August 2009 Archives

Due to scheduling changes, Mayor Don Kurth will not hold a "Meet the Mayor" event this Sunday as earlier reported. 

Last week, I recommended tonight's landscape maintenance district meeting to residents in the South Etiwanda neighborhood. I called it "essential" and anyone who cares about paying higher taxes should attend. Seven people showed.

Last week, about forty came to a similar meeting at Terra Vista and about 80 came in the Caryn neighborhood. That's the last time I'll recommend any meetings.

There were 12 representatives from City Hall and the water district, which if my division skills are correct, equates to about 1.7 staff members to answer questions from every resident in attendance. Talk about attentive service.

Free tickets for the library's Big Read kickoff event are available starting today at both the Biane and Archibald libraries. The event, which also marks Hispanic Heritage Month, starts 7 p.m. Sept. 18 at the Biane Library. There will be live music, dancing, storytime, crafts and other family friendly activities.

This fall's reading initiative will center around Rudolfo Anaya's novel "Bless Me, Ultima." Other Big Read events include an appearance by actor Edward James Olmos at Celebration Hall 7 p.m. Oct. 2 and a screening of "Stand and Deliver" 6:30 p.m. Oct. 14.

Information: (909) 477-2720  

I often wonder what life would be like if I covered this town back in the heyday of newspapers. I mean, look at this guy, Leslie L. "Scoop" Foster, editor and publisher of the Cucamonga Times. He's setting type with a pipe in his mouth. How cool is that?

While writing an article about the Kaiser Steel Museum published in last Sunday's paper, a wonderful profile of Foster from the July 5, 1964 Daily Report landed in my inbox. Thanks to Kelly Zackman of the Ontario Library for digging it up.

Sweeten Hall, the planned site of the Kaiser Steel Museum, is an old school house named after Ray Sweeten, who owned Cucamonga Times from 1917 until he died in 1952. The community paper was established 100 years ago.

Foster purchased the weekly from the Sweeten estate and wrote a front-page column that would start off, "The finest thing about Cucamonga is all the nice folks who live here."

In this 1964 Daily Report piece, the Cucamonga Times is already 55 years old. Here is Foster talking about the paper back in the day, when one editor was practically run out of town:

Foster explained that one of the downtown merchants took exception to one of the early-day editor's editorials.

"He advanced upon the editor with a shotgun," Foster said, "with a wicked gleam in his eye." The life of the editor was saved by the quick intervention of the printer's devil, a young man employed to help out around the shop. But the editor decided that the climate was not suitable to his particular mood and he left town."

Foster allowed: "We don't write those kind of editorials anymore."

Click below to read the full article.

Scoops relief pitch_05JUL1964.pdf
 

   

Mayor Don Kurth will host his monthly "Meet The Mayor" at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at Victoria Gardens from 1 to 3 p.m. this Sunday. For those residents vexed by the parking situation near Chaffey College or Cucamonga Canyon, this might be a good time to grab his ear.

This event was canceled.

It's unclear why former Assessor Bill Postmus hired a private investigator to snoop on Rex Gutierrez last year. In a recent e-mail, Postmus claimed county departments routinely hires outside investigators on personnel matters.

What we do know is Postmus used $1,594 of taxpayers' dollars to hire someone to investigate Gutierrez. He also spent $3,535 of taxpayers' dollars for the investigator to get information on MPR Strategies, the firm Postmus hired to do public relations work.

According to court documents, the investigator was asked to find out whether Gutierrez was conducting city business on county time. You'd think as a department head, Postmus could have found out himself what his employees were up to without spending more than $5,000.

More details in tomorrow's paper. 

Here are some of the freebies you'll get if you donate blood at Rancho San Antonio Medical Plaza on Sept. 9:

San Antonio Community Hospital meal ticket and a candle
Free appetizer coupon from Mimi's Cafe
Discount coupon for a car wash at Deer Creek Car Wash or Mountain View Car Wash
Discount coupon for Red Brick Pizza
Samples of Strong's candies
Opportunities to win a computer course from California Computer Schools and a box of Strong's candies

The blood drive is from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. The medical plaza is on 7777 Milliken Ave.

And the winner goes to ... Randall Lewis.

If you are interested in being one of the vendors at the Victoria Gardens Mainstreet Marketplace, call the mall's marketing department at (909) 646-8958. The Wednesday street fair allows artists and retailers to showcase items in a farmer's market type of environment.

In a story printed July 24, the contact number was listed for the company Moderustic, which was scheduling all the vendors. But Moderustic and the mall have parted ways.

In the first of three landscape maintenance district meetings, one resident said the proposed increase of $168 in annual fees in the Caryn community was worth it because it equates to roughly four Starbucks a month.

Tonight, at a similar meeting in Terra Vista, one resident said the proposed hike of $123 is worth it because it equates to about 33 cents a day, or less than the cost of a pack of gum.

That was fuzzy logic to Pat Harrison, who was one of about 40 people who attended tonight's meeting. She told me later, "But I don't chew gum."

This fall, three communities will vote on whether to pay more for better landscape services.

The next meeting will be for the South Etiwanda community, or landscape maintenance district 8. The meeting is 6:30 p.m. Monday at Summit Intermediate School. If you live in this neighborhood and care about your property taxes, you should attend. It's very likely there will be cookies and bottled water.

Find out everything you've ever wanted to know about landscape maintenance districts including information about the "service level matrix" at this city Web site. 

... and Daves and Davys.

Famous Dave's, the barbecue eatery on 11470 Fourth St., is marking the chain's 15th anniversary next Monday by giving special treatment for anyone named David, Dave or Davy. Dudes with this special name will get a free entree with a maximum value of $15. Guys with those names as their middle names will get entrees half off.

For everyone else, there's the "buck-a-bone" special, which is St. Louis-style ribs for $1 per bone with any entree purchase. There's also $3 draft domestic beers Monday through Thursday. These specials are good 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The restaurant opened its first location in Hayward, Wisc. in 1994 and opened in this town last summer. There are now 175 locations across the country.

Information: (909) 481-2271

   

The West End YMCA will hold a reunion for past members of its Indian Guide program. The event is scheduled 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 19 at the Rancho Cucamonga/Fontana YMCA on 11200 Base Line. Lunch will be served and the event is free.

The Indian Guide program hosts a number of outdoor activities for boys ages 5 to 10 and their fathers. Past members interested in the reunion should call Sonny Brouillette at (909) 945-1316.

  

The Universal Martial Arts Centers (actually, it's just one center on 9879 Foothill near Ramona) will teach a women's self defense seminar on Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. The cost is $20 and proceeds will go to local elementary schools. Instructor Rick Duffy will teach participants how to escape or defend an attacker themselves.

Information: (909) 989-1400     

More than 80 residents in the Caryn community attended tonight's meeting on the proposed landscape maintenance fees hike and all were wondering, "What's up with the weeds?"

One resident said the vines in the public right-of-way have grown into her backyard, giving rodents a passageway into her home.

Another resident said there's no where to jog because the weeds have taken over the sidewalk.

Many said they were happy to vote for a fee increase, at about $14 more per month, but only if they can be assured the neighborhood will go back the way it used to be -- neat and tidy.

"$14? That's like three Starbucks," said resident Kari Boyer. "We just want our city back."

For reasons still unknown to me, I ate five bowls of pho in the last 10 days. I guess you can say I had a craving.

I visited Pho Ha (both the Pomona location on Indian Hill and Holt and the Rancho location on Foothill and Hellman), #1 Pho Noodle and Grill on Foothill and Rochester in Rancho, Pho Vi on Thomas and 3rd in Pomona and Saigon Chinese and Vietnamese on Foothill near Etiwanda in Rancho.

And the winner for best pho in the last 10 days goes to ... Pho Ha. Both locations are good but the Rancho site wins by a hair for wonderful people-watching opportunities and proximity to a frozen yogurt joint.

I asked the Pho Ha owner what the difference is between the two restaurants. She said customers in Rancho eat more.

Pho Ha, at the Chuck E. Cheese center, is always brimming with people. During the lunch hour, the people slurping up the Vietnamese noodles are a diverse group of working class families, hospital workers, suit types, etc. When I ate a 9 p.m. dinner last week, there were men behind me who spoke a combination of Vietnamese and English, the two ladies next to me gossiped in Spanish and the family in front of me spoke Mandarin. This isn't your grandmother's Cucamonga, that's for sure.

When I eat pho, I'm usually a rare steak kinda gal. If I'm eating with someone who's not squeamish, I'll get brisket and tripe. Recently, I've been getting the vegetarian pho, which at Pho Ha, is a big salad in soup. In addition to the rice noodles, there's tofu, napa cabbage, onion, carrot, baby corn, green onion, cilantro and shitake mushrooms. If you include all the fixings, there's also basil, bean sprouts, jalapenos and if you're lucky, green leaf lettuce.

All the Inland Valley pho places I've tried are good but Pho Ha and Pho Vi are the only two I recommend with no reservations. Remember, pronounce it "fuh" not "foe."

Other restaurants I've tried before but not in the last 10 days: Pho Century in Upland; Pho Express and Pho Hoa Pasteur in Pomona; and Pho 2007 in Chino Hills.

Restaurants I've never tried before: Pho Saigon on Base Line and Carnelian in Rancho; California Noodle and Grill in Chino; Pho Nguyen in Fontana and Pho Vietrica in Ontario.

Am I forgetting any?

The campaign statements from the Cucamonga Valley Water District board members, or 460s, can be downloaded here.

It's not an election year, so there's not much fundraising going on in the first six months of the year. Perhaps that is why board members Randall Reed and Oscar Gonzalez have yet to file as of Friday, according to the county's Registrar of Voters office.

The deadline to file was July 31. Candidates who do not file on time are subject to a $10 late fee per day.

According to the Fair Political Practices Commission, candidates who do not raise any money are still required to file a 460 unless they make a monthly salary of $200 or less.

CVWD board members, who meet twice a month, earn $210 per meeting.


Curatalo James V Jr (Curatalo for Cucamonga Valley WD)460 8-5-09.pdf
 
Hank Stoy (1309771) 460-Jul302009.pdf

Friday is First Responders Night at The Epicenter, where law enforcement officers, firefighters and paramedics will be honored for their services. The game will be against the Stockton Ports. "First responders of the year" will be awarded and the county's sheriff's department will conduct a helicopter flyover. The event is hosted by the offices of Sen. Bob Dutton, Assemblyman Bill Emmerson and Supervisor Paul Biane.

Game starts at 7:35; pre-game festivities start at 7 p.m. 

Tickets for the general public: (909) 481-5000

Two exhibitions, "Alphabet: An Exhibition of Hand-Drawn Lettering and Experimental Typography" and "Sky Burchard: It's Dangerous to Go Alone" will open the school year at Chaffey College's Wignall Museum on Aug. 24. A reception is scheduled Sept. 9 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Letters are the star in the "Alphabet" exhibit, which features works by 47 artists who take the alphabet and turn the unique shapes into works of art.

Last week, I wrote that many people who run for City Council are retired like council members Sam Spagnolo, Diane Williams and Dennis Michael.

That was not accurate. Williams, 67, was a sprightly 49 and still working when she first ran for council. The youngest member now, Rex Gutierrez, 49, was just 33 when he first ran. They were just babies!

Some might be aghast that I disclosed a councilwoman's age. But I've always found the adage, "Never ask a woman her age," to be so old-fashioned. I mean, 67? Didn't someone say that's the new 57?

A year ago today, the first blog entry was posted on RC Now. Thanks to Gavin, a reader of this blog, for reminding me.

Canan Tasci, now blogger on Education Now and Montclair Now, posted the first entry on RC Now on Aug. 19, 2008. It took me eight more days to figure out the blogging software before posting my first entry Aug. 27, 2008.

RC Now was the first city-based blog launched at the Daily Bulletin. Prior to RC Now, there were sports blogs and the David Allen blog. Now, there's 22 blogs associated with the paper including ones that focus on politics, courts and businesses.

Don't tell my editor but I actually enjoy blogging. What I enjoy even more is reading the comments and I've grown quite obsessed about it, checking for new comments a dozen times a day.

This is the 644th entry on RC Now and at this minute, there's been 744 comments. That's a lot of random thoughts!

Any thoughts on how this blog can be improved for the second year? Leave them here. And thank you for reading! 

If I were a betting woman, I'd put money on tonight's meeting being a long one. I have a theory that a skimpy council agenda lends to long meetings. This week's agenda is only 176 pages, 87 pages less than last meeting's agenda and 120 pages less than the agenda from two meetings ago. The theory is completely illogical but it's based on an unscientific survey based on attending City Council meetings in the last four years.

The meeting might be a long one because much of the public comment period could be dominated by the soon-to-be out-of-work employees at Safetran. The company announced its closure last week.

Staff members are expected to give a report on the Skyline Estates neighborhood. Residents at the last meeting complained about people parking their cars and doing other unsavory acts outside their homes before heading up to Cucamonga Canyon. They leave behind bottles and they urinate in yards, neighbors said.



View Cucamonga Canyon in a larger map

Has anybody had a bad experience with the Pizza Factory near Day Creek and Highland?

A reader named Marnie recently told me about being yelled at by the owner after she complained of being overcharged. She thought $7.18 was too much for a sauce change on her pizza.

"He raised his voice, yelling, 'If you can't afford to eat out, you shouldn't,' " she said. "I told him I wasn't going to eat there again and he said, 'I don't care, I don't need your business.'"

Perhaps restaurants aren't short on customers after all.

You might have read about the odd pairing in David Allen's column. The Ontario Library cafe is applying for a liquor license.

In this city, wine and books come together when Total Wine & More, the new beverage retailer on Foothill and Day Creek, will donate $5,000 to the Library Foundation on Thursday's grand opening celebration. The wine, beer and spirits warehouse will also donate $5,000 to the Community Foundation, which raises money for cultural and recreational programming.

Total Wine, which opened last week, is hosting an official grand opening 6 p.m. Thursday with several council members. There will be tours of the 24,000-square-foot facility and tastings.    

If you want to perform in the stage production of "The Crucible," auditions are Aug. 31 and Sept. 2 at 6 p.m. The Rancho Cucamonga Community Theatre will kick off the 2009/10 season with the Arthur Miller drama.

Come prepared with a dramatic two-minute contemporary or classic monologue. You should also have some familiarity with the play because you'll have to read from the script.

Performances of "The Crucible" will be Oct. 24 to 31. Tickets are $16.50; $14.50 for youth.

Visit the Lewis Family Playhouse Web site for more information.

Commenters on this blog have brought up the issue of council members' age, saying the city needs younger representatives.

The average age of the current council is 61. Here goes the breakdown: Don Kurth, 60, Dennis Michael, 62, Diane Williams, 67, Rex Gutierrez, 49, and Sam Spagnolo, 67.

I would imagine it's difficult for young working people to find time to be a council member. That's why many people who run are already retired, like Michael, Spagnolo and Williams.

Does age matter? Is the current council too old?

I can't believe school's already back in session. What happened to summer?

Victoria Gardens Cultural Center is hosting a Back-to-School Bash Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m. There will be games, crafts and other entertainment. Rudy's Radical Science show starts at 5 p.m. The event is geared for children ages 5 to 11.

Don Yoder was appointed by the Planning Commission to represent the bicycling community in the Trails Advisory Committee. Tom Tisler was appointed as an alternate rep. 

Final tally: 33 34 residents spoke opposing Carrari Ranch, including one Upland and one Claremont resident. Nobody spoke supporting the project.

The quote that basically summed up residents' attitude: "This is a project that has no reason for being," said Lee Nelson.

Honorable mention goes to the long-distance runner/ER physician named Gerard who evoked Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi." That song gives us the wonderful line, "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."

This might be the first time Joni Mitchell was quoted in the Council Chambers.


One resident asked if the initial study can be downloaded. Here it is:

Recirc Initial Study_June 2009.pdf

 

It's a full house tonight at the Planning Commission meeting because Carrari Ranch is on the agenda. Without a doubt, many here are not Planning Commission regulars.

Carrari Ranch, however, is later on the agenda. Right now staff is talking about amending a development code on wireless communications facilities. I think everybody is expecting fireworks but instead they're wondering what "nev dec," "CEQA" or "CUP" means.

"This is so boring," whispered the gentleman in front of me.

A resident told Cucamonga Valley Water District board members yeseterday she's tired of seeing water wasted on the freeways. Residents are urged to water lawns early in the morning or late at night but she often sees the sprinklers near freeways on at 3 p.m.

We've all seen this, haven't we?

Unfortunately, CVWD has no say on this matter; it's under Caltrans' jurisdiction. But board members vowed to write more letters putting the problem to Caltrans' attention.

Board member Jim Curatalo, who fights fires as his day job, said the department sometimes gets calls from motorists who see mist from freeway sprinklers and they think it's smoke. So firefighters head out there preparing to see a freeway fire but find a poorly timed sprinkler instead. 

Here are the City Council's campaign statements for the first six months of the year. Don Kurth raised the most during this period, collecting $51,440.62 as mayor. The single biggest contributor was Diversified Pacific. Jeff Burum's development company contributed $10,000 to Councilman Sam Spagnolo.


Kurth 460, 2009.pdf
Michael 460, 2009.pdf 
Spagnolo 460, 2009.pdf 
Williams 460, 2009.pdf 
Gutierrez 460, 2009.pdf

Kurth is also running for the Assembly in 2010.
Kurth assembly.pdf

If you have an opinion on Rep. Gary Miller's plan to build 110 homes on Carrari Ranch, the scoping meeting Wednesday is for you. The public hearing is aimed to collect input for the draft environmental impact review. If you can't make the meeting, you can submit a statement this week to be included in the EIR.

Those likely to be in attendance are residents who call themselves the Save Our Mountains Alliance. The group has been planning to block this project since Miller first proposed it in 2005.

Mayor Don Kurth pointed out that opposition to development in the north part of the city is not new. Residents who oppose Miller's project now live north of residents who opposed their homes.

"There's no unanimity to this issue," Kurth said. "There are people who live below (Miller's opponents) who say, 'What are you talking about? How come you can say people can't build up there and yet you built above us?' "

The Planning Commission meeting starts 7 p.m.      

Catherine Bridge, 88, was one of more than 1,000 women who flew military planes during World War II.







Rick Sforza/
Staff Photographer


If you recognized the name Catherine Bridge in the story about Women Airforce Service Pilots in Sunday's paper, you're probably an Alta Loma old timer. Bridge was instrumental in helping the city get incorporated in the 1970s. She was married to Arthur Bridge, a World War II pilot who later became a city councilman in this city.

Before Bridge moved to this city, she was among a group of young women who flew military planes on non-combat missions during World War II. Bridge was just 21 when she started ferrying more than 20 different types of aircraft across the country. In the 1940s, it was rare that women drove cars let alone flew military planes. But Bridge said she was never raised thinking that girls were in any way inferior. That didn't mean her mother didn't worry.

"My mother was afraid of my flying," Bridge, now a Claremont resident, said. "But my father reminded her that when she wanted to study medicine, her brothers discouraged her against it and she was sorry all her life."

 

Don Kurth's "Meet the Mayor" event is Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at Victoria Gardens.

The mayor said many residents expressed their concerns over the future of health care when he attended National Night Out events earlier this week. You can share your thoughts with him this afternoon. The city is looking to host a town hall meeting soon on this topic with Rep. David Dreier.

Seen on 19th and Carnelian today: A woman holding up a sign announcing funnel cake ($3.99) at Los Monitos Tacos. I've always wanted fried dough to wash down my carne asada. Don't you?

A new booze superstore opened today at the Foothill Crossing Shopping Center on 8201 Day Creek. Total Wine & More, just catty corner from Bev Mo, carries 8,000 varieties of wine, 1,000  kinds of beers and 2,000 kinds of liquor. 

Apparently, a lot.

Property owners and businesses near Haven and Fourth were appalled after seeing a "notice of filing" sign announcing a proposal for a human and pet crematorium on Commerce Center Drive.

University of Redlands Director Danny McKee wrote, "We have concerns not only for the emotional well being of the students we serve but also for the negative impact to our brand caused via the visual imagery of vehicles carrying human and pet remains for the purpose of cremation within line of sight of the University of Redlands."

And the owners of Dickey's, Richard and Pamela Orwick, warned, "Any visual smoke could become a factor for people who know the nature of the business being conducted or any odors at all would detract from our customers dinning experience. ... Just the posting of the sign has caused such a concern among our customers, I don't see how there will not be some long term impact on our business, even if the crematorium is never built."

It worked.

The applicant withdrew its crematory plans and the city passed an urgency ordinance, in other words, a crematorium moratorium.

I was inspired by a M-M-M-My Pomona blogger who twittered the entire Pomona City Council meeting this week but I just couldn't bring myself up to it.

No offense to Deputy City Manager John Gillison but landscape maintenance districts and Proposition 218 ballot procedures just aren't that sexy.

So no twittering or live blogging last night. I sorta felt bad about that especially after hearing John Quincy Adams, who is dead, is now twittering. Every day, followers get a line from JQ's diary.

But then again, twitter crashed today, so I don't feel so bad.

The city will consider adopting an interim ordinance prohibiting human and animal crematoriums in the city. Christian Brothers applied for a human and animal crematory on Commerce Center Drive, just northwest of Haven Avenue and Fourth Street. Property owners nearby aren't very happy about that.

City Council will also consider holding a Proposition 218 vote for three landscape maintenance districts to raise rates. The communities of Terra Vista, Caryn and South Etiwanda may have a vote on whether to pay more for landscape improvements.  

Are there any chili heads out there?

Hatch chilies are in season and you don't have to go to New Mexico to get them. Albertsons at Foothill and Vineyard are selling a 30-pound sack for $28.99. You can have them roasted free of charge on Aug. 15 and 16 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

These chilies are known to be rich with vitamin C. One medium sized chili can have as much vitamin C as six oranges. But be careful. One New Mexico native in the newsroom got an ulcer from eating too many.

Information: (909) 484-7237

According to courts reporter Mike Cruz, Councilman Rex Gutierrez was arraigned this morning in San Bernardino Superior Court on charges stemming from the county's investigation into political malfeasance in the Assessor's Office.

Read more here.

In the past two days, I visited two different Toyota dealerships. Once to interview people about the cash for clunkers program for today's story and another time to provide input as my father bid farewell to his clunker -- a 1990 Acura Legend.

He literally said goodbye to his vehicle. My dad, who rarely shows emotion to his own children, showed sadness to an inanimate object. I watched as he patted the center console and said, "Bye, car."

The car, which reached 245,000 miles and averaged only 18 miles per gallon, was still a legend in my eyes. My dad dropped me off at school every morning in that car during my junior high days and I always considered it a luxury car. There were automatic doors and windows. Sunroof. Cruise control. Volume control on the steering wheel. And the seats, which were electrically powered, not only moved and tilted back and forth but went up and down.

It was affectionately called the "taco car" because the zero in the license plate, "2TAC087," looked like a letter.

Nostalgia aside, it was a clunker. When dad drove to the dealership over the weekend, the glove compartment plopped right on my lap after we went over a subtle speed bump. The trunk refused to remain open, which meant you had to hold it open with one hand while getting items out with another or risk getting beheaded. Dad kept a broken golf club in the trunk to prop it open.

When I lived abroad or out of state, I'd drive the Legend while home for vacation. I especially enjoyed listening to my old cassettes during the drive. Dad got back $4,500 for his new Matrix, a car with an auxiliary output, allowing him to plug his MP3 loaded cell phone. It seemed like he completely bypassed CD technology in one fell swoop.

Anyone else have a cash for clunkers story to tell?
 
 

The YMCA is hoping you might have spare change to give.

From Wednesday to Aug. 15, shoppers at the Victoria Gardens JCPenney can "round up" their purchase total to the next dollar and donate it to after-school programs at the Rancho/Fontana YMCA. The JCPenney Afterschool Fund will match the donations.

Those were the five numbers that made Rancho resident James Porter a whole lot richer.

Porter won $135,386 after turning in the winning ticket to the Fantasy 5 jackpot today. He purchased it at the Discount Cigarettes & Market on Foothill near Hellman.

Congrats, James!

It seems that swanky restaurants aren't the only things closing in this town. Hundreds of post offices across the nation are bracing for possible closures including two in Rancho: the Alta Loma and Etiwanda locations. Is it possible that post offices survived e-mail but not this economy?

The Washington Post published a list of post offices across the country that may soon close.