9/12/2017 By March, Supervisors vow study on High Desert county hospital with trauma center http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170911/by-march-supervisors-vow-study-on-high-desert-county-hospital-with-trauma-center 1/3 By Shea Johnson Staff Writer Posted Sep 11, 2017 at 1:04 PM Updated Sep 11, 2017 at 1:04 PM San Bernardino County officials will analyze within the next six months the feasibility of constructing a county hospital with a trauma center in the High Desert. San Bernardino County officials will analyze within the next six months the feasibility of constructing a county hospital with a trauma center in the High Desert. It was only one of six recommendations made by the civil Grand Jury in late June in response to a shortage of emergency room beds and hospital overcrowding in this region, but it was the most striking due to the enormity of such an undertaking, likely to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. In a proposed response to the jury’s report expected to be approved by county Supervisors on Tuesday, the officials, acting in their capacity as the governing board of the Inland Counties Emergency Management Agency, say research is required. “This recommendation requires further analysis, specifically a discussion involving the various stakeholders on the costs, feasibility and various possible approaches to addressing the concerns upon which the recommendation is based,” the Supervisors’ response said. The analysis, it continued, will take place within six months of Tuesday, meaning by no later than mid-March. By March, Supervisors vow study on High Desert county hospital with trauma center
Transcript
9/12/2017 By March, Supervisors vow study on High Desert county hospital with trauma center
By Shea Johnson Staff Writer Posted Sep 11, 2017 at 1:04 PMUpdated Sep 11, 2017 at 1:04 PM
San Bernardino County officials will analyze within thenext six months the feasibility of constructing a countyhospital with a trauma center in the High Desert.
San Bernardino County officials will analyze within the next six months thefeasibility of constructing a county hospital with a trauma center in the HighDesert.
It was only one of six recommendations made by the civil Grand Jury in
late June in response to a shortage of emergency room beds and hospital
overcrowding in this region, but it was the most striking due to the enormity ofsuch an undertaking, likely to cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
In a proposed response to the jury’s report expected to be approved by
county Supervisors on Tuesday, the officials, acting in their capacity as thegoverning board of the Inland Counties Emergency Management Agency, sayresearch is required.
“This recommendation requires further analysis, specifically a discussioninvolving the various stakeholders on the costs, feasibility and various possibleapproaches to addressing the concerns upon which the recommendation isbased,” the Supervisors’ response said.
The analysis, it continued, will take place within six months of Tuesday,meaning by no later than mid-March.
By March, Supervisors vow study on High Desertcounty hospital with trauma center
In a conversation following the Grand Jury report’s release, SupervisorsChairman Robert Lovingood, who represents the Victor Valley, described acounty hospital as recommended by the jury, similar to that of ArrowheadRegional Medical Center in Colton, as “a priority.”
“I think it’s absolutely on,” he told the Daily Press at the time. “The critical issueis going to be funding. If you look into the future, the desert’s going to continueto grow and (a hospital is) going to be just one of the things to put on the board.”
The need was underscored by jurors, who concluded that the shortage ofemergency department beds leads to hospital and ER overcrowding and hospitalbed delays — the time between arrival of an ambulance at an ER and the ERreceiving the patient. Momentum for such a hospital, however, has beenhistorically slow-moving because of funding considerations.
The Grand Jury’s investigation came on the heels of a series of Daily Press storiesin 2015 and earlier this year about chronic issues with bed delays and
ambulance response times.
This newspaper’s pieces ultimately highlighted the discord between the SanBernardino County Fire Department’s union and ambulance company AmericanMedical Response in whittling the issue to its core.
Supervisors vowed to further analyze all Jury recommendations and agreed withevery finding, suggesting issues that have been raised are being taken seriously.
Supervisors concurred, among other things, that demands on the 911 systemwere influencing the need for a re-evaluation of the EMS system; bed delayswere directly affecting the safety of patients; there is a shortage of ER beds here;and coordination is lacking among the three High Desert hospitals, AMR andCounty Fire with respect to overcrowding.
Officials also acknowledged that the 911 system was being misused on a regularbasis, overloading dispatch and decreasing the availability of ambulances.
“Public education on the proper use of the 911, including alternatives for thosewho believe they need emergency assistance, is necessary,” Supervisors said intheir response, adding that enhanced 911 call screening “is worthy ofconsideration.”
Communities are building permanent memorials forvictims of mass violence.By Adriene HillSeptember 11, 2017 | 1:05 PM
The temporary memorial to the victims of the San Bernardino shooting. - Adriene Hill/Marketplace
On Dec. 2, 2015, in San Bernardino, California, a shooter killed 14 people in an attack at the Inland Regional Center.
Today, there’s a temporary memorial to the victims set up along a busy stretch of road. There are sun-bleached flowers, American flags,a laminated poster with pictures of those who died.
There’s a small planted Christmas tree that someone is still watering, and a couple trash bags filled with older flowers and stuffedanimals that have been gathered up but not thrown away.
The county, along with a committee that includes the families of the victims, has begun the work of planning something morepermanent.
“They want a place to honor the people that were taken from us,” said Felisa Cardona, a public information officer for the county. “Theyare looking for something that also acknowledges what the wounded went through, what the first responders went through.”
Today, a little more than a year and half after the shooting, they have just started looking for a consultant to help with the designprocess. The county doesn’t know yet what the budget for the project might be.
“We haven’t talked about it,” said David Wert, also a spokesman for the county. “We don’t want to think in terms of limits,” he explains,“we want to think in terms of what’s the right thing to do.”
They are questions confronting many communities around the country — how to memorialize and how to fund memorials to honorvictims of mass violence.
Memorials are being planned in communities including Orlando, Florida; Tucson, Arizona; Kalamazoo, Michigan; Chattanooga,Tennessee; Charleston, South Carolina; and Aurora, Colorado.
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In order to take the next step in San Bernardino, Cardona called Heather Dearman in Aurora for advice.
“When they called, I just had such a great feeling of fulfillment,” said Dearman, who is the vice chair of the 7/20 Memorial Foundation,the group working to build a memorial to the victims of the Aurora movie theater shooting in 2012. “Knowing that we can help other
people get through what we have gone through means that what we’re doing is so important. And we’re doing the right thing.”
Dearman is the cousin of Ashley Moser and Veronica Moser-Sullivan. Ashely was wounded; 6-year-old Veronica was killed.
An essential part of the healing process in Aurora has been fundraising, Dearman said. It took the group more than four years to raisethe $200,000 it needed to build the memorial. They raised money quarter by quarter and dollar by dollar, setting up booths at localevents and holding fundraisers at local businesses. A church pitched in more than $100,000.
Dearman advised communities going through this process to raise the money themselves. Every time someone chips in or offers a hug,said Dearman, “it’s proof that love always wins.”
And that is part of what drives her to do this work, to prove to her kids that there’s more good than evil in the world.
“They still have their moments when I think that I haven’t shown them enough proof,” she said. But she thinks that when they see thememorial, “that’ll probably be the moment that sends them over the edge into believing.”
The 7/20 Memorial Foundation announced the winning design for the memorial a few weeks ago. It’ll consist of 83 sculptural birds,representing those killed and injured, flocking toward the sky.
Follow Adriene Hill at @adrienehill.
Anesthesia Providers Turn To Opioid Alternatives During Surgery
By JOE NELSON | [email protected] and RICHARD DEATLEY | [email protected] | San Bernardino SunPUBLISHED: September 11, 2017 at 3:39 pm | UPDATED: September 11, 2017 at 8:52 pm
Former Assistant Assessor Jim Erwin, center, attends the corruption case verdict hearing at San Bernardino Superior Court in San Bernardino,Calif. on Monday, Aug. 28, 2017. Defendants Jeff Burum, former Supervisor Paul Biane and Mark Kirk were found not guilty after a marathon trialthat has lasted nearly eight months. (Photo by Rachel Luna, The Sun/SCNG)
Jurors for Jim Erwin, the remaining defendant in the San Bernardino County Colonies bribery trial, began their third week of deliberations
Monday and concluded for the day at noon, court of�cials said.
The jury will resume at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Prosecutors allege Erwin, a former county assistant assessor and sheriff’s labor union president, took part in the bribery of two county
of�cials to get a 2006 Board of Supervisors approval of a $102 million court settlement in favor of Rancho Cucamonga development group
Colonies Partners LP.
Erwin’s jury received his case Aug. 24 a�er nearly eight months of testimony in the marathon trial in the San Bernardino courtroom of
Judge Michael A. Smith.
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Erwin jurors in Colonies trial to resume deliberationsTuesday
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A separate jury on Aug. 28 acquitted on all counts fellow defendants Jeff Burum, a developer and co-managing partner of Colonies
Partners LP; former San Bernardino County Supervisor Paul Biane; and Mark Kirk, former chief of staff for one-time county Supervisor
Gary Ovitt.
The Erwin jury has run into some stumbling blocks during its deliberations, including a ri� in the panel outlined last week in a motion by
Erwin’s attorney Rajan Maline, who sought either a mistrial or dismissal of two panelists, including the jury foreman.
Maline alleged misconduct by the two for allegedly revealing in notes to the court how the panel was leaning in the midst of its
deliberations — something even the judge is not supposed to know.
Smith talked to all the jurors in his chambers and sent the panel, including the challenged jurors, back to deliberate. He urged them to
refrain from voicing comments via texts or social media and to talk to each other despite disagreements.
Besides the bribery charges, Erwin, a former assistant county assessor, also is charged with intentionally failing to �le his state tax return
for 2008, and two counts of perjury — one of those for not reporting a gi�ed $12,765 Rolex watch from Burum and other items from an East
Coast trip to celebrate the settlement.
Erwin had his own jury because some of the evidence in his case was inadmissible for the other three defendants.
NELSON_JOEJoe NelsonJoe Nelson is an award-winning investigative reporter who has worked for The Sun since November 1999. He started as a crime reporterand went on to cover a variety of beats including courts and the cities of Colton, Highland and Grand Terrace. He has covered SanBernardino County since 2009. Nelson is a graduate of California State University Fullerton. In 2014, he completed a fellowship atLoyola Law School's Journalist Law School program.
Follow Joe Nelson @SBCountyNow
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Richard DeAtleyA journalist since 1975, for City News Service in Los Angeles, The Associated Press in Los Angeles and New York, andThe Press-Enteprise, Richard DeAtley has been Entertainment Editor, a features writer, courts and breaking newsreporter. He is currently a business reporter for The P-E. He is a Cal State Long Beach graduate, lifelong SouthernCalifornian (except for that time in New York -- which was great!), he has been in Riverside since 1992, and has watched
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Cannabis company buying historic town of Nipton to develop 420-friendly resort
By Brooke Edwards Staggs, The CannifornianNO COMMENTS Posted on Sep 10, 2017
Laura Cavaness boasted a new uniform as she set out for another day of tidying tented cabins, dusting antique trinkets and clearing the cobwebs that each night seem to emerge from the desert.
For seven months, the 53-year-old Indiana native has lived in Nipton – on the edge of San Bernardino County, a few miles from the Nevada border – with her husband, Carl, their two children and three grandchildren. Together, the couple serves as caretakers for the hundred-year-old Hotel Nipton.
Cavaness recently traded her cotton T-shirt for one made from hemp. Stamped in yellow across the pale green top was the logo for American Green, the cannabis company that wants to buy her entire town.
Carl and Laura Cavaness, both 53, stand outside the hotel they manage in Nipton, Calif. A cannabis company is in escrow to buy the desert town. (Photo by Rachel Luna, The Cannifornian/SCNG)
“They gave me this,” Cavaness said, grinning and pointing to the name on her shirt. “We’re hoping to be able to work for them.”
More than a century ago, a gold rush gave birth to what was then known as Nippeno Camp. Today, a green rush – spurred by the marijuana legalization movement – is stirring hopes of new life for Nipton.
American Green is in escrow to buy the 120-acre community, which is home to the Cavaness family and another dozen people, a handful of businesses and a tradition of dreaming big.
The Phoenix-based company wants to modernize Nipton’s five-room hotel and “eco-lodge” cabins. It would upgrade the quirky general store, one-room schoolhouse and RV park. It wants to reopen the Whistlestop Café, which has been shuttered since spring, and add more lodging, food options, a music venue and other amenities.
The goal is to convince visitors to venture 12 miles off the busy highway that connects Southern California with Las Vegas.
And American Green hopes to seal the deal with one key ingredient: marijuana.
The company aims to follow the lead of weed-friendly resorts in Colorado, with future Nipton guests invited to partake in their hotel rooms, attend cannabis-infused dinner parties and soak in medicated pools. And if American Green officials can find a way to loosen strict local bans on the industry, they eventually would like to dedicate the area’s more remote acreage to cultivating and processing marijuana products that can be loaded onto trains that rumble through Nipton each day.
American Green’s vision adds Nipton to a growing list of communities in the Mojave Desert and throughout California that are turning to cannabis to save them.
The Whistlestop Cafe in Nipton has been closed since April. Hotel guests have to drive to Primm, Nev. for hot food. (Photo by Rachel Luna, The Cannifornian/SCNG)
In 2014, Desert Hot Springs, about 200 miles south of Nipton, was on the verge of filing for bankruptcy for a second time. Instead, city leaders decided to welcome commercial cannabis cultivation. Today, the town with a yearly budget of $15 million is hoping to collect annual marijuana tax revenue of $50 million.
Another regional neighbor, Adelanto, in the high desert, staved off insolvency in 2010 by selling off a local prison. Five years later, as that one-time infusion of money was drying up, city officials lifted a ban on marijuana businesses. Thanks to revenue from the industry, the Daily Press reports that Adelanto is without a deficit for the first time in eight years.
With statewide projections for legal marijuana to be a nearly $3 billion industry this year – and likely to jump considerably next year, when full legalization kicks in – some version of this story is playing out in Lynwood, Perris and other communities that have long struggled with above-average unemployment and city revenues that haven’t matched expenses.
But Nipton would be the first community anywhere, it seems, entirely owned by a cannabis company. So when news of American Green’s plan to buy Nipton broke in early August, it drew international media attention to a town that’s otherwise best known for being a good spot to buy Lotto tickets.
Early headlines painted pictures of a coming cannabis utopia. But as reporters started digging into the company’s financial records and county policies banning marijuana businesses, the scheme was soon cast as doomed to fail or, worse, a media stunt aimed at artificially boosting share prices for the penny stock company.
While cannabis definitely has a role in American Green’s plans, spokesman Michael Rosati said company leaders are confident they can make the venture work even if they can never grow weed in Nipton. And while financial records show American Green is thin on assets and cash flow, Rosati insists it has the resources lined up to close escrow and carry the project forward.
“There will be other investors coming to the table,” Rosati said. “They’ll be announced as things get unrolled.”
Whether American Green’s grand plans for Nipton materialize remains to be seen. But plenty of folks are cheering for the company to strike gold.
PIONEERING SPIRIT
Nipton has long lured pioneers willing to gamble on unusual dreams.
With its vast underground aquifer, Nipton became a camp in the late 1800s for miners pulling riches from nearby mountains, ranchers loading desert cattle onto local railroad lines and wagon trains in search of paradise out west.
British miner Harry Trehearne chased his dreams all the way to Nipton in 1913. At the time, the hotel was about 10 years old, though records are scarce. Trehearne decided to fix it up and open a general store, quickly becoming the unofficial patron of Nipton.
In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed patent papers transferring Nipton to Trehearne. The community has been privately owned ever since, passing between another half-dozen owners before Gerald Freeman set his sights on it in 1984.
Nipton by then was just another desert ghost town. But Freeman, a geologist, had scouted area mining sites for big companies for years, and he viewed Nipton as an opportunity to make a gamble of his own.
Current Nipton owner Roxanne Lang discusses the history and future of the desert outpost from the lobby of its historic hotel. (Photo by Rachel Luna, The Cannifornian/SCNG)
Roxanne Lang was living in Malibu and dating Freeman at the time. When he mentioned his interest in buying Nipton, she thought he was kidding. Then she thought he was crazy. But eventually she recognized that his heart was set on this scheme, and her heart was set on him.
They spent $200,000 to buy the town, then began remodeling the hotel, fixing up the grounds and adding the RV park. After struggling to manage the venture from Los Angeles, the couple moved to Nipton with their kids in 1986.
By then, the new “Nipton Nugget” newspaper boasted the town’s population had swelled to 21. There were swap meets on weekends and Catholic Mass in the old schoolhouse each Sunday. Residents were providing salon services and offering hayrides. Plans called for a gas station, a shooting range, an airstrip and more.
Nearby gold mines were booming in those days. But big hauls slowed in the late 1980s, and so did Nipton. Eventually, Freeman and Lang moved their family to Henderson, Nev. while staff kept Hotel Nipton, the store and the restaurant going.
The first “green rush” came to Nipton at the end of the 2000s, as entrepreneurs chased dreams of renewable energy to the vast Mojave Desert.
Nipton owner Gerald Freeman built this solar plant in 2010 to supply power for the desert community. (Photo by Rachel Luna, The Cannifornian/SCNG)
BrightSource Energy built the solar plant near Primm, Nev. that can’t be missed from the I-15 and Nipton. Other commercial solar and wind projects popped up nearby. And Freeman built a solar farm to supply half of Nipton’s power, with dreams of one day taking the town completely off the grid.
By then, Freeman was about to turn 80. Lang said he had congestive heart failure and had already suffered one major heart attack. And, since he’d sunk $1 million into Nipton, he had no retirement stash. So in 2015, the couple asked their Realtor friend Tony Castrignano to sell the town for $5 million.
“It’s an opportunity you don’t always come across,” Castrignano said.
There’s been steady interest over the past two years, he said, from a San Francisco architecture school to a Hollywood festival promoter. But no one followed through.
A year ago, Freeman died.
Trying to maintain Nipton alone was too much for Lang, who still works as a speech pathologist in an area school district.
Then along came American Green.
DEALING IN GREEN
American Green started in 2009 as a technology company, Rosati said, initially dabbling in music products. Soon, they were developing the first iteration of a cannabis vending machine, grow lights and other gear for the emerging industry.
Today, the company is developing a marijuana cultivation facility in Phoenix. It sells CBD, a therapeutic compound in cannabis that doesn’t make people high. It’s also developing technology products, from apps to a new vending machine.
Some months ago, as a team from American Green drove from Arizona to Las Vegas, Rosati said someone spotted signs touting a town for sale. The notion made sense, he said, since they wanted to expand but were discouraged by the red tape required to open a marijuana business in most cities.
“We thought, wouldn’t it be great if we could have a little more control over this?” he recalled.
The more they learned about Nipton’s resources and history – including tales of silent film star Clara Bow staying at the hotel and Wyatt Earp’s brother mining land nearby – Rosati said the more they liked the idea.
“It’s like a Clint Eastwood movie,” he said. “The pioneering spirit swells up in you.”
To lock in a deal, Rosati said American Green put down $200,000. If escrow closes as planned in early October, he said the company will owe another $1.8 million. Then he said the Freeman trust will carry the note for the remaining $3 million.
As they clean up and modernize Nipton’s existing facilities, Rosati said they plan to keep the main structures intact, recognizing the town’s story will be a part of its attraction. And as they add lodging, like tiny homes and converted shipping containers, plus dining and other amenities, he said they aim to stick closely to Freeman’s vision for building a sustainable community.
Current town owner Roxanne Lang reads articles about the town in Nipton, Calif. on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. The town has attracted media attention over the years for its history,
setting and characters. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Whistlestop Cafe is left closed and for rent in Nipton, Calif. on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. Cannabis company American Green wants to reopen the cafe as a traditional burger joint,
plus add other dining options to the property down the road. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Nipton Trading Post displays and sells maps aimed at helping visitors explore the nearby Mojave National Preserve. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Whistlestop Cafe is left closed and for rent in Nipton, Calif. on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. A cannabis company is in escrow to buy the desert outpost of Nipton and turn it into a
marijuana production and tourism destination. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A sign attracts travelers to stop in Nipton, Calif. on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. A cannabis company is in escrow to buy the desert outpost of Nipton and turn it into a marijuana production
and tourism destination. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Hotel Nipton in Nipton, Calif. on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. A cannabis company is in escrow to buy the desert outpost of Nipton and turn it into a marijuana production and tourism
destination. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A rental cabin in Nipton, Calif. on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. One of these "eco-lodges" is named Cuatro, in remembrance of the time late owner Gerald Freeman won a local school
board election by just four votes. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Hotel Nipton in Nipton, Calif. on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. The five-room hotel is more than 100 years old and features adobe walls that are more than a foot thick. (Photo by Rachel
Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Current town owner Roxanne Lang stands in front of the Hotel Nipton in Nipton, Calif. on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. For years, she's rode with colleagues in a daily vanpool some 70
miles each way to serve as a speech pathologist in Baker's little school district. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A small room inside Hotel Nipton in Nipton, Calif. on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. Each room is named for a historic figure tied to Nipton. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County
Register/SCNG)
The history of Nipton is displayed on a plaque looking out to railroad tracks and the Mojave National Preserve. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Antiques are displayed inside the century-old Hotel Nipton in Nipton, Calif. on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. A cannabis company is in escrow to buy the desert outpost of Nipton and turn it
into a marijuana production and tourism destination. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Antiques are displayed inside Hotel Nipton in Nipton, Calif. on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. Many of the items were at the property when Gerald Freeman and his wife, Roxanne Lang,
bought it in 1984. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Nipton Trading Post in Nipton, Calif. on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. The store sells everything from branded wine to a used spray tan kit. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County
Register/SCNG)
The Whistlestop Cafe is left closed and for rent in Nipton, Calif. on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. A customer made this monument for one of the cafe's longtime operators, who always had
his dog with him. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)
"Nipton Nugget" newspapers from the 1980s are for sale inside the Nipton Trading Post in Nipton, Calif. on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County
Register/SCNG)
The Nipton Trading Post in Nipton, Calif. on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. Owner Roxanne Lang recently found love letters from her late husband in the store's basement, including drafts
he'd made before sending her the final version. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)
An old one-room schoolhouse in Nipton, Calif. on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. The school operated from around the 1930s to 1960s and has been remodeled as an assembly space called
Freeman Hall. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Antiques are displayed inside Hotel Nipton in Nipton, Calif. on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. A cannabis company is in escrow to buy the desert outpost of Nipton and turn it into a marijuana
production and tourism destination. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Current town owner Roxanne Lang reads framed documents tied to Nipton's history, which are on display throughout the five-room Hotel Nipton. (Photo by Rachel Luna, Orange County Register/SCNG)
American Green hasn’t previously worked in the renewable energy or hospitality industries. But Rosati said that’s where partners – such as PanPacific International, the firm managing the Nipton project – will come in.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle for American Green’s dream in Nipton is legal.
San Bernardino County currently bans all types of marijuana businesses. So the only way American Green could develop commercial cannabis enterprises in Nipton is if it either convinces the county Board of Supervisors to change those policies or if Nipton incorporates so they can make their own laws.
But Nipton is far from having the population it needs to become an official town, according to Kathleen Rollings-McDonald, executive director of the county’s governing land use agency. State law requires at least 500 registered voters, while San Bernardino County adds a requirement of 10,000 residents.
Rosati said all options are on the table, and he’s optimistic that cannabis eventually will be cultivated in Nipton. But if not, he said nothing should stop them from marketing Nipton as cannabis-friendly. And their plan for infusing aquifer water with CBD that they’d use to fill bathing pools and bottle off for sales should still be allowed to proceed, he argues, since they’d be using CBD derived from hemp. That’s sold now in stores such as Trader Joe’s.
Marijuana aside, the Mojave Desert is having a moment, with sometimes long waits to get into Joshua Tree National Park. Plus, there’s newfound demand for quirky accommodations, such as extreme “glamping” sites, that make for fun Instagram posts. In the right hands, Rosati said, Nipton seems poised to break through.
The Cavanesses are supportive of American Green’s plan, insisting media reports on the marijuana angle have been overblown.
“They think it’s going to be a big smoke-out town,” Cavaness said. “It’s not going to be anything like that.”
Other Nipton residents, who live in mobile home compounds scattered along the highway into town, seem mostly apathetic.
Oscar Talamantes, 53, shows off a fountain on his Nipton compound that’s home to cows, horses, pigs, peacocks and more. (Brooke Edwards Staggs, The Cannifornian/SCNG)
“It doesn’t make any difference to me,” Oscar Talamentes, 53, said.
He moved from Las Vegas to Nipton eight years ago seeking some peace. He leases the front half of his property to a towing business and has built a little oasis out back, with peacocks roaming free, horses to ride, cows to milk, chickens to eat and a deep well.
Talamentes does venture to Nipton Trading Post to get a cold beer. But he said he’s not worried about American Green’s plans.
“It’s not going to change my life,” he said. “I’ve got everything I need right here.”
Sharon McKeever has mixed feelings. She’s been stopping in Nipton with her family since the ’80s, as they drive from the San Fernando Valley to Lake Mojave, and likes the place as is.
“I just hope it doesn’t change too much,” she said, as she picked out a bobblehead turtle to bring home to her daughter.
When she recently showed American Green’s team around the property, Lang said she felt reassured, sensing the company’s executives appreciate Nipton’s history and what it might become.
And she feels certain her husband, Jerry, would’ve gotten a kick out of the marijuana part.
“When he passed away, I told him I would take care of it,” she said. “I think he would approve.”
NIPTON: BY THE NUMBERS
$200,000: Amount Gerald Freeman paid for Nipton 33 years ago
$5 million: Selling price of Nipton’s 120 acres in 2017
20: Estimated residents in the town
$0.0019: American Green’s closing share price Friday, Sept. 8
$191,287: Cash American Green listed on hand as of March financial statements
$8 million: Liabilities American Green listed in March financial statements
$75: Price of a used spray tan kit for sale in the “thrift store” portion of Nipton Trading Post
5: Rooms in Hotel Nipton, plus four tented “eco-lodge” cabins
8: Individuals who’ve owned Nipton since 1940
27: Fixed stray cats that roam Nipton to control the rodent (and therefore snake) population
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By LISET MARQUEZ | [email protected] | Inland Valley DailyBulletinSeptember 11, 2017 at 6:40 pm
Gameworks, one of the original businesses at the Ontario Mills, has closed. (Photo byWill Lester-Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG) ORG XMIT: 0712_NWS_IDB-L-GAMEWORKS-0712-02
LOCAL NEWS
3 Ontario Mills mall eateriesreopen after rodent droppings,cockroaches found
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The location will be reinspected Sept. 21. County of�cials also ordered the
location to sanitize the �oors, walls and ceiling.
“The commissary is to remain closed and the health permit is to remain
suspended until the vermin infestation is eliminated,” the report stated.
MARQUEZ_LISETLiset MarquezLiset Marquez has covered the foothill communities of Rancho Cucamonga,Upland and Claremont since 2014. She has been with the Daily Bulletin since2006.
By Rene Ray De La Cruz Staff Writer Posted Sep 11, 2017 at 7:51 AMUpdated Sep 11, 2017 at 7:51 AM
PHELAN — Organizers of the 23rd annual Veterans’ Dinner and Graduationcelebration said this year’s event will honor over 1,000 military heroes and havesome “very big changes.”
Heritage School teacher Todd Anton, who has hosted the event each year atSerrano High School in Phelan, said one major change is the event will bescheduled one month earlier than usual.
Anton said former Serrano High School head football coach and current schoolActivities Director Ray Maholchic suggested moving the event from Veteran’sDay week in November to October 18.
“Usually this dinner falls on Veteran’s Day week and competes with other events,and the Marine Corps birthday on Nov. 10,” Anton said. “Moving the event willalso involve more of Serrano High School.”
Anton said this year’s event, which includes veterans receiving their high schooldiplomas through San Bernardino County Veteran’s “Operation Graduation,” hasbeen dubbed “More than a Dinner; More than a Game.”
Anton said another change to this year’s event is varsity football players willserve dinner to the veterans and sign them up for free admission to the footballgame between Apple Valley High School and Serrano in Phelan on Oct. 20.
The Serrano football team will wear special military-designed jerseys during thegame, which will be dedicated to the veterans who will also be honored duringthe game.
During halftime, 93-year-old WWII veteran and U.S. Army Air Corps B-17 andB-24 pilot Lt. Robert Maholchic will be honored. He is the father of RayMaholchic and grandfather of current Serrano football coach Casey Maholchic.
Unlike previous dinners, where students served and mingled with veterans,students at this year’s event will host tables and spend the entire dinner with theveterans at that table.
“This gives the veterans a chance to teach and the students to learn,” said Anton,who is also an author and military historian. “The veterans are the best teachersin that room. They are ones who lived it and saw others pay the ultimatesacrifice.”
Anton said as the dinner grew from 200 to nearly 1,200 veterans over the years,the ability of students and veterans to connect became less and less.
“I just didn’t want the kids to be waiters, but hosts and historians — spendingquality time with amazing people,” Anton said.
Applications are now being accepted for the graduation award ceremonythrough the Operation Recognition Veterans Diploma Project, offered inpartnership between the SBC Superintendent of Schools and the county’sDepartment of Veterans Affairs.
All applicants must have been enrolled in high school prior to their militaryservice or internment in a World War II relocation camp. There is no cost toapply or to receive a high school diploma. Applications can be downloaded fromthe County Schools’ website at vdp.sbcss.k12.ca.us/.
The graduation is scheduled for 4:15 to 5:15 p.m., with dinner to follow from5:30 to 7 p.m. on Oct. 18 at Serrano High School, located at 9292 Sheep CreekRoad in Phelan.
Tickets are free to all U.S. veterans and one guest. Tickets are available in Phelanat Heritage School, McDonald’s, Pizza Factory, Desert Community Bank and theSnowline Schools District Office, along with DCB in Wrightwood, A-TechTransmission in Hesperia and Victorville Motors.
By MIKE CRUZ | [email protected] | San Bernardino SunSeptember 11, 2017 at 10:43 pm
Eagle Scout Logan Roldan, 16, of Troop 608 in Upland, holds a framed 911 Memorial Boy Scout patches from New York, as they retire a US Flagduring a flag retirement event honoring September 11, at the Boy Scouts of America Troop 301 Scout House in Ontario, CA., Monday, September11, 2017. (Photo by James Carbone for the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin)
More than 150 boy and girl scouts from Inland Valley communities took part in an annual �ag retirement ceremony Monday evening, the
anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack.
The �ag ceremony took place at 6 p.m. at the Boy Scout Troop 301 house, 1322 E. Fourth St., in Ontario. The scouts who participated were
from troops in Ontario, Upland, Montclair, Fontana and more.
NEWS
Inland scouts honor 9/11 anniversary with flagretirement ceremony
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Girls from Brownies 03694 of Ontario, walk carefully to the fire pit to retire a US Flag, during a flag retirement event honoringSeptember 11, at the Boy Scouts of America Troop 301 Scout House in Ontario, CA., Monday, September 11, 2017. (Photo by JamesCarbone for the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin)
On Sept. 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 people were killed when airplanes hijacked by terrorists hit the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a
�eld near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
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By KRISTINA HERNANDEZ | [email protected] | Redlands Daily FactsPUBLISHED: September 11, 2017 at 9:01 pm | UPDATED: September 11, 2017 at 9:09 pm
Approximately 2500 flags were placed on the grass outside of Memorial Chapel at the University of Redlands to mark the 16th anniversary of theterrorist attacks Monday afternoon September 11, 2017. (Will Lester-Inland Valley Daily Bulletin-SCNG)
The victims of Sept. 11, 2001 were remembered during University of Redlands’ weekly prayer service.
Held Monday a�ernoon, students, faculty, staff and the community were invited to share re�ections of the day’s events in the U of
R labyrinth. Chaplain John Walsh led the service.
The university’s Chaplain’s Of�ce hosts the weekly service at 4 p.m. It is open to the public and there is no charge to attend.
To learn more, call 909-748-8369.
LOCAL NEWS
University of Redlands, community remembers 9/11victims with prayer, remembrances
Tags: Photos And Videos, Sept. 11, Top Stories RDF
By MIKE CRUZ | [email protected] | San Bernardino SunPUBLISHED: September 11, 2017 at 6:16 pm | UPDATED: September 12, 2017 at 4:25 am
Crosses fill the lawn outside the Rialto Fire Department, honoring the fallen first responders from the September 11th attack in Rialto, CA.,September 11, 2017. The crosses were part of the annual 9-11 Remembrance Ceremony, hosted by Rialto Police and Fire. (Photo by JohnValenzuela/The Sun/SCNG)
RIALTO >> Rows of small white crosses were placed on the grass Monday morning near Rialto Fire Department as the city — and others
across the Inland Empire — remembered the victims and �rst responders of the 9/11 terror attack.
Residents joined police and �re personnel and city of�cials on Willow Avenue, between the �re and police departments, to remember the
16th anniversary of the attack. A giant American �ag was raised atop a ladder on a �re truck.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed on Sept. 11, 2001, when airplanes hijacked by terrorists hit the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a �eld
near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
In Riverside, about 150 people paid tribute to �rst responders and victims during a ceremony at City Hall. In Banning, bells rang
at 8:46, 9:03, 9:37 and 10:03 a.m. on the San Gorgonio Pass campus of Mt. San Jacinto College to mark when the planes crashed into
the trade center, the Pentagon and the �eld in Shanksville.
The University of Redlands remembered 9/11 during its weekly 4 p.m. prayer in the labyrinth, while students at Redlands Adventist
Academy gathered around the �agpole on campus to remember the lives lost. In Chino, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Los Angeles
Chapter, held its seventh annual blood drive to honor 9/11 victims at the Baitul Hameed Mosque.
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Community leaders gathered at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona to honor those who died. The WesternU Chamber
Singers performed “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and U.S. Army veteran Thomas Laffey closed the ceremony by playing “Taps” on the bugle,
followed by a moment of silence.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Festival Angaelica September 18-24, Big Bear Lakein Community News, Entertainment, For Your Information, Informational, Mountain Region, News, Subject,Ticker / by Michael P. Neufeld / on September 8, 2017 at 5:03 am /
By Susan A. Neufeld
Big Bear Lake, CA – Festival Angaelica is celebrating 10 years of FREE to attend films, art, live music,workshops and outdoor adventures. Combining Independent Cinema from around the globe with theunparalleled beauty of the San Bernardino Mountains.
Festival Director Breven Angaelica Warren is excited to be returning to Big Bear Lake for the event’s 10thAnniversary.
“Angaelica is an arts & ecology organization that supports artists through our unique mentorship festival,combining art and nature — while creating a community that educates, encourages and empowers filmmakers tostep out and make bold, new and visionary works.” Said Warren.
EVENTS
The festival includes Filmmaker camping, outdoor movies & live music, live painting, hiking, kayaking, paddleboards,comedians, guest speakers, screenplay readings and workshops.
On Monday there will be live music at Meadows Edge Picnic area. Tuesday events are at Fawnskin Harbor inthe afternoon with outdoor music and movie. Wednesday is at Meadows Edge with karaoke and a cruise on MissLiberty paddleboat. There will also be live music and movie in downtown Big Bear Village. Thursday throughSunday are movie screenings, workshops at the Big Bear Performing Arts Center.
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By BEATRIZ E. VALENZUELA | [email protected]: September 12, 2017 at 8:33 am | UPDATED: September 12, 2017 at 9:08 am
Photo by Beatriz E. Valenzuela, StaffA stabbing took place about 7:30 a.m. at Sun Avenue near Orange Street in Redlands
A man who witnesses say is a transient was stabbed Tuesday morning near an ARCO gas station in Redlands.
The stabbing took place about 7:30 a.m. at Sun Avenue near Orange Street in Redlands. On Tuesday morning, Sun was blocked off from
Orange to Alta Street.
Several bloody articles of clothing could be seen strewn about at the entrance of an alley behind the ARCO gas station.
37mBeatriz Valenzuela @BeatrizVNews"They told me died but I don't believe them," said Marisha Camposwho saw Kyle less than an hour before the stabbing.
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.@RedlandsPD have not confirmed this is a homicide.pic.twitter.com/pekmrWqkhx8:54 AM - Sep 12, 2017
1
Beatriz Valenzuela @BeatrizVNews
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VALENZUELA_BEATRIZBeatriz E. ValenzuelaBeatriz E. Valenzuela is an award-winning journalist who’s covered breaking news in Southern California since 2006 and has been onthe front lines of several national and international news events. She’s worked for media outlets serving Southern California readerscovering education, local government, entertainment and all things nerd including comic book culture and video games. She’s anamateur obstacle course racer, constant fact-checker, mother of three and lover of all things adorable.
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Man survives propane explosion in Joshua TreeNational ParkBy Stacy Moore, Hi-Desert Star | Posted: Monday, September 11, 2017 10:27 am
JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK — A man survived an explosion when he lit a cigarette next to aleaking propane tank while in the national park Sunday, Sept. 3.
National park spokesman George Land said the park service was alerted to the explosion around 7 a.m.
The man was by himself in his car at the Stirrup Tank area south of White Tank Campground. He had apropane tank in his car that may have been leaking, according to Land. The man lay down on the seat and lita cigarette, setting off a blast of fire.
“It pretty much demolished the car,” Land said.
“The only thing that saved him is he was lying down on the seat and the back of the seat took a lot of theblast.”
Emergency services responded and took the man to a hospital, where he was treated and released for minorburns. “I believe his hearing was somewhat impaired from the blast,” Land said.
The car was a total loss, but the propane tank itself didn’t blow up, he added.
9/12/2017 ROTWNEWS.com – Quiet Skies Lake Arrowhead Community Meeting – Monday, September 18
Quiet Skies Lake Arrowhead Community Meeting –Monday, September 18in Community News, County, Environment, For Your Information, Informational, Local, Mountain Region,News, Politics, Subject, Ticker / by Michael P. Neufeld / on September 12, 2017 at 5:00 am /
By Susan A. Neufeld
Lake Arrowhead, CA – On Monday, September 18, at 6:30 p.m., “Quiet Skies Lake Arrowhead” is having aCommunity meeting at the Lake Arrowhead Resort & Spa, 27984 Hwy 189, Lake Arrowhead.
The meeting is in regard to the plane noise over the Lake Arrowhead area after the FAA changed the flight pathinto Ontario Airport.
THIS IS THE MEETING THE FAA NEVER ALLOWED US TO HAVE.
INFORMATION
Information that will be available at the meeting:
Adverse effects of the jet engines on air and quality of lifeNoise: effects, annoyance and quality of life issuesUseful information everyone needs to knowHow to write a complaint emailWhere to file complaints
SPEAKERS
<< TOP STORIES >>Quiet Skies Lake Arrowhead Community Meeting - Monday, September 18 A Day of Recognition For Those Who Keep Us Safe
FAA Western Regional Administrator has been invitedUS Senator Dianne Feinstein, represented by Peter MullerUS Senator Kamala Harris, represented by Heather HuttCongressman Paul Cook, represented by Dakota HigginsLewis Murray, from County Supervisor Janice Rutherford’s office
This important meeting should be attended by all residents of the mountain communities, it will help usunderstand what impact this change is having now, and will have on our communities in the future.
Save the date — September 18 – 6:30 p.m. – Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa.
For more information visit http://movetheflightpath.org
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“This is a phased project as you could see,” Sherli Leonard, the conservancy’s executive director, told the City Council Tuesday. “We won’t
be addressing the restoration of the house until the third phase. As you can see, these phases overlap each other as we can get funds.”
The ranch would also feature a drought tolerant plant demonstration garden and would serve as a trailhead for equestrians and hikers
headed south into land owned by Riverside County and north into the Herngt ‘Aki’ Preserve in Redlands.
The conservancy will continue to work with staff on its plans and update the City Council.
“We look forward to the matter coming back to us formally,” Mayor Paul Foster said.
The property was just out of reach of the Palmer �re, which scorched 3,874 acres in the San Timoteo Canyon Area south of Redlands last
week.
“We had disked that property and about 5 acres north of it maybe a month and a half ago, two months ago strictly as weed abatement,”
Leonard said. “The �re burned right to the edge of the disked area.”
The conservancy cleaned all the weeds surrounding the house and other buildings on the property, which also helped prevent sparking
from the �re, she said.
“We feel pretty good about having been proactive on that,” she said.
The adjacent acreage owned by the Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority, however, lost its native vegetation and
wildlife to the �re, Leonard said.
But, Leonard said, the �re also took out the non-native vegetation and invasive plants that have become problematic.
“It was ready to take over,” she said. “What we’re going to try to do now, even though this isn’t Redlands property, is we will work with the
RCA on plant restoration in such a way that hopefully we can get ahead of the non-native plants and the weeds that have been plaguing the
area so much.”
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EMERSON_SANDRASandra EmersonSandra Emerson covers the cities of Redlands, Highland and Yucaipa for the Redlands Daily Facts and The Sun.
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SBCUSD Superintendent asks for communityassistance in raising student attendancePosted: Monday, September 11, 2017 3:22 pm
While visiting Middle College High School for the CenturyClub's Sept. 8 meeting, San Bernardino City Unified SchoolDistrict (SBCUSD) Superintendent Dale Marsden shared hisaim for the district to reach 97 percent in student attendance,a goal he asked the Century Club members and thecommunity at large to assist the district in achieving.
Marsden shared that the district as a whole achieved anattendance rate of 95 percent last school year and has now setits sights on for a new high.
"If we meet that goal that will increase our ending fundbalance for our district by about $10 million," Marsden said."That's a huge chunk of change to make a difference in thelives of our kids."
According to Marsden, 95 percent is very high for a largeschool district struggling with poverty and lots of social ills.That 95 percent was reached largely through the efforts of thedistrict's Operation Student Recovery initiative.
The program has district staff making home visits to chronicabsentees to better understand the reasons for the absencesand assist in getting the students back in school.
Operations Student recovery has had about a 75 percentreturn but community support will be needed to continuallyraise attendance rates, Marsden said.
"If you you see some of our kids walking around and are curious about if they should be in school you cancall our school dispatch and our officers will gladly go out check on our young people and make sure they'rein the right place," Marsden said. "We want everyone in this community to care for our kids. A student thatmisses 10 days or more during the school year is 20 percent less likely to graduate from high school and 25percent less likely to ever enroll in college."
The district dispatch phone number is (909) 388-6131. Many local businesses have already been visited andgiven school class schedules and calendars and asked to participate.
The meeting brought together educators, parents and business partners at Middle College High School tohighlight the school's tremendous success in preparing students for college.
Principal Espinoza
Middle College High School PrincipalJames Espinoza thanks the San BernardinoCity Unified School District and thecommunity stakeholders of the CenturyClub for supporting the school, Sept. 8.
9/12/2017 SBCUSD Superintendent asks for community assistance in raising student attendance - Highland Community News: Schools
Principal James Espinoza shared that in 2016-17 the Middle College was a top performing high school inSan Bernardino and Riverside counties, achieving 100 percent graduation rate, 100 percent A-G completionand 100 percent graduate acceptance to 4-year colleges.
Middle College graduates have also earned an average of 54 college credits per student.
The 100 percent graduation rate dates back to 2015.
The school has also earned several awards since its establishment in 2001 include a 2004 Golden Bell, 2007California Distinguished School Award, 2008 U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Award and 2017ACT College and Career Transition Award (top school in California).
The school also ranked ninth in CAASPP state testing in 2015 and eleventh in 2016.
The school offers alternative education to the district's high achieving students with a campus adjacent toSan Bernardino Valley College, enabling the students to benefit from taking college courses. Many of thestudents graduate high school with an Associates Degree.
9/12/2017 Searchers locate 71-year-old Calimesa woman after daylong search at Yucaipa park – Press Enterprise
Jolene Rooker, 71, of Calimesa, was reported to have gone missing Sunday,Sept. 10, 2017, in Yucaipa. She was found Monday evening after a daylongsearch. (Photo courtesy of San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department)
A 71-year-old Calimesa woman was found safe with a minor injury about 6 p.m.
Monday, a day a�er she was reported to have gone missing in Yucaipa.
Jolene Rooker was taken to a local hospital as a precaution and reunited with her
family, according to Riverside County sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Chris Willison.
“She was located approximately 300 yards east of where her vehicle was located,”
he said.
Her car had been found at Wildwood Canyon Road and Mesa Grande Drive, said
Jodi Miller, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
Authorities had said Rooker was last seen Sunday evening in Wildwood Canyon
Park. Information about the circumstances of her disappearance were not
released.
9/12/2017 Searchers locate 71-year-old Calimesa woman after daylong search at Yucaipa park – Press Enterprise
The missing-person report was made to the Riverside County Sheriff’s
Department, and both counties are involved in the search, which on Monday
involved bloodhounds, mounted search-and-rescue teams and aviation units.
Community members also were helping search — including Dan and Laura
Dotson, who are regulars on A&E Network’s “Storage Wars” and who live in
Yucaipa, according to social media posts.
Search is underway for Jolene. @sbcsdk9dare Mounted Searchand rescue pic.twitter.com/dnDiBN55Vm10:48 AM - Sep 11, 2017
1 12 26
23hYucaipa Police @YucaipaPDPlease help locate missing adult Jolene Rooker. Last seen atWildwood Park last night 6pm. 71 YOA blnd/blu 5'.pic.twitter.com/F7ftLL8Ncp
23hYucaipa Police @YucaipaPDPlease help locate missing adult Jolene Rooker. Last seen atWildwood Park last night 6pm. 71 YOA blnd/blu 5'.pic.twitter.com/F7ftLL8Ncp
Yucaipa Police @YucaipaPD
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Stephen RamirezSteve Ramirez writes about public safety issues includingcriminal justice and �res in Inland Southern California. Hepreviously covered high schools, college football and motorsports for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune since 1989. He's a big
fan of Buddy Holly and loves World War II movies. Follow Stephen Ramirez @SteveRRamirez
By ALEX GROVES |PUBLISHED: September 12, 2017 at 8:05 am | UPDATED: September 12, 2017 at 8:14 am
A man who was caught driving a car that was stolen from outside a Fontana restaurant — with a 7-week-old baby inside it — is removed from apatrol car in Norco to be identified by the car’s owner and baby’s mother on Monday, Sept. 11, 2017. (Courtesy photo)
NEWSCRIME
Suspect in vehicle theft, kidnapping of infant in Fontanais identified
Christopher Agbaosi, 45, of Rialto was arrested Monday as a suspect in a vehicle theft and kidnapping in Fontana that involved a 7-month-old girl. (Courtesy of Fontana Police Department).
The man suspected of stealing a car with a 7-week-old baby inside and then driving from Fontana to Norco has been identi�ed
as Christopher Tanpinu Agbaosi, 45, of Rialto, according to police.
Agbaosi was arrested Monday on suspicion of kidnapping, child cruelty and assault with a deadly weapon that was not a �rearm. He was
booked into the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga and remained there Tuesday with bail set at $250,000, according to
online jail records.
Just before 2 p.m. Monday, police say that while the mother of the 7-week-old baby picked up food from the Chipotle at 10515 Sierra Ave. —
leaving the child in the running car — Agbaosi entered the car and drove away.
Agbaosi was spotted about an hour later and 20 miles away in Norco, carrying the baby down the street a�er leaving the car in the middle
of the road, according to Of�cer Jay Sayegh, a Fontana police spokesman.
About 3 p.m., he was arrested in the parking lot of StoneBridge Christian Academy. He was transferred from a Riverside County Sheriff’s
Department car into a Fontana police patrol car a little over an hour and a half later.
Authorities have said the mother of the young girl le� her in the car momentarily because the girl was sleeping.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
Tags: children, Top Stories IVDB, Top Stories PE, Top Stories Sun
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Orange County is moving to increase law enforcement in and around the homeless encampments that line the Santa Ana River. It’s part of a six-month plan toclear the camps and find permanent housing for the hundreds of people living there.
The county Board of Supervisors is expected to officially request the increased patrols at its board meeting on Tuesday. The board is also requesting that thesheriff's department work with law enforcement agencies from nearby cities to develop a coordinated plan for addressing crime around the homelessencampments.
Nearby residents have increasingly voiced concern about the encampments, which have ballooned in recent years. A recent survey found more than 400homeless people living in a roughly 2-mile stretch along the river behind Angel Stadium and the Honda Center.
Lt. Jeff Puckett, who oversees the Orange County Sheriff Department’s homeless outreach team, said the team was switching its focus from almost entirelysocial service outreach to a combination of outreach and law enforcement.
“It’s undeniable that there is a criminal element that does exist out there,” he said. “This is not something where we’re looking at necessarily the homelesspopulation but what we feel is the criminal element that’s victimizing the homeless population."
Puckett said the sheriff’s department will crack down on victim-based crimes like assaults and robberies in the riverbed camps. He said he hopes that will alsohelp lessen crime in surrounding neighborhoods.
Authorities from cities that border the Santa Ana River in central Orange County, including Anaheim and Orange, are fielding increasing complaints fromresidents about the encampments and associated crime.
9/12/2017 Audio: Orange County to police homeless encampments | 89.3 KPCC
Tim Paarni, who manages the Park Royale Mobile Home Park, which borders the river in Orange, said crime has increased dramatically in the park over thepast several years.
“In the last 14 months we’ve had over 160 bikes stolen,” he said.
Paarni said people living in the adjacent homeless encampment constantly break street lights around the mobile home park, pilfer construction material andtap fire hydrants for water.
“We’ve had residents who have moved out because of it,” he said, adding that several others planned to sell their homes and move in the near future.
Some homeless people camped along the river have also complained about crime.
Mohammed Aly, a vocal advocate for the homeless, agreed that crime was a problem. But he suspects that the sheriff’s department also plans to crack downon minor violations that would make life even harder for homeless people.
“If somebody has a generator because they’re powering a cooler, or a fan, or a charger so that they can keep their phone charged, the county could essentiallyfight them,” he said.
Aly also said neighboring law enforcement agencies have begun searching people at random as they emerge from the riverbed onto city streets.
“Now many of them are scared to come out of the riverbed," he said. "How is this problem going to be solved if the county sheriff's and the policedepartments are harassing people for trying to stay alive?”
Lt. Puckett said the sheriff’s department wouldn't rule out cracking down on code violations in the camps in the future. “But for right now, we’re going to belooking at victim-based crimes,” he said.
The county is two months into a $750,000 pilot program whose aim is to find permanent housing for the homeless people living along the river and eventuallyclear the camps. City Net, the nonprofit organization that is heading up the program, recently told the Orange County Register that it had relocated 45 peoplefrom the river.
Some advocates for the homeless, including Aly, say the county has thus far failed to adequately ramp up access to basic services, like bathrooms, which issupposed to be part of the county’s plan. Aly has been trying for months to get permission to place portable toilets near some of the largest encampments,close to Angel Stadium.
The county has balked on the issue of providing more toilets, although it did recently expand the hours of a public bathroom next to the Santa Ana River bikepath. Those facilities, which are about a mile walk from the camps near the stadium, are now open 24 hours. Private security guards are stationed at thebathrooms from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Anaheim considers state of emergency on homelessness
Anaheim’s city council is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to declare a state of emergency regarding the homeless population living along the Santa AnaRiver.
A declaration of emergency would be largely symbolic, although the proposal does include some concrete actions. These include directing city staff to workwith adjacent cities and Orange County to beef up efforts to get homeless people into shelters. It would also call for enforcing laws and health and safetycodes in and around the encampments.
The proposal also calls for expediting building permits and waiving fees for organizations that want to open shelters in the city.
Nearby residents and business owners have increasingly voiced concerns about sanitary conditions and about crime and safety issues associated with theencampments.
Anaheim spokesman Mike Lyster said homelessness was the city's most pressing issue.
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By SUSAN ABRAM | [email protected] | Daily NewsPUBLISHED: September 11, 2017 at 6:49 pm | UPDATED: September 11, 2017 at 7:21 pm
Hundreds of people arrived at a rally Friday, September 1, 2017 at the Federal Building on Los Angeles Street, calling for the protection of DACA,the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program started by President Obama and under threat of being shut down by President Trump. Theaction is one of several planned this week by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. (Photo by Walt Mancini/Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
Los Angeles County supervisors are expected to vote Tuesday on whether to restrict county employees from traveling to nine states that
oppose the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the Obama-era policy that protected undocumented children from being
deported and which President Trump plans to end.
The motion by supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn would ban LA County employees from several departments from vising Texas,
Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina and West Virginia on county business. The only exception is if
there is in an emergency response, according to the motion.
Those states had threatened legal action against the Trump Administration if DACA wasn’t repealed. If adopted, the county’s travel ban
would be in place for a year.
Supervisors introduced the motion last Tuesday, just hours after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the end of DACA and a halt
to all new applications for the program. The program will end in six months if Congress does not take action.
NEWS
LA County leaders to consider travel ban on states thatoppose DACA
As Amazon Pushes Forward With Robots,Workers Find New Roles
By NICK WINGFIELD SEPT. 10, 2017
FLORENCE, N.J. — Nissa Scott started working at the cavernous Amazon warehouse insouthern New Jersey late last year, stacking plastic bins the size of small ottomans. It wasnot, she says, the most stimulating activity. And lifting the bins, which often weigh 25pounds each, was also tiring over 10-hour shifts.
Now Ms. Scott, 21, watches her replacement — a giant, bright yellow mechanical arm— do the stacking.
Her new job at Amazon is to babysit several robots at a time, troubleshooting themwhen necessary and making sure they have bins to load. On a recent afternoon, a claw atend of the arm grabbed a bin off a conveyor belt and stacked it on another bin, formingneat columns on wooden pallets surrounding the robot. It was the first time Amazon hadshown the arm, the latest generation of robots in use at its warehouses, to a reporter.
“For me, it’s the most mentally challenging thing we have here,” Ms. Scott said of her newjob. “It’s not repetitive.”
Perhaps no company embodies the anxieties and hopes around automation betterthan Amazon. Many people, including President Trump, blame the company for
destroying traditional retail jobs by enticing people to shop online. At the same time, thecompany’s eye-popping growth has turned it into a hiring machine, with an unquenchableneed for entry-level warehouse workers to satisfy customer orders.
Amazon’s global work force is three times larger than Microsoft’s and 18 times larger thanFacebook’s, and last week, Amazon said it would open a second headquarters in NorthAmerica with up to 50,000 new jobs.
Complicating the equation even more, Amazon is also on the forefront of automation,finding new ways of getting robots to do the work once handled by employees. In 2014, thecompany began rolling out robots to its warehouses using machines originally developedby Kiva Systems, a company Amazon bought for $775 million two years earlier andrenamed Amazon Robotics. Amazon now has more than 100,000 robots in action aroundthe world, and it has plans to add many more to the mix.
The robots make warehouse work less tedious and physically taxing, while alsoenabling the kinds of efficiency gains that let a customer order dental floss after breakfastand receive it before dinner.
“It’s certainly true that Amazon would not be able to operate at the costs they haveand the costs they provide customers without this automation,” said Martin Ford, afuturist and author of “Rise of the Robots,” a book about automation. “Maybe we wouldn’tbe getting two-day shipping.”
The dynamics between people and machines play out on a daily basis on the floor ofAmazon warehouses in places like Florence, N.J., and Kent, Wash. In Kent, the robotsvaguely resemble giant beetles and scurry around with vertical shelves loaded withmerchandise weighing up to 3,000 pounds on their backs. Hundreds of them moveautonomously inside a large caged area, tailgating each other but not colliding.
On one edge of the cage, a group of human workers — the “stowers” — stuff productsonto the shelves, replenishing their inventory. The robots whisk those shelves away andwhen a customer order arrives for products stored on their backs, they queue up atstations on another edge of the cage like cars waiting to go through a toll both.
There, human “pickers” follow instructions on computer screens, grabbing items offthe shelves and putting them in plastic bins, which then disappear on conveyor beltsdestined for “packers,” people who put the products in cardboard boxes bound forcustomers.
Dave Clark, the top executive in charge of operations at Amazon, said the company wantedthe machines to perform the most monotonous tasks, leaving people to do jobs that engagethem mentally.
"It’s a new item each time,” Mr. Clark said. “You’re finding something, you’reinspecting things, you’re engaging your mind in a way that I think is important."
The robots also cut down on the walking required of workers, making Amazon pickersmore efficient and less tired. The robots also allow Amazon to pack shelves together likecars in rush-hour traffic, because they no longer need aisle space for humans. The greaterdensity of shelf space means more inventory under one roof, which means better selectionfor customers.
The Amazon warehouse in Florence shows the latest example of the kinds of jobsmachines can do better than people. Eight mechanical arms are in operation at the facility,a warehouse where large quantities of merchandise are broken down into smaller unitsand distributed to Amazon fulfillment centers across the country.
The arms go by the awkward name of robotic palletizers, but workers have given thema dash of personality, sticking signs on each one naming them after Stuart, Dave and otherminion characters from the “Despicable Me” movies. Unlike the warehouse robots in Kent,which were based on the machines Amazon got through its Kiva acquisition, these armscome from an outside company.
Amazon began installing them late last year, not long after it opened the warehouse inFlorence. The robot arm is configured to pick up only bins of a standard size, not objects ofother dimensions. In a demonstration of future possibilities, Amazon showed a virtualreality simulation used to prototype new robot concepts, including an arm with a forkliftattachment that moved pallets.
When Amazon installed the robots, some people who had stacked bins before, like Ms.Scott, took courses at the company to become robot operators. Many others moved toreceiving stations, where they manually sort big boxes of merchandise into bins. No peoplewere laid off when the robots were installed, and Amazon found new roles for thedisplaced workers, Mr. Clark said.
“The people didn’t go anywhere,” he said.
The question going forward is: What happens when the future generations of robotsarrive?
For now, there are warehouse tasks — for example, picking individual items offshelves, with all their various shapes and sizes — where people outperform robots.Amazon has added 80,000 warehouse employees in the United States since adding theKiva robots, for a total of more than 125,000 warehouse employees. And it says thewarehouse hiring spree will continue.
But start-ups and researchers are scrambling to overcome the many remaining technicalobstacles. Amazon even sponsors an annual contest to encourage more innovation in thecategory.
Mr. Ford, the author, believes it is just a matter of time before the employmentpicture in Amazon’s warehouses changes.
“My assumption is this technology will eventually displace a lot of people in thosewarehouses,” Mr. Ford said. “I would not say that overnight huge numbers of jobsdisappear. Maybe the first indication is they don’t get rid of those people but the pace ofjob creation slows down.”
Amazon’s Mr. Clark said history showed that automation increases productivity and,in some cases, demand from consumers, which ultimately creates more jobs. He saidwarehouse workers would continue to work in technologically rich environments.
“It’s a myth that automation destroys net job growth,” he said.
In the case of the Florence facility, it opened up the new opportunity for Ms. Scott.
At one point, one of the arms knocked over a tote, sending a dozen or so cone-shapedplastic coffee filters skidding across the ground. Ms. Scott hit a button that froze the armso she could safely pick up the mess.
Then the arms started working again.
“The robot will work the same all day long,” said Edward Cohoon, who supervises Ms.Scott and other Amazon workers as they tend to individual robots. “Their stomachs don’tgrumble.”
Correction: September 11, 2017 Earlier versions of the captions for the pictures of a robotic arm in Florence, N.J., and human“pickers” were reversed.Follow Nick Wingfield on Twitter @nickwingfield.
A version of this article appears in print on September 11, 2017, on Page B1 of the New York edition with the headline:The Robots of Amazon.
HOUSTON—For years there hadn’t been much debate over how to regulate land usehere. Developers in the nation’s fourth-largest city mostly built what they wanted,where they wanted.
Now, after Hurricane Harvey killed at least 50 people and caused roughly $180 billion indamage, a battle is shaping up over how best to oversee real-estate development inHouston.
“If Houston does not change, it will not survive from an economic standpoint,” said JimBlackburn, a professor of environmental law and the co-founder of Rice University’sSevere Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disaster Center. “Thisabsolutely should change our policies and our trajectory.”
Two men in particular will have a large say in Houston’s path forward.
Stephen Costello, whose official title is chief resilience officer, but who is known tomany as Houston’s flood czar, says the go-go culture of growth is here to stay. “I
don’t think you’re going to see a dramatic change in the way we are developing,” he said.
Regulating development through, say, a stricter zoning code is a nonstarter, he said.
“Zoning is never going to happen here, not in my lifetime,” he said.
Instead, he believes the city needs to build its way out of its flooding problem byinvesting in a better system to more quickly and efficiently move rainwater out of townand into the bayous during heavy rains.
The second man with a large say in this argument is Russell Poppe, executive director ofthe Harris County Flood Control District. He hopes to leverage a Federal EmergencyManagement Agency program to buy hundreds, if not thousands, of homes in vulnerableareas.
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In Harvey’s Wake, Houston RethinksReal Estate DevelopmentThe storm sparks debate over whether regulations are needed to prevent future flooddisasters
Stephen Costello, Houston's chief resilience officer, says the city's culture of growth isn’t going to change anytime soon inresponse to Hurricane Harvey. PHOTO: SHIBANI MAHTANI
Sept. 11, 2017 12:02 p.m. ETBy Douglas Belkin and Shibani Mahtani
For that to come to pass, it needs to happen soon, he said.
“We would prefer to buy these homes out now before they start making improvements,”Mr. Poppe said. “We’re interested in homes we consider hopelessly deep in thefloodplain.”
Many Houston residents would appear eager for such a plan. Mr. Poppe says his phonehas rung consistently in the wake of Harvey with dozens of people asking for the city tobuy their homes.
Federal officials and scientists like Mr. Blackburn have long urged Houston, one ofthe nation’s fastest-growing cities, to preserve more of its prairie and regulate
development to mitigate the flooding that has plagued residents for decades. Theyhaven’t had the ear of the area’s politicians who, by and large, have championeddevelopment to push economic growth.
Harris County, where Houston sits, added more people than any other U.S. countyduring the eight years before 2015, according to Census Bureau data. To make way forthat growth, developers have paved over enormous tracts of prairie land that oncesoaked up the rains that sweep in from the Gulf of Mexico.
The tabletop-flat city is now a sprawling metropolis stitched together by 10-laneelevated highways connecting far-flung subdivisions filled with single-family homes.The unmanaged growth has meant cheap housing relative to other parts of the country,which helps attract even more people.
“Almost all the flooding in Houston is the result of poor development decisions,” saidJohn Jacob, a professor of watershed science at Texas A&M University.
To mitigate the loss of prairie land and the increase in homes near rivers, the city hasbuilt drainage systems that channel rainwater toward the city’s bayous. A half-dozenmajor floods in recent years show that infrastructure hasn’t been equal to the task, andcritics say the catastrophic damage caused by Harvey is the last straw.
But developers and city officials say the scale of Harvey was so massive it is neither fairnor smart to draw conclusions from the storm yet. They note that building coderestrictions and other regulations have gradually become more strict since the 1990s.
Fred Caldwell, president and chief executive of Caldwell Cos., a commercial andresidential real-estate developer, believes the development community has done an“incredible job in protecting natural areas,” adding his company has incorporated greenspace into its planned residential communities.
He disputed the notion thatstronger regulations wouldhave mitigated Harvey’simpact. The record amountof rainfall—51.88 inches—would have devastated anarea with stricter zoning,
building regulations and more green space, he said.
“To try to plan for that kind of event would be challenging in any metropolitan area,”said Mr. Caldwell. “The goal, I don’t believe, should be to totally mitigate the impact ofthis kind of event forever. It was the largest event of its kind.”
Mr. Blackburn, who has litigated environmental cases and worked in this field inHouston for more than four decades, believes conversations on regulation and amoratorium on development in the floodplains, for example, will go nowhere. Instead,he hopes a market forces-driven solution to preserving prairie lands and wetlands, likeincentivizing farmers and ranchers to keep their land, could be feasible and accepted.
Mr. Jacob called possible FEMA buyouts a step in the right direction, albeit a costly one.He believes his concept to prevent developers from again building in the floodplain is
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“I’d like to see a sign in every subdivision that shows where the water came up to duringeach storm,” he said. “If you shine a light on things you can make a tremendousdifference. Let people make their own choices, and you won’t need any regulation.”
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