Sawtooth goldenbush is a species of shrub in the asteraceae or sunflower family known by the scientific name hazardia squarrosa. It is native to California and Baja California, where it grows in coastal and inland scrub and chaparral habitats from Monterey County southward. A shrub of variable size, from low and clumpy to sprawling over six feet tall, it is covered in thick, sharply toothed leaves a few centimeters long and is generally not very hairy or woolly other than at the bottom of its outside leaves. It bears discoid flower heads covered in greenish, pointed phyllaries and opening into an array of long yellow to slightly reddish disc florets
There are three recognized varieties of the sawtooth goldenbush with largely overlapping ranges. It provides long lasting summer color and is popular with many insects including butterflies. Butterflies and moths hosted by hazardia squarrosa native to California include isophrictis magnella; Cucullia incresa; and Gabb’s checkerspot, chlosyne gabbii.
There are three main varieties of the sawtooth goldenbrush, two of which are extant in San Bernardino County. Those two are the hazardia squarrosa var. grindelioides, which proliferates from Monterey County to Baja California and hazardia squarrosa var. squarrosa, which ranges from San Benito County to San Diego County. Another variety, hazardia squarrosa var. obtusa, is cataloged as existing in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles and Kern counties.
Its leaves are leathery or stiffly papery, oblong to obobate, obtuse and tooted, approximately two-thirds of an inch to two inches long. Each leaf is smoother on top, and the bottom may have a superfluidity of white hairs. The flowers are a series of overlapping phyllaries, consisting of individual bracts, which is why the haradia squarrosa resembles in some respects a pine cone, with a flower poking out of the top. The flower is a composite but lacks ray florets. These florets are corralled into a common base, making it appear to be a single flower. Many plants with clusters of flowers will bloom at the same time and provide a splash of color. Blooms are scattered throughout the plant at differing times. The sawtooth goldenbrush sports a red-brown to white fruit of roughly five to eight millimeters. As the flower dries out, the seeds contained therein are dispersed by the wind.
Blooming in the summer and fall generally from June until October, the sawtooth goldenbush has tiny yellow flowers that resemble flowering pine cones complemented by its sharply pointed, holly-like leaves. The flowers serve as a significant nectar source for pollinators. Its preferred habitat is dry, open chaparral, below 4,000 feet, while doing almost as well, occasionally, in sage scrub and grasslands.
Sawtooth goldenbush can take different forms, upright or spreading, as a multi-branched sub-shrub. Typically, these plants are less than three feet high.
Plants that bloom in the late summer or early fall have less competition for pollinators but also have limited access to water. Water loss from photosynthesis occurs during the exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen; less transpiration reduces the amount of conversion to oxygen and organic compounds that feed the plant. Nature has provided for the continuation of this species following an evloutionary formula which has traded faster growth and seed production for drought tolerance and the chance of more successful pollination.
Ancestral native Californians boiled sawtooth goldenbush in water to use for bathing, which was thought to be a cure for general bodily aches and pains.

From the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council website, www.calflora.org, calscape.org and Wikipedia.

Sawtooth goldenbush is a species of shrub in the asteraceae or sunflower family known by the scientific name hazardia squarrosa. It is native to California and Baja California, where it grows in coastal and inland scrub and chaparral habitats from Monterey County southward. A shrub of variable size, from low and clumpy to sprawling over six feet tall, it is covered in thick, sharply toothed leaves a few centimeters long and is generally not very hairy or woolly other than at the bottom of its outside leaves. It bears discoid flower heads covered in greenish, pointed phyllaries and opening into an array of long yellow to slightly reddish disc florets
There are three recognized varieties of the sawtooth goldenbush with largely overlapping ranges. It provides long lasting summer color and is popular with many insects including butterflies. Butterflies and moths hosted by hazardia squarrosa native to California include isophrictis magnella; Cucullia incresa; and Gabb’s checkerspot, chlosyne gabbii.
There are three main varieties of the sawtooth goldenbrush, two of which are extant in San Bernardino County. Those two are the hazardia squarrosa var. grindelioides, which proliferates from Monterey County to Baja California and hazardia squarrosa var. squarrosa, which ranges from San Benito County to San Diego County. Another variety, hazardia squarrosa var. obtusa, is cataloged as existing in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles and Kern counties.
Its leaves are leathery or stiffly papery, oblong to obobate, obtuse and tooted, approximately two-thirds of an inch to two inches long. Each leaf is smoother on top, and the bottom may have a superfluidity of white hairs. The flowers are a series of overlapping phyllaries, consisting of individual bracts, which is why the haradia squarrosa resembles in some respects a pine cone, with a flower poking out of the top. The flower is a composite but lacks ray florets. These florets are corralled into a common base, making it appear to be a single flower. Many plants with clusters of flowers will bloom at the same time and provide a splash of color. Blooms are scattered throughout the plant at differing times. The sawtooth goldenbrush sports a red-brown to white fruit of roughly five to eight millimeters. As the flower dries out, the seeds contained therein are dispersed by the wind.
Blooming in the summer and fall generally from June until October, the sawtooth goldenbush has tiny yellow flowers that resemble flowering pine cones complemented by its sharply pointed, holly-like leaves. The flowers serve as a significant nectar source for pollinators. Its preferred habitat is dry, open chaparral, below 4,000 feet, while doing almost as well, occasionally, in sage scrub and grasslands.
Sawtooth goldenbush can take different forms, upright or spreading, as a multi-branched sub-shrub. Typically, these plants are less than three feet high.
Plants that bloom in the late summer or early fall have less competition for pollinators but also have limited access to water. Water loss from photosynthesis occurs during the exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen; less transpiration reduces the amount of conversion to oxygen and organic compounds that feed the plant. Nature has provided for the continuation of this species following an evloutionary formula which has traded faster growth and seed production for drought tolerance and the chance of more successful pollination.
Ancestral native Californians boiled sawtooth goldenbush in water to use for bathing, which was thought to be a cure for general bodily aches and pains.

From the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council website, www.calflora.org, calscape.org and Wikipedia.

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME CASE NUMBER CIVDS2018607
TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner KELLY ANN WILMS filed with this court for a decree changing names as follows:
KELLY ANN WILMS to KELLI ANN WILMS
THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.
Notice of Hearing:
Date: 11/10/20
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Department: S17
The address of the court is Superior Court of California,County of San Bernardino, San Bernardino District – Civil Division, 247 West Third Street, Same as above, San Bernardino, CA 92415-0210, San Bernardino
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this order be published in the SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY SENTINEL in San Bernardino County California, once a week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing of the petition.
Dated: August 31, 2020
Lynn M. Poncin
Judge of the Superior Court.
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on 9/18, 9/25, 10/02 & 10/09, 2020.
FBN 20200007447
The following entity is doing business as KORA LEIGH PHOTOGRAPHY 933 FAIRWAY DRIVE APT. 200 COLTON, CA 92324: KORA L CARRASCO KORA LEIGH PHOTOGRAPHY LLC 933 FAIRWAY DRIVE APT. 200 COLTON, CA 92324
This Business is Conducted By: A LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
BY SIGNING BELOW, I DECLARE THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime. (B&P Code 17913) I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.
S/ KORA CARRASCO
This statement was filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 08/18/2020
I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office.
Began Transacting Business: JUNE 22, 2020
County Clerk, Deputy I1327
NOTICE- This fictitious business name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 14400 et. Seq. Business & Professions Code).
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on 9/11, 9/18, 9/25, 10/2 & 10/9, 2020.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT
FILE NO-20200008561
The following person(s) is(are) doing business as: Town & Country Real Estate; Steller Realty, 16923 Sierra Lakes Pkwy #101, Fontana, CA 92336, Mailing Address: 3700 Inland Empire Blvd Ste #200, Ontario, CA 91764, TNC Realty, 3700 Inland Empire Blvd Ste #200, Ontario, CA 91764
Business is Conducted By: A Corporation
Signed: BY SIGNING BELOW, I DECLARE THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime. (B&P Code 17913) I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.
s/ Nasim Ahmed
This statement was filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 9/17/20
I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office.
Began Transacting Business: 08/23/20
County Clerk, s/ D5511
NOTICE- This fictitious business name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 14400 et. Seq. Business & Professions Code).
9/18/20, 9/25/20, 10/02/20, 10/09/20

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME CASE NUMBER  CIVDS2017968
TO  ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner: Synclaire Dang Nguyen filed with this court for a decree changing names as follows:
Synclaire Dang Nguyen to Synclaire Jackie Dang
THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.
Notice of Hearing:
Date: 10/20/20
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Department: S17
The address of the court is Superior Court of California,County of San Bernardino, San Bernardino District – Civil Division, 247 West Third Street, Same as above, San Bernardino, CA 92415-0210, San Bernardino
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this order be published in the SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY SENTINEL in San Bernardino County California, once a week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing of the petition.
Dated: August 19, 2020
Lynn M. Poncin
Judge of the Superior Court.
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on 9/18/20, 9/25/20, 10/02/20, 10/09/20

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: MICHAEL CHARLES WILDE
CASE NO. PROPS 2000653
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both of MICHAEL CHARLES WILDE
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by ERIN ELIZABETH CONNELL and MELISSA JOY WILDE-CAINE in the Superior Court of California, County of SAN BERNARDINO.
THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that ERIN ELIZABETH CONNELL and MELISSA JOY WILDE-CAINE be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A hearing on the petition will be held in Dept. No. S-35 at 1:30 p.m. on 10/27/2020 at Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, 247 West Third Street, San Bernardino, CA 92415, San Bernardino District.
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under Section 9052 of the California Probate Code.
Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.
Attorney for the Petitioner: MICHAEL C. MADDUX, ESQ.
1894 COMMERCENTER WEST, SUITE 108
SAN BERNARDINO, CA 92408
Telephone No: (909) 890-2350
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on 9/25, 10/02 & 10/09, 2020

APN: 0229-191-06-0-000 T.S. No.: 2020-1547 Order No. 1554299CAD NOTICE OF TRUSTEE’S SALE YOU ARE IN DEFAULT UNDER A DEED OF TRUST DATED 2/8/2019. UNLESS YOU TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY, IT MAY BE SOLD AT A PUBLIC SALE. IF YOU NEED AN EXPLANATION OF THE NATURE OF THE PROCEEDING AGAINST YOU, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LAWYER. Will sell at a public auction sale to the highest bidder, payable at the time of sale in lawful money of the united states, by a cashier’s check drawn on a state of national bank, check drawn by a state or federal credit union, or a check drawn by a state or federal savings and loan association, or savings association, or savings bank specified in Section 5102 of the Financial Code and authorized to do business in this state will be held by the duly appointed trustee as shown below, of all right, title, and interest conveyed to and now held by the trustee in the hereinafter described property under and pursuant to a Deed of Trust described below. The sale will be made, but without covenant or warranty, express or implied, regarding title, possession, or encumbrances, to pay the remaining principal sum of the note(s) secured by the Deed of Trust, with interest and late charges thereon, as provided in the note(s), advances, under the terms of the Deed of Trust, interest thereon, fees, charges, and expenses of the Trustee for the total amount (at the time of the initial publication of the Notice of Sale) reasonably estimated to be set forth below. The amount may be greater on the day of sale. Trustor: Investnotic, LLC, A California Limiter Liability Company Duly Appointed Trustee: S.B.S. TRUST DEED NETWORK, A CALIFORNIA CORPORATION Deed of Trust recorded 2/20/2019 as Instrument No. 2019-0052969 in book XX, page, XX of Official Records in the office of the Recorder of San Bernardino County, California. Date of Sale: 10/19/2020 at 1:00 PM Place of Sale: NEAR THE FRONT STEPS LEADING UP TO THE CITY OF CHINO CIVIC CENTER, 13220 CENTRAL AVENUE, CHINO, CA 91710 Amount of unpaid balance and other reasonable estimated charges: $279,987.47. Street Address or other common designation of real property: 13112 Whittram Avenue Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91739 AKA 13112 Whittram Avenue Etiwanda, CA 92335 A.P.N.: 0229-191-06-0-000. Exhibit A All that portion of the Westerly 1 acre of Lot 398 of Fontana Arrow Route Tract 2102 in said County of San Bernardino, State of California, as per plat recorded in Book 31 of Maps, pages 11 to 15 inclusive, records of said County. Commencing at the intersection of the center line of Whittram Avenue with the center line Pecan Avenue, as shown on said Map; thence running North along the center line of said Pecan A venue a distance of 120 feet; thence East parallel with the South line of said Lot 398, a distance of 132 feet, more or less, to the East line of Westerly 1 acres of said Lot 398; thence South along Easterly line a distance of 120 feet; thence West to point of beginning. The area of the Westerly 1 acre of said Lot 398 is computed to the center line of the adjoining streets and roads. The undersigned Trustee disclaims any liability for any incorrectness of the street address or other common designation, if any, shown above. If no street address or other common designation is shown, directions to the location of the property may be obtained by sending a written request to the beneficiary within 10 days of the date of first publication of this Notice of Sale. NOTICE TO POTENTIAL BIDDERS: If you are considering bidding on this property lien, you should understand that there are risks involved in bidding at a trustee auction. You will be bidding on a lien, not on the property itself. Placing the highest bid at a trustee auction does not automatically entitle you to free and clear ownership of the property. You should also be aware that the lien being auctioned off may be a junior lien. If you are the highest bidder at the auction, you are or may be responsible for paying off all liens senior to the lien being auctioned off, before you can receive clear title to the property. You are encouraged to investigate the existence, priority, and size of outstanding liens that may exist on this property by contacting the county recorder’s office or a title insurance company, either of which may charge you a fee for this information. If you consult either of these resources, you should be aware that the same lender may hold more than one mortgage or deed of trust on the property. NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNER: The sale date shown on this notice of sale may be postponed one or more times by the mortgagee, beneficiary, trustee, or a court, pursuant to Section 2924g of the California Civil Code. The law requires that information about trustee sale postponements be made available to you and to the public, as a courtesy to those not present at the sale. If you wish to learn whether your sale date has been postponed, and, if applicable, the rescheduled time and date for the sale of this property, you may call FOR SALES INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL (855)986-9342, or visit this Internet Web site www.superiordefault.com using the file number assigned to this case 2020-1547. Information about postponements that are very short in duration or that occur close in time to the scheduled sale may not immediately be reflected in the telephone information or on the Internet Web site. The best way to verify postponement information is to attend the scheduled sale. Date: 9/10/2020. S.B.S. TRUST DEED NETWORK, A CALIFORNIA CORPORATION. 31194 La Baya Drive, Suite 106, Westlake Village, California, 91362 (818)991-4600. By: Colleen Irby, Trustee Sale Officer. WE ARE ATTEMPTING TO COLLECT A DEBT, AND ANY INFORMATION WE OBTAIN WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE. (09/25/20, 10/2/2020, 10/09/20 TS# 2020-1547 SDI-19469)
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: JOHN BERNARD LEMAY
CASE NO. PROPS 2000639
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both of JOHN BERNARD LEMAY
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by EMILY LE MAY GAITAN in the Superior Court of California, County of SAN BERNARDINO.
THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that EMILY LE MAY GAITAN be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests that the decedents will and codicils, if any, be entered into probate. The will and any codicils are available for inspection in the file kept by the court.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A hearing on the petition will be held in Dept. No. S-37P at 1:30 p.m. on 10/19/2020 at Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, 247 West Third Street, San Bernardino, CA 92415, San Bernardino District.
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under Section 9052 of the California Probate Code.
Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.
Attorney for the Petitioner: MICHAEL C. MADDUX, ESQ.
1894 COMMERCENTER WEST, SUITE 108
SAN BERNARDINO, CA 92408
Telephone No: (909) 890-2350
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on 9/25, 10/02 & 10/09, 2020
FBN 20200007704
The following entity is doing business as NK JEWELERS 2450 VINEYARD AVE. ONTARIO, CA 91761 NOELIA K MORENO 17780 MESA RD FONTANA, CA 92336
Mailing Address: 17780 MESA RD FONTANA, CA 92336
This Business is Conducted By: AN INDIVIDUAL
BY SIGNING BELOW, I DECLARE THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime. (B&P Code 17913) I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.
S/ NOELIA MORENO
This statement was filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 08/25/2020
I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office.
Began Transacting Business: SEPTEMBER 1, 2015
County Clerk, Deputy D5511
NOTICE- This fictitious business name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 14400 et. Seq. Business & Professions Code).
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on 9/18, 9/25, 10/2, 10/9 & 10/16, 2020.
FBN 20200008485
The following entity is doing business as LANGA CELLARS 30082 RED HILL ROAD HIGHLAND, CA 92346 LANGA CELLARS LLC 30082 RED HILL ROAD HIGHLAND, CA 92346
Mailing Address: 30082 RED HILL ROAD HIGHLAND, CA 92346
This Business is Conducted By: A LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
BY SIGNING BELOW, I DECLARE THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime. (B&P Code 17913) I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.
S/ BARTOLOMEO ROSSO
This statement was filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 09/15/2020
I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office.
Began Transacting Business: FEBRUARY 18, 2015
County Clerk, Deputy M0597
NOTICE- This fictitious business name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 14400 et. Seq. Business & Professions Code).
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on 9/25, 10/2, 10/9 & 10/16, 2020.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO-20200008734
The following person(s) is(are) doing business as: Penn’s Trucking Company, 615 E. Hawthorne St, Ontario, CA 91764, Jose Pantoja Jr, 615 E. Hawthorne St, Ontario, CA 91764
Business is Conducted By: An Individual
Signed: BY SIGNING BELOW, I DECLARE THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime. (B&P Code 17913) I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.
s/ Jose Pantoja Jr
This statement was filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 9/22/20
I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office.
Began Transacting Business: N/A
County Clerk, s/ I1327
NOTICE- This fictitious business name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 14400 et. Seq. Business & Professions Code).

9/25/20, 10/02/20, 10/09/20, 10/16/20

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO-20200007979
The following person(s) is(are) doing business as: Genesis Khari, 1315 S Meadow Lane Apt H252, Colton, CA 92324, Teairra M. Genesis Khari, 1315 S Meadow Lane Apt H252, Colton, CA 92324
Business is Conducted By: A Limited Liability Company
Signed: BY SIGNING BELOW, I DECLARE THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime. (B&P Code 17913) I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.
s/ Teairra Rouzan
This statement was filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 9/01/20
I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office.
Began Transacting Business: N/A
County Clerk, s/ I1327
NOTICE- This fictitious business name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 14400 et. Seq. Business & Professions Code).
9/25/20, 10/02/20, 10/09/20, 10/16/20

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO-20200008352
The following person(s) is(are) doing business as: Advanced Psychological Associates & Wellness Center PC, 10722 Arrow Route, Suite 314-316, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730, Advanced Psychological Associates & Wellness Center PC, 10722 Arrow Route, Suite 314, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730
Business is Conducted By: A Corporation
Signed: BY SIGNING BELOW, I DECLARE THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime. (B&P Code 17913) I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.
s/ Deborah Seffinger PHD
This statement was filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 9/10/20
I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office.
Began Transacting Business: 4/29/20
County Clerk, s/ D5511
NOTICE- This fictitious business name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 14400 et. Seq. Business & Professions Code).
9/25/20, 10/02/20, 10/09/20, 10/16/20

STATEMENT of Withdrawal From Partnership Operating Under a Fictitious Business Name FILE NO-20200008473
Fictitious Business Name of the Partnership: Pacific Shift, 7149 Powell Pl, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91739
This statement was filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 04/23/2019
County Clerk File No. FBN201190005040
Name of Person Withdrawing: Carlos Soriano, 7149 Powell Pl, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91739
Signed: BY SIGNING BELOW, I DECLARE THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime. (B&P Code 17913) I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.
s/ Carlos Soriano
I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office.
County Clerk, s/ I1327
9/25/20, 10/02/20, 10/09/20, 10/16/20
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME

STATEMENT FILE NO-20200007704
The following person(s) is(are) doing business as: NK Jewelers, 2450 Vineyard Ave, Ontario, CA 91761, Mailing Address: 17780 Mesa Rd, Fontana, CA 92336, Noella K. Moreno, 17780 Mesa Rd, Fontana, CA 92336
Business is Conducted By: An Individual
Signed: BY SIGNING BELOW, I DECLARE THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime. (B&P Code 17913) I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.
s/ Noella Moreno
This statement was filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 8/25/20
I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office.
Began Transacting Business: 09/01/2015
County Clerk, s/ D5511
NOTICE- This fictitious business name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 14400 et. Seq. Business & Professions Code).
9/25/20, 10/02/20, 10/09/20, 10/16/20
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME CASE NUMBER CIVDS 2018773
TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner BRETT JONES filed with this court for a decree changing names as follows:
BRETT JONES to EEON
THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.
Notice of Hearing:
Date: 11/17/20
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Department: S16
The address of the court is Superior Court of California,County of San Bernardino, San Bernardino District – Civil Division, 247 West Third Street, Same as above, San Bernardino, CA 92415-0210, San Bernardino
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this order be published in the SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY SENTINEL in San Bernardino County California, once a week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing of the petition.
Dated: SEPTEMBER 9, 2020
Lynn M. Poncin
Judge of the Superior Court.
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on 10/02/20, 10/09/20, 10/16 & 10/23, 2020.

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME CASE NUMBER CIVDS 2011221
TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner ELIJAH CALEB RAMDIN filed with this court for a decree changing names as follows:
ELIJAH CALEB RAMDIN to ELIJAH ANORUE RAMDIN
THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.
Notice of Hearing:
Date: 11/04/20
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Department: S16
The address of the court is Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, San Bernardino District – Civil Division, 247 West Third Street, Same as above, San Bernardino, CA 92415-0210, San Bernardino
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this order be published in the SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY SENTINEL in San Bernardino County California, once a week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing of the petition.
Dated: SEPTEMBER 4, 2020
Lynn M. Poncin
Judge of the Superior Court.
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on 10/02/20, 10/09/20, 10/16 & 10/23, 2020.

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME CASE NUMBER CIVDS 2011221
TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner ROBERT ANGELO JEFFERS aka PETTEGREW filed with this court for a decree changing names as follows:
ROBERT ANGELO JEFFERS aka PETTEGREW to ROBERT PETTEGREW-HERNANDEZ
THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.
Notice of Hearing:
Date: 11/03/20
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Department: S16
The address of the court is Superior Court of California,County of San Bernardino, San Bernardino District – Civil Division, 247 West Third Street, Same as above, San Bernardino, CA 92415-0210, San Bernardino
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this order be published in the SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY SENTINEL in San Bernardino County California, once a week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing of the petition.
Dated: SEPTEMBER 2, 2020
Lynn M. Poncin
Judge of the Superior Court.
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on 10/02/20, 10/09/20, 10/16 & 10/23, 2020.

FBN 20200008421
The following entity is doing business as TINA’S BARBER & BEAUTY SALON 916 N. MOUNTAIN AVE STE B1 UPLAND, CA 91786
MARTHA MONTES
104 BROWN DR. CLAREMONT, CA 91711
[and] ALFONSO RAMOS
929 E. FOOTHILL BLVD. APC . 121UPLAND, CA 91786
This Business is Conducted By: A GENERAL PARTNERSHIP
BY SIGNING BELOW, I DECLARE THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime. (B&P Code 17913) I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.
S/ MARTHA MONTES
This statement was filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 09/14/2020
I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office.
Began Transacting Business: JUNE 20, 2010
County Clerk, Deputy D5511
NOTICE- This fictitious business name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 14400 et. Seq. Business & Professions Code).
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on , 10/2, 10/9, 10/16 & 10/25 2020.
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: JACK ERBE
CASE NO. PROPS 2000704
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both of JACK ERBE
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by DARYL ROBERT ERBE in the Superior Court of California, County of SAN BERNARDINO.
THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that DARYL ROBERT ERBE be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A hearing on the petition will be held in Dept. No. S-36 at 9:00 A.M. on NOVEMBER 3, 2020 at Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, 247 West Third Street, San Bernardino, CA 92415, San Bernardino District.
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under Section 9052 of the California Probate Code.
Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.
Attorney for the Petitioner:
R. SAM PRICE SBN 208603
PRICE LAW FIRM, APC
300 E STATE STREET SUITE 620
REDLANDS, CA 92373
(909) 475 8800
sam@pricelawfirm.com

Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on 10/09, 10/16 & 10/23, 2020
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: ROBERT JOHNSON
CASE NO. PROPS 2000713
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both of ROBERT JOHNSON
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by BOBBIE JOHNSON ROBERTSON in the Superior Court of California, County of SAN BERNARDINO.
THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that BOBBIE JOHNSON ROBERTSON be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A hearing on the petition will be held in Dept. No. S-35 at 9:00 A.M. on NOVEMBER 23, 2020 at Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, 247 West Third Street, San Bernardino, CA 92415, San Bernardino District.
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under Section 9052 of the California Probate Code.
Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.
Attorney for the Petitioner:
R. SAM PRICE SBN 208603
PRICE LAW FIRM, APC
300 E STATE STREET SUITE 620
REDLANDS, CA 92373
(909) 475 8800
sam@pricelawfirm.com

Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on 10/09, 10/16 & 10/23, 2020
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME CASE NUMBER  CIVDS2018363
TO  ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner KATARZYNA DANIELA PODLECKI filed with this court for a decree changing names as follows:
LENA PODLECKI to LENA KAROLINA PIETRZYKOWSKA
THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.
Notice of Hearing:
Date: 11/23/2020
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Department: S16
The address of the court is Superior Court of California,County of San Bernardino, San Bernardino District – Civil Division, 247 West Third Street, Same as above, San Bernardino, CA 92415-0210, San Bernardino
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this order be published in the SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY SENTINEL in San Bernardino County California, once a week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing of the petition.
Dated: SEPTEMBER 2, 2020
Lynn M. Poncin
Judge of the Superior Court.
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on 10/09, 10/16, 10/23 & 10/30, 2020

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME CASE NUMBER  CIVDS2018363
TO  ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner KATARZYNA DANIELA PODLECKI filed with this court for a decree changing names as follows:
LENA PODLECKI to LENA KAROLINA PIETRZYKOWSKA
THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.
Notice of Hearing:
Date: 11/23/2020
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Department: S16
The address of the court is Superior Court of California,County of San Bernardino, San Bernardino District – Civil Division, 247 West Third Street, Same as above, San Bernardino, CA 92415-0210, San Bernardino
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this order be published in the SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY SENTINEL in San Bernardino County California, once a week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing of the petition.
Dated: SEPTEMBER 2, 2020
Lynn M. Poncin
Judge of the Superior Court.
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on 10/09, 10/16, 10/23 & 10/30, 2020
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: MARIA MENDOZA CORDOVA
CASE NO. PROPS 2000695
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both of MARIA MENDOZA CORDOVA
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by MICHEL S. CORDOVA in the Superior Court of California, County of SAN BERNARDINO.
THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that MICHEL S. CORDOVA be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A hearing on the petition will be held NOVEMBER 2, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. in Dept. No. S-36 at Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, 247 West Third Street, San Bernardino, CA 92415, San Bernardino District.
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under Section 9052 of the California Probate Code.
Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.
Attorney for the Petitioner: MICHAEL C. MADDUX, ESQ.
1894 COMMERCENTER WEST, SUITE 108
SAN BERNARDINO, CA 92408
Telephone No: (909) 890-2350
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on 10/09, 10/16 & 10/23, 2020
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: LAURIE ANN WAKELING
CASE NO. PROPS 2000723
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both of LAURIE ANN WAKELING
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by RANDY ALLEN WAKELING in the Superior Court of California, County of SAN BERNARDINO.
THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that RANDY ALLEN WAKELING be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A hearing on the petition will be held NOVEMBER 25, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. in Dept. No. S-35 at Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, 247 West Third Street, San Bernardino, CA 92415, San Bernardino District.
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under Section 9052 of the California Probate Code.
Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.
Filed: OCTOBER 5, 2020
Attorney for the Petitioner: MICHAEL C. MADDUX, ESQ.
1894 COMMERCENTER WEST, SUITE 108
SAN BERNARDINO, CA 92408
Telephone No: (909) 890-2350
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on 10/09, 10/16 & 10/23, 2020
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF:
PAUL E. McDONALD Jr.
NO. PROPS 2000718
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both of PAUL E. McDONALD Jr.
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by AMBER KOIS in the Superior Court of California, County of SAN BERNARDINO.
THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that AMBER KOIS be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A hearing on the petition will be held in Dept. No. S37 On NOVEMBER 30, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. at the San Bernardino Justice Center, Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, 247 West Third Street, San Bernardino, CA 92415, San Bernardino District.
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under Section 9052 of the California Probate Code.
Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.
Attorney for the Petitioner:
R. SAM PRICE, ESQ.
SBN 208603
300 E. STATE STREET, SUITE 620
REDLANDS, CA 92373
Telephone No: (909) 475-8800
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on 10/09, 10/16 & 10/23, 2020.
FBN 20200007000
The following entity is doing business as CREPAS Y MAS
8538 TAMARIND AVENUE SUITE 1 FONTANA, CALIF 92335
CESAR DIAZ 8538 TAMARIND AVENUE SUITE 1 FONTANA, CALIFO 92335 [and] LAURA DIAZ 8538 TAMARIND AVENUE SUITE 1 FONTANA, CA 92335
This Business is Conducted By: A MARRIED COUPLE
BY SIGNING BELOW, I DECLARE THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime. (B&P Code 17913) I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.
S/ MARTHA MONTES
This statement was filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 08/6/2020
I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office.
Began Transacting Business: N/A
County Clerk, Deputy
NOTICE- This fictitious business name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 14400 et. Seq. Business & Professions Code).
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on , 9/4, 9/11, 9/18 & 9/25, 2020.
CORRECTED: 10/2, 10/9, 10/16 & 10/25 2020.
FBN 20200008165 The following person is doing business as: SAYER’S MARKET 1459 WEST MISSION BOULEVARD ONTARIO, CA 91762; SAYER’S LLC 1459 WEST MISSION BOULEVARD ONTARIO, CA 91762The business is conducted by: A LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: N/ABy signing, I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime (B&P Code 179130. I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.s/ NORMA VILLAFUERTE, MANAGING MEMBER Statement filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 09/03/2020I hereby certify that this copy is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office San Bernardino County Clerk By:/DeputyNotice-This fictitious name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14400 et seq., Business and Professions Code).Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel 09/25/2020, 10/02/2020, 10/09/2020, 10/16/2020 CNBB37202001MT
FBN 20200008254 The following person is doing business as: MD MEDICAL TRANSPORT 275 WEST HOSPITALITY LANE, SUITE 322 SAN BERNARDINO, CA 92408; MD MEDICAL TRANSPORT 1992 N KENWOOD AVE. SAN BERNARDINO, CA 92404The business is conducted by: A CORPORATION The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: N/ABy signing, I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime (B&P Code 179130. I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.s/ MEDIE PIZARRO VALDEZ, PRESIDENT Statement filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 09/08/2020I hereby certify that this copy is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office San Bernardino County Clerk By:/DeputyNotice-This fictitious name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14400 et seq., Business and Professions Code).Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel 09/25/2020, 10/02/2020, 10/09/2020, 10/16/2020 CNBB37202002MT

FBN 20200008328 The following person is doing business as: GOT PLUMBING 14721 CHOKE CHERRY DR VICTORVILLE, CA 92392; RYAN S MITCHELL 14721 CHOKE CHERRY DR VICTORVILLE, CA 92392The business is conducted by: AN INDIVIDUAL The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: N/ABy signing, I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime (B&P Code 179130. I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.s/ RYAN S. MITCHELL, OWNER Statement filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 09/10/2020I hereby certify that this copy is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office San Bernardino County Clerk By:/DeputyNotice-This fictitious name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14400 et seq., Business and Professions Code).Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel 09/25/2020, 10/02/2020, 10/09/2020, 10/16/2020 CNBB37202003IR
FBN 20200008169 The following person is doing business as: LIZ TRANSPORT 1855 E. RIVERSIDE DR. #87 ONTARIO, CA 91761; GERARDO A MARTINEZ 1855 E. RIVERSIDE DR. #87 ONTARIO, CA 91761The business is conducted by: AN INDIVIDUAL The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: 06/25/2009By signing, I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime (B&P Code 179130. I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.s/ GERARDO A. MARTINEZ, OWNER Statement filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 09/03/2020I hereby certify that this copy is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office San Bernardino County Clerk By:/DeputyNotice-This fictitious name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14400 et seq., Business and Professions Code).Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel 09/25/2020, 10/02/2020, 10/09/2020, 10/16/2020 CNBB37202004IR

FBN 20200008327 The following person is doing business as: DIVERSITY BY DESIGN 16843 VALLEY BLVD UNIT E #511 FONTANA, CA 92335;[ MAILING ADDRESS 7426 CHERRY AVE. BLDG 210 #138 FONTANA, CA 92336]; DIVERISTY BY DESIGN ENTERPRISE,
LLC 16843 VALLEY BLVD UNIT E #511 FONTANA, CA 92335The business is conducted by: A LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: N/ABy signing, I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime (B&P Code 179130. I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.s/ DOLLY D. MEDLOCK, MANAGING MEMBER Statement filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 09/10/2020I hereby certify that this copy is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office San Bernardino County Clerk By:/DeputyNotice-This fictitious name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14400 et seq., Business and Professions Code).Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel 09/25/2020, 10/02/2020, 10/09/2020, 10/16/2020 CNBB37202005MT

FBN 20200008326 The following person is doing business as: GENESIS HOMES 16843 VALLEY BLVD UNIT E #511 FONTANA, CA 92335; GENESIS HOME FOR HOPE, LLC 16843 VALLEY BLVD UNIT E #511 FONTANA, CA 92335The business is conducted by: A LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: N/ABy signing, I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime (B&P Code 179130. I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.s/ DOLLY D. MEDLOCK, MANAGING MEMBER Statement filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 09/10/2020I hereby certify that this copy is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office San Bernardino County Clerk By:/DeputyNotice-This fictitious name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14400 et seq., Business and Professions Code).Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel 09/25/2020, 10/02/2020, 10/09/2020, 10/16/2020 CNBB37202006

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO-20200008421
The following person(s) is(are) doing business as: Tina’s Barber & Beauty Salon, 916 N. Mountain Ave. STE B1, Upland, CA 91786, Martha Montes, 104 Brown Dr., Claremont, CA 91711, Alfonso Ramos, 929 E. Foothill Blvd SPC. 221, Upland, CA 91786
Business is Conducted By: A General Partnership
Signed: BY SIGNING BELOW, I DECLARE THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime. (B&P Code 17913) I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.
s/ Martha Montes
This statement was filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 9/14/20
I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office.
Began Transacting Business: 06/20/2010
County Clerk, s/ D5511
NOTICE- This fictitious business name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 14400 et. Seq. Business & Professions Code).
10/02/20, 10/09/20, 10/16/20, 10/23/20

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO-20200008966
The following person(s) is(are) doing business as: Calibeadman, 6274 S Kingsmill Ct, Fontana, CA 92336, Mailing Address: 8282 Sierra Ave #3336, Fontana, CA 92334, David B. Griffith, 6274 S Kingsmill Ct, Fontana, CA 92336, Jadat D. Griffith, 6274 S Kingsmill Ct, Fontana, CA 92336
Business is Conducted By: A Married Couple
Signed: BY SIGNING BELOW, I DECLARE THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime. (B&P Code 17913) I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.
s/ David Griffith
This statement was filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 9/30/20
I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office.
Began Transacting Business: 9/01/20
County Clerk, s/ D5511
NOTICE- This fictitious business name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 14400 et. Seq. Business & Professions Code).
10/02/20, 10/09/20, 10/16/20, 10/23/20

NOTICE OF SALE OF AUTOMOBILE
Notice is hereby given pursuant to Sections 3071 of the Civil Code of the State of California the undersigned will sell the following vehicle(s) at lien sale at said address below on: 10/16/2020 09:00 AM
Year of Car / Make of Car / Vehicle ID No. / License No. (State)
2018 MAZDA 3MZBN1V37JM275640 8HHL556 CA
To be sold by Hilo Auto Service 10075 Arrow RTE Rancho Cucamonga CA 91730
Said sale is for the purpose of satisfying lien for together with costs of advertising and expenses of sale.

By clicking on the blue portal below, you can download a PDF of the October 2 edition of the San Bernardino County Sentinel.

Sentinel 10-02-20

The contretemps that grew out of the abrupt suspension of Upland Police Chief Darren Goodman in June followed by the equally sudden manner in which he was reinstated has yet to fully resolve, and now involves an FBI investigation into some of the issues leading up to it, it was disclosed this week.
Earlier this year, Luz Barrett, a clerical employee in the police department, lodged a complaint against Goodman, which touched off a series of events that is creating problems for both Mayor Debbie Stone, who is up for reelection in November, and City Manager Rosemary Hoerning, who initiated the action against Goodman in June, apparently at Stone’s behest.
The precise reason why Hoerning put Goodman on administrative leave has not been publicly disclosed. What befell Goodman is widely believed to be an extension of the animus that Marty Thouvenell developed toward Goodman.
Thouvenell, who had been Upland’s police chief from 1991 until 2005, was brought in to serve as acting city manager in July 2016. He remained in that position until January 1, 2018, at which point Bill Manis became city manager, with Thouvenell remaining in the position of management consultant. The aggressive and domineering Thouvenell was reluctant to give up his primacy at City Hall, however, and he was in particular persistent in involving himself in issues relating to the police department. In the aftermath of the departure of Brian Johnson as police chief in October 2017 followed by Thouvenell’s arrangement to have a captain who had once served under him, Douglas Millmore, serve in the capacity of acting police chief, the city hired Goodman as police chief in 2018. After Goodman assumed command of the police department, he encountered difficulty in dealing with Thouvenell, whom Goodman felt was overstepping his authority as the city’s managerial consultant, encroaching on Goodman’s function as the head of the police department. Thouvenell on a constant basis came into Upland Police headquarters using a key card that he was not authorized to have. Thouvenell then inserted himself into various officers’ and staff members’ daily tasks and assignments, asking them for information about police department activities. Thouvenell contacted police department personnel directly, requesting or ordering them to send patrol units to various locations, including to remove campaign signs. Upon learning about this interference with the police department’s operations, Goodman at first politely requested that Thouvenell refrain from acting as if he was still the chief of police. When that did not work, Goodman took possession of Thouvenell’s keycard. This antagonized Thouvenell.
Thouvenell at one point sought to involve himself in the personnel decisions that were supposed to be Goodman’s exclusive province, those being hiring, disciplining and firing employees. In one known case, he directed Chief Goodman not to promote Lieutenant Cliff Matthews because, contrary to Goodman’s high estimation of Matthews ability, Thouvenell considered him ‘lazy’ and ‘worthless.’”
More than a decade-and-a-half prior to Goodman becoming police chief, Barrett had been hired into the department by Thouvenell, and their relationship may have had an impact on what transpired with Goodman.
Undisputed is that on Friday, June 19, a specially-called meeting of the city council, one hastily convened on the basis of what was said to be an emergency that dispensed with the normal 72-hour notification provided in advance of governmental board meetings, was held. The basis for the urgency, it was tersely disclosed, was the potential of the city being sued by a member or members of the police department.
Less than a month earlier, on May 31, Third District Councilman Ricky Felix’s resignation tendered on May 11 had become effective. Thus, on June 19, the Upland City Council, reduced to four-fifths strength, met during an emergency closed session to discuss a letter written to it that week by Goodman’s attorney, Stephen Larson, which some officials felt might presage legal action against the city. That letter strongly protested the treatment Goodman had received after Barrett had alleged Goodman had misappropriated her services. City officials, in looking into Barrett’s accusations, had insinuated that Goodman had acted improperly, triggering Larson’s letter.
At the June 19 meeting, Mayor Debbie Stone, Second District Councilwoman Janice Elliott, Fourth District Councilman Rudy Zuniga and Councilman Bill Velto, who had been appointed into what was the council’s last remaining at-large council seat, took no official action.
Three days after the June 19 closed-door meeting of the council, on Monday, June 22, Hoerning acting solely with the authority of the mayor’s backing and without any direction from the remainder of the city council, placed Goodman on administrative leave. When informed late that morning about the suspension of the police chief, Councilman Zuniga said he had not been informed in advance that it was going to take place. Councilwoman Elliott likewise said she had no inkling of the action before it was announced. Zuniga and Elliot said there had been no authorization of the suspension in any vote taken.
By June 25, it was widely known in Upland that Barrett’s accusation against Goodman consisted of her contention that she had assisted Goodman in translation and interpretation in his efforts to communicate with his family’s Spanish-speaking housekeeper, and that she had carried out that assignment while being paid by the city. Goodman marshaled evidence to demonstrate Barrett had forged the timecard she said supported her accusation.
On June 29, after the city had attempted but failed to prevent the widespread public surfacing of information relating to Barrett’s accusations against Goodman forming the grounds for the police chief’s suspension, Hoerning at the direction of Zuniga, Elliott and Velto reinstated Goodman.
While many assumed that was the end of the controversy, word has now come that Goodman has yet needed to walk on eggs while serving in the capacity of police chief.
According to a letter dated September 29 sent to Upland’s mayor and city councilmembers from Stephen Larson, Goodman’s attorney, a previous letter dated June 24 Larson had submitted to the city on Goodman’s behalf had strenuously protested the action suspending Goodman, while pointing out the elements of Barrett’s comportment that were problematic and brought into question the validity of the grounds the city had relied upon in placing Goodman on leave, what Larson characterized as “an overarching and concerted effort to launch a crusade against him based on fabricated, disparaging accusations.”
Moreover, according to Larson’s September 29 letter, “Hoerning issue[d] a notice [which] cited Chief Goodman for the simple act of we, his lawyers, sending the June letter. The notice went so far as to accuse Chief Goodman of insubordination and retaliation against Barrett in violation of city policy for simply defending himself against a threatened lawsuit and outrageous conduct by certain city leaders and Thouvenell. This notice was, of course, patently meritless and nonsensical for several reasons. First, the June letter, prepared and submitted by his counsel, is wholly protected by Chief Goodman’s First Amendment rights to free speech and the right to petition and seek redress from the city. Frankly, Hoerning’s and the city’s attempt to prevent him from exercising those rights is a blatant constitutional violation.”
According to Larson, he wrote a second letter to the city on July 20, upbraiding the city for its continued harassment of Goodman.
“In Chief Goodman’s July 20, 2020 response to that notice, we not only exposed its factual and legal flaws, but also pointed out that Hoerning issuing that notice constituted further retaliation against Chief Goodman based on his conducting the constitutionally protected activity of petitioning the city council and acting as a whistleblower for ongoing corruption in the city, which, as the city manager and city attorney are well aware, involves his cooperation with the FBI’s investigation into that corruption. Even though this response was sent to the city manager and the city attorney, again, no investigation was conducted into Chief Goodman’s complaint about retaliation. Even more baffling, while the city has now finally launched an investigation, it is not into Mayor Stone’s, Thouvenell’s, or Hoerning’s ongoing wrongful conduct, but rather, turning the chief’s complaint on its head, into the Upland Police Department’s practices and procedures – about which no one has complained. The chief and apparently numerous members of the police department have received advisements that the city is now conducting a wide-ranging investigation of the entire Upland Police Department. To justify this absurd development, Hoerning is hanging her hat on a passing reference made in our June letter to the department’s historical reputation for racism. Reviewing how the city is handling this investigation exposes it as a transparent attempt to further harass Chief Goodman and an ill-fated attempt to turn his department against him.”
On Monday night September 28, at the Upland City Council’s last regularly scheduled meeting in September, Larson addressed the city council.
After alluding to the letter delivered to the city earlier that day, Larson said, “I am appealing directly to you because, as explained in the letter, I am getting the runaround from the city manager and the city attorney.”
Larson said, “We live in a time when our collective support for good policing by good police officers could not possibly be more important to the safety and well-being of all of our families and the property of all of our businesses. This is not time for undermining, harassing and trying to sabotage the career of the first African American chief of police in Upland’s history, which is exactly what certain members of our city government are doing.
“Chief Goodman is a good man,” Larson continued. “Chief Goodman is a great police chief. Chief Goodman has the complete support of all of his officers and the peace officer and police management associations of this city. Significantly, Chief Goodman enjoys the broad support of the citizens of Upland.”
Larson than counseled the city council to “consider the broader implications of what is happening, stop the ill-conceived campaign of harassment, discrimination and sabotage, and support the chief.”
-Mark Gutglueck

By Mark Gutglueck
Leonard X. Hernandez, who over the last half decade has demonstrated himself as one of the most ruthless inside political operators in the history of San Bernardino County Government, has clawed his way to the top of the heap. On Tuesday, the board of supervisors appointed him to succeed Gary McBride as the county’s chief executive officer, effective October 10.
Simultaneously as of October 10, McBride is moving into the position of the county’s strategic projects director.
Feared more than he is respected and respected more than he is liked, Hernandez, about whose competence there appears to be little doubt, achieved the position in some measure because of the sheer power of the information he possesses, a good deal of which consists of “dirt” or compromising material on the county’s elected political leadership, as well as other key players in the county governmental structure.
While two of the current five members of the board of supervisors, First District Supervisor Robert Lovingood and Fifth District Supervisor Josie Gonzales, will be leaving office in December, there is evidence suggesting that Hernandez has the goods on Third District Supervisor Dawn Rowe, Second District Supervisor Janice Rutherford and Fourth District Supervisor Curt Hagman.
In 2016, Hernandez was elevated by then-County Chief Executive Officer Greg Devereaux to the position of interim county chief operating officer and in 2017 the interim prefix was dropped from his title. This gave him comprehensive access to and control over, as well as the ability to monitor in granular detail, virtually any activity ongoing within the county. In the chief operating officer capacity, Hernandez had at the very least theoretical authority over the county’s information technology division and thereby access to all forms of nonvoice or electronic communication between county employees or emails from county employees to anyone inside or outside the county. Similarly, he could obtain, if he so desired, the records relating to contact that transpired between county employees on their office landline phones and county-issued cell phones and communication devices to ascertain whether communication between and among county workers was ongoing, though that did not extend to the contents of those conversations. Moreover, his position empowered him to employ his own staff or that of any of the county’s departments to undertake research or action with regard to any question, subject or goal he deemed appropriate. The knowledge within his reach in this regard extended from the county’s line employees in the county’s various departments to the staff of the supervisors and the supervisors themselves.
There were repeated indications as early as the first quarter of 2019, after Supervisor Rowe’s appointment to the board of supervisors in December 2018 to succeed James Ramos who had resigned as Third District supervisor following his election to the California Assembly, that her office was serving as a base for political operatives to promote her effort to remain on the board as a victor in this year’s election as well as in supporting the electoral efforts of her allies. Rowe hired at least three known political strategists/coordinators to serve as key elements of her staff. These included her chief of staff, Matt Knox; her policy director, Dillon Lesovsky; and her communications director, Suzette Swallow. Over the next year and a half there were repeated indications that political activity was ongoing in Rowe’s office. With the advent of the 2020 election season, Supervisor Rutherford called upon either Hernandez or County Counsel Michelle Blakemore to undertake an inquiry that would assure the public that county employees including members of the supervisorial staffs were not engaged in campaigning from county facilities using county equipment. Supervisor Hagman, who is currently the chairman of the board of supervisors, vectored that assignment to Hernandez.
Hernandez had the option and ability of carrying out a full and thorough investigation into the political activity being engaged in by the staffs of the various supervisors, which included the activity of Knox, Lesovsky and Swallow, as well as campaign work engaged in by Rutherford’s chief of staff, Phil Paule, along with two other members of Rutherford’s office, in addition to the political activity of members of Supervisor Hagman’s staff. Rather than aggressively fulfilling that assignment, however, in a move that both curried favor with his political masters and armed him with blackmail material he could hold back to effectuate his further climb up San Bernardino County government’s ladder of authority, Hernandez chose to leave, if not unexplored then unexplicated, material and data available through the county’s various departments, including its information technology division and the registrar of voters office, demonstrating that Swallow, who was on loan to Rowe’s office from Rutherford’s staff, served in the capacity of Rutherford’s campaign manager and as her campaign scheduler during Rutherford’s 2018 reelection campaign; that Rutherford’s assistant chief of staff, Mark Taylor, was likewise involved in Rutherford’s 2018 reelection campaign; that one of Rutherford’s district representatives, Ben Lopez, was actively involved in Rutherford’s 2018 reelection campaign; that Paule, Rutherford’s chief of staff, is involved in Assemblyman Jay Obernolte’s ongoing election campaign for election to serve as Congressman in the 8th Congressional District; that Lesovsky worked on both Rowe’s successful campaign to remain as supervisor in the Third District and Congressman Paul Cook’s successful campaign to gain election as First District supervisor in the 2020 California Primary election held on March 3; that Knox worked on the campaign related to Rowe’s March 3 election; that Hagman’s former Chief of Staff Mike Spence worked on Hagman’s 2014 campaign for Fourth District supervisor while Spence was Hagman’s chief of staff when he was at that time serving in the position of Assemblyman and that Spence was active in preparations being made for Hagman’s 2018 run for reelection; that current Hagman Chief of Staff Yekaterina Kolcheva had been involved in Hagman’s 2018 election campaign; and that Peter Rogers, Hagman’s district director, was involved in Hagman’s 2018 reelection campaign. Indications are that Hagman, in addition to recognizing that his own staff members are involved in political activity, is likewise aware of the electioneering activity involving Swallow, Taylor, Lopez, Paule, Lesovsky and Knox, and in a tacit agreement with Hernandez, is choosing to overlook a circumstance in which county employees are engaging in illegal political activity utilizing public resources.
There are further grounds to believe that Hernandez is aware of a complicated set of conflicts of interest involving Rutherford in her capacity as the chairwoman of the board of SBCERA, the San Bernardino County Employees Retirement Association, and the association’s senior staff members.
Hernandez, who had attained a bachelor’s degree in history from California State University Fullerton, began his career with San Bernardino County 20 years ago as a county library public service employee. By means of on-line coursework offered by Clarion University in Pennsylvania, Hernandez obtained a master’s degree in library and information science. In 2008, Hernandez left the employ of San Bernardino County to become the library director for the City of Riverside. In 2010 he applied for and was offered the executive director’s position with the Tumwater, Washington-based Timberland Regional Library System, which features 25 libraries located in a geographically dispersed section of northwest Washington, but ultimately declined the offer after learning that San Bernardino County Librarian Ed Kieczykowski was leaning toward retirement. In 2011, upon Kieczykowski’s departure, Hernandez came back to San Bernardino County to become county librarian. He subsequently rose to the occasion when he was called upon to fill in as the director of the San Bernardino County Museum while yet in the librarian post.
In 2015, while Greg Devereaux was the county’s chief executive officer, Hernandez was promoted to the position of county deputy executive officer.
In 2015, Hernandez was promoted to the position of deputy executive officer overseeing the community services group, which includes the county’s library and museum systems, the registrar of voters, regional parks, county airports and the county department of agriculture/weights and measures.
Devereaux conferred upon Hernandez the interim chief operating officer’s assignment in 2016. He was elevated to the position of the full-fledged county chief operating officer in 2017.
That same year, Devereaux was persuaded by the board of supervisors, led by Hagman, to accept a management consultant’s position with the county and depart as county chief executive officer. Dena Smith, the one-time clerk of the board of supervisors who had been moved up to the position of deputy county CEO during the latter stage of Devereaux’s tenure as chief executive officer, served as the interim chief executive officer for eight months, at which point the board of supervisors brought in McBride, the county’s chief financial officer, to serve as county chief executive officer.
The affable and easygoing McBride was uncomfortable with being confrontational with county staff and department heads, and was thus constitutionally incapable of carrying out firings. Hernandez proved more than willing to act as McBride’s hatchet man, seeming to relish such assignments, and throughout the county’s governmental structure, Hernandez become known, indeed feared, as what some referred to as “the grim reaper.” County employees en masse came to dread the prospect of looking up to see Hernandez make his way unannounced into his or her office and closing the door behind him, at which point he was known to unceremoniously present the unfortunate employee with a pink slip to let him or her know he or she had been terminated and was to be separated from the county at once, oftentimes without the opportunity or privilege to clean out his or her desk.
Hernandez became valued by the board of supervisors for his decisiveness and willingness to act.
A standing joke was that one day McBride would look up to see Hernandez, in the form of the grim reaper he was celebrated by county employees as being, darkening the entrance into the county chief executive officer’s quarters, at which point McBride would learn that the board of supervisors felt that his time was past.
Something akin but perhaps not quite like that has now transpired.
Last week, in a remarkable announcement in the County Wire, a posting of noteworthy events and news on the San Bernardino County official website, it was announced that McBride was to leave as county chief administrative officer to take on the position of the county’s strategic projects director.
The ostensible, but not altogether convincing, rationale given for the shift was that McBride and his formidable financial and budgeting skills were needed to guide the county in its effort to overcome the fiscal crisis brought on by the COVID-19 crisis.
No mention of Hernandez was made in last week’s County Wire report. The board did, however, schedule a closed session for itself to take place on September 29, the day of the board’s final meeting in September, at 1:30 p.m., after that morning’s public session. That item referred to a “public employee appointment” under the auspices of Government Code section 54957 and a “conference with labor negotiators” in keeping with Government Code section 54957.6. The agenda item noted that Hagman was to negotiate with an “unrepresented employee” with regard to filling the role of “chief executive officer.”
On Tuesday, during that closed session, Hernandez was was appointed by the board of supervisors to serve as the county’s next chief executive officer as of October 10. The board of supervisors did so without conducting any sort of recruitment for the position, an indication that there was no serious contemplation of conferring the county CEO position on anyone other than Hernandez.
“I am humbled by the confidence the board of supervisors has placed in me and grateful for the opportunity to lead this great county organization, which has been my professional home for so many years,” Hernandez said.
“Under the leadership and guidance of the board of supervisors, the county team has built a culture of innovation, efficiency, and public service,” Hernandez said. “My overarching goal is to expand and nurture that culture within each of our worksites, within every service we provide, and within every county employee.”
“We are excited to welcome Leonard Hernandez as San Bernardino County’s new CEO,” said Hagman, speaking as the chairman of the board of supervisors. “COVID-19 has presented many unique challenges within our community, and Leonard’s extensive experience within the county and his integral role on the executive leadership team have strongly positioned him to lead the county during this unique time. I look forward to working with him in solving these challenges and know that his talents, leadership, and dedication to seeing the county thrive will serve him well as CEO.”
“I have known Leonard since 2006, when he was the manager of the Fontana Branch Library,” said Fifth District Supervisor Josie Gonzales. “Throughout the years, I have watched him grow as a leader and I have seen his commitment to serving the community. As a supervisor for the past 16 years, I know that there is no decision more important than the selection of the CEO. I have full confidence in Leonard and I have no doubt that he will help guide our county to new heights in the years to come.”
“Leonard first impressed me with his leadership and problem-solving skills when he was placed in charge of the Lewis Library in Fontana while I was on the city council,” Supervisor Janice Rutherford said. “Since then, he’s continued to demonstrate his leadership abilities, commitment to excellence in public service, and his dedication to ethics, and I look forward to working with him to address the challenges facing our county.”
“I appreciate Leonard’s willingness to accept the role of CEO and continue the leadership that has been established,” said First District Supervisor Robert Lovingood. “His experience and knowledge of the county is foundational to our ongoing success and I look forward to working with him in this capacity. As a county, we have faced unprecedented challenges and I am confident that these proactive leadership transitions prepare us well for what is ahead. I want to thank Gary for his leadership and continued commitment to help the county strategically navigate the complexities that this health crisis has brought.”
Supervisor Rowe came closest to acknowledging that Hernandez was able to accede to the top county staff position as a consequence of his accumulation of knowledge with regard to where the county’s skeletons are buried, including those she is personally responsible for. “I look forward to working with Leonard to implement the vision of our board of supervisors,” said Rowe. “He is a hard-working leader with a keen understanding of the inner-workings of our county government. I’m confident that he will continue the great progress made by his predecessor, Gary McBride.”
The official county announcement of the board’s action in elevating Hernandez to chief executive officer notes that in his capacity as county chief operating officer, Hernandez “has coordinated the county’s multi-departmental response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the leadership of the board of supervisors the county’s COVID task force has led the State of California in its response to the pandemic and service to the public.”
An accomplished San Bernardino County political figure, one who has worked in close proximity to Hernandez, characterized him as “smart” and as a “skilled political infighter” who has used his range of talents to propel his professional career forward.
“He knows the laws of power,” the politician told the Sentinel. “He has watched how government works and how politicians conduct things. He has a good grasp of how politics works.”
That the board of supervisors has cashiered McBride in favor of Hernandez is no surprise, the politician said. “Gary was well-suited to being the chief financial officer, but I never saw him as being the caliber of a chief executive. I was baffled when he was elevated to CEO, and I was not the only one. I think in the extended aftermath of Greg Devereaux leaving, there was a panic that set in, and the board felt there was an immediate need to fill that position.”
The elected official described Hernandez as “sort of Greg Devereaux’s protégé. I think that around Greg Devereaux there were some very adept people involved in government. He [Hernandez] learned from them, but I also think he has a natural inclination and ability to influence things. I think he is capable of being very influential.”
Hernandez’s image as a hardhearted and almost sadistic overlord who takes pleasure in firing people is a gross exaggeration, the official told the Sentinel.
“All in all, I think he is a decent guy,” the public official said, while emphasizing that Hernandez was not easily deceived.
“Things don’t go by Leonard,” the official said. “He is a good reader of people and circumstances. I anticipate he is going to be around a long time. I think he is going to be on that perch for a while. I could be wrong, I suppose. There is a difference between the things you do to get to the top and what you do when you get there. To last, you have to be able to build and solidify a team, an organization around you. It is very easy to make enemies,” the official observed, conceding that Hernandez had accumulated a few, a reality which sprung from holding a position of high authority in a large organization. “It’s a hard slag to build alliances that will last,” the politician said. “You can make enemies all day long. And enemies will last a long time. Once you are locked in a fortress, you are a dead man. Sound leadership of a large organization is built on a solid combination of fear and trust. There is always going to be fear of whoever is at the top of the organization, but that has to be counterbalanced with trust.”
The reason the board perhaps encountered little resistance from McBride in accepting the demotion is that he sustained only a minimal reduction in his remuneration. His annual salary as county chief executive officer stood at $313,670.67. As strategic projects director, he will see his pay diminished by a little more than $15,000 annually, with his salary falling to $298,209.60 per year. At present, McBride has a total annual compensation package of $588,728.81, including the $313,670.67 in salary, $92,965.10 in pay other than salary and $182,093 in benefits. As strategic projects director, it is anticipated his annual compensation will drop into the $530,000 range.
Hernandez, who is pulling down $206,650.80 yearly in salary as chief operating officer along with $26,567.20 in other pay and $117,390.60 in annual benefits for a total annual compensation package of $350,608.60, will see his annual salary zoom to around $302,000 and his total compensation package jump to somewhere in excess of $510,000.

Ruth Musser-Lopez says there are two reasons why she is running for Needles City Council this year.
“It is no secret why I am running for office. Half is as a caring, passionate ‘cheerleader’ for the community and half is to redress major issues facing this city. Those issues are ones which I believe I am uniquely qualified to help redress.”
The city faces challenges and opportunities that are an outgrowth of its long, storied and colorful history, Musser-Lopez said.
“First, we live in a historic town that was first visited by Europeans in the 1700s with Padre Francisco Garces, and if you count how long the indigenous Mojaves have been here, then we go back at least ten thousand years. The town boasts a major historic railroad depot, “El Garces,” and the town itself was named after the prominent, spectacularly jagged peaks to the south, “The Needles.” With this kind of history and the proven revenue opportunity of being on a major transportation corridor, a leg of the ‘Golden Triangle’ tourist route from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon and back by way of Route 66 and Needles, one would think that the town would put more emphasis on preserving its historic iconic structures, but something is terribly wrong. You don’t need to be an accountant or an insider to see the visual evidence as you drive through historic downtown Needles. As soon as you enter town from the east, you are on rough and deteriorating pavement, there is no signage that one is entering a historic district nor is there signage for the many historic structures that dot Route 66 and the Old Trails Highway through town.
“Instead,” Musser-Lopez continued, “we have continued ongoing destruction and dismantling of our iconic historic buildings and points of interest. The city council went along with the city manager and had the grand Overland Hotel burnt down as a fire crew training exercise, spewing asbestos into our surrounding neighborhood and leaving only one downtown two-story Route 66 motel, the Imperial 400, where there was a fire this week. These were buildings that could have been retooled for assisted living nursing facilities. Among others that were recently razed or demolished are the old dairy castle, the two story railroad tie cabin and now the historic ‘Footprints Rock House’ and Damarius Carter’s art studio/historic two story home to make way for a cannabis grow operation.”
She believes her previous experience on the city council and her professional, personal and political interactions in her various capacities inside and outside of Needles leave her in a position to spur interest in the city on the part of investors and others looking for a place to engage in long term entrepreneurship.
“How to attract new home project developers is something that the other candidates concerned themselves with at the recent Needles political forum, but as I said, they have the cart before the horse,” Musser-Lopez said. “My position is that if we maintain the historic district, the developers will come begging. Who wants to move into a town where what you see first is bad pavement, razed buildings leaving fenced concrete slabs, and rickety old power poles? That has to change. We’ve got to make downtown Needles spectacular. And I have a plan for that. It’s called ‘Make Needles Peaktacular’ a theme that plays upon the idea of the Needles Peaks and includes the names of the individual peaks, like Gold Dome, in events that would draw tourism.”
The city should have been far more sensitive to preserving the historical and other assets that can be featured to promote the city, Musser-Lopez said, rather than rubberstamping development plans as proposed by project proponents whose priorities are not consistent with a longer term vision of the city’s appeal to tourists and customers who will frequent the city’s businesses. She indicated that she was not opposed, per se, to the proliferation of cannabis-based businesses in Needles, but said the businesses themselves and the premises into which they are located should be held to sensible structural and aesthetic standards, and should be placed at locations that do not inhibit or interfere with other elements of the community.
“A few of the new grow-ops are large metal buildings that block the view of the river or are on an off-ramp where a restaurant or convenience gas stations or food stores would have been more suitable,” she said. “This is not an industry problem. Obviously, what has gone wrong is a faulty ‘zoning’ plan or council-approved variances.”
Musser-Lopez said that as a member of the council, she would advocate that the city council take stock of its historic assets and the advantage they represent, and would seek to frame a policy that would allow those assets to be preserved for future generations while serving as a further draw of tourists to the heart of the city that would allow the businesses located there to prosper.
“I have always advocated for a community historic preservation plan with a listing of the structures that add to the ambiance of this important segment of the ‘Mother Road,’” Musser Lopez said. “We have wonderful unique historic structures and I have proposed a self-guided geotag tour with bar codes that can be pointed at and read with a smart phone to automatically display interpretive information. Though the on-the-ground signage is lacking, I have already developed the tour concept that can be seen at:   https://gisclass.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapTour/index.html?appid=472088ac10b547748bada5fd934e33da#map
“Needles is an attractive city with some of the finest homes and landscape on the river, but that is not what the visitor sees when passing through on Route 66,” Musser-Lopez said. “The road coming through town from the east is sorely in need of repair and some of the very significant iconic buildings are in need of professional care.”
Redressing the inevitable deterioration of the aging aspects of the community can be easily achieved, Musser-Lopez asserted.
“One thing that could be done is for the city to provide free paint for qualifying property owners,” she said. “We should encourage property owners to repair and restore their homes and structures with material that replicate the historic characteristics of the period in which those buildings were constructed. It is very important that people have the ability to consult with a historic property specialist who understands the symbolic history and significance of paint color so the council and others do not make the same mistake of painting something like historic El Garces Depot pink.”
Musser-Lopez said, “While I advocate for a downtown preservation program and removal of unsightly, dangerous, rickety wooden power poles with power lines radiating out across back yards, I have a plan to pay for this without increasing rates. I am on the right side of the aisle in Sacramento and am in a position to advocate for hydro-electric energy credits with special legislation targeted to assist much needed electric upgrades for the historic downtown Route 66 District.”
She said, “As the lead archaeologist for cultural resource management programs involving federal agencies such as the Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management, some of which have garnered recognition and awards, I am uniquely qualified to advance these credits in the role of city councilwoman with expertise in historic preservation. In 1980, when I first moved to Needles as a Bureau of Land Management archaeologist, one of my concepts, the “Adopt-a-Historic Site” program, became the inspiration for the nationwide Site Stewardship program. My first “adopter” group was Cal 4-Wheel Drive and they continue to participate even now. I have other ideas, some which I have freely given to the community that will attract visitors far and wide. One is an annual Route 66 run coupled with a Mojave Desert frybread competition. Another is a Gold Dome marathon to commemorate one of the Needles peaks from which the town gets its name along with a free Old West outdoor karaoke event.”
Musser-Lopez said, “Upon getting elected, my first order of business would be to advance downtown Needles as an enterprise zone for tourism, with special credits and small business loans. Currently, we compete with Arizona’s lower taxes just a hop and a skip across the two lane bridge over the river; we are seriously hemorrhaging consumers, who are taking their paychecks out of California and spending out of state. We need to work with the state legislature to recognize Needles as a ‘rural border town’  and create an economic enterprise zone tailored to be competitive with neighboring state tax scales.”
She is distinguished from her competition in this year’s council race by the depth and breadth of her experience and involvement, her driving curiosity, as well as the energy she brings to the tasks she takes on, Musser-Lopez said. “My master’s education in applied archaeology at California State University San Bernardino where I received a grant for my thesis work along with my performance serving Needles as a proponent of quality of life measures, Route 66 tourism and historic preservation advocacy is a testimony to my ability to work effectively on behalf of Needles residents. I was involved in the Wagon Park effort. I am a charter member of the Needles Museum, a founder of the Needles Pioneer Cemetery Museum and a Route 66 preservation advocate. I have ten years invested in leading federal projects that required me to prepare and implement large budgets, write grant proposals and prepare, interpret and advise with respect to environmental studies. That work was predicated by my degree in anthropology from the University of California. I attended UCLA and graduated from the University of California at Riverside, where I worked for the department as an archaeologist. I have been trained in accounting and can read and understand a balance sheet. I have owned and operated two successful businesses. I am running against a California Highway Patrol dispatcher, a nurse, an uncredentialed on-line language instructor and another who has not designated what she does for a living. If people make a comparison of my qualifications with my opponents, I am confident I will win this election.”
Needles residents should also find her candidacy appealing on an immediately practical level that will be of benefit to their pocketbooks, Musser-Lopez said.
“The second big issue in Needles right now is the proposed utility rate increases which I object to, particularly during this deflationary period when folks are experiencing economic hardship,” she said. “For going on a decade, we have been told that if we accepted the cannabis industry into this town, so much income would be generated from taxes and fees that we would get a break on our utility bills. Instead, the current council, under the guise of infrastructure failure, is now asking us, the ratepayers, to reach deeper into our pockets for proposed rate increases on top of those that were already imposed a few years ago and despite the fact that the 1990s $25 million bond issue which was to be used to replace our infrastructure is not yet paid off. This is again a city council/management problem, not a cannabis industry problem. The cannabis revenue stream coming into the city needs study and transparency. When elected, I would request that the infrastructure work be sorted as to what is existing infrastructure replacement and what is proposed new infrastructure in support of new developments and/or expanded cannabis operations that the community should not have to pay for. I’ve attended the recent utility board meeting where the concept of a very large utility expansion surfaced that has nothing to do with us who live here now during a time we are being asked to pay more.
“Third, but not the least important, one of our biggest assets in Needles is ownership of our own perfected water rights and everyone knows I am an advocate for protecting our water supply,” Musser-Lopez said. “Starting in 1987, mine was the first published objection to the unlined nuclear dump intended to accept international and domestic radioactive waste that was to be positioned over our tributary water in Ward Valley. Letters and protests from thousands of others followed, including over 20 thousand signatures on a voter initiative I authored and circulated. As a former councilwoman in the 1990s and later as director of People Against Radioactive Dumping, I helped the Mojave Tribe at my own expense to stop everything from nuclear submarine components to decommissioned power plants being dumped into unlined trenches on ‘Water Road’ next to the I-40. We are still constantly battling for protection of that water supply, now against a would be ‘heister,’ the Cadiz Corporation, which is threatening to drain and pipe it out of the desert to Orange County. If elected, the people can count on me to vote as a council member to oppose interception and privatization of desert groundwater on its natural course to Needles and the river.”
Musser-Lopez emphasized that she is not newly arrived on the political scene, but has been immersed in issues of public concern for decades.
“I have demonstrated what I stand for by the causes I have taken up and championed over the years,” she said. “As a 40-year Needles resident and citizen I have testified before the city council dozens of times, advocating for policies that are based in fiscal responsibility, furthering public safety, and a priority policy on hiring community residents first. Generally, and with regard to other issues, I believe all Needles residents deserve governance that is transparent and fair. I am for our constitutional rights, including no taxation without approval by 2/3 of the voters and repeal of unfair regressive taxes and ‘flat’ taxes that burden the poor disproportionately. I support funding directed toward code enforcement and a local social worker on staff at the sheriff’s office to provide homeless services. These additional services would not necessarily mean fewer deputies. Instead they could potentially be funded in part with savings on insurance liability, as a result of implementing Assembly Bill 392 and reducing reckless and unnecessary use of deadly force which thankfully we have not had here, as is the case in Barstow. I am supportive of our Constitutional rights to protect citizens against property confiscation by government. That is why my husband and I in 2017 fought back and won in court when, despite repeated protest, our mayor and council here in Needles filed an eminent domain lawsuit against us to seize much more land than they needed for a traffic light.”
Musser-Lopez said, “I met my husband Robert Lopez, a Needles native, shortly after I transferred to Needles in 1980 as an archaeologist when the Bureau of Land Management moved its field office here. Robert is from a Needles railroad family, with six generations in this community. He had an uncle who was a Mojave bird song singer. He grew up next to the village, and enjoyed the river with his friends there. He was hired on at the Mojave Generating Station in Laughlin and was a journeyman welder when it closed, and he retired after 35 years with Southern California Edison. We are fully invested in the success of Needles, and he now restores vintage cars and helps me with my rental house business which I had to set aside while I was being treated for breast cancer at UCLA and going to grad school. The cancer is in remission now, so we are getting back to business.”
Continuing, Musser-Lopez said, “We’ve been married for 37 years and we have three wonderful adult children, all of whom are enjoying their own successful and productive lives. Currently we are all working on the Needles Pioneer Cemetery Museum project. I am CEO and one of the directors of the nonprofit Archaeological Heritage Association, which will operate the museum. We hope this museum will add to Needles’ visitors’ experiences, with tours and an interpretive center to demonstrate how the indigenous Mojave are connected to the rock art in the area as evidenced by art on tombstones said to be made and inscribed by the last Mojave chief.”
Musser-Lopez said, “By looking at my record on what I have asked our current and past leaders for at City Hall, every voter will be able to see that I will work for what my slogan says “Make Needles Peaktacular.” I invite people to make a comparison of my qualifications with those of my well-intentioned opponents, whom I salute for their civic concern. I sincerely believe my qualifications compare favorably to my opponents, and hope Needles residents will thoroughly explore their options before they cast their votes.”
-M.G.

The Barstow City Council on Monday, October 5 will take up a proposal to revive the long dormant effort by the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians to develop a casino and resort proximate to The Outlets mall at the south end of the city.
First proposed in 2001 and then accepted by the city in 2006 as a joint venture with BarWest Gaming LLC and its principals Marian llitch, and Michael Malik, who had developed the MotorCity Casino in Detroit, the project was stymied by protests from other tribes which contended that the Los Coyotes, whose aboriginal tribal lands are in San Diego County, did not have standing to locate a casino in Barstow, geographically removed from the boundaries of their reservation.
With those tribes having now dropped their opposition and the Bureau of Indian Affairs having given clearance for the project to proceed, the plan is moving forward. BarWest has dropped out of the picture, and The Los Coyotes have offered the city the twin inducements of providing land for and partially defraying the cost of constructing a police precinct and a fire station on two of the 40 acres the tribe is acquiring for the venture.

Regal Cinemas, which operates three theaters in San Bernardino County, is on the brink of closing all 543 of its theaters in the United States. The contemplated move is necessitated by the massive revenue losses the chain has sustained as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
A final decision on the closures has not yet been reached, according to a statement from the theater conglomerate’s parent company Cineworld.
Movie houses in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties remain closed pursuant to public health orders, while theaters in Orange and Riverside counties have been permitted to reopen, subject to precautions.
Regal is the second-largest theater chain in the United States after AMC. Regal has one location in San Bernardino and two in Ontario.

San Bernardino Mayor John Valdivia’s entanglement in circumstances suggesting he has been the recipient of bribe money from multiple sources, including those who hold towing franchises in the city, served as a consideration in the city council’s decision this week to settle a federal lawsuit brought against it by Pepe’s Towing, sources close to and involved in the decision have told the Sentinel.
Manny Acosta, the owner of Pepe’s Towing, pursued a lawsuit against the city in 2019 that alleged graft was a motivating factor in a series of decisions by succeeding city councils to confer no-bid tow contracts on six tow companies: City Towing, Hayes Towing, Wilson Towing, Big Z Towing, Armada Towing and Tri-City Towing.
In 1999, Acosta, who inherited the company from his father, initiated an effort to obtain a position on the City of San Bernardino’s towing rotation. He renewed that effort in 2005, 2011 and 2016. Frustrated at every turn, Acosta persisted. Having found himself hemmed in and prevented from obtaining a franchise in the City of San Bernardino no matter how he approached the matter, Acosta on October 24, 2018 filed a federal lawsuit against the city and 13 individual defendants, including Sixth District Councilwoman Bessine L. Richard, then-former City Manager Mark Scott, City Councilman James Mulvihill, then-City Manager Andrea Miller, City Councilman Fred Shorett, then-Mayor R. Carey Davis, San Bernardino Police Captain Paul Williams, then-City Councilman Benito J. Barrios, then-Police Chief Jarrod Burguan, then-City Councilman John Valdivia, then-City Attorney Gary D. Saenz, then-City Councilwoman Virginia Marquez and then-former Chief Assistant City Attorney Jolena Grider.
The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleged the defendants violated the company’s rights of free speech and equal protection in the course of rejecting Pepe’s Towing’s efforts to contract with the city to handle police and code enforcement towing duties.
For years, the City of San Bernardino had rejected expanding its towing rotation beyond the group of six towing contractors that presently have a franchise. Acosta had been the most energetic of the tow company operators pressing the city to reopen the bidding process to all interested tow companies, of which, he maintained, his company was the most qualified.
For Acosta, being placed on the towing rotation for the San Bernardino Police Department was not a matter of make-or-break. He already has contracts with 22 law enforcement agencies in San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles counties, and he has tow yards located in San Bernardino, Colton, Fontana, Moreno Valley, Ontario and Rialto and five other locations from which he operates 73 trucks, some of which have greater hauling capability than any of those operated by City Towing, Hayes Towing, Wilson Towing, Big Z Towing, Armada Towing and Tri-City Towing. Indeed, the City of San Bernardino and its police department have turned to Pepe’s Towing to deal with super-large hauls that none of its current franchised tow companies could handle. Nevertheless, the city has persisted in denying Pepe’s a place on its municipal towing rotation.
In 2016, Acosta intensified his effort to break into the circle of franchised towing operators in the City of San Bernardino, carrying out an intensive investigation and exposure campaign, documenting that the city’s six franchisees were out of compliance with regard to the city’s requirements for tow service operations, and pointing out what he contended was favoritism on the part of the police department toward some of the tow truck operators that crossed the line into fraud and conspiracy implicating police officers and commanders who he alleged had falsified certifications of compliance relating to at least some of the franchises. That accusation may have derailed Acosta’s march toward obtaining the San Bernardino franchise he sought. The city by that time had indicated it was amenable to adding a seventh service provider to its rotation list for the police department. And while Pepe’s demonstrated it met or exceeded the requirements the city had set on the lion’s share of criteria and that some of the franchise holders did not, anger in the police department over the manner in which Acosta suggested Captain Paul Williams had phonied up the compliance certifications for the existing franchises resulted in the department making a finding that because Pepe’s Towing did not have sufficient outdoor storage space at its San Bernardino yard, it should not be granted the franchise.
Acosta, who had been represented at one point or another by a virtual who’s who of attorneys – including former San Bernardino City Attorney Jim Penman, former Federal Judge/former Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Larson; former Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen A. Trutanich; former Ventura County Deputy District Attorney/former Redondo Beach Prosecutor’s Office Attorney William Dance; attorney Jonathan Phillips; and attorney R.C. Harlan – sued the city. In that suit it was asserted that San Bernardino city officials extended contracts with the existing tow franchisees without conducting any sort of a competitive bidding process and while all of the companies were out of compliance with some or many of the city’s codified requirements for tow service operators.
According to the suit, “Pepe’s Towing of San Bernardino spent 18 years attempting to provide towing services for the City of San Bernardino. The San Bernardino Police Department currently uses six tow companies, most for nearly 20 years without them having been subjected to competition. Several of those are significantly lacking in the facilities and quality of service required to comply with their contracts. In fact, Pepe’s is regularly called on by the city to provide services the existing tow operators cannot provide.”
Furthermore, according to Acosta’s suit, “To stymie Mr. Acosta’s effort, in 2011 the city placed an additional barrier to competition by instituting a new requirement, mandating that new city tow contractors have outdoor storage of at least 65,000 square feet. This requirement was not applied to the existing six tow companies. Four of the six present city towing contractors do not meet this requirement. It should be noted that this requirement affects only new tow contractors that contract with the city. That requirement appeared to be a needless disqualifier for any new competition. The city did not apply this 65,000-square foot requirement to the existing tow contractors, just new ones that may apply, thereby grandfathering an exemption to the storage space requirement for existing tow contractors. It should further be noted that one of the two complying tow contractors merged with another, non-contracting towing company to garner a combined, partially unpaved outdoor storage space of 65,000 square feet, achieving numerical compliance. This new 65,000 square foot requirement forced any new tow contractors to compete on an uneven playing field with existing tow contractors and was apparently designed to ensure that no new towing companies could qualify as city tow contractors.”
In addition, Pepe’s suit alleged that all six current tow contractors failed and continue to fail to comply with many key contract terms, including the Clean Water Act and other environmental laws. The suit further alleged that the city retaliated against Pepe’s Towing when Acosta brought these breaches of contract to the attention of the public.
In the face of the lawsuit, the city, represented by the law firm of Best Best & Krieger and its attorneys assigned to the case, Richard Egger, Damian Northcutt and Avi Rutschmann, engaged in legal maneuvering that for the most part it prevailed upon. One such example was the city’s request for a protective order guarding against the exposure of “confidential, proprietary or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted.” Judge Sheri Pym granted that motion.
The case was set to go to trial before Judge Stephen V. Wilson this summer, but a delay ensued. The Sentinel is reliably informed that attorney Richard Egger told the city council that while he and his colleagues Northcutt and Rutschmann believed that the city was in a relatively strong position, there was a potential that a jury might find Acosta’s version of events compelling, in which case the city might sustain a substantial verdict against it. The city council’s three newest members – Third District Councilman Juan Figueroa, Second District Councilwoman Sandra Ibarra and First District Councilman Ted Sanchez – were said to be particularly nervous about the city’s prospects for prevailing in the legal contest against Acosta. Mayor Valdivia, whose alleged acceptance of bribe money represented some of the strongest evidence that the city had allowed a graft-ridden franchise arrangement to perpetuate, was acutely aware of just where a trial of the case Acosta brought could have led, which would include the revelation of the kickbacks he has received.
One piece of evidence in the arsenal of the lawyers representing Pepe’s Towing is an affidavit signed under the penalty of perjury by one of Mayor Valdivia’s former legislative field representatives, Don Smith. According to Smith, he was present in October or November 2018 for a 1 a.m. rendezvous Valdivia had with Danny Alcarez, the owner of Danny’s 24 Hour Towing, Inc., when Alcarez provided Valdivia with “a thick white envelope that appeared to contain a large amount of money,” which Smith said he believed was a kickback provided to Valdivia for his support of city tow franchises remaining in the exclusive possession of several of the city’s towing operations.
Whether or not Valdivia used all or some of that money for campaign purposes or whether he utilized it for his own personal expenses is unclear.
According to his campaign reporting documents for his successful November 2018 mayoral run against San Bernardino’s immediate past mayor, Carey Davis, Valdivia received $600 from Danny’s Towing between October 21 and December 31, 2018.
The Sentinel is informed that Valdivia did not obstruct the council’s decision to enter into a settlement with Acosta.
In July, the city was seeking to come to terms with Acosta and his lawyers, but were stymied in doing so because the latter were unwilling to consider a settlement of anything below $3 million.
Within the last fortnight, the city council accepted an arrangement with Acosta that heads off the prospect of a trial and will settle the matter “without an admission of liability,” such that the city is to provide Pepe’s Towing at some point this month with $700,000, to be followed by $200,000 in July 2021, $200,000 in July 2022 and $200,000 in July 2023.
Councilman Henry Nickel told the Sentinel, “To state the obvious, there are compounding allegations against the mayor, the majority of which did not bear on this case but which nonetheless may have made it difficult for the city to mount an adequate defense. This case has played out for a while now. I don’t think it was in our long term interest to go to trial.”
The backdrop, Nickel said, consists of a poor policy on the city’s part that has perpetuated the franchises without adequate oversight and accountability.
“These are not open contracts,” he said. “Competition is good for the public and good for the towing industry. Our position should have been that there was going to be an open bid process all along. It should not have gotten to this point. I felt it was appropriate to settle under the circumstances, after two years of legal costs and the prospect of a court case that we might have lost. Yes, I was certainly in favor of the settlement.”
Nickel said, “I had concerns about the accusations against the mayor. In the last several months there has been a significant shift in his base of power as we have heard more about his behavior and decisions over the years.”
Nickels’ reference was to claims filed against Valdivia by five former city staff members assigned to the mayor’s office who have said he was abusive, engaged in sexual harassment, falsified documents relating to both public money he had spent during junkets and gifts, some of which may have been tantamount to bribes, that he had received, and that he had been provided money in the form of cash stuffed in envelopes or paper bags. The city should have come to terms with what Valdivia was engaging in “sooner,” Nickel said. The payout of $1.3 million is part of coming to terms with that reality, Nickel said.
“$1.3 million is a lot of money, but it is a drop in the bucket compared to what this could turn into,” he said.
Taking the tow franchises out to bid, which is what is to happen next year, Nickel said, is long overdue. “Our management of this franchise has been substandard for decades,” Nickel said. “Those tow franchise holders are a cartel. You have a limited group of people who are in control. They have a unique license and franchise, which presents a moral hazard. All of these franchises – towing, taxis, ambulances, trash hauling – they tend toward becoming cartels or oligopolies. They are given power and money, which is abused. They spend the money they are getting to keep competition out.”
The city will put all of the franchises out to bid in April of the coming year, he said. “We will open this up for competition. There will be franchise fees paid, which will provide us with something to recoup our costs. In the past there were members of the city council looking for excuses to extend those franchises. My hope is that in the future there will be greater scrutiny on how our franchise arrangements are made.”
-Mark Gutglueck