Sun Edison, Inc. the world’s largest renewable energy development company, announced that it has signed a 20 year power purchase agreement with the Rialto Unified School District in California for 8.4 megawatts (MW) DC of solar power. As part of the agreement, Sun Edison will install solar canopies above the parking lots of all 28 schools in the district.
The school district expects the solar systems to generate a 20 percent savings on their electricity bill, which equates to $1 million saved in the first year alone. Over the course of the 20-year contract, the school district expects to generate an estimated $30 million dollars savings on energy costs.
“The Rialto Unified School District is taking a financially savvy approach to control their energy costs,” said Sam Youneszadeh, Sun Edison managing director of Western U.S. commercial and industrial. “The Sun Edison solar canopies will generate clean, affordable energy while providing welcome shade for cars in the parking lot. Sun Edison solar solutions are quick to deploy and bring our customers real, immediate energy savings for years to come.”
“These SunEdison solar systems have the potential to generate millions of dollars in savings for our school district over the next 20 years,” said Dr. Cuauhtémoc Avila, Rialto Unified School District superintendent. “These savings can be used to fund other critical needs, and the solar systems can be incorporated into the curriculum as real life examples of innovative science at work. SunEdison has a great track record of solar installations for schools throughout California and we’re delighted to be working with them on this project.”
Another benefit will be through a ciriculum that will be built around this solar project. The funds and savings will be used in part to give students skills and training to enter the field of Solar Energy. Mohammad Islam said that this project has been a long time in the works and that it is nice to see the fruits of their labor becoming a reality.
Rialto’s solar systems are expected to generate enough electricity each year to power more than 1,300 homes. By choosing solar, the school district is eliminating the emission of an estimated 21 million pounds of carbon dioxide annually, the equivalent of taking more than 2,000 cars off the road.
The first school to kick off this project is Carter High School and construction began during the winter break. If the company can work without having to use phases the canopy mounted solar systems are expected to be completed in the second half of 2017.
Operation and maintenance of these solar power plants will be performed by SunEdison Services, which provides global 24/7 asset management, monitoring and reporting services.
Even the county school board sent representatives out to congratulate Rialto Unified School District in this effort.
On the last Friday of 2016 Rialto City Hall was center stage for the issue of illegal immigration. Newly elected Councilman Rafael Trujillo tried to have a secret meeting with outside agencies looking to make sure that Rialto is a Sanctuary City.
We found out that even though Rafael Trujillo wanted the alternative media sources shut out he had invited his own media source Alejandro Cano to write a puff story on what was going down in Rialto.
Also called into question was if Rafael Trujillo was acting on behalf of his boss congresswoman Norma Torres?
Well if you look at the video above Rafael Trujillo is following Norma Torres lead to the letter.
On a rainy day in the Inland Empire most people were cleaning out from the Christmas rush and finishing out a last day of work before 2016 ends and 2017 began. One of Rialto’s newest council members was formulating a plan to break federal law and put Rialto’s ability to obtain Federal Funding in serious jeopardy.
In Rialto voters chose two candidates to replace the two seats left vacant by one councilman’s untimely death early this summer and another choosing to run (unsuccessfully) for Rialto’s Mayor. One of those choices (Rafael Trujillo) has spent his young lifetime working as an aide to State and Federal leaders who would routinely select the audience they choose to speak to and keep their conversational statements from public view. He also has a history of filling elected spots others vacated early and pretending to be the champion of the people.
Some seemed confused about what a sanctuary city is like Victorville City Councilwoman Blanca Gomez (yes all the way from victorville) So we thought we would share the definition:
A sanctuary city is a city in the United States or Canada that has adopted a policy of protecting undocumented immigrants by not prosecuting them solely for violating federal immigration laws in the country in which they are now living illegally. … The designation has no precise legal meaning.
President elect Donald Trump has said that being a Sanctuary City is the quickest way to loose federal funding.
Well Mr. Trujillo was tested by fire and he seemed to crumble under the weight of his plans for Rialto when the opposition came out to challenge him. Rafael Trujillo had planned to hold a private meeting with Maribel Nunez and organizations like TODEC & LULAC. None of these groups have offices located in San Bernardino County let alone Rialto and Mrs Nunez is the Executive Director at California Partnership an LA. This is important because Rafael Trujillo claimed that those who showed up for his Sanctuary City meeting were not qualified to attend because he was only listening to constituents. These groups represent only the needs of people living in this country illegally outside of California Partnership who also helps low income residents but each are large parts of the push to ignore US immigration laws. Actually the only person we could verify that was a Rialto resident was former City Clerk Candidate Ana Gonzalez everyone else was not a verified Rialto resident.
Other People who Rafael Trujillo wanted to hear from were Emilio Garcia a professional activist currently lending his voice to boycotting Driscols Berry Farms over immigrant berry pickers rights to be paid more than most other people even EMT’s working for AMR Private Ambulance Service.
Rafael Trujillo seemed really worried about the cameras because he said the meeting would only resume when the cameras went away little did we know that Rafael Trujillo invited a reporter formerly with the Fontana Herald and now with the Hispanic Publican Unidos en el Sur de California to cover (See image below)
The image above says it all that Alejandro Cano was there to write a puff piece on Rafael Trujillo’s plans to sneak this idea on Rialto residents. Now Rafael Trujillo was asked a question that I thought was interesting. Is his boss Norma Torres behind this effort?
Well here is where you connect the dots. Rafael who has never had a thought that was his own works for Norma Torres and Rafael invited Alejandro Cano to cover this action. Now all we need to do is connect the three Sanctuary Cities, Alejandro Cano, Rafael Trujillo and Norma Torres hmmmm.
Yes Alejandro Cano seems to work very closely to both Norma Torres and Rafael Trujillo. So close in fact that he wrote this article of Norma Torres swearing in her son who was recently elected into the Pomona City Council. At this meeting Norma Torres was quoted as saying “On the issue of immigration and the political ideas of President-elect Donald Trump, Torres said that now more than ever the Council must support local, state and federal authorities in their readiness to confront Trump’s radical policies“. So it begs to question was Arthur Schaper (the person who shot this video) onto something or is Rafael Trujillo taking liberties with his employment in the Congressional office of Norma Torres?
The end result was the meeting was shut down and the actions were halted for now. Rialto residents that don’t support Sanctuary City for Rialto include Councilman Ed Scott and Councilman Joe Baca Jr. Other vital members of the Rialto community that are opposed are Ed Palmer, Ray Farmer and other residents that were in the crowd of anti Sanctuary City Protesters.
Ray Farmer “If this is true we are drifting into dangerous waters, I want to know more about this and who is involved, as a long time Rialto residence , I am very concerned,!“
To view all the video on this event go to the following alternative media sources:
It has been a long time since Eisenhower has seen the winning glory days of the 90’s. The hiring of Varsity Head Football Coach Brown is the hope that those days are around the corner. In our interview with coach brown this summer he laid out a program that brought back the student athlete culture that many past Eisenhower graduates remember. Eisenhower boys Varsity Football 2-8 overall they split the two preseason games and won only one game against local rival Rialto High School. (See highlights below)
The game against Rialto High was a great game that really highlighted Eisenhower’s strengths. Eisenhower would suffer some injuries that would prove to make the remaining regular season difficult. Loosing their starting center and some other players to season ending injuries would be the beginning of a ruff season for Eisenhower High School. As Eisenhower prepared to face off against power house football team from Redlands School Citrus Valley High School learning to use back up players in a role as important as center would prove to be too much.
Eisenhower Star wide receivers and running back would prove to have some break out moments but Citrus Valley’s offense would prove to be too much for Eisenhower’s defense. Another constant throughout the season was the officiating crew as Eisenhower had to play against each opponent and the referees. Bad call after bad call seemed that the refs had a personal vendetta against Eisenhower. It wasn’t just one game it was every single game.
Cajon was a different beast and Lamario Howard had some replay worthy plays returning a kickoff for a touchdown and laying down some timely hits on defense. One thing that seemed to keep our players out of closing the gap in the 2nd half was the fact that some of the best players were playing both ways.
Eisenhower played AB Miller with much of the same results……
It was clear that Redlands is doing something right because even though their city is split three ways with three separate high schools they have teams that compete at the highest levels and win. Redlands high players were all bigger and stronger than Eisenhower players and at time drug our defensive players for additional yards as they tried to tackle them.
The game against Carter was played at Rialto High as Eisenhower’s field was closed for use. Eisenhower hoped to at least claim the city bragging rights for this season with a win against Carter. This proved to be a unreachable goal as Eisenhower lost to Carter as well. One bright spot in the 2nd half was the emergence of freshman QB Cesar Ayala taking over the helm from his senior cousin Joel Ayala he preformed well and showed some great promise. We also saw a few more freshman get some serious time in this game showing us what a developing team Eisenhower should be bringing to the field next season.
The final game of the season ended like the others but we were able to see how our future players will pick up next season. Freshman QB Cesar Ayala started the final game and his cousin the senior QB Joel Ayala came in to run some wildcat plays trying to throw off the highly developed Yucaipa High players. Yucaipa had twice as many players on their roster than Eisenhower showing that they were one of the last true football towns in the Inland Empire.
One thing that rang true was Coach Brown’s dedication to developing his players and making sure they learned as much as they could from their time on and off the field. It seems to be translating into a great run at next season with coach brown already working on developing his team for next season. Word around campus is that administration is happy to have coach Brown and his staff and can’t wait to see what nest season has in store. Other notable standouts this season were Nick Freeman at WR and Charles Matthews at RB.
We can’t wait to see what the future holds for Eisenhower football.
If you’re thinking of deep-frying a turkey this year, the Rialto Fire Department wants to remind everyone to BE SAFE and follow these tips:
1. Stay Away from The House – Set up the turkey fryer more than 10 feet away from your home and keep children and pets away. Never leave it unattended.
2. Find Flat Ground – The oil must be even and steady at all times to ensure safety. Place the fryer on a flat, level surface and carefully gauge the amount of oil needed.
3. Use a Thawed and Dry Turkey – Make sure your Thanksgiving turkey is completely thawed and dry. Extra water will cause the oil to bubble furiously and spill over. If oil spills from the fryer onto the burner, it can cause a fire.
4. Monitor the Temp – Use caution when touching the turkey fryer. The lid and handle can become very hot and could cause burns. Also be sure to keep track of the oil’s temperature as many fryers do not have their own thermostats.
5. Be Prepared – Have a fire extinguisher (multipurpose, dry-powder) ready at all times in the event that the oil ignites. http://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/thanksgiving-cooking-safety-cpsc-demonstrates-dramatic-cooking-fires
On November 8th this writer was invited to participate in a strategic planning session for one of Rialto Unified School Districts Elementary Schools. I was excited to be a part of being part of shaping the future and moving the needle of change for children where they are most molded into their future self’s. I was also excited because I have a new found respect for Rialto Unified Superintendent Dr. Avila and his vision for being more aware of how to capitalize on teachable moments rather than allowing them to pass on by just to remain on a long term path to a distant future.
As I sat and listened to Dr. Avila and his team explain what we were being tasked with re-thinking our preconceived ideas of education and the school in question so that we could create a place that parents and students wanted to be. Once Dr. Avila left the mood changed rather quickly and the teachers who had been around for years fought any outside thinking or avoided any changes. They were building what was already there and I thought why are we wasting time and resources on nothing?
You see this is the greatest problem with innovative thought in public education its not that we cant afford it, the issue is older teachers don’t want to change and they don’t have to. Because they have tenure they can fight change for years and the only person that suffers is the children.
Now I’m going to let you in on the big secret there was one word that that got me attacked and shut down by half the room was that we would Guarantee that each child with find a love for learning. The word Guarantee scared the crap out of them “I can’t make a Guarantee I will get sued” or “that is a business term not meant for the classroom”. What is funny is that because public educators are so quick to take the easy road to the end of the school year millions of parents spend thousands of dollars each year for private education. What is the difference? Private schools must work as hard as possible to make sure that the student has the opportunity to fully blossom into their future self. These teachers actually told me in front of the whole group if you want that education you have to pay for it!!!!!! Man what are my tax dollars for anymore? As of February 1st 2016 Rialto Unified is paid $9,293 per student.
36
67850
Rialto Unified
232,519,852
25,022.2
9,293
Unified
At on of the more popular private schools in the region parents of elementary students would pay:
So tell me again how being innovative and giving parents the impression that your there to do you absolute best is so much more expensive?
So as I came across this video from Viral Thread it made me wonder why these teachers wouldn’t want the chance at experiencing what these teachers are the joys of making a difference. Another thing is that both the Vice Principal and Principal allowed this to happen they never stepped in.
Where do we go from here? Did we bring Dr. Avila to Rialto only to make the same mistakes over and over again or are we ready for change that will shape our children and our region?
Our team has been getting bombarded with emails and Facebook posts looking for information on who to vote for in the upcoming election. So were putting out our guide to tell you who we think is the best candidate for the Rialto Region. We are covering Rialto and a few surrounding cities since our reader footprint has grown so much. Please don’t let a bad candidate keep you from voting if you don’t like someone running for office just skip that section and move on to the next. Also remember that your local leader will have a greater effect on your life than someone who runs on a larger scale.
United States Senator – Kamala Harris/ Neither choice is great but Kamala Harris just seems more level headed.
Congressional District 8 – Paul Cook/ Mr Cook has served in this seat for a while and has done a fair job representing the people of his district.
Congressional District 31 – Paul Chabot/ Mr Chabot has worked hard for the region to make sure working families can thrive and survive. Mr Chabot also has an innovative idea to bring a Joint Forces Base to San Bernardino which would be a grand shot in the arm for that once great city. Also with National Safety such a big concern Paul Chabot has the experience working in the military to keep the IE safe.
Congressional District 35 – Norma Torres/ Even though we don’t always agree with Congresswoman Torres she has proven that she will listen and speak to the people. Mrs. Torres is one of those congressional members that wont shy away from talking to community members and she holds more events for the community than any other current congressional member. Her opponent Tyler Fishella doesn’t live here or even know the issues of the region. Three times we had interviews set up with him and he canceled each time Mrs Torres has never denied anyone the pleasure of a conversation.
State Assembly District 40 – Marc Stienorth/ Marc Stienorth has an opponent in Abigail Medina and this woman is beyond dangerous. She has time and time again ignored the Brown Act has a San Bernardino City School Board Member and spearheaded allowing students of the San Bernardino School District to bring Marijuana, Knives and fight on campus and be able to avoid the normal consequences that come along with these types of crimes. Instead of the School Police issuing a citation the student will get a slap on the wrist and be sent on their way.
State Assembly District 47 – Eloise Reyes/ Incumbent Cheryl Brown voted one way on raising gas prices then voted differently when big environmental organizations applied preasure. Cheryl Brown ignored my local schools request to have her out and cheryl brown went out of her way to attack residents that question her and call them names at political events. Cheryl Brown is a big part of the problem when it comes to blocking worthy causes from access to helping people. She only allows people access to the people when they fall into political favor. We need leaders that stand for their morals and actually listen to the people. Eloise sits on a local CAG group and has had some heated arguments but after its said and done she can still act like respectful person.
San Bernardino Community College District Board Member Area 1 – Paul Rasso/ Mr Rasso is a dedicated community leader that has already dedicated years to developing our future leaders. Paul Rasso works hard and would be a breath of fresh air on the college board.
Rasso, 50, an Office Machine Technician for the Colton Joint Unified School District currently serves as chairman of both Colton’s Parks and Recreation Commission and the Community Coalition for Change. He expressed confidence in helping to bridge gaps between the district’s two colleges (San Bernardino Valley and Crafton Hills) and employers, as well as ensure quality education and support services for students.
“I want to be able to close the gap to help these students,” said Rasso. “These kids can have a familiar face that can help them find the right resources. We should not just tell our kids, ‘Go to college and do this, and this.’ We should be able to tell them, ‘We can help you.”
Fontana Unified School Board – Lorena Corona & Mars Serna/ You get two votes here and we have seen Mars Serna do some good and we hope he can shake the stink of some of the ugly people backing his campaign and do some good things for Fontana Schools.
Rialto Unified School Board – Joe Martinez and Nancy O’Kelly/ On this one you get 3 votes these two incumbents are a good choice.
Chaffey Joint Union High School District – Matthew Munson
Fontana City Council – JESUS “JESSE” SANDOVAL & LYDIA SALAZAR-WIBERT/ These two incumbents have been working hard for the people of Fontana. They both have stood up to the heavy hand of the Mayor of Fontana and now even though Lydia allowed the Mayor to use her family to re elected two years ago the Mayor is now turning on Lydia. Don’t fall for the lies Vote to keep these two incumbents working for fontana.
Grand Terrace City Council – Brian L. Reinarz
Ontario City Council – Richard Roybal & Ruben Valencia
Rancho Cucamonga City Council – Curtis PITTS ( Vote Only for Him)
Redlands City Council – Ken Hunter (only vote for Ken)
Rialto Mayor – Edward Palmer
Rialto City Council – David Phillips & Joe Britt
Rialto City Clerk – Ana Gonzalez
Upland Mayor – Glenn Bozar
Upland City Council – Dan Morgan
Board of Directors Division 1, San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District – Ed Killgore
Board of Directors Division 2, San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District – Randall Cenciros
Proposition 51 – NO/ If you approve this $9 billion dollar the total projected cost will be $17.5 Billion when it is all said and done.
Proposition 52 – NO/ Obama Care hospital tax.
Proposition 53 – YES/ Requires voter approval for bonds over 2 billion dollars.
Proposition 54 – YES/ Leaders must post a bill 72 hours before voting on it opening them up to voter review.
Proposition 55 YES/ Fund our schools
Proposition 56 – YES/ Keep kids from smoking cigarettes.
Proposition 57 – NO/ Further reduces sentences of inmates and release more felons into our neighborhoods.
Proposition 58 – NO/ They are using teaching english as a way to force kids to be bilingual.
Proposition 59 – NO/ This is a government ploy to restrict FREE SPEECH.
Proposition 60 – YES/ Anything that will help get rid of the adult film industry.
Proposition 61 – NO/ Will increase drug prices on Veterans and millions of Californians.
Proposition 62 – NO/ Without the death penalty there will not be an ultimate price for the worst of the worst.
Proposition 63 – NO/ Just say no to background checks on ammo that will push more ammo sales underground.
Proposition 64 – NO/ Just Say No to recreational drug use in California. Each home can have 6 pot plants and kids will be marketed to on TV bad for California bad for families.
Proposition 65 – NO/ Money will go right into special interests pockets.
Proposition 66 – YES/ Speeds up the death penalty process.
Proposition 67 – NO/ Take back control of what type of bag you use.
Etiwanda School District Measure Measure I
City of San Bernardino Measures Measure L – NO/ The framers of this charter change have thrown in a couple of good things to take your eyes away from all the bad like removing your right to vote for your City Clerk. The backers of this Measure are John Longville and Chris Mann two men that have been caught more than once looking at their own best interests and shutting up the community. John Longville seen in the video below.
City of San Bernardino Measure N – NO/ San Bernardino doesn’t need anymore drugs.
City of San Bernardino Measure O – NO/ San Bernardino doesn’t need anymore drugs.
City of San Bernardino Measure P – NO/ San Bernardino doesn’t need anymore drugs.
City of Upland Measure Measure U – NO/ Will flood Upland with harmful drugs that will be sold by the strip club owner in Upland.
KFI Traffic first reported a accident on the 10 westbound at Rancho Ave where wood was dropped on the 10 freeway causing a backup that streached to the 215 freeway.
Now the San Bernardino Sun is reporting more details below:
A big-rig carrying a forklift struck a bridge under construction on the westbound 10 Freeway, forcing officials to initiate a SigAlert Wednesday morning.
“At approximately 9 a.m., a tractor-trailer carrying a forklift struck a beam of the Pepper Avenue overpass above the 10 Freeway,” California Highway Patrol Officer Brian Alvarez said. “No injuries were reported, and crews estimate a reopening of the freeway to be around 1 p.m.”
All westbound lanes are closed. Traffic is being diverted off the freeway and back on again.
Alvarez said a few cars were damaged from the falling debris but didn’t go into detail.
Investigators are on scene trying to determine if the load height was over the limit.
As SANBAG looks to add toll lanes to the 10 freeway more accidents like these are coming due to the fact that lanes will be shrunk to fit in the toll lanes on a already tight freeway.
As has been very well covered is Presidential Candidate Hilary Clinton calling her opponents supporters deplorable. Well in a recent interview Councilman Ed Scott was quoted in the San Bernardino Sun article calling the people who run to seek political office Crazy.
“Generally, during an election year, when we have council races, we go dark in October,” Councilman Ed Scott said. “So that we don’t have all the crazy election antics at city council meetings.” – Rialto Councilman Ed Scott
This is a failed statement because we have been told that the council goes dark to allow incumbents the ability to equally campaign just as their challengers. We can tell you that the crazy antics (public holding our leaders feet to the fire) go on year round and this is one of the few opportunities that Mr. Scott can shut down the community.
Ed Scott is no stranger to yelling at the community and city staff behind closed doors and in the public. Ed Scott used to accuse the press of misquoting him but once we began covering this city we found that Mr. Scott opens himself up to being quoted for the words that pour over his lips. Once we began making public the videos of City Council leaders acting in ways that are not appropriate the leaders who were in the wrong have grown concerned.
Below is a recent video of Ed Scott blindly threatening the community at large that he is coming after someone. This is a concern because he has used actual litigation against citizens who worked to oppose his past attempts to outsource Rialto’s Police Department.
What all this proves is that as we are voting that we vote for leaders who will lead the people not threaten and shut them down.
On Wednesday October 5th we brought you the story of the Werner Elementary safety issues.
That same evening the parents and community came out to speak to the Rialto Traffic Commission on the issues with speeding & safety in front of their school. Listed on the Commission agenda was the anticipated attendance of current Rialto Mayor Deborah Robertson the parents and community were hoping to get to speak to her publicly. Well once again the Mayor was a No Show and only represented an empty seat.
Jasmine Avila carried the group with a prepared statement that pointed out the mayors history with transportation and her campaign promise to make Rialto a safe place to live work and play. The group now calls on Mayor Robertson to turn words into actions and help make the front of their school a safe place for our kids.
The group has heard from the mayor already stating that any solution would not work because of where Rialto Unified School District decided to place this school even though the city was not in favor of the location. Two parents from the group also addressed the Commissioners one explaining how the parents are choosing to solve the problem of traffic.
The parents and the community they have rallied to their side are sticking to the issue that something needs to be done. After the meeting Mr. David Phillips a community member and local advocate running for city council was able to introduce the group to City Administrator Mike Story who told the group that they are going to meet down at the school in the coming week with all parties to see what can be done to make the street safer for students. Mike Story said that the meeting will consist of Public Works Director Robert Eiezenbiez, Rialto Police Sgt, RUSD top leadership and others to see first hand what is going on and how they can come to a solution.
During the Commission meeting the Chair Dennis Barton told the group that traffic signals must be warranted via rules that the city and state are bound to. We didn’t get to ask Mr. Barton if the short traffic signals on foothill and Baseline were held against those same standards?
In the midst of an election year the amount of ducking and hiding that is going on is way out of character leaving one to believe if the Mayor still wants to be Rialto’s Mayor? Then enters Councilman Ed Scott who wants you to forget that the area the schools are in were once zoned for commercial purposes would need to be re-zoned before RUSD could build a school there.
“I was extremely concerned when the school district decided to build schools there, because it’s on a major industrial-type street. I think the school district should have done some better planning than put a school there,” he said. “I agree, it’s something that needs to be looked at, and the school district needs to participate in it, since it’s something they decided to do. … Whenever you build a school, you have to think about the children that you’re educating and make sure they’re in a safe situation.” Councilman Ed Scott
The problem is IF the mayor and councilman Ed Scott were so against this school being built why did they approve the land re-zoning? Well it is because our leaders refuse to make the hard decisions that may not be popular but necessary. Because not allowing the school to be built would not have been popular and the Mayor and Ed Scott are only interested in the popular vote.
rialtonow 