When Brigadier General Roger Turner assumed command of the Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms on June 8 from Major General William F. Mullen III, he expressed enthusiasm for his newest assignment. The training and discipline instilled in the marines and sailors who went through the programs there had stood the center’s graduates in good stead when they went out into a hostile world and a war environment, he said.
“The training here is more difficult than the situations you are going to face in combat,” Turner said. “That’s our charge and I think this place has [ensured troop readiness and preparedness] for me and for the units I’ve been fortunate enough to lead. We’re really excited to be here and we look forward to working with you and tackling all of these difficult challenges.”
Some ten weeks into his command of the training center, however, Turner and the rest of the Marine Corps was hit with a revelation that the ideally envisaged discipline and military dedication he had spoken about had been compromised by the indulgence of some within the troops he is commanding in at least one, and perhaps more, of the seven deadly sins.
The sheer numbers of military personnel reported to be involved were astounding, though there is some question about the accuracy of that report. Moreover, the matter did not come to a head as a relatively low key affair involving an arrest or two of some marines by the local sheriff’s office. In the past the Corps had been able to contain scandals with the assistance of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, which handles law enforcement in the area. A former commander of the Twentynine Palms Marine Base in a public forum had once said his service had an agreement with the sheriff that would allow “us to take care of our idiots and the civilian authorities to take care of theirs,” meaning regular citizens who came onto the Marine Corps base and involved themselves in fights or burglaries, theft, robbery or fraud were routinely turned over to the sheriff, who arranged for the district attorney to prosecute them. By the same token, marines who found their way into bars in Twentynine Palms, or Joshua Tree or Yucca Valley and involved themselves in fisticuffs or assaults were handed over to the shore police or Marine Corps security forces for punishment and discipline.
The most recent scandal, however, has raged beyond that of local authorities to tamp it, as it has now garnered national and international attention and write-ups in major news outlets. The issues involve murder and a drug ring consisting of dozens, scores or maybe even hundreds of Marines.
Six days before Mullen relinquished command of the Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center to Turner, the remains of a man were found on June 2 in a shallow grave in Joshua Tree National Park in San Bernardino County, near Big Horn Pass Road and Park Boulevard, about six miles south of Twentynine Palms, not too distant from the dividing line with Riverside County. In relatively short order those remains were identified as those of a Murrieta man, Henry Stange, 54.
Stange had lived in the 24000 block of New Clay Street, near Kalmia Street in Murrietta. He had gone missing in late May. It remained something of a mystery as to how, precisely, the patch of earth in a forsaken area of the desert had come to be his not-so-final resting place.
Henry Stange was a ham radio operator who broadcast at 147.435MHz using the call signs WA6RXZ and KG6EBF. As such he had various and wide-ranging contacts with other radio operators. Like Stange, 1st. Lt. Curtis Krueger, a communications officer with Combat Logistics Battalion 7 at the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Base, had an interest in radioing. Krueger enlisted in the Marines in April 2005, when he was yet 17, becoming a private first class upon graduating from boot camp. He steadily moved up through the non-commissioned ranks, studied computer science programming at San Diego State University and compiled a 3.4 grade point average there while stationed at Camp Pendleton and then qualified to attend officer candidate school. In 2015, he graduated from the Marine’s officer training institution, earning in so doing his lieutenant’s bars. In June 2017 he was stationed at the Twentynine Palms base, where he is leader of a communications team.
Stange’s interest in radios led him into a certain danger zone. One of those issues was  the existence of and Stange’s use of so-called repeaters that propagate and repropagate radio signals. Some of those repeaters did not belong to him. Another problematic matter was Stange’s fabrication of custom ham radio antennas. These devices can result in interference with other electronic devices, and there are videos and audio recordings of Stange in heated arguments about the use of the antennas and the repeaters by radio operators. He was quite active in the ham radio community and it was established that he had come into contact with the 30-year-old Krueger, and Kreuger’s 27-year-old wife, Ashlie Stapp, as a consequence of that activity. There are photos and even videos of Stange, Krueger and Stapp at barbecue picnics and potlucks involving radio enthusiasts, both professional and amateur.
Stange had other interests and hobbies, including guitar playing, falconry and freshwater sportsfishing, activities which brought him into contact with many others in Southern California.
Stange also had a now-grown daughter and a son who were in frequent if not constant contact with him. After Stange had gone missing but before his body was found, the Murrietta Police Department had been contacted. When detectives with the department went to Stange’s New Clay Street residence and worked their way inside, they discovered a crime scene at which they believe Stange had been murdered.
While detectives are playing further discoveries and evidence they have exhumed very close to the vest, by August 28, they had what they believed was probable cause to arrest both Krueger and Stapp for involvement in Stange’s murder. Working in conjunction with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, the detectives on August 29 arrested Krueger just as he was entering the Twentynine Palms Air-Ground Combat Center at its south entrance. Around the same time, sheriff’s deputies went to the campus of Copper Mountain Community College in Joshua Tree, where Stapp was taken into custody. Both were transported to Riverside County, where Krueger and Stapp were booked at the Cois Byrd Detention Center in French Valley for murder and conspiracy. Stapp was subsequently transferred to the Riverside County Jail in Indio and Krueger to the Southwest Detention Center in Murrietta, where both were held in lieu of $1 million bail.
Using search warrants, the investigators seized the computers at the Marine Corps Base that Krueger had access to; his cell phone; Stapp’s cell phone and computer; Krueger’s military-issued E-Tool, a communications device; a military-issued foldable shovel often used for digging combat fighting holes and filling sandbags, along with other items from Krueger’s car and residence.
Two days later, however, after an extensive review, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office had concluded that there was insufficient evidence against both Krueger and Stapp to proceed with a prosecution of either of them. They were released.
There were many people who thought highly of Stange, and positive statements about him abound on the internet. If investigators were proceeding against Krueger and Stapp on the theory that the couple had some animus toward him, their would-be case ran into some complication in that there were at least a few others who had strong differences with Stange, as well.
In existence was an online web page dedicated to criticizing Stange and his ham radio activity, including accusations that he was engaged in touch tone jamming. Posted on the web page were reproductions of admonitions from the Federal Communications Commission calling upon him to desist in using signal boosters and/or repeaters that others had set up.
There was also some nastiness in his divorce and the child custody case that ensued, replete with not-entirely verified accusations of domestic-violence and restraining orders, and a court ruling that one of those restraining orders had been violated.
Accordingly, with a plethora of other suspects or potential suspects, the murder case against Krueger and Stapp has again been reduced to an investigation, and is languishing.
All of the investigative activity relating to Stange’s death and its intrusion into the life of a lieutenant in the communications division at the Marine base overturned a number of rocks and some pretty nasty details crawled out from under them.
On August 30, while Krueger and Stapp were yet in custody, Newsweek, in an article by James LaPorta, reported that almost 100 marines and sailors who were students at the Marine Corps Communication-Electronics School were involved in a drug ring. The ring’s trademark was infusing Sour Patch Kids candy with LSD and heroin. The drug-laced candy, thus disguised in the form of a common commodity, would then be sold to drug users, according to the report.
It was suggested that the report was somewhat overblown and that the ring was not as large or intensive as represented in the Newsweek article. Still, the development was not a positive one for the Marines and an unwelcome headache for Turner and the base’s sergeant major, Stephen W. Muller.
The base’s Communication Strategy and Operations Center on September 6 acknowledged, “Allegations of misconduct surrounding illegal substances have been raised against six students currently assigned to Marine Corps Communication-Electronics School aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms. The investigation remains ongoing with the Criminal Investigation Division. No additional information is available at this time.”
–Mark Gutglueck

Shannon O’Brien said she is seeking a position on the Fontana City Council “to promote fiscal transparency and accountability, to strengthen our local economy and address public safety and housing concerns.”
She is qualified to serve on the council, O’Brien said, in that “I have the experience and training that are necessary to be an effective representative. I previously served on the Fontana School Board. I am the co-founder and CEO of a nonprofit organization that I have run for over twenty-two years, and I have a master’s degree in public policy and administration.”
She is distinguished from her opponents, she said by “my many years of related community involvement, leadership experience and business development, which exceed that of my opponents. I have been on the forefront of issues related to education for local youth, and collaborated with various organizations, including the Fontana City Parks and Recreation Department, to combat bullying in schools. I was a founding board member of the Inland Empire Association of Black School Educators, and have been recognized by many of our local representatives for these contributions.”
In sizing up the challenges Fontana is facing, O’Brien said, “We are building homes without providing local jobs that pay enough to cover mortgages. We are building warehouses, while ignoring the negative environmental impact on the community. We have nonviolent offenders who have been released back into the community with no aggressive rehabilitation efforts to combat the unemployment and substance abuse issues that pose problems for many of them.”
She said those issues should be redressed through straightforward efforts by a fully engaged city council working in conjunction with interested and capable members of the community.
“I believe that we can resolve these problems by bringing more people in our community to the table,” she said. “We have many experienced experts and advocates working and living in Fontana; yet, we do not call upon them when it is time to brainstorm solutions. By being more collaborative and inclusive, and eliminating the ‘politics’ from our strategizing, we can get to the root of the problems.”
The city needs to spend what money it has judiciously and be both attentive and creative in seeking out other revenue sources.
“There is funding available at the state level to address many of these problems,” she said. “There are also local organizations and agencies that are equipped and funded to specifically address these issues. Our communication and relationships with these agencies needs to be strengthened. We also need to manage the city’s finances with these priorities in mind, so that the budget supports the plan of action.”
A resident in Fontana for 15 years, O’Brien attended high school in Wilmington and then enrolled at Howard University, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in political science. She attended the University of District of Columbia School of Law for a year, after which she opted not to pursue a career as an attorney, instead returning to California to earn a master of public administration degree from California State University, Long Beach.
She is now employed as an educational consultant and facilitator with Children’s Resources, Inc. “I provide educational programs for students and parents that pertain to academic achievement and social and emotional learning.” she said.
Her husband is Jason O’Brien, Sr. a member of the Fontana School Board. “I have been married for 26½ years to my college sweetheart, Jason O’Brien, Sr., a police detective. We have a son, Jason, Jr. who is a plumber’s apprentice. He is working on completing his hours to become a master plumber.”
O’Brien said, “I encourage voters in Fontana to visit my website and take the time to complete the short survey that is provided. I also encourage them to visit my Facebook page to keep up with my community appearances and events. My website is www.Shannonobrienfordistrict1.com.”
–M.G.

Edmund Shadman, a 33 year-old California native who has lived in the Town of Yucca Valley since 2006, said he resolved to run for town council this year to provide a voice to other entrepreneurs and small business owners, to promote family values and support the community in general.
“My family, friends and many in my community recognized that I’m a problem solver and have encouraged me to help improve our community,” Shadman said. “I love living here, in this small community town. I want to see its people thrive and the town to be a success, all of which has fueled my decision to run for town council.”
He is not inexperienced with regard to community involvement, Shadman emphasized.
“I currently have the privilege of serving my community as a member of the board of directors of several nonprofit and charitable organizations, with missions to improve the health and well-being of those in need of help,” he said. “I also serve the public through my local business. In these roles I’ve had the opportunity to hone the skills needed to work effectively with others, implement practical solutions, and achieve sustainable success. I can’t think of any higher calling than to use my skills and passion for people and community to serve the residents who live in the Town of Yucca Valley. I pledge my commitment to listen to the concerns and suggestions of everyone, with a clear goal to address them to the town council.”
The 21st Century is upon us, Shadman said, requiring innovation and change, as well as agility on the part of the town’s elected leadership.
“With the rapid growth of our community, we are faced with many changes and challenges including increased homelessness, traffic problems, and the serious issue of crime impacting public safety,” Shadman said. “Working together with our local law enforcement, social welfare and health services, and the California Department of Transportation, we can utilize our town budget to make real and necessary impacts to address these critical issues.”
Shadman is competing against Jim Schooler in the race for District 1 councilman. This is the first time in the town’s 27-year history as an incorporated governmental entity that it has conducted ward elections for town council. Previously, council members were elected in at-large contests in which candidates from throughout 40-square mile Yucca Valley were eligible to run town-wide and voters were free to participate in electing all of the council’s members. This year, races are being held in the town’s 1st, 3rd and 5th districts. Each district is to be represented by a resident from within its confines and residents can vote only with regard to the representation of the district in which they reside.
“When asked what distinguishes me from my opponent,” Shadman said, “it’s clear: we come from different generations, different life and professional experiences and backgrounds. Half of our town’s residents are under 40 years old, many of which are starting families, have young children in school, and are trying to build a strong foundation for their families. I will represent the diversity and shared realities of our whole community. A town council with more age balance would serve the best interests of everyone who lives in Yucca Valley.”
Shadman continued, “More importantly, I will represent the people of Yucca Valley with integrity, ethics, and the highest of moral standards. I vow to work for the people and with my fellow council members to find ways forward towards the goal of sustainable economic, environmental, and social development.”
Speaking directly to his fellow 1st District residents, Shadman said, “I look forward to meeting you and serving you, the people. Please vote Edmund Shadman Yucca Valley Town Council District 1 on Tuesday, November 6, or vote by mail beginning October 11.”
-M.G.

John Dutrey, who has been on the Montclair City Council since 1996, is seeking the voters’ endorsement this year in a bid to become mayor. If he is successful, he will succeed Ginger Eaton, the widow of longtime Mayor Paul Eaton, who died earlier this year. Dutrey is pitted against another veteran of the council, Carolyn Raft, as well as Sousan Elias and Kelly Smith, who have not yet held elective office in Montclair.
Dutrey, a 1983 graduate of Montclair High, said he is running for mayor because, “I grew-up in Montclair, I am loyal to Montclair, and I can provide great leadership for Montclair.”
His complete familiarity with the 5.52-square mile, 39,000-population city gives him a leg up on the competition, Dutrey indicated. When he was yet in his twenties, Dutrey began a six year stint on the Montclair City Planning Commission. At the age of 31, he was elected to the city council. In his 22 years on the council, he was mayor pro tem for eight years, filling in for Mayor Paul Eaton in his absences.
He is distinguished from his opponents, Dutrey said, in that “I have a strong understanding of municipal government, a firm grasp of Montclair issues, a vision for Montclair’s future, can provide strong leadership, have strong support from regional mayors and council members, and truly care about Montclair.”
In outlining what he considers to be the major issues facing the city, Dutrey said he counts “continued pension cost increases impacting the city budget, the development of north Montclair to continue as regional destination that includes the Montclair Place reinvigoration and bringing the Gold Line to Montclair, beautifying the city, improving our streets and parks, and keeping Montclair safe” to be the defining challenges over the next four years.
Noting that “These issues are important for Montclair’s future” and “The city is currently engaged in these issues,” Dutrey said it should be the mayor’s task to keep the rest of the council as well as city staff on point with continuing the progress the city has already achieved, while widening the same solid foundation that has been laid so that work in that regard can proceed.
“The mayor’s role is to ensure staff and council remains focused, engage stakeholders to continue these projects, and advocate for these issues,” Dutrey said.
Dutrey said he is confident that prudent management of the city’s financial resources in the past will continue, and that this will allow the city to pay for the work Montclair needs to accomplish.
“The city has budgeted for many of these projects,” he said. “The goal is ensure the funds are effectively expended at the appropriate time.”
Dutrey is employed with the City of Rialto, where he manages that city’s housing programs. In explaining what range of experience relating to government he possesses, he said, “I work in municipal government, focused on economic development, urban planning and affordable housing. I served as planning commissioner for six years.”
He holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science and a master of arts degree in public administration, both earned from California State University at San Bernardino.
He and his wife, Anne, have two children, Chris and Janine. His son is currently serving in the Army.  He has one granddaughter.
-M.G.

George William Graham, the 26-year-old arsonist who readily admitted to starting the conflagration that destroyed a considerable portion of the Oasis of Mara in Joshua Tree National Park, was sentenced to a 60-month federal prison sentence earlier this month.
Graham on September 10 came before 94-year-old United States District Judge Manuel L. Real, the oldest and longest serving member of the federal judiciary. Real, who was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson, did not hesitate in giving Graham the stiffest sentence permissible under federal law for the crime he had committed.
The Oasis of Mara has both historic and prehistoric significance beyond its striking ecological and environmental presence. Located directly behind the Joshua Tree Oasis Visitor Center and Joshua Tree National Park Headquarters, the oasis was encountered by early American survey parties in the 1850s, centuries after the indigenous people of the area had been tapping into it as a source of water.
The oasis was first settled by the Serrano, who referred to it by the word “Mara,” translated as “place of little springs and much grass.” Legend is that a medicine man recommended the spring water, which he claimed would have the effect of blessing those who drank it with “many boy babies.” Per the medicine man’s instructions, the Serrano planted a palm tree at the oasis with the birth of each boy into a nearby clan. At one point there were 29 palm trees at the site and the name “29 Palms” was given to the area, which before the turn of the 19th to the 20th century was attracting miners and cattlemen.
According to county authorities, a call just after 9 p.m. on March 26 summoned the San Bernardino County Fire Department, the National Park Service/Bureau of Land Management Fire Division, and National Park Service rangers and San Bernardino County sheriff’s personnel to the oasis.
There they saw rapidly spreading flames and Graham, who still at the scene of the fire admiring his handiwork, as the blaze spectacularly and dramatically illuminated the night sky with two fireballs, one half way up one palm tree and another near the apex of another palm tree.
Even before the flames were fully doused, rangers were in contact with Graham, who upon questioning, according to authorities, openly acknowledged using a cigarette lighter to ignite flames at multiple spots around the oasis.
Firefighters managed to contain the path of destruction to 2.5 acres, with some 9,989 square feet completely charred. Grasses, bushes, and other vegetation were consumed. Two palm trees were damaged beyond recovery. Some archeological resources were substantially destroyed.
Graham had two prior arson convictions, having previously been sentenced to four years in state prison. He had been released on parole after serving a portion of his sentence, and was yet on parole when he lit the Mara fire. Real imposed on Graham a statutory maximum 60 month sentence after hearing from Assistant United States Attorneys Carolyn Small and Julia L. Reese.
–Mark Gutglueck

One of the companies that supplies San Bernardino County’s mental health, medical and welfare divisions with services is under investigation by the Osteopathic Medical Board of California.
The focus of that investigation is Dr. Donald Underwood, who stands accused of cutting corners in formulating treatment protocols and cavalierly dispensing medication together with inadequacy in logging or reporting interactions with patients.
Of particular concern to investigators, according to a reliable source of information, was excessive prescription or over-reliance on the use of painkillers and keeping patient treatment histories that failed to document those prescriptions accurately.
At least some of the accusations against Inland Behavioral and Health Services, based in San Bernardino where it operates three medical clinics in addition to an offshoot in Banning, are an outgrowth of allegations that have become public as a result of legal action filed against the operation by former and current employees.
Inland Behavioral and Health Services, while registered as a nonprofit entity, employs a multitude of well-paid medical professionals. Differences have arisen between some of those employees, as well as the nonprofit’s management. At least 13 current and former employees have filed lawsuits against Inland Behavioral and Health Services. At least five of those suits were settled before going to trial. Eight appear to be active.
One of the company’s vulnerabilities is Dr. Underwood, who is the medical director at the nonprofit. A doctor of osteopathic medicine, he is currently licensed to practice in California, but has either voluntarily surrendered his licensure or had it suspended or revoked in Florida, Indiana, New Jersey, New York and Ohio in the 1980s for fraud, incompetence, medical malpractice and gross negligence.
An element of the complaint lodged against Underwood that has potentially-career ending implication for him, at least in California, is that he wrote undated prescriptions which did not have the patients’ names included.
There have also been unflattering portrayals of Inland Behavioral and Health Services’ chief executive officer, Temetry Lindsey, and chief operating officer, Olaf Neumann, in the narratives of several of those lawsuits.
The clinic remains operational and it has been suggested that the complaints lodged with authorities are a ploy to stampede the clinic into a settlement.
The county has a contract with Inland Behavioral and Health Services, Inc. in the amount of $1,920,675 running from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2019 for substance use disorder services for pregnant women.
The county has a contract with Inland Behavioral and Health Services, Inc. in the amount of $79,180 for recidivism reduction.
In addition the county has a contract running from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2019 in a total aggregate amount of $750,000 with High Desert Child, Adolescent and Family Services Center, Inc.; Inland Behavioral and Health Services, Inc.; Inland Valley Drug and Alcohol Recovery Services, Inc.; Matrix Institute, Inc.; Mental Health Systems, Inc.; MFI Recovery Center, Inc.; and Social Science Services, Inc. doing business as Cedar House Life Change Center for the provision of substance use disorder services outpatient treatment services to the county’s Children and Family Services Department clients.
With regard to the county’s contracting with Inland Behavioral and Health Services, David Wert, the county’s official spokesman, said, “It does not appear the services are provided to children nor would involve the prescribing of pain killers. Neither contract involves the prescription of opioids or other pain medications, which is probably why the county is not aware of the investigation you mentioned.”
-Mark Gutglueck

St. Vitus Dance

I jumped and jiggled with vitality
That children know when they are four or five.
Mom glared at me most disapprovingly
At this, the fruit of feeling so alive,
And diagnosed me with “St. Vitus Dance,”
A malady once thought to be a sign
That demons had you in their scaly hands,
Although my symptoms weren’t at all malign.
This man I am looks back with jealousy
Upon the child I was so long ago.
When did that energy just up and go?
He prays at night for past vitality:
That future morning when he springs from bed
And knows he’ll never join the inert dead.

Daniel J. Webster
Footnote: Saint Vitus was the patron saint of dancers, and in the Middle Ages his devotees would dance in his honor in a manic fashion; hence, the modern-day reference to someone who has an excess of energy as having the “Saint Vitus Dance.”
Daniel J. Webster started writing poetry in a serious way while attending Chaffey Community College in Alta Loma in 1975. He has since moved to Japan, where he teaches English at Keio University, as well as at the Universities of Waseda and Meiji. As a New Formalist dedicated to maintaining the traditional standards of meter and rhyme in verse, he has completed several volumes of poetry. In addition, he has translated poetry and short stories from German and Russian.

Jeannette Vagnozzi’s sometimes patient and sometimes anxious wait appears to be over, the Sentinel is informed, as she has unofficially replaced Bill Manis as city manager in Upland, at least on a temporary basis, according to word on the street.
Vagnozzi has been with the city since 2015, when she was brought in to assist then-City Manager Rod Butler in the everyday oversight of operations at City Hall. Butler’s predecessor as full capacity city manager had been Stephen Dunn, who was elevated from his position as finance director to serve as city manager in 2011. Dunn had substantially expanded the duties of then-City Clerk Stephanie Mendenhall after he became city manager, keeping her in the capacity as city clerk while elevating her simultaneously to serve as administrative services director, human resources manager and risk manager. Butler instilled in Vagnozzi a similar span of authority. Vagnozzi was recruited into the City of Gracious Living from her previous post as the assistant to the city manager in the not-too-distant City of La Verne, in which capacity she had lasted for nearly a decade. She was given the lofty-sounding post of Upland’s deputy city manager, which many assumed made her the city’s second-in-command. In actuality, on an organizational chart, the deputy city manager was junior to several city department heads. Nevertheless, like Mendenhall before her, Vagnozzi was given multiple assignments and titles, including that of city clerk, risk manager and human resources director. Ostensibly, she was to serve as Butler’s aide-de-camp and hatchet-woman. In that capacity, an air of palace intrigue attended much of her function. In July of 2016, Butler, who had been with the city for less than two years, was abruptly and ignominiously given the heave-ho by an unlikely 3-to-2 council majority. Vagnozzi’s ascendancy to city manager appeared to be in the offing. Instead, however, the city council elected to bring in the city’s former police chief, Marty Thouvennel, to act as the city’s short term/interim city manager while the city council sought to arrive at a decision as to who would serve as the city’s top administrator in the years going forward. At that point, odds-makers were torn between ranking Vagnozzi or then-finance manager Scott Williams as having the inside track on the post, with others still suggesting that Community Development Director Jeff Zwack better fit the sought-after attributes for the city manager position. Very soon thereafter what were purported to be derogatories relating to Williams that had originated in his personnel file surfaced, and he was shown the door. Many surmised that Vagnozzi, who as the city’s human resources director,was the custodian of all city employees’ personnel files, had more than a passing involvement with Williams’ demise. But there was no proof that Vagnozzi had sabotaged Williams’ chances at becoming the city’s top staff member. The city council was simultaneously entrusting to Thouvenell the task of determining which of the city’s in-house staff members would be best suited to serve as city manager, or in the alternative, to recruit one from outside the city. Though it had been indicated that Thouvenell’s tenure in the interim city manager capacity would be a short one that would last just long enough for his ultimate replacement to be found, he remained as city manager for more 18 months. His extension in the position for that period of time was widely taken as an indication that his advisals to the city council ran against entrusting the position to Vagnozzi. Late last year, it was revealed that Thouvenell’s recommendation was for the council to hire Bill Manis, who was then the city manager with Rosemead and who had previously been the deputy city manager and community development director in San Bernardino, the City of Banning’s economic development director, redevelopment director and public information officer as well as the the economic development director in the City of Cypress prior to his time in Banning. Previously, Manis had held other progressively more responsible positions within the halls of government in the cities of Corona, Santa Ana, and Cerritos.
There was, however, a suggestion that the 57-year-old Manis was not long fated to remain in Upland, as he would be in position at the age of 60 to retire into a full pension. It was believed by some that he was in Upland merely to increase both the years he had accumulated thus far in the public employee retirement system, which was part of the formula upon which his pension is to be calculated, together with the prospect that his top pay as city manager would increase as well, further enhancing his pension, as another part of the formula for calculating retirement benefits among public employees is the level of pay they achieve, as this is used as a multiplier in deriving their pensions. In this way, Vagnozzi remained in the running to become city manager based upon the likelihood that Manis was likely to depart in another two-and-a-half years.
Zwack similarly held a ticket in the Upland city manager sweepstakes. In June, however, he, too, abruptly departed from the city.
As of last night and today, Friday, it is not absolutely clear that the ambitious Vagnozzi is now serving in the capacity of interim city manager. However, a strong indicator of such exists. Upland City Hall is closed on Fridays. Yesterday, September 20, the agenda for the September 24 council meeting was posted. That document, in designating who the various city officials are, lists the current members of the city council as well as Manis in the city manager’s capacity. Near the top of the agenda, scheduled for 6 p.m., an hour before the public portion of the meeting that commences at 7 p.m., the council is scheduled, the agenda states, to adjourn into a closed meeting, outside the earshot and sight of the pubic. The single item scheduled for discussion during that closed hearing, the agenda states, is “Consideration of public employee appointment pursuant to California Government Code Section 54957. Title: Acting City Manager.”
If indeed Manis is leaving, his departure too is to be, like that of Butler, an abrupt one. Moreover the departures of all of the city managers in Upland other than those hired on a specifically interim basis going back for thirteen years have been equally abrupt. Last week, Manis was in attendance at a League of California Cities meeting, representing Upland. His participation in that confabulation would suggest that Manis at that time was comfortable in his role with the city, while spending taxpayer dollars to engage in interaction with other city officials from throughout the state to pick up information that would be of assistance in his continued stewardship of the city. Less than a month prior to Butler’s firing, now-Mayor Debbie Stone, who was then a councilwoman, expressed confidence in Butler, suggesting to then-City Councilman Glenn Bozar, who was grilling Butler on a multitude of issues, that Bozar should back off and allow Butler to simply “do his job.” Stone’s vote was one of the three that terminated Butler. In 2014, Dunn’s departure came after a tense standoff between him and then-Councilman Bozar and then-Mayor Ray Musser. What was interpreted as an intemperate remark during that confrontation led to then-Councilman Brendan Brandt joining with Musser and Bozar to confer a year’s salary upon Dunn to simply have him leave. In January 2011, the council turned on a dime and suspended then-City Manager Robb Quncey before firing him outright four months later, after the statutory six month waiting period after a municipal election had elapsed and it was clear to do so.. And in 2005, the Upland City Council led by then-Mayor John Pomierski induced then-City Manager Mike Milhiser to leave, speeding his exit with a $200,000 contract buyout to convince him to go.
One well placed source noted with caution that “I think it is premature to state Jeannette will be the acting city manager.It is possible that Marty [Thouvenell] or even Steve Dukett [who had been hired into what is essentially the city’s contract community development director post following the departure of Jeff Zwack] could have that position as well.”

Governor Jerry Brown has signed into California law Assembly Bill 2119, which will allow foster children access to hormonal treatments and gender surgery if they “self-identify” as transgender. The practical outcome of the law is that girls as young as 13 who do not have at least one their biological parents as their guardians will be able to demand mastectomies and boys as young as 13 are now able to on their own authority be castrated if they are not living with or supervised by at least one biological parent. As foster children are considered indigents and wards of the state, the medical procedures will be paid for by tax dollars.
AB 2119’s passage was hailed as a potentially lifesaving development by many advocates of transgender liberation.
The bill was passed by the Senate 26-to-12 with two abstentions and in the Assembly 53-to-22. It guarantees that children in California’s foster system have access to sex change operations or sterilizing drugs, sometimes referred to as puberty blockers,  if the child certifies that he or she has been trapped in the wrong body. Only a child’s biological parent would be authorized to countermand a 13-to-17-year-old’s request for the treatment. Foster parents would not have such authority.
“The right of minors and nonminors in foster care to health care and mental health care … includes covered gender affirming health care and gender affirming mental health care,” reads AB 2119. “This right is subject to existing laws governing consent to health care for minors and nonminors and does not limit, add, or otherwise affect applicable laws governing consent to health care.”
AB 2119 was introduced in February by Democratic Assemblyman Todd Gloria, with the backing of multiple lesbian-gay-bisexual and transgender advocacy groups. Advocates for the law maintain that it is needed because of the existence of gender dysphoria, often referred to as transgenderism, in which girls or women identify as boys or men or boys or men identify as girls or women.
Gloria, who is among the first openly homosexual members of the California Assembly, said, “The passage of AB 2119 is a momentous sign of hope for transgender foster youth living in the system growing up feeling neglected, forgotten, or out of place. With this bill, I hope those foster youth will be assured that we see you. We care about you, and there is a place for you in California. AB 2119 will empower transgender foster youth to live authentically and simply be themselves.”
Others were lavish in their praise of the law.
“This gives LGBTQ foster youth room to focus on other important aspects of their lives, including succeeding in school, building healthy relationships, and fully engaging in positive youth development programs,” Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur said, adding that AB 2119 will “save lives.”
The National Center for Lesbian Rights was equally positive in its assessment. “Every young person in foster care deserves, and is entitled to, medically necessary health and behavioral health care,” Shannan Wilber, National Center for Lesbian Rights’ youth policy director, said. “The harms caused by the denial or delay of medically necessary care are particularly acute for transgender and gender non-conforming children and youth, who often encounter barriers to receiving the care they need to ensure their health, safety, and well-being.”
There were others that were having none of that, however. Many said it was utterly unbelievable that adolescents who have not yet reached the age of majority and who lack maturity as well as the sophistication or full understanding of such action are now able commit to an irreversible procedure that will impact their lives forever after.
Michael Laidlaw, an endocrinologist whose discipline involves the workings of glands and the metabolic implication of hormones, testified against the bill in June.
“A licensed professional or other individual should not subject a foster child to any treatment, intervention or conduct that seeks to change the foster child’s identity,” Laidlaw stated.
Laidlaw said there were severe risks attending gender transition, such as women seeking to exhibit the characteristics of men having to be administered as much as 80 times the normal amount of testosterone than normally occurs in a human body.
“Look at the science carefully. Get other medical opinions before passing this bill,. You can save the health and lives of many foster kids, by doing so,” he said.
The American College of Pediatricians went on record in opposition to AB 2119, selecting Dr. Andre Van Mol, M.D. to make the case against permitting children to select a surgical solution to their perception of dysphoria.
Referencing a sheaf of scientific literature, Van Mol said, “Transgender belief in childhood carries an overwhelming probability of desistance. Underlying issues need addressing; foster children are more likely to have them. The short and long-term risks of transitioning are sobering. This entails a lack of proven safety or benefit for minors. It is not pro-science; it’s no science. Regret and de-transitioning are not rare, and what’s gone is gone. A child or teen has a developing brain; adult decisions are beyond them. There is an overwhelming probability of desistance. 80-to-95 percent of minors with gender dysphoria/transgender identification will desist by adulthood. Professional literature consistently reports that gender dysphoria in children is far more likely to resolve than persist. This bill facilitates children being railroaded into dangerous protocols lacking proven long-term records of safety and efficacy for a condition that usually desists.”
–Mark Gutglueck

The brown trout, known by its scientific name Salmo trutta is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally, including into San Bernardino County such as in Deep Creek on the north side of the San Bernardino Mountains.
The brown trout available locally is of the fish’s freshwater population or riverine ecotype, Salmo trutta morpha fario, and a lacustrine ecotype, S. trutta morpha lacustris, also called the lake trout. The anadromous forms known as the sea trout, or S. trutta morpha trutta, are of the order that migrate to the oceans for much of their lives and return to fresh water only to spawn. These are not extant in San Bernardino County.
The Salmo trutta, with its original native range from northern Norway and White Sea tributaries in Russia in the Arctic Ocean and Iceland in the north Atlantic in the Arctic Ocean to the Atlas Mountains in North Africa and the Aral Sea tributaries in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has been widely introduced into suitable environments around the world, including North America.
The brown trout is a medium-sized fish, growing to 44 pounds or more and a length of about 39 inches in some localities, although in many smaller rivers, such as Deep Creek, a mature weight of 2 pounds or less is common. S. t. lacustris reaches an average length of 16-to-31 inches with a maximum length of 55 inches and about 60 pounds. The spawning behavior of brown trout is similar to that of the closely related Atlantic salmon. A typical female produces about 1,000 eggs per pound of body weight at spawning.
Brown trout can live 20 years, but a high proportion of males die after spawning.
Brown trout are active both by day and by night and are opportunistic feeders. While in fresh water, their diets frequently include invertebrates from the streambed, other fish, frogs, mice, birds, and insects flying near the water’s surface. The high dietary reliance upon insect larvae, pupae, nymphs, and adults allows trout to be a favored target for fly fishing.
The brown trout typically experiences a change in diet composition during its life, and feeding on other fish is most frequent in large brown trout.
Cover or structure is important to trout, and they are more likely to be found near submerged rocks and logs, undercut banks, and overhanging vegetation. Structure provides protection from predators, bright sunlight, and higher water temperatures. Access to deep water for protection in winter freezes, or fast water for protection from low oxygen levels in summer are also ideal. Trout are more often found in heavy and strong currents.
Brown trout can be caught with lures such as spoons, spinners, jigs, plugs, plastic worm imitations, helgramites, and live or dead baitfish. Freshwater brown trout range in color from largely silver with relatively few spots and a white belly, to the more well-known brassy brown cast fading to creamy white on the fish’s belly, with medium-sized spots surrounded by lighter halos. The more silver forms can be mistaken for rainbow trout.