| City's renaissance born from a breakfast 'pipe dream' |
| By Jason Pesick, Staff Writer Inland Valley Daily Bulletin |
| Article Launched:07/30/2007 11:43:33 PM PDT |
| RIALTO - One of the most important meetings in city history actually took place outside the city - at the Coco's in Diamond Bar in fall 2004. About a half dozen people met for a power breakfast that morning. The topic of conversation: getting Rep. Gary Miller's help to close Rialto's airport so it could be replaced with the indiscreetly named Renaissance Rialto, a master-planned community. Set up by the project's developer, the Lewis Group of Companies, breakfast-goers included Miller, David Lewis, some advisers and Robb Steel, Rialto's economic development director. "It was such a pipe dream," Steel said of closing the airport, which, with Miller's help, Congress approved in 2005. The breakfast was a success. After chowing down on the weekday special of scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and coffee, Steel, now 50, picked up the check, calling it a "small price" to pay. It's been a week since the opening of the 210 Freeway ex- tension between Rialto and San Bernardino. The completion of the freeway makes the coming months and years critical for Rialto, and Steel is the man in the center of it all. "I feel really, really blessed to have him," said City Administrator Henry Garcia. Garcia said he "begged" Steel to come to Rialto after the two worked in the same capacities in Colton. An old baseball player with a dry wit and dark hair sprinkled with gray, Steel looks like a guy a developer can do business with. And he talks like someone you want managing projects. He has a tendency to answer questions by referencing complex economic models, footnotes in financial studies and in a bureaucrat-speak it takes a master's degree in public administration to have a chance at decoding. Steel couldn't be at the city at a better time, said former Councilman Joe Sampson. "From an economic development and redevelopment point of view, Robb has been one of the best things that has happened for the city," he said. Earlier this year, Steel saved the city millions of dollars by negotiating an increase in the minimum amount of money the city would make off selling the airport to develop it. When it became clear the city might get only $6 million because of a disagreement with other parties in the deal, Steel helped negotiate increasing the minimum the city would make to $26 million. "I respect Robb Steel more than any redevelopment director we've ever had," said resident Greta Hodges, who doesn't shy away from criticizing city officials and decisions she doesn't like. She said she's a fan of Steel because he's honest - he answers even tough questions truthfully, she said - and because he's realistic about what should be built in Rialto. Steel, who lives in San Clemente, said he's willing to make the drive because working as a redevelopment director in the Inland Empire is exciting. He likes the intellectual challenge of dealing with a region that is growing faster than its infrastructure can be built. A project like Renaissance Rialto, with a price tag between $1 billion and $2 billion, is almost unheard of in a city the size of Rialto, he said. "I'd like this to be the last city that I work for." Steel's office is packed with binders about the projects moving forward in Rialto. He also has a Maxwell Smart bobblehead - "I'm bumbling like he was," he said - and an autographed photo of Barbara Feldon, who played Agent 99 in "Get Smart." Steel thought the autograph was real, but learned it was a joke perpetrated by some of the staff in the office. There's an air of levity in the Redevelopment Agency office downtown, which is down from City Hall a few blocks. Steel's No. 2, Economic Development Manager Greg Lantz, said Steel makes the staff work long hours. "He's a taskmaster," Lantz said of the boss, "but at least he's good to work for." Contact writer Jason Pesick at (909) 386-3861 or via e-mail at jason.pesick@sbsun.com. |
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
City's Renaissance Born From a Breakfast ' Pipe Dream' (Daily Bulletin July 30, 2007) The Dirty Dealings in the Back of the Kitchen at the "Co Coa's i
New Names On The Way (SB SUN July 30, 2007 ) Rialto Changes at Least Two Street Names
New names on the way
RIALTO - Two streets in Rialto should get renamed soon.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Rialto Takes Perchlorate Stand (San Bernardino Sun July 28, 2007).
I figure that the Law Suite route that they took forced the hand that they have to pay some of the cost, so in order to get away from that now they must go after the Government to get the money needed in order to get the water filters that are needed to clean that perchlorate out of the water and away from the Water Drinking Public!!
I guess, they will be having to shake the hands of the Government to get this done now, since Owen's Idea of a Law Suit has Failed!!
BS Ranch
| Rialto takes perchlorate stand |
| Article Launched:07/28/2007 09:59:16 PM PDT |
| According to the most recent Study by the Center for Disease Control, perchlorate in drinking water, even at low doses, is a threat to the thyroid function of many of U.S. women, and to brain and nervous system development in children. By 2002, it had become apparent that a 6-mile-long plume of perchlorate, a key ingredient of rocket fuel, and trichloroethylene (TCE), a hazardous solvent phased out of industrial use by the 1980s, contaminates the otherwise pure groundwater aquifer that supplies drinking water for the city of Rialto and the Rialto Utility Authority. The source is a World War II ordinance depot later used for manufacturing by large defense contractors and fireworks manufacturers. The contamination comes from land now used by San Bernardino County for its Mid-Valley Sanitary Landfill, to the west, and a 160-acre site to the east occupied by Goodrich Corporation, Emhart (Black & Decker), Pyro Spectaculars and other manufacturers. In response, the Rialto City Council adopted a policy of shutting down contaminated wells to avoid serving perchlorate in any amount to its citizens. Initially, perchlorate concentrations were detected in the dozens to several hundred parts per billion (ppb). Additional investigation and testing found perchlorate as high as 5,000-10,000 ppb, the highest level in the nation in a domestic water supply. The state of California action level is 6 ppb. Protecting citizens' health is paramount, but the potential effects on business, development and the city's finances are also dire. Installing wellhead treatment costs millions, and operational costs add millions more. With the new 210 Freeway, parts of the city are poised for increased development and employment. But if the city cannot assure a 20-year supply of water, state law prohibits local development. Projected costs for the cleanup run as high as $200 million to $300 million. Initially, Rialto turned to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Regional Water Quality Control Board - Santa Ana Region (RWQCB) for assistance. EPA undertook some studies and issued investigation orders to some of the dischargers. At the time, the Bush administration, under pressure from major defense contractors that had used perchlorate nationally and the Pentagon, resisted adoption of a federal cleanup standard or rigid enforcement by the EPA. EPA took no further action, and deferred to the state of California. The first prosecution effort by the RWQCB ended in a dismissal for lack of evidence. In 2003, Rialto turned to San Bernardino County and asked it to take steps to control the perchlorate from its Mid-Valley Landfill. Through then-supervisor Jerry Eaves, the county declined to offer Rialto any help and denied the extent of the contamination later confirmed by more testing. Faced with ineffective action from EPA and the regional board, a rejection of liability from the county, and some expiring statutes of limitation, Rialto brought suit in federal court in 2004 to make the large corporate polluters and insurance companies - rather than its own citizens - pay for the cleanup. Through investigation of activities as far back as the 1940s, and under federal discovery authority, a mass of evidence was collected and delivered to the RWQCB and EPA. Using some of this evidence, Rialto was successful in November 2005 in obtaining a Clean-up and Abatement Order from the RWQCB that requires the county to clean up the perchlorate emanating from the landfill. By late 2006, the RWQCB began a further prosecution of Goodrich, Emhart/Black & Decker and Pyro Spectaculars, supported in substantial part by the evidence from the federal litigation. Rialto's strategy is straightforward: use the federal litigation to supply evidence to EPA and the regional board with the objective of obtaining orders for cleanup of the basin. California law requires such a lawsuit to invoke the decades of insurance coverage of many of the dischargers, some of whom otherwise lack funding. Rialto's objective has always been to play a supporting role to federal and state agencies to obtain the orders for prompt cleanup. That strategy has worked as to the county and its landfill. The current State Water Board prosecution, which goes to hearing in Rialto Aug. 21-30, will hopefully result in a cleanup order on the eastern part of the plume as well. Rialto will participate and assist the RWQCB in presenting important evidence. If that hearing, which has been delayed four times by the large, well-funded law firms representing the dischargers, is not successful, Rialto has as a backup its federal lawsuit, which should go to trial in late 2008. Either way, Rialto is committed to making the large corporate polluters and insurance companies pay for the cleanup. The same federal litigation has been filed by the city of Colton, West Valley Water District and the private supplier Fontana Water Company. Right now, Rialto and Colton are doing the work in the litigation. The same water purveyors, and the county - both singly and jointly - have applied for federal and state cleanup money for years with only limited success. Rialto is following a dual approach of assisting the administrative agencies and using the federal litigation as a backup. We request this newspaper and all affected citizens to support the current State Water Board prosecution in Rialto Aug. 21-30. The state Legislature should be encouraged to supply funding for prosecution of the dischargers and to assist with the cleanup. EPA should likewise be more actively involved, and take further action on the evidence that has been supplied to it. The health and welfare of Rialto's citizens, and its women and children in particular, deserve nothing less. - Winnie Hanson, Rialto's mayor pro tem, and Ed Scott, council member, comprise the Rialto Perchlorate Subcommittee. |
Home Sales Dip By 25% (Inland Valley Daily Bulletin July 25, 2007) Median Price Increase 3.2%
| Home sales dip by 25% |
| Median price increases 3.2% |
| By Matt Wrye, Staff Writer Inland Valley Daily Bulletin |
| Article Launched:07/25/2007 11:45:58 PM PDT |
| Home sales dropped almost 25 percent statewide in June compared with the same time last year, while the median price of an existing home increased 3.2 percent, according to a California Association of Realtors report. Sales of high-end homes and their prices increased for the month of June across certain parts of California, but not in the Inland Empire. What's happening in San Bernardino and Riverside counties is more like a tug of war. Sellers won't budge from prices they think their homes are worth and buyers sit tight in hopes prices will drop, according to economists and real-estate professionals. "They don't get the market," Redlands-based regional economist John Husing said about buyers. "They don't understand it. They think prices are too high." Homes in coastal counties, selling for $600,000 to well over $1 million, are in slightly higher demand and account for this paradox. However, only half as many homes are selling in the San Bernardino/Riverside area compared with June 2006, and their prices have decreased 3.4 percent. The median price of a home in San Bernardino and Riverside counties at the end of June was $390,230, CAR reported. Robert Kleinhenz, deputy chief economist at CAR, said Inland Empire home sellers are comfortable with waiting for prices to rise - just as much as buyers are waiting for prices to drop. "People are looking at history and saying, `If I just wait this out a little longer, I might get a better deal,"' he said. Of course, the psychological effects of foreclosures are also weighing on the minds of potential home buyers. DataQuick, which monitors real-estate activity nationwide, reported Wednesday that statewide foreclosures soared to a record high of more than 17,400, and one out of every five happen in San Bernardino and Riverside counties. With numbers like these, it's hard for buyers to justify paying for a house that could end up in foreclosure in the near future, according to Pete Gliniak, a Covina-based real-estate professional who specializes in bankruptcies and short sales all over the Inland Empire. "Now the mind-set is, `We'll wait until the prices come down or wait until they come to foreclosure,' which in their minds is a heavily discounted price," he said about buyers. Homes sales and prices are also dropping because of an overstock in housing inventory. "The builders have been working this down for the past 18 months or so," Kleinhenz said. "Builders are offering larger and larger discounts for people to (buy) and move." Kleinhenz's comments echo CAR's statewide findings. It would take about 10 months for the supply of homes to be depleted with current sales rates, the report states, compared with about six months last year at this time. Gliniak calls it "oversaturation" and thinks too many people bought expensive homes in the two-county area that they couldn't afford and "had no business buying them," he said. "People got caught up in the frenzy of 2005 and it spilled into 2006," he said of new home builders and buyers. One thing that is definitely happening is that home sales are slow. Earlier this month, DataQuick Information Services of La Jolla reported that home sales in the Southland in June were the lowest for the month since 1993. According to DataQuick, 20,166 homes were sold in the six Southern California counties, well below the average June of 29,041 and barely above the 19,947 homes sold in June 1993. "We're probably pretty close to the `floor' level of buying and selling, meaning that most of the activity is basic and not discretionary," DataQuick President Marshall Prentice said in a release. "Today's buyers and sellers really need to move for one reason or another, not because they want a guest room or bigger yard. The exception seems to be high-end markets, most of which are doing pretty well." Nonetheless, the foreclosure market brings fresh opportunities for some real-estate experts. Such is the case for Steve Thomas, co-owner of Rancho Cucamonga- based CIG Property Management and Investment. He hopes to capitalize on the housing market's downturn by buying foreclosed properties in places like Fontana, Rialto and Highland. "I'm able to find properties easily at $50,000 below market, and sometimes $100,000," he said. "California is going to go through a growth spurt. Within the next cycle, those with lots of properties are going to do well." However, the housing market's selling side wasn't so good to him just a few months ago. After having a 20-year-old north Fontana home on the market for four months - and lowering the price by $20,000 - he put it up for auction. His effort still wasn't successful, so he pulled the house off the market. "What's attracting buyers right now is two things: one is price; and two, the amenities and location," Thomas said. "With as many new homes available, why would someone want to go buy an older home?" Husing, who focuses on the two-county region, and others have said numerous times that the housing market won't sort itself out until at least the first part of 2008. There are too many homes on the market, and the mortgage market - particularly for first-time buyers - has become brutally tight. Business editor Michael Rappaport contributed to this story. Writer Matt Wrye can be reached at (909) 386-3890 or by e-mail at matthew.wrye@sbsun.com |
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Hopes High For Development on Pepper Avenue. (SB Sun July 25, 2007)
It is more likely that the Extension of Pepper Ave. Will not likely happen with the time that has passed since they have talked and planned to do it the first time in 1958! It is just awful that they will not be able to have an on/off ramp there at Pepper since there are so many people that live on the W/side of San Bernardino, and the E/side of Rialto that can use this on/off ramp to get home.
The Irony is that they built a Bridge across the driveway that is 900 E. Highland Ave. Rialto Ave. which is the house that is left there that they are talking about in the news article following my writing. They kept running into so many problems that are easily averted like that of the Kangaroo Rat, that is a Rat that lives in the Mojave Desert also & since they live there as well, you would think that they could have a road that is paved or a 1/2 mile to the next cross street which would be that of Highland Ave and the ON/Off Ramps of the new 210 Freeway which would be the great way for the home owners that live in the W/most limits of San Bernardino and E/most city Limits of Rialto to get home quicker, from work.
I cannot wait for the full progress of the Freeway to be completed, that means the Pepper Ave ON/OFF Ramps!!
BS Ranch
| Hopes high for development on Pepper Avenue |
| Jason Pesick, Staff Writer San Bernardino County Sun |
| Article Launched:07/25/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT |
| RIALTO - There are big hopes for Pepper Avenue now that the 210 Freeway is open. A team of developers is putting together two plans for mixed-use development on both sides of the 210. They would be part of the city's effort to give Rialto a boost by building along the 210 corridor. But there's a big problem: Pepper doesn't hit the 210, and it could be years before it does. That's because Rialto has run into setback after setback trying to extend the street less than a half mile north to the 210. The problems range from increasing costs, to the loss of federal money for the project, to endangered little critters like the San Bernardino kangaroo rat. On top of those problems, the city doesn't own all the land it would need to extend the road, including property where an 82-year-old former mayor has lived for 50 years. "It's not going to be a cheap proposition," said Darren Kettle, director of freeway construction for San Bernardino Associated Governments, the county transportation planning agency. Now, developers have offered to extend the road themselves, as long as the city pays part of the cost. Pepper was supposed to connect to the 210 when the freeway opened, but progress halted as the cost of extending the road kept rising. The latest estimate put the cost at more than $4million - probably closer to $5million. If Rialto can't get it built by November 2009, it will have to pay Sanbag up to $3million for a bridge the agency built so the 210 could accommodate Pepper. Pepper would have to run through a wash that is a tributary to Lytle Creek, but the engineering to deal with that landscape is simple compared with the environmental costs, Kettle said. Whoever builds the Pepper extension - whether it's the city or developers - would have to buy land for endangered species in the area at a rough cost of about $1million, Kettle said. The species could include the San Bernardino kangaroo rat, the woolly-star, a plant, and the gnatcatcher, a small bird. Rialto was originally supposed to pay for the Pepper extension with $826,000 from the federal government. Another $240,000 would have come from Colton, San Bernardino, the county and Rialto. As costs went up and the project became more complicated, the federal money was withdrawn in 2003. Under the new proposal from developers, they would extend Pepper, but Rialto would contribute $2.5million or more. The total cost could be $4million plus the cost of the habitat for the endangered species, said Bruce Cash, president and CEO of United Strategies Inc., the firm that put together the development team. "There's a huge environmental aspect to it," he said. Cash said he is confident the road will be built before the November 2009 deadline and that the design will be done in the next few months. If the developers don't end up extending Pepper, the city will, said Robb Steel, Rialto's economic development director. "Pepper Avenue is going through - no doubt," said Rialto's development services director, Mike Story. Assuming all goes well and Pepper does make it to the 210 on time, Sanbag will pay for the ramps to the freeway and will extend Pepper from the 210 to Highland Avenue. At a community meeting in June about an early version of the proposal for Pepper south of the 210, most of the approximately 120 people who showed up complained about the plan and the traffic and crime increases that could accompany extending Pepper for development. "What is it going to accomplish for the city?" former Mayor Bob Hughbanks, 82, said on Monday when asked about extending Pepper. Talk of extending the road is not new, said Hughbanks, who was mayor in the 1960s. He remembers people talking about the idea as early as 1958. "The cost of it was just prohibitive," he said outside his home, where Pepper hits the property he bought in 1958 when there were only orange groves nearby. "I was up here before anybody built anything," he said. It's no mystery why it would cost so much. Almost immediately after Pepper ends, there's a steep dropoff into an uneven wash. There's a fire in the wash almost every year, and sometimes it floods, making it difficult to build on, Hughbanks said. It's also full of the little kangaroo rats, which he said his kids used to catch and make pets out of, even putting one on a hamster wheel. When Hughbanks bought the property, it was farm lot with a boundary that ends somewhere in the middle of Pepper and goes into the wash. He's not sure what the exact boundaries are, but he said no one has contacted him or his neighbors to buy property for the extension. He would be willing to sell though, he said. Chances are good Pepper will be extended soon, Kettle said. "If we were skeptical, we probably wouldn't have proceeded with the bridge." Contact writer Jason Pesick at (909) 386-3861 or via e-mail at jason.pesick@sbsun.com. |
Californian's Burn Rubber on New Freeway
Tuesday July 24, 2007 11:31 PM
By GILLIAN FLACCUS
Associated Press Writer
RIALTO, Calif. (AP) - The last stretch of brand-new freeway that California is likely to see for years opened Tuesday with motorists vying for position and the inevitable traffic jam.
Commuters clogged onramps to be among the first to burn rubber on State Route 210, a 7\-mile ribbon completing a freeway that over decades pushed 80 miles east from Los Angeles through foothill towns along the San Gabriel Mountains. It now ties into cities and interstates in the growing region known as the Inland Empire.
As opening time approached, Jim Gray eased his aqua green 1997 Mustang into position while reporters swarmed and news helicopters thrummed overhead. He jockeyed for position with two women in a gray SUV who weren't shy about honking, and he wound up second in line.
Suddenly, the cones were gone, and Gray floored it. Music blaring, top down, he gunned past the SUV - which had stopped for a photo opportunity - and sped onto the freeway at 70 mph.
As his car glided under the first overpass, Gray honked the horn, gave a passenger a high-five and promptly started calling friends and relatives on his cell phone.
``Dude, watch the news tonight! Turn on the TV now! I'm the first on the freeway,'' he shouted, as a huge motorcycle passed him on the left.
Gray, a truck driver for a freight company, said he arrived at the ramp early and waited an hour to get in line.
``It paid off,'' he said, as he relived his moment of motoring glory. ``It was a battle to see who was first. She was aggressive, but as soon as I saw the opening, I said, 'You go ahead and wave at the cameras. I'm going around you!'''
His back seat passenger, 20-year-old Tiana Colbert, shared his excitement.
``It was worth waking up for. Usually, I don't wake up for much,'' she said.
Officials say the freeway, conceived in 1948, will likely be one of the last brand-new freeways to open for decades in California because of funding shortfalls and a lack of places to lay new pavement.
``We can go onto freeways and we can widen and modify and add lanes, but those freeways already exist,'' said Shelli Lombardo, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Transportation. ``This is a brand-new freeway, and you're not going to see another one of those for a substantial number of years in California.''
Some people showed up two hours ahead of the opening to check out the virgin pavement.
A radio station promoted the opening all morning and played a skit featuring a grumpy and jealous Interstate 10, which lies to the south and runs parallel to the 210. It is expected to lose some traffic to the new route.
``It's outstanding,'' said Judy Roberts, 64, who showed up to watch the freeway open. ``Cars are a way of life in California - you live in your car, and this will make a lot of difference to a lot of people.''
Ken Humphrey, 44, was first to arrive at the overpass that the first cars on the freeway would later drive under. He commutes more than an hour each way from Rialto to his job in the Van Nuys area of Los Angeles, and he said the new freeway would shave at least 15 minutes off his daily drive, each way.
``Now I'm just three blocks from this onramp. This is excellent. We've been waiting for this for a long time,'' he said.
When a previous 20-mile stretch of 210 opened five years ago, so many drivers lined up on surface streets and onramps that the police had trouble with crowd control. The new segment, between the cities of Rialto and San Bernardino, cost $233 million to complete, bringing the freeway's total cost to about $1.2 billion over the years.
The vision for the freeway began nearly six decades ago, when officials began buying up land for a right-of-way. It moved in fits and starts, and was almost waylaid entirely over concerns it would contribute to too much sprawl, said Lombardo.
The freeway begins at Interstate 5 in northernmost Los Angeles. For most of its length it is designated Interstate 210 and is known as the Foothill Freeway, the 210 Freeway or just ``the 210.''
Before Tuesday, the only other drivers allowed on the new roadway were doing stunts for a TV show and a Hollywood film, said Shelli Lombardo, a spokeswoman for the state transportation department.
A freeway proposed for the high desert between Victor Valley and Antelope Valley is still in very early planning stages. It will be decades before it is completed, if the project even gets that far, said Cheryl Donahue, a spokeswoman for San Bernardino Associated Governments, which was a partner on the 210 Freeway project.
``If funds can be cobbled together, it may come in the future,'' she said. ``Unfortunately, these big highway projects take many, many years to plan.''
Friday, July 20, 2007
Route 210 Freeway Will Open to Drivers on July 24, See Video Highlights of Preview Event.... (Fontana Harald)
Route 210 Freeway will open to drivers on July 24; see video highlights of preview event
| |
The time has finally arrived. The completed extension of the State Route 210 Freeway will open to drivers on Tuesday, July 24 at 10 a.m.
The new section of freeway will extend from Alder Avenue in Rialto (just east of Fontana) to the connection with State Route 30 in San Bernardino.
(A preview event was held in June in anticipation of the long-awaited opening of the freeway; for video highlights, visit www.youtube.com and search for "Play on the 210 Freeway.")
San Bernardino Associated Governments and the California Department of Transportation will open the final 7.25 miles of Route 210 to drivers through Rialto and San Bernardino.
Construction has been underway on Route 210 since mid-2003, following the opening of the first 20-mile section of freeway in November 2002 between La Verne and Fontana. Costs for this last section through Rialto and San Bernardino total approximately $233 million.
The freeway will include three travel lanes and a carpool lane in each direction and will feature on-ramps and off-ramps at Alder Avenue, Ayala Drive and Riverside Avenue in Rialto, as well as State Street in San Bernardino. Once the City of Rialto extends Pepper Avenue north to the freeway, on-ramps and off-ramps will be built at Pepper.
| |
Work will continue under the current construction contract for several months after the freeway opens next week.
Flyover ramps to connect eastbound Route 210 to southbound Interstate 215 and northbound Interstate 215 to westbound Route 210 will be built in the future. Until the flyover ramps are built, drivers needing to make these freeway transitions are encouraged to follow the established detour between State Street and Interstate 215.
Eastbound 210 drivers wishing to connect to southbound I-215 should exit State Street, travel east on 20th Street, north on California Street, east on Highland Avenue and north on Mt. Vernon to reach Interstate 215. Trucks should exit State Street, travel east on 20th Street, north on California Street and proceed east on Highland Avenue to reach Interstate 215. Northbound Interstate 215 travelers wishing to connect to westbound Route 210 should use the above detour in reverse.
I-210 Is Going To Be OPEN on Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Please Drive CAREFULLY on the new I-210 Freeway, and watch for me speeding along having a great time cruse back and forth, looking for all the Businesses that they promised would be opened when the FREEWAY WAS DONE!!
BS Ranch
Bloomington, Rialto Negotiating to buy Back...... BLOOMINGTON...Black Voice News July, 18 2007.......
| Bloomington Rialto Negotiating Land Buy Back | | |
| Wednesday, 18 July 2007 | |
| BLOOMINGTON By Chris Levister Plan Brings Together Unlikely Allies Bloomington's near 45-year quest to become a city may not be dead after all. The Bloomington Incorporation Commission (BIC), a group of residents pushing to turn a 6-1/2 square mile area into a city said they are negotiating with the city of Rialto to buy back a 165-acre site recently annexed to the city. The site owned by developer Young Homes is at the center of a tug-of-war over land the Bloomington group wants as part of its city. In February, the Rialto City Council granted Young Homes permission to build 726 homes, parks, tot-lots and equestrian trails on the site located north of El Rivino Road on both sides of Cactus Avenue. Cityhood proponents failed to stop the annexation after they could not meet a Feb. 28 Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) deadline to submit application materials and fees for a basic feasibility study, falling $80,000 short of the $109,000 they needed. BIC president Eric Davenport told members of the Bloomington Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) last week, the organization met twice with Rialto officials and is drafting a proposal to buy back the Young Homes site and contract with the city for services. "We plan to ask Rialto to release the Bloomington site from its sphere of influence. If they agree to that, we will cross our biggest political hurdle." Under the plan Bloomington would buy back the land and pay Rialto over a period of several years using property tax revenues from the Young Homes project. Residents would contract with Rialto for road work, policing, fire, code enforcement, lighting and sewer. Davenport called the plan a win-win with a silver lining. That silver lining is Young Homes chairman and CEO Reggie King seen by many cityhood proponents as a foe. King has offered to pay the remaining $80,000 in study fees if Bloomington activists come to an agreement with Rialto. "Some folks in Bloomington are upset over the annexation of land into Rialto. They won't like it," said King "I see my role as a facilitator. Judging from the deep divisions heard here tonight I don't think any of us have enough information to know whether a city would be really good or not in the final analysis." King says paying for a feasibility study will enhance his site development plans and bring clarity to an issue overshadowed by emotions, fear, mistrust, misleading and incomplete data. "For Rialto/Bloomington to elevate itself they have to attract investment capital and the investment community is not going to go where there is uncertainty. They need to know the real tax implications and how best to use the land," said King. "He could have easily kicked us to the curb instead Mr. King has emerged as a voice of reason," said Davenport. He said King quietly worked to bring the opposing sides to the negotiating table. "He believes some part of Bloomington needs to be preserved in its rural atmosphere. He wants what's best for his former hometown - Bloomington." Davenport says he came up with the buy back plan after residents and area business leaders called on BIC to continue its pursuit of cityhood during a packed town hall meeting held recently at Bloomington High School. "I asked residents 'do you want us to continue'. The place erupted into a sustained 'yes' the response was a resounding call to keep going," Davenport said. To win cityhood, state law requires that residents show community support and a tax base to fund government services. But Bloomington supporters struggled last year to gather 1,782 valid signatures on an incorporation petition. And a preliminary study by LAFCO in February 2006 concluded that the city would run a $1.4 million deficit from the moment of incorporation. Bloomington has tried and failed to incorporate seven times since 1963. Residents began the latest incorporation effort more than two years ago, frustrated over seeing rural and agricultural land disappear and their community squeezed by neighboring Rialto and Fontana. Davenport says Rialto could use revenue it receives from Bloomington to mitigate the estimated one million dollar upfront investment in public infrastructure required for the Young Homes project. "This opens the door for Rialto to get money from Bloomington while allowing the community to keep its land." He said some of those funds could go toward solving Rialto's costly water contamination problem. "Everybody involved would benefit from a clear direction, whether that means formulating a community plan or self determination. I'm willing to step to the line to help inform the discussion," said King He urged Bloomington to actively pursue the development of a trail system, which he believes would offer a layer of protection against future annexation attempts of the equestrian friendly hamlet dotted with large lots, horse ranches, chicken farms and nurseries. Many Bloomington homeowners say they worry about paying higher taxes and losing their community's equestrian heritage. Others resent the divisions caused by the pursuit of cityhood. Without a quorum MAC board members postponed what is largely an advisory vote on Bloomington's latest plan. As for the next chapter, Mayor Grace Vargas says Rialto is open to negotiations. With Reggie King nudging the process, Bloomington's dream of incorporation could go from clinically dead to confirmation that they are more than just pockets of desire. ______________________________________________________________________________ BS Ranch Perspective: Looks like the Council that was put together for Bloomington's City Interest wants to try to purchase the land back so that they can get their Talks of their own city underway again! I believe that they should have their own City, After all it is like that of the fight of the Big Three, when Tucker, came in with some wonderful Idea's for the Car industry. The Engine and the design that Tucker had was so far ahead of his time, that he had great Gas Mileage, and the Tucker just might have taken a pretty good fight to that of Ford and Chevy Motor Industry, they were so threatened that they used the court system to make Tucker go away, Bankrupt at that time and his car a flop, but he was able to finish the 50 Cars that he said he was going to finish, but the court said that it was all just to late, even though he truly was within the deadline of the Court date. The Bloomington City Interest has the big Wigs of Rialto and Fontana on Both sides of them trying to keep them down, not just that they both are unwilling to allow them to use any or part of their Sewage system for their City of Bloomington, because the use of Septic Tanks are a thing of the past, and since the county doesn't have a Sewer system to contract with Bloomington on, they are stuck almost, but this is a last ditch effort to save their fight ot have a city!!! I hope they win and become a city!! BS Ranch |
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
I-210 Extention will open this month (Daily Press 071807) I beleive that it will be open by July 20th or July 27th, we will see.
I-210 extension will open this month
The Foothill Freeway will provide a new east-west corridor through lower San Bernardino County and will divert some traffic from Interstate 10, where heavy congestion is common in the mornings and evenings, said Annette Franco, a spokeswoman for San Bernardino Associated Governments or SANBAG.
Truck traffic could also be partially diverted from I-10 onto I-210.
A section of I-210 that opened in Fontana and Rancho Cucamonga in 2001 did alleviate some congestion on I-10, said spokeswoman Cheryl Donahue.
Traffic simulation models completed for SANBAG have shown that traffic will decrease in some areas and increase in others, Franco said.
The most dramatic drop in traffic is projected for I-10 between Interstate 15 and Interstate 215, where it could drop about 5 to15 percent.
Traffic is projected to increase by 20 to 25 percent on I-210 east of I-215, which is currently Highway 30, and it could also increase by 20 percent on I-215 between I-10 and I-210, according to SANBAG.
The I-15 north of I-210 could also experience a slight increase in traffic.
SANBAG expects to announce a July opening date for the final stretch of Interstate 210 later this week, Donahue said.
Work on this last portion of the Foothill Freeway through Rialto and San Bernardino began in 2003 and the freeway was expected to open by late 2007, according to SANBAG.
Miscellaneous work such as fencing and storm drain projects will continue for about three to four months after the Foothill Freeway opens, Donahue said. The estimated cost of this last stretch of freeway is $232.8 million, Franco said.
The freeway through Rialto and San Bernardino will have three regular lanes and one carpool lane in each direction. On and off-ramps will be at Alder Avenue, Ayala Drive, Riverside Avenue and State Street, according to SANBAG.
On and off-ramps at Pepper Avenue will be completed later, after local road construction has been completed, Donahue said.
Hillary Borrud may be reached at 951-6234 or hborrud@vvdailypress.com.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
The Finishing Touches!! (San Bernaridno Sun July 15, 2007) Predictions all indicate that the Freeway will be open on the 20'th or the 27th
Are we there yet?
Almost, according to officials with San Bernardino Associated Governments.
The last leg of the 210 Freeway extension is expected to open by the end of the month, linking the 210 to the 215 and 30 freeways at last.
But first, the final flourishes must be dabbed on the canvas.
Or, rather, stripes must be painted on the pavement.
That means that part of the freeway that's open - a stretch between Citrus Avenue in Fontana and Alder Avenue in Rialto - must be closed so workers can paint new lane markings.
The
Sanbag project manager Jim Beers noted that the heavy-duty work on the freeway extension has wrapped up and basically all that's left on the freeway's to-do list are lane markings, guard rails, road signs and other trimmings.
"We're eager to get it open, believe me," Beers said.
The new stretch of the 210 will connect with the 30. Once all the roadblocks are removed, drivers will have a direct route from Redlandis to Pasadena to the north San Fernando Valley.
The 210 extension will have interchanges at Alder Avenue, Ayala Drive, Riverside Avenue and State Street.
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BS Ranch Perspective
Beers said, that they are eager to open the Freeway to the public, However there was a "Rumor" in another Paper, on an earlier date that they were thinking about opening it on Thursday!! That would make it July, 20th, 2007...I would say that would be great, and super to boot, they want to open it up at the end of this month, and it would be great if they could open it up by the end of this month and not the end of next month!!
BS Ranch
It's Time for Rialto to Call in the EPA, (SB Sun July 16, 2007) Rialto City Council, and the Citizens should blame the Lawyers for this!
| It's time for Rialto to call in the EPA |
| Article Launched:07/16/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT |
| |
| When is enough enough? When should Rialto throw in the towel and call in the big dogs? The city has been fighting for a decade to get suspected polluters, including major corporations and the Pentagon, to pay the costs of cleaning up perchlorate that has contaminated Rialto's wells. But the lawsuits and extended legal battle have cost more than $18 million so far and could go much higher. And while Rialto's city attorney seems content to play David to the suspected polluters' Goliath - albeit, with the help of a cadre of top-level lawyers - it's chiefly customers of the city's water utility that have had to bear the burden, and the brunt of the costs, with no quick end in sight. So far, the city has spent the equivalent of its Police Department's budget on the fight. The city's water agency serves about half of Rialto, with Fontana Water Co. and West Valley Water serving the rest. And so, it is about half of Rialto residents who are footing the bill for the city's legal juggernaut. The surcharge on water bills starts at $6.85 a month and rises from there. If Rialto eventually wins its case in court, resident ratepayers will be reimbursed. But that could be a long time in coming. And the total for actual cleanup of the contaminant could be $300 million. Besides ratepayers' hefty chunk, the City Council also contributed $5 million from general fund reserves to escalate the fight last year. But even the council has become leery, without seeing much in the way of results. Why won't Rialto call in the cavalry and ask the feds for help? We're sure city ratepayers would like to know. Why is it that the city has insisted on going it alone, without bringing the resources of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to bear? Commenting on Rialto's reluctance to do the logical thing, Penny Newman, executive director of the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, said, "I think going with EPA and the Superfund program is probably the strongest mechanism a city or community has. I'm always amazed that people - communities - shy away from that." Indeed, Rialto has become almost territorial in pursuing the fight on its own. It's almost as if time and money were no object. Let the ratepayers pay it - that seems to be the city's attitude. But with the pricetag reaching into the millions, it's time to regroup. The city needs to take a more regional approach and spread out the costs. Rialto initially considered going with EPA. But after looking at a variety of Superfund projects, and finding that each took 17 to 27 years to start cleanup, the city felt it would take too long, said City Attorney Bob Owen. So, this is any better? How long does the city expect ratepayers to keep fronting litigation costs? The state Water Resources Control Board, which has taken over from the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, plans hearings in August. At that time, it could order three suspected polluters - Goodrich, Pyro Spectaculars and Emhart Industries, parent company of Black and Decker - to remove the contamination. Then again, those companies all have been fighting long and hard to delay any consequences. The San Gabriel Valley Water Co., which owns Fontana Water Co., and the West Valley Water District have urged Rialto go with a regional coalition that works with the EPA. Rialto has been fighting for cleanup of the Rialto-Colton Basin, without regard for pollution of West Valley and Fontana wells. And while a fault separates the West Valley and Fontana wells from the Rialto-Colton Basin, such that the regional agency has said it can't prove the suspected Rialto-area polluters caused contamination of the other wells, it's all the more reason for a regional approach that takes all of the pollution into account. Yet Rialto persists in its one-sided struggle. Better to lean on the EPA - and save residents the aggravation. |
Monday, July 16, 2007
210 Freeway's About Done (Daily Bulletin 071107) Due to open 072007- UNLESS THERE IS MORE DELAYS
| 210 Freeway's about done |
| Officials move up opening of long-awaited final section |
| By Andrew Silva, Staff Writer Inland Valley Daily Bulletin |
| Article Launched:07/11/2007 11:51:13 PM PDT |
| Could it really be? Thousands of anxious commuters may see their decade-long dream come true - in a matter of weeks. Officials had hoped to surprise the region next week by announcing the next, and final, stretch of the 210 Freeway would open next Thursday. But some of the equipment for the ramp meters experienced problems, and there are a number of little things that remain to be done. Still, they're reasonably optimistic the new freeway will be open by the end of this month. "I can't wait for it to happen," said Fontana Mayor Mark Nuaimi, who also sits on the board of San Bernardino Associated Governments, or Sanbag, which with Caltrans is finishing what may be the last new freeway in Southern California. The final 7.5 miles from Rialto to San Bernardino, under construction since 2003, will connect to the 30 Freeway at the 215 Freeway and provide an uninterrupted run from the 10 in Redlands to the 5 Freeway in the north San Fernando Valley. Originally known as the Foothill Freeway, the first segment of the freeway was completed in the Arcadia area nearly 40 years ago. After the latest portion of the freeway opened between La Verne and Fontana in November 2002, Inland Valley foothill cities saw the completed sections through their areas spark a boom in new high-quality development. Rialto and San Bernardino expect to reap the benefits next. The freeway also should take a good deal of pressure off the 10 Freeway, which resembles a parking lot during rush hours. The soon-to-be-opened freeway extension will feature three lanes plus a car-pool lane in each direction. The most expensive single component has been the bridge over Lytle Creek, designed to stand up to the nastiest earthquake the San Andreas Fault can throw at it or the worst flood the mountains can hurl through the creek. Last month, an estimated 20,000 people came out to the section in Rialto and San Bernardino for the "Come Play on the Freeway" celebration - a chance to bike, run and party on an eight-lane thoroughfare. When the opening date is firmed up, Sanbag will plan some type of special event. Staff writer Andrew Silva can be reached by e-mail at andrew.silva@sbsun.com. or by calling (909) 386-3889. |
Sunday, July 15, 2007
AT&T Hooks up Riverside, Ca with FREE Municipal WiFi
AT&T hooks up Riverside, CA with free municipal wifi
Posted by Will on Sunday, July 8th, 2007 at 1:30 pm under Cingular/AT&T, Partnerships, Services
No Tags
AT&T's move to provide free public WiFi goes against staunch opposition from industry-rival Verizon. Verizon, among others, see free municipal WiFi as a threat to their landline-based premium services - so AT&T may be trying to one-up their enemy.
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BS Ranch Perspective
I wonder if this is the move of the future for all Interenet services, I will say that Riverside might be one of the cities that could be considered largely to be one of the largest cities in the nation to be the fastest growing city in California, largely because they Offer the Internet to anyone that Has a Wireless Router for their home computer, or a Lap Top Computer!!
The Internet is something that the City's Police, Fire, Maintenence, and also their Humain Services can all use in their Trucks. they can get the new Panasonic Lap Top that is largely indistructable, Purchased by the city and workes through a city network, reference a private network, that is incripted via a 128 bit incripted Site, that will allow the city to work on a private site and be able to conduct city business all over the city on a system that is offered to everyone that has a computer, Especially a Lap Top Computer that has an Internal Antenna, to collect and interchange the Internet for everyone in the city!!
I beleive that it will be and is the wave of the future, No More Cable Internet, No more Dial up Internet, NO MORE MAKING MONEY OFF OF ISP's any more!!
The City can and will benefit because the Police Department can do all their Report Writing over the internet, In some cases the report of an incident will be on file before the party involved goes to the station and picks up their copy of the report.
The Fire Department can do all their reporting over the same network and the same will be true, the people that have had their property damaged by fire depending on the size of the fire, they could be able to pick up their bit of property from the front desk of the City's Fire Agency and they will know if the Fire Department has felt that there Fire was deliberate or not.
Maintenance all the same thing and for Humain Services, again it all is the same thing, they can and will be more efficient and more on time with their report writing and turning in of their reports. It will not take long for them to see what I am talking about.
Soon, Rialto City Council will hear about the PRO's and Con's that the City of Riverside has had with their own Internet Network Set up for freee..!!
BS Ranch
Riverside to Offer Free, Citywide Internet Access (LA Times July 11, 2007) The city hopes Tech-Savvy residents & a Business-Friendly setting with help Lure Firms to Riverside...
Riverside to offer free, citywide Internet access
The announcement that all city residents would soon enjoy free wireless Internet access came outside City Hall, and followed a successful two-month limited launch and trial of the WiFi network.
Riverside joins about 300 cities across the nation that have provided citywide wireless networks for residents and businesses. Many charge monthly fees to go online with free access only in isolated hotspots, but Riverside will offer free citywide broadband Internet access.
Riverside resident Robert Whiting, 48, went downtown Tuesday morning with his laptop to test the new network.
"I think it's going to be awesome," Whiting said. "They don't really have the word out yet, but when they do, I think a lot of people will get enthusiastic about it."
AT&T will build the network for residents, as well as a second, separate network for city business and public safety communications.
City workers will use their network for the remote operation of ball field lights as well as water pumps and valves, which will save city staff time as well as electricity.
The wireless network will also give Riverside police officers speedier access to criminal tracking information while in the field and enable them to transmit live video from patrol car cameras to headquarters.
Currently, free wireless access for residents is available in only three areas — downtown Riverside, Hunter Technology Park and Adams Auto Center.
But officials expect that by next March, the network should be complete across the developed portion of the city, covering 55 square miles, said city spokesman Steve Reneker.
Internet users will be offered access options. Users who tap into the free service will see a 1½-inch advertising bar running across the top of their Web browser.
The free service offers users speeds up to 512 Kbps, or about 10 times faster than dial-up. Speeds up to 1 Mbps will be offered for about $8 per day; or $16 for one week.
"It's very convenient and it's free," said Carlos Sanchez, 35, a wireless technician from Riverside. "In the last month, I've probably used it 60 or 70 times to work, surf the Internet , check e-mail."
The city's wireless network rollout coincides with city efforts to build a computer-literate community.
Since November, the city has provided 600 low-income families with basic computer training and a refurbished city computer, Reneker said. Most of the computers were equipped with modems. But once the citywide wireless network is set up, city officials intend to swap the modems for wireless transmitters, he said.
By nurturing a computer-savvy population, city leaders hope to boost Riverside's reputation among technology companies looking for new cities in which to do business, said Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge.
"This is really a statement about the city being ready for the 21st century and having the technology ready for the new economy," Loveridge said.
Darren Conkerite, owner of the Back to the Grind Espresso Bar and Cafe on University Avenue in downtown Riverside, already offers free wireless to customers — and says he's not worried about competition from the city.
"It's been a tremendous draw," said Conkerite, 41.
"Giving someone anything for free is wonderful," said Conkerite.
"I'm not knocking it, but I still feel that instead of being outside they're going to come down to Back to the Grind where it's a great atmosphere and where they know they'll still get same high speed Internet they have at their house."
Whiting, who surfs the Internet daily via a dial-up connection, couldn't wait for the city's network to be finished.
"This will be great in my home. It will really speed stuff up," he said.
"It makes the city kind of cool and cutting-edge," he said. "I think a lot of other cities are going to be really jealous."
sara.lin@latimes.com
Sunday, July 08, 2007
I Have a Dream...by Martin Luther King Jr. & Deleivered on the Steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. 08281963....One of the Greatest Speaches Ever Written
"I Have A Dream"
by Martin Luther King, Jr,
Delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. Source: Martin Luther King, Jr: The Peaceful Warrior, Pocket Books, NY 1968
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity. But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free.
One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.
So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition. In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.
This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.
So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights.
The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. we must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" we can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be ableto hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring." And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
Saturday, July 07, 2007
ATF Crime Team in San Bernardino (SB Sun 070407) Hopes to ease gun violence
| ATF crime team in SB |
| Hopes to ease gun violence |
| Stacia Glenn, Staff Writer San Bernardino County Sun |
| Article Launched:07/04/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT |
| Photo Gallery: 07/03: Law enforcment collaboration V.C.I.T. press conference 7/03 • Mayor Pat Morris • D.A. Michael Ramos • Special Agent John Torres • SB Police Chief Michael Bildt SAN BERNARDINO - Remnants of robberies, murders and assaults were strewn across a table Tuesday: 10 handguns, three shotguns and a rifle. Once, the weapons were loaded and in the hands of criminals who struck fear in the hearts of San Bernardino residents. It is a fierce drive to build the stockpile of illegal firearms taken off the streets that called six Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents to the city on Sunday. Mayor Pat Morris, surrounded by 11 men in dark suits and two in California Highway Patrol uniforms, stepped to the podium and lifted a silver handgun with one finger, gazing at it disdainfully. "These guns on this table were picked up from the streets of our city," he told a small crowd of reporters, politicians and law-enforcement agents gathered inside police headquarters. "These guns are the cancer of America's urban society," he added. Morris lauded the massive collaboration that has allowed federal, state, county and local agencies to pool resources in hope of cutting down on violent crime. San Bernardino was one of four cities nationwide named last month as new target cities for ATF's Violent Crime Impact Team. There are 29 cities total. It's more important to focus on solutions to crime than lament being labeled as a high-crime area, said Rep. Joe Baca, D-Rialto. "It's not a label we want, but it's a label we need to change," he said after the news conference. "At least we're going to clear it up and make it safer, that's what's important." Statistics from other cities with Violent Crime Impact teams give a preview of what San Bernardino might expect. In a two-year span from 2004 to 2006, ATF agents took 11,100 guns off the streets in 25 cities and arrested 10,000 gang members, drug dealers and other felons. A six-month pilot program in 15 cities showed a 17 percent decline in homicides committed with guns. "We're here to take back the streets of San Bernardino. We want to ensure that San Bernardino residents have the quality of life they deserve," said John Torres, the ATF's special agent in charge. Although gangsters may have a gun-toting advantage here, he said, law enforcement wants to "put the advantage back in the hands of the citizens." That includes a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest of anyone who possesses an illegal firearm. Callers, who can remain anonymous, will receive $500 within 72 hours. The rest comes upon conviction. Call (800) ATF-GUNS. Police Chief Michael Billdt said Operation Phoenix has shown success in reducing gun violence in the city. "However, we have more work to do," he said, adding that police will concentrate on the most at-risk areas of the city. Authorities declined to list the areas for fear it would interfere with surveillance or investigations. Six male field agents, and four administrative workers, will operate out of a satellite office in San Bernardino. Riverside agents, who have an established office, will assist in certain operations. The ATF has pledged to stay a minimum of 120 days. But spokeswoman Susan Raichel couldn't recall a single team that has left a targeted city since the initiative kicked off in 2004. Top technology will help trace weapons and determine where guns are coming from and how they're reaching San Bernardino streets. The Comprehensive Crime Gun Tracing Initiative, touted by the ATF as the largest in the world, stores information on firearms sales, suspect guns and federal firearms licensees that have gone out of business. In 2005, the tracing center processed 265,800 trace requests of crime guns. Acting U.S. Attorney George Cardona said he is happy to add "another tool" - federal prosecutions - to the arsenal against gangs. Mandatory federal sentences will be slapped on anyone carrying an illegal firearm, officials said. Penalties can include a 10- to 20-year prison term in federal pens like Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. Gang members are purposely exiled from the community to prevent them from remaining in touch with fellow criminals. San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael A. Ramos, after reminding the crowd of his war on gangs launched two years ago, laughingly said he sometimes feels like Batman guarding Gotham City. "This place is going to be, and is, America's city," Ramos said. ________________________________ BS Ranch Perspective The move from the Federal Goverment to finally Recognize that there is a need for an ATF Office here in the Inland Empire as there is in any large Metropolitin City, espeically one that has grown to such heights as this one with the Gang problems, NOT JUST IN THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO, BUT THE CITIES OF THE INLAND EMPIRE AS A WHOLE!! Rialto it started with the Gang Memebers from LA that were Paroled to serve out the remainder of their sentences, but were not allowed to go to their old neighborhoods, and be around their old Gang Members, so what they did was started their own, Gangs here in Rialto, back in the 80's Gangs like the Rollings 60's, the Hoover's the Bloods, and well the Crip's Long before they were known to be a problem in any other city they were known in Rialto. ATF helped many times back then but they didn't have a field office in which to work from to help us at a minutes notice they were only called in when we were doing Speicial Events to Serve Search Warrants and collected a great number of guns. ATF's Help was appreceated back then and it is wonderful that they found a need to finally open a field office here to help the local agencies and do their own enforcement as well. BS Ranch |