5/28/2019 EFF Asks San Bernardino Court to Review Cell-Site Simulator and Digital Search Warrants That Are Likely Improperly Sealed | Electroni…

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EFF Asks San Bernardino Court toReview Cell-Site Simulator and

Digital Search Warrants That AreLikely Improperly Sealed

MAY 28, 2019 eff.org

Since the California legislature passed a 2015 law requiring cops to get a searchwarrant before probing our devices, rifling through our online accounts, ortracking our phones, EFF has been on a quest to examine court filings todetermine whether law enforcement agencies are following the new rules. Wehave been especially concerned that cops and the courts have been disregardingthe transparency measures baked into the California Electronic CommunicationsPrivacy Act (CalECPA).

As it turns out, our suspicions were well warranted. A lawsuit we filed last yearagainst the San Bernardino County Sheri�’s O�ce has turned up evidence thatpotentially hundreds of digital search warrants have been improperly andindefinitely sealed, blocking the public’s right to inspect court records.

EFF, represented by the Law O�ce of Michael T. Risher, has filed a formal requestwith the Presiding Judge of the San Bernardino County Superior Court to reviewand unseal 22 search warrants that appear to be sealed in violation California’spenal code. We are also asking that the court “take whatever steps are necessaryto ensure that similar files—both in the past and in the future—are open to thepublic as required by law.”

Read EFF’s letter to the San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge John P. Vander Feer.

5/28/2019 EFF Asks San Bernardino Court to Review Cell-Site Simulator and Digital Search Warrants That Are Likely Improperly Sealed | Electroni…

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When CalECPA was passed, it was hailed as the “Nation’s Best Digital PrivacyLaw” by outlets such as Wired, because it prevents the government from forcingcompanies to hand over electronic communications, files, or metadata, withoutfirst obtaining a warrant. It similarly requires the government to obtain a warrantbefore searching our devices or tracking our location through our devices. Thisincludes the use of cell-site simulators, a surveillance technology thatmasquerades as a fake cell phone tower to connect to a target’s phone. The lawalso included several accountability measures, such as requiring agencies to filepublic disclosures with the California Department of Justice, which EFF uses toidentify search warrants across the state that deserve greater scrutiny deservingof great scrutiny.

Last year, EFF picked out six suspicious warrants filed by the San BernardinoSheri� for a deeper dive, since they all referred to the use of a “cell-sitestimulator” (a misspelling guaranteed to make privacy advocates snicker). Thosewere the only warrants to directly make reference to the technology, even thoughthe sheri� had separately disclosed to EFF that it had used a cell-site simulator231 times in 2017 alone. The sheri� refused to turn over these warrants, and soEFF took the agency to court. We subsequently filed requests for 18 other CalECPAwarrants, including searches of devices and accounts and phone surveillancetechniques known as a pen register or a trap and trace. Again, San BernardinoCounty o�cials resisted handing over the records.

In many cases, San Bernardino County claimed the records could not be releasedsince they had been indefinitely sealed by the court. San Bernardino only providedcopies of two search warrant applications, which include sealing requests thatwere rejected by a judge. Based on these documents, we advise the court that itappears “the Sheri�’s Department requests indefinite sealing orders as part ofevery application for a warrant or court order under these statutes.”

The problem is that this isn’t how the system is supposed to work.

In 2016, the legislature changed state law to require that when an order for a penregister or trap and trace expires, so does any sealing order. Similarly, CalECPArequires that after a search warrant has been executed and “returned” to thecourt, the records can only be held secret for 10 days. After that the searchwarrants must be open to the public.

The passage of CalECPA represented a fundamental breakthrough for civilliberties in the digital age. But a law is only as good as its enforcement. If the SanBernardino courts and sheri� keep these records secret, then not only does that

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California Now Classifies ImmigrationEnforcement as “Misuse” of StatewideLaw Enforcement Network

violate the will of the people of California, but it blocks the ability of the public toensure that other elements of the law are also being obeyed.

San Bernardino may just be the tip of the iceberg. We hope courts in otherjurisdictions take notice and also examine their CalECPA warrants to ensure thelaw is being followed.

RELATED CASES:

CALIFORNIA'S ELECTRONICCOMMUNICATIONS PRIVACY ACT

(CALECPA) - SB 178

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5/28/2019 SB County Fire given consent to practice live fire training on Little Mountain Drive - Inland Empire Community News

iecn.com/sb-county-fire-given-consent-to-practice-live-fire-training-on-little-mountain-drive/ 1/2

SB County Fire given consent to practice live �retraining on Little Mountain Drive

On May 15, San Bernardino City Council gave consent to San Bernardino County Fire to

practice live burns alongside Little Mountain Drive.

“It is recommended that the mayor and city council of the City of San Bernardino adopt

Resolution No. 2019-76, authorizing the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District

to conduct a live fire training exercise and prescribed burn on city-owned property located

along North Little Mountain Drive,” said Teri Ledoux, San Bernardino acting city

manager.

By Manny B. Sandoval - May 28, 2019

Courtesy photo: The live fire training is scheduled for the third week in June on Little Mountain Drive.

5/28/2019 SB County Fire given consent to practice live fire training on Little Mountain Drive - Inland Empire Community News

iecn.com/sb-county-fire-given-consent-to-practice-live-fire-training-on-little-mountain-drive/ 2/2

The live fire training was originally scheduled to take place on May 28th, 29th, 30th and

31st at 9 a.m., but due to inclement weather it has been postponed to the third week of

June.

“This training exercise will enable the fire protection district to provide firefighters with

critical wild-land fire management skills in addition to helping to mitigate the potential for

an uncontrolled wildfire in this area by burning grasses that have grown during the rainy

season, therefor creating defensible spaces around homes,” said Ledoux.

According to the council agenda, the current conditions in the area including vegetation

growth, climate and topography combine to make the potential for another local-area wild-

land fire extremely high.

“The prescribed live fire training will provide for the safety of San Bernardino residents by

mitigating fire hazards and protecting homes surrounding North Little Mountain Drive

while fostering close working relationships,” said Chris Gorman, San Bernardino County

Fire Battalion Chief.

“The streets in San Bernardino surrounding the live training include Little Mountain

Drive, east to E. St., south of Kendall and north of Marshall. We are also asking the public

to use caution and slow down when driving through the area,” said Kathleen Opliger, San

Bernardino County Fire incident commander.

A portion of the property within the prescribed burn training area is owned by the City

of San Bernardino, the other area being a San Bernardino County pocket.

For more information, visit https://www.sbcfire.org.

Manny B. Sandoval

Manny B. Sandoval is passionate about reporting on local politics, with much ethical regard. Sandoval holds a Bachelorof Art's Degree in Communication from California State University, San Bernardino. He is passionate about giving backand using his voice to recognize non-profit organizations around the Inland Empire. Sandoval is quite typical, he loves

going to the gym, hikes, he loves music, writing (of course), talking, his family and friends, learning, but most of all, heloves coffee. He has a background in reporting, announcing, audio production and public relations.

5/29/2019 Quick-turn, Flexible Packaging Firm Expands in San Bernardino County - Connect Media Commercial Real Estate News

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Quick-turn, Flexible Packaging Firm Expands in San Bernardino CountyMay 29, 2019

https://www.connect.media/quick-turn-flexible-packaging-firm-expands-in-san-bernardino-county/

5/29/2019 Quick-turn, Flexible Packaging Firm Expands in San Bernardino County - Connect Media Commercial Real Estate News

https://www.connect.media/quick-turn-flexible-packaging-firm-expands-in-san-bernardino-county/ 2/6

A market leader in quick-turn, short to medium run length production of

flexible packaging is growing in San Bernardino County. Delray Beach, FL-

based ePac Flexible Packaging plans to expand its operations into a 25,000-

square-foot facility located at 5475 Daniels St. in Chino, CA. ePac LA will open

in June.

San Bernardino County’s Economic Development Agency facilitated key

meetings between ePac and resource partners to ensure the company could

take advantage of a number of incentives. The company received $2.3 million

in Tax Credits through the California Competes program.

Reg Javier, San Bernardino County Deputy Executive Officer, Workforce and

Economic Development (pictured), says, “We are thrilled to continue to

support the growth of ePac in the County, and the fact that they are bringing

more than 70 jobs to the region.”

The firm will focus on regional food manufacturers and contract packagers

throughout SoCal and the surrounding area.

CONNECT WITH SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY’S JAVIER

Grist

Family Matters

The town that online shopping built -- and women are trying to save

By Justine Calma on May 29, 2019 at 6:01 am

Anna Sanchez felt a surge of pride as she watched her 9-year-old son, Nathan, pull on the boxy, gray and white costume. The outfit had been made by a fellow demonstrator rallying against the stifling air pollution in San Bernardino County, California, where Sanchez and her son live. None of the protesters could comfortably fit inside the cardboard sheath made to look like a warehouse. So Nathan stepped up.

“Let’s do this,” he said happily, his head bobbing about a foot below the 20 or so adults surrounding him. They were gathered in front of the house of a San Bernardino County supervisor. The official had recently voted to rezone a residential area in a largely rural part of the community to allow for the construction of a new distribution center.

Nathan raised a bullhorn to his mouth and began to chant: “Kids’ health before wealth!” Sanchez smiled. It was the first time Nathan had joined her at an environmental protest.

“Right now he doesn’t really understand how he was directly impacted by it,” Sanchez said of the Southern California county’s air quality — the worst in the nation for ozone pollution, according to the American Lung Association’s most recent State of the Air report. “But he does understand that it’s an issue, and he understands that kids are being hurt.”

Nathan Sanchez (foreground) cheers on his fellow protesters as they rally outside the home of San Bernardino County Supervisor Josie Gonzales last October. Photo courtesy of Anna Sanchez

Only an hour-or-so drive from Southern California’s beaches but a world away from the glamour of Hollywood, San Bernardino County is one of the country’s biggest hubs for warehousing and distribution of goods. For many SoCal city-folk, the area encompassing San Bernardino and neighboring Riverside counties, known as the Inland Empire, has long been thought of as an “alien place,” at best a pit stop at the edge of the desert on the long drive to Las Vegas. Joan Didion, the great chronicler of California, once called the region “a harsher California, haunted by the Mojave just beyond the mountains.” But for those who make their homes here, the I.E. has been a haven to escape the bigger cities and skyrocketing housing prices closer to the coast.

There’s a long history of families seeking refuge in San Bernardino County. “Okies” fled to the area during the Dust Bowl in the 1930s, traveling by way of Route 66. In recent decades, black homeowners have left more crowded and expensive Los Angeles County for the I.E. People have also flocked there from Latin America and Asia — 1 in 5 area residents is an immigrant.

But the abundance of cheap land has been an even bigger lure to the logistics industry — the businesses associated with the storage and movement of goods for retail and e-commerce. Every year, tens of billions of dollars of imported goods enter the United States and pass through the Inland Empire, either by train or truck. Becoming a crucial hub of international trade has been an economic boon to the area, but there have been consequences, mostly from pollution associated with the movement of goods.

“There’s no question that truck traffic and air quality is an issue,” said John Husing, an economist and local icon who works with the Inland Empire Economic Partnership, a group of local government and logistics industry bigwigs. But the region’s poverty, he contends, is the bigger hazard to its residents. “How do you weigh the various ways of looking at public health?” he asks.

The Inland Empire’s economic appeal stems from its geography — but so do its air quality issues. Fewer than 100 miles west, the San Pedro Bay Port Complex, which is made up of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, is the busiest in the United States and the ninth busiest in the world. Last year, it broke a record for the highest volume of shipping containers ever moved by a seaport in the entire Western Hemisphere. A significant portion of those goods doesn’t stay on the California coast long before being loaded up and sent east to be sorted and shipped from a growing network of warehouses within the Inland Empire.

“Why is this all in the Inland Empire? The answer is, there’s nowhere else to put it,” Husing said. If you run a major online retailer, he continued, “You have to be here.”

East of the Inland Empire are the San Bernardino Mountains. To the north are the San Gabriels. The region sits in a valley between the two forming a bowl that traps air heavy with car emissions drifting inland on the coastal breeze from nearby Los Angeles.

San Bernardino County not only has the country’s worst ozone pollution — better known as smog — it consistently ranks among the worst counties for year-round particulate pollution, or soot. (That’s even considering that it’s the largest county in the U.S. and includes postcard-worthy places such as Big Bear, Lake Arrowhead, the Mojave Desert, and parts of Joshua Tree.) Its toxic brew is made worse by rapidly proliferating warehouses, as well as one of the busiest railyards in the country — which is located on the West Side of the city of San Bernardino, where airborne particles from diesel emissions are at some of the highest levels in the U.S. The distribution centers and the rail hub draw thousands of trucks each day. San Bernardino County has accumulated nearly 300 millionsquare feet of warehouse space — enough to fill more than 5,100 football fields. Kohl’s, Mattel, Skechers, and Pepsi are among the brands that have set up shop. Amazon’s fulfillment and sorting center — the first of its kind in the state — is now the region’s largest employer. Walmart has plans to build a 340,000-square-foot consolidation centerthere later this year.

Husing pins this explosion of activity over the past two decades on Americans’ insatiable appetite for stuff. “What’s driving this is the public,” he told Grist. “We want relatively inexpensive goods, therefore, we want the Walmarts. And then we also want e-commerce in a hurry.”

There’s no arguing that the warehouses have brought jobs to an area that needed them badly. As the country came out of the Great Recession and business infrastructure expanded, the county’s unemployment rate has steadily dropped, falling from a high of 14.2 percent in 2010 to a recent 4.3 percent.

The logistics industry is now an integral part of the San Bernardino County community. But the economic activity associated with our national shopping habit comes at a cost for families, like Sanchez’s, who live here.

Even before the warehouses started popping up, environmental activists in the Inland Empire, mostly women and mothers, were pushing back against industry for the health of their kids and their neighbors — taking on waste dumps, the railyards, and the county public transit authority. Today, they say that the balance between economic gain and public health is even more out of whack. Some community members have argued that many of the new logistics jobs lack good benefits and don’t pay enough to support a family. Much of the work is seasonal or vulnerable to being replaced by automation. Further, the encroachment of warehouses on residential areas could be putting workers and their families at risk.

San Bernardino County residents suffer from a range of maladies, including higher than state average rates of infant mortality, low-birth-weight babies, and various forms of cancer. As more of them become sick and a growing number of studies link worsening air quality and the health conditions seen in the region, women like Sanchez are organizing to stop the encroachment of the logistics industry on the places their families live, work, and play.

In communities all over the country, women are driving grassroots efforts to protect local environments — from shifting the local economy away from coal in Appalachia to stopping an oil-by-rail export terminal from being built in Washington State. And that’s also the case in San Bernardino County.

“Mothers go to doctors appointments with their children; mothers are very involved in the community because they have to be,” Sanchez said. “So when they see things, it’s like, ‘Oh no, something needs to be done.’”

“We’ll continue to see mothers going out there and standing up for their children,” she added. “Women understand.”

Some health problems come down to chance. Two people could live their lives in the exact same way under the exact same conditions, and one could develop a disease while the other remains healthy. But when many people come down with the same illness while living in the same place, residents — and then scientists — start to ask: Could the cause be something in the community?

In certain areas of San Bernardino County where diesel fumes and ozone pollution are especially high, there are an awful lot of health problems to ask about.

Teresa Flores Lopez lives in one of those neighborhoods, the West Side community in the city of San Bernardino. Unlike in other cities where zoning rules divide residential areas and industrial parks, many San Bernardino homeowners have properties adjacent to high-traffic hubs for goods. Across the street from the main entrance to one of the country’s busiest railyards sit a soccer field, a community center, and what remains of Flores Lopez’s grandparents’ home, where she spent much of her childhood. Over the span of five minutes on a recent Thursday afternoon, more than two dozen big rigs streamed in and out of the railyard.

The West Side is a largely working class, Latino community. A recent analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that Latinos in California, compared to white residents, are exposed to particulate matter pollution that is almost 40 percent higher on average. Even in the county with the highest ozone levels in the country, the West Side has particularly bad air. Flores Lopez’ neighborhood has twice the pollution burden — the potential exposure to pollution and its related adverse environmental conditions — compared to the rest of the state.

Flores Lopez recently took me to the spot where her grandparents’ house stood. The home, once painted mint green, is gone now except for the mailbox. Standing on a plot of dirt where stairs once lead to the front door, she looked inside for mail. There was none.

Sections of the block, including what was once her home, have been demolished to make way for the railyard to expand, Flores Lopez said. When she was a kid spending Sunday afternoons at her grandparents’ home after church, Flores Lopez said the bustling train depot was already larger than life.

“The house would rattle,” she recalled, as they heard the banging of train cars. Flores Lopez’s grandfather worked as a foreman for the railroad back when it was owned by the Santa Fe Railway. In the mid-90s, big rigs started showing up after the railyard became “intermodal” — receiving and distributing imported goods from nearby ports via train and truck at all hours. The hub is now owned by Warren Buffett’s BNSF Railway Company, one of the largest freight railroad networks in North America.

As the 63-year-old mother of three walked across the abandoned lot, she moved slowly and deliberately, a result of a stroke that left her partially paralyzed on her left side. “If a cop pulls me over and asks me to walk in a straight line, I’m going to be in trouble!” Flores Lopez joked.

She was in her early 50s and living with her husband in the West Side house when she suffered the stroke. Flores Lopez largely attributes the event to the stress she was under from having to care for her father and sister, both of whom were ill at the time. But she said she was also “being accosted from all the stuff that was happening across the street.” Several studies have connected exposure to air pollution with increased risk of having a stroke. The risk is particularly high for older women like Flores Lopez who live close to sources of diesel soot, car exhaust, and other airborne toxins.

A third source of stress came from her work organizing against pollution from local industry. It all started one afternoon shortly after the nearby elementary school finished its classes for the day. Flores Lopez had a habit of standing at her front gate to make sure the kids coming out of school crossed the street safely. That’s when her neighbor Marilyn Alcantar came over to ask if she could smell gas. Alcantar lived in a home behind Flores Lopez’s with her husband and four children. Alcantar suspected that the stench was coming from a facility across the street from the elementary school, where she worked as a teacher’s assistant. The site stored more than 100 public buses owned by Omnitrans, the county transit agency, and the natural gas tanks used to fuel them.

Alcantar and Flores Lopez started talking with other women — many of them stay-at-home moms who spent all day breathing the neighborhood’s polluted air. Through those conversations, they began to wonder if all the activity around them — the buses, the trains, the trucks — could also damage the health of their neighbors and their children. Together, they formed a grassroots group they called the West Side Residents for Clean Air Now.

Flores Lopez had read an article about Penny Newman, the founder of an organization in neighboring Riverside County called the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice. Newman and another group of mothers started the group in the late 1970s to protect their families from pollution coming from the Stringfellow Acid Pits, about 15 miles from San Bernardino. The group’s work established the industrial waste dump as one of the Environmental Protection Agency’s first Superfund sites.

Flores Lopez and Alcantar’s West Side group eventually joined forces with Newman’s in a campaign to relocate Omnitrans’ natural gas tanks. It took 20 years of knocking on neighbors’ doors, speaking out at hearings, and meeting with city officials to win a victory against the agency. Ultimately the alliance was successful in getting Omnitrans to install a new fueling system that connected directly to the city’s natural gas pipeline. According to an Omnitrans spokesperson, community concern was one of the main drivers behind the change — though the switch also saved money. (Omnitrans maintains the storage tanks posed little health risk.)

Along the way, Flores Lopez and her neighbors also took action on the diesel trucks that suddenly swarmed through their neighborhood. She says she asked city officials to put up signs warning trucks not to park in front of residences. And they successfully pushed the city to close off an entrance from her street to the nearby Mt. Vernon Bridge, forcing trucks to find another route.

As she and her group racked up community-wide victories, they suffered personal losses. Flores Lopez and Alcantar both lost sisters to kidney failure and cancer, respectively. Not long after Alcantar started organizing with Flores Lopez, she was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which is commonly linked to ozone pollution. Alcantar had never smoked. She lived with the disease for 15 years, as she continued fighting Omnitrans. It was a reminder of the air’s potential impact on her own health. In a 2011 report, Alcantar told organizers at CCAEJ that she fully expected to have cancer by the time she was 70.

Then, in 2017, with nearly a decade left before she turned 70, her prophecy came true. Doctors found malignant tumors between Alcantar’s pancreas and gallbladder.

Alcantar’s husband, Bobby, explained that his wife’s love of the neighborhood’s kids fueled her concern for the local environment. “It started with the kids at school, making sure that they were all healthy,” he said.

Alcantar was present at the unveiling of Omnitrans’ new compressed natural gas system. Flores Lopez had cajoled her into attending the ceremony days after Thanksgiving 2017, even though her friend had to come in a wheelchair. When the two women saw the empty space where the storage tanks used to be — it looked like a tomb, Flores Lopez said — both cried. They were tears of anger, Flores Lopez recalled, not joy: “Why did it take this long for them to do this?”

Less than a month after the ceremony, Alcantar died. Of the original group of women who initiated the campaign against Omnitrans, Flores Lopez is the only surviving member. The others eventually succumbed to various forms of cancer, like Alcantar, or kidney failure.

“Every time I’ve had an illness, I’ve sat there and said prayers,” Flores Lopez said. In each case, she told God: “If you’re ready for me, I’m ready.”

Until He is, she’ll continue to fight.

The struggle for San Bernardino’s air is entering its third decade, and a new generation is taking up the mantle. Anna Sanchez was only a kid when Flores Lopez started organizing women in the West Side. Now 27, she has her own child in mind when she’s fighting for the community’s health.

A decade ago, when Sanchez was pregnant with her son Nathan, she was living in a house near both the railyards in San Bernardino’s West Side and the former Norton Air Force Base Superfund site. A few months before Nathan’s birth, Sanchez found out he had gastroschisis, a serious birth defect in which the fetus’s intestines develop outside of the abdomen.

During her high-risk pregnancy, researchers at nearby Loma Linda University recruited Sanchez to join a study looking at mothers in the Inland Empire area whose children were all born with the same condition.

Examining 257 cases of gastroschisis treated at Loma Linda University Medical Center between 1998 and 2012, researchers determined that cases of the birth defect tended to occur around major transportation routes. They said more research was needed to specifically look at the relationship between the clusters and environmental toxins from nearby Superfund sites and polluting industries.

“I was shocked,” Sanchez said. “I wondered, ‘How many more women are going through this?’”

She posted the study’s findings on Facebook. Shortly afterward, Sanchez said, a friend who lived nearby reached out to let her know she had also become pregnant with a fetus with gastroschisis. The friend wasn’t accounted for in the Loma Linda study because she miscarried.

Pregnant women and babies are especially vulnerable to poor air quality in San Bernardino County. The county ranks in the top 10 in the state for percentage of infants born with low birth weight, a major risk factor for infant mortality. The West Side, bordering the railyards, has the highest infant mortality rate in the county, according to latest estimates: The leading causes of death in the county are birth defects, pregnancy complications affecting newborns, sudden infant death syndrome, and prematurity/low birth-weight — all of which have been linked to poor air quality.

A spokesperson for the San Bernardino County Health Department told Grist that the agency does not have the capacity to conduct research into whether air pollution is a contributing factor to the high rates of infant mortality and low birthweight in the county. But other institutions have taken up the research.

Beate Ritz, an epidemiologist at the University of California at Los Angeles, studied air pollution’s influence on infant death in Southern California from 1989 to 2000. She found that infants between the ages of 7 months and 12 months who had been recently exposed to high levels of particulate pollution had double the risk of death from respiratory problems. Babies exposed to nitrogen dioxide — one of the pollutants found in diesel emissions that leads to the creation of smog — showed an increased risk of SIDS.

“Every health effect is probably caused by a multitude of different things,” Ritz said. “And then your question is, well, what’s the last drop in the bucket that brings the bucket to overflow? And air pollution contributes.”

Sanchez has a daily reminder of the damage that air pollution can cause. Before Nathan was born, she had dreamed of being a nurse. Instead, she is attending Pepperdine University in Malibu to become an environmental lawyer. Her goal: protecting people in her hometown from polluters.

“I didn’t want other people to go through this,” Sanchez said. “This is a continuing thing: more pollution, more birth defects.”

San Bernardino County residents have had a complex relationship with industry for decades. As Teresa Flores Lopez worked to clean up the air surrounding the railyards, her husband Nick went to work at the railway company, his employer for nearly 40 years. Flores Lopez said it’s not a contradiction; it’s just the way things are around here. The railroad, Flores Lopez said of her family, “is in our blood.” Many of the environmental advocates Grist spoke to in San Bernardino County have ties to some aspect of the industry.

“We lived comfortably because of the railroad,” Nick told Grist. Still, he remembers regularly cleaning a thick layer of black dust that gathered inside their home across from the railyard. Sometimes, he’d develop unexplained nosebleeds. After he retired four years ago, the couple sold their house next to the railyard and moved a few blocks away. The dust cleared. The nosebleeds stopped.

“The greater San Bernardino region was built around transportation centers like Santa Fe Railroad and Norton Air Force Base,” said San Bernardino Mayor John Valdivia, who took office in December. “Logistics has played an important role in supporting economic growth.”

Valdivia campaigned on a platform promising to cut “the costly bureaucratic red tape that prevents job growth” and “create a one-stop permitting shop to expedite business growth and encourage employers to locate here.” But Flores Lopez, Sanchez, and other residents say the promise of new logistics jobs is no longer enough to compensate for the hazards they associate with the industry.

Many of the new warehouse and railyard jobs are temporary positions. They’re in great supply as the holiday shopping season picks up and dwindle as it passes. Locals say the seasonal jobs offer nothing like the security and benefits that used to come with a job at the railyard. Workers complain about warehouse conditions — telling Veronica Alvarado, a program director at the Warehouse Worker Resource Center in the Inland Empire, that they get dizzy when opening containers and nosebleeds from trucks idling outside the buildings.

“It’s pretty gross and disgusting that we can be sold the idea of ‘Shut up, just take these jobs!’” Alvarado said. “We want good jobs, where health and safety are respected.”

Concerns about the booming logistics industry have recently led to some unlikely partnerships pushing against business as usual in the Inland Empire. In the past year, labor, immigrant, faith-based, and environmental advocates — all worried about rising risks to health and safety — have formed a coalition to protect communities surrounding the San Bernardino International Airport, where a massive new air cargo logistics center is slated to be built on the footprint of the former Air Force base. The center is expected to bring 3,800 new jobs and $5 million in revenue for the city.

The Inland Valley Development Agency, which is responsible for redeveloping the base for public and commercial use, says that the air cargo logistics center will also include a 3.75-megawatt solar system and result in local infrastructure and road improvements. Mike Burrows, executive director of both the Inland Valley Development Agency Board and the San Bernardino International Airport Authority Commission, told Grist that the facility’s sustainability features will make it “a model for other projects in the Inland Empire.”

But that’s not necessarily enough for the activists, who are pushing for an agreement that would hold developers accountable for hiring locally, providing stable jobs, and keeping their pollution in check. It’s a conversation Burrows said he’s open to having.

Growing online shopping demand continues to drive the construction of more fulfillment centers in the region. The centers are being built to aid the demand for 24-hour delivery, economist Husing explained. He forecasted long-term growth in this area. Between 2009 and 2019, e-commerce sales as a percentage of total quarterly retail sales in the U.S. more than doubled from roughly 4 to 10 percent.

On May 1, members of the newly formed coalition hoping to hold developers like Burrows accountable gathered for a demonstration commemorating May Day, a day traditionally set aside by activists to take to the streets in support of workers’ rights. Ericka Flores, the organizing director for the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, led nearly 300 people in a march past San Bernardino’s courthouses, county buildings, and city hall. It was a colorful crowd — purple shirts for the home care workers union, orange vests for the warehouse workers resource center, red for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights.

“We haven’t been as strong working alone,” explained Celene Perez, political director of the Inland Empire Labor Council, which represents more than 200,000 union members throughout San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

Holding a bullhorn and standing in the flatbed of a truck pumping music alongside the protesters, Flores led chants in English and Spanish. Cars driving by honked in support. One driver waved a white handkerchief outside his window; another stuck out a fist in solidarity as the marchers cheered. Flores spotted a fellow environmental organizer in the crowd. “Shout out to Sierra Club — I see you!” she called out.

Flores stopped in front of City Hall and called up Ben Reynoso, a young activist running for city council. “As a kid, I woke up in the morning, and I looked at the mountains, and I loved it,” Reynoso told the crowd. “Now I wake up — and I live next to it — and I can’t even see it. That’s an issue.”

For environmental health advocates, taking part in a protest that unites disparate communities in the Inland Empire represents a new level of political will. But it still might not be enough. Local organizers say it seems impossible to keep up with all the newly proposed warehouse projects in the county, comparing it to an exhausting game of whack-a-mole. And as Flores put it, “A warehouse is a magnet for diesel emissions.”

So rather than rely solely on protests and grassroots campaigns, activists like Anna Sanchez are increasingly turning to legal and policy solutions — rules and regulations that will hold existing facilities and new e-commerce projects accountable.

Last year, environmental groups successfully persuaded the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the agency that monitors air pollution across Southern California, to create new rules that would make warehouses, sea and air ports, and railyards responsible for the emissions they bring into communities. Environmental groups across the region are now working with the agency to craft similar rules for mobile sources of pollution like diesel trucks, which contribute to 80 percent of local smog-forming nitrogen oxide emissions. They want stringent regulations on facilities that butt up against homes and schools.

The East Gate Air Cargo Logistics Center is one such project. It’s slated to be built just blocks away from residential neighborhoods like the one Sanchez lived in when she became pregnant with Nathan. Her father still owns that home, which is about a mile away from the project, and she’s adamant that another young family not suffer from breathing the air nearby.

Sanchez keeps a scrapbook of photos from when Nathan was a newborn so that he will know his story as he grows up. For the first year after he was born, he was in and out of the hospital with patches of his hair shaved so that doctors could run an IV through the veins in his scalp. Looking at the photos together, Sanchez asks her son for his reaction. Nathan pauses for a moment. “It’s scary,” he tells his mom.

He’s healthy now, though Sanchez occasionally must explain his abdominal scars and missing belly button to concerned teachers and classmates. His hair now falls below his shoulders. Sanchez had him grow it out to hide the shaved IV patches from his early years, and now she can’t bring herself to cut it. It’s a symbol of his health. “That’s your hair, buddy,” she said. “You did it.”

“He’s just full of life,” Sanchez said, swelling with pride. “We went through this journey together.”

5/29/2019 Project bringing energy from the desert to close 10 Freeway ramps at Mountain View – San Bernardino Sun

https://www.sbsun.com/2019/05/28/project-bringing-energy-from-the-desert-to-close-10-freeway-ramps-at-mountain-view/ 1/4

By By JENNIFER IYERJENNIFER IYER | | jiyer@scng.comjiyer@scng.com | Redlands Daily Facts | Redlands Daily FactsPUBLISHED: PUBLISHED: May 28, 2019 at 2:01 pmMay 28, 2019 at 2:01 pm | UPDATED: | UPDATED: May 28, 2019 at 2:03 pmMay 28, 2019 at 2:03 pm

As part of Southern California Edison’s West of Devers Upgrade Project the east bound on ramp and west bound off ramp at Mountain View Avenue wiAs part of Southern California Edison’s West of Devers Upgrade Project the east bound on ramp and west bound off ramp at Mountain View Avenue wiMay 29 through June 2, 2019 from 6:30 am to 6:30 p.m. Detours are shown here in green. (Courtesy of Southern California Edison)May 29 through June 2, 2019 from 6:30 am to 6:30 p.m. Detours are shown here in green. (Courtesy of Southern California Edison)

Ramps on the 10 Freeway in Redlands and Loma Linda will be closed through Sunday, June 2, as part of a power line upgrade stretching 48Ramps on the 10 Freeway in Redlands and Loma Linda will be closed through Sunday, June 2, as part of a power line upgrade stretching 48

miles from Palm Springs to Grand Terrace and San Bernardino.miles from Palm Springs to Grand Terrace and San Bernardino.

The eastbound on-ramp and the westbound off-ramp at Mountain View Avenue will be closed from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily beginningThe eastbound on-ramp and the westbound off-ramp at Mountain View Avenue will be closed from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily beginning

Wednesday, May 29, as Southern California Edison removes overhead power lines as part of the Wednesday, May 29, as Southern California Edison removes overhead power lines as part of the West of Devers Upgrade ProjectWest of Devers Upgrade Project..

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LOCAL NEWSLOCAL NEWS

Project bringing energy from the desert to close 10Project bringing energy from the desert to close 10Freeway ramps at Mountain ViewFreeway ramps at Mountain View

5/29/2019 Project bringing energy from the desert to close 10 Freeway ramps at Mountain View – San Bernardino Sun

https://www.sbsun.com/2019/05/28/project-bringing-energy-from-the-desert-to-close-10-freeway-ramps-at-mountain-view/ 2/4

Aileen FloresAileen Flores@SCE_AileenF@SCE_AileenF

Thanks Solera HOA Board & community Thanks Solera HOA Board & community @@CityofBeaumontCityofBeaumont for for inviting us to provide a West of Devers Project Upgrade updateinviting us to provide a West of Devers Project Upgrade update last night. Our investment in the community will enhancelast night. Our investment in the community will enhance reliability & make the power grid cleaner for all of us reliability & make the power grid cleaner for all of us on.sce.com/2XotE4Von.sce.com/2XotE4V. . ##cleanenergycleanenergy

11 9:45 AM - Apr 18, 20199:45 AM - Apr 18, 2019

See Aileen Flores's other TweetsSee Aileen Flores's other Tweets

In a news release, Edison suggests westbound drivers use the California Street off-ramp and eastbound drivers use the AndersonIn a news release, Edison suggests westbound drivers use the California Street off-ramp and eastbound drivers use the Anderson

Street/Tippecanoe Avenue on-ramp.Street/Tippecanoe Avenue on-ramp.

The project is geared to provide additional capacity for renewable and conventional energy generation developing near Blythe and DesertThe project is geared to provide additional capacity for renewable and conventional energy generation developing near Blythe and Desert

Center. The project is expected to go online in 2021.Center. The project is expected to go online in 2021.

Information: 888-226-9916 or Information: 888-226-9916 or on.sce.com/deverson.sce.com/devers

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Why a Long Weekend Is the Perfect Way to ExperienceWhy a Long Weekend Is the Perfect Way to ExperienceAll Vegas Has to OfferAll Vegas Has to OfferBy By Las VegasLas Vegas

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5/29/2019 Trevor’s Travels: In 200 years, the Asistencia in Redlands has seen lots of local history – San Bernardino Sun

https://www.sbsun.com/2019/05/28/trevors-travels-in-200-years-the-asistencia-in-redlands-has-seen-lots-of-local-history/ 1/4

By By TREVOR SUMMONSTREVOR SUMMONS | | trevorsummons@hotmail.comtrevorsummons@hotmail.com | |PUBLISHED: PUBLISHED: May 28, 2019 at 11:17 amMay 28, 2019 at 11:17 am | UPDATED: | UPDATED: May 28, 2019 at 11:17 amMay 28, 2019 at 11:17 am

With its 200-year history, the Asistencia recalls the area’s early days to a time beforeWith its 200-year history, the Asistencia recalls the area’s early days to a time beforeCalifornia became a state. Today, it’s a beautiful location for weddings and otherCalifornia became a state. Today, it’s a beautiful location for weddings and otherspecial events. (Photo by Trevor Summons)special events. (Photo by Trevor Summons)

THINGS TO DOTHINGS TO DOTRAVELTRAVEL

Trevor’s Travels: In 200 years, theTrevor’s Travels: In 200 years, theAsistencia in Redlands has seenAsistencia in Redlands has seenlots of local historylots of local history

5/29/2019 Trevor’s Travels: In 200 years, the Asistencia in Redlands has seen lots of local history – San Bernardino Sun

https://www.sbsun.com/2019/05/28/trevors-travels-in-200-years-the-asistencia-in-redlands-has-seen-lots-of-local-history/ 2/4

The Asistencia in Redlands has had eight owners since it was built in the 1820s.The Asistencia in Redlands has had eight owners since it was built in the 1820s.

Originally it was an estancia, an outpost, about a mile from the current site onOriginally it was an estancia, an outpost, about a mile from the current site on

Barton Road. It was built as a place to store food and for traveling priests to stopBarton Road. It was built as a place to store food and for traveling priests to stop

and rest during their many journeys.and rest during their many journeys.

It was a simple structure with no chapel and an outdoor altar. But eventually itIt was a simple structure with no chapel and an outdoor altar. But eventually it

was decided to make it more permanent and the Asistencia was built, and itwas decided to make it more permanent and the Asistencia was built, and it

welcomed a resident priest.welcomed a resident priest.

Within four years, it consisted of several adobe buildings, but after theWithin four years, it consisted of several adobe buildings, but after the

secularization of the missions and their seizure by Mexico, the Asistencia fell intosecularization of the missions and their seizure by Mexico, the Asistencia fell into

disuse.disuse.

The Lugo family bought the property from Mexico and then the Mormons cameThe Lugo family bought the property from Mexico and then the Mormons came

through and took it over. Eventually, Dr. Ben Barton bought it and lived in it whilethrough and took it over. Eventually, Dr. Ben Barton bought it and lived in it while

his own house was being built. Unfortunately, the original structures, beinghis own house was being built. Unfortunately, the original structures, being

adobe, began to fall down and nothing was left but rubble.adobe, began to fall down and nothing was left but rubble.

Come the 1920s, the county of San Bernardino realized that the history of theCome the 1920s, the county of San Bernardino realized that the history of the

place needed to be reinforced and what remained was saved followed by theplace needed to be reinforced and what remained was saved followed by the

rebuilding process.rebuilding process.

Recruiting Juan Cruz Rocha, a mason from Mexico, the building began to takeRecruiting Juan Cruz Rocha, a mason from Mexico, the building began to take

shape on the foundations of the old site and today it reflects the atmosphere of oldshape on the foundations of the old site and today it reflects the atmosphere of old

times. Having just come back from a visit down south, I can attest to the feelingtimes. Having just come back from a visit down south, I can attest to the feeling

once you enter the premises.once you enter the premises.

Two years ago, the Two years ago, the Redlands ConservancyRedlands Conservancy took over the running of the Asistencia took over the running of the Asistencia

and the work that has been put in is paying off with a fresh appeal.and the work that has been put in is paying off with a fresh appeal.

It’s not big, but the wedding chapel is a perfect venue for a ceremony. TheIt’s not big, but the wedding chapel is a perfect venue for a ceremony. The

darkness of old wood adds a sense of dignity and it welcomes those who want todarkness of old wood adds a sense of dignity and it welcomes those who want to

just sit and enjoy the feeling of traveling back in time.just sit and enjoy the feeling of traveling back in time.

The very modern kitchen allows for servicing the refectory which again is in theThe very modern kitchen allows for servicing the refectory which again is in the

old Spanish wood. The bridegroom’s room is also a nice place to hang a suit priorold Spanish wood. The bridegroom’s room is also a nice place to hang a suit prior

to any ceremony.to any ceremony.

A covered walkway with antique tiles leads from the chapel to the bride’s roomA covered walkway with antique tiles leads from the chapel to the bride’s room

where she can get ready for the big day.where she can get ready for the big day.

Some 30 volunteers look after the Asistencia, which also includes the smallSome 30 volunteers look after the Asistencia, which also includes the small

museum. There are five dioramas showing how life in Redlands has developedmuseum. There are five dioramas showing how life in Redlands has developed

over the years. I was particularly struck by one that showed the wine-makingover the years. I was particularly struck by one that showed the wine-making

business of Mr. Barton.business of Mr. Barton.

5/29/2019 Trevor’s Travels: In 200 years, the Asistencia in Redlands has seen lots of local history – San Bernardino Sun

https://www.sbsun.com/2019/05/28/trevors-travels-in-200-years-the-asistencia-in-redlands-has-seen-lots-of-local-history/ 3/4

In order to arrive at the site, I drove south on California Street from the 10In order to arrive at the site, I drove south on California Street from the 10

Freeway. It’s been a while since I went that way and the changes along the routeFreeway. It’s been a while since I went that way and the changes along the route

were remarkable.were remarkable.

Only a few years ago there were several orange groves in full operation. Today,Only a few years ago there were several orange groves in full operation. Today,

few groves remain as much of the land has been turned over to developers forfew groves remain as much of the land has been turned over to developers for

housing. I made a detour into one complex just to look around. The houses werehousing. I made a detour into one complex just to look around. The houses were

extremely nice, but I couldn’t help thinking that the loss of what was the naturalextremely nice, but I couldn’t help thinking that the loss of what was the natural

world was a shame.world was a shame.

With its acquisition of the Asistencia, Redlands Conservancy is doing great workWith its acquisition of the Asistencia, Redlands Conservancy is doing great work

in keeping pristine a small piece of what was the early days of the world we nowin keeping pristine a small piece of what was the early days of the world we now

inhabit.inhabit.

“A Charmed Life” by Trevor Summons is available from “A Charmed Life” by Trevor Summons is available from amazon.comamazon.com, Barnes &, Barnes &

Noble, and major booksellers. You can reach Trevor atNoble, and major booksellers. You can reach Trevor at

trevorsummons@hotmail.com.trevorsummons@hotmail.com.

The AsistenciaThe Asistencia

Where:Where: 26930 Barton Road, Redlands 26930 Barton Road, Redlands

Hours:Hours: Tours available by appointment Tours available by appointment

Cost:Cost: $25 minimum donation requested for tours $25 minimum donation requested for tours

Information:Information: 909-372-0855, 909-372-0855, redlandsconservancy.org/the-asistenciaredlandsconservancy.org/the-asistencia

5/28/2019 Oklahoma Legislature Passes 'Ballot Selfie' Bill | Public Radio Tulsa

https://www.publicradiotulsa.org/post/oklahoma-legislature-passes-ballot-selfie-bill 1/2

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Oklahoma Legislature Passes 'Ballot Selfie' BillBy MATT TROTTER (/PEOPLE/MATT-TROTTER) • 1 HOUR AGO

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Oklahoma lawmakers have passed a bill clarifyingwhen ballot selfies are OK.

If House Bill 1259(http://oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=HB1259)is signed by the governor, voters will be able to takea photo of marked ballots in the voting booth andpost it on social media once outside.

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"Right now, that’s not real clear. And people are doing that, and it’s causing disruptions. This helps clarifythat so there is no problem with understanding what the law is so when people go in to vote, it’s notproblem for the people working those polls," said Sen. Lonnie Paxton.

Current state law isn’t clear on whether social media posts involving marked ballots are legal. Sen. JasonSmalley said legislation is not needed to address the issue and pointed to San Bernardino County,California.

"They set up a ballot selfie booth inside the actual election box. They said, 'You know, we’re not going todegrade the election process. We’re not going to make this a bad thing. We’re not going to, you know,bring tarnish to our history and the voting process,'" Smalley said.

HB1259 would also allow voters to share photos of absentee ballots. Smalley said that’s a problem in theage of click farms and buying likes.

"An individual could gather a ton of absentee ballots and create a persuasion campaign, purchase clicksand start generating buzz prior to the election that an individual’s getting more and more and more andmore support because of the absentee language," Smaley said.

"And individual could. I mean, today an individual could get killed by a goldfish, but it’s not likely," Paxtonsaid.

The bill is similar to one vetoed last year by then-Gov. Mary Fallin.

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5/29/2019 Mission brings showers to homeless - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190528/mission-brings-showers-to-homeless?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=GHM_… 1/2

By Staff reportsPosted May 28, 2019 at 6:52 AM

VICTORVILLE — Richard dried his hair with a small towel.

“It’s relaxing,” Richard said of the shower he had just taken, courtesy of theVictor Valley Rescue Mission’s new Showers of Blessing mobile shower trailer.

“You can clean up without having to worry who’s coming up on you.”

Richard has spent most of the last 15 years living homeless between AppleValley, Barstow and Victorville. Now, at least once a week, he has a safe place toclean up.

In January, the Victor Valley Rescue Mission began a mobile shower program toserve the homeless and needy in the area. The program allows individuals to take10-minute showers and also makes undergarments, socks and snacks available.The mission is able to serve about 40 visitors per shift.

The shower trailer operates each Wednesday at the rescue mission itself, atChurch of the Valley in Apple Valley on alternating Fridays, and at a thirdchurch in Victorville once a month.

Along with offering seven opportunities each month to get clean, the showertrailer program introduces services for visitors to help them improve theirsituation.

“A shower gets them clean and more presentable. They’re more likely to look foremployment or other ways to make a change,” said Bill Edwards, Victor ValleyRescue Mission Director.

The mission uses a team of 3-5 volunteers to provide the service. The mission isseeking donations of new socks and undergarments.

Church of the Valley is located at 20700 Standing Rock Road in Apple Valley.

Mission brings showers to homeless

5/29/2019 Mission brings showers to homeless - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

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Victor Valley Rescue Mission is located at 15572 Seventh Street in Victorville.

5/29/2019 Los Angeles Times - eNewspaper

https://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 1/4

Reality of car habitation law sets inIn San Diego, safe lots and those living in their vehiclesbrace for enforcement.

BY GARY WARTH

SAN DIEGO — A recently adopted prohibition against vehicle habitation in San Diegohasn’t cleared the streets of people living in cars and RVs in beach communities yet, butword of the new law has spread quickly.

“This last week, we’ve seen a tremendous increase in calls,” said Teresa Smith, CEO ofDreams for Change, which operates two lots where homeless people can legally park

AFTER a traffic accident several years ago that claimed the lives of his wife anddaughter, Jeff Tracy lives in an RV that he parks at the Dreams for Change site in SanDiego. Tracy also lost his right leg in the accident. (The San Diego Union-Tribune)

5/29/2019 Los Angeles Times - eNewspaper

https://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 2/4

overnight.

“We let the city know we had over 40 phone calls ... following the City Council meeting” atwhich the ordinance was approved, said Dana Toppel, chief operating officer of JewishFamily Service, which also operates two safe parking lots.

Together, the nonprofits provide about 200 spaces for homeless people to legally parkovernight. As they brace for enforcement of the new law to begin, both nonprofits haveapplied for grants from the San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless to expand orcontinue their programs.

Smith said there still are a few open spots at the Dreams for Change lots, but she expectsthey may reach capacity because of the new law. Toppel said Jewish Family Service iscontracted with the city of San Diego to provide 120 spaces, but as of last week it had 130and did not want to turn anyone away.

San Diego revoked its initial ordinance against vehicle habitation early this year after ajudge found it too vague to enforce. Shortly after, some residents discovered people wholive in their vehicles were parking their cars and RVs in front of homes.

Complaints were especially high in Ocean Beach and the Sunset Cliffs area, wherehomeowners reported unsanitary conditions and trash left behind by vehicle dwellers.

The new law prohibits people who live in a car or RV to park their vehicle at any timewithin 500 feet of a home or school. People are not allowed to sleep in a vehicle parked ona public street between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. if there are spots available at legal safe-parkinglots, while a separate law prohibits RVs and other oversize vehicles from parking on anycity street or public parking lot between 2 and 6 a.m.

San Diego Police Lt. Shawn Takeuchi said officers received a department-wide emailinforming them of the new law, but also directed them to only issue warnings to suspectedviolators until further notice. Officers also were told to make contact with suspectedviolators only if complaints had been called in about them, he said.

Ocean Beach Town Council President Mark Winkie and others said it may be too early totell if the law has had any effect on neighborhood streets.

“The community at large hasn’t voiced to us that there’s been a dramatic change yet, but Ithink it’s a little early to see if there would be a difference,” he said. “I think it will be moreof a gradual process.”

Ocean Beach resident Glen Volk said streets do seem to have fewer cars being used forhabitation, but he thought that might have been caused by recent rainy weather.

Toppel said Jewish Family Service has accepted more cars than called for in its citycontract because relief is coming soon. Sometime next month, the organization isexpected to open a city-funded safe parking lot near San Diego County Credit UnionStadium with capacity for up to 200 cars or up to 80 RVs.

5/29/2019 Los Angeles Times - eNewspaper

https://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e 3/4

The nonprofit also is waiting to hear if it will receive a requested grant from the RegionalTask Force on the Homeless to open a 30-spot lot in San Marcos.

Smith and Toppel said their lots are intended to be more than just places for people topark. People in their programs are expected to be working with case managers to findpermanent housing, employment opportunities, education or other pathways out ofhomelessness.

Smith said 100 vehicles have entered her program in the past six months, and 28 have leftsince April. Of the people who lived in those vehicles, 47% have found housing, 20% wentinto shelters and 13% are still homeless. It’s not clear what happened to the remaining20%.

The average stay has been about six months, although one person who has mental healthissues has stayed more than three years, she said.

Toppel said more than 1,000 people have been served in Jewish Family Service’s safe-parking program since 2017, and 40% have transitioned to housing or into significantlybetter conditions; the organization’s city contract requires 30% to successfully exit. In thisfiscal year, the program has served 531 people, and 49% have left for better conditionssuch as permanent or transitional housing, she said.

The Dreams of Change lot on Imperial Avenue was the first in San Diego to acceptvehicles and RVs, which Smith said was an experiment to see if the two populations couldcoexist. After six months, she is having second thoughts, and said RV dwellers in her lotmay transition to the stadium overflow lot when it opens next month.

“It’s just a clash between the two groups,” she said. “Every night I hear about it.”

Smith said some comments have been made because RV dwellers are allowed to stayduring the day, but people in cars have to leave each morning. She also said she’s heard ofproblems at other California safe-parking lots that tried to mix the two populations.

“I’ve not heard it work anywhere,” she said.

Smith said she expects similar problems will emerge when the stadium lot opens with amix of RVs and cars. In what could be a significant difference, however, RVs at that lotwill have to leave the site along with cars each morning.

In a promising sign for the lot near the stadium, the program manager at a Los AngelesCounty safe parking lot that allows cars and RVs said both populations get along, and bothhave to leave each morning.

“Ours is going fine,” said Laura Rathbone of North Valley Caring Service in the SanFernando Valley.

Elaine Kelly has lived in an RV at the Dreams for Change Imperial Avenue site sinceDecember, and she agrees that there have been conflicts between the groups.

5/29/2019 Los Angeles Times - eNewspaper

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“I know there’s a little bit of tension,” she said, adding that people in cars were jealousthat RV dwellers get to stay during the day.

Kelly said she will have a problem if she has to move to the new lot because she can’t driveher RV, so she won’t be able to leave the lot each morning. She also feels at home at theImperial Avenue site, where she and Florence Ramirez in the neighboring RV havecreated an herb and vegetable garden next to her vehicle.

Jeff Tracy lives in an RV on the site and said he hasn’t noticed any conflicts between thetwo groups. He shrugged when asked how he would handle having to relocate to anotherlot.

“I’ll find a way,” he said. “We have to adapt. How else are you going to survive?”

Tracy has faced greater challenges. Seven years ago, a drunk driver crashed into the carhis wife was driving as they were returning from a trip to Arizona, he said. His wife andtheir daughter were killed, and he lost his right leg.

The physical and emotional trauma left him unable to work, and Tracy said he gets by on$1,000 a month from Social Security. He lived in a Spring Valley park for three years, andfor a year and a half he paid $500 a month to a homeowner who let him park an RV on hisproperty.

He parked his RV on a street after the homeowner moved, but was told by a sheriff’sdeputy that night that he was breaking the law. He said he spent the next couple ofmonths hoping to not get caught until he discovered the Dreams for Change lot.

Warth writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

5/29/2019 Bad start for housing: Sales drop 8.7% in Chino, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Upland, and Fontana – Daily Bulletin

https://www.dailybulletin.com/2019/05/29/bad-start-for-housing-sales-drop-8-7-in-chino-rancho-cucamonga-ontario-upland-and-fontana/ 1/4

By By JONATHAN LANSNERJONATHAN LANSNER | | jlansner@scng.comjlansner@scng.com | Orange County Register | Orange County Register

PUBLISHED: PUBLISHED: May 29, 2019 at 8:01 amMay 29, 2019 at 8:01 am | UPDATED: | UPDATED: May 29, 2019 at 8:01 amMay 29, 2019 at 8:01 am

STAFF GRAPHICSTAFF GRAPHIC

Homebuying in Chino, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Upland, and Fontana startedHomebuying in Chino, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Upland, and Fontana started

2019 by falling 8.7% as the county suffered the largest sales drop in over four years.2019 by falling 8.7% as the county suffered the largest sales drop in over four years.

BUSINESSBUSINESSHOUSINGHOUSING

Bad start for housing: Sales dropBad start for housing: Sales drop8.7% in Chino, Rancho Cucamonga,8.7% in Chino, Rancho Cucamonga,Ontario, Upland, and FontanaOntario, Upland, and FontanaHomes sold in Western San Bernardino County: 7,383 vs.Homes sold in Western San Bernardino County: 7,383 vs.8,089 a year earlier.8,089 a year earlier.

5/29/2019 Bad start for housing: Sales drop 8.7% in Chino, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Upland, and Fontana – Daily Bulletin

https://www.dailybulletin.com/2019/05/29/bad-start-for-housing-sales-drop-8-7-in-chino-rancho-cucamonga-ontario-upland-and-fontana/ 2/4

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affordability, renting, buying, selling and more. affordability, renting, buying, selling and more. Subscribe hereSubscribe here..

A large jump in the supply of homes — existing and new — available for purchase plusA large jump in the supply of homes — existing and new — available for purchase plus

a significant dose of economic uncertainty led to San Bernardino Countya significant dose of economic uncertainty led to San Bernardino County

homebuying’s biggest chilling since the end of 2014. Here’s what my trustyhomebuying’s biggest chilling since the end of 2014. Here’s what my trusty

spreadsheet told me when looking at house-hunting patterns at the neighborhoodspreadsheet told me when looking at house-hunting patterns at the neighborhood

level.level.

ICYMI: ICYMI: Southern California ranked as second-worst ‘mega city’ to live inSouthern California ranked as second-worst ‘mega city’ to live in

ATTOM Data SolutionsATTOM Data Solutions found these homebuying trends in these 15 major ZIP codes found these homebuying trends in these 15 major ZIP codes

around western San Bernardino County — communities near the 10, 15 and 60around western San Bernardino County — communities near the 10, 15 and 60

freeways — covered by the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin …freeways — covered by the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin …

Purchases: Purchases: Home sales for the 12 months ended March 31 totaled 7,383 vs. 8,089 aHome sales for the 12 months ended March 31 totaled 7,383 vs. 8,089 a

year earlier, a decline of 8.7%.year earlier, a decline of 8.7%.

Who’s up: Who’s up: Prices increased in nine of this region’s ZIP codes as sales rose in twoPrices increased in nine of this region’s ZIP codes as sales rose in two

ZIPs.ZIPs.

Countywide: Countywide: $311,000 median selling price, up 3.7% in a year. Prices rose in 44 of$311,000 median selling price, up 3.7% in a year. Prices rose in 44 of

61 San Bernardino County ZIP codes tracked. Sales of 24,592 vs. 26,834 a year61 San Bernardino County ZIP codes tracked. Sales of 24,592 vs. 26,834 a year

earlier, a decline of 7.6% in a year. Sales rose in 10 of 61 ZIPs countywide.earlier, a decline of 7.6% in a year. Sales rose in 10 of 61 ZIPs countywide.

How homebuying fared at the neighborhood level around Western San Bernardino CountyHow homebuying fared at the neighborhood level around Western San Bernardino County

communities around the 10, 15 and 60 freeways — first quarter pricing and sales for thecommunities around the 10, 15 and 60 freeways — first quarter pricing and sales for the

12 months ended March 31 …12 months ended March 31 …

Alta Loma ZIP 91701: Alta Loma ZIP 91701: $519,500 median, up 2.9% in a year. Price rank in San$519,500 median, up 2.9% in a year. Price rank in San

Bernardino County? No. 5 of 61 ZIPs. Sales of 446 vs. 452 a year earlier, a decline ofBernardino County? No. 5 of 61 ZIPs. Sales of 446 vs. 452 a year earlier, a decline of

1.3% in a year.1.3% in a year.

Chino 91708: Chino 91708: $430,000 median, up 2.4% in a year. Price rank? No. 12 of 61. Sales of$430,000 median, up 2.4% in a year. Price rank? No. 12 of 61. Sales of

105 vs. 118 a year earlier, a decline of 11.0% in a year.105 vs. 118 a year earlier, a decline of 11.0% in a year.

Chino Hills 91709: Chino Hills 91709: $594,750 median, down 10.9% in a year. Price rank? No. 3 of 61.$594,750 median, down 10.9% in a year. Price rank? No. 3 of 61.

Sales of 732 vs. 818 a year earlier, a decline of 10.5% in a year.Sales of 732 vs. 818 a year earlier, a decline of 10.5% in a year.

Chino 91710: Chino 91710: $474,000 median, down 0.2% in a year. Price rank? No. 6 of 61. Sales$474,000 median, down 0.2% in a year. Price rank? No. 6 of 61. Sales

of 596 vs. 723 a year earlier, a decline of 17.6% in a year.of 596 vs. 723 a year earlier, a decline of 17.6% in a year.

Rancho Cucamonga 91730: Rancho Cucamonga 91730: $440,000 median, up 3.5% in a year. Price rank? No. 9 of$440,000 median, up 3.5% in a year. Price rank? No. 9 of

61. Sales of 607 vs. 683 a year earlier, a decline of 11.1% in a year.61. Sales of 607 vs. 683 a year earlier, a decline of 11.1% in a year.

5/29/2019 Bad start for housing: Sales drop 8.7% in Chino, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Upland, and Fontana – Daily Bulletin

https://www.dailybulletin.com/2019/05/29/bad-start-for-housing-sales-drop-8-7-in-chino-rancho-cucamonga-ontario-upland-and-fontana/ 3/4

Rancho Cucamonga 91737: Rancho Cucamonga 91737: $551,500 median, down 11.8% in a year. Price rank?$551,500 median, down 11.8% in a year. Price rank?

No. 4 of 61. Sales of 275 vs. 342 a year earlier, a decline of 19.6% in a year.No. 4 of 61. Sales of 275 vs. 342 a year earlier, a decline of 19.6% in a year.

Etiwanda 91739: Etiwanda 91739: $630,750 median, down 0.7% in a year. Price rank? No. 1 of 61.$630,750 median, down 0.7% in a year. Price rank? No. 1 of 61.

Sales of 457 vs. 507 a year earlier, a decline of 9.9% in a year.Sales of 457 vs. 507 a year earlier, a decline of 9.9% in a year.

Ontario 91761: Ontario 91761: $434,500 median, down 0.1% in a year. Price rank? No. 11 of 61.$434,500 median, down 0.1% in a year. Price rank? No. 11 of 61.

Sales of 381 vs. 363 a year earlier, a gain of 5.0% in a year.Sales of 381 vs. 363 a year earlier, a gain of 5.0% in a year.

Ontario 91762: Ontario 91762: $425,000 median, up 19.7% in a year. Price rank? No. 13 of 61. Sales$425,000 median, up 19.7% in a year. Price rank? No. 13 of 61. Sales

of 621 vs. 502 a year earlier, a gain of 23.7% in a year.of 621 vs. 502 a year earlier, a gain of 23.7% in a year.

Montclair 91763: Montclair 91763: $380,000 median, down 7.3% in a year. Price rank? No. 19 of 61.$380,000 median, down 7.3% in a year. Price rank? No. 19 of 61.

Sales of 200 vs. 247 a year earlier, a decline of 19.0% in a year.Sales of 200 vs. 247 a year earlier, a decline of 19.0% in a year.

Ontario 91764: Ontario 91764: $410,000 median, up 5.1% in a year. Price rank? No. 14 of 61. Sales$410,000 median, up 5.1% in a year. Price rank? No. 14 of 61. Sales

of 332 vs. 420 a year earlier, a decline of 21.0% in a year.of 332 vs. 420 a year earlier, a decline of 21.0% in a year.

Upland 91784: Upland 91784: $626,500 median, down 3.6% in a year. Price rank? No. 2 of 61. Sales$626,500 median, down 3.6% in a year. Price rank? No. 2 of 61. Sales

of 334 vs. 379 a year earlier, a decline of 11.9% in a year.of 334 vs. 379 a year earlier, a decline of 11.9% in a year.

Upland 91786: Upland 91786: $440,000 median, up 0.2% in a year. Price rank? No. 9 of 61. Sales of$440,000 median, up 0.2% in a year. Price rank? No. 9 of 61. Sales of

411 vs. 468 a year earlier, a decline of 12.2% in a year.411 vs. 468 a year earlier, a decline of 12.2% in a year.

Fontana 92335: Fontana 92335: $335,000 median, up 4.4% in a year. Price rank? No. 26 of 61. Sales$335,000 median, up 4.4% in a year. Price rank? No. 26 of 61. Sales

of 501 vs. 558 a year earlier, a decline of 10.2% in a year.of 501 vs. 558 a year earlier, a decline of 10.2% in a year.

Fontana 92336: Fontana 92336: $445,000 median, up 0.5% in a year. Price rank? No. 8 of 61. Sales of$445,000 median, up 0.5% in a year. Price rank? No. 8 of 61. Sales of

1,029 vs. 1,108 a year earlier, a decline of 7.1% in a year.1,029 vs. 1,108 a year earlier, a decline of 7.1% in a year.

Fontana 92337: Fontana 92337: $390,000 median, up 6.9% in a year. Price rank? No. 18 of 61. Sales$390,000 median, up 6.9% in a year. Price rank? No. 18 of 61. Sales

of 356 vs. 401 a year earlier, a decline of 11.2% in a year.of 356 vs. 401 a year earlier, a decline of 11.2% in a year.

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5/28/2019 63 new homes for under $500,000 coming to Riverside – Press Enterprise

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By By JONATHAN LANSNERJONATHAN LANSNER | | jlansner@scng.comjlansner@scng.com | Orange County | Orange CountyRegisterRegisterPUBLISHED: PUBLISHED: May 28, 2019 at 9:39 amMay 28, 2019 at 9:39 am | UPDATED: | UPDATED: May 28, 2019 at 9:39 amMay 28, 2019 at 9:39 am

The new Primrose neighborhood in Riverside will have 63 two-story homes. (Courtesy:The new Primrose neighborhood in Riverside will have 63 two-story homes. (Courtesy:KB Home)KB Home)

The heart of the city of Riverside is getting 63 new homes, priced inThe heart of the city of Riverside is getting 63 new homes, priced in

lower-$400,000 range.lower-$400,000 range.

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63 new homes for under63 new homes for under$500,000 coming to Riverside$500,000 coming to RiversidePrimrose is located between the city's ArlingtonPrimrose is located between the city's ArlingtonStation and the Galleria at Tyler shopping center.Station and the Galleria at Tyler shopping center.

5/28/2019 63 new homes for under $500,000 coming to Riverside – Press Enterprise

https://www.pe.com/2019/05/28/63-new-homes-for-under-500000-coming-to-riverside/ 2/3

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affordability, renting, buying, selling and more. affordability, renting, buying, selling and more. Subscribe hereSubscribe here..

KB Home has begun selling KB Home has begun selling PrimrosePrimrose, a project located between the city’s, a project located between the city’s

Arlington Station and the Galleria at Tyler shopping center. The community is setArlington Station and the Galleria at Tyler shopping center. The community is set

on a 9-acre site that once was vacant land, a storage yard and two residences.on a 9-acre site that once was vacant land, a storage yard and two residences.

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The neighborhood will have two-story homes ranging between 1,700 and 2,100The neighborhood will have two-story homes ranging between 1,700 and 2,100

square feet with up to five bedrooms and three bathrooms. The Primrose websitesquare feet with up to five bedrooms and three bathrooms. The Primrose website

cites pricing of $419,990 to $445,990.cites pricing of $419,990 to $445,990.

“With such an array of attractions and activities within a few minutes’ drive,“With such an array of attractions and activities within a few minutes’ drive,

Primrose has a lot to offer,” said John Fenn, president of KB’s Inland EmpirePrimrose has a lot to offer,” said John Fenn, president of KB’s Inland Empire

division.division.

Primrose has plenty of competition as the Primrose has plenty of competition as the Inland Empire has a large inventory ofInland Empire has a large inventory of

new homes for sale.new homes for sale.

At the end of the first quarter, 1,707 finished homes were unsold, according toAt the end of the first quarter, 1,707 finished homes were unsold, according to

MetroStudy. That’s up 29% over 12 months and 25% above the five-year average.MetroStudy. That’s up 29% over 12 months and 25% above the five-year average.

Builders in Riverside and San Bernardino counties had 2,616 units underBuilders in Riverside and San Bernardino counties had 2,616 units under

construction as of March 31, down 25% in a year and off 9% from the five-yearconstruction as of March 31, down 25% in a year and off 9% from the five-year

average.average.

Primrose comes to market as homebuying has cooled. CoreLogic reports 1,082Primrose comes to market as homebuying has cooled. CoreLogic reports 1,082

new homes sold in Riverside County in the first quarter, down 2% in a year. Thenew homes sold in Riverside County in the first quarter, down 2% in a year. The

median sales price? $434,250.median sales price? $434,250.

5/28/2019 Greystone Provides $2.4 Million to Refinance Affordable Housing in Southern California | MultifamilyBiz.com

https://www.multifamilybiz.com/PressReleases/9864/Greystone_Provides_24_Million_to_Refinance_Afforda... 1/6

Log In | Register

MAY 28, 2019

Greystone Provides $2.4 Million toRefinance Affordable Housing inSouthern California

NEW YORK, NY - Greystone, a leading commercial real estate lending, investment, and

advisory company, announced it has provided a $2.4 million Fannie Mae loan to refinance an

affordable housing multifamily property in Victorville, CA. The transaction was originated by

Cody Field in Greystone’s San Francisco office, in coordination with the Housing Authority of

the County of San Bernardino (HACSB).

The $2,411,000 Fannie Mae loan, which will be used to recapitalize acquisition financing in

conjunction with city financing sources, carries a 30-year term at a fixed rate and is self-

amortizing. The Hillcrest Court Apartments community is in Victorville, north of the city of

San Bernardino outside of Los Angeles, and north of Mt. San Antonio and San Gorgonio

mountain. The two-story apartment complex is comprised of 67 units and includes a pool,

covered parking, and laundry facilities among its amenities.

“We are thrilled to have helped recapitalize much-needed affordable housing in San

Bernardino county and thank the City of Victorville and Fannie Mae for their cooperation in

closing this transaction,” said Mr. Field.

“Greystone has been a pleasure to work with from the beginning to the end – Cody and his

team provided creative solutions throughout the entire process,” said Ron Ruhl, Development

Manager, HACSB. “Hillcrest Court will help the Housing Authority of San Bernardino County

5/28/2019 Greystone Provides $2.4 Million to Refinance Affordable Housing in Southern California | MultifamilyBiz.com

https://www.multifamilybiz.com/PressReleases/9864/Greystone_Provides_24_Million_to_Refinance_Afforda... 2/6

provide secure, affordable housing in Victorville for many years to come.”

About Greystone: Greystone is a real estate lending, investment, and advisory company with

an established reputation as a leader in multifamily and healthcare finance, having ranked as a

top FHA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac lender in these sectors. Our range of services includes

commercial lending across a variety of platforms such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, CMBS,

FHA, USDA, bridge and proprietary loan products. Loans are offered through Greystone

Servicing Company LLC, Greystone Funding Company LLC and/or other Greystone affiliates.

Greystone & Co.

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5/28/2019 Southern California house price gains shrinking, reports confirm – San Bernardino Sun

https://www.sbsun.com/2019/05/28/southern-california-house-price-gains-shrinking-report-confirms/ 1/4

By By JEFF COLLINSJEFF COLLINS | | JeffCollins@scng.comJeffCollins@scng.com and and JONATHAN LANSNERJONATHAN LANSNER | | jlansner@scng.comjlansner@scng.com | Orange County Register | Orange County RegisterPUBLISHED: PUBLISHED: May 28, 2019 at 2:40 pmMay 28, 2019 at 2:40 pm | UPDATED: | UPDATED: May 28, 2019 at 4:09 pmMay 28, 2019 at 4:09 pm

Chart shows index values for the Los Angeles-Orange County region compared with the September 2006 market peak. The rate of gain hasChart shows index values for the Los Angeles-Orange County region compared with the September 2006 market peak. The rate of gain hasslowed to the lowest level since the current market recovery began in 2012. (Chart and photo by the Orange County Register/SCNG)slowed to the lowest level since the current market recovery began in 2012. (Chart and photo by the Orange County Register/SCNG)

Southern California house prices increased by the smallest margin in seven years during the first three months of the year, two reportsSouthern California house prices increased by the smallest margin in seven years during the first three months of the year, two reports

confirmed Tuesday, May 28.confirmed Tuesday, May 28.

The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index reported prices were up 1.3% in the Los Angeles-Orange County region as of March. That’s theThe S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index reported prices were up 1.3% in the Los Angeles-Orange County region as of March. That’s the

smallest housing appreciation rate for the two counties since July 2012.smallest housing appreciation rate for the two counties since July 2012.

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Southern California house price gains shrinking, reportsSouthern California house price gains shrinking, reportsconfirmconfirmCase-Shiller, FHFA indexes show region's home appreciation rates at lowest since 2012.Case-Shiller, FHFA indexes show region's home appreciation rates at lowest since 2012.

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5/28/2019 Southern California house price gains shrinking, reports confirm – San Bernardino Sun

https://www.sbsun.com/2019/05/28/southern-california-house-price-gains-shrinking-report-confirms/ 2/4

L.A.-Orange County tied San Diego for lowest house-price gain among 20 U.S. metro areas tracked. San Francisco’s price gain was 1.4% asL.A.-Orange County tied San Diego for lowest house-price gain among 20 U.S. metro areas tracked. San Francisco’s price gain was 1.4% as

of March, third lowest.of March, third lowest.

Case-Shiller is a “repeat sales” index based on the average price gains for the most recent three months. It is derived by comparing single-Case-Shiller is a “repeat sales” index based on the average price gains for the most recent three months. It is derived by comparing single-

family home prices to each home’s previous sale price.family home prices to each home’s previous sale price.

Other housing reports out already show Southern California home prices leveling off after a year of annual sales declines. And the house-Other housing reports out already show Southern California home prices leveling off after a year of annual sales declines. And the house-

price cooldown is a national trend.price cooldown is a national trend.

Both the 20-city composite index and the national index also recorded the smallest price gains since 2012.Both the 20-city composite index and the national index also recorded the smallest price gains since 2012.

“The patterns seen in the last year or more continue: Year-over-year price gains in most cities are consistently shrinking. Double-digit“The patterns seen in the last year or more continue: Year-over-year price gains in most cities are consistently shrinking. Double-digit

annual gains have vanished,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P Dow Jones Index Committee.annual gains have vanished,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P Dow Jones Index Committee.

Given the broader economic picture, Blitzer said, housing should be doing better. Mortgage rates for 30-year, fixed-rate loans are near 4%,Given the broader economic picture, Blitzer said, housing should be doing better. Mortgage rates for 30-year, fixed-rate loans are near 4%,

unemployment is close to a 50-year low, incomes are showing moderate increases and inflation is low.unemployment is close to a 50-year low, incomes are showing moderate increases and inflation is low.

“The difficulty facing housing may be too-high price increases,” he said.“The difficulty facing housing may be too-high price increases,” he said.

Another housing yardstick also released May 28 — indexes from the Federal Housing Finance Agency — showed a similar slowdown. ThisAnother housing yardstick also released May 28 — indexes from the Federal Housing Finance Agency — showed a similar slowdown. This

math includes information from appraisals used to approve mortgage refinancings.math includes information from appraisals used to approve mortgage refinancings.

For Los Angeles County, FHFA found 5.8% year-over-year gains in the first quarter. That ranked No. 109 out of 241 metros tracked. TheFor Los Angeles County, FHFA found 5.8% year-over-year gains in the first quarter. That ranked No. 109 out of 241 metros tracked. The

Inland Empire had 5.7% one-year gains, No. 117 nationally. And Orange County values were up 4%, No. 170. All were the lowest readingsInland Empire had 5.7% one-year gains, No. 117 nationally. And Orange County values were up 4%, No. 170. All were the lowest readings

since the end of 2012.since the end of 2012.

Jeff CollinsJeff CollinsFor more than a decade, Jeff Collins has followed housing and real estate, covering market booms and busts and allFor more than a decade, Jeff Collins has followed housing and real estate, covering market booms and busts and allaspects of the real estate industry. He has been tracking rents and home prices, and has explored solutions to criticalaspects of the real estate industry. He has been tracking rents and home prices, and has explored solutions to criticalproblems such as Southern California’s housing shortage and affordability crisis. Before joining the Orange Countyproblems such as Southern California’s housing shortage and affordability crisis. Before joining the Orange CountyRegister in 1990, he covered a wide range of topics for daily newspapers in Kansas, El Paso and Dallas. A SouthernRegister in 1990, he covered a wide range of topics for daily newspapers in Kansas, El Paso and Dallas. A Southern

California native, he studied at UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine. He later earned a master’s degree from the USC School of Journalism.California native, he studied at UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine. He later earned a master’s degree from the USC School of Journalism. Follow Jeff Collins Follow Jeff Collins @RegJeffCollins@RegJeffCollins

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Matt Servatius, head of Wells Fargo Cleantech Banking Group, chats about fundingMatt Servatius, head of Wells Fargo Cleantech Banking Group, chats about fundingcomplexities of Cleantech.complexities of Cleantech.

Jonathan LansnerJonathan LansnerJonathan Lansner has been the Orange County Register's business columnist since 1997 and has been part of theJonathan Lansner has been the Orange County Register's business columnist since 1997 and has been part of thenewspaper's coverage of the local business scene since 1986. He is a native New Yorker who is a past national presidentnewspaper's coverage of the local business scene since 1986. He is a native New Yorker who is a past national presidentof the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Whartonof the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton

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5/29/2019 Car crashes into home, starts fire | Public Safety | redlandscommunitynews.com

https://www.redlandscommunitynews.com/news/public_safety/car-crashes-into-home-starts-fire/article_11e8a532-81a3-11e9-ae14-bfa1ab62bfcc.html 1/2

https://www.redlandscommunitynews.com/news/public_safety/car-crashes-into-home-starts-�re/article_11e8a532-81a3-11e9-ae14-bfa1ab62bfcc.html

BREAKING

Car crashes into home, starts �re

Carl Baker, city of Redlands May 28, 2019 Updated 16 hrs ago

A driver crashed the garage and the wall of this two-story house on Foothill Way igniting a �re.

Courtesy photo

5/29/2019 Car crashes into home, starts fire | Public Safety | redlandscommunitynews.com

https://www.redlandscommunitynews.com/news/public_safety/car-crashes-into-home-starts-fire/article_11e8a532-81a3-11e9-ae14-bfa1ab62bfcc.html 2/2

The Redlands Fire Department responded to a report of a vehicle into a house in the 1300 block of

Foothill Way, shortly after midnight Sunday morning, May 26.

The �rst arriving engine crew found a vehicle had driven through the garage door and through an

exterior wall of the two-story residence. The vehicle severed the electrical and gas lines, which

ignited a �re along the exterior wall and under the vehicle.

Fire�ghters extinguished the �re and waited on scene for gas and electric company crews to secure

the utilities.

The driver of the vehicle was treated on scene and declined transport to the hospital. The house was

occupied at the time of the incident. The residents were safely evacuated from the house without

injury.

Property damage was estimated at $20,000. 

Thirteen Redlands �re�ghters responded to the �re, along with three �re�ghters from the San

Bernardino County Fire Department. Crews were on scene for approximately four hours.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.

5/29/2019 Vehicle, body pulled from aqueduct - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA

https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190528/vehicle-body-pulled-from-aqueduct?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=GHM_D… 1/1

By Scott Nordhues Posted May 28, 2019 at 6:23 PMUpdated May 28, 2019 at 6:23 PM

HESPERIA — San Bernardino County Sheriff’s divers on Tuesday recoveredfrom the California Aqueduct a vehicle with the body of a man inside.

A news release from the California Highway Patrol said sheriff’s deputies weresummoned to an aqueduct location near Main Street. Deputies found a portionof a perimeter fence near the Aldi store had been damaged. Because the aqueductis state property, the CHP was notified and arrived at the scene.

A license plate discovered near the damaged fence was found to be from thevehicle of a person reported missing, the news release said. Tire tracks leadinginto the water were also found, and the county dive team was requested.

Divers located a green 1997 Ford Explorer below the water line, the news releasesaid. The vehicle was pulled from the water and the body of a white male adultwas found inside, according to the CHP release.

Officials are working to identify the body.

The incident is being investigated by the California Highway Patrol’s Victorvilleoffice. Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call 760-241-1186.

Vehicle, body pulled from aqueduct

5/29/2019 Bill in D.C. would expand protected land in Riverside County – Press Enterprise

https://www.pe.com/2019/05/28/bill-in-d-c-would-expand-protected-land-in-riverside-county/ 1/5

By By JEFF HORSEMANJEFF HORSEMAN | | jhorseman@scng.comjhorseman@scng.com | The Press-Enterprise | The Press-Enterprise

PUBLISHED: PUBLISHED: May 28, 2019 at 4:59 pmMay 28, 2019 at 4:59 pm | UPDATED: | UPDATED: May 28, 2019 at 4:59 pmMay 28, 2019 at 4:59 pm

The burrowing owl is one of the species protected through the Western RiversideThe burrowing owl is one of the species protected through the Western RiversideCounty Multiple Species Conservation Plan. A new bill in Congress would create theCounty Multiple Species Conservation Plan. A new bill in Congress would create theWestern Riverside County Wildlife Refuge to boost the plan’s land conservation effortsWestern Riverside County Wildlife Refuge to boost the plan’s land conservation efforts(File photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG).(File photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG).

NEWSNEWSPOLITICSPOLITICS

Bill in D.C. would expandBill in D.C. would expandprotected land in Riversideprotected land in RiversideCountyCountyIf passed, the bipartisan proposal would open upIf passed, the bipartisan proposal would open upanother funding stream to acquire property for theanother funding stream to acquire property for thecounty's Multiple Species Habitat Conservationcounty's Multiple Species Habitat ConservationPlanPlan

5/29/2019 Bill in D.C. would expand protected land in Riverside County – Press Enterprise

https://www.pe.com/2019/05/28/bill-in-d-c-would-expand-protected-land-in-riverside-county/ 2/5

A plan aimed at preserving open space and protecting threatened species inA plan aimed at preserving open space and protecting threatened species in

Riverside County soon could be kicked into a new, faster gear.Riverside County soon could be kicked into a new, faster gear.

Enacted in 2004, the Enacted in 2004, the Western Riverside County Multiple Species HabitatWestern Riverside County Multiple Species Habitat

Conservation PlanConservation Plan seeks to preserve half a million acres for 146 species of plants seeks to preserve half a million acres for 146 species of plants

and animals while providing a roadmap for future development andand animals while providing a roadmap for future development and

infrastructure.infrastructure.

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At the time of its passage, 347,000 acres already were set aside, and the plan was toAt the time of its passage, 347,000 acres already were set aside, and the plan was to

use state and federal money to help acquire the remaining 153,000. But the rate ofuse state and federal money to help acquire the remaining 153,000. But the rate of

land acquisition slowed in recent years and, to date, only 61,000 of the 153,000-land acquisition slowed in recent years and, to date, only 61,000 of the 153,000-

acre goal has been preserved.acre goal has been preserved.

Now, a new bill in the House of Representatives seeks to pick up the pace.Now, a new bill in the House of Representatives seeks to pick up the pace.

The proposal, HR 2956, would create the Western Riverside County WildlifeThe proposal, HR 2956, would create the Western Riverside County Wildlife

Refuge by opening up another federal funding source to buy land forRefuge by opening up another federal funding source to buy land for

conservation. The idea has bipartisan support locally, with sponsors that includeconservation. The idea has bipartisan support locally, with sponsors that include

Reps. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, Mark Takano, D-Riverside, and Pete Aguilar, D-Reps. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, Mark Takano, D-Riverside, and Pete Aguilar, D-

Redlands.Redlands.

“The creation of the Western Riverside County Wildlife Refuge will allow our“The creation of the Western Riverside County Wildlife Refuge will allow our

region to continue its ongoing commitment towards balancing natural resourceregion to continue its ongoing commitment towards balancing natural resource

conservation and future development,” Calvert said in a news release.conservation and future development,” Calvert said in a news release.

5/29/2019 Bill in D.C. would expand protected land in Riverside County – Press Enterprise

https://www.pe.com/2019/05/28/bill-in-d-c-would-expand-protected-land-in-riverside-county/ 3/5

Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona (Courtesy photo).Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona (Courtesy photo).

“Setting aside land reserved for our wildlife is a challenge that must be met“Setting aside land reserved for our wildlife is a challenge that must be met

through the contributions of a variety of stakeholders. Establishing the Westernthrough the contributions of a variety of stakeholders. Establishing the Western

Riverside County Wildlife Refuge will also enable us to build new roads andRiverside County Wildlife Refuge will also enable us to build new roads and

critical transportation infrastructure necessary for our region’s future bycritical transportation infrastructure necessary for our region’s future by

mitigating for impacts to species.”mitigating for impacts to species.”

The bill has the support of the Western Riverside County Conservation Authority,The bill has the support of the Western Riverside County Conservation Authority,

which oversees the plan.which oversees the plan.

5/29/2019 Bill in D.C. would expand protected land in Riverside County – Press Enterprise

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“This legislation creates a sustainable path forward and marks a critical step“This legislation creates a sustainable path forward and marks a critical step

toward assembling the largest conservation plan in the nation,” said authoritytoward assembling the largest conservation plan in the nation,” said authority

Chairman Jonathan Ingram, a Murrieta councilman.Chairman Jonathan Ingram, a Murrieta councilman.

The balance between growth and conservation is a key question in RiversideThe balance between growth and conservation is a key question in Riverside

County, home to more than 2 million residents in an area that rivals New Jersey inCounty, home to more than 2 million residents in an area that rivals New Jersey in

square mileage. The county has been one of the nation’s fastest-growing, withsquare mileage. The county has been one of the nation’s fastest-growing, with

newcomers drawn to bigger lots and cheaper home prices than can be foundnewcomers drawn to bigger lots and cheaper home prices than can be found

along California’s coast.along California’s coast.

At the same time, environmentalists have fought to save county land that’s homeAt the same time, environmentalists have fought to save county land that’s home

to a number of endangered and vulnerable species, including the to a number of endangered and vulnerable species, including the Stephen’sStephen’s

kangaroo ratkangaroo rat and the and the San Diego ambrosia plantSan Diego ambrosia plant..

Besides conserving open space, the plan also provides certainty for the buildingBesides conserving open space, the plan also provides certainty for the building

industry and infrastructure planning. “Developers can know where they can buildindustry and infrastructure planning. “Developers can know where they can build

and where it’s more of a challenge,” said Charles Landry, the conservationand where it’s more of a challenge,” said Charles Landry, the conservation

authority’s executive director.authority’s executive director.

By establishing a wildlife refuge within the plan’s existing boundaries, the billBy establishing a wildlife refuge within the plan’s existing boundaries, the bill

allows U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service money to be used to buy land forallows U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service money to be used to buy land for

conservation. The bill doesn’t change the plan’s goals or boundaries and noconservation. The bill doesn’t change the plan’s goals or boundaries and no

additional burden is placed on private landowners, Landry said.additional burden is placed on private landowners, Landry said.

Refuge land would still be open to the public for hiking and biking where it’sRefuge land would still be open to the public for hiking and biking where it’s

currently allowed, Landry added.currently allowed, Landry added.

The bill would not open up land for oil and natural gas exploration “in any way,”The bill would not open up land for oil and natural gas exploration “in any way,”

said Jason Gagnon, Calvert’s spokesman. He pointed to federal law barringsaid Jason Gagnon, Calvert’s spokesman. He pointed to federal law barring

development of oil and gas resources on refuge land unless there’s a pre-existingdevelopment of oil and gas resources on refuge land unless there’s a pre-existing

oil or gas lease.oil or gas lease.

“So unless something is already in place, this certainly would not open the door to“So unless something is already in place, this certainly would not open the door to

extraction,” Gagnon said.extraction,” Gagnon said.

The bill has been referred to the House natural resources committee.The bill has been referred to the House natural resources committee.

Tags: Tags:  environmentenvironment,, national politicsnational politics,, politicspolitics,,Top Stories IVDBTop Stories IVDB,, Top Stories PETop Stories PE,, Top Stories RDFTop Stories RDF,,Top Stories SunTop Stories Sun

5/29/2019 Los Angeles Times - eNewspaper

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Weeding out black marketIllegal cannabis shops thrive despite L.A.’s efforts to reinthem in. If the city shuts them down, they reopen.

BY JAMES QUEALLY AND BEN WELSH

From the street, it looked like an old-school drug raid.

A half-dozen police and city vehicles sat near the entrance of the White Castle cannabisdispensary near the Los Angeles Harbor, where a sign bearing a giant green cross facedPacific Coast Highway.

EMPLOYEES OF White Castle, an illegal pot dispensary in Wilmington, are detained byLAPD officers so the city can shut off the utilities, a move investigators believe is moreefficient than serving search warrants. (Allen J. Schaben Los Angeles Times)

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But the cops didn’t seize any marijuana from the illegal shop. No one was arrested, justdetained briefly while utility workers moved to shut off power. The officers had been therebefore and would likely be back. One detective guessed the business would be up andrunning again in a week.

Amid growing complaints from lawmakers and cannabis lobbyists about the city’steeming marketplace for unregulated weed, Los Angeles in recent months has ramped upenforcement against illegal pot dispensaries. But with so much money on the line, manyviolators are choosing to stay open even after the city has cut off their power or threatenedthem with arrests or fines.

The state’s marijuana market got off to a sluggish start in 2018, with revenue from thefirst year of legal sales falling $160 million short of what was projected in former Gov.Jerry Brown’s final budget. High taxes and the refusal of many cities to allow legalcannabis sales have been blamed, while those restrictions have allowed a resilient blackmarket to thrive.

Nowhere is that problem more glaring than in Los Angeles, where the number of illegalstorefronts rivals legal dispensaries.

In what should be the state’s most lucrative pot market, many legitimate businessoperators say they can’t compete with the hundreds of stores that are able to sell at alower price by skirting taxes. More than 200 illegal marijuana dispensaries operate inL.A., according to police estimates and a Times review of city records and listings onWeedmaps, a popular online directory for marijuana businesses.

To identify potential scofflaws, The Times compared all storefronts on Weedmaps with alist of businesses granted temporary approval to operate by Los Angeles’ Department ofCannabis Regulation. Only 182 marijuana dispensaries have permission to sell marijuanain the city, records show.

The review, conducted earlier this month, found 365 dispensaries advertised onWeedmaps inside city limits. Of those, more than 220 — 60% of the total — wereoperating at addresses not on the city’s list of legal retailers.

The numbers provide only an estimate of the problem. Listings on Weedmaps changefrequently. Some shops targeted by city enforcement efforts may have shut down sinceThe Times last reviewed the website’s listings. But shops that are shut down often reopenunder new names, and not every illegal dispensary in the city advertises on the website.

Unregistered dispensaries were running in nearly every corner of Los Angeles, with thehighest concentrations downtown and south of the 10 Freeway, The Times analysis found.Twelve can be found on a stretch of Florence Avenue between Crenshaw and Avalonboulevards.

By mapping the legal and illegal storefronts in the city, The Times found large swaths ofdowntown and South L.A. are dominated by unlisted dispensaries. Legitimate shops,which can sell cannabis only at locations that meet specific requirements, such as being acertain distance away from a school, are more prevalent in the San Fernando Valley.

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Exact statistics on the issue are difficult to find. A representative for the state Bureau ofCannabis Control said the agency did not have readily available data about illegaloperators in California, and Los Angeles officials have never made public an exact numberof illegal storefronts.

The L.A. Police Department, however, has estimated the number of unregistered shops tobe “less than 300.”

An L.A. problem

Marijuana advocates say Los Angeles’ struggle to curtail illegal activity is more severe thanother cities in California, a result of years of allowing marijuana businesses to operate in aquasi-legal status in which they received limited immunity from prosecution.

“This is really a Los Angeles phenomenon .... I can’t tell you where there would be anunlicensed dispensary operating in Oakland or San Francisco,” said Dale Gieringer,director of California’s branch of the National Organization for the Reform of MarijuanaLaws.

Indeed, authorities tasked with overseeing the marijuana industry in San Francisco andLong Beach said the number of unregulated dispensaries in those cities does not exceedthe number of licensed operators. Owners of legal stores in Los Angeles say illegal shopshave a massive competitive advantage, as they offer lower prices by skirting the state’s15% cannabis sales tax as well as the city’s 10% rate.

“The frustration for us is twofold,” said Carlos de la Torre, who founded the CornerstoneResearch Collective in Eagle Rock. “Our businesses are suffering tremendously nowbecause we’re having to compete in an unfair playing field, and we’ve spent all this timeand energy and resources crafting something that should be really cut and dry, and it feelslike [the city is] not really holding their end of the bargain up.”

The proliferation of illegal stores affects marijuana customers, legal owners andgovernment coffers. Aside from undercutting legal operators and curbing tax revenues,city officials are concerned about the health risks posed by stores whose wares are nottested by state regulators.

Some owners contend that many customers don’t know the difference between legal andillegal marijuana businesses and fear they are losing out by complying with state and citytax codes.

“The only bad reviews I get are ‘Oh, you’re trying to rip us off, these prices are tooexpensive,’ ” said Jerrod Kiloh, owner of the Higher Path dispensary in Sherman Oaks andpresident of the United Cannabis Business Assn. “I think a lot of them don’t understandthat the cost of doing business has gone up quite a bit.”

Many legal owners say the problem is exacerbated by Weedmaps, a Yelp-like service formarijuana businesses.

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“Without the voice that Weedmaps gives, 80% of them would disappear,” De La Torresaid.

Weedmaps did not respond to a request for comment.

Despite business owners’ frustrations, the website is something of a double-edged sword:Officials with both the LAPD and the city attorney’s office have said they use the onlineplatform to identify targets for enforcement.

Still, council members and legal operators have criticized those agencies in recent months,arguing that a lack of stringent enforcement has allowed unlawful shops to flourish.

More enforcement

After recreational sales became legal in January 2018, obtaining funding and resourcesfor enforcement has become a tougher sell within the LAPD, said Det. Lou Turriaga, adirector with the Los Angeles Police Protective League.

Until recently, Turriaga said, the department’s cannabis support unit was operating on a“bare-bones budget.” Local narcotics investigators are unlikely to prioritize enforcementagainst illicit dispensaries over other kinds of drug crime or violence in their divisions, hesaid.

The city has signaled it will take cannabis enforcement more seriously this year. Fundinghas been earmarked for cannabis regulation and a public awareness campaign to helpcustomers learn to spot illegal sellers.

Mayor Eric Garcetti’s 2019 budget pushes $10 million toward the LAPD for cannabisenforcement. And an ordinance introduced by Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez alsocould result in illegal dispensary owners, and those they rent property from, having tocover the costs of any enforcement efforts enacted at their business

Despite the large number of illegal businesses still operating in the city, officials contendthey have aggressively pursued the issue. Since early 2018, City Atty. Mike Feuer said, hisoffice has brought charges against more than 850 defendants and shut down 114storefronts — with “many more on the way.”

Feuer acknowledged the difficulty in permanently shutting down illegal operators. He saidmany of the stores his office has pursued have returned under different names, sometimesat the same location.

Recently, the agency has begun to target property owners and more aggressively imposefinancial penalties, in the hopes that big fines will act as deterrents.

Last month Feuer sued a South L.A. dispensary for selling cannabis that had been treatedwith a fungicide, which could result in millions in damages against the business.

“This is not just a question of supply, it’s also a question of demand,” he said. “I want verymuch for the message to be clear to potential buyers of recreational marijuana that it’s

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just not worth the risk to go to an unpermitted location because they don’t test theirproduct and God knows what’s in their product.”

In March, the City Council passed an ordinance allowing the Department of Water andPower to shut off utilities at prohibited dispensaries. Shutoffs have been conducted atapproximately 90 storefronts in the last two months, according to Det. Vito Ceccia of theLAPD’s Gang and Narcotics Division.

Most of the early efforts were concentrated in the Valley, though recently the departmenthas begun focusing on outlaw operators in South L.A.

Investigators believe the utility shutoffs are more efficient than serving search warrants inpursuit of criminal prosecutions that would probably result only in misdemeanor charges.On a recent afternoon, utility workers and detectives from the LAPD’s Harbor Division cutthe power at four illegal shops in less than three hours. Ceccia said they would have beenable to execute only one search warrant in the same time frame.

“We see an uptick in these businesses opening up because it’s so profitable, especially ifthey’re not paying the taxes they’re supposed to be paying,” he said. “A majority of themhave reopened, and that’s why we’re looking at our partners like DWP to find otherresources beyond law enforcement and traditional methods in order to shut these placesdown.”

Police can still seize marijuana and cash from an illegal business if they execute a searchwarrant in a criminal investigation. But with all criminal penalties for illegal sale orcultivation of marijuana reduced to misdemeanors under Proposition 64, city officialsbelieve civil fines and utility shutdowns are more effective and less labor intensive.

In Los Angeles, Feuer said his office can push for a $2,500-per-day unfair competitionpenalty against illegal sellers. Under the voter initiative that established L.A.’s marijuanamarket, the city can also seek a $20,000 daily penalty against illegal operators, thoughFeuer has rarely used this tactic and said it had yet to be “tested in court.”

Many involved in the cannabis industry also have expressed frustration that regulatorshave been slow to approve dispensary permits — especially those that would fall under asocial equity program meant to allow members of communities most affected by criminalmarijuana enforcement to get into the legal market.

The city is expected to issue another 250 storefront licenses, which would more thandouble the number of legal dispensaries in the city, but that process will not begin untilSeptember at the earliest, said Sylvia Robledo, public information director for theDepartment of Cannabis Regulation. The agency expects to be able to issue approximately400 licenses before it butts up against the city’s restrictions against having too manydispensaries concentrated in any particular neighborhood.

The long-term effect of the city’s enforcement strategies is unclear.

Although the utility shutdowns have disrupted some operations, many businesses havealso simply reopened after obtaining an external generator. The detective who guessed the

5/29/2019 Los Angeles Times - eNewspaper

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White Castle dispensary near Wilmington would be back in business in a week was almostright.

An employee confirmed the shop was open when a Times reporter called 10 days later.

Times staff writer Emily Alpert Reyes contributed to this report.