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

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

Working hard or hardly working?
November 30, 2005... Byline: Michael Rappaport Nov. 30--Maybe Clark W. Griswold was spending too much time planning his Christmas lights, or the Old Man was trying to decide whether to buy Ralphie a BB gun. Or maybe George Bailey was too worried about...

Customers shunning cash for cards.
November 29, 2005... Byline: Jason Newell Nov. 29--Whether it's five bucks at the drug store, a few dollars for fast food or $1.29 for a gas station soda, Shandi Ramirez prefers to pay by swiping away. Never a big fan of cash, the Scripps College student...

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Calif., Amy Frye column.
November 29, 2005... Byline: Amy Frye Nov. 29--BLACK FRIDAY BRINGS CYBER MONDAY: When I was asked during my normal Monday morning haze to spend an entire work day shopping online, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Even if the company wasn't footing...

Gift cards can ring up lasting sales.
November 29, 2005... Byline: Joe Florkowski Nov. 29--The increasing popularity of gift cards means Christmas now comes more than once a year for many retailers. And many big retailers will remind you to buy a gift card from the moment you walk in the...

Hotel boom checks into Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
November 29, 2005... Byline: Joe Florkowski Nov. 29--RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- The opening of five hotels will more than double the number of rooms in the city near Ontario Mills in the next six months. The first of the hotels, a 103-room Homewood Suites,...

Housing holds in Riverside, Calif., area.
November 29, 2005... Byline: Michael Rappaport Nov. 29--If the party is over, folks in the Inland Empire don't appear to have gotten the message. Statewide housing prices dipped slightly in October 2005, according to figures released Monday by the...

Hillside Farm craft fair in Norco provides unique holiday gifts.
November 28, 2005... Byline: Amy Frye Nov. 28--In a time when holiday gifts and decorations are easily found at chain stores everywhere, holiday boutiques and craft fairs still attract crowds of shoppers on the lookout for unique gifts. The annual...

Black Friday: A shopper's boon.
November 25, 2005... Byline: Michael Rappaport Nov. 25--It wasn't worms -- unless it was a bait shop -- that had people lining up in the early hours this morning outside Wal-Mart, Ontario Mills, Best Buy or other Inland Valley locations. No, this morning...

Holiday travel: Airlines tighten up rules on baggage.
November 23, 2005... Byline: Kenneth Todd Ruiz Nov. 23--ONTARIO -- Jamar Porter had to hustle and shuffle before his flight home to Norfolk, Va., on Tuesday. Moments earlier, an electronic scale at Ontario International Airport had disproved his father's...

Stores changing holiday return policies.
November 23, 2005... Byline: Joe Florkowski Nov. 23--When making a purchase this holiday season, you might want to ask the clerk whether the item you are buying is returnable. Asking such a simple question could save you a headache later, according to...

Well-paying blue-collar jobs threatened.
November 23, 2005... Byline: Michael Rappaport Nov. 23--A long time ago, when the plains were covered with buffalo... A young man -- or woman, but more often a man -- could graduate from high school, get a job that was classified as blue collar, learn a...

County builders setting records.
November 23, 2005... Byline: Michael Rappaport Nov. 23--In 2004, builders set records in San Bernardino County. With two months remaining to be tallied, 2005 has been even better. According to numbers released by the Construction Industry Research Board...

Library repairs under way.
November 22, 2005... Byline: Amy Frye Nov. 22--NORCO -- A contractor will begin repairs today on a 6-inch cast iron pipe that collapsed in the front portion of the Norco Public Library on Wednesday, causing the building to close. Both Riverside County...

Video game console aims to integrate multiple aspects of technology.
November 22, 2005... Byline: Redmond Carolipio Nov. 22--PALMDALE -- Xbox 360 has arrived, and it wants everyone else to come and play, too. Since the days of the Nintendo Entertainment System, critics have pegged the video game console as a talisman to the...

Chino, Calif., to add hangars.
November 18, 2005... Byline: Joe Florkowski Nov. 18--CHINO -- Developers are planning to add more than 400,000 square feet of hangar space to Chino Airport, making this the facility's biggest period of growth since the early 1980s. Few available...

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Calif., David Allen column.
November 18, 2005... Byline: David Allen Nov. 18--DON'T DISCOUNT NEIGHBORS' ANTI-WAL-MART STRATEGY: How do you fight Wal-Mart? If you're a neighborhood in Ontario, you throw a yard sale. Residents near a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter are hosting "the...

City plans debris cleanup of Marshall Canyon Creek.
November 18, 2005... Byline: Caroline An Nov. 18--LA VERNE -- The city's Marshall Canyon Creek and walking trail will soon be given an extensive and overdue cleanup. Debris and silt buildup, a result of the Williams and Padua fires of 2002, has...

Fontana, Calif., residents decry rate hikes.
November 18, 2005... Byline: Kelly Rayburn Nov. 18--FONTANA -- Fontana Water Co. officials got an earful Thursday afternoon and again Thursday evening, as dozens of angry and befuddled residents protested the company's attempts to raise rates when they...

Fontana, Calif., breaks ground on new, massive library.
November 18, 2005... Byline: Kelly Rayburn Nov. 18--FONTANA -- Shortly after California voters approved a $350 million library bond in 2000, the city took a risk. Officials here knew their current library -- built in 1963 for a town of 15,000 -- wasn't...

Unsteady fuel costs like wheel of misfortune.
November 17, 2005... Byline: Michael Rappaport Nov. 17--When folks think about gas prices, they usually think about whether Granny can afford to go to the doctor or Bubba can manage his daily commute to Long Beach. It's all part of the daily human drama...

Searching for an anchor.
November 16, 2005... Nov. 16--UPLAND -- Phillip Tibbetts' business relies on sound. But for the owner of Jam It Music, the parking lot outside his Foothill Boulevard store is far too quiet. Since March 2004, Tibbetts has operated his music instrument and...

Developer has big plans for Claremont site.
November 16, 2005... Byline: Caroline An Nov. 16--CLAREMONT -- Early drafts of the Claremont Inn and Old School House revitalization plans show significant changes to the site, including condominiums and a new parking structure. At a workshop Monday...

Upland man's suit against city dismissed.
November 15, 2005... Byline: Rod Leveque Nov. 15--UPLAND -- A judge dismissed a lawsuit on Monday filed by an Upland businessman who claimed city officials retaliated against him for exposing malfeasance at City Hall. The decision is another stinging...

Signups for new drug plan start today.
November 15, 2005... Byline: Jason Newell Nov. 15--Millions of seniors across the nation can begin signing up for a new Medicare prescription drug benefit today. But if they're anything like the folks hanging out at Inland Valley senior centers on Monday...

New homes difficult to come by.
November 15, 2005... Byline: Michael Rappaport Nov. 15--It's tough to buy a new home in the Inland Empire. Plenty of people are buying or selling homes in the overheated California housing market, but the majority of those are resales of existing...

Developers work to fill in Pomona center.
November 15, 2005... Byline: Joe Florkowski Nov. 15--POMONA -- Two El Monte developers are filling in the missing pieces of a shopping center anchored by Wal-Mart and WinCo Foods. YK America and KU & Associates are developing more than 40 acres of...

No easy way out of credit card debt.
November 14, 2005... Byline: Michael Rappaport Nov. 14--Once was the time if you charged $1,000 on your credit card, you might receive a bill requesting a minimum payment of $30 a month. It seemed like a painless, easy way to pay for that new stereo or...

Pomona eyeing mobile problem.
November 14, 2005... Byline: Monica Rodriguez Nov. 14--POMONA -- Ranging from neat, well maintained facilities to overcrowded properties filled with deteriorated trailers and code enforcement problems, the city's mobile home parks have attracted the...

First-time home buyers almost extinct.
November 10, 2005... Byline: Michael Rappaport Nov. 10--Anyone looking for an endangered species to protect should consider the vanishing California First-Time Home Buyer. Once ubiquitous from San Diego to Santa Rosa, back in the days when cheap land and...

Wal-Mart has eyes on north Fontana location.
November 10, 2005... Byline: Kelly Rayburn Nov. 10--FONTANA -- After buying land at the so-called gateway to the city in north Fontana, Wal-Mart has signaled its intent to build a Supercenter so large it would dwarf a neighboring middle school. The...

Pomona, Calif., plans Wi-Fi zone.
November 9, 2005... Byline: Monica Rodriguez Nov. 9--POMONA -- The city is moving forward with a pilot program to bring a wireless Internet system, or Wi-Fi, to downtown Pomona. Council members this week voted unanimously in favor of the proposal that...

Voice system keeps Vons on track.
November 9, 2005... Byline: Joe Florkowski Nov. 9--MIRA LOMA -- A Pittsburgh-based company demonstrated Tuesday how new logistics technology could save businesses money and make employees' lives easier -- as well as ensure that customers get the products...

New CVUSD superintendent brings passion to job.
November 9, 2005... Byline: Kenneth Todd Ruiz Nov. 9--CHINO -- A former Marine whose work experiences include military operations around the world recently assumed command of the Chino Valley Unified School District. Edmond Heatley, 42, stepped into the...

Vaccine: Not enough to go around.
November 8, 2005... Byline: Sara A. Carter Nov. 8--ONTARIO -- Monday was the third time in the past week that Marie Sweringen spent hours waiting in line for a flu shot. "Third time's a charm," said the Ontario senior, recalling how her first two attempts...

Unapproved land contract leads to probe.
November 8, 2005... Byline: Amy Frye Nov. 8--NORCO -- A 3-year-old grading contract signed without council approval has led to a city investigation and, possibly, a grand jury probe. The contract, signed by Mayor Herb Higgins and City Clerk Debra McNay...

Desert airport seeks aviation workers.
November 4, 2005... Byline: Joe Florkowski Nov. 4--VICTORVILLE -- Wanted: 550 trained aviation specialists by April. Longer term needs: between 2,000 and 4,000 more. Southern California Logistics Airport is about to take off. Four hangars...

Woman victim of lottery scam.
November 4, 2005... Byline: Jannise Johnson Nov. 4--MONTCLAIR -- A woman was scammed out of an undisclosed amount of cash Monday after she was approached by two people who convinced her to front the money for a "winning" lottery ticket. Maria...

Sports bar raises ire of residents.
November 4, 2005... Byline: Wendy Leung Nov. 4--RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- Residents opposing the Margarita Beach sports bar and grill left no time for testimony from the other side in a 2 1/2-hour hearing Wednesday during which a councilman riled the mayor by...

Women visit U.S. to view operations, take ideas home.
November 3, 2005... Byline: Cliff Morman Nov. 3--RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- Five Russian businesswomen toured Cask n' Cleaver on Monday in an effort to better understand how America's older capitalism works. The Russian women are touring the Inland Valley as...

Report claims California economy has better outlook.
November 3, 2005... Byline: Kevin Smith Nov. 3--We've all heard the dire news. Businesses are fleeing California in droves. Companies can't handle the state's costly and restrictive regulations and mandates, so they're leaving the Golden State in search...

I.E. manufacturing activity drops in October.
November 3, 2005... Byline: Jim Steinberg Nov. 3--Manufacturing activity for the combined San Bernardino and Riverside County area slowed significantly in October, according to a Cal State San Bernardino report released Tuesday. The local purchasing...

Experts warn against Hi-Tech physical ailments.
November 3, 2005... Byline: Redmond Carolipio Nov. 3--Splints. Cortisone shots. Surgery. All because of your... BlackBerry? If techies don't pay attention, experts say, it's possible. As the holiday shopping season opens the door to a wealth of...

Schools could open up early.
November 2, 2005... Byline: L.C. Greene Nov. 2--GLEN AVON -- The educationally trendy Smaller Learning Communities model may be instituted at Rubidoux High School next year, a full year earlier than expected, and at the school's original home. The...

Web site targets day-labor employers.
November 1, 2005... Byline: Kelly Rush Nov. 1--SAN BERNARDINO -- Tori Stordahl and Jason Mrochek have a message for employers who hire day laborers, many of whom are in the country illegally: Your picture may be taken and posted on the World Wide Web. ...