If you're going to steal a car, that's the one to steal. Maybe.

Ouch. Daily Bulletin:

A Los Angeles gang member in police custody on a drug violation kicked through the metal cage of an Ontario police squad car, jumped in the driver's seat and led officers on a high-speed chase late Wednesday.

Jose Mora, 24, was arrested in the 5000 block of Flora Street in Montclair after he abandoned the patrol car and ran.

According to the article, Mora reached speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour during the chase.

Well, the good thing about stealing a police car is that it goes really fast, and it has sirens that you can turn on to help you go faster.

The bad news about stealing a police car? The police REALLY want to get that car back. And in this case, they did.

Ontario, the city of uninspected apartments

Yes, I know I'm supposed to be a danged libertarian, but this just doesn't strike me as right.

Andrea Bennett covered this story.

It seems that there was a proposal before the City Council to require city inspections of apartments, at a charge of $36 per unit, at the astonishingly high frequency of once every 48 months.

Most if not all of the City Council members indicated their support for the measure at an April 15 meeting, either personally or by letter.

But now, the Council has deferred implementation of the measure, delaying its discussion until June 3.

Why?

Karen Fricke, executive director of the Apartment Association of the Greater Inland Empire or AAGIE, said her organization, which represents more than 5,000 units within the city, said she had planned a rally at the Euclid Avenue bandstand before Tuesday's meeting.

The scheduled protest was canceled, however, when city officials agreed to revise the ordinance, Fricke said....

Fricke said with the $36 per door fee, a few Ontario landlords in her association will pay $17,000 a year.

That fee was too high, and the proposed entry of every single unit would be too time-consuming for city staff, apartment managers and residents, she said.

Let's look at that $17,000 fee that is so detrimental to the landlords. For a landlord to have to pay $17,000 a year, that means that the landlord has at least 472apartments that need to be inspected that year. And, since inspections are on a four year cycle, that means that the landlord actually owns 1,888 apartments.

Now let's figure that the 1,888 apartments have an average monthly rental of $500 per month. (That's probably low, but humor me.) This means that each of the 1,888 apartments takes in gross rentals of $6,000 per year.

In other words, the landlord that has to pay $17,000 a year is already grossing over $11 million a year.

And, what's more, the landlord doesn't have to pay the money. You can guess what's going to happen once this gets ratified. Anyone who rents an apartment in Ontario will suddenly find themselves subject to a $36 inspection fee. Even if they stay in the apartment for less than four years, they'll still have to pay a $36 inspection fee.

But what the hey, the Apartment Association Greater Inland Empire (AAGIE) is just doing its advocacy. But they can't plead poverty.

Tent City Has No Suburbs (and a video report)

From the Daily Bulletin:

Dusty, vacant campsites surrounded the city's secured homeless site Thursday, the day after police and code enforcement officers passed out dozens of warning tickets for "trespassing on public property."

In late April, MobLogic.TV produced this video report on Ontario.

Electronic Waste and Tire Collection Event on Saturday

I tried to moblog a newspaper article about this, but was unsuccessful. Here's the announcement from the city itself:

The City is sponsoring a FREE collection event on Saturday, April 26th from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. The event will be held at the City of Ontario Public Works Agency located at 1425 South Bon View Avenue. Residents can drop off electronic waste as well as used tires from residential passenger vehicles. The event is FREE to Ontario residents; however, businesses are not eligible. Proof of residency is required.

See the announcement for additional details.

RoHS, RoHS, RoHS your boat

Actually not RoHS since it's Ontario CA, which is not in Europe no matter how you slice it.

But Saturday is the day for Ontario California residents to dispose of old electronics (and tires).

http://www.sbsun.com/search/ci_9025421

What's in a two letter abbreviation (CA)?

I just ran across this tweet from Jim Weirich:

reading the tracking info from UPS and suddenly realized that there is a big difference between "Ontario, CA" and "Ontario, CA, US"

A Google search of the words "ontario ca" yields a hodgepodge of results:



As you can see, Google shows a link to the Google Map for Ontario, Canada; the official website for the city of Ontario, California; a Wikipedia entry for Ontario, California; and the home page for the Government of Ontario, Canada.

The confusion is the result of two competing standards: the official state abbreviations as maintained by the US Postal Service (in which "CA" stands for California), and the list of top-level domains as maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (in which "CA" stands for Canada). And, of course, there's the underlying fact that the California city was named after the home of the Chaffey brothers who founded the place. (Not sure where they got the "Mildura" name from when they went to Australia, but did you know that there is a Chaffey Secondary College down under?)

But despite this confusion, Canada and California have learned to work together. The Canada-California Strategic Innovation Partnership does a lot of things that I'm sure are strategic and innovative.

Just don't refer to the organization as CACA. That's a Japanese seminar devoted to the categorical aspects of constructive algorithmics. It ended up changing its name to TOPS (The Tokyo Programming Seminar).

Permit me

Ontario's "Tent City" has been revamped for safety and other reasons, and there are new procedures:

Ontario's improved Homeless Services Area will start admitting permit-holding homeless people Tuesday, said Brent Schultz, the city's housing manager, at a meeting of service providers at the Ontario Convention Center....

The first order of business for volunteers who plan to continue feeding, counseling or otherwise helping those at Tent City is getting "provider permits."

Schultz said those who can show affiliation with a legal organization (such as a nonprofit), who have insurance, and county approvals for things such as kitchen inspections would qualify for permits.

"Anyone within the Homeless Services Area will need a permit to be there," he said. "This is to respect privacy, limit illegal dumping and reduce crime and keep people from coming in to prey upon the homeless."

And perhaps permits sound like Hitler tactics, but one could argue that if a restaurant needs a permit to provide food outside of Tent City, then permits should be required inside of Tent City.

At least it drove the meth labs out of the news

Someday, the Inland Empire is going to take off and become a true urban megacenter of business and residential opportunity.

Until then, we're going to be laughed at as hicks with meth labs, road races, and a prison down the street.

Stories like this aren't going to help our image:

Prosecutors filed dogfighting charges Tuesday against nine men accused of participating in or watching a battle between pit bulls in Ontario last month.

There is one good point in all of this, however; perhaps it will be easier to lure an NFL team to the area now.

But an NFL team may shy away after hearing the bad explanations for the dogfight:

[A] witness called police just after midnight on March 5 and reported a dog fight near Walnut Street and Cucamonga Avenue in Ontario.


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The witness said men were standing in the street in a circle surrounding the dogs. The witness said that when the dogs tried to flee the fight, the men grabbed them and tossed them back inside the circle....

When police came, the men claimed they were simply trying to breed the dogs in the middle of the street when they began fighting on their own....

Bad activity on Walnut Avenue. We have to put a stop to this.

Breaking the law, breaking the law

The Daily Bulletin broke the news about a series of three signs.

The first sign, on Interstate 10 Eastbound at the Euclid overpass, read:

Katie

The next sign, on a subsequent overpass, read:

Will You

And perhaps you can guess the third:

Marry Me?

The Daily Bulletin noted that the signs were removed a short time later, but I bet that they weren't removed by Katie, or by Katie's lover. Presumably Cal Trans stepped in, since the signs probably presented a hazard. Previous attempts to use freeway overpasses for messaging have failed:

Nathan Benjamin, a Bay Area attorney, filed a lawsuit [in 2002] against the state Department of Transportation for taking down an anti-war highway sign. Benjamin says he sees nothing in state law banning people from doing this.

In that court case, however, an appeals court ruled that overpasses are not a "public forum." Subsequently a judge ruled that Caltrans could take down signs if the agency felt they might cause a safety hazard, but Caltrans must then take down all signs, or none. It can't pick and choose based on political messages.

Caltrans' stance, reiterated last week, is that signs on overpasses and freeway soundwalls are potential safety hazards.

"We don't allow anything up there," spokesman David Anderson said.

Don't know whether Katie ever saw the marriage proposal. If you know more about this, please contact mark.petix@dailybulletin.com (who is presumably the Daily Bulletin's advisor for freeway-loving lovers).

Another uncooperative case

I love these half stories.

According to the Daily Bulletin, a man was at the corner of D and Sultana on Monday at 11:09 pm when he was approached by two other men. The three men got into an argument, and the first man was shot in the left bicep.

A friend took the victim, whose wounds were not serious, to San Antonio Community Hospital in Upland.

So will the two men be tracked down? Not likely.

The victim, who was not cooperative with police, gave few details about his attackers.

Tent City evictee

Previously I've talked about the challenges that the city of Ontario faces when trying to provide for homeless people in Tent City. Presently, we are also providing for homeless people in other cities. But no more.

The Daily Bulletin ran a story that featured Cathy Miller, a former Rancho Cucamonga resident whose family faced medical, job, and financial problems which caused them to lose their home and their SUV.

It's uncertain what programs other cities have for the homeless, but if Rancho Cucamonga has one, Cathy Miller isn't aware of it. She plans to return to Rancho Cucamonga - possibly to an underpass.

There's a national debate regarding whose fault all of this is, but even Miller notes that people who lost their homes may have themselves to blame for their situation.

They got easy loans and then went out and bought a Humvee. A lot of these young couples don't think. They're going to lose their homes. I think you're going to see a lot more homeless.

And it should be noted that Miller lost her SUV because of an unpaid ticket. However, she did not cause her husband's medical condition that caused him to lose his job.

It's a tough situation.

P.S. I think I finally figured out where all the Hitler tactics conversation came from. It turns out that the new Tent City will be fenced, and no one will be allowed in between 10:00 pm and 6:00 am. Whether one regards this as a "concentration camp" depends upon one's point of view about the situation.

Isn't it a little too early to declare success?

Louis Brewster wrote about the Citizens Business Bank Arena, which isn't scheduled to open in Ontario until October. But it's already a success, according to Mayor Paul Leon:

"This is money we've saved," Ontario Mayor Paul Leon said Monday at the unveiling of the Ontario Reign logo. "We are not spending taxpayers' money as it's being built."

The Ontario Reign is a minor league hockey team, and they issued their own press statement about the event:

ONTARIO TAKE COVER, THE REIGN IS COMING
Logo Unveiling Ceremony Conjures Up Excitement Over Impending Season
03/17/2008 2:54 PM

ONTARIO, Calif. – The Ontario Reign Professional Hockey Team of the ECHL and affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings, formally unveiled their official logo today at a press conference at the Hilton Ontario Airport Hotel. The historical event marks the official debut of Ontario, California’s first-ever professional sports team.

Today’s ceremony served as an induction of the Reign into the history books of Ontario and included over one hundred and sixty representatives from local cities and organizations throughout the Inland Empire. Speakers included Reign president Barry Kemp and Executive Vice President of Business Development Justin Kemp, Los Angeles Kings President of Business Operations Luc Robitaille, Ontario Mayor Paul Leon and Senator Bob Dutton.

The ceremony unveiled the Reign’s first advertising campaign as well as the team’s primary and secondary logos which will be used for all future branding and marketing initiatives.

Designed by Keith Flynn of Flynnagain Productions out of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, the logo incorporates the Reign’s colors of navy, orange and silver into the design which will be used to brand the team’s image in the Inland Empire.

The logo depicts a sleek, but menacing dragon grasping a hockey stick, set atop an iron shield. The body of the image, the dragon, is colored navy with highlights of orange outlining the wings and head. ‘Ontario Reign’ sits across the middle of the logo in white lettering accented in silver and orange, while the shield in the background is colored silver and rimmed in navy.

The Reign believes that the logo will command a presence in the Inland Empire that promotes a sense of strength, honor and pride of being a part of an outstanding community and encourages an on and off-ice attitude of dedication, determination and action.

“This logo represents everything the Ontario Reign stands for”, said Justin Kemp, Executive Vice President of Business Development for the Ontario Reign. “The fierce image signifies strength, intimidation and power carrying on the Los Angeles Kings’ royal tradition.”

The name ‘Reign’ came from a team naming contest that was held from November through December, 2007 with over 600 entries submitted. The winning entry was submitted by Mike Brewster of Fontana, Calif.

The Reign will begin play of the 2008-2009 season in October at the state-of-the-art Citizens Business Bank Arena with the schedule to be released to the public in the near future.

Can’t wait to check out all the excitement of Ontario Reign Hockey? Season ticket deposits are now being taken for only $25 per seat! For more information contact the Ontario Reign office at (909) 941-PUCK (7825) or log on to www.ontarioreign.com.

The history books of Ontario? Promotion of on and off ice attitudes? I know that you have to talk your product up, but southern California is not really noted for its support of ice hockey. It may be a little premature to declare an Ontario Reign of ice hockey. (And anyway, I'm the emperor around here.)

And as for the Citizens Business Bank Arena, while it's wonderful that I haven't had to pay anything for it yet, we still have to see if people will come to the new arena.

Set for a Fall 2008 opening, Citizens Business Bank Arena will be a state-of-the-art facility that will play host basketball, ice hockey and a variety of other sporting competitions, concerts, family shows, special events, and community activities as well as private events. The venue will be the biggest and most modern arena within the Inland Empire.

Citizens Business Bank Arena will be the centerpiece of Piemonte at the Ontario Center, a massive mixed-use project, with large-scale office, retail, hotel, entertainment and urban living components. Built on a 37-acre footprint in the middle of the project between Haven Avenue and Milliken Avenue and Fourth Street and the I-10 Freeway...

Let me interject something here for those who aren't familiar with the area. Years ago, there was another wonderful sports facility at this same location; namely, the Ontario Motor Speedway. It's gone now. Continue:

...Citizens Business Bank Arena will include 9,500 fixed seats with additional "portable" seating risers to accommodate capacities of 11,089 for concerts, 9,736 for ice hockey and 10,832 for basketball. The 225,000 square foot venue will also feature 36 suites located on two levels and a continuous concourse hosting a variety of refreshment stands and merchandise kiosks, a VIP club and other fan amenities.

Now I've been known to drink the Kool-Aid from time to time. I hope that my mayor and city manager aren't doing the same.

Tent City for One City

The latest on Ontario's Tent City.

Yesterday, Mayor Paul Leon said that people with ties to Ontario may stay in the tent city, but others must leave by Monday (although it appears that there will be a grace period). Wristbands will be distributed to distinguish those who are "known" to be from Ontario, those who claim to be from Ontario, and those who don't claim to be from Ontario.

While there are valid concerns about the strategy, at least one of the reactions was pretty bizarre. Monroe Emmanuel Lee III (a parolee) didn't care for the wristband idea.

That's Hitler tactics. I'm a citizen of the United States. You're not going to put a wristband on me and confine me to a concentration camp.

Um, Mr. Lee, I'm sure that the city of Ontario has no interest in confining you, and would be more than happy to have you leave the camp entirely.

Los Angeles Times Reports on Tent City

In a March 6, 2008 article, the Los Angeles Times states that the city of Ontario is now ticketing and towing away vehicles from Tent City.

Only problem is, people were living in them at the time.

Deputy City Manager Al Boling pointed out that Tent City was never meant to be permanent, and also points out that the city is being overwhelemed with people from other cities.

According to the article, "any camper or motor home that wasn't able to move, was missing major parts or had registration expired longer than six months would be towed in three days unless moved."

Gold Line to ONT? Meeting tonight

The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reports that a meeting will be held tonight (Wednesday March 5) from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at the Allan G. Smith Educational Services Center, 211 West 5th St. The topic? The Gold Line.

Gold Line authorities will be on hand Wednesday and Thursday nights, in Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga, respectively, to show possible route maps of the line and where stations might be built. They're asking to hear what local residents have to say about the potential routes and stations.

But don't buy your tickets yet. Plans only call for an extension to Montclair by 2017, and this would take place some time after that, if it does.

The Walnut & Walker stop sign is installed

The Daily Bulletin reports that the stop sign requested by the family of the late Paul Roberts has been installed at Walnut and Walker (after the City Council approved the action, despite staff statements that the traffic didn't justify a stop sign), and that people are honking their horns in gratitude.

Now I'm assuming that the Ontario City Council will be obligated to pass out earplugs to the nearby residents because of the noise from the car horns.

Seriously, with all respect to the Roberts family, I still haven't seen any evidence that this is the proper solution for this intersection. Just because it feels good doesn't mean that it's right. Any driver who would hit a skateboarder would probably run a stop sign.

Understatement of the Day

The following sentence appeared in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (and probably in the San Bernardino Sun).

Police Detective Jeff Higbee thinks there's much more to the story of the death of Santiago Contreras than has come out so far.

You can say that again.

Police Detective Jeff Higbee thinks there's much more to the story of the death of Santiago Contreras than has come out so far.

Yes, it bears repeating.

Incidentally, if you want to understand the difference between bloggers and reporters, I can illustrate it now.

• Early this morning I drove down Jacaranda, after debating for several days whether or not I wanted to do this. My intent was not to ask grieving people "How do you feel?" or even to take pictures, but just to get a feel for the area. As I suspected, the Jacaranda neighborhood is a nice neighborhood, with nice homes with nice cars and trucks. This illustrates the fact that, whatever the motivation for the Contreras kidnapping and murder, it could happen anywhere. There's a personal note also, since my German exchange student has a friend that lives a few blocks away, on the other side of San Antonio.


• The Daily Bulletin went about things a little bit differently. Someone (possibly staff writer Monica Rodriguez) went to Jacaranda yesterday afternoon and interviewed residents. First the journalist started with the Contreras residence, but no one answered. Then the journalist talked with a neighbor, 79 year old Josefina Orellana, who told the reporter (in Spanish) that Santiago Contreras liked to work on cars at his home, and that the neighborhood is (understandably) scared after what happened.

Santiago Contreras Coverage from rimoftheworld.net

One of my commenters (actually, on this blog, my only commenter so far) alerted me to G. T. Houts' coverage of the Santiago Contreras story at rimoftheworld.net.

The second update to the story includes a photo taken by Houts by Crestline, on SR 138 between Old Mill Road and Camp Seeley - or, more specifically, "just off Highway 138 near Call Box 138-388." Houts has included a map of the area in which Contreras' body was found.

The map below shows the approximate distance between Contreras' home and the location where his body was found. (Starting and ending locations are not exact.)


View Larger Map

NOTE: It turns out that you have to click on the "View Larger Map" button in the lower left corner to see the starting and ending locations.

Santiago Contreras Found Dead

My Google Reader feeds include an item from the San Bernardino Sun. According to the feed, a body with gunshot wounds was found in the Valley of Enchantment (off Highway 138) early Sunday morning. Fingerprints showed that it was the body of Santiago Contreras, who had been kidnapped on Monday.

[25 FEB: SAN BERNARDINO SUN STORY HERE.]

Guasti under construction

The Post Office has moved to a temporary building a block northeast of here. Many businesses have moved out.