Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) articles from July 2005

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) archives from July 2005

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Calif., David Allen column.
July 29, 2005... Byline: David Allen Jul. 29--CHAFFEY COLLEGE TO 'FREAK OUT' FOR ZAPPA: Frank Zappa was a Chaffey College student for only one semester, circa 1960. On Saturday, though, the late musician will be feted at his alma mater with an unusual...

CAFTA boost not expected.
July 29, 2005... Byline: Brenda Gazzar Jul. 29--After passing Congress on Thursday, the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement is not expected to have much impact on the Inland Empire or on most Southern California industries. ...

Pomona looks to fix commissions.
July 29, 2005... Byline: Monica Rodriguez Jul. 29--POMONA -- Leslie Hedges served on the city's Community Life Commission for about seven years before deciding it was time to move on. Hedges wasn't overwhelmed with the commission workload. It was...

Chaffey statue unveiling now expected in September.
July 29, 2005... Byline: Edward Barrera Jul. 29--UPLAND -- A decade-long dream to honor George Chaffey, founder of local communities including Ontario, Etiwanda and Upland in the 1880s, is nearing completion. Funded primarily through private...

Area hospitals receive low marks.
July 29, 2005... Byline: Annette Wells Jul. 29--A national study of how hospitals provide care for the elderly ranks the San Bernardino region lowest in the nation. The analysis of Medicare standards found that hospitals in San Bernardino and...

Colonies still seeks land deal.
July 29, 2005... Byline: Edward Barrera Jul. 29--RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- Despite concerns by flood-control experts, Colonies officials are still looking at land north of the city to settle their protracted legal dispute with San Bernardino County. ...

District considers parks fee hikes.
July 29, 2005... Byline: L.C. Greene Jul. 29--GLEN AVON -- Higher fees could be in store for swimmers, sports teams and others who use the Jurupa parks, parks district officials said Thursday. The parks board made plans to explore other methods of...

Robinsons-May stores will close in Rancho, Montclair.
July 29, 2005... Byline: Michael Rappaport Jul. 29--Montclair Plaza and Victoria Gardens will lose anchor stores next year as part of the pending merger between Federated Department Stores Inc. and The May Department Stores Co. In an announcement...

Pomona hospital CEO recognized.
July 29, 2005... Byline: Joe Florkowski Jul. 29--POMONA -- The chief executive officer of Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center received the 2004 Community Service Award from the Pomona Valley Chamber of Commerce on Thursday night. Richard Yochum of...

Riverside wants accountability for all cities in fund.
July 28, 2005... Byline: Mike Cruz Jul. 28--RIVERSIDE -- The county Board of Supervisors has approved two new safeguards to ensure cities and agencies in Riverside County get all of the property tax money that is due. Board members voted unanimously...

Deputy DA gets job back.
July 28, 2005... Byline: Rod Leveque Jul. 28--SAN BERNARDINO -- A deputy district attorney will return to work Monday, nine months after he was fired amid allegations he leaked confidential information to the media. The county's Civil Service...

Crash snarls traffic for hours on California freeway.
July 28, 2005... Byline: Melissa Pinion-Whitt Jul. 28--DIAMOND BAR -- A fiery tractor-trailer crash forced the closure of the westbound 60 Freeway on Wednesday, causing a traffic nightmare as motorists slowed to a crawl on both sides. Eastbound...

Extreme heat continues across Valley, country.
July 28, 2005... Byline: Andrew Silva Jul. 28--It is hot! Those are perhaps the most common three words spoken in the United States in recent weeks. They will remain in the common vernacular here in the Inland Empire at least through the middle of...

Study: 19 percent of children in state are poor.
July 28, 2005... Byline: Selicia Kennedy-Ross Jul. 28--More than one-third of California children live in households where adults do not have steady jobs, a reason why the state's child poverty rate is among the worst in the nation, shows a new study...

Laptop computers a joke, Pomona, Calif., teacher says.
July 28, 2005... Byline: Kenneth Todd Ruiz Jul. 28--POMONA -- Starting with beige Apple II computers in 1988, Cindy Manufo has worked with technology at Garey High School for 17 years. When the Pomona Unified School District spent $2.4 million in...

Local schools receive grants despite cuts.
July 28, 2005... Byline: L. Alexis Young Jul. 28--After a $2 million cut to state grants for a program that supports children and their families, three local elementary schools are relieved to have snared a portion of the grant funds, which could be...

Cities making plans for money.
July 28, 2005... Byline: Mason Stockstill Jul. 28--When lawmakers in Sacramento approved the state budget, they included a few million pleasant surprises for local governments. The surprise was money for some cities, more than $1 million that had...

Metrolink riders in California return to routine after London attacks.
July 28, 2005... Byline: Kelly Rayburn Jul. 28--When bombers attacked the London Underground on July 7, a near-universal response in both the United Kingdom and the United States was that people cannot let terrorists dictate how they should go about...

Large warehouse project proposed.
July 28, 2005... Byline: Joe Florkowski Jul. 28--FONTANA -- A Los Angeles citrus-growing family has proposed building three warehouse buildings totaling more than 1 million square feet on land they own in the southwest section of the city. The Sam...

Second West Nile victim dies.
July 28, 2005... Byline: L.C. Greene Jul. 28--The West Nile virus has claimed its second life of 2005: an 84-year-old Perris man who served in North Africa and Europe during World War II. John W. Spears died July 18 at the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial VA...

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Calif., David Allen column.
July 27, 2005... Byline: David Allen Jul. 27--FASHION POLICE: In Claremont one recent Saturday, police received a call about "a poorly dressed man" on foot in the downtown Village, according to the Claremont Courier's police blotter. Police were...

Dollar-off spending agreements deemed OK.
July 27, 2005... Byline: Jason Newell Jul. 27--A small number of county spending agreements in recent years that came just $1 shy of needing approval from San Bernardino County elected officials are uncommon, but aren't intended to skirt the rules, a...

Study to shine light on new businesses for Norco.
July 27, 2005... Byline: Sue Doyle Jul. 27--NORCO -- As Norco plans for its future, Kelly Fairres hopes those plans include a steakhouse. Deciding between filet mignon and T-bone would be a welcome change for dinner in a town that's overrun with...

County takes first step to combine fire districts.
July 27, 2005... Jul. 27--SAN BERNARDINO -- Fire districts scattered across the sprawling county will be joined into one countywide fire department, but Fontana appears ready to bolt from the proposed megadistrict, taking its tax money with it. In a...

County officials silent on flood-control land appraisals.
July 27, 2005... Byline: Megan Blaney Jul. 27--San Bernardino County officials refused to disclose information Tuesday about two appraisals of county flood-control land in Rancho Cucamonga. The land, 1,137 acres between two-flood control channels,...

Family of slain guard files suit.
July 27, 2005... Byline: Mason Stockstill Jul. 27--CHINO -- The family of slain correctional officer Manuel Gonzalez filed a civil rights lawsuit Tuesday against the state and the Chino prison where he was killed, blaming his death on "deliberate...

Locals have personal interest in launch.
July 27, 2005... Byline: Jeff Keating Jul. 27--LA VERNE -- John Chappell took a keen interest in the launch of the space shuttle Discovery, and not for the obvious reasons. Like much of the country, Chappell had an eye on his television Tuesday...

Pomona wants input.
July 27, 2005... Byline: Monica Rodriguez Jul. 27--POMONA -- Wanted: Passionate men and women to help drum up support for a plan to protect the city's youth against violence and other social ills. People who fit that description can expect to receive...

Board suing SANBAG about Colonies decision.
July 26, 2005... Byline: Edward Barrera Jul. 26--In a little-noticed maneuver last November, the Board of Supervisors decided to sue itself in the event it lost a multimillion-dollar lawsuit by the developers of the Colonies project in northeast Upland....

Final cost of 2003 fires reaches $1.2 billion.
July 26, 2005... Byline: Andrew Silva Jul. 26--The Grand Prix, Padua and Old wildfires of 2003 cost at least $1.2 billion, according to an analysis released Monday by the U.S. Forest Service, and that doesn't include factors such as lost income and...

Higher temperatures don't keep workers from completing tasks.
July 26, 2005... Byline: Kenneth Todd Ruiz Jul. 26--Most days, Rhys Williams steps before his 2,100 degree "glory hole" furnace before dawn, but with a hot job to finish this week, the Claremont glassblower sweated out Monday's peak heat. While...

No deal for jail purchase.
July 26, 2005... Byline: Guy McCarthy Jul. 26--No one will receive a commission in the county's recent $31.2 million purchase of an Adelanto jail facility, a deal that is still in escrow, the jail's seller said Monday. Some San Bernardino County...

Supervisors want annual audit of Teeter Fund.
July 26, 2005... Byline: Mike Cruz Jul. 26--RIVERSIDE -- Two Riverside County supervisors have asked for annual audits and the formation of an oversight committee to keep better track of property tax money. The move comes on the heels of the Teeter...

Study shows that regular exercise will help seniors.
July 26, 2005... Byline: Susan Abram Jul. 26--Seniors who exercise regularly feel years younger and have a better chance of leading longer, independent lives than their sedentary peers, according to a 20-year study released Monday. Researchers...

Demolition signals Montclair growth.
July 26, 2005... Byline: Joe Florkowski Jul. 26--MONTCLAIR -- The owner of a 14-acre retail center that once housed the city's Sam's Club is tearing down the shopping plaza in advance of the property being sold later this year, city officials said. ...

Sweeping changes planned for neighborhoods.
July 26, 2005... Byline: Mason Stockstill Jul. 26--CHINO -- Add one more item to the list of differences between Chino's existing neighborhoods and the thousands of homes to be built in the coming years: no parking during street sweeping. The City...

$21 million earmarked for Colonies basin.
July 25, 2005... Byline: Edward Barrera Jul. 25--Even as lawyers, supervisors and developers feud about lawsuits related to the Colonies flood control project in northeast Upland, San Bernardino County officials are preparing an estimated $21.2 million...

Colonies suit could halt public works.
July 25, 2005... Byline: Edward Barrera Jul. 25--Solutions to flood problems that closed Etiwanda Avenue on the Ontario-Fontana border for weeks this winter may be delayed for years if San Bernardino County is forced to pay out a huge cash award in...

Residents explore becoming new city.
July 25, 2005... Byline: Andrew Silva Jul. 25--SAN BERNARDINO -- Bloomington residents working to make their community a city will not get a moratorium on possible annexations, but seemed satisfied they are safe for the moment from losing some areas to...

Group says children with special needs not served properly.
July 25, 2005... Byline: Sue Doyle Jul. 25--NORCO -- Saying their children aren't getting the education they deserve, 16 families of special-needs children in the Corona-Norco Unified School District have filed for hearings with the Institute for...

Vet armed fighters at Ontario Air Base.
July 25, 2005... Byline: Molly R. Okeon Jul. 25--ONTARIO -- The night before the Ontario Air Base was closed for military use, the mess sergeant opened up the officers' club, and 21-year-old PFC George Washington Harrison Jr. and 36 others cleaned house....

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Calif., David Allen column.
July 24, 2005... Byline: David Allen Jul. 24--With the valley's sticky weather recalling the Deep South, everyone's hot new hobby is cooling off. I beat the heat one day last week by beating it over to the Ontario Museum of History and Art, which has...

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Calif., David Allen column.
July 22, 2005... Byline: David Allen Jul. 22--ONTARIO PLANNERS EVICT MOLLY'S CAFE? GET OUT! You won't be able to belly up to the counter at Molly's Cafe much longer. The downtown Ontario diner will soon lose its location to redevelopment. Whether...

Program gives minorities chance to live on campus.
July 22, 2005... Byline: Jason Newell Jul. 22--CLAREMONT -- A bright student with a knack for the arts, Cecilia Mercado has long had her heart set on becoming the first in her family to go to college. But with no one to steer her along the path to a...

Jurupa parks district to map trails for Master Plan.
July 22, 2005... Byline: L.C. Greene Jul. 22--GLEN AVON -- An ancient means of traveling from one location to another is expected to become part of the Jurupa parks district's new and developing Master Plan. A district-sponsored workshop Monday will...

PODS makes Ontario move.
July 22, 2005... Byline: Michael Rappaport Jul. 22--ONTARIO -- Call them the pod people. A first glance at Mike Niles' warehouse is far less scary than Kevin McCarthy's first look at a growing replica in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," but if you...

CVUSD wants to tighten lips.
July 22, 2005... Byline: Mason Stockstill Jul. 22--CHINO -- The Chino Valley Unified School District is tightening its policies that prohibit the release of confidential information, though some experts called the change unconstitutional. The changes...

School district purchasing problems.
July 22, 2005... Jul. 22--POMONA -- Pomona Unified School District misspent at least $2.4 million from a taxpayer-funded program meant to connect schools in low-income areas to the Internet, a Daily Bulletin investigation has found. Since 1998, the...

City delays decision on Edison storage facility.
July 22, 2005... Byline: Molly R. Okeon Jul. 22--RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- Residents of an Etiwanda neighborhood won a small battle against Southern California Edison this week, delaying a decision to allow storage facilities near their homes. Edison...

Work still to be done to finish Rialto parks.
July 21, 2005... Byline: Nikki Cobb Jul. 21--RIALTO -- There's a lot of work involved before residents can jump, run, play and otherwise recreate in the city's parks. The City Council provides budgets and the money and gives the OK. Then the staff...

3 more Claremont staffers quitting.
July 21, 2005... Byline: Jason Newell Jul. 21--CLAREMONT -- Three more high-profile city employees are leaving, the latest in a string of longtime Claremont employees to resign in recent months. Claremont's spokesman and top two community services...

Pomona council's vote may change downtown balance.
July 21, 2005... Byline: Monica Rodriguez Jul. 21--POMONA -- Plans for restaurants, antique shops and specialty stores that fit the flavor of the city's Arts Colony have been undone, making way for medical offices and automotive supply stores. The...

Study shows more than 50 percent of HMO patients are overweight.
July 21, 2005... Byline: Annette Wells Jul. 21--A UCLA study says more than 50 percent of Californians enrolled in private HMO plans are overweight or obese and that health-care providers should do more to address the problem. The HMOs say the study,...

Prison land could be up for grabs.
July 21, 2005... Byline: Mason Stockstill Jul. 21--As the Inland Empire's real estate boom continues, some parcels of land previously thought to be uninhabitable may soon go for top dollar: mental hospital and state prison property. About 25 acres of...

Music all-stars hip-hopping to Devore.
July 21, 2005... Byline: Stacia Glenn Jul. 21--Thousands of local hip-hop fans are eager to be assaulted with lyrical bullets fired by partners in rhyme Eminem and 50 Cent when they bring their slew of anger management issues to Devore on Saturday. ...

Fontana eyes depot for renovated art gallery.
July 21, 2005... Byline: Kelly Rayburn Jul. 21--FONTANA -- A dormant old depot could soon be an art gallery and coffee bar along a trail connecting six Inland Valley cities. The Fontana City Council pushed depot restoration plans forward Tuesday...

Falcon Ridge seen as good sign in Fontana.
July 21, 2005... Byline: Kelly Rayburn Jul. 21--FONTANA -- Groceries, shoes, sporting goods, home furnishings, baby back ribs and margaritas they're all available at the Falcon Ridge Town Center in north Fontana. But don't get off the 15 Freeway...

California fines 2 title insurers accused of kickbacks.
July 21, 2005... Byline: Tom Abate Jul. 21--SAN FRANCISCO -- California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi said Tuesday that two of the state's largest title insurers have agreed to halt a kickback scheme that cost home buyers nearly $23 million and...

Baseball field in Ontario transformed for television series.
July 21, 2005... Byline: Molly R. Okeon Jul. 21--ONTARIO -- Picture it: Philadelphia, 1945. That's the look Andrea Morrissy, assistant location manager on the television show "Cold Case," is hoping to create at the historic Jay Littleton Ballpark in...

Utility still trying to make repairs to treatment plant.
July 21, 2005... Byline: L.C. Greene Jul. 21--MIRA LOMA -- Parents and caregivers in Eastvale, Mira Loma, Glen Avon, Pedley and Sunnyslope can now give tap water to their infants less than the age of 6 months, a utility spokeswoman said Wednesday. ...

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Calif., David Allen column.
July 20, 2005... Byline: David Allen Jul. 20--POMONA'S COUNCIL FLUSH WITH LATEST ISSUE: At Monday's Pomona City Council meeting, a city ordinance was introduced that clarifies that only small children and caregivers can enter public restrooms meant for...

Motorists literally seeing red at the pumps.
July 20, 2005... Byline: Joe Florkowski Jul. 20--RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- Rising gas prices may make some motorists figuratively see red, but a new gas station sign installed at an Albertsons Express station is causing them to actually see the color. The...

Podcasting: Radio Revolution.
July 20, 2005... Byline: Redmond Carolipio Jul. 20--Rush Limbaugh, Howard Stern and 18-year-old Joel Szerlip of Riverside have something in common. No, Szerlip isn't a verbal whirlwind of politics, nor has he spent a considerable amount of time...

Getting to the basics of podcast production.
July 20, 2005... Byline: Redmond Carolipio Jul. 20--There are literally thousands of different ways to create your own podcast and put it out there for the public to digest (or spit out). If you don't want to sift through the 4 million hits that...

Radioactive material removal from Chino stalled.
July 20, 2005... Byline: Mason Stockstill Jul. 20--CHINO -- Efforts to remove radioactive material from the Chino Airport have hit a snag. A second firm has now been contracted by the county at a greater cost to clean up a contaminated hangar at the...

Mautz fifth woman ever on Ontario City Council.
July 19, 2005... Byline: Molly R. Okeon Jul. 19--ONTARIO -- While Sheila Mautz is woman, you won't hear her roar from her seat on the City Council. "I don't want to make waves, I just want to dream big," said the newly appointed councilwoman and...

Pitfalls still could slow area's economy.
July 19, 2005... Byline: Joe Florkowski Jul. 19--POMONA The Southern California economy is seeing its best economic growth since 2000 but a handful of issues may slow the region heading into 2006, according to a report released today. While Southern...

House prices soar again.
July 19, 2005... Byline: Jim Steinberg Jul. 19--San Bernardino County homeowners continued their wild ride in June as median home prices hit a record high for the fifth time this year. The median price for a home in the county hit $322,000, up 30.9...

Nowhere left to saddle up.
July 19, 2005... Byline: Blanca E. Sanchez Jul. 19--Southern California city dwellers have discovered an oasis in the Inland Valley. The large, and largely affordable, properties of at least a half-acre identified in planning circles as equine...

City zoning worries horse owners.
July 19, 2005... Byline: Blanca E. Sanchez Jul. 19--CHINO HILLS -- Show horse owners living on English Road, one of the city's oldest pockets of equestrian properties, are concerned about future zoning. As the city works to create an equestrian...

Chino eyes land purchase for auto mall plans.
July 19, 2005... Byline: Mason Stockstill Jul. 19--CHINO -- The city may end up purchasing a piece of land whose owner has complained that restrictions regarding its use are hampering his ability to develop it. The council will consider at its...

City 'very serious' about preserving open space.
July 19, 2005... Byline: Jason Newell Jul. 19--LA VERNE -- City leaders are pushing forward with plans to acquire and preserve about $5 million worth of privately owned land in the foothills of northern La Verne, using grant money that would have...

Old Route 66 restaurant on road to revival.
July 19, 2005... Byline: Kelly Rayburn Jul. 19--FONTANA -- The shelves on the back wall of Joe Bono's old Foothill Boulevard restaurant are still stocked with six-pound cans of tomato puree, jars of pepperoncini and bottles of olive oil and vinegar. ...

Well fixed, restrictions stay.
July 19, 2005... Byline: L.C. Greene Jul. 19--MIRA LOMA -- A mechanically bedeviled northwest Riverside County utility placed a broken water well pump back in service Monday afternoon, but kept conservation measures in force until further notice. ...

No-kill animal shelter proponent works to convert Rancho shelter.
July 18, 2005... Byline: Molly R. Okeon Jul. 18--RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- When Nathan Winograd looks out into the parking lot of the city's animal shelter, he doesn't just see a parking lot -- he sees potential. "This could not be more ideal," he said,...

Rialto steps toward annexation for developer.
July 18, 2005... Byline: Nikki Cobb Jul. 18--BLOOMINGTON -- Rialto has taken the first step toward annexing a 205-acre parcel of bucolic county land. The city's action is at the behest of Cactus Investments LLC, whose subsidiary, Rancho...

New buildings must pass muster.
July 18, 2005... Byline: Monica Rodriguez Jul. 18--POMONA -- With downtown's mix of historically and architecturally significant buildings, a new review group will help make sure any new construction in the area blends well with the old. An...

Pomona set for downtown boom.
July 18, 2005... Byline: Monica Rodriguez Jul. 18--POMONA -- In a matter of months, downtown could be facing a boom of construction expected to bring with it thousands of new residents something Cesar Garcia says will be good for him and fellow...

United Way changes leave agencies rejected.
July 18, 2005... Byline: Kenneth Todd Ruiz Jul. 18--After four extensive applications for United Way funds were rejected last week, staff at the David & Margaret Home in La Verne are not sure they'll even bother next year. Ongoing changes to the...

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Calif., David Allen column.
July 17, 2005... Byline: David Allen Jul. 17--BIBLE PARK PLAN FOR RANCHO WASN'T EXACTLY HEAVEN-SENT: Disneyland today celebrates its 50th anniversary, but if a promoter had had his way, Rancho Cucamonga would be in the 44th year of its own highly unusual...

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Calif., David Allen column.
July 15, 2005... Byline: David Allen Jul. 15--THESE FREEWAY MYSTERIES DRIVE INLAND COMMUTERS TO DISTRACTION: On the 10 Freeway a few miles east of the Montclair Mystery Tower, a new mystery has surfaced. A chunk of landscaping on the eastbound side...

Bill to stop vapor booze pushed in California.
July 15, 2005... Byline: Mason Stockstill Jul. 15--Assemblyman Joe Baca Jr. doesn't want you to inhale your alcohol. Baca, D-San Bernardino, has introduced legislation that would ban the sale of a new device that vaporizes alcohol and allows users to...

Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., bar gets rules revised.
July 15, 2005... Byline: Molly R. Okeon Jul. 15--RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- Margarita Beach sports bar and grill owner Mark Davidson brought his supporters to Wednesday night's Planning Commission meeting, guns blazing, to defend his business and his own...

California base supporters cite national security issues.
July 15, 2005... Byline: Sue Doyle Jul. 15--Given 25 minutes to speak, supporters of the Naval Surface Weapons Center made their case Thursday to Department of Defense officials about why doors to the base should remain open. The Corona Division is...