Federal Cime study to include San Bernardino County (PE 112206) Its one of 18 area's in the U.S. with "unexpected surge in violence!

Federal Crime Study to Include San Bernardino County (Press-Enterprise) LAW: It's one of 18 area's in the U.S. in an "Unexplained" Surge in Violence! Officials Say.

BS Ranch Perspective:

Could it be that all the gang violence that has occurred through this summer that Mayor Morris is trying to rid the city of San Bernardino of maybe the reason for San Bernardino Getting involved in this study. It is weird that San Bernardino is the 18th most violent City this year, yet they are placed in this Study. I am wondering why? The study is to see where the Federal Government can help the Local Law Enforcement Agencies Better Serve their Communities, to make crime lower and just a better over all job for the citizens that they serve.

I do Think that The Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales Summed it all up right, and the study could be ended right there with the last statement that he made which is the Police Agencies Need more Police Officers to Serve the communities, that would lower the Crime. Take Rialto City for example, they are working literally with more then 20 Officers down, more then 20 Positions unfilled, because of the Battle that was taken by the City Council and City Administration, against the Police Officers Assoc. and the People that they Serve. Ultimately they lost the Battle to Contract with the Sheriff Department for Law Enforcement. So in that battle the Council didn't fund Vital Police Support Units Such As Detectives, Dare, Traffic, Street Investigation Team (S.I.T.), or any of the other Teams that were Volunteered for such as SWAT etc etc...

Now they have another problem, they continue to duck the contract problem that they need to confront that is the 3%@50 Retirement plan. Out of the whole Southern California Inland Empire, Rialto, Upland, and San Bernardino Police Are the only three that don't have the Retirement system that more then 90% of all the Police Agencies of the United States Have. See this Retirement (3%@50) is the reason that the California Governor Arnold Went after the Retirement system of PERS (Public Employee Retirement System of California) Because they have that Retirement system it costs a lot of money, he wanted to close PERS to all agencies Including his own (The California Agencies of Corrections, Highway Patrol, Teachers, State Police, Transportation, Etc etc), but in order to do that he would also have to close the PERS off to the rest of the state that uses PERS which is about 99% Plus all the teachers and most maintenance divisions. that is a lot of agencies and a lot of cities. PERS is a part of California that is valued at 5 to 6 Billion Dollars, due to the interest they earn on the money that they invest, on behalf of the employees. even with the California Governors harsh words about the Public Employee's Retirement System, it works great for the Members and that is why, it has to stay in effect. In fact the last time that California was in trouble money wise, Governor Wilson then borrowed against the money that was in there, which is not supposed to be legal to do, and what he did was miraculous Because the money was paid back with interest and it worked out great, but the people that were members of PERS were angry at the time that he did it.

We still don't want any Governor to touch the PERS money it is not their money it is money that is paid into that account by employee's and employer's for the benefit of Retirement. Or should it happen Early Retirement due to an injury on duty or while at work such as my injury.

Either way, the Alberto Gonzales is right San Bernardino Counties Cities, and the County too needs more Deputies, and Police Officers to lower the crime in the area. We need to keep up our benefits so that we are not a training ground for the Officers to take off and go to LA Sheriff's Department or LA PD to develop what we trained them here to do!! They are much better to stay and finish their career here in the San Benrardino's Inland Empire, where they started their career. With good equal Benefits for all that is what I say!!

BS Ranch!!

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Federal crime study to include San Bernardino County

LAW: It's one of 18 areas in the U.S. with an "unexplained" surge in violence, officials say.

10:00 PM PST on Wednesday, November 22, 2006

By PAUL LAROCCO
The Press-Enterprise

San Bernardino County is one of 18 regions across the nation chosen for a federal study targeting "unexplained" surges in violent crime.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday that the nation's largest geographic county will join metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, Houston and Miami in the Initiative for Safer Cities.

In unveiling the program at the International Association of Chiefs of Police last month, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said visiting federal agents would do three things to combat the increase in crime in participating regions -- "investigate, identify and implement."

After evaluating the reasons for the upswing in violence by conducting surveys at local police departments, agents will use the findings to review policy and to see if there are any federal programs that can help.

"We'll want to know what's behind the spread of gangs, the increase in gang membership," Gonzales said at the conference. "We'll look hard at how meth-distribution networks are growing. We'll consider whether a culture of violence is developing among our young people."

Justice Department officials said the 18 regions were chosen because they saw unexplained increases in violent crime in 2005, a year when the national average increased for the first time in several years.

And the rise continues locally. The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department saw a 5.9 percent increase in violent crime in the first half of 2006, compared with the same period last year. In Redlands -- a historically low-crime community -- the monthly average for violent offenses is up 35 percent so far this year from 2005.

"Clearly, the communities of San Bernardino County have violent-crime concerns," said Redlands Police Chief Jim Bueermann. "And I have a lot of concern over where the numbers are going."

Federal officials did not say Wednesday when they would begin the visits to local police agencies. But San Bernardino police officials have already been contacted, said Jim Morris, chief of staff for Mayor Pat Morris.

Jim Morris said he hopes to show visiting agents the city's Operation Phoenix crime-fighting plan, which has blended tough law enforcement tactics and improved community services to drop violent crime in one San Bernardino neighborhood this year.

"We're going to show them how successful it's been," said Morris of the $500,000 program. "And if they like it, we'll say, 'Great. Now fund it.' "

County Supervisor Josie Gonzales, who has supported providing extra sheriff's deputies from the county to aid Operation Phoenix, also welcomes the federal visitors.

She said she hopes the program will help the county not only find more officers to patrol the streets, but address underlying early causes of crime: joblessness, and housing and transportation issues.

"You can't just say, 'We have crime. We need more police officers on the street,' " Gonzales said. "That's too easy. That's like saying one plus one makes two."

Reach Paul LaRocco at 909-806-3064 or plarocco@PE.com

Iraq--An Open Letter to President Bush (Townhall.com 112706)

BS Ranch Perspective:

According to this letter, President Bush and the leadership of the war have fallen upon a stagnant portion of the war. The Objective of what we are still doing over there is not clearly defined according to the author of the letter! The Objective that we are trying to accomplish is also not clear and changes every day!

I don't know who the author's Informant is, but if it is someone that is high up in the Military, there might be a point to what he is saying, since we have not pushed forward with anything to get rid of the Insurgents, or there is no clear news of investigations that are going after the Insurgents. Sure there are many and they are from the surrounding countries and some are from Iraq themselves, how would they have so many hide outs if there wasn't people from Iraq that wasn't involved in the Insurgents Attack on the US. Military.

They had an Operation that was done about nine months to a year ago that was called operation Black Hawk or something to that effect where they went into a neighborhood and cleaned a few houses to the ground that were reported as Insurgents Nothing was later reported on the outcome, but it was a very hard hit structure in a highly populated area of Bag dad.

The language problems are very hard and it can complicate things very much for the US Military on the gates and Road Blocks when they call a curfew. I pray every day for our US Solders, however I also pray that the newly elected Democrats done cut the job so short in Iraq that we have such civil out burst there that there are so much life lost that it would be awful. we are the thread that is holding that community together right now. They have to know that.

BS Ranch

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Iraq -- An open letter to President Bush
By Jeff Emanuel
Monday, November 27, 2006

Dear President Bush,

Now that you have had nearly a month to recover from the midtermelection, I would like to humbly suggest that you once again focus yourattention on the situation in Iraq, and its resolution.

There are two overarching concerns which I believe must be addressed immediately.

The first is the lack of a clearly-defined objective. What it isthat we hope to accomplish in Iraq, and in the greater Middle East,must be determined. Then, both you and the Republican Party – which youlead, and which is still in control of Congress until the end of thisyear – must commit fully to that objective. Without a clearly definedgoal, and without progress markers along the way, the undertaking inIraq is less action with a purpose than a lethally directionlessenterprise.

The second concern is the radically uneven playing field, withregard to the tactics, the techniques, and the firepower which eachside is willing to employ.

Regardless of the reasoning behind it, we have been forcing ourtroops to fight with one hand (if not both) tied behind their backs – asituation which affords our enemies tremendous advantage.

From allowing "insurgents" to flee into – or to hide weapons cacheswithin – mosques, to allowing our courts to rule that the due processgranted to American citizens be afforded terrorists and enemycombatants, to refusing to forcefully interrogate captive terrorists (although when US soldiers were captured,they were not only brutally tortured, but beheaded and mutilated beyondrecognition), combat in Iraq has become dangerously asymmetrical.

Make no mistake about it, Mr. President – these are extreme circumstances. We are fighting a war which extends far beyond the bounds of what could be defined as "usual combat," and we must get a firm grip on this situation before it is too late.

What began as a war toincrease the security of the United States, to depose a murderoustyrant, and to bring democracy to a region long known fordictatorships, quickly saw the successful removal of Saddam, as well asthe strengthening of America's homeland security by causing terroriststo fight us there, rather than on American soil.

What did not follow, though, was the quick and easy pacification ofa region which has long known brute strength as its only currency, andviolence as its only bargaining tool.

If we are to defeat this enemy on a foreign battlefield now, ratherthan facing it on our own shores at some point in the future, then ouronly option is to stop playing defense, and take the fight to them.

Going into Iraq initially sent the message that America and herallies would not sit idly by while rogue dictators thumbed their nosesat us, or while terrorists plotted to murder us all. It sent a messagethat the West was strong – and it made those who would do us harm takenote.

Mumar Qaddafi got the message; within weeks of our invasion of Iraq,he was begging for the opportunity to give up Libya's weapons of massdestruction.

Unfortunately, what has been happening since then has also made our enemies take note – but in an entirely different way.

Our enemies have long since noted America's unease at the sight ofits own blood being shed, and of soldiers in flag-draped coffins; thus,they have taken care to provide copious amounts of both. They havenoted our refusal to pursue terrorists into mosques, or to return firewhen civilians may be in danger (though they freely slaughter their owninnocent without compunction), and they have used each of these totheir advantage. Finally, our enemies have long since learned how touse America's media against her – and they have done so spectacularly.

What must be done to reverse this tsunami of insurgent and terroristadvantage? What must we accomplish to call Iraq a success and to beable to leave?

The latter is something which must be decided immediately. Mr. President, we must define the mission, both in the short- and long-term.

Then, the next step must be taken: not only must our hands beunbound, but our gloves must come off. America has the greatestfighting force the world has ever known, and, though it has beensuccessful in a great deal of the mission, we are once again beingslowly bested on an asymmetrical battlefield.

We set a precedent when we sacrificed thousands taking and retakingthe same square inches of jungle in Vietnam, and then fled the country,allowing it to be taken over by those we had ostensibly been dying toprotect our ally against. We reinforced that precedent in 1983 when wefled Beirut, and further added to it ten years later, when we turnedtail and ran from Mogadishu – an act which Osama bin Laden himself hascredited with proving that America was a mere "paper tiger."

Virtually no accomplishment is impossible for America, provided thather people and her leaders do not waver, and do not give up on themission before success has been achieved.

Mr. President, those who rail against the war, against you, andagainst America herself must not be heeded right now. You must maintainyour focus, and not allow this mission to be compromised. Every daythat the fighting continues, more of America's finest – real people,with real lives, real families, and real futures – are dying. Every oneof them volunteered for this duty, and every one, to the lastindividual, is willing to give his or her life on a foreign battlefieldfor the cause of keeping America secure, and her people safe.

Abandoning this mission, or allowing it to be continued in thismanner, compromises and marginalizes every one of those battlefielddeaths, and further decreases the likelihood of accomplishing that goalfor which each life has been given.

President Bush, your party – our party – lost this election. It maywell have been a referendum on Iraq; certainly the two were notunrelated.

However, regardless of the election, of impending investigations, ofmedia outcry, and of the opposition's demands, here is what you MUSTdo, for the good of the nation: straighten your back, lift your headup, and reenter the arena, committed to, and ready for, the fight – andallow America's armed forces to do what they do best, which is to fightand win wars, and to do so decisively, leaving no question in the mindsof our enemies what the consequences are of taking on America, or ofthreatening her innocents.

Sir, I served, as did 25 million other men and women now living inthis nation. Since the discontinuation of the draft, every person whohas put on the uniform of this greatest nation the world has ever knownhas done so willingly, and with a full understanding of the risksinvolved – and, in volunteering for that service, has, in essence, saidto any who would attempt to harm our innocents: "Here I am. Take meinstead; for not only am I able to fight to protect the innocent amongus, bit I am willing to die to do so, as well."

Mr. President, you have askedour armed forces to fulfill that blood oath, and they have respondedspectacularly, like the true champions and heroes that they are. Now wemust make a request of you: fulfill the commitment you made when youdecided to cash that chit with their blood, sweat, and tears by goinginto Iraq in the first place. That responsibility encompasses these twotasks:

(1) Establish the objective, set the mission, and allow your armed forces to complete it.

(2) Never, EVER allow yourself to waver in your commitment to their total victory.

If you can fulfill these responsibilities, then we can succeed. Our troops are both committed and willing, Mr. President – the rest is up to you.

Democrats want America To Fail (110306) Late post says a lot!

BS Ranch Perspeictive:

In Many ways there is a great deal of truth to this Article. When they continue to say that the Iraq war is that of the Vietnam War, and that the Sodgers, our Soldgers are doing the work of a Leader that in some ways has been, in their eyes, compaired with Hitler. But that isn't fair, becuase the Vietnam War was that of Johnson's Administration, why if you look in the history books at the end he fired his Defence Cabinet leader because he wasn't doing what he wanted which was to send in more troopes to the Vietnam conflict, causing more losses when the pull out should have happend in 1972, Johnson thought that he could win it.

Iraq is a totaly different war, and we are there for totally different reason's Yes in many ways we have accomplished most of what we set out to do there, but the goverment has not been set in a peaceful mannor, and the goverments or the countries on the borders of have people comeing in to fight or send in a war of their own against our sodgers. It isn't so much the Iraq Citizen that we are continuing to fight. The Ensurgents are the ones that come in from other contries and want the Iraq goverment to fail!

The Democrats are using this for their own Political Retoric to get us out of there.

BS Ranch

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Democrats want America to fail

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Posted: November 3, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

The comments made by Sen. John Kerry this week, disparaging the intelligence and abilities of U.S. troops serving in Iraq, were revolting. But they hardly were surprising.

The latest remarks by Kerry follow those by his colleague, Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin in June 2005 when he compared American troops to "Nazis, Soviets in their gulags or some mad regime – Pol Pot or others – that had no concern for human beings."

There are two motivations for cut-and-run Democrats to make outrageous comments like these.

One is that they are so unprincipled in their quest for power that they will stoop to any level to undermine the war in Iraq so as to use it as a political issue to reclaim control of Congress. Compare that to the Republicans who Democrats have criticized for running ads warning of the dangers of Islamic terrorism.

The Democrats have campaigned against President Bush, comparing him to Hitler, and openly hoped for bad news from Iraq to boost their political standing. (Remember the morbid glee they expressed in their countdowns to the 1,000th and 2,000th American fatalities in Iraq?)

Republicans campaign against Islamic terrorists and get criticized by the media and Democrats alike. Oh – and they also get attacked for being "too patriotic." Shame on those flag-waving Republicans and their pro-troop rallies!

There is another reason, though, that Democrats have increasingly hoped for failure in Iraq: For some of the more liberal elements of the Democrat Party, a military victory in Iraq would run counter to the notion of pacifism that their core base embraces.

Democrats who want your vote for Congress next Tuesday are caught between a rock and a hard place.

They want you to look at them as tough-on-terrorist patriots who will ensure this country's safety. But many liberal Democrat activists despise the military, and so Democrat candidates can't appear to be too gung-ho about American military success stories.

This explains the dichotomy of Democrats who celebrate any declines in the enlistment rate as examples of a failed foreign policy by Bush and the Republicans – but who then also go and do all they can to kick military recruiters out of towns and away from colleges.

They insist that if people love this war so much they should go fight in it, but then they try to stop people from enlisting!

In 1972, John Kerry was campaigning and attacked the composition of an all-volunteer military when he wrote, "I am convinced a volunteer army would be an army of the poor and the black and the brown."

Interesting. So if we are following this correctly, the draft is bad, but so too is an all-volunteer military.

If we were to inject the truth serum sodium pentathol into Kerry's arm we'd see the truth that Democrats have worked so actively to hide from the American people.

Most of the Democrats in leadership positions frown upon the military. They look at it as an unseemly collection of the underprivileged who fight unjust wars as part of the imperialist drive by the military industrial complex.

These Democrats trust the corrupt United Nations more than they do the administrations of Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush.

That's something that Americans must come to understand between now and Tuesday's elections. No matter how much you may be mad at the Republicans for their shenanigans with the immigration issue or federal spending or even how they are prosecuting the war on terrorism, it is absolutely unacceptable to give Democrats control of Congress at a time like this.

Those of you who want to teach the Republicans a lesson do so at the risk of your own country – and deep down inside you know that to be true.

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A note from Melanie Morgan: I will have some big news to share with you Saturday, Nov. 4, including a major announcement related to foreign affairs. Please check back at WorldNetDaily and the website for Move America Forward beginning at 7 a.m. Pacific/10 a.m. Eastern.

Volunteers Start Watch Programs (Press Entperprise 112406) The Mayor says Residents must reclaim 20 blocks N/of City Hall

BS Ranch Perspective:

Operation Phoenix off and running to expand to other crime area's, which is great, or it would not work if they just worked in one area and not any others. San Bernardino Mayor Morris is the most progressive Mayor that San Bernardino has had in such a long time that they better keep a hand on this guy and see if they can keep him around for a while! He is so forward looking that he saw that they had such a Crime problem that he used what was made available to him, by sugestions of his administration and the people around him and that was where Operation Phoenix Came from. Now it is one that he doesn't want to see dewindle and die, so he is pushing it to work on the Down-Town area and move to the 20-Block Area North of City Hall! That is much Further South then where the Operation Phoenix started, and I would caution him that he might now want to spread Phoenix to thin, but he has a capable administration that is running it and it will take off and do wonders with it. so that is great!!

GREAT JOB San Bernardino and OPERATION PHOENIX!!

BS Ranch

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Volunteers start watch program

SAN BERNARDINO: The mayor says residents must reclaim the 20-block area just north of City Hall.

10:00 PM PST on Friday, November 24, 2006

By CHRIS RICHARD
The Press-Enterprise

From the day he launched Operation Phoenix in a crime-wracked SanBernardino neighborhood, Mayor Pat Morris stressed the importance ofresidents' help.

Stan Lim / The Press-Enterprise Neighborhood Watch program volunteer David Winchester repairs doors at the apartment complex where he lives in San Bernardino.

Without that, Morris said, nothing would turn around theneighborhood -- neither police work nor code enforcement, not a newneighborhood center or the help of governmental and private sponsors.

For the 20-block area just north of City Hall to be safe again, theresidents would have to reclaim the neighborhood themselves, Morrissaid.

Now, six months into Operation Phoenix, the first volunteers have stepped forward.

They gathered recently at the project headquarters, some 15 prospective organizers for the area's first Neighborhood Watch.

The group included a man who described himself as a recovering drugaddict, a woman whose son is in prison and a recent purse-snatchingvictim. Some expressed a fear that if they reported wrongdoing, thecriminals might retaliate.

But when Glenn Baude, director of the Phoenix pilot program, askedfor a show of support for speaking out, a half-dozen people slowlyraised their hands. By the end of the evening, people talked eagerlyabout bringing friends to a second meeting next month.

To Shirley Varner, a neighborhood resident who said she already iswaging a lonely struggle against drug dealers and prostitutes, it wasan encouraging moment.

"We really need something like this," she said. "Now, people aregoing to have to get out there and walk the streets. They're going tohave to get the people involved, because if you look at the places thatdo have a strong neighborhood watch, you don't see a lot of thugshanging out."

A chain smoker with a level gaze, Varner said she never hesitates to confront people when she sees them breaking the law.

Stan Lim / The Press-Enterprise Shirley Varner is a volunteer for theNeighborhood Watch program in the 20-block area just north of SanBernardino City Hall. "We really need something like this," she says.

But until now, Varner said, only one person helped -- her godson, David Winchester.

During an interview at Varner's and Winchester's Sepulveda Avenuefourplex, a teenager with a cell phone pedaled a bicycle in lazycircles on the street outside, accelerating after every passing car.The boy was dealing drugs, Winchester said.

He said he regularly warns such people away from his door. Butrecently, when he found a plastic bag of bullets, razor blades and whatlooked like cocaine in his apartment complex laundry room, severalneighbors told him they had known about it for months.

They did not seem to grasp that their young children might find thedrugs, too, and that failing to challenge dealers undermineseverybody's safety, Winchester said.

"If we get enough people at these meetings, maybe people will start realizing that this is something we need to do," he said.

For Jerry Martin, co-founder of the Central City Neighborhood Watch,the key to that recognition lies in building a sense of community. Atthe organizational meeting for the Operation Phoenix watch program,Martin started his presentation by asking people to turn to the personnext to them and to say, "Hi, neighbor!"

The new volunteers did, some looking bashful.

Later, Martin told how local hoodlums tried to undermine his programby ripping down meeting notices. But when law-abiding residentspersisted, the criminals retreated, Martin said.

Debbie Cayaso, who recently moved out of the Phoenix neighborhoodbut still works part-time at the program headquarters, said crime isnot always so easy to drive away.

As a little girl, she said, she dealt drugs for her addict father.Nobody told her it was wrong, and now she sees neighborhood childrendoing the same, Cayaso said.

As for reporting crime, "I have my God, and I know that he willwatch over me," she said. "But here on Earth, people get killed. A lotof people are afraid."

Morris, a retired San Bernardino County Superior Court judge, saidhe understands such skepticism. Nevertheless, he said he's encouraged.

"For the first time, these folks have been given the power to decidewhat happens in their neighborhood, and they're starting to respond,"he said.

Reach Chris Richard at 909-806-3076 or crichard@PE.com

Ventana a vision for Fontana's Future (SB Sun 112706) an Offramp at Duncan Canyon!

BS Ranch Perspective:

Fontana's Growth is getting contagious I am wanting and thinking about moving to Fontana, Walking distance from Movies, Restaurants, and Businesses for shopping and the like!! That all sounds wonderful! I hope that they keep the Police Department up to the potential to handle the growing Population of the city!! And the area's that they have Annexed. I like the idea that they will make another off ramp at Duncan Canyon, because for the motorist that breaks down or the truck who has the brakes that are just to hot to continue to go on because they need a better place to pull of the road then the makeshift pull outs that are created by the truck drivers that have exceeded the time on their Driver Logs.

I don't know if the growth is good or bad, because the growth brings one thing that the people in Moreno Valley are mad at Trucks for, that is Diesel Suit from their Exhaust causing Cancer in the lungs of innocent people. A fact which they say is proven, but it is a far reaching laboratory conclusion that is condemning the diesel engine to its doom. They must recondition the fuel that it was meant to run on that was Vegetable oil, and then try the suit to see what the contaminants are then, and only then, will I say that the engine is a bad one!

BS Ranch

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Ventana a vision for Fontana's future

Leonor Vivanco, Staff Writer

FONTANA - Imagine being able to bike to and from work in Fontana, or to walk to a restaurant for dinner.

That's what city leaders and Trumark Cos. envision for Ventana at Duncan Canyon.

Afterlistening to a presentation last week on the proposed housing project,the Planning Commission will consider approving the project on Dec. 19and take the first step in starting the city's corporate corridor.

"We're creating a place where people can enjoy sit-downdining. We're creating a place where there is potential to live andwork," said Peter Moses, development executive of the SouthernCalifornia division of Trumark Cos.

The undeveloped 103-acre, mixed-use, triangular site isbounded by Citrus Avenue, the 15 Freeway and Lytle Creek Road. The areais about

11/2 miles north of the 210 Freeway.

Mayor Mark Nuaimi views the site as reminiscent of the 405 Freeway and Jamboree Road in Irvine.

"It'sthat opportunity for us to have office, hotel and entertainment usesalong the freeway and be the employment center for the city," he said.

Ventana at Duncan Canyon would have 435 for-sale housing units, including single-family

houses and townhouses with living quarters above ground floor work space.

Plans also call for more than 500,000 square feet of retail and office space as well as an 80-room, four-story hotel.

Pedestrianpathways would snake through the site, and an aqueduct-style pedestrianbridge would cross over Duncan Canyon Road and connect to restaurantsand shops surrounding the piazza.

"The vision for this piazza is to make it a place wherethere could be an outdoor concept - there could be a farmers market,"Moses said.

In addition to the piazza, a bell tower and tiered fountain in the center of the piazza are other architectural features.

"We have the ability to create almost a village setting," Nuaimi said.

A winery restaurant would honor the history of the former Lytle Creek Winery.

Ifthe commission and council approve the project and grading starts in2007, it could be entirely completed by 2014. Roads and utilities willbe built first, followed by homes, freeway interchange and offices,Moses said.

Commercial developers want to see an interchange built before they decide to locate at Ventana, he said.

"No one would come and build retail until they have accessibility from the freeway," he said.

Theproject to build an interchange at the 15 and Duncan Canyon Road is inthe design stage, and construction could start in 2008. The city willpay for the project initially, and will receive a partial reimbursementfrom local transportation taxes, Nuaimi said.

The proposed multimillion dollar project, part destinationand part neighborhood center, would be unique to Fontana and thesurrounding area, Moses said.

"It is a window to the city of Fontana that is different, that is unlike anything that exists today," he said.

Further 210 Extention to be done in '07 (Daily Bulletin 112406)

BS Ranch Perspective:

The work that they have been doing has been progressing right along, it is a wonder that they are saying that it will not be done for another year, now. The Bridges in the wash and many of them that are in the city area of San Bernardino seem to be running ahead of schedule. The bridge work that has been in the wash they are putting the top on and they will soon be placing the cross for the concrete roadway that will cross the was there and well that will fill the street or freeway road lanes and that will be done. I guess the only thing that is left is the bridges that I have just thought of that they are really just started construction on now. and these are the bridges that take the freeway across Muscoy, and the I-215, those are partially done, but not all the way. They are just working on them, but the way that they are going I predict that they will get done with them in the summer of Next year!! Which will still be ahead of schedule or ahead of the new schedule by a couple of months. The old schedule the freeway would have just opened to commuters. but they closed it for that three months, and the rains that placed it so much more behind.

I really cannot wait for it to open and start using it. because It will save time and make the neighborhood quieter with the traffic noise.

BSRanch

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Further 210 extension to be done in '07

Jeff Horwitz, Staff Writer Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Article Launched:11/24/2006 12:00:00 AM PST

The freeway extension that will shave minutes off many county residents' commutes will be here in a year. Since2003, regional transportation agency San Bernardino AssociatedGovernments has been working on the remaining eight miles separatingthe current end of the 210 Freeway in Rialto from San Bernardino, whereit will connect with Highway 30. It has already completed more than adozen bridges and overpasses for the $313 million project, and pavingof the highways in between is well under way. But one massive bridge is still under construction, SANBAGspokeswoman Cheryl Donahue said, a 558-foot span across Lytle CreekWash that, when complete, will contain nearly 4 million pounds of steeland be supported by 7-foot concrete pillars sunk 115 feet into theground. That bridge should be finished by early spring, and all theremaining highway, lighted and striped, will be open to traffic byabout this time next year, Donahue said. Recently, the work has even been on budget, with contractssigned two years back shielding the project from "the huge increases inconcrete and steel prices, with all the work going on in China,"Donahue said. While construction has gone smoothly, however, the projectis a year behind its original schedule. The holdup was largelyenvironmental, with a year's delay before SANBAG could get theappropriate clearances and permits for the project. In the area of the Lytle Creek Wash, the freeway's pathtraversed some of the same ground favored by the endangered SanBernardino kangaroo rat and the Santa Ana River woolly star, a plantwith lavender flowers. Along with other environmental impact mitigation measures,Donahue said, crews staked out the construction areas in an overnightrat relocation operation, armed with live traps baited with bird seedand rolled oats. Fourteen kangaroo rats were caged and brought to asafer habitat. With the freeway's completion next year, Donahue said, thearea's human inhabitants will also see a changed environment. Studiesand common sense suggest that the freeway will alleviate traffic on the10 Freeway, which runs largely parallel to the 210 extension. It will also reduce congestion on north-south surfacestreets, Donahue said, because residents of the foothill communitiesalong the northern edge of the San Bernardino Valley will no longerneed them to get to a freeway. Along with cars, Donahue said, her agency also expects thefreeway to bring money. Home prices usually go up when commutes areeasier, she said, and commercial areas adjacent to freeways tend toprosper. "We'll see what it does for economic development in Rialto and San Bernardino," Donahue said. Jeff Horwitz can be reached at (909) 386-3856.

'06 Victor Eyes Seat as Rialto Mayor (SB Sun 112206).

BS Ranch Perspective:

Looks like Robertson has her eye on Grace Vargas's Seat! I don't know if there is anyone that will be able to beat the 46% of the vote that she got over the rest of the candidates for City Council, I cannot see how she was able to pull in that many Votes since she was one of the Fab Four that wanted to Sell the Police Department to the County. Then when the contract was Ironed out she was right there saying that she was marginal at best and that the Police Department is the way to go, etc etc! I don't know where she really is on an Issue. I realize that she received calls of "Treats" due to what She called Racially Motivated Comments" due to the Police Departments/Sheriff Department Contract Battle, in which she was in total Agreement with.

Robertson was in total agreement that the Sheriff Department should be the Law Enforcement Agency all the way up to when they had to cow down and say that they were in the wrong with the Way that they handled them selves regarding the Voter Laws, they kept accusing the people of "Voice United" that they were braking Voter Laws by forcing people to sign the petition under duress. Yet when it came time to tally up the signatures and say who won the signature war regarding the Petitions, the City Council along with the City Lawyer Owens Stalled!! They Purposely Stalled the outcome in hopes that there was some way that they could come up with some violation that was done by the people that were in favor of the Police Department to Stay over the Sheriff Department.

Owens Came out and said that there was a distinct violation of Voter Rules when it came to Collection of Signatures, so 4300-4900 signatures were rejected by the City clerk, a move that was not in the best interest of the citizens of Rialto, but the best interest of the wishes of the City Council and the Administrative Staff (Anything to keep the Sheriff Department Contract Dream alive). Why even when Owens, (Who is a Fully Qualified Lawyer who has passed the Bar and everything) has advised the City Clerk Barbara McGee that the Signatures that were in question were obtained in violation of of the Voter Rules regulating the collection of signatures for petitions. Mr. Owens said that the signatures collected by people that lived in the County of San Bernardino, but not the City of Rialto were in violation of these Rules. When in fact the person collecting signatures for a city has to be a Registered Voter, who lives in the County in which they were collecting signatures.

Well, to make a long story short, Owens withheld these signatures from the Citizens of Rialto, thinking that the petitions had failed yet it was brought up every meeting since they were rejected. The Sheriff was discussing the take over of Rialto City as a contract City in every County Community Speech that the Sheriff was giving, and Sheriff Penrod even included Rialto as a large portion of the State of the County Speech in which he was all set to take over the City and absorb Rialto into the County Enforcement Team when the time came.

However it was the tenacity of the people of Rialto that kept bringing the petition up in the City Council Chambers during every City Council meeting. It was then that the mayor Grace Vargas made the motion to take the petitions and have them looked over by a independent investigator. Grace Vargas said that it was a good Idea that the rejected petitions and the rejected signatures be looked at by a Independent person to see if they were in fact true independent Investigator.

The City Council elected to take them to the Registrar of Voter's since they were more up on the Voter laws then Owens was, Since he was having problems with the Voters laws since he started to deal with them when they started.

The Petitions were not at the Register of Voters for more then an hour when they got the call that Owens had been denying as not good were in fact good signatures by good signature collectors. Immediately there was 4900 signatures that were added to the 900+- signatures that we already had that were good, and that gave us 5000 signatures. Only 2900 signatures were needed to place that on the ballot. and put before the voter in the city of Rialto. The City Council Realized that Owens had broken the Election Laws, and they right away had two options one was to put it before the city as a vote the other was to put the bill into law right away. They elected to place it into an ordinance and changed the laws for Rialto right then. This historical petition for Rialto made it so that the City Council was no longer able to simply vote the Police Department away, they had to put it before the city as a vote, the second obviously was to keep the police Department!!

Now I am wondering when they are going to Get rid of Owens, who has given them this headache for so long!! Another person that needs to be taken away from the likes of duty is that of the city Administrator.

Between the two of them they make about $1,250,000.00 a year between the two (Owens $750.000.00 Garcia $500,000.00). I know that Garcia makes a little more. Now take home is about $30,000.00 a month minus the taxes. WOW, that is what I NOW MAKE IN A YEAR!!!

Robertson doesn't deserve to be The Mayor of Rialto That is true by the history that I just spelled out. It is obvious that she is not working for the best interest of the People of Rialto, I am not sure who she is working for. Let us consider this. Ed Scott is but one man who speaks with but one voice, and he had Robertson's ear, and vote all the way down to the Petitions being falsely held up, on a Voter Rule when if you read the rule that Owens was holding them on clearly states so that any 3rd grade Student can understand them regarding Voter Laws and the collection of Signatures, Yet Owens a Lawyer who is collage taught and Bar passed failed to understand the laws as they pertain to signature collection.

Who is Robertson going to listen to in order to get her feelings from. because she certainty doesn't do reading on her own, or research on her own. espeically when it was to the election laws and the collection of the signatures on petitions.

She only listened to Owens who, I think this might be a streach but I beleive that they all were taking orders from one person that was calling the shots, it was not the Current Mayor, it was either the Mayor Pro-Temp Sampson (who lost his job this last time to Baca Jr.), but he was following the one person that hates the Police Department!! That person is the only one that has an active Law Suit against the cities Police Department for Wrongful Detainment. That person is none other then City Councilmemeber Ed Scott!!

Ed Scott was the one that wanted the Sheriff Department to take over and be the law Enforcement for the area. Now Ed Scott, needs to be voted off the council. and be gone!! take my word on it along with Robertson. they really need to go, why she was relelected,?? I don't have a Clue?? Ed Scott is the one that was the puppet master and Robertson, Joe Sampson, and Whinnie Hanson were the Puppets being told what to do, how to vote what to say by Ed Scott the Puppet master!!

BSRanch

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'06 victor eyes seat as mayor

Jason Pesick, Staff Writer

Article Launched:11/22/2006 12:00:00 AM PST

RIALTO - The November election isn't even a month old, but the 2008 race for mayor of has apparently already begun.

Councilwoman Deborah Robertson announced her 2008 candidacy for mayor after she won re-election to the City Council on Nov. 7.

Robertson,who was first elected to the council in 2000, was the biggestvote-getter in the city election earlier this month, finishing with 28percent of the vote - 461 votes ahead of Assemblyman Joe Baca Jr.,D-Rialto, who won the other contested seat.

Robertson said she has made no formal announcement but thatshe plans to run for mayor in 2008 and is letting people know about it.

"I'm very goal-oriented. I've always been," she said.

Thecity's main priorities should be renewing the utility-users tax,dealing with the city's contaminated drinking water supply and workingon economic development, Robertson said.

Robertson currently works as a deputy district director for Caltrans.

Watchdogs Look to revise domain law. (Daily Bulletin 112506) Measure presented similar to fialed Prop. 90.

BS Ranch Perspective:

There isn't really anything between this story and what they are talking about that caught my eye, Other then they are going to try to put the Proposition 90 back on the ballot's for the next election in 2007 to see if it generates enough of an interest to make it pass then.

Proposition 90 was not a bad Inititive it just had some bad press going in and a whole lot of bad press against it because the governement is afraid of loosing the Imminent domain laws. They want to be able to develop your property whether you own it or not!! They want to see their way into the property for a huge tax based department store that will give them a huge amount of money on their budget in the following years that the store is successful, and rather then having the property owner say no, I cannot sell my property under this amount, then they counter with another amount, but instead they go for the juggler, and vote to take the property by highway robbery, through Imminent domain. Then they pay half or a 1/3 what they first would have paid for the property and it is a take it propestion then, you havent a choice!!

They give you what they want and that is that!! So please there is a need for Proposition 90! There was just to much scare tactics that won the election over, the older voters were scared that they were going to have to loose their property and then the taxes were going to skyrocket out of control simply because the Propesion 90 was passed. When that was not going to be the Case. The people or preponents for the Propesition didn't have much money for all the commercials that the people against it did, so the people against Prop. 90 clearly won by their negegive Press and scare Tactics that worked wonderfully, the true story was that they would have to sell property for what it was appraised for to the property owner had they watned it for expantion to make a new business or the like. Now that the old laws are in effect they can just take your property and give you a Estimated 1/3 the value of that said property and well, that is all.

I hope for all our sake that they take a good look at the Propestion 90 or what ever it is called the second time around!!

BS Ranch

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Watchdogs look to revise domain law

Measure presented similar to failed Prop 90

By Harrison Sheppard, Sacramento Bureau Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Article Launched:11/25/2006 12:00:00 AM PST

SACRAMENTO- Just weeks after voters rejected a controversial measure to reformeminent-domain laws in California, taxpayer advocates have returnedwith a similar measure they say will protect property owners from somegovernment seizures. The measure sponsored by the Howard Jarvis TaxpayersAssociation would still allow governments to seize private property forpublic purposes, but would prohibit seizures for private development. The measure is similar to Proposition 90, which voters rejected this month, but differs in a few key aspects. Forone, Proposition 90 had a provision - not included in the Jarvismeasure - that critics said would allow developers to sue if theirprojects were blocked or properties were devalued by governmentdecisions such as zoning restrictions. California voters rejected Proposition 90 by about 360,000 votes, with 47.6 percent in favor and 52.4 percent opposed. "Clearlythe closeness of the vote on Proposition 90 made it clear this issue isnot going to go away for California," said Jon Coupal, president of theHoward Jarvis Taxpayers Association. The proposed California Property Owners Protection Act isbeing reviewed by the state Attorney General's Office. If it meets thebasic legal requirements, the Attorney General will issue an officialtitle and summary. Supporters can then begin collecting the signatures needed to qualify it for the 2008 ballot. BothProposition 90 and the new Jarvis measure are in response to a U.S.Supreme Court ruling in 2005 that found a Connecticut city had theright to use eminent domain to seize private property and turn it overto a private developer to further the community's economic developmentplan. But Proposition 90 was opposed by a broad coalition ofgroups and elected officials - from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger andTreasurer Phil Angelides to organized labor and the California Chamberof Commerce. Megan Taylor, a spokeswoman for the League of CaliforniaCities, a leading opponent of Proposition 90, said local governmentsrecognize the need to reform eminent domain in California. They opposed Proposition 90 primarily because of thelawsuit provision, but they also believe the solution should be workedout through the legislative process, not at the ballot, as thetaxpayers organization is now attempting. "The legislative process lends itself to the broad-ranging,open discussion we all need to have about what the concern is and howwe can address it, while still making sure we preserve our ability tomeet our responsibilities as local governments to build affordablehousing and address the infrastructure needs of the community," Taylorsaid. "We understand the voters are concerned and reform is a priority for us over the next year." Coupalsaid his organization is also willing to work through the Legislature,but introduced the ballot measure in case that option does not work. Harrison Sheppard can be reached by e-mail at harrison.sheppard@dailynews.com or by phone at (916) 446-6723.

Transient Burglar Arrested by Police (Daily Bulletin 112306) Katrice Smart Arrested

BS Ranch Perspective:

This is Wonderful News!!

On my previous Writing regarding this story, I said that the best way was that they had to Catch her in the act, and in some cases they did. One Victim Woke up while she was in their house!! Tuesday, the Victim woke up only to see Smart standing over him, he quickly acted and tried to detain her in his home, but she slipped out and got away. An area check and contact with an employee of the East Jackson Remodel, remembers a woman that was fitting her discription in the area of the East Jackson Apartments. An Area check found her and she was placed under arrest!!

ANOTHER GREAT JOB BY THE DEDICATED MEN AND WOMAN OF THE RIALTO POLICE DEPARTMENT!!

The Department now that deserves the 3%@50 Retirement More then any of the other departments that have it, Right Now! Espeically with what they have been through this past year!!

BSRanch

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Transient burglar arrested by police

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Article Launched:11/23/2006 12:00:00 AM PST

RIALTO- She targeted homes with open or unlocked doors - casually walkinginto the dwellings late at night or in the wee hours and taking purses,wallets and other small items she could quickly make off with. For more than a month, police suspect 21-year-old transientKatrice Nichole Smart burglarized at least 10 homes in the area ofRiverside and Etiwanda avenues, making off with mostly cash shepilfered from wallets and purses while residents slept in their beds,police said. But sometimes the sounds of a burglar sifting throughpossessions roused residents from their slumber. One resident caughtthe suspected burglar in the act and tried to detain her, but she brokefree and ran off. On other occasions when she was caught in the act,she was able to flee before police arrived, Rialto police Sgt. ReinhardBurkholder said. About 9 p.m. Tuesday, Smart's luck ran out. The RialtoPolice Department's Street Crime Attack Team located her at an EastJackson Street apartment, where she had been staying with anacquaintance, and arrested her. "During an interview, she admitted to at least five of ourburglaries," Burkholder said. "And then she also told us that thepurses and wallets that she did take, she would take the money out ofthem and discard the purse or wallet into a trash can." Before the woman's arrest, police asked employees atseveral convenience stores in the area if they'd seen anyone matchingthe description of the suspected burglar. "One of the workers said a person fitting the descriptionhad been in the store and was causing a problem, and they startedtaking pictures of her," Burkholder said, adding that the pictures weregiven to detectives, who then circulated them around the departmentasking if anyone recognized or had contact with the woman. Cpl. John Black recognized the woman as someone he had aprior run-in with on the street, and gave detectives a name. Furtherinvestigation led police to the East Jackson Street apartment complexwhere Smart had been staying, Burkholder said. Smart, who has several criminal convictions dating back to2003 including two petty thefts, burglary, and battery, was booked intothe West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga on suspicion ofburglary. She is expected to be arraigned Monday in Fontana SuperiorCourt. Contact writer Joe Nelson at (909) 386-3887 or via e-mail at joe.nelson@sbsun.com.

San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Actions. (press enterprise 112206)

BSRanch Perspective:

It would seem that the County Supervisors have a plan that includes a 15 acre build in Big Bear. The Big Bear Lake property will be called Valley View Estates, Project. how ever instead of the lots being on a 20 acre lot, they will be built on a 15 acre lot, size. Which is okay, gives more houses, to the Big Bear area, I don't know if that is good. but they ultimately will have more houses there, even though the lots are sizes smaller the terrain will keep the houses just as far apart.

The 4.42 Acre lots in Hesperia will be great, if you want to live there. Horses would be a must if they are allowed and but reading on that is the county offices buildings that are to be built there. Opps, here I was hoping for some good large horse property.

The Sata Ana River Trail is certainly taking off. the bike trail will be connected to that of the one in orange county The cost of the trail is a little alarming, but the over all benefit of the trail is and will be great, it is a way that people can ride their bicycles to work if they live close to the bicycle trail and away from traffic. it not noly is a great way to work on a clean fuel Environment, but a better way o get to work, except the days that you worked to hard to ride the bike home. LOL..but those were the best workouts for me. those days that I didn't feel like riding and then I got on the bike and wow. the best workout ever.

BS Ranch


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San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors actions

08:22 AM PST on Wednesday, November 22, 2006

The Press-Enterprise

Builder wins approval for Big Bear housing

San Bernardino County supervisors approved an application by adeveloper to build 58 homes on 15 acres in Big Bear.

TheBig Bear Lake Valley View Estates projects consists of custom-madehomes from 7,345 square feet to 23,392 square feet in an area nearstate Highway 38.

The approval, which garnered noopposition, required a zoning change from the 20-acre minimum lot sizeto a 7,200-square feet lot minimum.

Talks to start on land for office-building plan

Supervisors agreed to begin negotiations to purchase a 4.42-acreproperty from the city of Hesperia for the construction of a futurecounty office building in that community.

A number ofcounty departments would house offices in the planned60,000-square-foot building to serve constituents in the Victor Valley.In August, supervisors received a report on future office needs thathighlighted the need for such a facility.

A separateagreement with the purchase cost and agreement will come to the boardonce negotiations are complete.

Contract boosts effort for trail across Colton

Supervisors approved a $3.4 million contract for the construction ofthe Santa Ana River Trail through Colton.

Earlier thisyear, the county received a $4 million state grant for the constructionof the 3.3-mile trail from the county line to La Cadena Drive, which isplanned for bicycle, pedestrian and equestrian use.

Board OKs contract on jail-expansion design

Supervisors approved a $4.5 million architectural contract for thedesign of the expansion of the Adelanto Detention Center.

The project will add four housing units for a total of 896 beds plusbooking, holding and medical screening areas.

Theadditional space will reduce the need to transport prisoners to theWest Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga and help deal withcrowding in jails, officials said.

Caltrans grant to aid trail, park projects

Supervisors approved acceptance of a $68,300 Caltrans grant to developa nine-mile trail and park through the city of Redlands and Mentone.

The board also approved an agreement with Redlands to establish apartnership to manage the Orange Blossom Trail and East Valley CitrusHeritage Linear Park. The planned trail will connect to the Santa AnaRiver Trail.

COMPILED BY IMRAN GHORI

Elusive Cat Burger Hits At least 10 Rialto Homes (Press Enterprise 112106)

BS Ranch Perspective:

These Cat Burglars are the worse of all Burglaries, you usually don't sustain any damage to your home but you realize that the suspect watched you sleep, that is horror, and you realize that they could have hit you or struck you with anything before you woke up to confront them they had the drop on you the whole time. The only thing is that if you had more then one person sleeping in your house at one time that they might have felt. After all the more quite Cat Burglars are the more that they can get away with stuff, if you have however a yap or a Jack Russell Terror would solve this problem, but then a German Shepherd would also stop this problem too.

BS Ranch

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Elusive cat burglar hits at least 10 Rialto homes

BURGLARIES: The suspect has hit at least 10 Rialto homes -- some with residents sleeping inside.

10:00 PM PST on Tuesday, November 21, 2006

By PAUL LAROCCO
The Press-Enterprise

RIALTO - A slippery cat burglar hasthe attention of police after hitting at least 10 homes within the sameneighborhood over the past month, twice breaking loose from victims whoattempted to tackle her in the act.

The woman began her spate of break-ins on Oct. 19, and has used thesame technique to burglarize five other homes in the area of Riversideand Etiwanda Avenues, said Rialto police Sgt. Reinhard Burkholder.

The latest burglary occurred on Saturday, said Burkholder, who did not disclose how much property was taken.

Usually wearing a black-hooded sweatshirt, the woman enters homes inthe night by finding unlocked doors and windows. She searches primarilyfor purses, wallets and jewelry, Burkholder said, and unusually,doesn't just focus on unoccupied homes.

"She knows they're home," Burkholder said. "But she'll try to get as much as she can before anyone notices."

She has been confronted by victims during the burglaries twice, butmanaged the "wrestle herself away" as they tried to detain her,Burkholder said.

Police are looking for a woman in connection with the case: KatriceNichole Smart, 21, a transient. She is 5 feet 6 inches tall, 180pounds, with shoulder-length hair and a large gap between her upperfront teeth.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Carl Jones at 909-820-2596.

Reach Paul LaRocco at 909-806-3064 or plarocco@PE.com

Woman Wanted for 10+ Burglaries in Rialto Area (Fox News)

BS Ranch Perspective:

Now is the second most hardest part of the Investigation. You have the Suspect Identified, Rounding them up for the Arrest is the next hardest part. Identification is the First. The Third of coarse is getting the conviction! This case looks like a pretty good one however they got great Circumstantial Evidence and they have the finger prints and the like from the entrances. They just have to Catch her, and if the can Catch her in the act of entering a home, that would seal the deal and make the other cases tie in better with the M.O.! The sooner she is arrested the better, that way there are people with less loss and less property damage!!!

Good Luck Rialto Police Detectives, Police Officers and the like. this Smart Girl looks familiar to even me, with out knowing her history, it is hard to say.

BS Ranch

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Woman Wanted for 10+ Burglaries in Rialto Area

Last Edited: Tuesday, 21 Nov 2006, 6:19 PM PST

Created: Tuesday, 21 Nov 2006, 6:16 PM PST

Burglary Suspect, Katrice Nichole Smart Detectives were able to positively identify a suspect as burglarizingat least 10 different homes in the neighborhood of Riverside andEtiwanda in Rialto. Accordingto police, the suspect enters the residences through opened or unlockeddoors. In some cases the victims are asleep inside the residence. Onnumerous cases the victims would awake to the sounds of the suspectgoing through their property, but the suspect would leave the residenceprior to the police arriving on scene. The suspect, identified viaphoto line-ups, has been identified as 21-year old Katrice NicholeSmart. Smart is described as an African-American woman, 5'6"tall, 180 pounds, with shoulder length hair. She has a large gapbetween her top front teeth. She is known to be homeless, and has beenseen in the area of Baseline and Sycamore Avenue. Anyone with any information regarding this incident is asked to please contact the Rialto Police Department, 909-820-2550.

CHP Officer Arrested, Suspected of DUI..(Press-Enterprise 112106)

BS Ranch Perspective:

The chances are that the Inland Division Assistant Chief was very embarrassed that this has happened to him, You know that we have all these organizations against certain things In this case we have MADD (Mother's Against Drunk Driving) Which is a very powerful political group, the inland chapter of MADD is one of the strongest in the 50 States! Having said that they have done a great deal in the battle against Drunken Driving, and it is just sometimes a great more simple to take the one man that is part of the Inland Command of California's Highway Patrol and Condemn him for the rest of his life or you can take the laws of our land, and pull them out as the Fore Fathers Decided, and say that it is the spirit of the law, not so much the letter of the law.

I am going to exercise atonement and forgiveness when it comes to what the Commander did After all, he didn't fight he didn't argue he simply took the arrest, and went home. I venture a guess that there will not even be a court battle, the commander will more then likely plead guilty pay the fine loose his license and have a driver for the year.

This man might just loose his area command of the Inland Division of the California Highway Patrol. this after all is a pretty embarrassing situation for the CHP to be in especially for someone in their command staff!! So, there will be some Area Command Staff situation that will be given. However, it is only because of the position that he keeps that he will ultimately be taken from the position, if he were the second in command in the GAP, or WAL-MART, he would not have to step down and it would even be mentioned in the news but a slight blip, since he is the second in command of the Largest command staff of the CHP, he will or might loose that job, just by who he is. No other job in the United states, besides the CHP or of coarse that of Law Enforcement, because what I am getting at is a person in Law Enforcement looses that right to privacy between his personal life and his business life.

I Forgive the Commander, and I hope that his job is not ill effected due to the Arrest!!

BSRanch

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CHP officer arrested, suspected of drunken driving

INVESTIGATION: The Inland Division assistant chief hit a car at his Reche Canyon home.

10:00 PM PST on Tuesday, November 21, 2006

By PAUL LAROCCO
The Press-Enterprise

The arrest of one of the region's top-ranking California HighwayPatrol officers on suspicion of drunken driving shocked an advocate whopreviously worked with him to discourage the practice.

"I'm personally stunned and disappointed," said LoVae Pray Martines,law enforcement liaison for San Bernardino County's Mothers AgainstDrunk Driving chapter. "But it just proves, if this can happen to him,it can happen to anyone."

CHP Inland Division Assistant Chief Mike Maples, who Martines saidhas been "very committed to ending drinking and driving," is scheduledto appear in Riverside County Superior Court on Jan. 3.

Prosecutors have until then to decide if they will charge Maples,said Ingrid Wyatt, a spokeswoman with the Riverside County districtattorney's office.

Officers from CHP's Riverside station arrested the 34-yeardepartment veteran at 11:15 p.m. Thursday, after he crashed hisstate-issued cruiser into a car parked in the driveway of his RecheCanyon home, said CHP Sgt. Eric Phipps.

Maples, who was off duty, failed a field sobriety test, and wascited and released, Phipps said. The blood-alcohol content was notdisclosed.

Maples declined to comment Tuesday when he was contacted in front of his home. He cited the ongoing internal investigation.

The owner of the car Maples crashed into -- a visitor at his home --reported the accident. Damage was minor, and the visitor was not in thecar at the time, Phipps said.

"I know you can't minimize DUI," he said, "but in the scheme of things, this was very minor."

The accident occurred on the extended dirt driveway of Maples' ranchhome, just south of Colton in unincorporated Riverside County.Authorities respond to such incidents on private property only whenalcohol or recklessness is suspected, Phipps said.

Maples was "very cooperative," and did not obstruct arresting officers, Phipps said.

His work status was not disclosed Tuesday. Officials in CHP's Sacramento headquarters declined to comment.

Martines, however, said she was saddened by the incident.

"He of all people knows what happens when you drink and drive," she said. "This is just an example of what alcohol can do."

As assistant chief of the Inland Division, Maples issecond-in-command of an area larger than 12 states -- all of SanBernardino County and parts of Riverside, Kern, Inyo and Mono counties.

He supervises the region's largest offices, in San Bernardino, Riverside and Rancho Cucamonga, Phipps said.

"It's just unfortunate," Phipps said.

Reach Paul LaRocco at 909-806-3064 or plarocco@PE.com

Police Enlist 8-Ton ally to Deal With Dangerous Suspects (Press Enterprise 052306) COLTON: Bullet Resistant Truck Will be Used When Gunfire is Exchnag

BS Ranch Perspective:

this looks like the truck that Rialto Police Departments SWAT Team might very well have one day, but not just that, this story ran about 6 months ago, and was very successful for the Colton Police Department and there SWAT Team, but Earlier On my other BLOG I had Wrote that this type of Vehicle cost almost $225,000.00 and that money can be used in a great array of area's more suited to keeping the Police Officers Alive while doing their job. Instead of having odd number of Motorcycles on their Traffic Division they could use it to purchase one more bike and have the Motor's ride in Teams, this could have prevented my accident so long ago where I lost my life!

BS Ranch

PS: however, one life saved is better then any number of anything that the money could have been spent on!!! I hope it saves a life for Rialto's SWAT Team!!

Police enlist 8-ton ally to deal with dangerous suspects

COLTON: The police chief says the bullet-resistant truck will be used when gunfire is exchanged.

10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, May 23, 2006

By MASSIEL LADRÓN DE GUEVARA
The Press-Enterprise

Colton police added an 8-ton member to its force this month -- a diesel-powered, bullet-resistant vehicle equipped with gun ports.

Greg Vojtko / The Press-Enterprise The Colton Police Department's new $200,000 vehicle was purchased with money collected when criminal assets are seized.

The Ford F-550 frame truck will be deployed if officers exchange gunfire with suspects, rescue anyone injured during a gun battle or serve high-risk search warrants, Police Chief Ken Rulon said.

Although there haven't been any full-out gun battles in recent years, officers have had to arrest suspects in places that could be threatening, Lt. Mark Owens said.

"The most recent incident we had was when there was a suspect that we needed to arrest who we believed could be armed and dangerous," Owens said of a warrant served last fall.

"There was only one way into the home where the suspect was and one way out, and that could have put officers in a compromising situation."

The $200,000 vehicle was purchased with money collected when criminals' assets are seized. It has a 40-year life span, Rulon said.

Other Inland police agencies also have bullet-resistant vehicles or depend on the one owned by the Sheriff's Department.

To make sure everyone is safe during any event, other police agencies may borrow Colton's vehicle during an emergency or to serve warrants, Rulon said.

"It's a tool and we should let others have access to it to make their job safer and to protect the public," he said.

The vehicle is under the SWAT team's command and has been used three times since it was delivered earlier this month, Rulon said.

The truck was used to serve three separate search warrants and is displayed during city events, such as Unity Day, he said.

Councilman Richard DeLaRosa said he is glad the department was able to purchase the vehicle without any cost to residents.

"With all the gang wars going on in San Bernardino and surrounding cities, you see crime is only getting worse as far as I'm concerned, so it's a benefit to have something like this in Colton," DeLaRosa said.

Because the Colton Police Department has SWAT and gang-suppression teams, it is important that officers have the right kind of equipment, he said.

In June 2004, a 20-year-old Fontana man was fatally shot in Colton after hijacking a car with two women in it and ramming a police vehicle during a pursuit.

Rulon said he doesn't know if the department would have had time to mobilize the bullet-resistant vehicle in that situation because the "suspect was very mobile."

"It would be more for rescuing citizens and officers where there is gunfire or high risk or during riot situations," he said.

Palm Springs police purchased a Lenco BearCat armored vehicle for a little over $200,000 last month.

Sgt. Mitch Spike, a department spokesman, said officers recognized the need for an armored vehicle in 1997 when they responded to a shooting near the outskirts of town that killed two Riverside County sheriff's deputies.

"They were shot and bleeding and we couldn't go in and get them because shots were still being fired," Spike said.

The Corona Police Department uses an armored car for high-risk scenarios but has no plans for new additions to its fleet, Sgt. Neil Reynolds said.

Temecula, Lake Elsinore and Moreno Valley do not have armored vehicles.

Lt. Joe Cleary, a Moreno Valley patrol supervisor, said his officers would welcome the addition of that type of vehicle, although it could be impractical.

"There isn't a hard and fast answer to it," Cleary said. "Yes, it would be nice to have, but, in terms of regular duties, it (could) be sitting around in the parking lot."

Police in the Pass also see the need for an armored vehicle because a booming population will probably lead to an increase in crime, said Lt. Mike Mass of the California Highway Patrol.

The Interstate 10 corridor between Cabazon and Calimesa is as ripe for gun battles as any other Inland freeway, Mass said.

In Cabazon last June, I-10 was closed when police and a Coachella Valley homicide suspect exchanged at least 90 rounds. No one was injured, but investigators worked for 12 hours processing two crime scenes straddling the Fields Road offramp. Traffic was stacked up for more than 10 miles.

"Something like that could easily happen out here," Mass said by phone from the CHP substation in Beaumont.

However, Lt. John Acosta said he could not recall a single gun battle in Beaumont during his 24 years with the city's Police Department.

"I don't think we're there yet," Acosta said Tuesday.

Reach Massiel Ladrón De Guevara at (909) 806-3054 or mdeguevara@PE .com

Staff writers Imran Vittachi, David Herman, Patrick O'Neil, Paul DeCarlo and John Asbury contributed to this report.

Seven arrested at Fontana checkpoint (Daily Bulletin 112006)

BS Ranch Perspective:

It is good to see that there is still some Proactive Policing such as this DUI/Insurance Check point. They sure have it down, with Seven in Custody. that is a great job. and a BS Ranch pat on the back, to Fontana Police Department for doing such a proactive traffic Move like an old Fashioned DUI Check Point!!

BSRanch

Seven arrested at Fontana checkpoint

Wes Woods II, Staff Writer

Article Launched:11/20/2006 11:37:02 PM PST

FONTANA - The Fontana Police Department arrested four people on suspicion of driving under the influence and three people on suspicion of outstanding warrants Saturday.

Fontana police held the DUI checkpoint from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. Saturday on Sierra Avenue south of Athol Avenue, a Fontana Police Department press release said.

There were 129 vehicles stopped; 93 vehicles were impounded for reasons such as driving without a license; and 102 citations were issued for traffic violations.

There were 1,414 vehicles that passed through the checkpoint.

The Office of Traffic Safety, through the California business, transportation and housing agency, funds the program. The program is called Speed and Alcohol Violator Enforcement program.

- Wes Woods II, (909) 483-9378

Rialto Keeps its Options Open (SB Sun 112006) City using several

BS Ranch Perspective:

It is true that Rialto has gone the extra mile when it has tried to fight blight. With the apartment complexes that were full of gang activity, they just went in and purchased the apartments as imminent domain and then rebuilt the apartments. Then they either rebuilt the apartments fixed them up or donated them to a non profit organization that builds and manages them for lower income families. They also don't take to the braking of the rules and they evict with braking of the lease rules, so the calls for service are usually low for law enforcement after the non profit management group takes over.

The city spends a great deal of money buy purchasing the apartment complexes to do this. And they just cannot keep doing this to the Tax payers of the City of Rialto. So they are looking for better remedies, they are trying them on the E. Jackson Apartment Complex, and we will see what will happen there.

BS Ranch

Rialto keeps its options open

City using several strategies to fight blight

Jason Pesick, Staff Writer

Article Launched:11/20/2006 12:00:00 AM PST

RIALTO - Tennessee Barber has lived on East Jackson Street for four years. Late last week, he stood on the dirt front yard of some of the apartment units talking with other residents.

"I go where I can pay," said the 48-year-old Rialto man.

If he could afford to go somewhere else, he probably would. In 2004 and 2005, each unit in the neighborhood averaged about five calls for police service a year.

Since the January shooting death of 19-year-old Tyrone Brooks, who was shot by San Bernardino police after a chase, Rialto has stepped up efforts to rehabilitate East Jackson. In March, police swarmed the street, arresting 29 people. The city then began sending code- enforcement officers to the neighborhood to crack down on landlords, and now housing officials are trying to form an ownership association to continue to clean up the area.

The city's action on East Jackson is a modified version of the strategy officials have attempted in a number of troubled neighborhoods throughout Rialto.

But how did these neighborhoods deteriorate?

Rialto's population continues to rise. Now it is close to 100,000. Housing Director John Dutrey said that before the growth in the '80s and '90s, the city

had a population of about 30,000. Not long after, the local economy deteriorated, much of which was tied to the 1994 closure of Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino. Dutrey said there were foreclosures on houses all over the city. Landlords began to rent their buildings out to anyone they could.

The result was densely populated, crime-ridden, low-income housing in neighborhoods like East Jackson. Absentee landlords only exacerbated the situation by failing to maintain their properties, evict problem tenants and properly screen prospective tenants.

One of the early attempts to rehabilitate a neighborhood was the transformation of "the

Glenwoods" into Renaissance Village in the early '90s. The complex had almost 150 units, owned by different people, which meant there was no coherent management structure in place.

The city decided to acquire all the units and hand them over to SoCal Housing Development Corp., a nonprofit developer. Now police cite the project as a model of how to reduce crime in a blighted neighborhood.

"It's clean, well maintained," said Luis Bravo, a 43-year-old father of five who lives in the Village with his children and his wife, as he dropped off his daughter at the school bus stop Thursday.

He did complain that his cable and Internet connection were recently switched from Adelphia to DirectTV, which increased his costs from $30 to $40 a month. In addition, some of the pedestrian gates in the complex were left unlocked, and the laundry rooms have been vandalized, a problem SoCal Housing officials said should be fixed when the laundry rooms are renovated in the coming months

"I'm safe enough to take my kids and my trash out at night," said Lisette Castaneda, the property's manager and a 10-year resident. She and Dutrey said, however, that the complex next door has caused crime problems in the area.

The city is trying a similar strategy to reduce crime in the neighborhood at the intersection of Willow Avenue and Winchester Drive. It spent more than $13 million to acquire all the units and hand them over to SoCal Housing to manage and maintain. A groundbreaking for the project was held last month.

But because the city cannot continue spending such large sums to revitalize troubled neighborhoods and because there are fewer units on East Jackson, Dutrey said the city is trying a different strategy. Instead of purchasing all the units at a high cost, the city will spend up to $2 million making aesthetic improvements and forming an ownership association that will hire a professional management company to maintain the property.

"It really is dependent on you, the owners, to be proactive out there," Dutrey told the 14 out of 20 East Jackson owners who attended a meeting last week. He wants all 20 owners to sign a document that would force them to agree to maintain the property, in large part by hiring a professional management company and evicting problem tenants from the complex.

The residents on East Jackson, including Barber, were happy to hear about the ownership association.

The street is full of scattered trash, and the low walls surrounding the alleys are splashed with graffiti.

But residents agreed that East Jackson is less dangerous than it was before the officer-involved shooting in January and the city began to pay attention.

Contact writer Jason Pesick at (909) 386-3861 or via e-mail at jason.pesick@sbsun.com.

Rialto Police Sweep High-Crime Areas (SB Sun11192006) More then 100

BS Ranch Perspective:

I have to say that the Rialto Police Department is off and running on all cylinders with the new Chief. Mark Kling seems to have the idea that the new structure of the Police Department will make Solving crime better.

This writer agrees, that the streamlining of the Command Staff and the Chain of Command will make things a whole lot less confusing as to who is in charge of things and how things get done. It is a good thing that he has the mind set to get the Department back to the original way that it was. With Two Captains, and Four Lt's and Eight to Twelve Sgt's with the rest Corporals and Officers.

The Sweep was a success and the Department is mending great. It looks as if all the attention that the City Administration spent on the Police Departments demise was a 100% of their time when it came to the administration of Employment, because now they have trouble in all the rest of their staffing, such as Maintenance and the Fire Department! Even when the Fire Department Stood Arm and Arm with the City Administration and City Council to get rid of the Police Department and go with a Contracted Sheriff Department!

Well, we reep what we sew!! Right RFD!

BSRanch

Police sweep high-crime areas

More than 100 officers conduct Rialto raids

Jason Pesick, Staff Writer

Article Launched:11/18/2006 12:00:00 AM PST

RIALTO - It was not a good time to be jaywalking in the city's high-crime areas.

More than 100 officers from area agencies saturated Rialto's streets Thursday night. Typically, 14 officers are on patrol.

The operation was the second phase of an eight-hour sweep of the city that resulted in 53 arrests.

The sweeps are carried out about once a month in the county, said Cheryl Kersey, the lead deputy district attorney in San Bernardino County's hardcore-gang unit.

But some people who study police practices say these types of operations are either ineffective, or can be abusive.

"If you tried them in middle- class neighborhoods, there'd be a riot," said Connie Rice, a Los Angeles attorney who is the co-director of the Advancement Project, a civil-rights advocacy organization.

During the first phase of Thursday's operation, police set out to serve 70 arrest warrants but ended up making most of the 53 arrests in the second phase when they saturated the city.

Sgt. Dean Hardin said officers went to high-crime areas to look for people who looked suspicious, were jaywalking or who committed traffic violations.

Larry Gaines, chairman of the Criminal Justice Department at Cal State San Bernardino, said police also can use curfew laws to arrest people. Rialto has a curfew for minors from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. during the week and from midnight to 6 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Using those tactics, police collected guns, found a stolen car, drugs, an individual with a quarter-pound of cocaine and another with 21 individually wrapped pieces of cocaine.

Rice, who said she is not familiar with the Rialto Police Department, said those types of strategies are only temporary solutions that make people more miserable.

She said police target people based on "status" instead of going after specific individuals known to have committed crimes.

"They're simply dragnets that are applied to a particular community," Rice said.

The Police Department's specialized gang unit, the Street Crime Attack Team, led the raids. Former Police Chief Michael Meyers, who was seen during his tenure as cautious on issues of police practices, eliminated the aggressive unit and replaced it with the Multiple Enforcement Team. Since becoming chief, Mark Kling replaced MET and brought back SCAT.

Kling said he disagrees that a middle-class community would not want proactive police.

"As long as you have professionally trained police officers who respect people's civil rights, you're going to have a win-win situation," he said.

He said the community will be happy with police services, and morale at the department will be high.

Rice said aggressive policing is not only potentially abusive, but in the long run often is ineffective.

But City Attorney Bob Owen noted that whenever police activity has declined in the city, crime has risen sharply. And police statistics show that total crime was down almost 19 percent in September compared with last year. According to the District Attorney's Office, 60 percent of homicides in the county are gang-related.

Gaines, the criminal justice professor, said police have to use the tools available. He said there's "a lot of Monday-morning quarterbacking" of police tactics even though officers work to do the best they can in difficult situations.

In addition to suppression tactics to get an area back under control through police work, a successful anti-gang strategy needs to include often- neglected prevention strategies as well, he said.

"You can police until you're blue in the face, but if you don't address these social conditions, you're really not solving it," he said.

He complained that there are not enough recreational programs for children and teenagers. He said Operation Phoenix in San Bernardino has been successful at reducing crime because it brings a number of agencies together.

Nationally, the average age of a person joining a gang is lower than 14, he said, noting children often join gangs because their homes are dysfunctional, and the gang serves as a family.

He also said the high density of low-income housing breeds crime - a problem city planning departments need to address.

Kling said the Police Department's new command structure that will divide the city into three areas will help provide a long-term solution to crime and gang violence by having specific police officials forming relationships with the community and by bringing together numerous government agencies to address specific problems.

Rice said the underlying conditions that cause social ills need to be addressed but that they never are.

"And that's the real crime here," she said.