With a series of three claims that have jarred and outraged residents and public officials both within her community and outside of it, Rialto Mayor Deborah Robertson is threatening to sue the city she has headed for more than a decade for $7.35 million.
The scope and audaciousness of her effort to personally profit through the sway she holds over 104,025-population Rialto’s decision-making process has left even some of her most ardent political supporters aghast.
Pointed up in the burgeoning controversy is the degree to which Robertson is now contending that she is a virtual outcast at Rialto City Hall, which absolutely clashes with the image of an astute public servant with a command over the bureaucracy of local government which she has cultivated for herself and promoted going back for nearly a quarter of a century and which has served her well in her political career.
At this point, Robertson and another member of the Rialto City Council, Ed Scott, are two of the longest-serving elected municipal officials in San Bernardino County. Robertson, a Caltrans employee and a Democrat, was elected to the city council in 2000, and after three terms in that capacity, was elected mayor in 2012, gaining reelection in 2016 and 2020. She has indicated she will seek reelection in 2024.
Scott, an entrepreneur and Republican, was elected to the city council 1996. In 2000, Scott vied, ultimately unsuccessfully, for San Bernardino County supervisor, necessitating that he forgo running for reelection as councilman. In 2004, he was once again elected to the city council and was reelected in 2008. In 2012, he was defeated by Robertson when he ran for mayor. For two years, Scott was absent from the council, but in 2014 was again elected to council, and thereafter was reelected in 2018 and 2022. Continue reading →

Neither Caltrans nor the Highway Patrol performed adequately or competently in response to the intense blizzard that left the mountain communities snowed in for three weeks at the end of February and the first half of March, according to a critique compiled by an ad hoc committee formed by Supervisor Dawn Rowe.
What is now referred to as the Blizzard of ’23 manifested with heavy snowfall on February 22, which continued without respite until March 2, during which time more than 100 inches of snow fell on various spots in the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains in back-to-back-to-back storms, icing major roads and leaving them impassable.
Conditions were at their worst within the internal communities of Crestline, Lake Gregory, Blue Jay, Lake Arrowhead, Cedarpines Park, Cedar Glen, Valley of Enchantment, Arrowbear, Sugarloaf, Twin Peaks, the county district of Big Bear and the incorporated city of Big Bear Lake, with cars buried in snow to the point that even when snowplows did reach where they were, often those cars would be damaged and rendered undrivable after being hit by the snowplows. The sheer weight of the falling snow began causing damage to natural gas lines, resulting in fires and explosions. Continue reading →

Victorville’s seeming inability to hang onto a fire chief in the aftermath of the 2019 resurrection of its municipal fire department has manifested once again with David Foster’s abrupt departure barely three months after he took on the assignment of leading the department.
The department instantaneously and seamlessly switched gears, such that Deputy Chief Bobby Clemmer for a week took command of the agency, which then double-clutched to reestablish William “Willie” Racowschi, who had served as interim chief between January and April, as the department’s acting chief.
Some are saying that the department, once considered a premier governmental organization in the High Desert, has been cursed by the move a decade-and-a-half ago to dissolve it, despite the department’s revival four years ago. Continue reading →

Redlands Councilwoman Denise Davis is now a mother, having given birth to a boy in March.
Davis has been a member of the city council since 2018, when she was the top vote-getter among five candidates to represent Redlands District 1. Last year, she was reelected.
Davis said she was reluctant to go into specific detail about her son, saying, “I would like to keep my private life from becoming a focus, but I think it is important for people to know I had a baby.”
Davis acknowledged that traditionally, women of childbearing age have not been widely involved in politics generally in Southern California and, further, that in Redlands over most of its history going back to its incorporation in 1888, women only sporadically participated in the political process, with just three distaff mayors in 135 years. In both ways, Davis indicated, she stands out.
But she is not breaking any new ground, she said, pointing out that in the last few years, the tenor of politics in the Inland Empire has begun to change.
“Eastvale Councilwoman Jocelyn Yow, Corona Councilwoman Jacque Casillas, Palm Springs Councilwoman Christy Holstege and Riverside City Councilwoman Erin Edwards all have had babies while they are in office over the last few years,” Davis said. “Norco City Councilwoman Katherine Aleman had hers before she was elected, but she has four very young children, all, I think, under the age of eight. I know all of these woman personally. They’re my friends. Seeing them do it, balancing being in office and being mothers, gave me the confidence that I could, too.”
Women, locally have come into their own politically in the last decade, Davis said.
“I think society is undergoing a shift, with more women in office and more women in office having babies,” Davis said. “Post 2016, you have seen younger women getting involved politically and that is because they are being encouraged to run for office.”
Asked by the Sentinel if being a mother has changed her as a politician, Davis said she believes it has.
“Having a baby made me think about what mothers who support families are going through or just about families in general,” she said. “You work to support a baby and you find out what it takes for healthcare and other considerations. I needed to add my baby to my health coverage with the city and as I was filling out the forms, I could see how much more that is going to cost. It makes you more empathetic with the situation working families find themselves in.”
Practical issues aside, Davis said, being a new mother is enlivening.
“I am so excited to be a mother and have a child,” she said. “I am looking forward to raising him here in Redlands.”

When Chino Police Chief Wes Simmons closes out his active law enforcement career on August 10, he will be succeeded by his deputy chief, Kevin Mensen.
City Manager Linda Reich, in consultation with Simmons and City Councilwoman Karen Comstock, who used to be the city’s police chief, settled on promoting Mensen rather than looking elsewhere by conducting a recruitment or promoting one of the department’s other officers currently serving under Simmons and Mensen.
There is a likelihood that Mensen will remain in place as chief longer than Simmons, who in April, at the age of 50, announced his readiness to retire and set the August 10 date for doing so.
As recently as early this year, many anticipated that Simmons would remain as police chief perhaps until 2030 or slightly beyond. Under legal mandate, he would have been required to retire upon reaching the age of 62, but that would not come until 2035. At 50, however, Simmons became eligible to retire. Having now been a police officer for 28 years, he opted to head off into the sunset. Continue reading →

Chen Weiming’s most recently completed artwork is now on display at Liberty Sculpture Park in Yermo.
The three-dimensional piece was dropped into place in early June and unveiled in a ceremony held on June 4, 2023.
Known by the title “Chained Woman,” the sculpture embodies Weiming’s reaction to the video of a chained woman in Feng County, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China recorded in January 2022 and posted to social media.
An artist and human rights anti-communist activist and advocate for Chinese democracy, Weiming works in three-dimensional media to capture images of injustice and repression in the country of his birth. Weiming was born in Hangzhou, China, and emigrated to New Zealand in 1988. He holds a New Zealand passport as well as permanent residence in the United States, living in both countries. Continue reading →

FBN 20230005852
The following entities are doing business primarily in San Bernardino County as
TOGETHER WE ROSE 203 E. CALIFORNIA ST. ONTARIO, CA 91761: ALAN ESTRADA 203 E. CALIFORNIA ST. ONTARIO, CA 91761
The business is conducted by: AN INDIVIDUAL.
The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: May 17, 2017.
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/ ALAN ESTRADA, Founder and CEO
Statement filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 6/8/2023
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 J2522
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 June 16, 23, 30 & July 7, 2023.

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF:
CARMEN GONZALES Case NO. PROSB2300714
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both of CARMEN GONZALES A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by CARMEN P. GONZALES in the Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino.
THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that CARMEN P. GONZALES 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. S36 at 09:00 AM on 07/20/2023 at Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, 247 West Third Street, San Bernardino, CA 92415, San Bernardino District-Probate Division
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.
STEVEN P. JANIS:
10788 CIVIC CENTER DR. RANCHO CUCAMONGA CA 91730
Telephone No: 909-980-0677
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on:
06/23/2023, 06/30/2023, 07/07/2023

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