Ari Young, the schizophrenic man who severely beat a sheriff’s deputy and narrowly missed shooting her after he took her gun away from her, was acquitted late last month of attempted murder and assault with a firearm.
The same jury deadlocked on battery on a peace officer, removing an officer’s firearm and resisting arrest counts. The panel did find Young guilty of negligent discharge of a firearm.
On September 4, 2019, Ari Aki Young’s mother made a 911 call from her home on Cabazon Court in Victorville requesting assistance in getting her son to leave her house. When the dispatch call went out, Deputy Meagan McCarthy was the closest officer to the home. The dispatcher relayed to McCarthy that the mother had said, “Oh my god! Oh my god! Get my son out of here.”
Arriving at the Cabazon Court location before any other deputies, McCarthy was emerging from her car when a visibly angry Ari Young emerged from the home. His mother, wielding a knife with one hand and on the phone with the other, herself came out onto the house’s stoop.
Deputy McCarthy, assuming the mother was still in contract with the sheriff’s department dispatch desk by phone, approached Ari Young, and near the home’s driveway came face-to-face with him. McCarthy, asking Young what was going on, then maneuvered behind him, trying to pin his hands to the small of his back just above his waist in what she said was a prelude to an effort to “pat him down for weapons.”
Somewhat predictably, this did not work and instead rotated around to face McCarthy and then began to physically assault her, landing blow after blow to her head. Continue reading →

Ontario, the wealthiest of all of San Bernardino County’s 24 municipalities, which already had nearly two-thirds of a billion dollars running through all of its funds annually before it was given another $96 million per year infusion when its voters approved a one-cent sales tax override in November of last year, abruptly ended its clean energy program recently.
Despite widespread resident speculation that the program was discontinued because diversions of the revenue it brought in found its way into the pockets of bigwigs at City Hall instead of being used to perpetuate making compressed natural gas available to city residents at an affordable price, the city officially maintains the subsidies came to an end because it is Ontario leaders’ consensus that it is inappropriate for the city to be competing with the private sector for the provision of a product that is now widely available on the open market.
Ontario officials have long prided themselves on, and emphasized, their responsible stewardship of the city’s assets and taxpayer-provided money and how that has benefited residents by rendering it into the county’s most stable and well-funded municipal operation. In their joint electioneering material beginning in 2014, repeated in 2018 and reprised in 2022, Ontario City Council mainstays Mayor Paul Leon and councilmen Alan Wapner and James Bowman have maintained that their understanding of the intricacies of municipal finance, mastery of budgetary issues and their enlightened, well-meaning and level-headed spending priorities merited them reelection. The city’s residents are the primary beneficiaries of their combined level of sophistication, they have long insisted, allowing Ontario to stand head-and-shoulders above all other cities in San Bernardino County as a full-service city, one in which City Hall is firmly in control of the destiny and welfare of Ontario’s citizens and able to provide for the needs of residents and offer programs unavailable elsewhere in the region.
Indeed, Ontario in its 2022-23 budget is channeling $661,615,132 through all of the city’s various funds, almost twice that of its nearest rival, Victorville, with its $333,533,046 2022-23 budget. Financially Ontario is well beyond Fontana, which is functioning with $284,614,530 in total revenue this year; Rancho Cucamonga which has $278,469,810 with which to operate; Chino and its $274 million budget; and Rialto, which is spending $220,143,860. Continue reading →

In one fell swoop, the Upland City Council will confer across-the-board pay raises for city employees and simultaneously reward its own members and the city treasurer with a salary/stipend boost and taxpayer funded medical coverage for them and their family members.
The action comes seven months after Upland’s voters solidly rejected imposing one-cent sales tax override on all transactions in the city.
Since its inception as San Bernardino County’s fourth incorporated city in 1906, Upland and its political leadership has accepted its position as one of the county’s least dynamic municipal entities economically, having lagged forever behind the county seat San Bernardino; neighboring Ontario, to which it served as the “bedroom community” host of the impressive homes built by that city’s successful entrepreneurs and the resort community Redlands, which was a West Coast stomping grounds for millionaires from back east, primarily Chicago.
When Chino, with its intensive farmland, incorporated in 1910, Upland, which had a secondary claim to fame of being an agricultural community, fell further behind in its significance. With the incorporation of Needles, a major railroad town in 1913, Upland was yet being overlooked as a place of significance on the San Bernardino County map, although it and its elegant Magnolia downtown district was garnering distinction as a gracious residential area.
Not until Rialto incorporated in 1911, was there a city in San Bernardino County upon which Upland, as a municipality, could look down upon. Continue reading →

The City of San Bernardino will be launching a homeless outreach team beginning June 15 to engage homeless individuals to connect them effectively and efficiently with available housing and other services. At that time, residents and businesses will be able to report issues or request assistance by calling (909) 936-3478 or by email at homelesshelp@sbcity.org.
The creation of a homeless outreach team is part of a comprehensive response taken by the Mayor and City Council following its declaration of a homeless state of emergency in February.
“As we promised, San Bernardino is taking action to address homelessness,” said Mayor Helen Tran. “In addition to the new Outreach Team, we are currently cleaning up encampments, cleaning up our parks, and adding shelter beds. Residents are noticing a difference already.”
In a contract awarded by the city council on May 17, San Bernardino will partner with the Los Angeles County based Hope the Mission to provide a full-time team of eight skilled team members to work with San Bernardino Housing and Homeless staff five days a week. The outreach team will offer transportation services to individuals willing to seek shelter, access crisis centers, undergo rehabilitation, or to help reconnect with their families through reunification programs. In addition, the team will play a pivotal role in guiding unhoused individuals toward the forthcoming City shelter, ensuring that housing priority is given to those who are from San Bernardino.
The outreach team will include a program manager, two peer specialists, two case managers, two counselors, and a data coordinator. Their outreach efforts will extend across the entire 62 square miles of the City, actively engaging with the homeless community.
San Bernardino is the county seat. The homeless situation in San Bernardino is more acute than in any of the other 23 municipalities in San Bernardino County or in any of its unincorporated areas.
The number of homeless in San Bernardino County has eclipsed 4,000, according to figures released this week by county officials taken from the so-called point-in-time count completed on January 26.
With in 4,195 of the county’s 2,225,586 inhabitants identified as having no home, 0.018848968316659 percent of the population is fully destitute, that is, one out of every 530.53 people subsisting in the county at present is doing so without a roof over his or her head.
Key findings extrapolated from this year’s count and an analysis of past counts were that:
* The number of adults and children counted as homeless increased by 25.9 percent when the 2023 point-in-time homeless count of 4,195 is compared to the 2022 point-in-time homeless count of 3,333.
* The number of adults and children counted as unsheltered increased by 24.6% when the 2023 unsheltered count of 2,976 is compared to the 2022 unsheltered count of 2,389.
* The number of homeless adults and children counted as sheltered increased by 29.1 percent when the 2023 sheltered count of 1,219 is compared to the 2022 sheltered count of 944.* More than three-fourths (76.9 percent) or 3,226 of the 4,195 homeless adults and children were counted within seven cities that include Barstow, Colton, Fontana, Ontario, Redlands, San Bernardino, and Victorville. Those seven cities accounted for 2,163 or nearly three-fourths (72.7 percent) of the total unsheltered population of 2,976 and 1,063 or 87.2 percent of the 1,219 persons counted in shelters and transitional housing.
* More than one-third (39.9 percent) of unsheltered adults and children counted as homeless became homeless for the first time during the 12 months prior to the homeless count.
* Nearly one-third (32.1 percent ) of unsheltered adults stated “City of San Bernardino” when asked in what city they had first become homeless.
* Nearly half (44.1 percent) of unsheltered adults were chronically homeless, which is defined as being homeless for one year or more and having a disabling condition such as mental illness, a chronic health condition, and/or a physical disability.
* Nearly one-fourth (22.9 percent) of unsheltered adults answered “yes” when asked if they had been incarcerated during the past 12 months
* Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of unsheltered adults answered “no income” when asked to state their monthly income.
* Another 14 percent answered “less than $500” when asked to state their monthly income.
The seven cities in the county experiencing the most intensive degree of homeless, in order, were San Bernardino, with 1,502 destitute; Victorville, with 607 dispossessed; Redlands, with 324 having nowhere to go; Fontana, and its 240 without homes; Colton, dealing with 212 unable to find refuge; Ontario, which had 187 without roofs over their heads; and Barstow, where 88 had nothing between themselves and the elements.
Among the county’s other cities and communities, Adelanto had 35 homeless; Apple Valley had an identical number, 35; unincorporated Big Bear City and Sugarloaf had two; incorporated Big Bear Lake had 36; Bloomington and Crestmore had 25; Blue Jay counted three; Cajon Canyon had four; Cedarpines Park had a single homeless person; Chino had 28; Chino Hills had four; Crestline had an even dozen; Devore had five; Grand Terrace had six; Hesperia had 64; Highland had 86; Joshua Tree had 42; Lake Arrowhead had four; Landers had two; Lenwood had none; Loma Linda had 17; Lytle Creek had none; Mentone and Crafton had eight; Montclair had 71 within its 6.5-square mile confines; Morongo Valley had none; Muscoy had 13; Needles had six; Phelan and Pinion Hills had four; Rancho Cucamonga and Rialto each had 70; Running Springs had three; Skyforest had one; Twentynine Palms had 75; Twin Peaks had five; Upland had 80; Valley of Enchantment had six; West Cajon Valley and Yermo had none; Yucaipa had 30; Yucca Valley had 110; elsewhere countywide there were six.
Adelanto was able to shelter or place in transitional housing 13 of its homeless; Apple Valley temporarily housed or sheltered three; Barstow temporarily housed or sheltered 66; unincorporated Bear City and Sugarloaf temporarily housed or sheltered none; incorporated Big Bear Lake temporarily housed or sheltered 18; Bloomington and Crestmore temporarily housed or sheltered none; Blue Jay temporarily housed or sheltered none; Cajon Canyon temporarily housed or sheltered none; Cedarpines Park temporarily housed or sheltered none; Chino temporarily housed or sheltered none; Chino Hills temporarily housed or sheltered none; Crestline temporarily housed or sheltered two; Devore temporarily housed or sheltered none; Fontana temporarily housed or sheltered none; Grand Terrace temporarily housed or sheltered none; Hesperia temporarily housed or sheltered five; Highland temporarily housed or sheltered 25; Joshua Tree temporarily housed or sheltered none; Lake Arrowhead temporarily housed or sheltered two; Landers temporarily housed or sheltered none; Loma Linda temporarily housed or sheltered none of its homeless; Lytle Creek temporarily housed or sheltered none; Mentone and Crafton temporarily housed or sheltered two; Montclair temporarily housed or sheltered none; Muscoy temporarily housed or sheltered none; Needles temporarily housed or sheltered none; Phelan and Pinion Hills temporarily housed or sheltered none; Rancho Cucamonga temporarily housed or sheltered none; Redlands temporarily housed or sheltered 70; Rialto temporarily housed or sheltered none; Running Springs temporarily housed or sheltered none; Skyforest temporarily housed or sheltered none; Twentynine Palms temporarily housed or sheltered none; Twin Peaks temporarily housed or sheltered none; Upland temporarily housed or sheltered 48; Valley of Enchantment temporarily housed or sheltered none; Yucaipa temporarily housed or sheltered eight; Yucca Valley temporarily housed or sheltered 30; places elsewhere countywide temporarily housed or sheltered none.
In incorporated Big Bear Lake, Chino Hills, Crestline, Landers, Lytle Creek, Morongo Valley, Muscoy, Needles, Ontario, Rialto, Running Springs, Twentynine Palms and Yermo there was either no increase or a reduction in the number of homeless over last year. In all other areas of the county there was an increase.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, as part of its requirements for local continuums of care to continue to receive continuum of care funding for homeless persons, requires continuums of care to conduct “one-day point-in-time” sheltered and unsheltered homeless counts during the last 10 days of January. The CA-609 San Bernardino City and County continuum of care is one of nearly 400 jurisdictions nationwide that submit an annual application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for continuum of care funding. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires continuums of care to conduct a sheltered count every year and an unsheltered count every other year. The San Bernardino County and the City of San Bernardino continuum of care conducts an annual unsheltered count as do more than half of California’s 44 continuums of care.
In its report on the point in time count, San Bernardino County noted that it had attempted to engage in “closer monitoring of undercounted areas” than it had in the past to obtain more accurate counts of the homeless. According to the report, surveyors and the county had used “Esri’s ArcGIS software platform,” which, the county said, entailed a “Homeless count dashboard, which was used to monitor results of the point-in-time count in real time,” thus improving the carrying out of the inventorying of the homeless.
That, perhaps, partially accounted for the larger numbers found in this year’s count.
In 2022, the point-in-time count found 3,333 total homeless in the county, including 944 who were sheltered and 2,389 who were unsheltered. In the 2023 point-in-time count, 4,195 homeless were tallied, of whom 1,219 were sheltered and 2,976 were unsheltered. Thus, there was an uptick of 862 homeless counted in the county this year over last year, an increase of 25.9 percent. That meant there was an increase of 275 in the number or 29.1 percent of unsheltered homeless over last year. One showing of encouragement was that the number of sheltered homeless also increased, by 587 or 24.6 percent.
As the Sentinel noted in its coverage of the point-in-time count last year, “The counting of those sheltered presented less of a challenge than ferreting out those who have no traditional place to stay and are living under bridges, behind bushes to the side of freeway ramps, in alleyways and riverbeds, in canyons and arroyos, in parks and campgrounds as a means of avoiding or hiding from brutal authorities to avoid being manhandled by oftentimes sadistic police officers and sheriff’s deputies, deloused with toxic chemicals against their will and charged with vagrancy.”
In this way the accuracy of the count is in question. Indeed, the Sentinel is aware of a number of places throughout the county where the number of homeless have been undercounted or uncounted, including specific areas in places such as Ontario where the homeless have been able to avoid being detected by authorities by routinely retreating to places of hiding, some of them literally underground.
–Mark Gutglueck

Those who live or travel in the northwestern portion of San Bernardino County might take note of unverified reports that either known or unknown suspects in multiple killings and attempted murders in Kern County have or may be taking refuge in the region’s more remote communities.
Just before midnight on April 30 at a motorhome/recreational vehicle parked in a lot beside H Street proximate to both Cerro Gordo Road and Belshaw Street in Mojave four people were killed.
The victims were Darius Travon Canada, 31, of Mojave; Anna Marie Hester, 34, of Mojave; Martina Barraza, 33, of Mojave and Faith Leighanne Rose Asbry, 20, of California City. All four were shot in the head. Canada, Hester and Barraza were pronounced dead at the scene. Asby was transported alive to Antelope Valley Hospital, but was pronounced dead in the early morning of May 1.
Canada and Hester were parents to two sons, aged 6 and 12. They met in Apple Valley about 15 years ago and were attempting to raise their children and a child Hester had from a previous relationship. The three minors were not present in the motorhome/recreational vehicle on April 30. Canada and Hester subsisted on income they obtained from doing odd jobs and low skill maintenance work in Mojave. Continue reading →

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department has assigned a five-member team to provide security and enforcement aboard Victor Valley Transit Authority buses.
The team, consisting of a sergeant supervisor and four deputies will ride on the buses as a deterrent to theft and violence. There have been multiple instances of criminal activity on the buses going back for some time.
The deputies will also be an occasional presence at some bus stops along the route and at the Victor Valley Transit Center on D Street in downtown Victorville. Continue reading →

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: SHELLY REDDIX
CASE NO. PROSB2300563
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both of SHELLY REDDIX
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by HESHIMU AMIN SHANNON in the Superior Court of California, County of SAN BERNARDINO.
THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that HESHIMU AMIN SHANNON be appointed as personal representatives to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests the decedents wills and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination 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-35 at 9:00 a.m. on June 13, 2023 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.
HESHIMU AMIN SHANNON, In Pro Per
13839 PORTOFINO STREET
FONTANA, CA 92336
Telephone No: (840) 210-5228
shannonheshimu56@gmail.com
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on June 9, 2023.

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME CASE
NUMBER CIVSB 2308768
TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner: JOSE ANTONIO AGUILAR filed with this court for a decree changing names as follows:
JOSE ANTONIO AGUILAR to ANTONIO AGUILAR.
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: 06/26/2023
Time: 08:30 AM
Department: S31
The address of the court is Superior Court of California,County of San Bernardino, 247 West Third Street, San Bernardino, CA 92415
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this order be published in the SBC Sentinel in San Bernardino County California, once a week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing of the petition.
Dated: 04/14/2023
Judge of the Superior Court: Brian S. McCarville
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on May 19, 26 and June 2 & 9, 2023.

Continue reading →

Nearly six months after John Valdivia’s departure as San Bernardino Mayor, the city he formerly headed is yet seeking to defend more than a half dozen lawsuits brought against it over his actions while in office.
With the cost of defending those lawsuits now having grown toward or exceeding the million-dollar mark, a former member of the city council is calling upon his one-time colleagues and successors to stanch the hemorrhaging of red ink and settle the cases to close the chapter on that phase of the city’s history.
Valdivia, who was first elected to the city council to represent the Third Ward in 2011 and was seated on the council in 2012, was reelected in 2015 without opposition and then ran successfully for Mayor in 2018 when the city had transitioned to even-numbered year elections, defeating the incumbent, Carey Davis.
In the initial stages of his mayoralty, Valdivia had cultivated a five-member ruling coalition on the council, consisting of his presumed allies, First Ward Councilman Ted Sanchez, Second Ward Councilwoman Sandra Ibarra, Fifth Ward Councilman Henry Nickel, Sixth Ward Councilwoman Bessine Richard and in May 2019 following a special election to fill the gap on the council that came about because of Valdivia’s resignation to move into the mayoral post, Third Ward Councilman Juan Figueroa. At that point, Valdivia’s rivals on the council, Fourth Ward Councilman Fred Shorett and Seventh Ward Councilman Jim Mulvihill, were unable to effectively oppose his aggressive agenda, much of which was intended to solidify his political and administrative hold on the city and reward his political backers with project, contract and franchise approvals. By the end of summer/early fall of 2019, however, Valdivia had alienated Nickel, Ibarra and Sanchez, such that his control over the city slipped from his grasp. Coupled with the August 2019 resignation of his chief of staff, Bill Essayli, Valdivia began pressuring his staff members to help him reestablish his position of preeminence in the city, often in ways many felt improper. Continue reading →