Saturday, March 29, 2008

Did Rialto Violate Brown Act (San Bernardino County Sun March 23, 2008) Meetings on Toxin Issues Questioned

BS Ranch Perspective
 
Wow, More trouble for Rialto, first the firing of Owen which was the first RIGHT thing that was done, But then to work though the rest of this without a Lawyer looking over your shoulder to make sure that the Brown Act was followed in all meetings is needed and for Rialto to not do this is well their fault for allowing this to happen again!! It is the leader of the City Council which looking at this last News Report looks like Ed Scott is the leader Once Again, over the Mayor, Grace Vargas Every time there is some wrong doing by the City Council it is Ed Scott that is quoted, WHY IS THAT?? HUMMM???
 
Question: Could it be that it is Ed Scott making the decision that is causing the Illegal Problems for Rialto?? HUH??
 
I say that it is the decisions that ED SCOTT has Made!! It just makes me sick that nobody else has seen this, Why when the decision was made to Contract with the San Bernardino Sheriff Department for Law Enforcement in the City of Rialto, it was Edward Scott that was Quoted Each and every time, he was available every time that there was anything that was discussed on this issue, by the attorneys, and the like, I believe it was because EDWARD SCOTT was the sole Decider in the Sheriff Being the Law Enforcement for Rialto, since he had a Unfinished Law Suit against the City for the Police Department Arresting Him for DUI one Summer night, Edward Scott was So Wasted on Alcohol that he could hardly stand on his own power, back then The Chief of Police was not available to come down to the Police Station, I think that the Chief was out of town at the time. Well, Back then Lt Wylde decided to take it into his hand and break into the Chief's office and allow Scott to sit down in there, but he was so liquored up that he threw up in the Chief's office, and on the floor to the LADIES RESTROOM ACROSS the hall from the Chiefs office.
 
It was only until approximately 04:15 hrs that Edward Scott was loaded into his Car along with Lt Wylde and the Dayshift LT whom came in early followed them to EDWARD SCOTT'S House and took him home.
 
When this incident is brought up to Mr. Scott he always says that he wasn't arrested, but he was arrested, but he was not charged for the offence of 23152 CVC, only arrested and later Released with all charges Dropped!!
 
Other then that, I don't believe that Edward Scott is a great Person to represent the City of Rialto, because of the past decisions that he has made.
 
BS Ranch
 

Did Rialto violate Brown Act?

Meeting on toxin issues questioned
Jason Pesick, Staff Writer

Rialto City Council members may have violated a state law last month while in the nation's capital.

A majority of the council joined representatives from several local government agencies in a meeting on Feb. 27 with Rep. Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino.

Under California's Ralph M. Brown Act, a majority of an agency cannot meet "to hear, discuss, or deliberate upon any item that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body or the local agency."

Officials from San Bernardino County, Colton, Rialto, the West Valley Water District, Fontana Union Water Co. and the state met with Baca to discuss the formation of a joint-powers authority to lobby for federal money to clean up chemicals - primarily perchlorate - contaminating local drinking water.

"Whenever the council gets together in a majority fashion to deal with something of official significance to the city - that is a meeting," said Terry Francke, general counsel and founder of Californians Aware, a nonprofit that promotes government disclosure.

"For a meeting like that, the law requires that the time, place and subject matter of discussion be posted for any remote meeting like that."

In addition, Francke said the public must be able to attend, even if the meeting is out of state.

When the meeting with Baca began, only two Rialto council members - Winnie Hanson and Baca's son, Joe Baca Jr. - took part.

"I didn't want there to be any perception

that there would be a Brown Act violation," Councilman Ed Scott said.

But Rep. Baca told Scott he could attend the meeting because no decisions were going to be made.

Scott said the Brown Act was not violated because the meeting consisted of Baca talking to the local officials.

"It's just ridiculous," Scott said about suggestions that the Brown Act was violated.

Scott said he would contact the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Public Integrity Unit to ask for a formal inquiry.

In this case, the only sanction the council members could face is an admonishment not to do it again, Deputy District Attorney Frank Vanella said Friday.

"I've had no phone call," he said.

Rep. Baca said the Brown Act was not violated.

"If it was about Rialto and Rialto only and no others being involved, then it would be a violation of the Brown Act," he said.

Colton Mayor Kelly Chastain said she stayed out of the meeting due to concerns that she would violate the Brown Act.

Rialto Police Ask for Help from Clergy (San Bernardino Sun March 27, 2008)

BS Ranch Perspective
 
Back in the day there was a great Clergymen by the name of "Big Jim" Now Jim was the pastor of a Non Denominational Church Downtown Rialto, and he was a very Good Soul, he was the kind of Church that was where we used to take people, the Very People that this News Article is talking about!! Big Jim always had a room for the Person that had an Argument with his wife and needed a place to stay for a night or two, to allow the things at home to cool down!!
 
Jim also allowed people that were drunk and away from home and also needed to clean themselves up, Jim helped them get cleaned up and back in good favor for home! He was a real peace maker one that helped make our Law Enforcement Job Easier without having to arrest or close a solution with a court battle!! It was the small town feel that I missed about Rialto!! I am really glad that they are attempting to bring it back!!
 
BS Ranch
 

Rialto police ask for help from clergy

Jason Pesick, Staff Writer

RIALTO - Police want local religious leaders to lend a helping hand to their community- policing program.

"Wouldn't it be a better place to go to a faith-based organization instead of a street gang?" Police Chief Mark Kling said.

Police Department officials met on Thursday with more than a dozen local religious leaders to take an inventory on counseling services, what could be done to feed the homeless, and the kinds of after- school programs available.

Churches offer English classes, football fields, gymnasiums, basketball courts - all things that help young people stay on the right track.

There is a concern that state funding for after-school programs might disappear given all the buzz over budget cuts, Kling said.

The Police Department has been reorganizing its policing efforts into an "area-command program."

This would divide the city into three areas and seek to create better relationships with residents.

"What we're hoping is to get a larger section of the community involved," Kling said.

Suggestions from the meeting included restarting the Police Department's chaplain program so religious leaders can be on hand to comfort officers and residents at emotional crime scenes.

Mike Story, Rialto's development services director, said his staff often runs into homeless people or day laborers.

"We need to know how to help some of these people," he said.

Kling said he thinks the Police Department should address the causes of crime - instead of just arresting people - and churches can help in that effort.

The Rev. Steven Porter of St. Catherine of Siena said he wanted to talk about how the police handle illegal immigrants.

"But there is a fear from undocumented people that the Police Department is going to arrest them," he said.

Kling said the Police Department does not pursue people based on their immigration status.

"We are not the immigration service," he said.

Sam Petitfils, associate pastor at Sunrise Church, said he liked that there was a lot of discussion about attacking the root causes of crime.

"I thought it was very informative, helpful and the beginning of a very outstanding network," he said.

jason.pesick@sbsun.com

(909) 386-3861

Friday, March 28, 2008

Hundreds Protest (San Bernardino Sun March 26, 2008) Parents & Teachers Rally Against Cuts.

BS Ranch Perspective

I get why they are supporting the teachers, and students, but there just isn't any money, Protesting isn't going to make any money for them to change their mind about making a mistake, especially when there isn't any money to change your mind with!! All the money is gone, The California Legislature Has Spent All the Money that is and has been left in the coughers for the people to use, especially for something as beneificial as this, I am sorry I have children and I have taught them in a private School for the simple reason that I knew what the money that I was spending it on was being spent on. If there was a Teacher that was not doing their job or they were not teaching the class to make the student pass the test with flying colors as determined by the Federal Government, they would be let go, so that would be a way to make sure that they are performing and doing the jobs the way that they should be doing them. 

So Private Schools are better, and the passing of the bill to allow People to place their children into schools of their choices. that would have been a win win, But that would have broke the School union, and then the Price of School and Education would have come down, This Protest would not/might not have taken place in that case!! 

BS Ranch 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Supporting teachers

Hundreds protest

Parents and teachers rally against cuts
Jason Pesick, Staff Writer

COLTON - About 1,000 people jammed into the Jehue Middle School cafeteria on Wednesday night to express their displeasure with teacher cuts in the Rialto Unified School District.

Vehicles flooded streets surrounding the middle school as teachers, parents and students all wanted to share their opinions with district officials.

"Whatever you say, it is just not right," said Kasandra Miranda, 15, a student at Rialto High School.

The school district has notified 271 teachers that they might not have jobs next year.

One hundred teachers with one-year contracts and about 30 teachers without full credentials probably won't be returning.

In addition to $507 million in education cuts this year, Gov.

Hundreds of teachers and parents came to the Rialto school board meeting at Jehue Middle School Wednesday night to protest cuts to the teaching staff. (LaFonzo Carter/Staff Photographer)
Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing a $4.8 billion education cut from next year's budget.

The layoffs could result in kindergarten to third-grade class sizes at Rialto Unified increasing from 20 to 32 students. This would save about $2.5 million.

Valarie Campa, who has two children attending district schools, said she was displeased with the possibility of the increases in class sizes.

"It doesn't sound to me like the school district's going to be excelling very well," she said.

Bob McDaniel, president of the Rialto Classified School Employees Association, said teachers have been too aggressive in their contract negotiations with the district.

"But unfortunately, we feel the teachers don't want to work with them," he said of the relationship between the district's union, Rialto Education Association, and district leadership.

Bill Hedrick, union president, has pointed out that the district is planning to have a $28 million ending balance, meaning $28 million will be left over at the end of the year.

But only about $10 million of that money can be spent.

Deputy Superintendent Joseph Davis said he needs that money to cover shortfalls in coming years.

The district will see a 20 percent downward swing in funding compared to what it was expecting over a two-year period because of the budget cuts, Davis said.

"How can you have business as usual?" he said

Thursday, March 27, 2008

4:26.. San Bernardino and Rialto agreed to settle Perchlorate Lawsuits (San Bernardino County Sun, March 27, 2008) It is a wonder that Owen stayed em

BS Ranch Perspective
Once again The Lawyer from Rialto (who was recently fired) Hurried into a trial with anyone he could find to benefit not the city, Not the company or the Water company, but the Lawyer that was trying the case!! Owen had his hands so deep into the pockets of the Tax payers that he didn't care whether they won or lost, but that the case went on and on and didn't end, the longer the case was open the richer and more money that Owen's and his partners got for the lawsuit!! Owens should have been fired a long time ago, but the City was blind and felt that he was the best man for the job, why I will never know? What he had, what information he kept on the Mayor of Rialto or the people that sat in charge of the City is beyond me, because It was Scary that he would ever be fired. even when I was writing to fire him for the last five years, finally it was great to be listened to!!
BS Ranch

4:26 p.m.: San Bernardino and Rialto agreed to settle perchlorate lawsuits


The county and the cities of Rialto and Colton have agreed to settle lawsuits related to perchlorate contamination of the Rialto-Colton Basin aquifer.

The county has agreed to treat and contain its contaminated groundwater in the western portion of the Rialto-Colton Basin and pay $4 million to Rialto and $1 million to Colton, according to a news release issued today from Fifth District County Supervisor Josie Gonzales's office.

"My main focus has always been the perchlorate contamination cleanup," Gonzales said in the news release. "This settlement will serve as a catalyst for the other key defendants in these lawsuits to focus on their efforts to resolve the groundwater pollution in the Rialto-Colton Basin."

In exchange, Rialto and Colton will dismiss all perchlorate contamination claims against the county, as well as claims against Robertson's Ready Mix Inc. and the Schulz parties.

"This is a major step towards assuring our residents clean drinking water," Rialto City Councilman Ed Scott said.

The county expects to spend tens of millions of dollars more on treatment to comply with the terms of the settlement agreement. It also agreed to provide 200 acre-feet of treated water from its treatment facility to Colton. Colton will provide 200 acre-feet of its water rights to the county for this purpose.

An acre foot of water is considered enough water to serve two typical Southland families for a year.

"The city of Colton appreciates the county's efforts

Inland Catalytic-Converter Thieves Cashing In Soaring Metal Prices (The Press Enterprise Thursday, March 27, 2008) Just to bad that the world is crimi

BS Ranch Perspective

When there is a value to something on your care even that is at a cost that is so much, they will steal the car just to get the part from it, or they will take the part while it is parked at a Park and ride in San Bernardino or Fontana at the I-10 or I-15 where they Parked their vehicle to go into a Car Pool that morning by the afternoon they crawled into their car, they had a straight pipe that was illegal running against the Emission laws of the state, but the people that did the crime got up to $200 a car/truck!! 

It is bad news ,but it is old news and it is the one thing that is Job Security for Law Enforcement Officers in every City around the land!! It is sad, and to bad, but hopefully the Police Departments can get a handle on it and catch the people before the problem. It is difficult however. 

BS Ranch



Inland catalytic-converter thieves cashing in soaring metal prices


 Download story podcast

10:04 PM PDT on Thursday, March 27, 2008

By SARAH BURGE
The Press-Enterprise

Driven by soaring metal prices, thefts of the anti-pollution devices on cars and trucks have taken off in the past year, police say.

Catalytic converters can be plucked from vehicles' undercarriage and are in high demand on the scrap-metal recycling market because they contain the precious metals platinum, palladium and rhodium.

There are only tiny amounts of these metals in a catalytic converter, but the current per-ounce prices for platinum, now around $2,000, and rhodium, about $9,000, are making the devices worth stealing.

Story continues below
Greg Vojtko/The Press-Enterprise
Roger Bacon, owner of Roger's Exhaust Shop in Fontana, replaces a catalytic converter. Thefts of the devices have been increasing.

Some catalytic converters fetch $200 apiece or more. But for a vehicle owner who must replace a stolen one, the cost can be as much as $1,000.

Some drivers may not know a catalytic converter from an alternator, but they are sure to miss it when it is gone.

"It makes a horrendous noise," said Roger Bacon, owner of Roger's Exhaust Shop in Fontana, explaining that when the catalytic converter is removed, the exhaust flows straight from the engine, not through the muffler.

Bacon said in recent months, he has received perhaps 20 calls a week from people whose vehicles' catalytic converters have been stolen.

"I really feel bad for these people," Bacon said.

Doug Calton, of Fontana, said the catalytic converter was stolen from his early-1990s-model Toyota pickup at 5 a.m. in front of his house. He saw the thief but did not realize what was happening.

"I went out to start my truck ... and it sounded like a tank!"

Calton said the theft occurred in February 2007. When he reported it to police, they wondered why someone would steal a catalytic converter, Calton said. By now, they know only too well.

Thefts Rampant

"About a year ago, we started getting hit really hard," said San Bernardino County sheriff's Deputy Roger Young, who works exclusively in metal theft. Since then, he said, thefts of catalytic converters have increased in many areas of the county, particularly Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana and San Bernardino.

"It's phenomenal," he said. "There's people on the Internet buying them."

Young said he has noticed that Toyota pickups and some Lexus models are being targeted, in part because of a higher precious-metal content in those models.

"It's gotten to the point where people drive their cars to work, park them, go inside, and when they come back out, the catalytic converters are gone."

Frank Scafidi, spokesman for the National Insurance Crime Bureau, said thieves will go to a parking lot during the night "and they just have a field day."

Usually, thieves look for vehicles with a high ground clearance, such as trucks and SUVs. An experienced thief with a battery-powered reciprocating saw can cut off a catalytic converter in two minutes. On some vehicles, the thief only has to loosen a few bolts.

"Some knucklehead will steal one of these and go into a salvage yard, and they're easy to get rid of," Scafidi said.

Even if victims report the thefts to police, the cases often never reach an investigator's desk or result in an arrest because there usually are no leads to follow. The thieves slip away, and there is no way to trace a stolen catalytic converter to its owner.

"I hate to say this because it drives me nuts -- it's a unidentifiable-victim crime," Young said.

What is more, police are being inundated with all manner of metal thefts now, from copper wire to backflow valves to brass plaques. Catalytic-converter thefts alone pale by comparison, police say.

Story continues below
Greg Vojtko/The Press-Enterprise
Roger Bacon shows how much of a gap a missing catalytic converter creates in an exhaust system. The thieves who have been stealing the devices off high-clearance vehicles make as much as $200 selling one. A replacement costs the vehicle's owner $1,000.

Bob Palmer is the chief financial officer of The Recycler Core, a Riverside company that accepts catalytic converters. He said the thefts have become so rampant that legitimate buyers are taking measures to protect themselves. The Riverside business's employees demand detailed information from anyone they do not recognize who is selling catalytic converters. They photograph the sellers and their license plate numbers, ask them to document that the property is theirs and even get thumbprints.

It is difficult to distinguish stolen catalytic converters from the rest, Palmer said, but anyone trying to sell new ones sends up a red flag.

For thieves, though, new vehicles can be easy targets. Palmer said the company was recently contacted by railroad detectives investigating the theft of catalytic converters from brand-new Toyotas and Lexus SUVs aboard rail cars.

Park-and-Rides Hit

In Riverside County, California Highway Patrol Sgt. Patrick Rowe said catalytic converters began disappearing from Toyota pickups and other vehicles at the Park-and-Ride on Main Street in December. For several weeks, the thieves were stealing one or two per day, Rowe said.

On the second day of a sting operation, investigators caught a thief in the act, Rowe said.

"It was the weirdest thing to see. ... He moved so fast. He was under cars, on all fours, just like a cat," Rowe said.

"These guys are good," said Clarence Bullen, a CHP investigator.

Bullen said the thief, Sergio Avitia, 32, of Lake Elsinore, was caught with several catalytic converters in his possession. Two female accomplices were also arrested. Investigators suspect that Avitia also stole catalytic converters from a Park-and-Ride in Lake Elsinore.

Avitia pleaded guilty to one count of grand theft and has already been released after serving a jail sentence.

Bacon, the exhaust shop owner, said thieves sometimes park their own cars nearby and have a lookout put the hood up to suggest car trouble. Meanwhile, the thief is under the target vehicle.


Story continues below

That is what happened to one Press-Enterprise employee. The catalytic converter was stolen from his Toyota pickup around lunchtime in the parking lot of the newspaper's Riverside office.

Brian Carter, who works in the advertising department, said he looked out the window and saw people around a car parked behind his pickup. He assumed they were having a problem with their car.

When Carter left work at 5, he said, "I saw nuts and bolts under my car -- sure enough, my 'cat' was gone."

Fontana police have investigated about 20 thefts of catalytic converters since the middle of last year, a department spokesman said. Among the victims: at least one member of the department.

"A captain just lost his two weeks ago in front of his house in broad daylight," said Sgt. Jeff Decker. "There were three bolts laying next to his truck. He started looking around ... and found this big opening where the catalytic converter had been."

Staff writers Paul LaRocco and Rich Brooks contributed to this report.

Reach Sarah Burge at 951-375-3736 or sburge@PE.com

PRECAUTIONS

Vehicle owners can do little to protect their catalytic converters from a determined thief, police say. They do offer these suggestions, however:

Park in a secure garage whenever possible. When you can't, stick to high-traffic areas where a thief will have a harder time slipping under your vehicle unnoticed.

Check if the catalytic converter is only bolted on. If it is, have it welded too.

Etch your driver's license, vehicle identification or license plate number onto the catalytic converter so police can trace it back to you.

POPULAR TARGETS

High-clearance vehicles on which the catalytic converter is easily accessible.

  • Toyota pickups and SUVs, such as the Tacoma, Tundra and 4Runner
  • Lexus SUVs

Solar Rooftops In Fontana (Press Enterprise Thurs. March 27, 2008)

BS Ranch Perspective

I believe that this is a great Idea that should have been done when the whole Electrical Problem started in California, but nobody did anything back then! Now it is still a great Idea and should also be offered to go onto houses and be maintained by the Municipal or Electrical company that has the responsibility to keep the electricity in the area flowing to the houses!! It would be a great Idea to do this and not just the rooftops of the commercial buildings. 

BS Ranch

Solar rooftops in Fontana


 Download story podcast

03:58 PM PDT on Thursday, March 27, 2008

By LESLIE BERKMAN
The Press-Enterprise

On the rooftop of a warehouse in Fontana, Southern California Edison officials announced Thursday the launching of the world's largest solar cell project. They said by placing solar panels on warehouses in inland Southern California, the utility plans to produce 250 megawatts of electricity, enough to serve about 162,000 homes.

A major goal of the five-year project, said John Bryson, Edison International's chairman and chief executive, is to cut in half the cost of producing solar energy from photovoltaic cells while reaping the benefits of a clean energy source that works best in the hot summer hours when demand for electricity is greatest.

Story continues below
The Associated Press
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announces the installation of new solar panels on the rooftop of ProLogis in Fontana.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger joined Bryson and Public Utility Commissioner Mike Peevey at a press conference unveiling the $875 million project.

The governor said the initiative, which would spread solar panels on 65 million square feet of rooftops, will help the state reach its goals of providing 20 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2010 and reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.



Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Rialto Airport Closure Leaves Workers With Sense of Loss (San Bernardino Sun Friday Oct. 5, 2007)

BS Ranch Perspective
Rialto's Municipal Airport has history within the City that will be sorely missed, those days that we had Drag Races at the Airport, the Run Whatcha Brung Started at the Airport and I remember one of them that I went to where the City was crying that they were low on money and they didn't have the resources for Security, they held the whole Event at the Airport with no Problems!!
That was the last year that they had the Drag Races, because the Federal Aviation Administration took over as the Manager of the Airport and they were the ones that said that the Airport was not going to be closed for anything except being an airport!!
The Go Carts Races that were out there for every month some times twice a month and those go carts could almost hit speeds of forty miles per hour on the speedway, straight away!!
There has been many things that have been at the airport that have gone by the wayside. for many years there was a Coffee Shoppe where lots of people would gather for Breakfast and Lunch, but it closed for dinner, it was a great Place for Lunch, and Breakfast, The last owner was the best she was one of the friendliest girls, and well she ran a nice place. it was a great business. I met my wife and quit going there as she worked at a competing Restaurant.
Now that is all in the past, all the Helicopter Students that learned to fly from Japan, and China that came over to the USA and learned to Fly, But when the Economy Changed just a little the Schools in Rialto Closed ,but not all of them, there was some Helicopter Schools there and Art Schall Aviation Flight School was still working as far as I knew, and Art, was instrumental at keeping a great deal of businesses at the Rialto Airport!!
BS Ranch

Rialto Airport Closure Leaves Workers With Sense of Loss

Posted on: Friday, 5 October 2007, 15:00 CDT

By Andrew Silva, San Bernardino County Sun, Calif.

Oct. 3--RIALTO, Calif. -- Perhaps the silence is the most telling, and the most sad.

On a typical weekday, the happy purr of an airplane engine only occasionally drifts across the wide expanse of Rialto Municipal Airport.

Small airports are often like small towns. Everybody knows everybody. Folks help each other out, work together, party together.

"We're all like a big family," said 61-year-old Manuel "Manny" Lucero, who's been painting airplanes at the airport since 1969.

"You see a hangar door open, it's like a welcome sign," airport Director Rich Scanlan said.

That's all changed since an act of Congress put the venerable Rialto airfield on the path to closure to make way for a sprawling new development dubbed Renaissance Rialto, designed to bolster the working-class city's image and economy.

"The airport is dead now -- has been ever since it sold," Lucero lamented, sitting in his plain office next to the hangar where he's made his living for nearly four decades.

Gone are the weekend barbecues, the impromptu get-togethers, the joyful camaraderie. The airport caf, a central gathering place, closed some years ago and is a poignant reminder of better days.

"It's just like somebody pulling my heart out," said.

News of the impending closure spread through the aviation community nationally and has nearly killed his business, even though it's unclear when the airport will actually close.

A Piper Cherokee Lance sits outside, ready for paint, the first job he's had since November.

Lucero's reputation was such that he once painted a DC-7 for Howard Hughes, employed 17 people and comfortably put his two kids through college.

"The guy said if I do a good job (on the Piper) I'll have 100 airplanes, until the bulldozers pull up in front of my shop," he said.

The Rialto field is going the way of many general aviation airports, done in by skyrocketing land values and officials with dollar signs in their eyes looking to kick-start their community's economy.

All that flat, open acreage is worth far more with offices, shops and homes than it is with any number of Cessnas and Pipers.

"Rialto is a perfect example of competing interests," said Bill Dunn, vice president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. "It was a tremendous asset that was underutilized until a developer came along. Unfortunately, officials look at dollars instead of long-term transportation needs. This is driven by greed."

Rialto's airport is in line to follow other local airfields into oblivion.

Morrow Field in Colton, just north of Valley Boulevard between Pepper and Riverside avenues, and Tri-City Airport, roughly along today's Hospitality Lane in San Bernardino, closed ages ago.

Airports available for public use dropped from 6,437 in 1975 to 5,008 in 2001, according to data compiled by the pilots association.

The Rialto airport was born in 1945 when Sam Miro was passing through town and bought 80 acres of scrubland for $18,000, according to historian John Anthony Adams.

He and his five sons spent a year clearing brush and moving rocks to create a usable runway. He lived on a little house at the airport until his death in the 1970s.

Ironically, the project that sounded the death knell for the airfield -- the extension of the 210 Freeway through Rialto -- years ago triggered a battle between Rialto and Fontana over the airport, which back then was in an unincorporated county area.

People for decades thought the Foothill Freeway, as today's new 210 has long been called, was coming through any time, bringing with it a gold rush of development and growth.

"The thought was that with aviation really hitting its stride in the '60s, an airport adjacent to the freeway would induce corporations to locate here to have access to both the airport and the freeway," said Scanlan.

Fontana made a run at annexing the airport, the airport director said, but Rialto got it in 1966.

It's still home to the impressive air force operated by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, which patrols the largest county in the Lower 48, and Mercy Air, the helicopter ambulance service.

Its most famous tenant was Art Scholl, one of the greatest stunt pilots in aviation history who crashed in the Pacific Ocean in 1985 while working on the film "Top Gun." Art Scholl Aviation continues to operate under the direction of his wife.

As recently as the early 1990s, the airport was still seen as a potential economic boon, if it could capture some of the overflow business from Ontario International Airport.

But then Norton Air Force Base shut down in 1994 and the focus turned to transforming a regional economic body blow back into an economic engine, a process that is just now building a good head of steam after more than a decade of effort.

"I don't think anyone had a crystal ball that in a couple of years (after 1992) this massive Air Force base would be transformed," Scanlan said. "The likelihood of Rialto competing with Norton wasn't very good."

Now the Rialto airport's remaining tenants are awaiting word from the developers on whether they'll be moving to the former air base, now San Bernardino International Airport, or maybe Redlands or Upland or Riverside.

Westpac Restorations Inc., which restores classic aircraft, is already packing up for Colorado.

The housing market crash now has the timeline more uncertain than ever, as the city and developers wrestle to decide what Renaissance Rialto will ultimately look like.

Since 1969, Bill Gerth, 73, has had a hangar at the Rialto airport where he parks his award-winning 1956 Piper Apache Geronimo. He estimates he's logged at least a half-million miles in the plane, flying all over the country with his wife and kids.

"We used to have hangar parties, barbecues, tell our stories, have our kids here," he said.

Stacks of photos in one of the drawers in his cluttered hangar show smiling friends clustered in chairs or standing with drinks near the barbecue and the airplanes.

When he learned of the closure, his reaction was "gross depression."

The social scene is gone. Friends have passed. The kids have grown. But the memories will endure.

-----

To see more of the San Bernardino County Sun, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sbsun.com.

Copyright (c) 2007, San Bernardino County Sun, Calif.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.


Source: San Bernardino County Sun

Rialto Airport Land Valued at $77 Million (REDORBIT March, 25, 2008)

BS Ranch Perspective:
We don't want to be in the way of the Christmas Season come 2010, for Target Supercenter, after all that is the only Store that drew any interest in the Rialto Renaissance when it was proposed to the Business world in their little Business fair! Why I am still wondering where the In~N~Out Burger is that was supposed to be Built at the Intersection of Riverside Ave. @ Galloway Ave. (Galloway Ave was closed and In~N~Out Burger was going to be built on the E/Curb of Riverside just N/of the 210 W/B Off ramp). According to the talks by the City Planning the Construction of the Restaurant would have started shortly after the I-210 Freeway was opened! Well? The Freeway has opened, yet NO CONSTRUCTION!!
Now they are just talking about the Sale of the land for the development of the Airport, I have to say that Lewis and or the other Companies that are doing this in this market just might find themselves filing for Bankrupts!! Before it is all over
BS Ranch

Airport Land Value: $77M

Posted on: Tuesday, 25 March 2008, 02:00 CDT

By Jason Pesick

RIALTO - The city and the Federal Aviation Administration appear close to reaching an agreement on the value of the Rialto Municipal Airport property.

On March 18, interim City Attorney Rahsaan Tilford reported that the City Council determined $77.4 million was an appropriate dollar figure for the property.

That value coincides with what FAA officials indicated they were comfortable with, said Rialto Economic Development Director Robb Steel.

"We have approved it in concept, and we are certainly aware of the action that is going before the Rialto City Council," said San Bernardino International Airport Authority Commission Vice President and Loma Linda Mayor Robert Christman.

A significant portion of Rialto's airport tenants and about $50 million will be headed to San Bernardino International Airport roughly 13 miles to the east.

Rialto's March 18 move, which the council could approve in open session on April 1, is another step in the complex process of turning a working municipal airport into a commercial, industrial and residential development known as Renaissance Rialto.

Renaissance, which will be developed by a partnership between Upland-based Lewis Group and Texas-based Hillwood, will be located along the newly extended 210 Freeway.

Rialto's own appraisal put the value of the airport at about $67 million before taking into account the costs of preparing the land for development, but FAA officials thought the value should be higher.

According to legislation passed by Congress in 2005, 45 percent of the value of the airport property must be paid to SBIA.

That amount - $49.5 million - will be governed by a separate value of about $110 million for the property. The new value of $77 million will be used to determine how much of the $49.5 million goes to accommodating new tenants and how much goes to improvements at SBIA, Steel said.

"There's no set guidebook for how this closure works," said Mike Burrows, SBIA's assistant director.

He said no matter how the money is supposed to be spent by SBIA, he's elated that all of it will be invested in the airport.

FAA spokesman Ian Gregor was unable to comment for this story.

Steel said he hopes City Council approves plans for Renaissance by the end of this year, especially since the first payment to SBIA is due in September.

After the plans are approved, the Lewis-Hillwood consortium will start purchasing the 441 acres of airport property, which will be the heart of the 1,500-acre Renaissance Rialto development.

Rialto's airport would close by the end of 2009, after new facilities are built at SBIA and other airports to house Rialto's tenants.

Rialto also needs to regain control of state land so it can move Easton Street and finalize an airport-closure plan with the FAA.

After all the details are worked out, the Super Target-anchored retail center could open in time for Christmas 2010, Steel said. "That's still pretty tight," he said.

(c) 2008 The Sun, San Bernardino, Calif.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.


Source: The Sun, San Bernardino, Calif.

More News in this Category

Monday, March 24, 2008

Bikers' Gathering a Quiet Affair (Daily Bulletin March 23, 2008)

BS Ranch Perspective

I guess a Planned Event by a World Known Motorcycle Gang, with which was Celebrating their 60th Anniversary since they started the Gangs existence then they announce to the City by getting permits to close the road in front of their Club House which was given to the Motorcycle Club, and they had the street all closed off, Not to mention that San Bernardino Police Department asked California Highway Patrol, along with the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department to assist with Extra patrol of the Muscoy area where the Club House is, Why if you drove in that area where the Medical Center is there in Muscoy, you would have seen every other car, that past you the other way was a Police Vehicle, from either the Sheriff's Department, California Highway Patrol, or San Bernardino Police Department, not to mention the other Agencies Police Vehicles that we saw just touring the area, their was California Corrections, but there was only one of those Vehicles seen, and only one from California State University, or California Police Department, which Patrols the San Bernardino University Campus. I did see approximately 6 vehicles from the CHP, and 6 or 7 from San Bernardino City Police Department, and well it was to say that this weekend alone in overtime Expecting that the Hells Angels were going to do something that they were not supposed to do was going to happen at any time, because they were ready for the RIOT to BREAK OUT...The RIOT that DIDN'T happen!!

BS Ranch



Bikers' gathering a quiet affair

George Watson, Staff Writer

Despite the reputation of the Hells Angels, two nights of celebrating the 60th year of the motorcycle gang's existence passed without any reported trouble.

On Saturday night, the gang hosted a private party at its clubhouse in San Bernardino, which is at Medical Center Drive and 19th Street.

"We had no problems," said San Bernardino police Sgt. D. Robinson. "We kept track of what was going on, and they cooperated with us. Everything went quite well, actually."

Similar results were enjoyed Friday night in Yucaipa, where about 4,000 people were expected to turn out at Angels Roadhouse Bar and Grill. In addition to the attendees, gawkers took in the scene from nearby streets.

Cindy Beavers, a spokeswoman with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, said no arrests were made.

"Nothing that I have heard of," Beavers said Sunday.

Dozens of law enforcement personnel were monitoring the party Friday night. The bar has been an oft-used location for Hells Angels' parties, and members of the gang had hailed Friday night's gathering as the "biggest, baddest" party yet.

The gang formed on March 17, 1948, in the San Bernardino area. Members were World War II veterans who chose the city to start the first chapter.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Riverside, San Bernardino Counties get little anti-gang relief from State Grants (Press Enterprise March 9, 2008)

BS Ranch Perspective
 
I guess with the lacking budgets this year that the grants at the state and Federal levels will also be very small and so that means that Crime will be a little out of hand with no help from the State and Federal level of Enforcement!!
 
BS Ranch
 

Riverside, San Bernardino counties get little anti-gang relief from state grants


  Download story podcast

10:00 PM PDT on Sunday, March 9, 2008

By JIM MILLER and SONJA BJELLAND
The Press-Enterprise

Riverside County received no money in the first round of grants from Gov. Schwarzenegger's anti-gang program, despite officials' recent warnings that the region faces a growing threat.

Cities and community agencies had asked for about $1.34 million. The county had 14 gang-related killings in 2006, up from 11 the year before, and District Attorney Rod Pacheco has said the county is a "high-intensity gang area."

Agencies in San Bernardino County, which had 23 gang-related killings in 2006, received about $700,000 in law-enforcement and job-training grants announced last week, out of $1.6 million requested.

Paul Seave, the state director of gang and youth violence policy, said three sets of judges reviewed dozens of applications. They took into account a region's gang problem, as well as a proposal's chances for success.

"It's a statewide problem and we tried to do it as fairly and objectively as we could," Seave said.

Launched last May, the California Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention initiative -- known as CalGRIP -- uses state and federal money for anti-gang programs.

There were more than $36 million in requests for this year's round of grants. About $16 million was awarded.

Agencies in Los Angeles County, which had 407 gang-related homicides in 2006, received the greatest share of the money.

But Riverside County agencies came up empty.

Police departments in Riverside and Murrieta each had asked for $500,000 in gang prevention grants. The city of Desert Hot Springs had asked for $227,000 and the Corona-Norco YMCA requested $50,000.

In addition, the Riverside County Economic Development Agency asked for $400,000 in job-training money.

The money Riverside hoped to receive would have totaled $1 million as a matching grant to expand police efforts with Project BRIDGE -- Building Resources for the Intervention and Deterrence of Gang Engagement. It is the city's only gang intervention program.

Officials hoped to expand the program into the city's west end around the Arlanza neighborhood, which has been hit by gang violence with four gang-related homicides in the past two years, according to police.

"I thought we had identified a good need," said Capt. John Carpenter.

Riverside's parks and recreation department oversees Project BRIDGE and hoped the money would fund four part-time outreach workers, said Patricia Callaghan, who oversees the program. The rest of the money would help pay for mileage and another van for outings. The additional employees would have allowed them to spend more time in the middle schools and with younger children, she said.

Matching funds already were in place for the requested state money.

"It wasn't something that was just starting up. It was something that was solid and going," Callaghan said. "We really thought we had a good chance."

For now they will continue to work with what they have and build more partnerships to help the youths and their families, she said.

While Carpenter said he would have liked the money, he understands that other cities such as San Bernardino have more pressing needs. Riverside already has a successful gang unit, he said, and reports of crime decreased in 2007.

That extra money going to surrounding counties may present a different problem for Riverside. Stifling gang members in Los Angeles, for example, may send them east, so officers monitor gang trends and graffiti to spot migrations.

"When we know another law enforcement agency is putting the pressure on, we want to do things to keep them from coming into our community," Carpenter said.

Reach Jim Miller at 916-445-9973 or jmiller@PE.com or Sonja Bjelland at 951-368-9642 or sbjelland@PE.com

The state awarded $16.5 million in grants targeting the state's gang problem last week. Here's the breakdown of grant awards to Southern California's largest counties.

County; received; gang-related homicides in 2006

Riverside; 0; 14

San Bernardino; $700,000; 23

Los Angeles; $4.7 million; 407

Orange; $640,000; 29

San Diego; $1.61 million; 16

governor's office of emergency services, california department of justice