALmatters

This winter’s rainy season may have filled the state’s reservoirs, but for the state department tasked with keeping California’s highway system unobstructed and pothole free, it’s been a recordbreaking financial drain.

Since the beginning of the year, California’s state highway system has been buffeted with more than 400 sinkholes, downed trees, and mudslides. Caltrans puts the price tag for all this wet weather damage at roughly $866 million. That means 2017 — just three months in — is already the most expensive year for California’s state road system in at least two decades.

“It’s a disaster out there,” said Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable. “If we don’t have the ability to move goods and trade — we’re the largest trade state — then obviously that directly impacts our overall economy.”

Yolo County hasn’t been spared. Initial damage estimates are for more than $6 million. And that amount is expected to continue rising as more water recedes, more damage is uncovered and better engineering estimates for permanent fixes are developed over the next several months.

It was only last week that Hwy. 16 through the Cache Creek Canyon was reopened to Hwy. 20, for example, due to damage created by numerous landslides.

With additional snow melt still to come and the possibility of more weather damage in the months ahead, Caltrans is likely to see well over $1 billion in emergency road repairs and restorations before the year is out. That figure does not include the costs borne by city and county transportation and public works departments, which manage roughly 80 percent of the state’s roadways.

For state Democrats, this budget buster of a rainy season came at a politically opportune moment. Earlier this month, Gov. Jerry Brown, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León (DLos Angeles), and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (DParamount) unveiled a plan to raise $52 billion for road repairs in the coming decade with a spending package that includes a 12cent gas tax and higher vehicle fees.

The state Legislature narrowly approved the plan to increase gas taxes and vehicle fees late last week, a move expected to raise tens of billions of dollars over the next decade to repair the state’s worn and aging transportation infrastructure. And, of course, to repair the roads made worse by our wet winter.

“The rain has exacerbated — but it’s also really illustrated — the vulnerability of these poor streets and roads throughout the state,” said Amy Worth, a commissioner for the Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission and a council member for the City of Orinda. “The silver lining of the storm will hopefully provide the energy to push this (vote) over the line.” http://www.dailybulletin.com/generalnews/20170409/thisishowmuchitsgoingtocostcaliforniatorepairraindamagedroads&template=printart 1/2 4/10/2017 This is how much it’s going to cost California to repair rain damaged roads The cost of providing emergency fixes to the state highway system has been on an upward trend for the last few years. In contrast to this year’s storminduced damages, the $660 million bill from 2016 was largely the result of fire and the clearing of trees killed by the drought. But this year’s storm costs could be worse than they otherwise would be thanks to years of neglect. Pockmarked, lowquality pavement degrades at an escalating rate and small potholes beget larger potholes.

“The storms put the consequences of years of deferred maintenance and underinvestment on stark display,” said Caltrans spokesperson, Vanessa Wiseman, in an email.

According to a Senate analysis, Caltrans would need an additional $6 billion each year to properly maintain and operate the state highway system. At the local level, cities and counties would need another $7.2 billion to bring their streets and roads back up to working order. That adds up to $132 billion over the next 10 years.

Though few lawmakers disagree that the state’s transportation infrastructure has been neglected, opinions differ over where to place the blame.

Whatever the cause of the state’s increasingly shoddy network of roads, the result has been a higher burden on local and county governments, which have had to pay for maintenance and repairs out of their own budgets.

“The share of the burden borne on the shoulders of local funding has been growing for a generation,” said John Goodwin, a spokesperson for the Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

According to Caltrans, the three counties that saw the most severe damage to the stateowned highway systems were all in the Bay Area — Marin, Santa Clara, and San Mateo. Though local and county roads were similarly affected, the region has passed local sales tax initiatives to keep up with some of the repair. That’s fortunate, says Goodwin, since repairing a moderately damaged pavement is five to 10 times cheaper than replacing it.

Ben Christopher is a contributing writer to CALmatters.org, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics. Staff writer Christopher Yee contributed to this story.

URL: http://www.dailybulletin.com/generalnews/20170409/thisishowmuchitsgoingtocostcaliforniatorepairraindamagedroads

http://www.dailybulletin.com/generalnews/20170409/thisishowmuchitsgoingtocostcaliforniatorepairraindamagedroads&template=printart 2/2 4/10/2017 Fresno County to pay $8 million to state for costs tied to workers’ pension | The Fresno Bee

LOCAL APRIL 04, 2017 7:28 PM Fresno County to pay $8 million to state for costs tied to workers’ pension BY MARC BENJAMIN [email protected] Fresno County supervisors approved an $8.4 million payment to the state Controller’s Ofﬁce Tuesday for two years of costs the county owes for reﬁnancing its pension obligation bonds.

Supervisors previously approved paying the federal government $6.2 million for costs for 2015 and 2016. The $8.4 million payment was approved without discussion. Additional amounts, estimated to be $23.3 million, are for the 2017, 2018 and 2019 budget years, documents show.

The issue dates to 2002, when Fresno County supervisors reﬁnanced a pension bond for a lower interest rate to cut its short-term payments, but the deal extended the county’s obligation 10 years, adding to its ultimate cost.

The county didn’t expect that the state and federal governments, which were also on the hook for their share of the bill, about half the costs, might someday balk. The county’s total bill, the federal government says, is about $37.7 million.

Fresno County officials are challenging that, contending that federal officials are relying on a rule put in place after the county’s refinancing was done. By paying partially now, the county preserved its right to appeal and try to get the amount lowered. The case could ultimately land in federal court and the county is expected to hire outside counsel to fight on its behalf.

$37.7 million The amount the county may have to pay for disallowed costs for pension bond reﬁnancing

The pension expenses are for county workers whose costs are covered partly by state and federal dollars – such as social service department workers who handle public assistance programs.

The Fresno County Employees Retirement Association has about 17,600 members. Association officials say retirees’ benefits are unaffected by the dispute surrounding the county’s refinanced bonds.

Marc Benjamin: 559-441-6166, @beebenjamin

http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article142711734.html 1/3