Citing California’s Housing Affordability Act, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors this week rejected an appeal by more than 60 Joshua Tree residents the planning commission’s January 23 approval of the 64-unit Lovemore Ranch residential subdivision.
In an immediate reaction, a cross section of those residents have undertaken to initiate further legal and administrative challenges to the project and both county and the county board of supervisors’ land use authority in the 6,585-population community.
In 2020, Axel Cramer and Dane Hollar, who were then 27 years old and 24 years old, respectively, approached the county, proposing on behalf of their company, Green Collar Builders, what ultimately evolved into the Lovemore Ranch project. There original concept involved construction of 31 ½ acre+ lots, which was in keeping with the half-acre minimum lot size traditionally adhered to in Joshua Tree. To the extent that word about what Cramer and Hollar were proposing reached members of the Joshua Tree community, there were no major objections to the proposal, at least insofar as the density issue.
Cramer and Hollar, who are now 32 and 29 and yet the principals in Green Collar Builders and its more recently-formed corporate offshoot, Lovemore Investments, LLC , last year filed with the San Bernardino County Land Use Services Department an application to erect a 64-home project they dubbed Lovemore Ranch, adjacent to Alta Loma Road in Joshua Tree. In presenting the proposal to the county and to the general public, there were a few discrepancies with regard to some of the specific features of the subdivision.
According to Cramer and Hollar, Lovemore Ranch was to simultaneously accommodate what was calculated to be 256 residents on the more than 18-acre project site, which is currently virtually uninhabited, without having any ecological impact on the property. Through the art/science/magic of technical innovation, they insisted, there would be more electricity generated on the property than would be used by those residing there, more water would percolate into the water table than goes into the aquifer at present as a consequence of natural rainfall and no native species of plants or animals would be disturbed by the erection of 64 homes. Moreover, according to the duo, the entire project was to have less than a net-negative carbon impact, meaning, apparently, that after the 64 homes are built and filled with residents, there will be less use of fossil fuel on the 18.5 acres where the homes are to be built than is in use there now. Continue reading →

A wrangle among Ontario residents broke out this week, growing increasingly vitriolic by the workweek’s end over the Ontario Airport’s expenditure of more than $130,000 to send nine of its officials, consultants and staff to conference in Madrid.
The debate over the matter grew more pointed as no one at airport, the airport authority or the City of Ontario, which is a party to the joint powers airport authority that oversees and manages the airport evinced awareness of the trip or the conference or was able or willing to enunciate the reason for the officials’ participation in it and what necessitated having so many individuals take part.
Ontario International Airport Authority Board President Alan Wapner, together with the authority’s executive director, Atif Elkadi; Greg Devereaux, a consultant to the authority with regard to real estate issues; the authority’s director of customer experience, Tiffany Sanders; the authority’s senior vice president of revenue management, Elsa Grey; the authority’s director of government relations, Martha Preciado; the authority’s director of advertising & partnerships, Scott Jacobson; the authority’s senior vice president of finance, Celeste Heinonen and the authority’s chief information officer, Chuck Miwa flew to Madrid to attend the Passenger Terminal Expo 2025 held on April 8, 9 and 10. The conference featured more than 400 speakers involved in the aviation industry, including airport administrators, airline executives, regulators, consultants and associated businesses holding forth about and sharing their knowledge covering trends and issues relating to passenger terminals, including accessibility and assisted travel, facilities management, transport connections, airport design, planning and development, automation, autonomy and robotics, aviation security technology, passenger processing, retail, food and beverage concessions, customer service, digital identity and wallets in travel, future airports, increasing airport capacity and flexibility on the ground and in the air, the extension of technovation through artificial intelligence and digital transformation to baggage systems. Continue reading →

Jury selection in the trial of Justin Halstenberg continued early this week, involving careful maneuvering by the defendant’s defense team to prevent individuals familiar with the case or sympathetic to sheriff’s and firefighting officials from making it onto the panel that will weigh Halstenberg’s contention that he had nothing to do with igniting what was the fourth most extensive forest conflagration in recorded San Bernardino County history.
Pretrial documents outlining evidence, exhibits and witnesses along with motions filed with the court in the run-up to what is expected to be a trial of two month’s duration provide a sprawling but relatively clear and encapsulated preview of the case that is to be made by prosecutors. At the same time, the terse and relatively sparse show of evidence deemed by Halstenberg’s two defense attorneys as exculpatory and a short witness list indicates that their strategy hinges on convincing what they hope will prove to be a broadminded jury that the defendant’s presence in or near the area where arson investigators say the fire originated on the day inferno began does not implicate him as the firestarter. Moreover, the defense’s short witness list betrays its intent to closely cross examine and potentially neutralize the prosecution’s witnesses as to the tightness and integrity of the evidence the investigators gathered, and subject to question the analysis done and conclusions reached by the investigators and the prosecution’s experts.
Halstenberg is being prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Andrew Peppler and Deputy District Attorney Justin Crocker. He is represented by Deputy Public Defender Justin Ewaniszyk and Deputy Public Defender Luke Byward.
The trial is to be held before Judge Cheryl Kersey, Previous pretrial motions were heard by Judge J. David Mazurek. Continue reading →

Four Chinese nationals were sentenced to federal prison March 17 for their participation in a complex scheme that involved the theft of hundreds of identities to defraud multiple domestic retailers out of at least $1.2 million.
A fifth co-conspirator was previously sentenced to more than four years in prison, and a sixth is awaiting sentencing following a guilty plea.
As part of the scheme, these six defendants stole the victims’ identities – including their Social Security numbers, dates of birth and home addresses – and used that information to make fake driver’s licenses that were used to access credit in the victims’ names at large national retailers, including Ulta Beauty, Sephora, Nordstrom, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Williams-Sonoma, Dillard’s, and Saks Fifth Avenue.
The four defendants, all Chinese nationals who entered the country under false pretenses, were sentenced today by United States District Judge Stephen V. Wilson. All four pleaded guilty on January 6. They are:
Kar Kee “Steven” Cheung, 36, of Chino Hills, was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of visa fraud, one count of possession of equipment used to manufacture false identification documents, and one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud;
Qian Guo, 37, of Chino Hills, was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison for one count of possession of equipment used to manufacture false identification documents and one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud; Continue reading →

The White House
April 11, 2025
Dear Ms. Cordova,
Thank you for taking the time to share your views regarding our justice system, public safety, and the rule of law.
As President, one of my most critical duties is to restore the sacred principle of equal justice under the
law for every citizen. That work begins with stopping the weaponization of our justice system and rebalancing the scales of justice in our Nation’s halls of power.
In recent years, the American way of life faced an existential threat from a corrupt political class that has selectively enforced the law based on Americans’ political, religious, and ideological convictions. For far too long, our federal law enforcement agencies abandoned justice in favor of political retribution—allowing violent criminals to roam our streets with impunity while targeting parents, churchgoers, political opponents, and everyday citizens.
This weaponization stood as the single greatest threat to our freedom, our security, and our sovereignty in modern American history. A nation without the free and impartial rule of law is not a free nation at all.
But the decline of the American justice system ended the moment I took the oath of office. For as long as I am President, our federal law enforcement agencies will once again be guided by the cornerstone American principles of fairness and impartiality. Our law enforcement officers will once again be empowered to do their jobs and keep our streets safe. Continue reading →

Department of the Treasury – Internal Revenue Service
Notice of Sealed Bid Sale
(OTHER THAN REDEEMED PROPERTY)
Under the authority contained in section 7506 of the Internal Revenue Code, the property described below will be sold. The United States acquired this property from a Quit Claim Deed by and between Ron Smith, Advisory Manager, Southwest Area, on behalf of the Director, Civil Enforcement Advice & Support Operations of the Internal Revenue Service, a duly authorized agent of the United States of America, grantor, and Dawn T. Harris, Director, Civil Enforcement Advice & Support Operations of the Internal Revenue Service, grantee, entered on the 31st day of January, 2024.
WHEREAS, the real estate conveyed herein was a court-ordered conveyance for nonpayment of taxes from Massoumeh Kharazmi, Trustee of the APF Revocable Trust to the Internal Revenue Service which transfer was pursuant to an Order of the Orange County Superior Court Case No. 30-2019-01116852-PR-TR-CJC that was filed on March 17, 2023.
This sale will be by sealed bid.
Date bids will be opened: May 5, 2025
Time bids will be opened: 1:00PM
Place of Sale: IRS office – Claude Pepper Fed. Bldg. – 51 SW 1st Ave, Miami, FL 33130 – M/S 800 PALS
Description of properties: (sold separately)
BIG BEAR LAKE, CA – 3.73 acres of land
APN 0310-672-35-0000
Minimum bid: $100
Legal description: PTN N 1/2 SE 26 TP 2N R 1E COM AT MOST SLY COR LOT 114 TR NO 7427 TH N 57 DEG 31 MIN 15 SECONDS W 374.58 FT TH N 50 DEG 28 MIN 08 SECONDS W
373.02 FT TO BEG OF NON TANGENT CURVE CONCAVE NELY WHOSE RADIUS IS 140 FT TH NWLY ALG SD CURVE THRU AN ANGLE OF 77 DEG 22 MIN 43 SECONDS AN ARC DISTANCE OF 189.07 FT THE RADIAL LINE AT THE BEG OF SD CURVE BEARS N 12 DEG 46 MIN 58 SECONDS W TH N 25 DEG 21 MIN 30 SECONDS W 97 FT TO BEG OF A TANGENT CURVE CONCAVE NELY WHOSE RADIUS IS 120 FT TH NWLY ALG SD CURVE THRU AN ANGLE OF 9 DEG AN ARC DISTANCE OF 18.85 FT TH N 16 DEG 21 MIN 30 SECONDS W 76.49 FT TH S 61 DEG 15 MIN 45 SECONDS W 77 FT TH S 28 DEG 44 MIN 15 SECONDS W 78 FT TH S 61 DEG 15 MIN 45 SECONDS W 100 FT TO A PT ON NELY LI SAND CANYON RD TH SELY ALG SD NELY LI SAND CANYON RD TO ITS INTERSECTION WITH WLY LI TETON DR TH NLY ALG WLY LI TETON DR TO PT BEG
3.73 AC M/L
RIVERSIDE DR, BARSTOW, CA 92311 – 0.20 acres of land
APN 0181-561-21-0000
Minimum Bid: $100
Legal description: Lot 2 of Tract 4161 of Maps in the office of the County Recorder of said County.
Property may be Inspected at: By drive by only
Submission of Bids: All bids must be submitted on Form 2222, Sealed Bid for Purchase of Seized Property. Contact the office indicated below for Forms 2222 and information about the property. Submit bids to the person named below before the time bids will be opened.
Form of Payment: Payment shall be by a certified or cashier’s check payable to the United States Treasury
Terms of Payment: Full payment due with bid
The Government reserves the right to reject any and all bids and to withdraw the property from the sale. The property is offered for sale “as is” and “where is” and without recourse against the United States. The United States makes no guarantee of condition of the property, or its fitness for any purpose. The United States will not consider any claim for allowance or adjustment or for the rescission of the sale based on failure of the property to comply with any expressed or implied representation.
You may obtain information about the property and proposed sale by contacting the office at the address shown below: Address for information about the Sale and submission of sealed bids:
Brittanny Dipla
51 SW First Avenue, M/S 800 PALS Miami, FL 33130-1608
Brittanny.Dipla@irs.gov
Irsauctions.gov
Phone 805-479-2552
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on April 11, 2025.

Continue reading →