A Fontana man is arrested for vandalizing the Auto Club Speedway

16 May 2017 Leave a comment

May 14th, Auto Club Speedway

At approximately 6:09 p.m., personnel at the Auto Club Speedway reported a vehicle, a tan 2005 Ford four-door, illegally entered the grounds at a high rate of speed. The vehicle was occupied by a Hispanic male. Security personnel followed the vehicle into the infield to the drivers’ garage area and then back out of the infield. The vehicle then crashed through locked gates and fled westbound on San Bernardino Avenue toward Etiwanda. A security personnel was able to write down the license plate of the vehicle. The vehicle description and license plate were broadcast to the Fontana Police Department. Deputies responded and conducted an investigation, identifying Roger Reyes, a resident of Fontana, as a possible suspect.

On May 15th, at approximately 12:30 a.m., Fontana Police Officers conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle on Sierra Avenue. The vehicle had damage consistent with having been involved in a collision and the driver and sole occupant, Roger Reyes, was detained. Deputies responded to the scene of the traffic stop and conducted a follow-up investigation. At the conclusion of their investigation, Reyes was arrested and booked at the West Valley Detention Center for PC 594(b)(1) Felony Vandalism.

If anyone witnessed the incident or has additional information, please contact the San Bernardino Sheriff Department, Fontana Sheriff’s Station, at 909-356-6767. Callers wishing to remain anonymous may contact the We-Tip Hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME (27463), or you may leave information on the We-Tip website at www.wetip.com.

For Full info go to https://local.nixle.com/alert/5955941/

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Public Safety takes a Break from Regular Duties to Attend Mayors Jazz Festival

24 Apr 2017 Leave a comment

So it appears that police from three different cities will be hanging around Jerry Eves Park in North Rialto. Mayor Robertson has brought back her failure of a Jazz Fest event once again to the city of Rialto. This time instead of just wasting our resources three cities are wasting valuable public safety resources on yet another failed event.

Whoever the Mayor has running her ticket sales they should have learned from the last failed event that dropping ticket prices at the last minute tells people WE CAN’T SELL THESE TICKETS. Normally you give early birds a great price then the general admission price kicks in, but Mayor Robertson not having a business bone in her body just can’t seem to learn how to course correct for the life of her. As you can see the price never went back up it stayed at the $45 price event at the day of the event.

Like it or not our Mayor has once again took it upon herself to spend YOUR tax dollars on a PRIVATE event without any outside oversight, here is a list of what DA Ramos and his staff are refusing to look into:

City Commissioners say that Pam Kennedy the Main office Manager was passing out a stack of what looked to be at least 200 tickets out to city staff and commissioners. Who paid for these tickets?
Police from Rialto, Fontana and San Bernardino are being used to “Police” the event. Watching Mayor Aquenetta Warrens FB live videos the police are partying right along side the event guests.
Nobody else has ever been allowed to completely shut down a public park EVER!!!! Let alone break park rules allowing Alcohol, Tobacco and Marijuana to be consumed in public park property.
Leveraging against local vendors forcing them to purchase large ticket purchases to keep getting lucrative contracts with the City of Rialto. Burrtec, Rialto Water Services LLC, Rialto’s Grant Writers and many more are constantly used to try and make these events successful.
Giving preferential treatment to one ride sharing company over others. Mayor Robertson not only excluded Uber drivers from working the event, some drivers have been told to remove their Uber sicker if they drive for both Uber and Lyft. Lyft is the only company allowed to work the event.

There is nothing wrong with helping a non profit.

There is nothing wrong with helping kids.

There is A LOT wrong with making special rules for yourself, allowing people to speed and drive drunk. There is also something wrong with not following the rules laid out for our PUBLIC parks. Some of the most restrictive rules the mayor supported herself. There are people every weekend using our parks and they get into trouble if they drive cars onto the grass, bring alcohol into the park, smoke tobacco or marijuana in our parks or restrict others from using a PUBLIC PARK.

If people that were previously cited for breaking these rules were smart they would get their citations reversed off of the cities double standard when it comes to enforcing their own municipal code.

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2nd Annual San Bernardino Art Night this Weekend

21 Apr 2017 Leave a comment

two days + two venues + you = great time

Fri., April 21, 4 p.m. – 8 p.m. + Sat., April 22, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Come and enjoy two days of art, crafts, music performances and food trucks in downtown San Bernardino. The Carousel Mall will feature art displays, crafts and dance performances, while Court Street Square will host bands, DIY chalk art activity, food trucks and spray paint art. See the Google map below for location details and click here to download the event flier.

Building upon last year’s student showcase, this year with include community artists from San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. San Bernardino City Unified School District, San Bernardino Valley College, California State University, San Bernardino and the Art Institute of the Inland Empire will be here in full force with a large variety of artwork. From sculptures to films to amazing spray paint work, Art Night has something for everyone to enjoy. DON’T MISS IT.

Food Trucks

Do you continue to miss the City’s Third Thursday Food Fest lunchtime food truck event? No worries, TTFF’s most popular trucks will be here!

Piaggio Argentine Cuisine
Jojo’s Grill-a-Dog
Street Kitchen
Baby’s Badas$ Burgers
Belly Bombz
Smoke ’em if you Got ’em
Made In Brooklyn (MIB) Pizza

Food trucks will be stationed in the Court Street Square parking lot, located just across the street from the Carousel Mall.

Chalk Activity

Last year the do-it-yourself (DIY) chalk activity was such a hit, we’re bringing it back and dedicating more space for visitors to come and show us their skills. This program will take place once again in front of the Route 66 Wall of Fame adjacent to the Court Street Square parking lot.

Court Street Square

Located on the corner of E Street and Court Street, just north of City Hall, Court Street Square’s performance stage will feature local bands of all ages and music styles. This outdoor venue will have temporary seating available and also features a small lawn, great for picnics so bring the family and enjoy some live music in downtown. Special thanks to San Bernardino’s Teen Music Workshop for providing the awesome sound system and for bringing such talented kids to the show!

Kids Activities

San Bernardino’s Parks, Recreation and Community Services department and the San Bernardino City Unified School District will be hosting art workshops for the kids. Workshops will be taking place inside the Carousel Mall. More details to follow.

Parking

Free general public parking will be available at the Carousel Mall parking lot along 2nd Street, just across from Starbucks.

Artist Application window closed on February 2.

The two-day event is open to student and community artists. Artists will be able to both display and sell their original artwork on-site. We recommend setting up the ability to accept credit card purchases to ensure opportunity for success. There is no booth fee; however, if an artist plans to sell artwork, they must have a California State Seller’s Permit and obtain a one-day sales permit($12.00) from City of San Bernardino Business Registration Office. Permit must be displayed at your space on the evening of the event. Note: All transactions must take place directly between the artists and the customer.

Contacts

Vendor/Artists – For more information, please contact Stephanie Sanchez in the Community Development Department at Sanchez_Stephanie@SBCity.org or call 909-384-5057.

Media inquiries – Please contact Monica Lagos, manager of communications at 909-384-5115 or Lagos_Mo@SBCity.org.

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Eisenhower Sings the Praises of 2017 Senior Class

20 Apr 2017 Leave a comment

Photo taken by Career Center Teacher Nancy Samir Ibrahimi

Eisenhower has been on a big push to honor and push their students great accomplishments into the spotlight. If you get the text message updates from the schools ASB Department you would have been bombarded by not only updates on upcoming events but a constant flow of celebration messages on students being excepted into a wide variety of colleges. Some schools “say” that college is a desired goal of every student. At Eisenhower the embody the very traits that send a clear message that the school is proud of every students accomplishments.

30 students from Eisenhower High will be going to one of the largest colleges in the Inland Empire UCR Riverside. The top majors by a majority of the 30 UCR accepted student are: PreMed, Criminal Justice, Psychology, Nutritional Science, Biology, Business and Marketing.

Now the goal is to find ways to keep our young people in Rialto or at least keep them close to home. You see while these bright young people are off to seek higher learning in some awesome popular fields of study, what are we doing to provide great opportunities to bring their education and skills to businesses close to home. As it stands now Rialto leadership only cares to open opportunities for our young people to work in warehouses or at Super Walmart.

The question is how far will these parents allow the leadership of Rialto to sell away any opportunity for these young people to return home?

Congrats to all of the Graduating Seniors in Rialto.

For all your Social Media needs go to http://www.marketsolutionservices.com the Inland Empire’s #1 Social Media Marketing Company

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Easter event comes to Rialto

15 Apr 2017 Leave a comment

Rialto’s Spring Eggstravaganza April 15th. JOIN US for the Tea Cups Ride, Magic Show, Egg Hunt, Photos with the Easter Bunny and MORE!

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Fontana Mayor Charges Residents to come to her Coffee with the Mayor event.

15 Apr 2017 Leave a comment

So what do you do if your a Mayor facing a recall attempt? You get your face out there right! Well someone failed to tell Mayor Warren in Fontana that you shouldn’t charge a mostly low income, foreign born resident base for the opportunity.

Below is an article in the Fontana Herald where the Fontana Mayor’s coffee event is given exposure through an article in the paper.

Most Coffee events held by city leaders or elected officials are almost always FREE and normally include free hot coffee. Leave it to Mayor Warren to break the mold and make her event a Ivory Tower Elite only event. In a lot of families in the Fontana area $10 is all they have until payday.

Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren is inviting local residents to attend her “Coffee With the Mayor” event on Thursday, April 27 from 8 to 10 a.m. at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.

Warren will discuss how education and workforce development can help create jobs for the Fontana community.

The event will take place at Richter’s, the newest and most exclusive hospitality area at the speedway.

Registration and networking will take place from 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. At 8:30, Fontana Chamber of Commerce President Phil Cothran will give opening remarks.

Warren will then speak at 8:45 a.m., followed by a Q&A session.

The event is free to attend for Fontana Chamber members and $10 for general admission.

For more information or to register, call (909) 822-4433 or email anahi@fontanachamber.org.

Top this off with Mayor Warren joining forces with Mayor Deborah Robertson to shut down the only soccer park in Rialto for an exclusive Elite only Jazz Fest in Rialto. If you have an extra $75 laying around plus bring your own food, chairs and shade and are forced to spend more money on drinks at the venue then you can join Mayors Warren (Fontana), Robertson (Rialto), Carey (San Bernardino) & De La Rosa (Colton) for a Jazz Fest.

Also is it just me or does Brad Pomerance host of Charter’s Local Edition News show seem a wee bit to excited to be having this conversation?

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Ricky Nolasco Kicks Off Angel’s 2017 Season

04 Apr 2017 Leave a comment

The Angels will counter with right-hander Ricky Nolasco, who will make his fourth career Opening Day start. He started on Opening Day for the Minnesota Twins in 2014 and for the Miami Marlins in 2009 and 2013.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia chose Nolasco over two more high-profile candidates, Garrett Richards and Mike Shoemaker. But Richards missed most of last season with an elbow injury and underwent stem cell treatments to repair damage to his ulnar collateral ligament. Shoemaker’s season was cut short when he was hit in the head by a line drive on Sept. 4 against the Seattle Mariners and underwent surgery. He went 0-1 with a 5.29 in five Cactus League starts.

Nolasco went 1-1 with a 3.52 ERA in four spring starts. He was 4-6 with a 3.21 ERA in 11 starts last season after being traded by Minnesota to the Angels on Aug. 1.

“I think Ricky will handle the Opening Day hoopla,” Scioscia said. “I think he’ll go out there and give us a chance to win.”

Nolasco is 3-2 with a 3.38 ERA in seven career starts against the A’s. Graveman is 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA in six career starts against the Angels.

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Rialto Native Ricky Nolasco: Named Opening Day starter for Angels

01 Apr 2017 Leave a comment

Written By Jessica DeLine

Rialto residents and fans of Ricky Nolasco are happy to see him staying close to home (moving from the Dodgers to the Angels). They are also excited to see him playing so well eight years into his professional career that he was given the opening day start over Matt Shoemaker. (Rialto Now)

Nolasco, who was acquired along with Alex Meyer from the Twins in the Hector Santiagotrade last season, pitched well after landing in Anaheim, posting a 3.21 ERA over 11 starts for the Angels. The 34-year-old right-hander continued to build off that success this spring, recording a solid 3.52 ERA over four Cactus League starts. (MLB.com)

The Angels confirmed that Ricky “Fiasco” Nolasco would be the 2017 opening day starter. Since joining the Angels and through spring training this year, Nolasco has been far removed from that nickname he earned while with the Twins.

Matt Shoemaker, who I think also deserved the spot, will pitch in game two on Tuesday, and we will see Garrett Richards in game 3.

Where to start with all this?? First, Thursday (game #4) is TBD which may leave many wondering why Tyler Skaggs was not listed. Well, Skaggs threw 92 pitches and allowed 5 runs in his AAA start on Thursday. The rotation decision was announced before Skaggs was finished with his start, and the Angels were encouraged by what they saw. I would put money on Skaggs as that #4 starter.

Jesse Chavez, who threw for the A’s from 2012-2015 misses the 4-game series against Oakland and landed the job as starter for the Angels home opener.

Ricky Nolasco was an interesting choice for game #1, but not a huge surprise if you look at spring stats. Shoemaker was arguably the Angels best full season pitcher last year (since Nolasco came mid season), and of course he has seniority on the team. However, his spring wasn’t the best and he had a 5.29 ERA with a 1.65 WHIP over 17 IP.

Nolasco, who had a pretty great second half last year was on point this spring with a 3.52 ERA and 1.04 WHIP over 15 innings. It’s clear he has been throwing the ball well, and it’s also clear the Angels like what they have been seeing from him lately.

Monday will be Nolasco’s 4th career opening day start.

Information from www.halosheaven.com

Follow Jessica at http://www.twitter.com/abaseballchick

Nolasco has been tabbed as the Angels’ Opening Day starter.

Analysis:

Nolasco will take the ball Monday against the A’s as the Angels open up a four-game set against their division rival. The veteran Nolasco put together a solid spring with a 3.52 ERA over 15.1 innings. As the Opening Day starter, Nolasco should be in line for two starts in the first week of the season.

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Former Councilman Words Reach Out Amidst Miss use of Public Funds and other Issues

31 Mar 2017 Leave a comment

Written by: David Phillips

Councilman O’Connell must spoke to me a lot about how long he thought he had to live after a accident that led to a stay in the hospital. He also knew that the work of advocating for the people and calling out wrongs came at a cost. Like any advocate worth their salt they stocked away information and resources in the event that they were unable to expose it themselves that the information still got out.

Well in the case of Rialto Mayor Deborah Robertson and her Jazz Fest Such information has been made available. Below you will see a letter from Councilman O’Connell that will make you wonder why the Mayor would try to hold yet another event using the resources of yet another non profit.

“Those who do not learn from history, are doomed to reapeat it” George Santayana

From Councilman O’Connell:

As elected officials we have an ethical responsibility to bring to the attention of our colleagues and our constituents any acts that are perceived to be in violation of our City policies, ordinances or State Law. We must do so even if it would be harmful to ourselves, or not in our best interests to do so. We do not have the luxury as elected officials of looking the other way or pretending it didn’t happen. This letter is intended to inform the City Council of the potential misuse of city funds and personnel and to seek guidance on how to proceed. As such, it this letter has been distributed to Mayor Deborah Robertson, Mayor Pro Tem Joe Baca Jr., Councilman Ed Scott, City Administrator Mike Story, and City Attorney Fred Galante. Please place this on the February 9, 2016 city council agenda to be discussed in closed session regarding legal issues and personnel.

At the City Council meeting of 3/10/15, Financial Director George Harris provided a presentation for the Council regarding an upcoming Jazz Fest scheduled for April 2015.

After the presentation, questions were asked as to whether or not the jazz fest was a city related event; since they were extensively using City resources (the City seal, this council, city personnel, selling tickets from city offices, etc.)

During the presentation, Director Harris stated that the event was not a city related event. It was a private event hosted by the Rialto Youth Collaborative, a non profit 501 c3 which he oversaw.

Director Harris stated that they had sold approximately 100 tickets, with an additional 300 tickets reserved. According to Director Harris, they needed to sell anywhere from 3000 to 3500 tickets to make enough money for this event to be successful. Otherwise he planned on canceling the event.

A few weeks later, during an organizational meeting for this event with the principals involved, we are informed that Director Harris attempted to cancel the Jazz Fest by telling Mayor Robertson that he was going to cancel the event due to the lack of sales. It’s not clear why Mayor Robertson was even participating in this event (and previous meetings) but we have been informed that at that meeting she told him no and instructed him to continue forward. At no time was this a City of Rialto event and Mayor Robertson, as a City official, did not have the authority to tell Director Harris to continue with this event.

Based on that directive, Director Harris continued forward holding the event in April. The event was a total loss, eventually selling only the original 400 tickets according to Director Harris.

According to Director Harris, the final result ended in a $30,000 loss for the charitable organization the Rialto Youth Collaborative, an outstanding bill to a contractor of $6,000.00, and an approximate $40,000 unpaid bill owed to the City of Rialto. It is this $40,000 that we as elected officials are responsible to account to our constituents. At no time was Director Harris given the authority by the City Council to spend this $40,000, nor could anyone else have authorized the use of City personnel or property because it would require council approval.

During the public presentation on 3/10/15, Director Harris clearly stated he would need to sell at least 3,000 tickets to cover the event. He also stated he would pull the event in case he didn’t reach the required tickets sold. Apparently he tried to cancel the event but when he was told no by Mayor Robertson, his only hope was to sell the 2,600 tickets on the day of the event itself to prevent a total loss. He did so by gambling city assets that he had no direct authority to use.

Also, during meetings with Mike Story, Director Harris was told by members of the City Council and Mike Story to immediately stop using city resources & employees to support this event. He was directed to remove the City Seal, discontinue using city telephone numbers and staff to sell tickets, etc. Director Harris did the opposite, even though he stated that he fully understood the direction of the Council. He continued advertising on city property, using city personnel to sell tickets over the phone and on city property.

As elected officials for the City of Rialto, we are entrusted with the duty to ensure that all assets of the City are used in a legal and transparent manner. Regardless of the amount spent, the fact that it was city funds and spent in direct opposition to the direction of this City Council makes this a serious issue. Additionally, based on Director Harris’s statement that he decided to use city funds because he was underwater in the event and that was the only way to attempt to make his money back. This logic shows a reckless and potential illegal use of city funds and resources.

Based on the information received that Mayor Robertson had a direct involvement with this Jazz event, her attending numerous meetings of this event, and her directing Director Harris to continue when he attempted to stop the event (regardless of its impact), it would appear that she was not impartial to its final outcome regardless of the impact it might have on this city. Based on this involvement, it is respectfully requested that she excuse herself from any deliberation on this matter.

We have serious concerns in regards to Director Harris using and accessing the charitable funds from the Rialto Youth Collaborative, but our responsibilities as elected officials require us to focus on Director Harris’s failure to follow the Council directions, potential abuse of city resources and the fact that the funds have to this date not been paid back to the City. As such, it is our recommendation that this letter and a more detailed report be forwarded to the District Attorney and any other appropriate agency for investigation. Even though this is not an easy recommendation, we believe that it’s an appropriate one. The public has a low level of trust of elected officials and they demand complete transparency and responsibility of us all. Failure to act on this item, might be perceived by the public as acquiescing or being complicit in the use of these assets. It was later learned that Mayor Robertson diverted at least $10,000 from the Jazz Festival to another foundation she is on with Greg Bell. Mike Story got involved and had the money returned. (Why would Mike Story get involved? It was not a City event). Then it was learned that the night before the event, Mike Story called up Table Rock and tried to get them to donate $50,000.00 to the event so that it would not go bust. (Again, why would he get involved, another misuse of City resources)

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Rialto Police Department Names Erica Duque Officer of the Year

14 Mar 2017 Leave a comment

Courtesy Photo/rialto police From left: Cpt. William Wilson, Chief Randy De Anda, Volunteer of the Year Richard Montano, Ofc.of the Year Erica Duque and Councilman Rafael Trujillo. Third annual Rialto Police Awards.

Officer Erica Duque was named the officer of the year at this years awards ceremony for the Rialto Police Department. Officer Duque is a Rialto Native growing up here and going to school here. Officer Duque comes from a long line of Law Enforcement professionals and is a dedicated public servant. Officer Duque still has family that lives here in Rialto and that has kept here up to date on what is going on here in our city both on and off work. Officer Duque has worked with the Community Policing and Reentry Support Program in her most recent assignment. Officer Duque is putting her unique knowledge of Rialto and her care and compassion for everyone to work to help her colleagues solve more problems and obtain results that can make Rialto residents proud.

Photo Courtesy Cpl Gregory Marquez. From left to right Probation Officer Vicky Whitworth, Officer Dwuan Rice, Officer Erica Duque and Cpl Gregory Marquez

Not only did Rialto Recognize Officer Duque for her outstanding work but her whole team was awarded for the work they have done together. Below is what Cpl Gregory Marquez said about his staff:

I chose Officer Dwuan Rice and Officer Erica Duque. I also was allowed by the Probation Department @sbcprobation In the selection of a probation officer who would be assigned to my team. Since my old partner Probation Officer Bradley left there wasn’t a doubt in my mind Probation Officer Vicky Whitworth could easily slide right into his spot. In the last year they have worked non-stop from the time they come into work until the time they leave and even get random texts and phone calls from me asking them to complete a task 😄. Last Friday our team received a Unit Citation which is a great honor recognizing our hard work! I also wanted to add that we could have not completed our tasks without the love and support from our Explorers and Volunteers as well as Code Enforcememt Officer Dave Hernandez and his team!