Local

School District Police officers reach out to community members during National Night Out in August 2018.

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)—-SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- Paakuma’ K–8 School hosted an event for school staff, parents, and community members to share coffee and conversation with San Bernardino City Unified School District Police officers this past on Wednesday, October 3. Starbucks and Krispy Kreme doughnuts co-sponsored the event.

The October 3 event was the first in a series of community outreach meetings School District Police plan to hold at various SBCUSD schools.

“There are no agendas and no speeches,” said Sgt. John Guttierez. “It’s just a chance to ask questions, voice concerns, and get to know the District Police officers in your school community.”

EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)— FONTANA, CA—Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas), local officials and business representatives today celebrated the opening of a new public compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station located at 16231 Valley Boulevard in Fontana. The ceremony was held during National Clean Energy Week, which was first conceived in 2017 with the goal of advancing support of our nation’s energy sector through new methods of market development, policy change, and technological innovation. The new station was designed to serve the needs of the local and regional trucking industry and is the largest SoCalGas CNG fueling station constructed to date. SoCalGas also recently announced it will soon begin using renewable natural gas for the first time at the 25 utility-owned natural gas vehicle fueling stations across its service territory, as well as at six fueling stations in the San Diego area. Photos are available here.

“The latest generation of natural gas trucks, fueled with renewable natural gas virtually eliminate air pollution and emissions linked to climate change,” said Rodger Schwecke, senior vice president of gas transmission, storage and engineering for SoCalGas. “By giving truck drivers and fleet operators more locations to fuel up, we can put more of these trucks on the road and deliver an immediate benefit to communities, especially those along our busy freeways.”

“Fontana is proud to welcome our first compressed natural gas station to the city,” said City of Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren. “As one of the most important regional hubs for the U.S. trucking industry, having this CNG fueling station in Fontana will help us reduce our carbon footprint one truck at a time. We want to thank our partners at Southern California Gas Company for bringing this valuable resource to our community.”

The new CNG station extends the network of CNG stations across a key regional goods movement corridor and will provide owners and operators of natural gas-fueled trucks and other vehicles with a new, convenient place to fuel. The location, which is just off Interstate 10 (I-10) in the Inland Empire, was selected to serve a major logistics transportation corridor. More than 20,000 trucks travel along the freeway each day.

The transportation sector is responsible for 41 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and 80 percent of smog forming pollution. The latest heavy-duty natural gas engines can cut smog-forming emissions by more than 90 percent compared to the cleanest heavy-duty diesel trucks on the road today. When these trucks are fueled with renewable natural gas (RNG), greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by at least 80 percent.

SoCalGas has worked with fleet owners to secure millions of dollars in incentive funding for the replacement of diesel trucks with cleaner, new near-zero natural gas trucks. Each new natural gas truck that replaces a traditional diesel truck is the equivalent of taking 57 passenger cars off the road.

Renewable natural gas is produced from the methane generated in landfills, wastewater treatment plants, food processing and dairies and depending on its source, can be low-carbon or in some cases, even carbon-negative. It can be used to fuel trucks and buses, to generate electricity, to heat homes and businesses, and to cook.

Capturing the methane from these waste sources and using it for fuel has two benefits: It keeps methane, a greenhouse gas, from entering the atmosphere and contributing to climate change, and it reduces the use of traditionally-sourced natural gas.

Already, close to 70 percent of natural gas fleets in California are fueled with renewable natural gas.

The Fontana location is the 13th public SoCalGas-operated CNG fueling station to open, and there are 3 more currently under construction – one in Pacoima, one in Bakersfield and one in Ramona.

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)— SAN BERNARDINO, CA— The San Bernardino City Unified School District (SBCUSD) Board of Education started its meetings for the year on Tuesday, October 2. Meetings are now held every first and third Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in the Indian Springs High School MU Room.

The Board has been holding its meetings at Indian Springs High School (ISHS) since renovations began on the Board of Education building earlier this year. The Board held its September 18, 2018, Board meeting in the new ISHS Performing Arts Center, following the official ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Board meetings will continue to be held in the ISHS MU Room until the Board of Education building remodel is complete. Indian Springs High School is located at 650 North Del Rosa Drive in San Bernardino.

If you plan to attend Board of Education meetings and require reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, please contact the SBCUSD Affirmative Action Office at (909) 381-1122 or mike.medina@sbcusd.com at least 10 business days before the meeting.

Inequality & Outsourcing Spur Continued Unrest at University of California

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)— LOS ANGELES, CA— Stalled labor negotiations between the University of California and its largest employee union, AFSCME Local 3299, reached a boiling point at Wednesday’s UC Board of Regents meeting when union leaders publicly announced that their members will be voting on whether to go on strike for a second time this year.

The forthcoming vote follows a 3-day walkout by 53,000 UC workers last May over the University’s outsourcing practices, which research shows is driving growing income, gender, and racial inequality within California’s 3rd largest employer.

“UC’s employment data shows that women are getting paid far less to start than men and that Black workers are vanishing,” said AFSCME Local 3299 President Kathryn Lybarger. “It’s because the University has stopped investing in career ladders and outsourced good middle-class jobs to low-wage contract companies that pay workers dirt.”

At issue for UC workers is the University’s practice of outsourcing career positions to independent contracting companies that pay workers less. In fact, data shows that the staffing ratio at UC San Francisco has been as high as 1 contractor to every 6 directly employed workers. UC workers say that the practice has the effect of taking jobs that once paid living wages with full benefits and turning them into low-wage contractor positions with few benefits and a higher risk of abuse. In the past, UC contract companies have been found to arbitrarily slash worker pay and pay full-time workers under multiple names in order to skirt overtime rules.

Research also shows that AFSCME Local 3299 represents the most diverse workforce segments at UC—resembling the demographic makeup of California as a whole more than any other workforce segment at the University. As such, workers argue that outsourcing has the effect of destroying career pathways for people of color and trapping them into low-wage positions. UC Davis Medical Center has even gone so far as to deny outsourced contract workers career Patient Care Technical Unit positions when they apply, despite the fact that the “temporary” terms of their contracts have been extended multiple years, in some cases.

“Outsourcing is pioneering a future of more inequality,” said Rosalyn Williams, an MRI Technologist at UCLA’s Ronald Reagan Medical Center who spoke during public comment on Wednesday. “We will not allow UC to normalize a reality where darker skin means lower pay.”

UC’s Patient Care Technical Unit will be voting on October 9th and 10th to authorize a strike while its Service Unit workers will be voting on whether to join a strike in solidarity.

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)— FONTANA, CA— About 1,500 middle and high school students, including about 850 from San Bernardino County, will take part in the annual Manufacturing Day Expo at the Industrial Technical Learning Center (InTech) in Fontana on Friday, October 5.

Students will have the opportunity to meet with local manufacturers and participate in hands-on activities in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. There also will be tours of the InTech facilities.

Participating school districts from San Bernardino County include Chaffey Joint Union High School District, Chino Valley Unified, Colton Joint Unified, Fontana Unified, Victor Valley Union High and Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified.

The event is organized and sponsored by Chaffey College’s Economic Development Department, San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools’ Alliance for Education and the California Community College Chancellor’s Doing What Matters Campaign.

For more information about the event, visit www.mfgday.com.

Funds will be used to help alleviate some emotional and financial burdens for patients 

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)—-SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- Stater Bros. Charities and the Inland Women Fighting Cancer presented a check for $125,000 to Loma Linda University Cancer Center on August 21. The funds were a portion of those raised at the 10th annual Believe Walk in October 2017.

Mark Reeves, MD, PhD, director of the Cancer Center, said the donation will be used to support the psycho-oncology program, which assists with services not typically covered by insurance such as psychologists, spiritual chaplains, financial guidance, dieticians, and wig banks.

During the check presentation at the Stater Bros. corporate headquarters, Reeves said these services can make a difference for patients — and their families — going through cancer treatment, which can be an emotional and financial process.

“Patients who have benefited from the program have told me how important it is to be able to make it through difficult treatments,” Reeves said. “These services are impactful and mean everything to our patients, and I thank the Inland Women Fighting Cancer and Stater Bros. Charities for supporting these efforts.”

President and CEO of Stater Bros. Peter Van Helden said any day that they can give back to the community is a great day.

“We want to give back to the communities where our customers and employees live and work,” Van Helden said. “It has been over 10 years since the Believe Walk was formed, and we are proud to say we have given millions of dollars to help those in the community battling cancer.”

Van Helden says the first walk had 1,500 walkers in 2008. The Believe walk was created through the partnership of the Inland Women Fighting Cancer founding members Nancy Varner, Cathy Stockton and Annie Sellas and Stater Bros. Charities. The walk has now grown exponentially to approximately 10,000 participants. Since its inception, the partnership between Stater Bros. Charities and Inland Women Fighting Cancer has donated over  $4.6 million dollars to support programs and services for cancer patients in the Inland Empire.

The11th Annual Believe Walk will take place in Redlands, Sunday, October 7.

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)—- ONTARIO, CA—- U.S. Representative Norma J. Torres (D-Pomona) recently joined with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, 911 dispatchers from the Fontana Police Department, and representatives from the San Bernardino and Riverside California Highway Patrol to visit the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Metropolitan Communications Dispatch Center. During the visit, Torres and Rosenworcel renewed their calls for the reclassification of public safety telecommunicators as a “Protective Service Occupation” in the final Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Standard Occupational Classification. Last year, OMB rejected the suggestion to reclassify the occupation, hindering the ability of dispatchers to access improved resources and benefits despite the extensive skills and training required by the profession.

Torres meets with Inland Empire dispatchers and representatives from the California Highway Patrol.

“As the only former dispatcher in Congress, I know that this job is about so much more than just picking up a telephone and sending an ambulance. Public safety telecommunicators are the first line of defense when someone is in need of help, and they deserve to be recognized as integral members of first responder teams,” said Torres. “Hearing firsthand from local dispatchers who are on the frontlines of everyday emergencies was incredibly invaluable. Commissioner Rosenworcel has been a key partner in calling for the reclassification of this occupation, and I look forward to continuing our efforts to ensure that dispatchers across the nation get the training and tools they need to handle the changing threats our communities face.”

“When the unthinkable occurs, 911 dispatchers are the very first point of contact. They direct resources, keep people calm, collect critical data, and help manage emergency situations,” said Rosenworcel. “It was an honor to join Congresswoman Torres, who knows firsthand the great lengths dispatchers go to for their communities, to tour the Los Angeles 911 call center and hear directly from those who answer our calls when we need it most. I look forward to working together to ensure that 911 dispatchers are reclassified from clerical workers to the emergency professionals that they are.”

Prior to her time in Congress, Torres spent more than 17 years working as a 911 dispatcher. She is a member of the Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus, and last year, she introduced the Next Generation (NG) 9-1-1 Act of 2017 to strengthen federal efforts to help state and local governments to transition to NG9-1-1 technology by providing new federal funding, technical assistance, and training, while ensuring 911 is kept under state and local control. Torres has also led calls to classify dispatchers as “Emergency Protective Service” personnel like other member of the first responder community.

Federal Communications Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel believes that the future belongs to the connected. She works to promote greater opportunity, accessibility, and affordability in our communications services, including making sure our first responders have the tools they need to be successful. That’s why Commissioner Rosenworcel has been a leading voice in the creation and implementation of FirstNet, a new public safety network to help police, firefighters and emergency professionals communicate and keep us safe. Like Congresswoman Torres, Rosenworcel has advocated for 911 dispatchers to be reclassified as emergency professionals, and not clerical workers, as they are currently deemed by the federal government.

By Manny Otiko, California Black Media

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)—- With one of the most important midterm election less than five weeks away, a new survey shows that young Californians are fired up and ready to head to the polling booth.

The poll, which was conducted by Evitarus, a public policy consulting firm, showed that young Californians were politically active and engaged in political events. The survey quizzed more than 2,000 Californians aged 16-24. Seventy percent of them were people of color.  The poll was funded by the California Endowment and Power California, an organization that encourages young people from underrepresented communities to vote.

“The midterm election will be my first-time voting. This is a very significant milestone because I finally have the opportunity to make my voice heard. Our voices are not considered when decisions are made,” said Eugene Vang, a youth volunteer with 99Rootz from Merced, according to a press release.

Here are some of the findings:

• 82 percent of young people said voting made a difference.
• 88 percent of the young people surveyed said they had discussed political issues with friends and family members.
• 58 percent had volunteered in their community and 29 percent had participated in a march or protest.

The poll findings go against the popular opinion of young people being self-obsessed individuals who are glued to their cell phones.

“Young people in California care about social issues and are engaged with politics,” said Luis Sanchez, co-executive director of Power California. “It’s up to adults to find strategies to engage and educate these young people who care about voting, but have not been mobilized to vote. We can’t afford to ignore the emerging electorate and their unique politics.”

Another interesting finding from the poll was the fact that 48 percent of young people have posted their political opinions on social media. This shows that many young people see social media as not just a plaything, but an important tool for expressing their political views.

This point was also shared in a recent Our Weekly article, which talked about how Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles was utilizing social media for publication and organizing.

“Social media has provided a helpful platform for organizers and activists from across this country and throughout the diaspora to connect with one another,” said Jade Daniels, Black Lives Matter-LA, organizer on Communications and Arts and Culture Committees. “On social media, the black community has created a space for dialogue, a place for healing, a place to cultivate joy, and to build power among one another. Social media, arguably, has become a strong vehicle of liberation and radical resistance and base building in this time of such crises in the United States.”

Black Lives Matter owes much of its success to social media. The organization was born five years ago after the killing of Florida teen Trayvon Martin. According to Pew, the blacklivesmatter hashtag, created after George Zimmerman was acquitted of killing Martin, has been retweeted more than 30 million times.

The Evitarus poll stated that one in two young Californians surveyed identifies with BLM.

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)— SAN BERNARDINO, CA— The look of astonishment could be seen over and over on the faces of Indians Springs High School (ISHS) students walking through the new Performing Arts Center during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, September 18.

Nearby, architect John Sergio Fisher had a similar look of delight on his face.

“This venue is a beacon for the arts and for education here in San Bernardino,” Fisher said.  “I hope this is an uplifting place for the community to come enjoy student performances.”

In his four decades as an architect, Fisher, of Los Angeles-based John Sergio Fisher & Associates, has designed more than 300 performing arts venues around the country. Many of his designs have won prestigious industry awards. In fact, the ISHS Performing Arts Center has already garnered a design excellence award from American School & University Magazine.

Built on 18,000 square feet, the center seats 501 and has a modern orchestra pit that allows for additional seating and extra stage space. The project cost $12.5 million and was built in just 21 months. The venue also has dressing rooms, a scene shop, a full fly loft, an art gallery, and a state-of-the-art audio-visual control room.

Until now, ISHS had been holding performances and presentations in its Multi-Use (MU) Room, which serves as the cafeteria but also has a stage and sound system.

“Our students and staff are very much looking forward to the many performances and presentations that will be held in our Performing Arts Center,” Principal Kristen Bicondova said.

With the opening of the new performing arts center, the SBCUSD Board of Education has begun holding its regular meetings in the facility while its permanent headquarters in downtown San Bernardino undergoes remodeling.

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)— SAN BERNARDINO, CA— On Saturday, September 22 at MLK Middle School in San Bernardino approximately 1,000 city residents attended SB Pastors United Block Party. Prior to the ‘block party’, nearly 100 people marched in unity to encourage and bless the community.

The Community Block Party was filled with guest speakers, meet and greets with law enforcement and public officials, food and clothing giveaways performances and plenty of family activities.

(Photo Credit: Bill Sandefur)