In the eyeball-to-eyeball stare down between San Bernardino Acting City Manager Rochelle Clayton and City Attorney Sonia Carvalho, Clayton has blinked.
Carvalho has been with the city since 2018, when she was brought in to serve as assistant city attorney. That was some 18 months after the city’s residents had voted in November 2016 to recalibrate the municipal charter the county seat had been functioning under since 1905. The new charter did away with the administrative authority the mayor had formerly been entrusted with and eliminated the elected city attorney, city treasurer and city clerk positions, effective in 2020. In preparation for the change, then-City Attorney Gary Saenz had shed some half-dozen staff attorneys in his office and the city made ready to hire an outside firm to serve in the capacity of general counsel to the city. The law firm of Best Best & Krieger, which is the largest public agency law firm in the State of California, was chosen to fill that role. Carvalho is a partner in that firm. When Saenz departed in 2020, Carvalho stepped into the role of city attorney and another partner, Thomas Rice, replaced her as assistant city attorney. Jason Baltimore another partner, was made deputy city attorney. One of the firm’s associates, Thomas Maldonado, was retained to advise and represent the planning commission. Elizabeth Hull, a partner with the firms, is advising the city with regard to the disposition of the Carousel Mall Mall property.
Over the years that Best Best & Krieger served as the city’s general counsel, Carvalho and the members of her firm gave the city and its officials what has been generally deemed sound advice as well as what some contend was less than perfect counsel. In many cases, city officials heeded their lawyers and in others, some or all of the city’s officials did not adhere to the direction they had been given. There were and remain multiple examples of the city having been blindsided by circumstances and events in which entirely unanticipated or unforeseen developments led to litigation or legal challenges the lawyers from Best Best & Krieger had no prior input or involvement. In at least a few cases, Carvalho and her colleagues coached the city through a legal minefield unscathed or relatively so; on occasion, the firm gave advice to city to stand its ground, leading to a favorable outcome. In some other cases where the city fought rather than folded, it fared worse. In several cases – including ones brought by three former employees against the city and former Mayor John Valdivia as well as one brought against it by a man, Steve Carrigan, whom the council offered to hire as city manager but who later spurned that offer – Best Best & Krieger convinced the council to settle with substantial payouts to the plaintiffs that some thought excessive. On occasion, Carvalho has grown confrontational in public with some or all members of the city council. She openly accused unnamed members of the city council of making misrepresentations, outright lying or deliberately withholding information, throwing a pall over the entire panel. Over the last year, a testy relationship has developed between Treasure Ortiz and Carvalho, who was elected to the city council representing the Seventh Ward in November. Ortiz has been critical of Carvalho, while also being outspokenly critical of several members of the council. In June, Carvalho at a council meeting characterized Ortiz as someone who “knowingly and maliciously make[s] false statements.” Continue reading →

In the course of two weeks, late last month and early this month, the Redlands City Council considered two aggressive development projects. Ultimately, it rejected the first, a semi-industrial project brought before it on November 19 and gave approval to a high-density residential project on December 3.
Prologis, a major development concern based in San Francisco, earlier this year tendered an application to construct a 10.9-acre warehouse and logistics distribution facility with 25 truck loading docks at 301 Tennessee Street.
The property in question was previously developed, having hosted the now-shuttered La-Z-Boy furniture manufacturing factory.
Prologis asked the city to permit it to erect a facility that would tower over and dwarf the immediately proximate commercial structures in the area. Prologis identified no specific tenant for the warehouse, but indicated that it was anticipated whoever came to occupy it would likely dispatch more than 115 semi-trucks from the facility per day. The land use professionals on the city’s planning staff made a recommendation that the city give go-ahead to the project.
When the Redlands Planning Commission took up the matter on May 28, residents and some commissioners expressed reservations with regard to a glut of logistics facilities in the region, environmental risks and hazards, the large diesel-powered semi-trucks with their unhealthy exhaust emissions that are part of warehouse operations, the traffic issues that would be created by 115 trucks or more departing from and returning to the warehouse, the potential that hazardous substances were to be stored at and transported from the facility, the consideration that there were two schools near the site and the incompatibility of the warehouse with surrounding structures and land uses, including the ESRI campus and a high-density multi-family residential neighborhood 700 feet from the project site. The commission denied approval for the project. Continue reading →

Just short of her ten-year anniversary with the Upland Police Department and her role as a law enforcement professional, Detective Caitlin Teague has died.
Born in Missouri, she obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree and worked as a social worker, earning a master’s degree in public administration.

In 2014, she changed professions, becoming an officer with the Upland Police Department.
Teague worked patrol for several years, earning the position of field training officer.
In May of 2021, she was designated a school resource officer, in which capacity, according to Upland Police Chief Marcello Blanco, “She touched thousands of lives, bridged the gap between law enforcement and our youth, and became a role model to countless students who looked up to her.”
In July of 2022, Teague was promoted to the rank of detective. She worked property crimes and crimes against children/elders. In addition, she was the team leader of the Upland Police Department Crisis Negotiation Team. In addition, she was for four years the department’s Explorer Program advisor for several years, and also functioned as the department’s taser and CPR instructor. Most recently, in the face of rising fentanyl overdose deaths, she was tapped by Chief Blanco to instruct her colleagues in the use of Narcan.
A Rancho Cucamonga resident, she suffered, on November 24, an unanticipated medical emergency, requiring hospitalization. She succumbed that evening, 27 days shy of what would have been her 41st birthday.
Detective Teague is survived by her husband, UPD Lieutenant Lon Teague, her mother, father, three sisters, one brother, two brothers-in-law, two nephews, one niece, and three stepchildren.

A 44-year-old Needles woman was arrested yesterday for the stabbing death of her husband and the wounding a juvenile believed to be their son.
On Thursday, December 5, 2024, at 4:57 a.m., deputies from the Needles Sheriff’s Station responded to a residence on Walnut Street following the report of a stabbing. When deputies arrived, they located two victims. A 16-year-old male who had been stabbed was transported to the hospital where he remains.
Bryan Jackson, 48, was also located inside the home with multiple stab wounds. Lifesaving measures were attempted. Jackson, however, was pronounced deceased at the scene by emergency medical personnel.
The homicide detail of the sheriff’s department’s specialized investigations division was thereafter dispatched to the scene, and assumed the investigation. Detectives identified Jackson’s wife, Carolyn Jackson, as a suspect. Carolyn Jackson was located nearby and taken into custody. She was booked in at the High Desert Detention Center on PC 187 – murder and PC 664/187 – attempted murder charges. She remains in custody without bail.
An autopsy will be conducted on Jackson to determine the cause of death.

In one of its most honored traditions, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians on December 3 celebrated Giving Tuesday, announcing on that date it is providing eight grants in an amount totaling $1 million to support recovery, conservation, and wildfire prevention efforts in the communities threatened by recent wildfires. The grants, aimed at helping restore and protect vital ecosystems, provide critical resources to local organizations and agencies working on the front lines of recovery, environmental protection, and community safety.
“Giving Tuesday is a day that calls upon us to reflect on the power of collective generosity,” said Lynn Valbuena, Chairwoman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. “We are honored to support our 2024 grant recipients in their efforts to rehabilitate lands affected by the recent wildfires and invest in the long-term health of our communities and ecosystems. The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians is deeply committed to preservation and stewardship of the cultural and natural resources of the region.”
These grants are particularly significant as they come at a time when many of these regions are still recovering from devastating wildfires that have threatened homes, wildlife, and natural resources. In addition to providing financial support, the Tribe hopes to strengthen the resilience of these communities and protect the areas that are vital to both the environment and the people who live there. Continue reading →

Without batting an eye, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors this week approved the reappointment of Michael Stoffel, who for last 22 months has served as Supervisor Jesse Armendarez’s deputy chief of staff to another four-year term on the county planning commission.
That appointment came less than a month following Stoffel’s third-place finish in the race for two positions on the East Valley Water District’s board of directors.
In addition to his two county positions, Stoffel is a Realtor® at Century 21, a company with which he is categorized as being a “top producer.”
While some county officials acknowledge that Stoffel may have involved himself in a triple conflict, those being between his function as a planning commissioner and his involvement in the real estate industry and his employment as a senior echelon county official and a member of the county planning commission, the county made no official notation of any possible clash that has previously or might come about in the future as a consequence of his holding the posts of Realtor®, deputy chief of staff and commissioner.
Stoffel was initially brought into Armendarez’s office shortly after the supervisor’s November 2022 election. On January 24, 2023, the board of supervisors ratified his hiring under a contract to serve as Armendarez’s “Principal assistant to the chief of staff,” in which capacity he was to “oversee a major functional area within the supervisor’s district, coordinate the work of office staff, and advise the supervisor on legislative, policy, and regional district issues” and “act as chief of staff in his or her absence.” Continue reading →

FBN 20240010102
The following entity is doing business primarily in San Bernardino County as
UBOX AIR EXPRESS USA, INC [and] 5A LOGISTICS USA, INC. 14618 CENTRAL AVE CHINO, CA 91710: 5A GROUP OF COMPANIES 14618 CENTRAL AVE CHINO, CA 91710
Business Mailing Address: 14618 CENTRAL AVE CHINO, CA 91710
The business is conducted by: A CORPORATION registered with the State of California .
The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: January 1, 2024
By 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/ MARIA LOURDES A. TIMBOL, Secretary
Statement filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 11/01/2024
I hereby certify that this copy is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office San Bernardino County Clerk By:/Deputy J9965
Notice-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 on September November 15, 22, 29 & December 6, 2024.

FBN 2024009689
The following person is doing business as: THE NORTH FREEZE DRY CO.. 2664 PACIFIC ST HIGHLAND, CA 92346;[ MAILING ADDRESS 2644 PACIFIC ST HIGHLAND, CA 92346];
COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
ANA M GONZALEZ MONTALVO
The business is conducted by: AN INDIVIDUAL.
The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: N/A
By 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/ ANA M GONZALEZ MONTALVO, OWNER
Statement filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: OCTOBER 21, 2024
I hereby certify that this copy is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office San Bernardino County Clerk By:/Deputy
Notice-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 10/25/2024, 11/01/2024, 11/08/2024, 11/15/2024 CNBB43202401MT

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: BRIAN CASEY KIEFFABER
CASE NO. PROVA2400972
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both of BRIAN CASEY KIEFFABER: a petition for probate has been filed by DAVID RAY KIEFFABER in the Superior Court of California, County of SAN BERNARDINO.
THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that DAVID RAY KIEFFABER be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests full 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 January 21, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. at
San Bernardino County Superior Court Fontana District
Department F2 – Fontana
17780 Arrow Boulevard
Fontana, CA 92335
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 David Ray Kieffaber:
R. SAM PRICE
SBN 208603
PRICE LAW FIRM, APC
454 Cajon Street
REDLANDS, CA 92373
Phone (909) 328 7000
Fax (909) 475 9500
sam@pricelawfirm.com
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on November 22, 29 & December 6, 2024.

Continue reading →