Sunday, September 30, 2007

Rialto Considers Installing Security Cameras Downtown (San Bernaridno Co. Sun Sept. 24, 2007)

BS Ranch Perspective:

This is a great Idea, they are working in the U.K. and they would work more then likely work great in Rialto's Downtown area too!! The Problems with Vandalism and small thefts, not to mention Rialto could also look into the Technology that Canada Has for Reading License Plates, there is a camera system that is mounted on the front of a car, and the side windows of a car, and the Traffic Enforcement Officer Law Enforcement Technician can drive this vehicle in the local business Parking Lots, and just cruse at approximately 5 to 10 M.P.H. the system will read the Plates in the Parking lot, and if a Plate comes up stolen then it will read a hit, the only problem is that there has to be a way that it is on board to be live with C.L.E.T.S. at all times so when a HOT STOLEN is entered into the system the car will pick it up when they pass through the parking lot. It is costly and it is only a thought. Baby steps and the cameras with feeds directly to dispatch and the Front Counter of the P.D. will be a great Start!!

BS.Ranch

Rialto considers installing security cameras downtown
Jason Pesick, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun

RIALTO - To put a stop to the break-ins, graffiti and vandalism that take place downtown, city officials want to install a video surveillance system.

Officials are getting bids from different companies for a system that could monitor Riverside Avenue and downtown alleys from First Street to Rialto Avenue.

"The perception is somebody's watching over my property, and if somebody's going to make a foolish decision, they're going to get caught," said Joe Flores Jr., a business owner and president of the Downtown Business Improvement District Association.

In recent months, Flores and other business owners have called for more security downtown. In response, the Police Department has already revived its bike-patrol unit.

Mike Story, Rialto's development services director and association vice president, said one idea is that the city's redevelopment agency would install the system and the association would pay to monitor the cameras.

Though the Police Department is not leading the effort, police officials say they support the idea.

The association was considering helping businesses purchase their own surveillance equipment, but Flores said he wants to wait to see what happens with the city system first, before members decide how to spend the group's money.

Redlands has taken advantage of similar systems for years.

In addition to cameras at the airport, Redlands Bowl, a 7-Eleven, Mariposa Elementary and the Kimberly Crest Home and Gardens, the city installed four cameras downtown in November.

"It's like having a virtual police presence there," said Redlands Police Chief Jim Bueermann.

At Mariposa Elementary, there was a problem with trespassing and vandalism before the cameras were in place, he said.

The same is true with thefts that were taking place at the airport and instances vandalism, problems with transients and skateboarding at the Redlands Bowl, Bueermann said.

Downtown, the cameras have been effective at combating drunken drivers, assault, people under the influence of drugs, transients and panhandlers, he said.

Move America Forward Rally in OkC 09-09-2007

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Polygamist Leader Convicted in Utah (SACBEE Tuesday Sept. 25, 2007) By Jennifer Dobner, Associated Press Writer.

Polygamist leader convicted in Utah

By JENNIFER DOBNER - Associated Press Writer

Last Updated 3:38 pm PDT Tuesday, September 25, 2007

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Warren Jeffs, left, confers with defense attorney Richard Wright during his trial Monday, Sept. 24, 2007, in St. George, Utah. The jury reported they had a verdict on one count, but were hung on the other. The judge sent them back to deliberate more. Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is charged with two counts of rape as an accomplice for allegedly coercing the marriage and rape of a 14-year-old follower to her 19-year-old cousin in 2001. AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, Pool

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ST. GEORGE, Utah -- The leader of a polygamous Mormon splinter group was convicted Tuesday of being an accomplice to rape for forcing a 14-year-old girl to marry her 19-year-old cousin.

Warren Jeffs, 51, could get life in prison after a trial that threw a spotlight on a renegade community along the Arizona-Utah line where as many as 10,000 of Jeffs' followers practice plural marriage and revere him as a mighty prophet with dominion over their salvation.

Jeffs stood and, like his 15 followers in the courtroom, wore a stoic look as the verdict was read.

Prosecutors said Jeffs, who performed the ceremony, forced the girl into marriage and sex against her will. Jurors said they agreed Jeffs rejected the girl's pleas and refused to release her from the marriage.

"He was pretty much her only ticket out of the relationship," said juror Jerry Munk, 36.

Defense attorney Wally Bugden, who told jurors that Jeffs was a victim of religious persecution, declined to comment.

The jury deliberated about 16 hours over three days. On Tuesday morning, the judge replaced a juror with an alternate for undisclosed reasons.

While polygamy itself was not on trial - the couple were monogamous - the case focused attention on the practice of polygamy in Utah, where it has generally been tolerated in the half-century since a government raid in 1953 proved a public relations disaster, with children photographed being torn from their mothers' arms.

Jeffs succeeded his father in 2002 as president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Former members say he rules with an iron fist, demanding perfect obedience from followers and exercising the right to arrange marriages as well as break them up and assign new spouses.

At the trial, widely different versions of the relationship - and Jeffs' influence - were presented by the woman, now 21, and her former husband, Allen Steed, 26.

At their wedding in 2001 at a Nevada motel, the woman said, she cried in despair when pressed by Jeffs to say "I do" and had to be coaxed to kiss her new husband. The woman testified that FLDS girls receive no information about their bodies or reproduction. She said she didn't even know sex was the means by which women had babies.

The woman said the couple were married for at least a month before they had intercourse, her husband telling her it was "time for you to be a wife and do your duty."

"My entire body was shaking. I was so scared," she testified. "He just laid me on the bed and had sex."

Afterward, she slipped into the bathroom, where she downed two bottles of over-the-counter pain reliever and curled up on the floor, she said. "The only thing I wanted to do was die," she said.

But Steed testified that his teenage bride initiated their first sexual encounter, approaching him after he fell asleep in his clothes after a 12-hour day at work.

Under Utah law, a 14-year-old can consent to sex in some circumstances. But sex is not considered consensual if a person under 18 is enticed by someone at least three years older.

For reasons prosecutors have never explained, Steed has not been charged with a crime.

The mainstream Mormon Church, or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, renounced polygamy more than a century ago, excommunicates members who engage in the practice, and disavows any connection to the FLDS church.

Jeffs is also charged in Arizona with being an accomplice to both incest and sexual misconduct with a minor for arranging marriages between two underage girls and relatives of theirs. In addition, Jeffs is under federal indictment in Utah on charges of fleeing to avoid prosecution.

The charismatic Jeffs was captured in a traffic stop last year just outside Las Vegas after about 18 months on the run. At the time, he was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list, alongside such figures as Osama bin Laden.

Jeffs was in a red Cadillac Escalade in which investigators found more than $57,000, cell phones, prepaid credit cards, wigs and sunglasses.

"Everyone should now know that no one is above the law, religion is not an excuse for abuse and every victim has a right to be heard," said Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who had endorsed the prosecution in Washington County.

Since at least the 1920s, members of the FLDS have lived in the twin towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, where the women wear long prairie dresses and have long braided hair, and the men dress modestly too, often in buttoned-up shirts.

All homes and other property were kept in a trust controlled by Jeffs and other church leaders until a judge in 2005 put an accountant in charge because of allegations of mismanagement.

Prosecutors Brock Belnap, left, and Ryan Shaum wait for the jury to come into the courtroom during Warren Jeffs' trial Monday, Sept. 24, 2007, in St. George, Utah. The jurors reported they had a verdict on one count, but were hung on the other. The judge sent them back to deliberate more. Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is charged with two counts of rape as an accomplice for allegedly coercing the marriage and rape of a 14-year-old follower to her 19-year-old cousin in 2001. AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, Pool

Prosecutor Brian Filter, center, shakes hands with prosecutor Brock Belnap, left, as prosecutor Ryan Shaum looks on after the verdict in Warren Jeffs' trial Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007, in St. George, Utah. Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was found guilty on both counts of rape as an accomplice for allegedly coercing the marriage and rape of a 14-year-old follower to her 19-year-old cousin in 2001. AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, Pool

Warren Jeffs reacts to the verdicts against him Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007, in St. George, Utah. Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was found guilty on both counts of rape as an accomplice for allegedly coercing the marriage and rape of a 14-year-old follower to her 19-year-old cousin in 2001. Defense attorney Richard Wright stands behind him. AP Photo/Jud Burkett, Pool

Warren Jeffs reacts to the verdict against him Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007, in St. George, Utah. Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was found guilty on both counts of rape as an accomplice for allegedly coercing the marriage and rape of a 14-year-old follower to her 19-year-old cousin in 2001. AP Photo/Jud Burkett, Pool

Warren Jeffs, left, and council react to the verdict against him Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007, in St. George, Utah. Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was found guilty on both counts of rape as an accomplice for allegedly coercing the marriage and rape of a 14-year-old follower to her 19-year-old cousin in 2001. Left to right is Jeffs, defense attorneys Richard Wright, Walter F. Bugden and Tara L. Isaacson, as prosecutors Brock Belnap and Ryan Shaum listen while seated. AP Photo/Jud Burkett, Pool

With law enforcement behind him, Warren Jeffs waits for the jury to reconvene for deliberation in his trial Monday, Sept. 24, 2007, in St. George, Utah. AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, Pool

Warren Jeffs, left, confers with defense attorney Richard Wright during his trial Monday, Sept. 24, 2007, in St. George, Utah. AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, Pool

Warren Jeffs watches the jury leave the courtroom to restart their deliberation in his trial Monday, Sept. 24, 2007, in St. George, Utah. AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, Pool

Prosecutors Brock Belnap, left, and Ryan Shaum wait for the jury to come into the courtroom during Warren Jeffs' trial Monday, Sept. 24, 2007, in St. George, Utah. AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, Pool

Prosecutors Brock Belnap and prosecutor Ryan Shaum wait for the proceedings to begin in Warren Jeffs' trial Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007, in St. George, Utah. One of the jurors was replaced by an alternate, starting the deliberation process anew. Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is charged with two counts of rape as an accomplice for allegedly coercing the marriage and rape of a 14-year-old follower to her 19-year-old cousin in 2001. AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, Pool

Warren Jeffs, left, heads back to a holding area after the jury reconvened to deliberate in his trial Monday, Sept. 24, 2007, in St. George, Utah. AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, Pool


Warren Jeffs looks toward the jury in his trial Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007, in St. George, Utah. One of the jurors was replaced by an alternate, starting the deliberation process anew. Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is charged with two counts of rape as an accomplice for allegedly coercing the marriage and rape of a 14-year-old follower to her 19-year-old cousin in 2001. AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, Pool

_____________________________________________________________

BS Ranch Perspective:

It is still hard to believe that in today's time that we are still dealing with men and woman getting married, But that isn't the story, the story is that there is a man that lives in of all places Utah, where the Polygamist Relationship was born, back in the mid, 1800's the Mormon's migrated West so that they could go to a place where they could practice their Polygamist relationships in private, and without anymore judgements by any of the other Christian groups in the country. The Mormon's Migrated to California after the Civil War, to a little place that they were going to make into a Place that they modeled after Salt Lake City!! That City was known as San Bernardino California, and the Mormon Trail is still in the mountains above Crest Line today, The trail has been mapped out and they have found pieces of it that you can see where it is and it is great!! As you go up Highway 18 you will see the Historical Landmark to the left as you are on the way up the hill from San Bernardino, and there is a huge pull out to park and hike over to see the trial where they made the trip in a horse and Covered wagon, it is awesome that they did that so long ago!! The trail is still there today!! The only bad thing is that they are practicing the marriage Status of more then one wife today, I know that if one guy is doing it that there are many more out there and there is no way that any man can keep up with that many wives!!
I mean there are medications that are prescribed today for just one man and one woman to keep up with their own love live let alone the love live of one man and two woman!!! 

There is just NO WAY THAT ANY MAN CAN KEEP UP WITH ANY SITUATION LIKE THAT!!

BS Ranch

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Last Day of Summer is All Wet (Press Enterprise; Sat. Sept. 22, 2007) An Abnormal Rain Storm That Was an Answer to My Prayers!! BSR

BS Ranch Perspective:

The Rain was a Prayer answered, with the FIRES that were out of control burning in the news, it was my prayer answered! I wanted the fires to be well closed and easier for the Firefighters to clean up and get under control! The Fires did most of what I had prayed for but not all of what I prayed for!

With that the rain was also a huge measure of what the State of California needs. We are in such a Water Crunch that the government and non-profit agencies are just now going out of their way to report it in very very small quiet way (even though they have a commercial out on television that refers people to go to a Web site. The commercial is quiet, & refers to the web site quietly at the end of the commercial), so that in no way a panic is caused, after all they don't want people vacating their homes and fleeing California due to the water shortages, that we are in, and about to experience. But since they don't want to report the shortages of Water in the State I will, by the use of my small unread BLOG! Sad huh? Well Here is a Scary web site if you read and understand what they are talking about next year or the next we will be in some serious problems, and we will be drinking desalinized Water from the Pacific Ocean!! just to beat the shortage of water, at a cost that will be past on to the whole state of California. Just ask the governor?

BS Ranch

(http://www.CaliforniaWater.org/) The web site enclosed in the parenthesise is believed to be the Web Site that is referred to by the Commercial, However it is shown mentioned only once and you only asked to go there once at the end of the commercial if you are interested in the conservation water in California. It is all part of the information that they are required to give under the Last Proposition 13 That passed Regarding the Clean Water Act of 2005, since it passed in 2005! If you want to go to the web site I suggest that you do so it tells you everything that is going on to clean the Water in California!! It is a Great Resource for us or anyone to use that is!! B.S.R...

Last day of summer is all wet


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10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, September 22, 2007
By AARON BURGIN and LEEZEL TANGLAO
The Press-Enterprise

When the first drops of rain hit the ground in several Inland cities Saturday morning, records fell.

Rainfall records, however, were easy to achieve Saturday -- it had never rained on a Sept. 22 in the region, National Weather Service meteorologists said.

"It's all relative," meteorologist Phil Gonsalves said. "You can say it's the most powerful storm in 20 years because we just aren't used to rain this time of the year. That's why we weren't making a big deal about it."

Story continues below
Silvia Flores / The Press-Enterprise
San Bernardino County Fire Department fire mechanic Anthony Harbeck on Saturday tries to stay dry as he performs inspections on fire equipment in Running Springs.

The slow-moving storm predicted to move into the region Friday crept inland Saturday, the last day of summer. As expected, it brought the first measurable amount of rainfall in five months to some areas and near-record low temperatures in several cities, including Riverside.

Rain totals for the 24-hour period between 5 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m. Saturday, from the National Weather Service, showed precipitation was heaviest in mountain and foothill communities, but still less than an inch.

In San Bernardino County, 0.96 inches of rain were recorded in Lake Arrowhead, 0.89 in Lytle Creek, 0.74 in Devore, 0.45 in Wrightwood and 0.21 in Oak Glen, the weather service reported.

The storm gave other Inland communities a more mild soaking: 0.31 inches of rain fell in Fontana, 0.28 in Upland, 0.24 in Rialto, 0.23 at the Corona airport, 0.20 in San Bernardino, 0.17 at the Ontario airport, 0.14 at the Chino airport 0.11 in Murrieta and 0.05 inches at UCR.

Dense fog in the mountain communities of Big Bear Lake and Lake Arrowhead were also a result of the unseasonable weather system.

Although heavy rain and fog blanketed the roads leading up to burn areas of the Butler Fire 2, east of Running Springs today, some Fawnskin residents were disappointed that they didn't get more precipitation.

"We're happy to see this rain coming. I just wished there was more of it," said Don Easton, who's lived in the area since the 1980s. Easton said he wasn't concerned about mudslides or flooding.

"It's beautiful here now. Thanks to all the help we had," he said.

Resident Johnny Johnson said things are getting back to normal in the small mountain community after the fire.

"Everything is fine. No problems. We need a little rain," Johnson said. "We like it. It's good. We live in the mountains and we have this kind of weather."

Carol Lorimor, owner of North Antiques and Collectibles, said she was surprised the storm didn't bring more rain to Fawnskin. "A bit of rain is a good thing and a whole lot of rain probably wouldn't be. What we're getting is wonderful," she said.

Story continues below
Silvia Flores / The Press-Enterprise
Cal Fire engineer Phillip Derner on Saturday stays dry inside a fire truck during an inspection in Running Springs.

John Miller, spokesman U.S. Forest Service, said the fire is 100 percent contained and firefighters are mopping up.

Miller said the areas of concern for mud slides are the closed section of Highway 18 at Green Valley Road, the Big Bear Dam and around Fawnskin.

Caltrans crews have been clearing fallen rocks and debris throughout the day. Miller said they don't have an anticipated reopening date for Highway 18.

Meteorologists followed the storm for nearly a week once it formed in the cooler waters off the coast of British Columbia. Originally, they expected the low-pressure system to make its way into Southern California on Thursday, peak Friday and peter out Saturday morning.

Instead, the storm stalled off of the coast Friday, then inched its way ashore during early morning Saturday. The bulk of the storm's energy was centered in Orange and Los Angeles counties, weather service meteorologist Ed Clark said.

The rain that fell in the Inland area caused a spike in traffic accidents, California Highway Patrol senior dispatcher Paul Rogers said.

The weather played a role in at least one fatal collision. Just before 8 a.m., a big-rig slammed into the center divider on Interstate 15, south of Highway 60 in Mira Loma, killing a 34-year-old man from El Cajon and critically injuring another person, the CHP reported.

The driver, who wasn't wearing a seat belt, was thrown from the vehicle and died on the scene about 20 minutes later, according to the Riverside County coroner's office.

Meanwhile, on Saturday evening the National Weather Service predicted the storm clouds would leave the Inland Empire overnight and give way to clear skies and higher temperatures today.

"Zero rain after midnight. No more rain anywhere," said Miguel Miller, a weather service forecaster. The storm marched down from Northern California on Friday, and would probably return to that area for a second round today.

"It was kind of like a bungee jump. It dropped down and hit Southern California, and now it's going back up again," Miller said.

Staff Writer Mary Bender contributed to this story.

Reach Aaron Burgin at 951-375-3733 or aburgin@PE.com

Reach Leezel Tanglao at 951-375-3728 or ltanglao@PE.com

Friday, September 21, 2007

Members of San Manuel Indians Linked to Mexican Mafia (Press Enterprise Sept 19, 2007)

BS Ranch Perspective

This is just a case where there is just large amounts of money is dropped off, in this case for Gaming, and it is a business that is is normal for this to be going on. In this kind of Games there is always large amounts of Cash laying around, flowing into the business, and it is always a target for Gangs to use as a filter for Money Laundering, to clean the money and massive amount of monies that they take in for the business of Drugs. Back in the Early 90's in The City of Rialto had an area known as 'The Woods' (Given that name by the streets in the area. [Glenwood, Beechwood, Amberwood, etc etc...]) were serving several Search Warrants on several Apartments in the 200 Block of N. Glenwood Ave. And Some Apartments located in 210 N. Beechwood Ave.  and One on Lorraine Place. One of the Apartments on Glenwood Ave had over a million dollars worth of Crack Cocaine in the apartment, and very little money, however the bank for the Gang was located in another Apartment also named in the Warrants, in 210 N. Beechwood Ave.  The Living Room had $1.5 Million in $100's& $20's all Stacked in nice neat stacks in the middle of the living room floor all the way into the kitchen/dinning area.

Now if the Indian Tribes are caught to have been doing business with the Gangs with whom Deal drugs, then there is no telling how much money is Drug money and how much money is not drug money, and how much has been laundered into the casino. Now, all the trust that the Indian tribal councils have been asking from the public in these last elections are all washed up!! in fact they are all filled with mud!!

In my opinion, the regulatory commission that was being asked for back two elections ago, which was voted down by the public as a request by the Indian Tribal Council, Should have been voted into effect, and the state should have had an Oversight Committee on Gambling and the Casino's in the State of California!!  This might have prevented the money laundering that has taken place in California. After all when they originally were calling for this type of oversight I was calling for the same oversight as what Nevada has for their Casino's Have!! After all Nevada has cleaned up their Money Laundering problems there, now it is California's Turn. Lets call in a States Oversight, and Audits!!

BS Ranch


Members of San Manuel Indians linked to Mexican Mafia


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10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, September 19, 2007
By MICHELLE DeARMOND and JOHN F. BERRY
The Press-Enterprise

Authorities say that several members of a wealthy Inland gambling tribe have links to the Mexican Mafia and other criminal gangs, according to law-enforcement officials and documents from a pending court case.

Among the members of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians with alleged gang ties, two are charged with conspiracy to commit murder in a case involving gang members, according to authorities. They were arrested during a drug bust at the reservation and in the San Bernardino area in December.

Suspected Mexican Mafia members, arrested in the same Drug Enforcement Administration-related raids, are co-defendants in the murder-conspiracy case, which is scheduled to return Wednesday to San Bernardino County Superior Court. A preliminary hearing could be scheduled at that time.

An analysis of court records in that case and others involving tribal members, along with interviews with law-enforcement officials, show that at least four members of the 200-person tribe are suspected of having ties to criminal gangs.

Among the findings:

Law enforcement authorities say that tribal member Stacy Cheyenne Barajas-Nunez, 24, has bought vehicles for gang members suspected in crimes, has hidden suspects and has served as a financial backer for gangs.

Barajas-Nunez and her brother, Erik Barajas, 34, were arrested Dec. 12 on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder along with reputed members of the Mexican Mafia. Barajas-Nunez also faces drug charges. The two have pleaded innocent.

Authorities identify tribal member Robert Vincent Martinez III, 27, as a gang member who was charged with attempted murder in connection with a 2004 shooting outside The Brass Key, a Highland bar. The charges were later dismissed.

Authorities say tribal member Valerie Gonzales, 29, allowed her 1997 black BMW to be used by her boyfriend at the time, a suspected gang member charged with killing four gang leaders in 2000. Authorities said Luis Alonso Mendoza, the boyfriend, used her car to get to and from the scene of the killings.

The San Manuel tribe said in a written statement and interview that officials are cooperating with investigators and working to protect the casino, patrons and tribal members from criminals.

"Truly, the tribe is looking absolutely at being part of the solution. San Manuel Indian reservation is not the problem. The problem is countywide, regionwide, in fact, it's all over the country," said Jacob Coin, director of communications for the tribe. "We are just in the way -- the path -- of these kinds of criminal activities."

Coin said the tribe has a security checkpoint where guests are stopped before getting access to reservation homes, but "crime finds a way to infiltrate even the safest and most secure of cities."

One court record, listed as "DEA sensitive," described an October meeting between law-enforcement officials, including a San Manuel security staff member and a San Bernardino police officer. They discussed fears that Mexican Mafia "gang members had infiltrated the Indian reservation and were extorting some of the tribal members for money."

San Manuel tribal members receive profit checks -- listed in court documents as $100,000 a month -- from the casino, which draws customers from across Southern California.

Coin would not address that allegation about casino-profit checks.

"The tribal government would have no real way to control how the tribal members spend it," he said.

'Particularly Vulnerable'

Critics of California's Indian gambling industry argued a decade ago that tribal casinos would be vulnerable to organized crime without strict outside regulation, much as Las Vegas was until regulation increased.

An investigation by a U.S. Senate committee in the 1950s found widespread evidence of criminal influence and skimming in Las Vegas casinos, prompting a crackdown on criminal involvement in casinos and forcing the mob eventually to sell their casino interests.

Tribal casinos are regulated by a tribal gambling agency, state agencies and the federal government. State and federal regulators said they were unfamiliar with possible connections between San Manuel members and organized crime, but many have warned against the risk for years.

Federal investigators this year said they busted an organized crime ring based in San Diego County. They accused the group of running card-cheating scams in 10 Indian casinos, including some in Southern California.

"They're particularly vulnerable to organized crime inside and out," said Gareth Lacy, a spokesman for the state attorney general's office. "Any casino that is handling large amounts of cash -- it's a potential target for criminal activity."

The National Indian Gaming Commission, a federal agency charged with limiting organized crime influence in Indian casinos, has not found any violations at the San Manuel casino, said Shawn Pensoneau, a spokesman for the commission.

The tribe defended its regulatory system in its written statement.

"The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, like other tribes engaged in government gaming, has instituted strong and effective regulatory and oversight systems at the San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino," the statement said. "The regulatory efforts are led by the tribe's own gaming commission and surveillance and security agencies. Beyond that, the casino complies with the myriad of state and federal laws and regulations aimed at protecting the gaming activities from undue influences and corruption."

Drug Bust

Deputy District Attorney Cheryl Kersey, the leading gang prosecutor for San Bernardino County, said she has noticed a connection between Hispanic gangs in Southern California and San Manuel tribal members in recent years.

Kersey is the prosecutor in the case involving Barajas, Barajas-Nunez and brothers Salvador Orozco Hernandez, 42, and Alfred Orozco Hernandez, 38, described as gang members in police records.

They were arrested when authorities raided four homes on the reservation and others off the reservation in December as part of a seven-month undercover DEA investigation targeting the Mexican Mafia and its methamphetamine trafficking and street crime, officials said at the time.

The Mexican Mafia, which controls territory from the Mexican border to Bakersfield, uses its power to run a criminal empire inside and outside prison walls, according to prison and law enforcement sources.

At a Dec. 12 news conference, authorities announced that 400 Inland law-enforcement officers working with the DEA executed 43 search warrants that resulted in 19 arrests and the seizure of $1 million in methamphetamine and cash as well as 56 guns.

According to court records from the DEA case, all four -- the Hernandez brothers as well as Barajas-Nunez and her brother, Erik -- are charged with conspiracy to commit murder as well as carrying out the crime in association of, and to benefit, a criminal street gang.

Salvador Hernandez, described in the court documents as a top Mexican Mafia member in Southern California, and Barajas-Nunez, a tribal member, are charged in the same counts of transporting and possessing methamphetamine.

In court documents, Barajas-Nunez is described as helping support gang members' families and paying rent and providing vehicles for gang members. Authorities say she has bailed gang members out of jail.

According to a DEA document in the case, Alfred Hernandez plotted to sell a half-pound of methamphetamine during a meeting at the San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino with an unnamed buyer.

On Wednesday, Barajas-Nunez said in a brief telephone conversation that she is frustrated by the charges. Her attorney, Albert Perez Jr., said that the allegations against his client are not true.

"The authorities do what they do," Perez said. "We're still trying to figure all this out -- that's the God-honest truth."

Mayra Romero, 27, identified in court records as a close friend, described Barajas-Nunez as a full-time married mother of four boys -- two 15-year-olds she adopted and two other children, ages 3 and 4.

"They're painting her as this mafia person, drug-dealer, and that's not her," Romero said. "Anybody who knows her, knows she's all about her four kids."

Calls made to the Bloomington home of Salvador Hernandez were not returned.

In a December interview at the house, Janet Hernandez described her husband as a good father and husband who worked as a steel cutter.

The conspiracy to commit murder charges against Barajas-Nunez, Barajas and the Hernandez brothers stem from an alleged plot to murder the manager of The Brass Key, a Highland bar. The business is owned by Greg Duro, son of tribal Chairman Henry Duro.

Fatal Shootings

The former manager, who is not being identified, said he believed he was the target in the murder-conspiracy scheme because he was friends with James Seay, a bar patron and brother of former San Diego Chargers football player Mark Seay, according to court documents. Court records don't make clear why the manager was targeted.

James Seay was shot and wounded in front of The Brass Key on May 17, 2004. Tribal member Robert Vincent Martinez III was charged in the case, but the charges were later dismissed, records show.

Seay, citing his lost wages and injuries, sued Martinez on May 9, 2005. In court records, Martinez's lawyer, Trent Copeland, referred to the suit as a "sham" and "extortion."

Nonetheless, Martinez settled the case. Police records show Seay was then fatally shot in front of his mother's house in San Bernardino within days of receiving a settlement of more than $500,000. The killing remains unsolved.

In what authorities describe as another link, tribal member Valerie Gonzales also has ties to gang members who are charged with murdering four gang leaders in 2000, Kersey said.

Gonzales was dating Luis Alonso Mendoza , 31, law enforcement officials said. Authorities say he used her car July 9, 2000, when the gang members were slain. The three defendants -- Mendoza, Lorenzo Inez Arias and John Adrian Ramirez -- face the death penalty if convicted.

The shootings were dubbed the "Dead Presidents" murders because the deceased were suspected of being gang leaders.

Opening statements for all three defendants are expected to begin in mid-January in San Bernardino County Superior Court.

Staff writer Paige Austin contributed to this report.

More Inland Students Using Free Tutoring From No Child Left Behind Act. (Press Enterprise Tues. Sept. 18, 2007)

More Inland students using free tutoring from No Child Left Behind


  Download story podcast

10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, September 18, 2007
By SHIRIN PARSAVAND
The Press-Enterprise

More students are taking advantage of free tutoring provided under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, but they still make up only a fraction of those eligible for the help, according to a report on the state's 20 largest school districts.

The number of students switching out of low-performing schools to go to higher-performing schools has gone up too, according to the report provided to the state Board of Education for its meeting Tuesday.

The state Department of Education compiled the report in July in response to the U.S. Education Department, which said the state wasn't doing enough to implement the choice and tutoring provisions of No Child Left Behind. The state continues to monitor the 20 districts and to update federal officials, said Jerry Cummings, a program consultant for the state Department of Education.

All four of the Inland school districts reviewed -- Corona-Norco, Fontana, Riverside and San Bernardino -- had an increase last year in the number of students receiving tutoring or switching schools under No Child Left Behind.

Under the federal law, schools that receive federal aid and don't meet performance targets for two consecutive years are put in "program improvement." These schools must give students the option of attending another school in the district. If they remain in the program for more than one year, they must offer free tutoring to low-income students.

Fontana Unified had the largest increase in students enrolled in tutoring of any district in the report. Fontana officials stepped up publicity about the tutoring by including articles in newsletters and making repeated phone calls to families, Deputy Superintendent Cali Olsen-Binks said.

The district also hosts sessions where parents can meet representatives of the 22 companies that provide free tutoring, she said. Riverside Unified and San Bernardino City Unified school districts also host sessions for parents to find out about tutoring.

Despite the increase in Fontana Unified, the 1,276 students receiving tutoring represent only 17 percent of those eligible, according to the district. Nationwide, only 10 percent to 15 percent of eligible children receive the free tutoring, while around 1 percent of children eligible to switch schools take advantage of that option, Cummings said.

For many low-income families, getting children to tutoring sites is difficult. After-school tutoring also competes with other activities, particularly for high school students, according to the report.

Families that might consider switching schools can face even more hurdles. Districts must pay for transportation, but going to another school can mean a long bus ride.

That is the case for the daughter of Rhonda Early, of San Bernardino, who spends an hour each way on city buses to get to Cajon High School rather than attend her assigned school, which is in program improvement.

"It becomes a tradeoff between what's convenient and what we have to do just to expose children to quality academic programs," said Early, a member of the Personnel Commission for the San Bernardino City Unified School District.

Many parents have said they don't want to send their children long distances on buses, said Maria Garcia, a spokeswoman for the district.

In Fontana, some parents simply are more comfortable with their neighborhood school, even if it is in program improvement, Olsen-Binks said.

"They would rather have their child close to home," she said.

Reach Shirin Parsavand at 951-368-9645 or sparsavand@PE.com

No Child

Left Behind

The number of students in the Inland area's largest school districts who took advantage of free tutoring or exercised school choice by transferring to a higher performing school rose in the past year.

Tutoring 2005-06 2006-07 
Corona-Norco176209
Fontana4631,276
Riverside618794
San Bernardino1,7442,527
   
Choice 2005-06 2006-07 
Corona-Norco3875
Fontana1225
Riverside2048
San Bernardino17137

Source: California Department of Education


________________________________________________________________________

BS Ranch Perspective:

I don't know what is better the cost of all the tutoring that the student gets or the switching of their schools. The example that was given in the story was that there was a student that switched schools and rides a bus over an hour two and from school each way, I don't know if that is a great benefit trade off when they are not getting enough rest in order to accomplish the studies needed to make the grades that they are required to even have an average score in the class. Then you have to wonder is that the Child's Fault or is that the Teachers fault for the way that they deliver the Class Curriculum, because if the teacher is one that delivers the  Curriculum without any entertainment to keep the child or anyone interested in what they are teaching then they will end up with a classroom full of people that are ready for bed!! If the people that they are attempting to teach are all in a state of mind to take a nap or go back to bed after arriving at school from waking up after a night of weeknight partying anyway, then the student will fail, and worst of all I believe that this is the type of Teacher that is there whom is just there to collect a pension, and they are really not there so much for the children anymore. OH, They say that they are there for the Children, but no one is really there for the children.  

Teachers claim that their pay isn't all that much, for the job that they have! But, I have to say that they make better then middle class on a single check or single earner for a family! Two Teachers can make about $80,000 a year up to $150,000 a year. I know that in some districts don't pay very much, in fact some only pay a little over $30,000 a year, and some are even less depending on the smaller districts in the small very rural area's, But my point on this is this, that Teachers all get the same Retirement paid into the PERS when the work for a California Based School, that is. Look I don't want to get into an argument with people on how poor teachers are paid, Because in Kentucky in the Blue Ridge mountains there are some really low paid Teachers, Maybe Lower then what I have stated here. I am referring only to that of a California Teacher! That is all just a California Teacher!!

Other then that I can say this, that the Teacher Business and the "No Kid Left Behind Act" should be thought through, to a more Republican way of spening on the plan. I don't care about the Free Tutoring, But what I am tired of hearing about is the Students that are bussed over an hour out of their School District's to Another School district to do the same thing that they would be doiing in their old school, so that doesn't make sence, to me. I guess they are shopping for the more Entertaining Teacher so that they will learn better, in that sense it is well worth it, and it is too bad that there are not more teachers that are not working to put more entertainment into their lessen plan to keep the children Attention and keep them wanting to learn the lessen plan.

BS Ranch

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Renovation of S.B. County Registrar of Voters' Office Begines! (Press Enterprise Sept 19, 2007)

Renovation of S. B. County registrar of voters' office begins


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08:26 AM PDT on Wednesday, September 19, 2007
By IMRAN GHORI
The Press-Enterprise

Survey: Do you think the move from electronic voting to paper ballots is a good idea?

A tangle of wires, exposed pipe and bare, torn walls greet visitors to the San Bernardino County registrar of voters' office.

The county has begun a $3.4 million renovation of the offices on East Rialto Avenue in San Bernardino even as the registrar's staff is preparing for four elections over the next year and a change in voting systems.

The project, which will add 5,145 square feet of space to the complex, is the first expansion since the registrar's office moved into the building in 1979.

Story continues below
Greg Vojtko / The Press-Enterprise
The renovated San Bernardino County registrar of voters' office will include a 4,300-square-foot room for handling absentee ballots, which numbered about 200,000 in 2006 -- up from 13,901 in 1976.

Registrar Kari Verjil said the improvements have been on the top of her list since she took over two years ago.

"We're running out of space," she said.

The staff has grown along with the number of voters over the years, but the workers have continued to operate in the same space, Verjil said. Training for poll workers sometimes spills into the hallway when they form groups because of tight space.

The number of absentee voters has increased from 13,901 in 1976 to about 200,000 in 2006, but staff still has had to use the same 900-square-foot room for counting ballots.

The renovated office will include a 2,000-square-foot room dedicated to poll worker training with a more user-friendly classroomlike setup. Verjil expects to train about 3,000 poll workers for the Nov. 6 election. The room, a former cafeteria that sat vacant for five years, can double as a media center on election nights, she said.

The absentee-ballot room is being expanded to 4,300 square feet. The layout will allow for the painstaking tasks involved in sorting and counting ballots to be separated into a logical flow, starting with the delivery of the ballots, their verification and sorting, counting by computer and then storage.

"You're not going to be bouncing around like a pingpong ball," Verjil said, describing what the process was like under the current setup.

The counting process will be visible to observers through a glass wall, an improvement over the current observation room that has a few windows, she said.

"The plan is to present an open environment for our voters," Verjil said.

The front area is being redesigned with a larger counter space and employees who deal with the public most often -- candidate and voter registration services -- situated nearby.

The renovations had been planned for early next year, with completion by April, but were moved up after the primary was split into a February presidential primary and a June state primary.

The work is expected to be complete by Dec. 1, just in time for the office to start preparing for the February primary, Verjil said.

A second phase of the expansion, in which a mezzanine will be added to the warehouse area, will take place next year after the primary.

Since Aug. 20, when work began, the registrar's staff has been housed in a smaller office in the same building down a series of hallways. Employees made the transition to their temporary office over a weekend without any difficulties, Verjil said.

In addition to the renovations, the office is switching from electronic voting to paper ballots for this November's election, when some city, college and school district races are being held. Voter turnout typically is lower in such off-year elections and Verjil said the smaller election will allow her staff time to be ready for the transition.

Last month, Secretary of State Debra Bowen decertified electronic voting machines used by San Bernardino, Riverside and other counties, citing security concerns. Counties were ordered to switch to different systems by February.

San Bernardino County will use optical-scan ballots, the same it uses for absentee ballots. At least one touch-screen machine still will be available at each polling place under Bowen's order. The rest of the machines will sit stacked in the registrar's warehouse.

Riverside County also is planning to use optical-scan ballots but has asked Sequoia Voting Systems, the vendor for its voting equipment, to lend ballot counting equipment for the February primary.

Reach Imran Ghori at 909-806-3061 or ighori@PE.com

_________________________________________________________

BS Ranch Perspective

It is totally unusual to me that they would request to have the Electronic Voter Machines Deactivated even if the Volume of Voters is down when there is an off year to the voting year! I have to say that if they kept the Electronic Machines in use at this time that the Voting Public would have been up rather then down for this time of year! As the Voters have been up over all because of the Electronic Machines.

It is my belief that the Democratic Controlled San Bernardino Offices of the Registrar of Voter's Knows that the Electronic Voting Machines have brought New Voters to VOTE!!   The Democratic Registrar of Voters has requested and won to go back to the Optical Voting Machines, because the Democrats of California Found that they were more Successful when they used the Optical counting Machines, They found that they were more successful when they used that method of voting and so they want to go back to that method of counting votes, since The Computer, Electronic Counting machine counts the Votes right then and there, it draws more voters to Vote, however in my area the more voters are Republican Voters!! That is not good for them, so they want to go back to the old way of voting and make it so that there are less voters to come in and vote, and that way there might be more control on the count, as everyone knows that there are so much more ways to Modify the count on a Optical Eye Paper count, Every time that they did a recount of the presidential Campaign regarding President Bush, and Presidential Candidate Gore, in 2004, the count was different every time, especially in Florida, let alone in California.

Yet this is the system that they the Democrats want to go to, especially since the Democrats are in charge of the Federal Government for the Election!!! Very Interesting.....as the Detective Would Say with the Very Thick German Accent!! Very Interesting...Indeed!!

BS Ranch


For Fallen Officers: Hundreds of Motorcycles Rides to Raise Money for The Families of Officers Who Died on Duty (Journal Now Sept. 17, 2007)



For Fallen Officers: Hundreds of motorcyclists ride to raise money for the families of officers who died on duty
By Melissa Hall
JOURNAL REPORTER
Monday, September 17, 2007
John O'Toole of Pilot Mountain fastens Nocona, his 14-year-old Jack Russell terrier, in her seat on the back of his Honda Shadow before the start of the ride.
John O'Toole of Pilot Mountain fastens Nocona, his 14-year-old Jack Russell terrier, in her seat on the back of his Honda Shadow before the start of the ride. 
(Journal Photo by Lauren Carroll)
 

Pati and John O'Toole rode their motorcycle to Hanging Rock State Park yesterday, accompanied by Nocona, their Jack Russell terrier.

But it wasn't just a pleasure ride.

The O'Tooles were helping to raise money for two families of two police officers killed in the line of duty, Sgt. Greg Martin of the Jonesville Police Department and Sgt. Howard Plouff of the Winston-Salem Police Department.

John O'Toole is a retired U.S. Secret Service agent who was assigned to the Winston-Salem office from 1981 to 1991. After he retired, he moved back to this area and now lives in Stokes County.

"I have a history with this department," he said, referring to the Winston-Salem Police Department. "We caught a lot of people together."

Blue Knights International Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club sponsored the Ride the Line trip. The motorcycle club is based in Maine and has more than 500 chapters.

Yesterday's ride was the first time Ride the Line has been held here. The riders left downtown Winston-Salem about 1 p.m. for the drive to Hanging Rock and returned about two hours later.

Mike Kimbrell, a retired officer from Southern Pines, was one of almost 200 motorcyclists who took part.

"It was a good ride," Kimbrell said. "The Winston-Salem chapter came down and had a ride with our chapter a couple of weeks ago."

Officer Gene Piscatelli of the Winston-Salem Police Department, one of the organizers of the ride, said that the money raised from the ride will benefit the officers' families. One of Martin's children is a teenager now and wants to go to college, he said.

After the ride, the motorcyclists were treated to food and entertainment at My Cousin Vinny's, a restaurant on North Marshall Street. There was a silent auction, door prizes and two raffles. Piscatelli said that they raised a total of about $6,500.

Martin was killed early on the morning of Oct. 5, 1996, after stopping a stolen pickup truck on Interstate 77. He left a wife and two children.

Jonesville police are investigating whether Adam Leroy Lane, a truck driver from Jonesville, might have been involved in Martin's killing. Lane has been charged in Massachusetts with armed assault, attempted rape and murder.

In New Jersey, he has been charged with first-degree murder, second-degree burglary and third-degree possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes.

Lane has not been charged in connection with Martin's death.

Plouff died Feb. 23 after being shot in the face at the Red Rooster, a nightclub on Jonestown Road. Plouff and other Winston-Salem officers responded to help Forsyth County deputy sheriffs who were working security at a private party when several fights broke out. The fights continued in the parking lot, where Plouff was shot. Plouff also left behind a wife and two children.

Keith Antoine Carter, 22, has been charged with first-degree murder in Plouff's death.

Sgt. Will Fine of the Winston-Salem Police Department is the president of the local chapter of Blue Knights International. The group plans to make Ride the Line an annual activity, he said.

In addition to the law-enforcement officers who ride, organizers encourage other riders to join them.

"We want them to meet the officers who are out there protecting them," Piscatelli said.

■ Melissa Hall can be reached at 996-6601 or mhall@wsjournal.com.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Rialto Eyes Toxin Money? (San Bernardino County Sun Sept. 11, 2007) City Pursuing $23Million from State!

Rialto eyes toxin money
City pursuing $23M from state
Jason Pesick, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun


Download: Letter to Cindy Tuck

RIALTO - City officials are seeking $23 million in emergency funds from the state because of perchlorate contamination in the drinking water.

The contamination is not new nor has an emergency been officially declared, but Rialto has been battling the perchlorate for years.

It found its way into the groundwater from the past manufacturing at industrial facilities of military rockets, fireworks and other explosives.

On Aug. 29, members of the City Council met in Sacramento with a number of state officials, including Dan Dunmoyer, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's deputy chief of staff.

Dunmoyer suggested that Rialto look into declaring a state of emergency.

"It's the only way we can get emergency funds from the governor. We have to do it," said City Councilman Ed Scott, concerning the possible declaration of a state of emergency.

Scott is a member of the council's perchlorate subcommittee.

The council will likely vote at its next meeting on whether to declare the emergency, he said.

Perchlorate, which could cause a number of health effects by interfering with the thyroid, has been flowing through Rialto from industrial sites on the city's north end.

It could cost hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up.

The contamination has generated more attention in Sacramento since last month, when a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge halted state hearings to determine if three companies - Pyro Spectaculars, Goodrich and Black & Decker - should have to clean some of the contamination.

The city laid out its funding request in a letter to Cindy Tuck, undersecretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency.

The city would use the money to stop the perchlorate from continuing to move through the Rialto Basin and contaminating more clean water.

Much of the money Rialto requested would also help the city better understand the extent of the contamination.

Rialto has developed plans that spell out what needs to be done in order to better understand the total cleanup cost and the extent of the contamination.

The city wants to use the state money to gather that information, Scott said.

Then Rialto could take out an insurance policy, and parties such as the suspected polluters, would pay into the policy, to guarantee that the cleanup would be paid for.

"We are seeking an emergency cleanup while we urge the state to toughen its enforcement effort against the (potentially responsible parties)," reads the letter, signed by Scott and Councilwoman Winnie Hanson, the other member of the perchlorate subcommittee.

In another move that could provide Rialto with millions of dollars in cleanup money, the state Assembly last week amended legislation, which had already passed in the Senate, to provide about $50 million in remaining Proposition 84 money for drinking water cleanup.

The money set aside by the Assembly amendment should go to the poorest, most populated and most contaminated areas, said Alicia Trost, a spokeswoman for Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland.

Perata wrote the original bill.

"So Rialto of course is included in that group," Trost said.

Scott said he hopes Rialto can get $15 million to $20 million of that money.

Both Assembly chambers were expected to vote on the legislation during an all-night session on Tuesday.

__________________________________________________

BS Ranch Perspective:

When is The Rialto City Administrator going to Wake up, and go to the City Council and ask for the City's Council's Resignation. After all Owen's handling of the Perchlorate Contamination in the water was Very Flawed from the Beginning. He Started off with a massive Law Suit, Opening huge billable hours for him and his Law Firm, from which he knows that the city cannot afford. The Gamble was that the money that was generated by the Law Suit would be paid not by the City but by the private business that was named in the law suit, however the Businesses have been winning their portion of the law suits and it has made it hard for the city now to make a simple request to the Federal Government, (namely the Environment Protection Agency), to come in and assist in the clean up of the Perchlorate.

Now that there is an Active Law Suit the EPA will not just step in and clean up the mess, they must wait to allow the law suit to go the full suit, now that the City of Rialto has spent over $23Million on the clean up and they have not gotten anything done to clean up the perchlorate, other then shutting down the wells that had tested beyond the measurable amount that is considered to be toxic, well the wells that are getting small amounts of Perchlorate contamination could be getting more toxic, however they might only do spot checking, but that is not information that is given to the public.

Now the city's counselor has to go to the state to bail himself out of the trouble that he has dug himself into! The Rialto City Administrator Garcia still sits in his office while all this goes on, $23 Million of the city's money has been spent and is gone, if this was the Police Department and this kind of money was mishandled, I can say with 100% honesty that the City's Administrator would fire the Police Chief and accuse him of being a thief! Then the Police Department would be torn to bits in the news and the whole Police Department would be called Corrupt!! Wait, we have been down this road, only with a real Corrupt Police Chief, Just like the Cities Attorney seems to be more and more corrupt, with billing more and more money to the city when he gets the second largest check, if not the largest check second only to the City Administrator.

Wait, that City Administrator is the one that sits on his hands when it seems to be the time to look into getting a new City Counsel. But who am I? I am just a Concerned Citizen that they are supposed to represent! A Citizen that they are supposed to represent without profit to self!!

BS Ranch

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Police Fatalities on the rise in 2007 (Christian Science Monitor September 17, 2007)

from the September 17, 2007 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0917/p03s03-ussc.html

Police fatalities on the rise in '07

Two shootouts last week are part of a troubling phenomenon in which officer deaths have jumped to a level not seen in 29 years.

| Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
 

The shooting of four police officers, one of them fatally, near Miami on Thursday became another dark day in what is already a tough year for America's 800,000 police officers.

Coming only a few days after a shootout in Odessa, Texas, that killed three officers, the Miami incident became part of a troubling phenomenon for 2007: a spike in the number of police officers who died in the line of duty to a level not seen since 1978.

Of the 132 officers to die so far this year, 54 were shot. The number of shootings represents a 59 percent increase over the same period in 2006, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund in Washington.

After years of watching these figures decline or hold steady, experts are not prepared to say whether this year's increase is a trend or an aberration.

Still, "the figures this year are nothing short of alarming," says Craig Floyd, chairman of the officers memorial fund.

Police offer several possible explanations for the high losses, including an uptick in violent crime around the country. Some experts suggest that community empathy for police, which rose after 9/11, may be waning now, especially in places where tensions exist between poor minority residents and police forces, or where transiency is relatively high, as in Miami or New Orleans.

The '07 trend line, while distressing, does not signal a danger level akin to that of the social upheaval of the 1960s and '70s, or of the "crack wars" of the late 1980s, experts say.

"It is a different time today and [there is] less of a generalized adversarial relationship between the citizenry and the cops," says Laurence Miller, a psychologist who works with the West Palm Beach Police Department in Florida. "The hard cases [in the 1960s and '70s] were a large group of criminals who politicized their criminality as rebellion. Some were sincere rebels with or without a cause, and some were petty criminals who said it was OK to take their anger out on cops."

Between the afterglow of 9/11 and TV shows such as "Cops," which usually depict police officers as tough-guy professionals who exude gritty determination in the face of criminality, law-enforcement officers today enjoy relatively high standing in society at large.

Police losses much higher in early '70s

Those attitudes can affect the police fatality rate. Back in 1973, when there were about 210 officers for every 100,000 Americans, 134 police were feloniously killed, according to statistics from the US Department of Justice. In 2005, the last year for which the DOJ has figures, 55 police officers were feloniously killed and there were about 250 police officers for every 100,000 residents.

(On the other side of the coin, the Justice Department counts an average of 350 "felons justifiably killed by police" in recent years, down from a peak of about 400 in 1994.)

The recent officer deaths from shootings have raised awareness and tension in station houses across the US.

In Florida, 10 police officers have been killed this year. But big metro areas and sprawling, transient suburbs are not the only places affected. Veteran cop Bruce McKay was shot and killed in rural Franconia, N.H., in May.

In the Miami incident, police caught up with the suspect, Shawn Sherwin Labeet, Thursday night at an apartment complex, where he was shot and killed. Police say he was armed and armored, and they have arrested six others for helping him flee or for giving false information. Miami-Dade officer Jose Somohano died in the shootout earlier that day, one officer is hospitalized, and two were treated and released.

"It's gut-wrenching," said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez on Thursday before the suspect was found. "It's a sad day."

The suspect had used a powerful semiautomatic weapon to shoot the four officers, police say.

Dangers of police work remain high

Nationwide, six incidents this year resulted in multiple officer deaths, from Moncks Corner, S.C., to New York City.

The fact that cops are backed up by tough laws, improved armor, and better training should not lull anyone into complacency about the danger of police work, says Terry Lynn, a professor at Endicott College in Beverly, Mass., and a former police officer who was wounded in action in Boston in 1993.

"When good intersects with the bad, we hope that good is always going to result, and that's not always the end result," says Mr. Lynn.

Despite tragic incidents, police work is safer than many people might think. Policing is ranked eighth – below convenience store clerks, construction workers, and Bering Sea crabbers – when it comes to dangerous jobs.

Mr. Floyd of the officers memorial fund allows, too, that recent events could be aberrations. Between 2005 and 2006, he says, North Carolina went from zero officer deaths to 10. A similar thing happened in Virginia the year before. "It's hard to explain that," he says.

Full HTML version of this story which may include photos, graphics, and related links

____________________________________________________________________________

BS Ranch Perspective:

It's not just in Atlanta that the Police Population is being assaulted, it is also these 50 states as well! For some reason the Respect for Police is down and the people that are have that respect for the Police, simply don't any more! It is truly a sad life that we are in and have become!!

I hope for The sake of the United States of America that the feelings turn around, before the Law Enforcement Position becomes a position that is something that People hate have had grown to hate!!

BS Ranch

Friday, September 14, 2007

Court Issues Initial Ruling to Hault Mount Whitney Devlopment (Aug. 31, 2007 YubaNet.com)



Court Issues Initial Ruling To Halt Mount Whitney Development
Decision Points Way For Land Swap
By: SRVA Advocates for Smart Growth
Published: Aug 31, 2007 at 10:49
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In an initial ruling released August 27 2007, the California Court of Appeals sided with Sierra Nevada conservationists and concluded that development approvals in the Mount Whitney Portal area violate state law.

The ruling clearly states, "The County failed to proceed in the manner required by law." Once finalized, the Court action would overturn Inyo County approvals of the "Whitney Portal Preserve" project, a remote subdivision of 27 luxury homes along Whitney Portal Road, the sole paved access route for the tallest mountain in the continental United States.

SRVA Advocates for Smart Growth, the plaintiffs in the case, have long advocated for a better blueprint for development in the region. They argued that Inyo County decision-makers should have considered the possibility of a land swap, whereby the threatened landscape could be protected and growth could be focused closer to existing development.

The panel of judges agreed. "We agree with SRVA that the analysis of the land exchange alternative is legally insufficient and reverse on that ground," according to the initial decision.

"The proposed development was clearly an unacceptable threat to the Mount Whitney area and the Owens Valley," said Jennifer Fenton of the grassroots SRVA Advocates for Smart Growth. "We look forward to working with public agencies, private developers, and local residents to open a meaningful dialog and work on a resolution that honors the values of the region and protects the resources of the Sierra Nevada."

State law requires that environmental review provide decision-makers with adequate information to assess the impacts of a proposed project, including alternatives to the proposal. But, according to the initial ruling, environmental review "�includes only the barest of facts�, vague and unsupported conclusions about aesthetics, views, and economic objectives, and no independent analysis whatsoever of relevant considerations."

The decision is another important example of citizen action to stop illegal approvals of Sierra development. "We are delighted with this tentative ruling," said Tamara Galanter of Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP, counsel for SRVA. "The 45 page decision reflects a careful analysis of the applicable law and recognizes the importance of considering alternatives as part of the environmental review process"

Conservationists throughout California look to the proposed project as a dangerous precedent for leapfrog development in the fragile Eastern Sierra landscape. "This is an important victory for the entire Sierra Nevada," said Tom Mooers, executive director of Sierra Watch. "It's another great example of how people are standing up to defend the Sierra landscape � from Mount Whitney in the south to Dyer Mountain in Lassen County."

Now conservationists will seek to work with the landowner to reach a collaborative resolution to the contentious issue. "Our goal was never simply to win a lawsuit," said Fenton. "Our goal is to reach a win-win agreement that protects the land and encourages responsible development. We look forward to taking that next step."

SRVA Advocates for Smart Growth is a non-profit organization working to promote sustainable development in the Eastern Sierra region. For more information, call (559)658-8189 or visit http://srva.net/cms/.

____________________________________________

BS Ranch Perspective

It looks like the Conservantionalists are looking out for my beloved Eastern High Sierra Mountions.
I am not sure how I feel on this issue, I should be in favor of change, but on the other hand I beleive
that I want the least amount of intrusion to the eco-system as possible. after all with change brings People, People brings Trash, garbage that they don't seem to want to carry for 100 to 200' ft to a trash can and throw it away in a proper trash can. NOO, they will throw it down on the grownd and that is where it stays, never to break down, and the  beuty of Nature is taken away. I was born and raised in the Eastern High Sierra's and we used to get sick of those "Flat Landers" that garbaged up our playgrounds! Go Home better yet stay home and trash your own land!

BS Ranch

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Rialto Seeks $23Million for Perchlorate Cleanup

Rialto seeks $23M for perchlorate cleanup
By Jason Pesick, Staff Writer
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

RIALTO - City officials are seeking $23 million in emergency funds from the state because of perchlorate contamination in the drinking water.

The contamination is not new nor has an emergency been officially declared, but Rialto has been battling the perchlorate for years.

It found its way into the groundwater from the past manufacturing at industrial facilities of military rockets, fireworks and other explosives.

On Aug. 29, members of the City Council met in Sacramento with a number of state officials, including Dan Dunmoyer, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's deputy chief of staff.

Dunmoyer suggested that Rialto look into declaring a state of emergency.

"It's the only way we can get emergency funds from the governor. We have to do it," said Councilman Ed Scott, concerning the possible declaration of a state of emergency.

Scott is a member of the council's perchlorate subcommittee.

The council will likely vote at its next meeting on whether to declare the emergency, he said.

Perchlorate, which could cause a number of health effects by interfering with the thyroid, has been flowing through Rialto from industrial sites on the city's north end.

It could cost hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up.

The contamination has generated more attention in Sacramento since last month, when a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge halted state hearings to determine if three companies - Pyro Spectaculars, Goodrich and Black & Decker - should have to clean some of the contamination.

The city laid out its funding request in a letter to Cindy Tuck, undersecretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency.

The city would use the money to stop the perchlorate from continuing to move through the Rialto Basin and contaminating more clean water.

Much of the money Rialto requested would also help the city better understand the extent of the contamination.

Rialto has developed plans that spell out what needs to be done in order to better understand the total cleanup cost and the extent of the contamination.

The city wants to use the state money to gather that information, Scott said.

Then Rialto could take out an insurance policy, and parties, such as the suspected polluters, would pay into the policy, to guarantee that the cleanup would be paid for.

"We are seeking an emergency cleanup while we urge the state to toughen its enforcement effort against the (potentially responsible parties)," reads the letter, signed by Scott and City Council member Winnie Hanson, the other member of the perchlorate subcommittee.

In another move that could provide Rialto with millions of dollars in cleanup money, the state Assembly last week amended legislation, which had already passed in the Senate, to provide about $50 million in remaining Proposition 84 money for drinking water cleanup.

The money set aside by the Assembly amendment should go to the poorest, most populated and most contaminated areas, said Alicia Trost, a spokeswoman for Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland.

Perata wrote the original bill.

"So Rialto of course is included in that group," Trost said.

Scott said he hopes Rialto can get $15 to $20 million of that money.

Both Assembly chambers were expected to vote on the legislation during an all-night session on Tuesday.

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

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BS Ranch Perspective:

I am wondering why they are still finding ways to fix a problem that is a Health Risk to the Public, Yet according to this report the people of Rialto has been Drinking the Contaminated Water the whole time, yet they are just now getting to a point where they are coming up with a Figure where it will cost them to clean it up? So I am at a loss here, the people of Rialto either is not Informed on this subject and they don't really know what they are drinking or what they have been drinking, over this time that the city has been fighting for a bundle of cash to clean up the mess.

The other part that is funny or fishy is that there is nobody named where the $23Million is coming from to help the people ? The other part that delivers some concern is that there might be a little bit of Conflict of Interest with the City Council Member being on the Board to make sure that the City Water Department gets a whole lot of money in his, I Mean, their pockets!!  It is great that there is money that is Finally being named, for the city of Rialto.

It is weird when all the County Water Agencies, Namely West Valley Water District, which also serves a great deal of the Northern Homes and businesses in Rialto didn't have much trouble getting funding for their filtration systems that were needed to clean out the Perchlorate from the water that they had from the North End of Rialto, where they Serve, North of Baseline Ave.

Colton also was not mentioned in the Papers or their city council wasn't named in the news on Perchlorate, yet when the contamination was first mentioned Colton's water Wells were found to have Perchlorate in the wells! Perchlorate was funded and cleaned up, without any public needs regarding Colton's clean up of the Perchlorate. Fontana Water District also was fixed up and cleaned out as well! Fontana also had the Reverse Osmosis Filtration systems that were attached their wells, at the cost of approximately a $1 to $2Million a filtration system, and Fontana, has approximately six or seven lined up on Baseline alone. Yet they were not put in the News Papers, nor were they put in the News Papers with a huge story, I could be wrong and I might be, but I don't remember seeing one.

So for Rialto to be still fighting for monies that should have been paid in filtration equipment, tells me one thing that they wanted the money for something other then what it might have been intended for? I might be wrong I pray that I am wrong, but I am starting to have questions!! Especially for the amount that they are asking for. It is a good amount to start the rebuilding and change of an Airport to a new place to live.

BS Ranch!

Monday, September 10, 2007

Police Announce Action Against Riverside-Area Gang (Sign On San Diego Aug. 24, 2007).

Police announce action against Riverside-area gang

3:55 a.m. August 24, 2007
RIVERSIDE – Local law enforcement officials are expected Friday to announce a "major operation" against a Riverside-area street gang implicated in numerous felonies, including robbery and murder.

Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco and Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach will hold a joint news conference at 2 p.m. to discuss details of planned actions against the East Side Riva gang, according to a statement released by the district attorney's office Thursday.

There was no direct mention of what the agencies have planned for the gang, and the statement referred only to a "major operation." But during a meeting with reporters Tuesday to talk about the District Attorney's new "College Academy," Pacheco confirmed his office would be filing an injunction against a local gang this week.

In June, Deputy District Attorney Jack Lucky said work was under way on a civil injunction against a 100-member street gang involved in a range of crimes, including murders, robberies, auto thefts and drug distribution and sales.

Lucky would not disclose the name of the gang.

He said the injunction would criminalize any type of assembly by the gang's members and would outlaw the wearing of gang insignia or clothing. Possessing weapons – or even graffiti implements – would be prohibited under the injunction, he said, and gang members would have to adhere to a curfew.

Penalties would include fines and imprisonment, according to Lucky.

Similar injunctions have been filed in the cities of San Bernardino and Victorville, with apparent success in reducing gang-related violence.

According to recent state-compiled crime statistics, 30 percent of all homicides in Riverside County in 2005 were gang-related. Riverside County Sheriff Bob Doyle says there are an estimated 11,000 gang members in the county.

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BS Ranch Perspective:

I think it is great that another gang is being brought down! If not a huge part of it for a while, that is great weakening a gang, and making them more vulnerable against their enemies is great since they will be able to loose there street credit and also what they call turf in the turf wars. Good Job Riverside!!

BS Ranch