September 2008 Archives

In case you are wondering, Deborah Clark, I'm on page 16.

The library director likes to ask everyone what page they're on when the Big Read program starts. This year's reading initiative is on Dashiell Hammett's "Maltese Falcon" and the Biane Library will be hosting a kick-off event 7 p.m. Friday. You can find out more about the program and what other cities are reading in David Allen's column tomorrow.

There will be music, food, crafts and a "Maltese Falcon" treasure hunt for the children. Mystery writer Anne Perry will give a talk and sign books.

Tickets are free and available at both libraries. For more info, call (909) 477-2720 ext. 5007 or 5076.

 

 The Alta Loma Medical Group, an urgent care center headed by Mayor Don Kurth, is just 25 years old but the poor thing was treated like it belonged in the history books. At the center's birthday bash, Councilwoman Diane Williams kept rubbing it in.

"It's had half a million patient visits since it opened," she said. "That's a lot of shots and band-aids."

The center, located on Archibald and Base Line, held a celebration typical for this town. There was an inoffensive band playing popular rock, catering by Saffron's and plenty of lager served in plastic cups. Among the attendants were those who like to hob nob with the mayor, those who are running for election and those who are thinking of running for future office. This kind of schmoozing was captured by staff photographer Jenn Cappuccio. 

Twenty five years doesn't seem that many so I asked Kurth to talk about what it was like when it first started. For starters, there was no computer. Imagine that. He took me to the lobby and told me his patients used to wait for him in these very seats, smoking. The lobby was empty but he lowered his voice when he told me, "And I would smoke with them."

Things have changed for Kurth, who as mayor, got a smoking ban to pass in this city. Perhaps his success is best depicted when Williams presented Kurth with a proclamation signed by the mayor himself.

"I thought it was kinda strange if he gave himself the proclamation," Williams said, calling Kurth "Dr. Mayor."

Accepting a proclamation that you signed yourself is the sort of thing I would normally make fun of. But I found the incident rather inspirational. Some day, when I'm a more established journalist, I'm going to give myself a Pulitzer. Why not?

Read the rest of the article that will appear in Friday's City News section.

 

  Rancho resident and mountain biking enthusiast Johnny Butler told me he has seen coyotes and mountian lions in the North Etiwanda Preserve, the area where Etiwanda Avenue ends at the foothills. His advice -- if you respect them, they respect you.

I respected this snake. Very much so. So did staff photographer Will Lester, who took this shot before the apprehensive reptile did a 180 into the sage bush.

County representative Tim Millington, seen here, took Will and me on a tour so I can write about the $1.6 million trails enhancement project for today's paper. When the work is complete next spring, there will be benches, restrooms and educational information dotted along the 4+ miles of walking trails.

The county believes that preserving the area would curb all the illegal activities that occur there. About 70 percent of all current activity is illegal, said Millington. 

The evidence was everywhere. I kept tripping over makeshift targets and shotgun shells. Once I gained balance, I'd step on empty beer cans. I was most surprised by the amount of trash people bring up here. Somebody, apparently tired of their decorating, threw out their door. 

A traffic advisory has been posted on the city's Web site. It's written in red so you know it's serious:

Tuesday, September 30th, the traffic signal at the intersection of Foothill and Rochester will be out (POWER OFF WITH STOP SIGNS IN PLACE) from 9am until 3pm. Avoid this area; there will be extremely long delays. Contractors will be removing the existing damaged and corroded conductors and replace them with current standard cables along with relocating pull boxes and poles for the two new developments in that area.

Rancho's Chelsea Drake, who's scheduled to give birth this week, will make an appearance on "Deal or No Deal" at 3 p.m. this afternoon on KNBC. The Howie Mandel led program started a daily half-hour version this month. Drake, pictured here with the host, is one of 22 expectant mothers participating during Baby-on-Board week. They're vying for the top prize of $500,000. Way to represent Chelsea!

If I could sing and dance, I'd totally audition for the Rancho Cucamonga Community Theatre program. Local photographer Anthony Feliciano took this portrait of these singin' ladies, who are opening "Smokey Joe's Cafe" tonight. Look at them, total divas.

"I'm not a diva," said Kelley Squires, pictured second from right. "I'm just high maintenance."




 

Not to say the guys in the show are low profile. Our correspondent Frank Perez snapped this one of the crooners during rehearsal.
 
The Broadway revue "Smokey Joe's Cafe" is at the Lewis Family Playhouse tonight, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $16. 

Upland has two Fresh & Easy markets within two miles of each other. Rancho wants two, too.

The Planning Commission gave an initial go-ahead Wednesday for a development on the southeast corner of Haven and Church that will include a Fresh & Easy market and 162 condo units for seniors. The project now awaits City Council approval.

It will be the second Fresh & Easy for the city when it opens. The U.K.-based grocer will also have a location on Foothill and Vineyard in the Thomas Winery Building less than two miles away.

The best part of this Haven and Church market is that it'll be open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., perfect to fuel up after Planning Commission meetings that run too long.

A story about My Neighborhood, a GIS application recently launched on the city's Web site, is in today's paper. I spent about five hours playing around with all the maps, clicking on different parcels and looking at aerial views, and about one hour writing the actual story. I like My Neighborhood, and it's not even my neighborhood.

For some reason, maps have a tendency to lure people in. There's an aerial map of the city in the City Hall Tapia Room. Every time I'm there, I look for the Daily Bulletin building, put my finger on it and leave satisfied, as if I'm somehow proud that I'm capable of locating on a map the place I go to five days a week.

The Tapia Room isn't really accessible to the public so I'm glad they put a similar map on the first floor of the Archibald Library. I see people there all the time putting their finger on the location of their house.

Check out My Neighborhood, look for your house, click on it, and if you feel satisfied, you're a map geek.

Some people are just down right giddy about the falling gas prices. Rancho resident Awni Dababneh filled up his tank at Value Gas, the tiny station on Foothill near Klusman, for $55 at $3.49 per gallon. That station has been at that rate for a week now.

"It's the cheapest in the city," said Dababneh, who spent $85 filling his tank at the height of the price surge. "It might be the cheapest in the whole state!"

It's funny how happy we get when the price of gas goes down just a little. Many motorists this summer probably didn't care if it ever went down just as long as it stopped going up. In the scheme of things, $3.49 a gallon is still very expensive. A year ago, gas was just $2.91, according to SanBernardinoGasPrices.com.

About three years ago, when gas prices weren't much of a headache, Bill Alexander, who was mayor at the time, pulled up in his gargantuan truck next to my tiny Civic two-door. It was one of those trucks that would require a step bench for this 5-foot reporter to get into. Ever since that encounter Alexander would poke fun asking, "You still drive that tiny, little white car?" Look who's laughing now. Alexander has put his gas guzzler on hiatus and is driving the more sensible Toyota Camry.

Other drivers are even more serious about saving gas. Take Darius Tarman, for example, who was featured in the Times recently for driving a 16-year-old Honda Civic for his commute from Rancho to Irvine. Tarman, described as a hypermiler, joins a whole community of drivers who scrutinize every gas-saving measure at GasSavers.org. A few years ago, people like Tarman might have been called cheap, now they're just smart.

 

I was in line at the Starbucks on Base Line and Haven the other day when a lady wearing a black and white blouse ordered an "upside-down zebra." I asked her what that was exactly.

"I don't know but it's really good," the zebra drinker said.

I don't know why she ordered it upside-down but when I was at the same Starbucks earlier this summer, (I like that one because it has a lot of desk space and it's close to my bank.) I heard a woman order an upside-down venti caramel macchiato. For a second I thought Starbucks started making Dairy Queen-like blizzard drinks, the kind that's so thick, the server turns it upside down for an impressed look in exchange. But my right-side-up barista explained that it just means the caramel syrup is served in the bottom of the drink as opposed to on top.

"Some people think it mixes it more that way," said the barista.

I haven't been this excited about a secret menu since I first discovered in high school what "animal style" meant.   

"Walking on Water" a film about finding God and waves will be shown at the Calvary Chapel on 10700 Town Center Drive at 4:30 p.m Saturday, Sept. 27. There will be a surf board giveaway and a performance by world champion surfer Tom Curren and his band The NOAHS. Filmmaker Bryan Jennings will introduce the film. If you have Quicktime, you can see the trailer here.

Summer, the season I hate the most, is over. I'm pleased.

Here in Southern California, we have no indication that autumn has arrived. We turn the air conditioner from "full blast" to just "full" as we watch the leaves stay green.

Our only indication that fall's here is the change in the Starbucks menu. Pumpkin spice frappuccino and peppermint white chocolate mocha have replaced the fruitier, lighter and more caffeinated varieties. To be honest, I'm sad to see the summer drinks go. Caffeine is the only reason my byline keeps popping up in the paper and I'm afraid anything warm and chocolaty might lull me to sleep.

This summer, Starbucks pushed their double shot + energy beverage, which is basically two shots of espresso with Red Bull. It had a whopping 225 milligrams of caffeine, which is nearly three times the amount in one can of Red Bull. I think my byline appeared in the paper four times that day. I had a similar experience at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf with their ultimate ice blended mocha, which is basically an iced mocha with crushed espresso beans. Would you like little pieces of coffee in your coffee? Yes please! 

A charity softball game between the city's fire fighters and sheriff's deputies on Saturday resulted in a lopsided victory at the doughnut stand. Law enforcement beat out fire 23-11. And no, they were not playing football.

Rumor had it that the fire fighters were aggressive on the trash talking front, promising three runs per every run by the sheriff's. But they didn't bring that aggression to The Epicenter. No word yet on a rematch.

Proceeds from the game will go to the Loma Linda University Children's Hospital and the Rancho Cucamonga Community Foundation.

On a side note, did Ty Harris from the fire department really get injured during the game?  

I just want to let readers know that over the weekend, I was not the reporter who accepted kickbacks, gifts or superfluous meatballs.

The Sons (and Daughters) of Italy held a spaghetti and meatball fundraiser on Saturday which was attended by Senator Bob Dutton, Mayor Don Kurth and our columnist David Allen. While someone like Dutton, who has sway in the state budget process and could influence whether our taxes will be increased this year, was in attendance, it was Allen, who got the celebrity treatment by getting four meatballs while everyone else got two.

"What are you trying to do, bribe him?" the Italian American Councilman Sam Spagnolo asked the chef.

Yes, I believe a Daily Bulletin reporter was being bribed and that reporter was not me. I just want to make that clear in case anyone might get a white man in his 40s confused with an Asian woman in her 30s. You know how all reporters look alike.

Councilman Rex Gutierrez wasn't alarmed by this special treatment.

"It looked like he needed it, he looked kinda frail," Gutierrez said about the columnist. "He could use some meat on his bones."

I think Gutierrez is trying to be complimentary because he's eyeing an office position in the Italian American service group despite being Mexican American.

"I can pass for a dark Sicilian," he said.

It might seem too early for a Christmas toy drive but community volunteers and social services workers are expecting the need to be huge this year.

"We're really worried with all the foreclosures happening, there's a lot of families who are in need," said Rancho resident Deloris Faheem.

Faheem's daughter, Mary Faheem, is a Los Osos High School sophomore spearheading a toy drive Thursday, Sept. 25 at Anthony's Italian Kitchen on 11368 Kenyon Way. Donations of new or used toys in good condition will be welcomed from 5 to 8 p.m. Participants will get a chance to win a large pizza at Anthony's.

The toys will go toward Santa Claus Inc., which serves more than 5,000 needy children every year through donations. Toys for children ages 12 to 14 are especially needed. Questions about the event can be directed to Mary Faheem at (909) 559-3200.  

A wrap-up of the Thursday debate among the candidates running for City Council and the Cucamonga Valley Water District appeared in Saturday's newspaper. It was a tricky article to write partly because the debate lacked debating.

Each candidate had 90 seconds to introduce themselves and two minutes for a closing statement. Each candidate was asked three questions from a list that was handed to them earlier in the week. The candidate had the option of either answering a new question or rebutting an earlier response. But there was hardly any rebutting, just more reiteration of their platform.

This didn't please some voters, who wanted to spring unexpected questions at the six council candidates and 10 water district candidates. "The way this was organized doesn't do anything for me," said Rancho resident Al Florez.

The more interesting part of the forum came from the water district candidates, which shows you how lackluster this election season is. There were some mildly intriguing discussions about safeguarding the water supply but all in all, they were soft ball questions among a panel of polite politicians. It appeared that incumbent Ron Sakala exhausted all his opportunities to explain his platform and only had this to add, "I've never missed a board meeting or subcommittee meeting."  

For a brief moment, council candidate Dennis Gutierrez reminded me of the 2006 election when he brought up the fact that the current council consists of two former firefighters. Gutierrez, a police officer, inferred that the fire interest is overly represented. Gutierrez failed to mention that if elected, there could be two Dennises and two Gutierrezes on the council. Talk about over representation.

If you didn't know that an election is going on in 46 days, you'll know tomorrow morning, when a slew of political signs are likely to line the city's streets. Under a new city ordinance, candidates will be permitted to post their signs starting tomorrow. In previous elections, the city allowed signs to be erected 30 days prior to the election but extended it to 45 days thinking more people are casting their ballots early as absentee voters.

Trang Huynh, who heads the city's building and safety department, said so far, so good -- not many people have violated the ordinance by posting signs early. But he thinks enforcing the ordinance on private property might be trickier. Under the new rules, only one sign per candidate can be posted per parcel. That means you can't put 23 McCain signs in your front yard, just one.

  It seems WaMu has been added to the growing list of embattled banks now that it's looking for a buyer. I'm more interested in what will become of the WaMu on Foothill near Milliken, which is located in the same plaza as Wa Fu Sushi. Both are just a block away from Wahoo's Fish Tacos. What would Wa Fu and Wahoo's be without the WaMu? 

There is one option if WaMu leaves. Sushi Wa on Hellman and Foothill could take its place.  

Remember in sixth grade when you got a chance to play softball with a bunch of middle age teachers as a rite of passage for middle school? I waited six years for that opportunity to trash talk my mentors.

Rancho's police officers and firefighters will be doing something similar -- playing each other in what Fire Chief Peter Bryan stressed as a "non-professional softball game" at The Epicenter Saturday. Gates open at 6 p.m.; game starts at 7 p.m. Bryan and Police Chief Joe Cusimano brought their bats to the City Council meeting last night to announce the game but disappointingly did not engage in an ounce of trash talk.

The game is free but donations are welcomed. Proceeds will benefit the Loma Linda University Children's Hospital and the Rancho Cucamonga Community Foundation.

Councilman Dennis Michael, a former fire chief, encouraged the public to watch, "fine professional officers beat up on fine professional officers." 

Candidates running for City Council or the water district who weren't at the council meeting last night were probably doing some last-minute cramming for tonight's debate. The Chamber of Commerce gave the political hopefuls a list of 25 detailed questions without indicating which one will be asked of the candidates. Some of the City Council related questions are tough, especially if you're not an incumbent. I scanned the questions and wondered if any dropped out of the race after reading them.

Some stumpers:

* Now that we are in the process of updating the city's General Plan, what modifications, additions and or deletions would you propose?

* The economy has slowed considerably. How has this affected the city's budget and do we need to take measures to fill some shortfalls?

* What's your vision 20 years out on the community's transportation needs?

There were some interesting questions that I wouldn't think to ask:

* Enrollment in our elementary schools has been declining, therefore funding is declining and teachers and other supporting personnel have to be terminated.Would you support the idea of a unified school district so that the business community only has one district to communicate with and help insure all schools are adequately funded?

* Around California, there appears to be a trend toward campaign reform. Is the city itself in need of campaign finance reform? Are there any other changes you would propose to the City Council election process?

To hear answers to these questions, attend the City Council forum, sponsored by Southern California Edison, at 5:30 p.m. The debate will be followed by a water district panel at 7:15 p.m. at the Central Park community center.

I thought tomorrow was the unofficial start to the local campaign season but council gadfly John Lyons kickstarted it tonight by wearing a baseball cap at the City Council meeting with the words "Michael Spagnolo," indicating his support for incumbents Dennis Michael and Sam Spagnolo.

"Who is Michael Spagnolo?" Michael jokingly asked.

"Maybe he's your cousin," suggested council candidate Jim Moffatt.

If you would like to join Lyons by wearing a similar hat, well,  you can't. Lyons had just one made.

I've been trying to tout my blog ever since I started making an appearance here last month and many in the community have responded with blank stares and the question, "Now, what is that exactly?" One computer-less Bulletin reader asked me to fax the blog to him.

I don't blame the hesitant ones. Blogs -- often associated with technology and the younger generation -- can sound intimidating to those not young or tech savvy. But it's not that new of a phenomenon.

My colleague David Allen (an obscure columnist, it's okay if you've never heard of him) wrote in today's column about reaching his one-year mark of writing a daily entry on his blog. I tried writing a daily entry when I started but stopped after reaching three days.

Blogs, or Web logs, have been around for nearly a decade now but they only got popular five years ago and really popular two years ago. When I started working for the Bulletin in 2005, former Rancho reporter Conor Friedersdorf managed the immigration blog Beyond Borders.

Now there are more than 100 million blogs out there, most of them, as my former journalism professor once said, are only read by the blog's author and the blogger's mother. I could only be so lucky. My mother, like the reader who wanted me to fax my blog, is computer-less.

Michelle Ratigan, first-grade teacher at Doña Merced Elementary school will be honored by the San Bernardino County Board of Education as a Teacher of the Year.

The Central School District teacher is one of three teachers in the San Bernardino County who will be honored by the Board of Education at its meeting on Oct. 6.

Honorees include Zach More, eighth-grade algebra and Advancement Via Individual Determination teacher at Canyon Middle School in the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District and Jill Schwartz, a seventh-grade math and science teacher at Rancho Cucamonga Middle School in the Cucamonga School District.

The marketing subcommittee, consisting of Rex Gutierrez and Diane Williams, will meet on the armed forces banner program today at 3 p.m. in the Tapia Room. The subcommittee will finalize new designs for the military banners before it heads for a full City Council vote.

After that, the public works subcommittee, consisting of Dennis Michael and Williams, will receive a status report on the development of revised model landscape ordinance and a presentation on water conservation measures. That meeting starts at 4 p.m. in the Tapia Room.

Finally, at 7 p.m. is the City Council meeting. There will be a public hearing on an ordinance that would prohibit storage facilities from being located in residential areas. These facilities are currently allowed in residential zones because it was once thought that they act as buffer zones between residents and freeways or industrial areas. But lately the city has received complaints about noise, night time lights and other annoyances leading the Planning Commission to ammend the development code last month.   

 

San Bernardino County supervisors Gary Ovitt and Josie Gonzales and Mayor Don Kurth will speak to Chaffey College students today about local politics and the importance of voting. Kurth will be at the Rancho campus' Student Activities Lounge at 12:30 p.m., Ovitt will be at the Chino campus' Main Instructional Building at 12:30 p.m. and Gonzales will be at the Fontana campus at noon. Lunch and copies of the constitutions will be given out.

It turns out, colleges and universities are required by federal law to have Constitution Day events in order to be eligible for Title IV funding.

When Rancho resident George Walker told me he made his own wine as a hobby, I underestimated him. I thought maybe a few bottles, fermented in a shed in his backyard was all. It turns out, he runs a co-op and so far this month, Walker Family Vintner pressed nearly 6,000 pounds of grapes in his backyard.

 

Check out this photo of fellow winos Mario Sanchez and Tom Imbruglia picking up the "cake" formed by the seeds and skins after a thorough press. Can we put some icing on that cake? 

It's okay if you've already met him, you can meet him again at the next "Meet the Mayor" event.

Don Kurth will be at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at Victoria Gardens this Saturday, Sept. 20 from 10 a.m. to noon. He'll be there with Councilman Sam Spagnolo to listen to residents talk, complain or praise.

The mayor is hoping to make these public appearances on a monthly basis. Last year, Kurth spent a lot of time at Harvard getting his degree. Now that he's done, he wants to let the community know he's back.

The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf is located ... oh, you know where it's at. 

  Our staff photographer Will Lester caught this in his Rancho Cucamonga neighborhood today. Imagine walking into this web late at night!

The Chamber of Commerce hosts a candidates' forum every election year which serves as an unofficial start to the local campaign season. The City Council candidates discussion will start at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 18 at the Central Park Community Center. The debate, expected to last until 6:45 p.m., will be followed by another one from the candidates running for the Cucamonga Valley Water District board.

If you're a close follower of local politics but can't make this, don't fret. There will likely be other debates. The Alta Loma Riding Club and senior center have hosted similar events in previous elections. Thursday's debate will also be televised on Channel 3 for the month of October.

Update: Everyone should be seated by 5:15 p.m. for the City Council debate and 7 p.m. for the CVWD debate. For more info on this event, call Norm MacKenzie at the chamber (909) 987-1012 ext. 105.

It's nice to see the spotlight on the Archibald Library when it opened its doors this morning after a summer long remodeling effort. The Biane Library is inviting, but it's the Archibald Library that has the central location and the quaint ambiance. You never have to turn on your blinker and wait for somebody to leave their parking spot at the Archibald Library. Not even today. My colleague Thomas Cordova shot this pic along with many others in our photo gallery.

Coffee, muffins and dignitaries started the morning off. Mayor Don Kurth talked about reading "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" when he was younger, Councilman Rex Gutierrez talked about fighting his brother for the Mark Twain books and Councilwoman Diane Williams, or the "library lady" as the mayor called her, talked about how far we've come from the county library located at Lyons Center East more than 15 years ago.

The city leaders are a loquacious bunch. Gutierrez, a USC alumni, took advantage of the podium and said the library is where you can find out about USC's victory later today. He also touted the library's adult literacy program, a class that "our friends at Ohio State, who don't know how to read can take."

Councilman Sam Spagnolo, hoping to bring the topic back to the library, said, "I"m going to stick to the script. I'm not going to ad lib like Rex did."

I wish the young bookworms at the library were as talkative as these council members. I tried to interview some of them for Sunday's article but almost everybody I talked to was really shy. Perhaps they were too excited to check out the new amenities than talk to this reporter.

The library is opened until 5 p.m. today, when the USC game starts. It's opened from 1 to 5 p.m. tomorrow.

   

 

The tale of Rancho Cucamonga Middle School math and science teacher Jill Schwartz will appear in Saturday's paper, announcing the county teacher of the year distinction she will receive next month. My colleague Will Lester snapped this photo of her in her classroom Wednesday.

Schwartz has a knack for making math fun and easy. On a visit to the school, it was clear to see a certain infatuation with math that one of Schwartz's former students, Ezana Simon, 12, has. He told me, "It's fun to do a big problem and then figure out you're right."

I have a feeling that Schwartz will be one of those teachers who'll get return visits from former students long after they move on to high school and college. She told me, "I'll get e-mails from former students who say, 'I don't understand this, my teacher's mean.' "

E-mail wasn't around when I was in school which is a shame. Schwartz reminds me of my favorite teacher of all time Mr. Dunlap from Van Nuys High. He got so pumped about trig, he would stand on the chair, sometimes the table, and shout, "Folks, it's time to get excited."

He was kind of a dork, a quality I like. Because my name sounds like a weather condition, he would blow air out of his mouth when I walked into his class. "That's you right? Windy?"

I think Mr. Dunlap was good at Spanish but he pretended like he wasn't for comic relief. When it was time for us to wrap up our tests, he would say, "Lapiz en su mesa!"

After college I became an English teacher and realized just how much teachers really appreciate appreciation. I hear that Mr. Dunlap has long left Van Nuys High by now. I wonder if he has an e-mail address.      

In last week's article about the Rancho Cucamonga Middle School's after-school program, I made the embarrassing mistake of calling the school "Cucamonga Middle School," which is the name of another school in another district. This sheepish reporter/blogger apologizes.

I'm horrible with names. Chances are, if I've met you in the past, I forgot your name by the time I've finished, "Nice to meet you." It certainly makes me wonder why I was hired to cover a city that has essentially four names -- Rancho Cucamonga, Cucamonga, Alta Loma and Etiwanda.

Cucamonga School District Board President Henry Cowles brought up my faux pas at yesterday's meeting identifying me as the "Daily Press" reporter. Cowles, who works in Apple Valley, must have mixed us up with the Victorville paper. That's okay, Henry, I'm just pleased you didn't repeat the "Daily Repeat" joke.

It turns out the name confusion hits a nerve. I must say, I've gotten friendlier looks than the ones I got yesterday. I'm just thankful my mistake was made in a middle school. Had I called Los Osos High School "Alta Loma," I'm certain I would've gotten beat up after third period.

For the record, Cucamonga School is in the Cucamonga School District but Cucamonga Middle School is in Central School District. Rancho Cucamonga Middle School is in Cucamonga School District but Rancho Cucamonga High School is in Chaffey Joint Union High School District.

Finally, for extra credit: Which district is The Ontario Center School from?

No points for you if you guessed Ontario-Montclair School District. The Ontario elementary school is in the Cucamonga School District.

 

With the Inland Empire unemployment rate at 8.9 percent, this job fair sponsored by the city and county's Economic Development Agency might be the hottest event in town -- or the most depressing.

The job fair will take place Wednesday, Sept. 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the RC Family Resource Center, that's where the old Senior Center used to be on 9791 Arrow Route. Among the employers expected to attend: Home Depot, Home Instead Senior Care, TRL Systems, Argosy University, Wetzel's Pretzels, Forever 21, Sisley Italian Kitchen, Mathis Brother's Furniture, Pebbles Christian School and City of Rancho Cucamonga.

Call (909) 477-2781 for more info.

 

Cucamonga School District board president Henry Cowles' motto is "focus on the positives." The positive tonight was a report by Assistant Superintendent Janet Temkin telling the board that all four of the district's schools exceeded federal targets in test scores and participation. Woo-hoo! After that, the board took a 15-minute break to have cookies and "school champagne," which was apple cider. I wonder how well the students will have to perform for real champagne?

Although the API scores of three schools dropped slightly, Rancho Cucamonga Middle School's scores rised high enough to give the district average an increase from the previous year. I was most impressed by the algebra students' performance at RCMS. All the eighth grade algebra students (about 80 of them) performed at advanced or proficient level, surpassing the federal target of 37 percent. I don't know what RCMS is feeding their students. Personally, I'd rather cover a school board meeting than attempt algebra homework.

Nope, that's not Sarah Palin. That's actually our mayor, Don Kurth.

The doctor/mayor was a guest at the Republican National Convention, one of more than 300 Californians who were part of the convention's largest delegation. Kurth described the convention as "kind of a mad house." He stayed in a hotel that was about 15 minutes from Xcel Energy Center but his bus took an hour to get there. L.A. traffic in St. Paul? It turns out, Kurth said, the driver took a circuitous route for security reasons, following a predetermined GPS pattern.

"I didn't even know there were demonstrators until I saw them on TV," Kurth said.

Like almost everyone else at the convention, Kurth, a former New Yorker who once supported Rudy Giuliani, was enamored by Palin's speech.

"She kind of electrified everybody," he said. "People were standing on their seats and screaming."

I get the feeling that Kurth can identify with Palin's experience as a small town mayor. Of course, Wasilla, a city of 9,000+, is roughly the size of Rancho Cucamonga, Etiwanda and Alta Loma high schools' student population.

By the way, Kurth is currently the chair of the state's Health Care Professionals Coalition on the McCain campaign. He speaks at various engagements touting McCain's health care platform and organizes a team of other health care professionals.

Kurth's prediction: McCain will win but it's going to be tight.

Stop by Rock the Keys (formerly Twins nightclub) tonight to raise funds for breast cancer awareness. Owners Eddie and Robbie Lakkees (yes, they're twins) will donate proceeds to sponsor a team of local moms to the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Los Angeles. The dueling piano bar/nightclub is at 10134 Foothill Blvd.

Not since the City Council posed the question, "Is it a supermarket?" to Fresh & Easy have we come across a more interesting and disputed query -- Is El Loco Cantina a restaurant?

The Planning Commission slapped Loco's wrist tonight, telling owner Jose Sambolin to ditch the bouncer at the front and provide a uniformed security guard during hours of entertainment. Commissioner Ray Wimberly said he didn't want to be carded when he brings his children to what is supposed to be a family restaurant.

Sambolin is the owner of Margarita Beach in San Bernardino. Margarita Beach should sound familiar. It's the name of the business that once posed the question in this city, "Is it a restaurant or adult cabaret?"

Loco, is totally different, said Sambolin. "We've got no provocative girls, no double-entendre."

I don't know much about Loco, which is located in Masi Plaza. I've only been there once to eat nachos and watch the Lakers lose Game 4 this summer. At that time, I didn't come across any double-entendre.

The city has made a number of demands including the removal of outside speakers and the downsizing of the dance floor. Loco has mostly complied but was too slow to commissioners' standards.

By the end of the meeting, a slightly irked Planning Commission voted to have staff conduct a 90-day review and revisit the issue then. 

This item is for all my 6 weeks to 6-year-old readers in Rancho. You know who you are. Actually, you probably don't have calendars to mark, so just tell your mom about it.

Tutor Time Child Care and Learning Center is hosting a trike-a-thon to benefit St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital at 9 a.m., Sept. 19. The event will be held at the center on 7390 Ellena West and donations can be made there from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Last week, the hard core adults had their mud run and every year the city has its bike-a-thon. I guess the kiddies are jealous. The center expects 140 participants. The 6 week babies will obviously not be on tricycles but be pushed in strollers. The goal is to raise $3,000. Good luck, Tutor Time, don't forget your safety helmets.

  

El Loco Cantina is the only item on the agenda for the Planning Commission meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. tonight. The commission will consider whether to modify the establishment's conditional use permit or to revoke its entertainment permit.

The city has received some complaints about the restaurant/bar's rowdy customers. The site, which used to be the popular Felipe's Mexican Restaurant, is in Masi Plaza on Foothill Boulevard. It's not a residential area so I'm guessing the complaints come from the businesses in the plaza.

The College Funding Strategies office of Ontario will host a free community workshop on Sept. 30 to teach parents of tenth-, eleventh- and twelfth-graders about the opportunities available to help them finance their children's college education.

The workshop will take parents through the intricacies of college funding systems from FAFSA applications to a discussion of all the major grants and loans.

The workshop is open to the public and begins at 7 p.m. at the Upland High School's library meeting room, 565 W. 11th Str., Upland.

Attendees are invited to reserve their seats by calling (888) 445-3156.

While we've all welcomed back our students, let's welcome back our parents!

The Los Osos High School PTSA will host their meeting from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at the lecture hall on campus.

Mark your calandars for some other September dates:

The school will host a Back to School Night at 6:45 p.m. on Sept. 17 in the gym.

Parents can be informed at Parent Forum at 7 p.m. Sept. 22 in the lecture hall.

Don't get senioritis mom and dad because Senior Parent Night is from 7 to 8 p.m. Sept. 23 in the theater.

READY - OK!
Etiwanda High School, get ready for your school's Spirit Campaign.

This year the Associated Student Body's goal is to increase school spirit and raise student enthusiasm for Etiwanda.

Let me know what you're doing to show-off your school spirit, pride and colors.

E-mail photos with captions to canan.tasci@inlandnewspapers.com if you're up for the challenge!!

 

 

 

 

Former Los Osos High School graduate Kaitlyn Spaulding has recently been awarded two scholarships from The United Daughters of the Confederacy in Virginia.

Spaulding, 19, a junior at University of California San Diego, Revelle, in LaJolla, was awarded The Charlotte Bentley Scholarship by the New York Chapter 103 for $1,000 per year and the California Division No. 1 Scholarship for $900 per year.

The scholarships are for college students who take time to learn their own history and maintain high academics.

Education is and has always been a priority with the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Spaulding is the daughter of Donald and Judith McGough Spaulding of Rancho Cucamonga.

Spaulding is a 2006 graduate of Los Osos High School and is a a management science major. She works in the UCSD Medical School Department of Surgery.

 

Members of the San Antonio Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution want to remind you about Constitution Week Sept. 17 through 23.

The tradition of celebrating the Constitution was started many years ago by DAR.
Since 1955 Presidents have proclaimed Constitution Week to remind all Americans that the Constitution is an important part of our daily lives.

It protects our rights. It shapes our public debates. It is what millions have taken an oath to defend. And more importantly, the Constitution provides the words we live by.

Future generations will understand the values of our system and the responsibilities that accompany citizenship only if someone is willing to teach them. Constitution Week should keep the lesson alive.

For more information about San Antonio Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution or Constitution Week contact Linda Stufflebean, (909) 980-0190 or Judith McGough Spaulding, (909) 987-2116.

Gas, food and utilities have all gone up this year but not rent, according to some of the banners outside many apartment complexes in this city. At this apartment on Arrow, gas is free. Drive a little farther east and rent is free. Go west and one complex brags that a refrigerator, washer and dryer are included. I wonder if these flashy offers work. Do people who go apartment hunting really think, "A free tank of gas would be nice right about now. Let's move here"?

It seems a lot of apartment complexes are advertising these incentives, an indication that the rental market is softening but many Rancho renters tell me their rent is going up.

I brought this up with Cal Poly professor Mike Reibel, who specializes in demographics, and he told me the rental market should be tight because the prospective buyers who can't get loans and those who are watching their homes go through foreclosure -- the ones who should've been renting in the first place --  are back in the rental market. Rancho vacancies might be a localized thing, he said, since this city got built up so much faster than other parts of the region.

It just seems like nobody is happy. Renters are struggling to pay the rent and landlords are struggling to fill the units. The question mark hanging over this region's economy just keeps getting bigger. In the mean time, I'm holding out for an apartment that has free rent, gas, refrigerator, washer and dryer. 

Charter Communications is launching seven new HD channels for its Rancho customers starting tomorrow, just when you thought Giada De Laurentiis' linguini was starting to look a little fuzzy. The new HD channels are HGTV, History, Food Network, TLC, TBS, Smithsonian and AMC.

Charter spokesman Craig Watson e-mailed me this news today and ended the note with a quote from Mark Twain, "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." Surely this goes to everybody he e-mails but I can't help but think he meant it especially for me, a girl with a 17-inch television and wonky rabbit ears. If I don't have cable, let alone HD, my imagination must be completely out of focus.

 

Hear RC resident Neal McBride, pictured next to Pat, ask that question tomorrow night on that hangman-esque game show on channel 7.

I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to read reviews before watching a movie so I won't say whether McBride, 60, got to the final round. But I will say if I won what he won, I would be ecstatic but not so rich that I'd quit working for the paper.

In my family, "Wheel of Fortune" is kinda like dessert, it's what always follows dinner. I'm more of a "Jeopardy" kind of gal but when I'm full and sprawled out on the couch, I'm just too lethargic to change the channel. When I was young, I loved the "The Dating Game." I would actually talk to the television, "pick contestant number three!" and was always dumbfounded when the television didn't listen.

It turns out, McBride, who teaches psychology at Azusa Pacific University, has been on the "The Dating Game" twice. Once, he claims, the girl meant to pick him but got the order of the contestants wrong and picked the wrong guy. And the second time, he lost to an actor.

It seems McBride had better luck with "Wheel." He said Pat and Vanna were both really friendly and that Vanna came out to chit chat with the contestants before the show. I asked McBride if they really look the way they do on television -- sorta frozen in time.

"They looked older," McBride said. "I would say they have good make-up artists."

Watch McBride represent at 7:30 p.m. on ABC. 

The whole point of a blog is to get people talkin' so I was disappointed that technical difficulties prevented many people from commenting since my blog launched last month. But that difficulty has been eased, so comment away. Unlike the City Council meetings, the blogosphere doesn't limit you to five minutes so you can be as long-winded as you want. Yes, that means you too, John Lyons.

Before the glitch was removed, the blog asked readers to sign in to the blogging software which it shouldn't. Now to leave a comment, just type in your information (be anonymous if you want) and the weird coding in the gray box. It looks like the security feature that Ticketmaster uses. Soon, you'll find the comment posted on the blog but unfortunately, you won't find any concert tickets in your mailbox.

 

In In the past month, I bet many motorists driving westbound on Foothill from Archibald to Hellman thought to themselves, "Hmm ... I didn't know you can get that rejuvenated." The ones who thought this probably have never flipped through an L.A. Weekly.

It's not the first time a massive billboard advertised this Beverly Hills type surgery in this city. This business had an even more visible billboard on Archibald and Foothill facing northbound traffic but it was quickly taken down. A spokesman from the company who owns that billboard told me it "slipped through the cracks."

This one however, has a longer shelf life probably because it's framed by foliage. Speeding drivers might not notice but if you ever have lunch at Taco Hut, it'll surely give you a doubletake. I especially like the orchid a la Georgia O'Keefe.

I went on the Web site which was so polite, it thanked me and told me I just took the "first step in achieving the look, feel and personal empowerment" I had always wanted. Who doesn't want personal empowerment? Above is a picture of a pretty girl with her eyes closed and sun rays coming out of her back. It looks like she's taking a nap and well, a nap sounds good right about now. 

It's not the first time a billboard here has raised eyebrows. The same time two years ago, Councilman Sam Spagnolo and former mayors Bill Alexander and Dennis Stout graced a billboard here touting their councilman candidate of choice. I guess that billboard was about political empowerment. 

I wish Rancho could have its day all to itself like San Dimas or Pomona. Alas, we have to share our day, Sept. 6, with Fontana, Farmers Insurance and the junior livestock auction. At least we're not like Ontario, who has to share their day with Chino, Montclair, Upland, heroes and seniors.

 

Los Osos student Mary Faheem and Bob Curtis of Friends of the Pacific Electric Trail will be honored on Saturday after the 1 p.m. community parade at the Park Square stage.

 

The fair is from Sept. 5 to 28, that's 17 days you have to try deep-fried Pop-Tarts, the new treat my colleague and fellow blogger Canan Tasci reported in Thursday's paper. She also wrote that the barbecue grill at the fair can accommodate 1,500 turkey legs at one time - that is, 1,499 legs after I get there.

 

"Before I go, I take a couple of Pepto-Bismols," said Councilwoman Diane Williams, whose love of fair fare rivals my own. "I say I'm not going to weaken but I weaken. We (Williams and her husband) usually end our day with Alta Dena ice-cream served in bowls the size of a bucket."

 

Some fun fair food facts: Last year, they served 25,000 funnel cakes, 103,000 hot dogs on a stick and 700 pounds of popcorn. Who would've thought popcorn could get that heavy?

 

Councilman Dennis Michael's favorite part of the fair is the Fun Zone, although he admits it's been many, many years since he last visited. Michael said as a child going to the fair in the late 1950s, it was more like a small town carnival than the huge county fair of today.

 

"You would have these carnival booths where you sit down and use the little plunger and watch some wooden Seabiscuit run to the finish line," Michael said. "If you win, you get a little bronze horse. If you win again, you trade it in for a bigger bronze horse. That first horse you get is no taller than the height of your little finger."

 

The L.A. County Fair will set you back $17 on weekends and $12 on weekdays. If you're thrifty like Councilman Rex Gutierrez, go today and admission is just $1.

Grapes usually take three harvests after planting to be wine ready but with some homework and a little extra credit, the Alicante variety planted at the Chaffey College vineyard was ready after just two harvests.

 

The agricultural demonstration vineyard on the northwest corner of the campus is a partnership between the school and Filippi Winery. Chaffey spokeswoman Peggy Cartwright snapped this photo of a winery employee harvesting the Alicante grapes this week. Come Thanksgiving time, the winery will bottle about 200 cases of this blush wine. With the alcohol content at around 10 percent, it'll taste "kinda like white Zinfandel," said Joe Filippi. He told me the grapes were blessed by perfect weather this year and next year, he expects the amount of grapes will double.

Rex Gutierrez (who skipped the City Council meeting last night because he caught the flu and was not in St. Paul like Don Kurth) did not agree with me when I wrote that he had the gift of gab. One council watcher described it as the curse of gab.

 

However you describe it, Gutierrez's chatty demeanor brought me to this tale of resourcefulness. Let's hope it's resourcefulness anyways and not a habit born out of pending unemployment.

 

Gutierrez told me he went to walk his dog at a Rancho park recently and found evidence of illegal dumping. He hates it when people throw out bulky items illegally in parks and near freeways. He says it's common.

 

"My dog sniffed around. And then I sniffed around," Gutierrez said.

 

He found some mail with a Chino address. Why Chino residents would drive to Rancho to throw out junk mail, I'm not certain. Among the envelopes was one that had a Sisley's Italian Kitchen gift card issued in 2003.

 

"Finally I got my lucky break," Gutierrez said. "There was no name on it, so I wrote my name on it."

 

The self described cheapskate took the city manager out to lunch at the Victoria Gardens Sisley, which was opened a year after the $25 gift card was issued.

 

Let's hope Gutierrez finds a job soon because in this economy, I don't think more Chino residents will be throwing their unused gift cards in this town.

The San Bernardino sheriffs have a peculiar idea of fun. They want you to join their mud run, a 5K or 10K (1K for the young ones) trek through adverse conditions on a hot, Saturday morning. Their flier promises explosions and twisted obstacles. On the same breath, they ask you to bring family and friends. When I got this press release, I thought it was a prank. So I checked out their Web site.

 

"Caution," wrote some scary Web master. "You will be running through the sounds of machine gun fire, explosions, and our Tactical Officer Mud Pits, GET THROUGH THAT MUD, YOU..!!!!!"

 

Yikes. Two periods and five exclamation marks. I was scared.

 

But if this is your thing, head to the sheriff's training academy at 18000 W. Institution Road in San Bernardino. The run starts at 9 a.m. on Sept. 6. The flier claims it is open to the public but I'm not sure if it's open to criminals. For more info, call Rob McCoy at (909) 387-3621.

School's back in session and I recently went to Cucamonga Middle School for Thursday's article on the THINK Together after-school program. As a former kindergarten teacher, I'm all about interviewing children. They're a challenge to interview but when you get them going, their quotes are gold. Anybody can quote a presidential candidate. Try getting a 10 year old to give you a complete sentence.

 

"Do you like the after-school program?"

"Yes."

"What do you like about it?"

"It's fun."

"What's your favorite part?"

"Having fun with friends."

 

Children are always excited when an adult other than their teacher visits. The ones who aren't shy usually assume that you can make them famous.

 

"Am I going to be on television?!"

"No, I work for a newspaper."

"So am I going to be on television?"

 

Some are familiar with the Daily Bulletin because their parents are subscribers. They'll ask questions and tell friends that an actual reporter came for a visit. And they show their awe without asking, "How is the industry these days?" or "Why didn't you publish my letter to the editor?" or "Why don't you just print the facts?"

 

Not all children think highly of newspapers and that's okay, too. One Grapeland Elementary School student I met earlier this year did not mince her words.

 

"The Daily Bulletin? We get that. My mom lines the trash can with it."

 

Ah, it's nice to know we're still relevant.

The marketing subcommittee, consisting of council members Diane Williams and Rex Gutierrez, will meet 4 p.m. today in the Tapia Room. Redevelopment Director Linda Daniels will update the subcommittee on her discussions with an anonymous donor who has offered funding for the military banner program. Also to be discussed will be new designs for the banners and where to locate future banners if Haven is filled up.

 

The agenda for tonight's City Council meeting is a light one. The Redevelopment Agency staff members will give an update on the department's activities and the council is expected to appoint Curtis Bray and Patricia Morris as the Park and Recreation Commission's newest commissioners. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the Council Chambers.

 

Rex Gutierrez will be soon out of a job as reported by my colleague Lauren McSherry. The councilman has been the embattled assessor's intergovernmental relations officer for the past year and a half. Gutierrez's post, in addition to other executive positions in Bill Postmus' office, was cut following a grand jury report that accuses the assessor of hiring employees who weren't qualified.

 

"My role is diminished because my mentor is not here," Gutierrez said. "I feel somewhat relieved. I didn't realize I was coming to a hornet's nest."

 

Postmus, who has been accused of methamphetamine addiction, is currently on medical leave.

 

Gutierrez said he's eyeing several open positions in the county and wants to remain in the field of economic development. His last day with the assessor's office is Sept. 26.

 

"I have about a month left until doomsday," he said.

The spotlight will be on the Inland Empire at the latest Chaffey Community Art Association show. Inland Empire Gold: A Museum Show will showcase works by 27 local artists, each with their own take on the cultures and trends of this unique region. The show will be on display from Sept. 5 to Oct. 26 at the CCAA Museum of Art located inside the Filippi Winery on 12467 Base Line Road. An artists' reception will begin at 2 p.m. on Sept. 7. The museum is open Friday to Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

 

When I first heard that the Archibald Library was getting a face lift, I thought it'd just be a little Botox around the laugh lines. After a visit today, I realized it's more like reconstructive surgery.

 

The remodeling project, which started in June will wrap up this month with a grand opening at 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 13. Library employees Melissa Myers, left, and Irene Weiss are seen in this pic putting back some of the books that were moved while the library got new carpeting and furniture. There will be more computers for adults and children and a new space for computer classes on the first floor.

 

The thing I'm most excited about are the two lit columns that will be filled with water and bubbles to be stationed in the children's area. They were still covered with protective wrap today but in my imagination, they look like colorful lava lamps twice my height.

 

Robert Karatsu, the assistant library director who has been keeping a remodeling blog, told me that the borrowing didn't slow down this summer just because the Archibald Library was closed. He said about 85 percent of the patrons went over to the Biane Library, which was opened seven days a week, during this transition.

 

The city opened a satellite library at Central School thinking that bookworms might not want to drive out to Victoria Gardens. I thought that was odd. The city is not that big, and even if you live on the west side of town, the Biane Library shouldn't be that out of the way. I've gone to check out items at the Biane Library and I live in Pomona.

I would be terribly sad if City Hall became The Container Store. The spacious, beautifully lit building is simply too grand to be a purveyor of Tupperware and shelving units.

 

Unfortunately, that's what the old Pasadena City Hall building became in 2003, a two-story Mecca for suburbanites too organized for their own good. I went there for a visit over Labor Day weekend. I couldn't contain myself because shoppers strolling down Fair Oaks had boasted big shopping bags that read "contain yourself."

 

I was surprised when I came across the plaque that described the Fair Oaks and Union building as the site of the old City Hall. So it has come to this ... isn't anything sacred?

 

I'm not completely in love with Rancho's City Hall. Those three steps out front are too shallow even for my stubby legs and the grape clusters on the ceiling have always puzzled me. Why are there grapes in the sky?

 

Nevertheless, I find it very welcoming, especially when the rose bushes are in bloom. As a reporter who works in a windowless newsroom, I'm also totally jealous of all that glass.

 

So please, can we pass an ordinance that would ban The Container Store from being housed at City Hall? That building should always remain a container for city government.