Video | Formats | rialtonow

Rialto Unified Head Football Coach Resigns

16 Feb 2019 1 Comment

Only in Rialto can you have a Head Coach of a popular local football program treated poorly and tossed aside.

Normally when coaches are forced out it has to do with poor performance from an amazing team or issues with parents & players. In Rialto we seem to mess things up in a very special way! Three years into his time at Eisenhower High School Head Coach Al Brown has resigned his position with the Football program in Rialto. This news comes on the heels of the Eisenhower Eagles return to greatness with a Division CIF Title the first one in 20 years and a very close second in the State Semi Finals against a very powerful Fontana Kaiser Cats football team.

Things all changed with the removal of Eisenhower High School Principal Scott Sparks who brought on coach Brown three years ago in an effort to return the football program to its former greatness. Coach Brown worked hard for two years under the support of Principal Scott Sparks to build a program that brought Eisenhower to its former glory but more importantly created amazing student athletes that are pillars in the community. The goal was to grow young student athletes that would continue to make Rialto proud.

Coach Brown not only raised up some amazing student athletes but he brought a CIF championship back to the Ronnie Lott stadium! Being close to Coach Brown and some of his prior players (now playing college football) this season was tough on Coach Brown. It was tough because the CTE (career Technical Education) class Life Management was not offered to Coach brown this year as new Principal Frank Camacho took over for the departing Scott Sparks. So in order to feed his family and remain available to coach Eisenhower’s Varsity team this year Coach Brown was forced to take substitute jobs. Working as a substitute offers no job security or medical benefits, also coach Brown had to be prepared for a different teaching situation each day. This fact alone made his CIF season even more amazing given what the coach was dealing with this season.

One constant face at Eisenhower High Football games was former Principal Scott Sparks. The former leader of Eisenhower High and a childhood friend of new Eisenhower High Principal Frank Camacho was at as many of Eisenhower’s games. Scott Sparks watched what he started blossom into a season and record that Eisenhower Alumni could brag about!

According to Coach Brown he was told that he would have a teaching contract this week solidifying his place with the Football team. When the deadline to offer this contract came and went coach Brown had no choice but to resign. Eisenhower High School staff have not been happy this year talking about how much life at the school has changed in just one year. Many people close to what Coach Brown was going through this school year hoped that the CIF season would be enough to prove to Eisenhower Administration that Coach Brown was a vital piece to the positive school culture at Eisenhower.

This writer is left wondering what is going on at District Office and what does Dr Avila and the School Board think this latest problem will do to moral and the culture at Eisenhower? According to Syeda Jafri the Communications Director from Rialto Unified “the district has not received a formal resignation from coach Brown, so it would be difficult to comment further on this matter”. Since posting this story it has come to light that the team is still waiting for the end of the year banquet. We have heard from sources that the school district is waiting for the CIF rings to come in so that they can be presented at the banquet. The rings can take 6 weeks to be ready.

One thing that we learned about this year was how difficult it is for schools in low income communities to get their rings. Kaiser High in Fontana was gifted a grant at the Inland Valley Classic Football game on January 26th to buy their CIF rings. Eisenhower High Schools rings are being taken care of by District Office.

Most gut wrenching about this move is the $300k video that Westbound Communications did for San Bernardino on how hard Cajon High School in San Bernardino worked to keep an amazing sports program together. People gave up jobs and changed their lives to keep the coach in place and make it impossible for him to want to leave. One thing that Athletic Director Richard Imbriani says in this video is we teach kids life skills and how we don’t quit on people. Well apparently Rialto has a lot to learn from San Bernardino!

Video by rialto-now

Fire Tears Through Closed Rialto Business

02 Feb 2019 Leave a comment

Rialto, CA – Victim Rescued in Vacant Building Fire

Rialto Firefighters were dispatched to the 400 block of W. Foothill Blvd. shortly after 10:30 a.m. this morning. The first unit arrived on scene approximately 5 minutes after dispatch to find a vacant building with heavy smoke coming from a side door. The building was formerly Inland Empire Sewing & Vacuum repair shop and had been had been boarded up. One man who didn’t give us his name claimed that he was living inside this building. (see photo below)

Bystanders on scene reported one victim trapped inside of the building. Crews made quick entry to the building to perform an interior search. A female was discovered and a rescue was performed. The patient was in full arrest and brought to paramedics waiting outside of the building. Resuscitation efforts were started immediately and the patient was transported to local ER in critical condition.

The building a business that had been closed for some time now seems to have become a haven for homeless people. Shuttered businesses along the portion of Route 66 that runs through our city have become a common sight sadly.

Fire was knocked down 17 minutes after the first unit arrived on scene. Rialto Fire Arson Unit is on scene to conduct an investigation in coordination with Rialto Police Department. Two arrests have been made.

Crews were able to keep the fire to one alarm with assistance from San Bernardino County Fire and Rialto Fire. No other injuries were reported. Monetary loss from the fire is still being tabulated. The cause of the fire remains under active investigation.

ffffffffffffffff

Video by rialto-now

Rialto High School Cheer Wins CIF Division

15 Jan 2019 Leave a comment

Our Rialto kids are amazing!!!!!

Rialto High School continues to find success in their Cheer program as they finished in 1st place at the CIF Division Competition this past weekend. This is the 1st year that the CIF has recognized Cheer as an actual sport. It all began with the C.H.E.E.R.S Act AB 949 sponsored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher that made Cheer an actual sport (this writer had no idea it wasn’t until a few days ago). The Bill was signed into law by Jerry Brown in 2015. With Jerry Brown’s signature applied this began a clock on the CIF to develop a program for a new sport that had existed since 1898.

In a press release from the assembly woman Lorena Gonzalez:

“Assembly Bill 949, known as the California High Schools Expanding Equality Respect and Safety (C.H.E.E.R.S.) Act, requires the California Department of Education to develop guidelines, procedures, and safety standards with the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) for high school cheerleading no later than July 1, 2017. To date, high school cheerleading has not enjoyed its own competition system like other high school sports and cheer athletes and their teams are forced to rely on private businesses to run competitions, which can be prohibitively expensive for the athletes and their families.”

Rialto High Cheer Team with Coach and Cheer Adviser show off the new plaque and varsity patches.

With this being the 1st year of CIF sanctioned competition there was a race to be the first one to claim the honors of being #1. Rialto High School Placing 1st in the 4A Division isn’t that big of a surprise as they have been crushing it at the State & National USA cheer competitions for the last few years. In 2016 the team took 1st place in both State and Nationals and the following 2 years have either won state and or finished in the top three every year according to cheer adviser Valarie Campa.

Cheer is unlike other sports as the cheer squad is active all year long. “Cheer has always been a four-season sport for those teams that compete said Coach Kristy Streff. “We begin working with the team in April, attend camp and practice in summer, have football in fall, basketball in winter, and tryouts and competitions in spring”

“We as a team and school were very excited to participate in the inaugural CIF cheer season and are so proud to bring the first ever CIF-SS title to the city of Rialto.” Kristy Streff-cheer coach

This isn’t the end for Rialto High Cheer. The team will compete this Saturday at the OC Fair and Event Center for the State Championship.

Video by rialto-now

Win $25 Coffee Bean Gift Card For Christmas

05 Dec 2018 20 Comments

We are giving away gift cards for the holidays to some of the cool places that have come to Rialto.

1st on deck is Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf the tenant that has occupied the open lot across from In & Out Burger.

Comment on this post what kind of coffee or tea is your favorite

Use a REAL email address when setting up your comment (email addresses won’t be made public and will be used to contact the winner only)

Winner will be picked on December 8th!!!!

Video by rialto-now

Holiday Farmers Bucks Distribution Event

05 Dec 2018 Leave a comment

Come out December 5th for the Holiday Farmers Bucks Distribution event. You must be a Rialto Resident to get a free coupon book (1 per household while supplies last) to be used at the Farmer’s Market. There will be information booths, music, raffles, and more. Contact the Rialto City Clerk’s Office for more information at (909) 820-2519

Video by rialto-now

Eisenhower Rolls Through El Rancho to a CIF Semi Finals Win

21 Nov 2018 Leave a comment

Eisenhower High School has officially broken through and done what many called impossible. In a city of Rialto’s size with three major High Schools all competing for the talented young youth building a High School program that can return to a CIF final wasn’t an easy task, but it has been done.

On Friday November 16th in Pico Rivera Eisenhower entered the El Rancho High School with a passion to win and get a chance at a CIF title ring. El Rancho a much different team than the Chaffey Tigers of the week before from the begining you could tell this game wasn’t going to be a cakewalk. El Rancho had stands full of fans and plenty of fan fair and flair to go with it. El Rancho known for trick plays and onside kicks came to play and in the end Eisenhower was to the task.

Eisenhower as an entire team won this game as it was done with touchdowns and field goals this time around under the perfect foot of female player Taylor Jackson. Yes you heard that right a girl playing Varsity Football in a game that mattered scoring points that were crucial! Another stand out in this game and the person responsible for getting Eisenhower on the board early was #14 Dayveon Benton who turned a high snap over the El Rancho Quartbacks Head into a fumble recovery and touchdown!

Quaterback Ceaser Ayala orchestrated a masterful game where the ground and air attack were both viable options. He went 8-17 for 138 yards and 1 touch down.

Joel Ayala a player chosen to stand among other High School Players last week for the title of So Cal Player of the week carried 12 times for 49 yards. Jordan Goodloe put Eisenhower on his back against El Rancho with 23 carries for 237 yards and 2 touch downs! Jordan Goodloe was getting down and dirty on El Rancho’s old style real grass and dirt field and you could see that on his #11 Jersey.

Eisenhower plays the CIF final game against Highland High School from Palmdale on Saturday November 24th at Eisenhower High School. Both teams come into this game with a 13-0 record this season. This final game will be for the title in Division 10 title. Rialto it is time to come out and fill the stands of the NEW stadium. Come out and support our hometown teams return to greatness!

Tickets are:

$5 for students with an ASB card or children 5-13 years old

$12 for adults and students without an ASB card

Cash and Credit Card accepted!

Video by rialto-now

Henry Nickel looks for voters to elect him to California Assembly

29 Oct 2018 Leave a comment

Henry Nickel a San Bernardino Councilman is asking for voters to elect him the the California State Assembly on November 6th. Henry Nickel is looking to replace Republican Assemblyman Marc Stienorth who has decided not to run for reelection.

Henry Nickel claims that the reason that we are so heavily taxed in this state is because of the lack of checks and balances in our governmental structure. One party has complete control and power and that party seems Hell bent on raising every tax known to man and creating some new ones along the way.

Henry Nickel calls out one proposition that will hit local residents the hardest and that is Prop 6 the Gas Tax Repeal measure. It has been calculated that people who live in the Inland Empire will spend an additional $800 per year on top of what the Democrats claim it will cost taxpayers. This is due to the amount of time Inland residents spend commuting to work.

Henry Nickel has some experience in dealing with budgets and hard times as you can see in the video below:

Video by rialto-now

Council Looks To Put Tax Money In Danger To Help Special Interests

26 Oct 2018 3 Comments

Rialto has seen a boom in development this year with the opening of the new Super Walmart development on the south end and the Renaissance development in the north end of town. Each development has come with its own unique set of challenges to reach the point of completion.

The last few developments that have been handled by one developer have seemed to fall short of the promises made and this developer is a close friend and campaign contributor to Councilman Ed Scott.

Fernando Acosta is a business owner and developer who lives here in Rialto. He owns the Popeye’s fast food restaurant on Ayala and Baseline and has been the developer of the In-N-Out Burger restaurant pad and now the area of the Cracker Barrel.

The In-N-Out pad was one that still to this day has issues that the developer and city failed to address:

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf almost didn’t happen.
There was supposed to be a Miguel’s Jr.
Other retail uses were planned but never added.
Responsibility to clean the lot still resides with the city.

Now Mr. Acosta is the developer of the Cracker Barrel site and has hit a bump in the road and Mr. Acosta is looking for the city to bail him out!

As you can see staff is telling the city council that this is a bad idea and a bad position to be in. Mr. Acosta is more than a year out on completing pad 3, yet he wants the city to put our money in jeopardy. Staff points out multiple times that this is a bad idea and reminds the council that this is General Fund money and that the city has already assisted Mr. Acosta.

To add insult to injury the council directs the City Treasurer to broker a finance deal for Mr. Acosta between the city and Banner Bank. When was the last time the city ever bent over backwards for a resident or business owner in this city when it came to the financial dealing of a new house or business construction?

Councilman Ed Scott claims he doesn’t want to see the project delayed but empty stores still exist across the street in the Renaissance development and that hasn’t hindered anything? There are tons of empty buildings all over Rialto especially on Foothill – one of Rialto’s most heavily traveled routes. Where is the city council jumping to intervene in those situations? Maybe it is because there are no campaign contributions in it for them in those situations?

Another item that should cause great concern to Rialto residents is that Mr. Acosta stands to make a lot of money on this deal. So we’re going to put tax dollars and the city into a risky position so a developer can make a ton of cash? Does that smell to anyone else?

The truth of the matter is that Cracker Barrel is already well under construction and the other tenants are ready to begin construction soon. Mr. Acosta has done this before – promised tenants that never materialize. I looked at his presentation to city council as a bad pitch on Shark Tank. He spoke of offers to fill spaces but never produced any proof, it seemed clear he was pulling a favor from the campaign favor bank!

See video of the full tab below!

Video by rialto-now

Sean Flynn Offers A New Approach To Creating Change In San Bernardino

28 Sep 2018 Leave a comment

We had a chance meet with Sean Flynn a candidate for the 31st Congressional District which stretches from Pomona all the way to Mentone!

This district covers a large portion of Rialto and most of San Bernardino.

The city of San Bernardino has been in trouble ever since the city went through bankruptcy and things have been pretty bleak. Many former San Bernardino residents that have returned for business or visits have described what they see when returning as a gut punch. Public Safety services and General Public services took a hit and still struggle to come back to life as San Bernardino rises from Bankruptcy.

The recent shooting that put 8 people in the hospital including one minor has once again surfaced the talk of what can be done in San Bernardino to deal with crime? The answer currently is to place private security officers at the location of this most recent shooting and argue over how to police a city that seems to be still dealing with the massive collapse of their economy.

The ideas being put forth now are the same old answers that sadly haven’t worked and even though the current congressman feels bad for those effected by this horrible incident he has nothing worthwhile to offer as a solution.

Sean Flynn sat down with us to talk about a lot of what he wants to bring to the District if he is elected to Congress in November. His take on San Bernardino even before this horrible situation is so vital we thought it would be a good idea to put this part out before we release the entire interview.

We thought this idea of taking federal resources and applying them to struggling communities was very innovative and hasn’t been brought forward yet, what do you think?

Video by rialto-now

NFL Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott returns to Eisenhower High for stadium dedication.

12 May 2018 Leave a comment

Written by: Yazmin Alvarez

Before he was dubbed “the greatest complete player” in the NFL, Ronnie Lott was a standout athlete on the basketball court and the gridiron at Eisenhower High School.

On Thursday, May 10, the Rialto-raised former proballer was invited back to his high school alma mater for yet another recognition, the dedication of the state-of-the-art Ronnie Lott Stadium.

“Wow, it’s amazing,” Lott said walking into the stadium. I’m extremely humbled.”

Eisenhower High Principal Scott Sparks introduced Lott, “his childhood football hero” to the crowd sitting in the new bleachers, including some of Lott’s former classmates and dozens of dignitaries in attendance.

“This Hall of Famer sat in the same classrooms that you are sitting in today. He went to the same cafeteria that you go through every day. He proved to you that you can come from Rialto and be the best,” Sparks said.

https://www.facebook.com/rialtoflooring/

As part of the dedication ceremony, Lott shared how his former coach at Ike, “Coach Christopher,” made a deep impression on his outlook in life.

He remenediced back to when his coach would play a speech given by General George Patton about how “you have to play to win.”

While Lott has seen success in the NFL playing for the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Raiders and the New York Jets, he still feels he has a lot of work to do.

“I’m still trying to win,” Lott said. “I’m still trying to make sure that each kid has a chance to win. I’m forever indebted to (coach).”

Lott also announced that on behalf on him and his wife, Karen, they would be granting a $1,000 scholarship to the top athlete at Eisenhower starting this year.

“We’ll be doing that every year for as long as I’m alive,” Lott said.

The stadium was approved by the Rialto Unified School District Board of Education after a $98 million school bond passed in 2010. The bond, Measure “Y”, was authorized to acquire, construct, and improve classrooms, and support facilities and increase student access to modern technology, according to RUSD.

The $7.3 million dollar stadium can seat 5,000, 4,000 home and 1,000 visitors, features a ticket sales area, concession stands, restrooms for both home and visitors, synthetic turf and field for year-round use, discus and shotput fields, energy efficient LED stadium lights, a state-of-the-art sound system and wireless scoreboard.

Video by rialto-now