Riverside Independent_8/14/2023

Blythe man and woman suspected with several drugs, firearms plead not guilty

PG 02

Fire roundup: Blazes erupt in Riverside, Lake Perris, elsewhere countywide

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VOLUME 9, MONDAY, AUGUST 14-AUGUST 20, 2023

Clarence Thomas’ 38 vacations: The other billionaires who have treated the Supreme Court justice to luxury travel

By Brett Murphy and Alex Mierjeski, ProPublica

Series: Friends of the Court: SCOTUS Justices’ Beneficial Relationships

With Billionaire Donors

Supreme Court Justice ClarenceThomas’ decadeslong friendship with real estate tycoon Harlan Crow and Samuel Alito’s luxury travel with billionaire Paul Singer have raised questions about influence and ethics at the nation’s highest court.

During his three decades on the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas has enjoyed steady access to a lifestyle most Americans can only imagine. A cadre of industry titans and ultrawealthy executives have treated him to farflung vacations aboard their yachts, ushered him into the premium suites at sporting events and sent their private jets to fetch him — including, on more than one occasion, an entire 737. It’s a stream of luxury that is both more extensive and from a wider circle than has been previously understood.

Like clockwork, Thomas’ leisure activities have been underwritten by benefactors who share the ideology that drives his jurisprudence. Their gifts include:

At least 38 destination vacations, including a previously unreported voyage on a yacht around the Bahamas; 26 private jet flights, plus an additional eight by helicopter; a dozen VIP passes to professional and college sporting events, typically perched in the skybox; two stays at luxury resorts in Florida and Jamaica; and one standing invitation to an uber-exclusive golf club overlooking the Atlantic coast.

This accounting of Thomas’ travel, revealed for the first time here from an array of previously unavailable information, is the fullest to date of the generosity that has regularly afforded Thomas a lifestyle far beyond what his income could provide. And it is almost certainly an undercount.

While some of the hospitality, such as stays in personal

homes, may not have required disclosure, Thomas appears to have violated the law by failing to disclose flights, yacht cruises and expensive sports tickets, according to ethics experts.

Perhaps even more significant, the pattern exposes consistent violations of judicial norms, experts, including seven current and former federal judges appointed by both parties, told ProPublica. “In my career I don’t remember ever seeing this degree of largesse given to anybody,” said Jeremy Fogel, a former federal judge who served for years on the judicial committee that reviews judges’ financial disclosures. “I think it’s unprecedented.”

This year, ProPublica revealed Texas real estate billionaire Harlan Crow’s generosity toward Thomas, including vacations, private jet flights, gifts, the purchase of his mother’s house in Georgia and tuition payments. In an April statement, the justice defended his relationship with Crow. The Crows “are among our dearest friends,” Thomas said. “As friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips.”

The New York Times recently surfaced VIP treatment from wealthy businessmen he met through the Horatio Alger Association, an exclusive nonprofit. Among them were David Sokol, a former top executive at Berkshire Hathaway, and H. Wayne Huizenga, a billionaire who turned Blockbuster and Waste Management into national goliaths. (The Times noted Thomas gives access to the Supreme Court building for Horatio Alger events; ProPublica confirmed that the access has cost $1,500 or more in donations per person.)

Records and interviews show Thomas had another benefactor, oil baron Paul “Tony” Novelly, whose gifts to the justice have not previously been reported. ProPublica’s totals in this article include trips from Crow.

Each of these men — Novelly, Huizenga, Sokol and Crow — appears to have first met Thomas after he ascended to the Supreme Court. With the exception of Crow, their names are nowhere in Thomas’ financial disclosures,

NO. 133

Rescue personnel from Riverside County to deploy to fire-ravaged Maui

By City News Service

Search and rescue personnel from Riverside County will be among others statewide deploying to Hawaii as part of the disaster response to the wildfires that have devastated parts of Maui, officials announced Thursday.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said that he had mobilized members of Urban Search & Rescue units from Riverside, Alameda and Sacramento counties.

“California stands with the people of Maui and all Hawaiians amid these horrific wildfires that have claimed lives and destroyed the historic town of Lahaina,” Newsom said. “Our state is sending resources to support our Pacific neighbors during their time of need.”

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said early Thursday afternoon that 53 people were killed by the fires which started Tuesday night and swept through the west end of Maui.

Nearly 300 homes and other structures, some of them landmarks, have been destroyed, officials said.

Maui was under a Red Flag Warning due to a ridge of high pressure impacting the area, combined with winds gusting to 70 mph from Hurricane Dora, roughly 1,000

See Rescue personnel Page 28

Jury about to start deliberating in man’s fatal 2017 shooting in Banning

By City News Service

ACathedral City man killed another man in 2017 out of jealousy over a woman, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday as the defendant’s attorney insisted his client was never identified as the shooter.

Ronald Dean Ricks, 37, is charged with one felony count of murder along with a special-circumstance allegation of discharging a firearm from a vehicle and a sentence-enhancing allegation of discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury, according to court records.

The charges stem from the Jan. 16, 2017, shooting death of 32-year-old Banning resident Michael Gordon, who police found lying in the street in front of 1296 Wyte Way.

Deputy District Attorney Josh DeGonia told jurors during closing arguments Wednesday that all the pieces of evidence in the case fall into a huge puzzle with one piece that will always be missing, Gordon’s voice.

It all began when a white Dodge truck was rented

This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.

Justice Clarence Thomas. | Photo by Thomas Cizauskas (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

NTSB: Executive jet was descending into fog when it crashed in French Valley

An executive jet that crashed while attempting to land at French Valley Airport, killing all six on board, was descending into a fog bank when it slammed into terrain just short of the airfield, according to federal investigators.

The July 8 crash killed the operator of the Cessna Citation C-550, Manuel Alberto Caleb Vargas Regalado, 32, his wife, Abigail Tellez Vargas Regalado, 33, both of Temecula, along with the second pilot, Riese Lenders, 25, of Rancho Palos Verdes, and passengers Lindsey Gleiche, 31, of Huntington Beach, Alma Razick, 51, and Ibrahem Razick, 46, both of Temecula.

According to a preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Board on Aug. 4, the group had flown to Las Vegas in the executive jet on the night of July 7 and departed from Las Vegas International Airport to return to French Valley Airport about 3:15 the following morning.

The flight was uneventful until the jet, tail No. N819KR, began its descent 50 miles from French Valley, and the pilots obtained local weather, confirming visibility had abruptly gone from clear to low clouds and limited visibility.

Regalado and Lenders requested an instrument approach from SoCal Approach Control in Los Angeles, and the crew received approval to fly one. However, the report said the first effort resulted in a missed approach, and the crew contacted air traffic controllers a second time, again requesting an instrument flight rules landing.

The request was granted, and the crew was given vectors to the approach, but conditions continued to worsen over French Valley, with a 300-foot ceiling and only a three quarters of a mile visibility, according to the report.

“While on final approach, the airplane descended below the decision altitude for the

By City News Service

approach, which was 1,600 feet,” investigators wrote. “The last recorded data point indicated that the airplane was ... at an altitude of 1,450 feet. The airplane impacted terrain 800 feet short of the Runway 18 threshold.”

It was unclear whether the crew was searching for the runway in the fog, or the business jet went lower for other reasons.

The Cessna Citation burst into flames in the area of Auld and Briggs roads. All of the occupants were pronounced dead at the scene by Riverside County Fire Department paramedics.

The report didn’t specify the reasons for the flight to Las Vegas and the quick turnaround. It was unclear whether the pilots had rested in the five hours they were there.

A fundraiser seeking donations for the benefit of the five children belonging to Regalado and his wife had raised $59,485 as of Thursday.

“The sudden and unexpected passing of Manny

and Abigail have impacted so many people, and (they) will be missed by so many, especially their children,” wrote Monique Bettencourt, a self-identified family friend who started the GoFundMe account, which can be found at https:// www.gofundme.com/f/f2r56the-vargas- family?utm_ medium=referral&utm_ source=unknown&utm_ campaign=comms_

gfm+f2r56-the-vargasfamily.

“This fundraiser is for their five children, and the funds will go directly to Abigail’s sister, Alejandra Trevino,” according to Bettencourt. “She will raise and love them as her own.”

The children were identified as Caleb, 14, Alexandria, 11, Manny, 8, Alberto, 3, and Avi, 1.

The July 8 crash was the

second that week at French Valley. On July 4, a student pilot taking his three sons for a ride in a single-engine Cessna 172 went down after a touch-and-go landing. The student airman was killed, and the boys suffered major injuries.

The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to issue its final report on the executive jet crash within two years.

Pair charged with robbing Eastvale senior, stealing his jewelry

By City News Service

Two Romanian nationals accused of stealing valuables from an Eastvale senior while diverting his attention in a store parking lot were charged Thursday with robbery and elder abuse.

Petre Alexandru, 27, and Gratiela Stoian, 22, were arrested Monday following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation.

Each defendant is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.

They were slated to make a joint initial court appearance Thursday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

According to sheriff’s Sgt. Art Mendez, on Monday morning, Alexandru and Stoian accosted the victim, identified in court documents only as “R.F.,” as he was walking to his vehicle.

The defendants “lured the elderly victim toward them to have a conversation,” Mendez said.

“During the interaction, the suspects distracted the

man and robbed him of jewelry he was wearing,” the sergeant said.

He alleged that after stealing the valuables, the pair fled in a vehicle.

The victim contacted the sheriff’s department, and detectives initiated an investigation that confirmed the defendants’ identities. The investigators additionally learned that Alexandru and Stoian were “responsible for a similar incident in Vancouver, Canada,” Mendez said.

They were tracked to

Palm Springs, where they were taken into custody without incident Monday night.

“A search of their vehicle resulted in the finding of multiple necklaces, rings, watches and bracelets, possibly belonging to other unidentified victims,” the sheriff’s spokesman said.

The defendants have no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

Detectives believe the two have perpetrated the same type of offenses in other locations. Anyone with information was asked

to contact the sheriff’s Jurupa Valley station at 951-955-6006.

Blythe man and woman suspected with several drugs, firearms plead not guilty

By City News Service

Aman and woman suspected of being in possession of several varieties of drugs and multiple firearms in Blythe pleaded not guilty to felony charges Thursday.

Blythe residents Samuel Preston Scott, 63, and Melinda Wanda Scott, 47, were charged with two felony counts of possessing controlled substances for sale and one felony count each of distributing controlled substances into the state, possessing controlled substances while armed and maintaining a

location for unlawful use of controlled substances according to court records. They are additionally charged with one misdemeanor count of transporting marijuana for sale.

The suspects additionally face multiple firearm sentence-enhancing allegations, according to court records. They pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied the allegations Thursday afternoon at the Blythe Courthouse.

During a narcotics sales investigation over the last several weeks, detectives

received information that generated a search warrant for a residence in the 700 block of Michelle Street and searched it Aug. 3, according to the Blythe Police Department.

“Detectives and Officers served the search warrant at that residence,” Blythe police officials wrote in a statement. “Detectives located about one pound of methamphetamine, 80 pills that contain fentanyl, 3/4 pound of psilocybin mushrooms, a large quantity of marijuana, five firearms, and

other evidence related to narcotics sales.”

Samuel and Melinda Scott were subsequently arrested and remain behind bars on $75,000 bail bonds, according to inmate records. Samuel Scott was booked into Blythe Jail while Melinda Scott was booked into the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio.

Anyone with additional information on the case was asked to call the Blythe Police Department at 760-922-6111 or Crime Stop anonymously at 760-921-2273 (CARE).

The Vargas family. | Photo courtesy of Monique Bettencourt/GoFundMe

Gratiela Stoian. Petre Alexandru. | Photo courtesy of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department

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Chris Christie criticizes Trump, Obama, Biden over Ukraine conflict

By HeyWire AI

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Presidential candidate

Chris Christie took direct aim at past and present U.S. leaders as he recounted his recent unexpected visit to Ukraine.

In a fiery critique, Christie lambasted Presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama and incumbent Joe Biden.

The New Jersey Republican held them collectively responsible for the ongoing war in Ukraine, laying the blame for the instability in Eastern Europe at their doorstep, USA Today reports.

“The truth is that years of failed leadership are responsible for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s reign of terror in Eastern Europe. And it’s only going to get worse,” said the Christie campaign in an email to supporters obtained by USA Today. “He took Crimea under Barack Obama, buddied up to Donald Trump, and knows that Joe Biden can’t stop him from committing countless war crimes in Ukraine.”

Christie, breaking from a tour of the war-torn

region, met with Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskyy and re-pledged his support against the Russian incursion. During his visit, the former governor solemnly stressed the need to comprehend the atrocities meted out by Russian forces against the Ukrainian people.

Christie also implored the U.S. to supply Ukraine with the resources to engage Russian forces on an even keel.

“America is right to supply and I spoke with President Zelenskyy for an hour,” Christie told CNN on Sunday. “All he wants is the ability to fight the war on an even basis.”

This echoes Christie’s past criticisms of Trump’s Ukraine aid policies and highlights his issues with Biden’s reluctance in equipping Kyiv with the necessary resources.

Christie’s stance, however, places his views in stark opposition to that of his party’s reigning figure, Trump. The ex-president has maintained a more cautious approach to U.S. engagement in the conflict.

‘Evil Dead Rise’ added to Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights lineup

By City News Service

The world of “Evil Dead Rise” will come to life at Universal Studios Hollywood’s annual Halloween Horror Nights attraction, the theme park announced Wednesday as it rounded out the list of frights that will await visitors during the spooky season.

Horror Nights will include a total of eight haunted houses, with “Evil Dead Rise” and “Monstruos: The Monsters of Latin America” named as the latest additions to the lineup.

Other haunted houses included in the festivities will be the video game-based “The Last of Us”; “Stranger Things 4,” based on the Netflix series; “The Exorcist: Believer,” putting visitors in the demonic world of the classic horror film; “Universal Monsters: Unmasked,” featuring classic Universal film frights such as The Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; “Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count,” with the possessed doll of the longrunning film series; and

“Holidayz in Hell,” putting guests on a “petrifying trip through a series of psychotic seasonal celebrations.”

Halloween Horror Nights will also feature “Terror Tram ... The Exterminatorz,” which transforms the Universal Studios famed tram tour into a trip through an uprising of insects looking to destroy the human race. Tram riders

will also travel through the Jupiter’s Claim set from the Jordan Peele film “Nope” and meet The Tethered from Peele’s film “Us.”

Halloween Horror Nights will begin Sept. 7 and continue on select nights through Oct. 31. Several Universal Studios theme park attractions will be open during the event, including Jurassic World

-- The Ride, Transformers, Revenge of the Mummy and The Simpsons Ride. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and its accompanying attractions will also be open, with the Death Eaters roaming the grounds. Information on ticketing and dates of operation is available online at www. HalloweenHorrorNights. com.

This is a divide exemplified not just by Christie, but also resonated during

another Ukraine visit by former Vice President Mike Pence.

Chris Christie. | Photo courtesy of Michael Vadon/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Band songwriter-guitarist Robbie Robertson dies in LA

By Fred Shuster

Robbie Robertson, the Canadian composer and lead guitarist for The Band who once described his hillbilly and R&B-influenced songs as offering “a passport back to America for people who had become so estranged from their country that they felt like foreigners even when they were in it,” died Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 80.

His manager Jared Levine said he died after a long illness.

Robertson drew upon country music, Mississippi delta blues, soul and gospel in memorably earthy songs inspired by the tradition and history of his adopted country.

In Band songs such as the American Civil War tale “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and the infectious “Up on Cripple Creek” and “Rag, Mama, Rag,” which echoed of a bygone barn dance, Robertson offered the musical antithesis of the loud hard rock embraced by the Woodstock generation and beyond. He is considered one of the founders of the music genre known as Americana.

Best known for his work as lead guitarist for Bob Dylan in the mid-late 1960s and early-mid 1970s, as guitarist and songwriter with The Band from their inception until 1978, and for his career as a solo recording artist, Robertson was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Songwriters. In 2008, he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

He collaborated with director Martin Scorsese on 14 film music projects, beginning with the 1978 Band concert documentary “The Last Waltz,” and continuing through “Raging Bull,” “The King of Comedy,” “Casino,” “The Departed” and others.

Robertson came to music early. His father was from Toronto and his mother, of Mohawk descent, was born and raised on the Six Nations Reservation in Canada. Robertson began learning guitar from relatives during his summer visits to the reservation.

By the early 1960s, Robertson and the musicians who would later become The Band — drummer Levon Helm, bassist Rick Danko, pianist Richard Manuel and organist Garth Hudson —

were barnstorming clubs in the U.S. and Canada as rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks, and playing rock ‘n’ roll packages with such acts as Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins and Jackie Wilson.

In the summer of 1965, Dylan was looking for a backing band for his first “electric” tour. Robertson was recruited to play guitar, and after two shows the balance of The Hawks were brought aboard. With Dylan, The Hawks played concerts from September 1965 through May 1966, marking Dylan’s transition from folk to rock.

Tired of the road, Robertson and other Band members to be left Dylan and retreated to the small town of Woodstock, New York, to begin creating what would become their influential 1968 debut album, “Music From Big Pink.” Featuring now-classic tunes by Robertson — including the oft-covered “The Weight” — the album was revered by critics and the likes of the Beatles, Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones.

Speaking of The Band in the 2020 documentary “Once Were Brothers,” Bruce Springsteen said, “It’s like you’d never heard them before and like they’d always been there.”

The following year, with the release of The Band’s self-titled second album, the group became the first North American musical act to be featured on the cover of Time magazine.

The Band called it quits in 1976 with a lavish farewell at San Francisco’s Winterland on Thanksgiving Day. The hours-long Last Waltz concert, with more than a dozen special guests, was filmed by Scorsese, the start of Robertson’s long collaboration with the filmmaker. Robertson also took an interest in acting and co-starred with Gary Busey and Jodie Foster in 1980’s “Carny,” a drama about a traveling carnival.

After eight studio albums with the Band, Robertson recorded his first solo album in 1986.

In 2000, music industry legends David Geffen and Mo Ostin convinced Robertson to join DreamWorks Records as creative executive.

His 2016 autobiography “Testimony” was a bestseller.

Last year, Robertson sold his publishing, recording interests and name, image and likeness rights to investments firm Iconoclast for $25 million.

Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood posted on X that Robertson “was a lovely man, a great friend and will be dearly missed.”

Robertson is survived by his wife Janet; his ex-wife Dominique; his children Alexandra, Sebastian and Delphine; and five grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the Six Nations of the Grand River to support a new Woodland Cultural Center.

Robbie Robertson. | Photo courtesy of John Bauld/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

San Diego man sentenced to probation for participating in Capitol breach

By City News Service

that after leaving the Capitol, Hueso spoke with a CNN reporter in a televised interview and said, "a huge group of us stormed inside and as we started — we were basically shouting at the cops. And there were people arguing with them, trying to get them on our side, basically."

ASan Diego man who entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and was interviewed on CNN about the storming of the building was sentenced Tuesday to three years of probation.

According to court documents, Josiah Hueso

flew to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021, to attend a "Stop the Steal" rally and marched with others to the Capitol the next day. Prosecutors said he entered the building through a fire door and went into the office of the Senate parliamentarian. Court documents show

Federal prosecutors in Washington charged him last year and he was arrested in May 2022 in San Diego. Hueso pleaded guilty earlier this year to a misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

A prosecution sentencing memorandum indicates the government was seeking 21 days in custody for Hueso.

The document cites social media activity from Hueso that allegedly indicated he was aware the conduct was unlawful. In response to another poster who stated that those who stormed the Capitol did nothing illegal, Hueso wrote, "Walking into the Capitol was technically illegal. ... I agree we did nothing wrong but that doesn't matter at this point."

Sentencing papers from Hueso's defense attorney state he now "fully acknowledges that he was wrong to (go) into the Capitol and he regrets doing so." In requesting probation, the document states Hueso was in the Capitol for less than 10 minutes, has no prior

criminal record and did not engage in violence, theft or property destruction, unlike other Jan. 6 defendants.

Others from the San Diego area who were prosecuted for taking part in the Jan. 6 breach include Carlsbad resident James McGrew, who pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement officers and was sentenced to six years and six months in prison; El Cajon resident Erik Herrera, who was convicted by a jury of entering the Capitol and sentenced to four years in prison; former Coronado resident Jeffrey Alexander Smith, who pleaded guilty to entering the Capitol and was sentenced to a threemonth prison term for

taking part in the breach; and ex-Ocean Beach resident Philip James Weisbecker, who pleaded guilty to entering the Capitol and was sentenced to 30 days in custody.

Charges were filed last month against Imperial Beach resident Joshua Kaleb Youngerman, who prosecutors allege used a rope to scale the Capitol building and gain entrance.

Ocean Beach resident Ashli Babbitt was one of five people who died in connection with the attack. Babbitt was fatally shot by a U.S. Capitol police officer while trying to climb through the broken window of a barricaded door to the Speaker's Lobby.

US Navy sailors from LA County, San Diego ordered detained in espionage cases

By City News Service

Two U.S. Navy sailors — one from Monterey Park and another from San Diego — who are accused of taking bribes in exchange for sending sensitive military information to Chinese intelligence officers were ordered detained Tuesday pending trial on federal charges.

Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, also known as Thomas Zhao, had asked the judge to be granted release while awaiting trial. However, U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue rejected the request on grounds of flight risk and possible danger to the community or potential witnesses, court papers show.

Zhao pleaded not guilty last week in downtown Los Angeles to federal charges of conspiracy and receipt of a bribe by a public official. Zhao was working at Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The indictment alleges that Zhao, who held a security clearance, received bribes from a Chinese intelligence officer in exchange for disclosing nonpublic, sensitive military information.

Federal prosecutors contend that beginning in August 2021 and continuing through at least May of this year, Zhao sent U.S. military information, photographs and videos to the Chinese intelligence officer.

In exchange for bribes, Zhao allegedly sent the intelligence officer operational plans for a large-scale U.S. military exercise in the IndoPacific Region, detailing the

specific location and timing of naval movements, amphibious landings, maritime operations and logistics support, according to the indictment.

He also allegedly photographed electrical diagrams and blueprints for a radar system stationed on a U.S. military base in Okinawa, Japan.

Prosecutors contend Zhao obtained and transmitted details about the Navy's operational security at the Naval Base in Ventura County and on San Clemente Island, including photographs and videos.

The intelligence officer directed Zhao to conceal their relationship and to destroy evidence of the scheme, prosecutors allege.

In exchange for the information Zhao provided — information he accessed as a result of his position within the U.S. Navy — the Chinese intelligence officer paid Zhao nearly $15,000, the indictment alleges.

If convicted of the two counts in the indictment, Zhao would face up to 20 years in federal prison, prosecutors noted.

A second sailor based in San Diego was arrested last week on similar charges, but officials declined to comment on whether the cases are related or if the two seamen allegedly were in contact with the same Chinese intelligence officer.

San Diego sailor charged with espionage ordered held in custody

Jinchao Wei, 22, also known as Patrick Wei, is

accused of selling military secrets to a Chinese intelligence officer will also remain in custody, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Wei is accused of accepting bribes in exchange for information concerning "the defense and weapon capabilities of U.S. Navy ships, potential vulnerabilities of these ships, and information related to ship movement," according to a grand jury indictment.

Prosecutors allege he also provided the Chinese officer with photographs of military hardware and details about an upcoming maritime warfare exercise involving U.S. Marines.

Wei, who was assigned as a machinist's mate on the USS Essex, was arrested last Wednesday at Naval Base San Diego as he was arriving for work.

U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman said Wei's prosecution represents the first time an espionage-related charge has been filed against someone in the Southern District of California.

Wei, who was ordered detained last week, appeared in court Tuesday afternoon for a hearing regarding his custodial status. Defense attorney Jason Conforti said his client would stipulate to remaining in custody for now until he received more evidence from the prosecution.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Sheppard told U.S. Magistrate Judge Michelle Pettit that prosecutors would move to keep Wei detained on grounds of being a flight risk and a danger to the commu-

nity.

Sheppard argued the information Wei allegedly provided the Chinese officer made him a danger to the community at large and "certainly a danger to the thousands of sailors who are on those ships and transported by those ships."

The prosecutor said the Chinese officer approached Wei before he was assigned to the Essex and sought information and photographs of ship movements out of San Diego ports.

After Wei was first approached by the Chinese intelligence officer, he allegedly told a fellow sailor he was being recruited by an intelligence agency for "quite obviously (expletive) espionage," according to the U.S.

Attorney's Office.

The indictment alleges that beginning last year, Wei transmitted "documents, sketches, plans, notes, and other information" to the handler, who allegedly instructed Wei to destroy any evidence substantiating their relationship. Some of the information he allegedly sent included technical data for the USS Essex and other amphibious assault ships.

On Tuesday, Sheppard said some of that information included details on living conditions aboard the Essex, manuals for its weapons systems and information regarding its onboard communications.

Conforti told the judge Wei would not pose a danger as he no longer has a position

with the Navy and now has no access to the information prosecutors allege he provided.

Regarding flight, Sheppard said Wei's only relative in the United States is his mother, who the prosecutor said was not only aware of Wei's alleged disclosure of military secrets, but actively supported it.

Sheppard said Wei's Chinese contact has also extended offers for Wei to travel to China and Wei allegedly had been searching for flights shortly before his arrest.

Both Wei and Zhao allegedly received thousands of dollars for the information they are accused of passing along.

Josiah Hueso. | Photo courtesy of Josiah Hueso/Soundcloud

Wenheng Zhao participates in a military exercise in 2019 at Fort Hunter Liggett near Jolon, California. | Photo courtesy of Michael Lopez/U.S. Navy

Tory Lanez gets 10-year sentence for shooting Megan Thee Stallion

By Terri Vermeulen Keith, City News Service

Rapper Tory Lanez was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in state prison for shooting hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion in the feet in the Hollywood Hills just over three years ago, despite his plea that he be given a chance at "redemption."

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Herriford handed down the sentence after a hearing that stretched over two days and saw prosecutors ask for a prison term of 13 years, while defense attorneys produced an array of witnesses in hopes of sparing their client from a state prison term by highlighting his charitable work and his devotion to his 6-year-old son.

The judge noted that there was "only one set of rules for all of us" and that Lanez "must be treated the same as any other person."

Herriford said he was somewhat skeptical about the defense's last-minute claims that Lanez should be sentenced to probation because of his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol use disorder, ruling that he could "not grant probation in this case" as requested by the defense. He noted that Lanez's conduct after the shooting was a "major factor in aggravation," while he said the defendant's lack of prior criminal history and his charitable work were mitigating factors.

The judge said a date will have to be set for the defense's motion for bail for Lanez pending his appeal.

The 31-year-old Canadian rapper, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, was convicted Dec. 23 of one felony count each of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, having a loaded unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.

Lanez has been behind bars since he was ordered to be taken into custody shortly after the jury's verdict was read in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.

Prior to his sentence being pronounced, Lanez stood in court with his hands cuffed Tuesday and said he understood how serious the charges are and doesn't take it lightly.

But Lanez asked the judge to consider an alternate sentence outside of

prison that would allow him to be a betterment to society and show the world that what they've seen and heard during the trial "is not me."

"I'm asking for redemption," he said. "I'm asking for another chance."

Lanez told the judge there is a misconception about him "being this monster" and "not having any remorse."

"It's just not true," he said, pleading for a chance to be a father to his son, a mentor and contributor to society and a "light to people in dark places."

"I truly am just trying to be a better person," he said.

During the trial, Megan Thee Stallion testified that Lanez shot her during an argument on July 12, 2020, following a get-together at Kylie Jenner's home. She said she had no doubt that Lanez fired the shots, and that he later offered her $1 million not to say anything. According to the singer, Lanez told her to "dance, bitch," and then shot her in the feet.

Under cross-examination during the trial, the Grammy Award-winning Megan Thee Stallion, whose real name is Megan Pete, said she initially had no intention of talking about what had happened and "didn't want to be a snitch," but felt she had to "defend my name" when she saw that people were "making things up" and suggesting that she had not been shot.

In a statement read in court on her behalf Monday, Megan Thee Stallion said she has not experienced "a single day of peace" since she was shot.

"He not only shot me. He made a mockery of my trauma," the entertainer wrote, adding that she can't bring herself to be in the same room again with Lanez.

Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott said Monday that Megan Thee Stallion has physical and emotional scarring that will be with her for the rest of her life, saying that the five shots that Lanez fired came after nothing more than a verbal argument about "artistry." He also accused Lanez of putting the victim "through hell while the case was pending."

On Tuesday, the prosecutor said Lanez shot

Megan Thee Stallion because she "bruised his ego."

"The shooting was because of the argument in the car," the prosecutor said, calling it an "act of misogyny" against her.

One of Lanez's attorneys, Jose Baez, called that argument "nuts." He said there was "no denying that alcohol was involved," and urged the judge to consider Lanez's history of childhood trauma, including his mother dying when he was 11.

"We're talking about foolish, reckless behavior that could have been much worse. ... The intent was not to take someone's life," Baez said of the shooting.

Baez said Peterson "admittedly was highly intoxicated" the night of the shooting and didn't even remember afterward what the topic of the argument was. He said Lanez would benefit from a live-in substance abuse treatment program.

Baez — who argued for a non-prison sentence — noted his client's charitable endeavors and his behavior in jail that include doing daily prayer calls for inmates since he's been behind bars.

During the two-day sentencing hearing, more than a half-dozen witnesses, including Peterson's father Sonstar and the mother of Peterson's 6-year-old son were called to testify on Lanez's behalf, discussing his devastation over the death of his own mother when he was 11 and his subsequent charitable efforts throughout the country even before he became well-known.

The judge said he had also received more than 70 letters on Lanez's behalf, including one from musician Iggy Azalea, whom he said had requested a sentence that was "transformational, not life-destroying," along with one from Lanez's young son.

Outside court after the sentencing, Baez told reporters that he believed the sentence was "incredibly harsh," saying he had seen cases in which someone was killed and a defendant had received less than 10 years.

"This case to get a 10-year sentence is extreme and really just another example of someone being punished for their celebrity status

and someone being utilized to send an example. And he's not an example, he's a human being," said the defense attorney, who was added to the case after the verdict against Lanez was returned.

When asked what he would have done differently if he had handling the case before it got to trial, Baez said, "I think this case was handled incredibly poorly. ... We would have come in prepared and ready to show that Daystar Peterson was innocent of these charges."

He noted that there are "very strong issues for the appeal that we've uncovered," explaining that the defense wants Lanez to be freed on bail while the case is awaiting appeal.

Prosecutors countered that Megan Thee Stallion had shown the courage to come forward and testify against her assailant.

"My first thought was I was thrilled for Megan," Bott said. "This has been a long and hard road for her. Not only did the defendant do the heinous act of shooting her, he then subjected her to 2 1/2 years of hell. He called her a liar, he intimidated her, he harassed her. Nevertheless,

in the face of all that abuse and vitriol, Megan showed the courage to come forward and speak her truth and today's sentence is justice for Megan."

Fellow prosecutor Kathy Ta said she has seen the "transformative impact" that the case has had on Megan Thee Stallion and has seen the "trauma she's undergone in the last three years and I am incredibly relieved on her behalf."

"I hope that this brings her some level of closure and that from here on out this is another chapter she can move away from and she can start rebuilding," Ta said.

In April, Lanez posted a video and statement on Instagram addressed to District Attorney George Gascón, saying, "Today I take a stance as an innocent Black man, wrongfully convicted of a crime I did not commit."

Lanez alleged in the post that he "was completely robbed and deprived of a fair trial" and that he watched prosecutors "unlawfully misuse their authority to hide and suppress any and all exculpatory evidence that exonerates me and furthers my

innocence."

"So, Mr. Gascón, I come to you today as a wrongfully convicted Black man, not asking for sympathy, nor compassion, but for you to simply do what is fair and right in the laws of California, and most importantly in the eyes of God," he said in the recording, in which he cited the steps that Gascón has taken "in regards to fighting for the justice of Black and Brown minorities."

Shortly after Lanez's sentencing, the district attorney said the prosecutors on the case "made tremendous sacrifices and endured attacks that they shouldn't have to."

"They were attacked on social media. Their integrity was questioned with lies, much the same way that in this case the defendant attacked the victim and tried to victim-blame," Gascón said.

The district attorney noted that "the fact that Ms. Pete is a successful entertainer has put the spotlight on the important issue of violence against women," adding that there are many people who endure acts of violence and feel reluctant to come forward.

Tory Lanez. | Photo courtesy of fuseboxradio/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

El Monte City Notices

INVITATION TO BID

Pursuant to Public Contract Code Sections 1600 and 1601, all bids or proposals shall be submitted through the City’s electronic bid management system (PlanetBids) at https://www.planetbids.com/ portal/portal.cfm?CompanyID=43375 by 2:00 pm Pacific Standard Time on or before September 7, 2023 for the project listed below. A bid submitted after the time set shall not be considered. Bidders are required to submit (upload) all items listed in the section 4(d) of Instructions to Bidders, including a copy of the required Bidder’s Bond and acknowledgement of all addendums. Bids will be received by the City via the electronic submission up to the date and time shown in the Notice of Inviting Bids. The City will be responsible for bid tabulations. Bids will be opened and read out loud by the City Clerk’s Office in Council Chambers at the date and time stated in the Notice of Inviting Bids. Bid results will be made available to the public on the City’s website in the electronic bid management system once the bid tabulation has been completed.

The foregoing notwithstanding, the award of any contract shall be subject to approval by the City Council at a duly noticed City Council meeting and the City Council reserves the right to reject all Bids.

The Bidder, by submitting their electronic proposal, agrees to and certifies under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California, that the certification, forms and affidavits submitted as part of this proposal are true and correct. The Bidder, by submitting its electronic bid, acknowledges that doing so carries the same force and full legal effect as a paper submission with a longhand (wet) signature. By submitting an electronic bid, the Bidder certifies that the Bidder has thoroughly examined and understands the entire Contract Documents (which consist of the plans and specifications, drawings, forms, affidavits and the solicitation documents), and that by submitting the electronic bid as its Bid proposal, the Bidder acknowledges, agrees to and is bound by the entire Contract Documents, including any addenda issued thereto, and incorporated by reference in the Contract Documents.

Mountain View Traffic Circle Quick Build/Demonstration Project, CIP 831

The proposed work consists of temporary improvements at the intersection of Mountain View Road, Elliott Avenue and Meeker Avenue. The improvements will include a temporary traffic circle, new crosswalks, and new curb ramps, as set forth in the Contract Drawings and Technical Specifications for the project. The proposed work includes two (2) phases of construction (Phase 1 – Installation and Phase 2 – Restoration). The Contractor shall be responsible for both phases of the project. Phase 2 shall begin 12-months after Phase 1 is complete. Phase 1 shall install the temporary improvements, and Phase 2 shall restore the project site back to the original condition as shown on the plans. The City Engineer’s estimate for the project is two hundred and ten thousand dollars ($226,000).

Completion of Work: All work shall be completed within fifteen (15) working days after the procurement of equipment.

Obtaining Contract Documents: Specifications and contract documents are posted in the City’s electronic bid management system (PlanetBids) at https://www.planetbids.com/portal/portal. cfm?CompanyID=43375. All Bidders must first register as a vendor on the City of El Monte PlanetBids System website to participate in a Bid or to be added to a prospective Bidders list. Only those parties that have registered with the City as a plan holder on a particular project will receive the addendum(a) for that project. The City is not responsible for notifications to those parties who do not directly register as a plan holder on the City’s database. It is the responsibility of all perspective Bidders to register on the City’s database to ensure receipt of any addendum(a) prior to Bid submittals. Additionally, information on any addendum(a) issued for any bid specifications for any project will be available on the City website at: https:// www.planetbids.com/portal/portal.cfm?CompanyID=43375. The City reserves the right to reject as nonresponsive any bid that fails to include the information required by any addendum(a) posted on the City website.

Questions: Project-specific questions must be submitted in writing through the City’s electronic bid management system (PlanetBids) at https://www.planetbids.com/portal/portal.cfm?CompanyID=43375 by 4:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on or before August 23, 2023. All posted questions will be answered in writing and conveyed via written addenda to all Bidders via posting on PlanetBids.

Job Walk: There will be a job walk on August 22, 2023 at 10:00 a.m., at the project location, southwest corner of the intersection of Mountain View/Elliott/Meeker in El Monte, CA 91731. Attendance at the job walk is highly recommended but is not mandatory. No allowances for cost adjustments will be made if a Bidder fails to adequately examine the Project before submitting a Bid.

Submission of Proposals: All Bids or Proposals shall be submitted through the City’s electronic bid management system (PlanetBids) at https://www.planetbids.com/portal/portal.cfm?CompanyID=43375 no later than the date and time prescribed. All Bids must be signed by an authorized representative.

All required sections, including pricing, shall be submitted (up-

loaded) to PlanetBids via the website. The Bidder shall attach Subcontractor(s) Listing, Experience Form, Copy of Bid Security, and all other documents as listed in the BIDDER’S CHECKLIST to the PlanetBids Attachments Tab. The system will not accept a Bid for which any required information is missing. Prior to the Bid due date and time, all Bidders shall submit the original Bid Security to:

Office of the City Clerk City of El Monte – City Hall East 11333 Valley Blvd El Monte CA, 91731

The award of the contract by the City Council is contingent upon the Bidder submitting the required bonds and insurance, as described in the Contract, prior to the Bid due date and time. If the Bidder fails to comply with these requirements, the City may award the contract to the second or third lowest Bidder and the Bid security of the lowest Bidder may be forfeited.

Bids Remain Sealed Until Due Date and Time. Electronic Bids are transmitted into the City’s bidding system via hypertext transfer protocol secure (https). Bids submitted prior to the due date and time are not available for review by anyone other than the submitter, who will have until the due date and time to change, rescind or retrieve its bid should they desire to do so. Upon the Bidder’s entry of their bid, the system will ensure that all required fields are entered. The system will not accept a Bid for which any required information is missing. This includes all necessary pricing, subcontractor listing(s) and any other essential documentation and supporting materials and forms requested or contained in these solicitation documents. All Bid submission information must be fully transferred from the Bidder server to the bid system server before bid closing. Bids still transmitting at the time of bid closing will not be accepted. Bidders will receive an e-bid confirmation number with a time stamp from the bid management system indicating their bid was submitted successfully. The City will only receive those bids that were transmitted successfully. DO NOT FAX OR EMAIL.

Bid Security: Each proposal must be accompanied by a Bid Security in the form of a cashier’s check, certified check, or bid bond executed on the prescribed form, in an amount not less than ten percent (10%) of the total bid price payable to the City of El Monte. Bidders are hereby notified that in accordance with the provisions of Public Contract Code section 22300, securities may be substituted for any monies which the City may withhold pursuant to the terms of this Contract to ensure performance.

Prior to the bid due date and time, all Bidders shall submit the original Bid Security to the City Clerk. Proof of delivery that is date/ time stamped and signed for by the City Clerk from other couriers other than Certified mail will be accepted. A copy of the proof of delivery shall be submitted with the bid package by the bid due date.

Contractor's License: Bidder must possess a current Class_”A” -General Engineering Contractor license issued by the State of California, at the time the bid is submitted.

Per Public Contract Code Section 20103.5, for contracts involving federal funds, a failure to be licensed at the time of bid does not invalidate the bid, but the contractor must be properly licensed at the time the contract is awarded.

Contractor Registration: All Bidders and listed subcontractors must have registered with the California State Department of Industrial Relations pursuant to Labor Code section 1725.5 prior to submitting a Bid. Furthermore, a Contractor and all subcontractors must be registered pursuant to Labor Code section 1725.5 before entering into a contract to work on a public project.

City’s Right to Postpone Opening of Bids. The City reserves the right to postpone the date and time for the opening of Bids at any time prior to the date and time initially announced in this Invitation to Bid in accordance with applicable law.

Opening of Bids. Bids will be received by the City via the electronic submission up to the date and time shown in the Notice of Inviting Bids. The City will be responsible for bid tabulations. Bids will be opened and read out loud by the City Clerk’s Office in Council Chambers at the date and time stated in the Notice of Inviting Bids. Bid results will be made available to the public on the City’s website in the electronic bid management system once the bid tabulation has been completed.

Award: The award shall be made to the lowest responsible Bidder whose proposal complies with the specified requirements. The foregoing notwithstanding, the award of any contract shall be subject to approval by the City Council at a duly noticed City Council meeting. Contractor shall execute the Contract within ten (10) days after it has received the Contract from the City. The City reserves the right to waive any irregularity in the proposals. No bid may be withdrawn for a period of sixty (60) days after the opening of bids.

Rejection of Bids: The City reserves the right to reject any and all Bids. The City further reserves the right to waive immaterial irregularities in any Bid. Any Bid not conforming to the intent and purpose of the Contract Documents may be rejected. The City reserves the right to make all awards in the best interest of the City.

Disqualification of Bidder: If there is a reason to believe that collusion exists among any Bidders, none of the Bids of the participants in such collusion will be considered and the City may likewise

elect to reject all bids received.

Wage Rates: Bidders are hereby notified that the California Department of Industrial Relations has determined the general prevailing rate of wages for each craft, classification, or type of worker needed to execute the work. Copies of the current schedules for prevailing wages applicable to this project are on file in the City’s office. It shall be mandatory for the Contractor and any subcontractor under it to pay not less than the said specified rates to laborers and workmen employed by them in the execution of the Contract. The contractor’s duty to pay State prevailing wages can be found under Labor Code, Section 1770 et seq. Labor Code Sections 1775 and 1777.7 outline the penalties for failure to pay prevailing wages and employ apprentices including forfeitures and debarment.

This public works construction project is also funded in whole or in part with federal funds. Accordingly, federal labor standards provisions including prevailing wage requirements of the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA) will be enforced. In the event of a conflict between Federal and State prevailing wage rates, the higher of the two will prevail.

Bonds: The successful Bidder will be required to furnish a payment bond in an amount equal to one hundred percent (100%) of the Contract price, and a faithful performance bond in an amount equal to one hundred percent (100%) of the Contract price.

Published on August 14, 2023

EL MONTE EXAMINER

Probate Notices

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF JOANNE HARRIET GETZE

Case No. 23STPB07281

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of JOANNE HARRIET GETZE

A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by Richard Getze in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES.

THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that Richard Getze be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A HEARING on the petition will be held on Sept. 15, 2023 at 8:30 AM in Dept. No. 5 located at 111 N. Hill St., Los Angeles, CA 90012.

IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code.

Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.

YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.

Attorney for petitioner: LYNETTE S KIM ESQ

SBN176759

KIM MEDIATION AND LAW APC

3701 WILSHIRE BLVD STE 508

LOS ANGELES CA 90010 CN998821 GETZE Aug 7,10,14, 2023

SAN GABRIEL SUN

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF HERLINDA A. RAMIREZ

Case No. 23STPB07144

To all heirs, beneficiaries, cred-itors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of HERLINDA A. RAMIREZ A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by Diane M. Linarez in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES.

THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that Diane M. Linarez be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

THE PETITION requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court.

THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administra-tion authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objec-tion to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A HEARING on the petition will be held on August 31, 2023 at 8:30 AM in Dept. No. 11 located at 111 N. Hill St., Los Angeles, CA 90012.

IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your ap-pearance may be in person or by your attorney.

IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code.

Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowl-edgeable in California law.

YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.

Petitioner: Diane M. Linarez DIANE M LINAREZ

where justices are required by law to publicly report most gifts.

The total value of the undisclosed trips they’ve given Thomas since 1991, the year he was appointed to the Supreme Court, is difficult to measure. But it’s likely in the millions.

Huizenga sent his personal 737 to pick Thomas up and bring him to South Florida at least twice, according to John Wener, a former flight attendant and chef on board the plane. If he were picked up in D.C., the five-hour round trip would have cost at least $130,000 each time had Thomas chartered the jet himself, according to estimates from jet charter companies. In February 2016, Thomas flew on Crow’s private jet from Washington to New Haven, Connecticut, before heading back on the jet just three hours later. ProPublica previously reported the flight, but newly obtained U.S. Marshals Service records reveal its purpose: Thomas met with several Yale Law School deans for a tour of the room where they planned to display a portrait of the justice. (Crow’s foundation also gave the school $105,000, earmarked for the “Justice Thomas Portrait Fund,” tax filings show.)

Don Fox, the former general counsel of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics and the senior ethics official in the executive branch, said, “It’s just the height of hypocrisy to wear the robes and live the lifestyle of a billionaire.” Taxpayers, he added, have the right to expect that Supreme Court justices are not living on the dime of others.

Fox, who worked under both Democratic and Republican administrations, said he advised every new political appointee the same thing: Your wealthy friends are the ones you had before you were appointed. “You don’t get to acquire any new ones,” he told them.

Thomas and Novelly did not respond to a detailed list of questions for this story. Huizenga died in 2018 and his son, who is the president of the family’s holding company, also did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

In a statement to ProPublica, Sokol said he’s been close friends with the Thomases for 21 years and acknowledged traveling with and occasionally hosting them. He defended the justice as upright and ethical. “We have never once discussed any pending court matter,” Sokol said. “Our conversations have always revolved around helping

young people, sports, and family matters.”

“As to the use of private aviation,” he added, “I believe that given security concerns all of the Supreme Court justices should either fly privately or on governmental aircraft.”

The justices have said they follow court rules prohibiting them from accepting gifts from a group of people so frequently that “a reasonable person would believe that the public office is being used for private gain.” But what actually constitutes a gift under those rules is ambiguous and, in practice, justices have few restrictions on what they can accept. Other members of the court have accepted travel underwritten by wealthy businessmen and speaking invitations at universities. Stephen Breyer accepted a flight to a Nantucket wedding from a Democratic megadonor. Ruth Bader Ginsburg took a tour of Israel and Jordan paid for by an Israeli billionaire. Those gifts are public because Breyer and Ginsburg disclosed them.

Thomas, however, is apparently an extreme outlier for the volume and frequency of all the undisclosed vacations he’s received. He once complained that he sacrificed wealth to sit on the court, though he depicted the choice as a matter of conscience. “The job is not worth doing for what they pay,” he told the bar association in Savannah, Georgia, in 2001, “but it is worth doing for the principle.”

To track Thomas’ relationships and travel, ProPublica examined flight data, emails from airport and university officials, security detail records, tax court filings, meeting minutes and a trove of photographs from personal albums, including cards that Thomas’ wife, Ginni, sent to friends. In addition, reporters interviewed more than 100 eyewitnesses and other sources: jet and helicopter pilots, flight attendants, airport workers, yacht crew members, security guards, photographers, waitresses, caterers, chefs, drivers, river rafting guides and C-suite executives.

ProPublica has not identified any legal cases that Huizenga, Sokol or Novelly had at the Supreme Court during their documented relationships with Thomas, although they all work in industries significantly impacted by the court’s decisions.

In a small-circulation biography given to Huizenga’s friends and family,

Thomas acknowledged that he and Huizenga discussed some of the billionaire’s companies but said their relationship was never transactional. “It wasn’t that kind of friendship,” he told the interviewer. The justice said they’d prefer to go to a small restaurant in a strip mall or sit on the billionaire’s lawn and drink tea or diet soda.

“We are in a society where everything is quid pro quo,” Thomas said, but not with the Huizengas. “I don’t do anything for them and they can’t do anything for me.”

“Four Lucky Couples”

On Labor Day weekend 2019, Thomas boarded a private plane in Washington, D.C., for the first leg of a sojourn out West. The vacation had been months in the making and, thanks to Sokol, it was all taken care of. He’s hosted the Thomases virtually every summer for a decade.

The first stop was the Great Plains. It was the home opener at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which Ginni Thomas had attended before transferring. The Thomases were joined there by other couples, including one of the justice’s most vocal advocates, Mark Paoletta, who then worked for the federal government, and his wife.

Sokol, a major university donor who graduated from the Omaha campus, arranged for the group to attend the football and volleyball games with allaccess passes. Clarence Thomas met with the football team the day before the game. The group walked out of the tunnel before kickoff. During halftime, they stood on the sidelines to watch the marching band perform, at one point posing for a picture in the end zone: “The Sokols took four lucky couples to the first Nebraska footbal game of the season,” Ginni Thomas wrote in one of the card captions.

Sokol runs a private equity firm and now also chairs a holding company that owns large international shipping and power utility corporations. He resigned from Berkshire Hathaway in 2011 amid an internal investigation by the company that found he had violated its insider trading policy. (At the time, Sokol denied wrongdoing and said his resignation was unrelated to the episode; he was never indicted.)

That Saturday, the group watched both the football and volleyball games from luxury suites. The football skybox, which typically costs $40,000 annually, belonged

to Tom Osborne, a former Republican congressman who was also the head coach of the team for 25 years. Hosting the Thomases had ripple effects. A local priest requested a ticket for his 87-year-old mother, but the volleyball coach had to tell him none was available. “All of our tickets have been taken for Clarence Thomas and his group,” the coach wrote.

The Thomases have been treated to at least seven University of Nebraska-Lincoln games — five arranged by Sokol — in recent years. The Times first reported on Thomas’ appearances at some of them.

Thomas has never reported any of those tickets on his yearly financial forms. Judiciary disclosure rules require that most gifts worth more than $415 be disclosed. “It’s so obvious,” said Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush. “It all has to be reported.” ProPublica identified more than 60 federal judges who disclosed tickets to sporting events between 2003 and 2019. In 1999, Thomas disclosed private flight and accommodations for the Daytona 500 but hasn’t reported any other sporting events before or since.

In a statement, Osborne confirmed Thomas has “watched a couple of football games” in his suite, which the university had given to him. He said he is “taxed” for the use of the suite but did not answer whether Thomas has ever reimbursed him. The University of NebraskaLincoln did not respond to requests for comment.

On Sunday, the morning after the football game in Nebraska, Sokol flew with Thomas by private jet to Sokol’s Paintbrush Ranch just outside Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The property, valued in the low eight figures, sits in the foothills of Shadow Mountain. A local radio personality said of the estate: “This is the ultimate home and it has the most iconic view of the Tetons I’ve seen. Ever.”

Sokol also owns a waterfront mansion in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, currently worth $20.1 million, where he’s hosted the Thomases as well, according to photos of the visits. The 12,800-squarefoot property includes a home theater, elevator, walk-in wine cellar and yacht docking. (In addition, Sokol and Thomas have shared an opulent lodge together while vacationing at Crow’s private lakeside

resort, Camp Topridge, in the Adirondacks.)

In Wyoming, the Thomases fished, rafted on the Snake River and sat by a campfire overlooking the Teton Range with the other couples. At one point, the Paolettas serenaded the justice with a song they wrote about him.

Like Thomas, Paoletta did not disclose the trip on his yearly financial filings. At the time, Paoletta was general counsel and the designated ethics official at the Office of Management and Budget. In a statement, Paoletta said he wasn’t required to disclose the trip because he had reimbursed Sokol, but he did not say how much or provide documentation of those payments. “I complied with all ethics laws and regulations,” Paoletta said.

Details of the vacation to Nebraska and Wyoming were drawn from photographs, trip planning emails and social media posts, as well as interviews with airport workers, local residents and others familiar with the travel, including river raft guides.

Since 1990, Sokol and his wife have donated more than $1 million to Republican politicians and groups, along with smaller amounts to Democrats. Last October, in New Orleans, Sokol made a direct reference to a pending Supreme Court case while addressing a group of former Horatio Alger scholarship recipients. (Thomas was not in attendance.)

The speech veered into territory that made many of those in attendance uncomfortable and left others appalled, emails and others messages show. Sokol, who has written extensively about American exceptionalism and the virtues of free enterprise, minimized slavery and systemic racism, some felt. He then criticized President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, arguing Biden had overstepped the government’s authority, according to a recording of the speech obtained by ProPublica.

“It’s going to get overturned by the Supreme Court,” Sokol predicted, echoing a common legal commentary.

He was right. This summer, the court struck down Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan. Thomas voted in the majority.

Deep Sea Fishing in the Caribbean

Nearly every spring, Novelly, a billionaire who made his fortune storing and transporting petroleum, takes his two yachts on a fishing expedition to the

Bahamas’ Exuma Islands. Photographs from the trips show porcelain beaches, cerulean waters and fresh mahi-mahi. Friends and family come and go for days at a time.

Three of Novelly’s former yacht workers, including a captain, told ProPublica they recall Thomas coming on board the vessels multiple times in recent years. Novelly’s local chauffeur in the Bahamas said his company once picked Thomas up from the billionaire’s private jet and drove him to the marina where one of the yachts, Le Montrachet, frequently docks.

Le Montrachet, named after the premium French wine, is a 126-foot luxury vessel complete with a full bar, multiple dining areas, a baby grand piano, accommodations for 10 guests and a handful of smaller fishing boats and jet skis. Novelly charges about $60,000 a week to outsiders who want to charter it.

Another past guest on Novelly’s yacht is “Alligator” Ron Bergeron, one of the biggest land and roadway developers in Florida. Around 2018, Novelly and Thomas went to Bergeron’s private ranch on the edge of the Everglades — a sprawling, gated estate with centuries-old cypress trees and an 1800s-style saloon on site. He described Novelly as a man who likes to share his success with others. “He’s very generous with all his friends,” Bergeron told ProPublica.

Bergeron said his conversations with Thomas at the ranch were strictly about charity work and not business. “You’re talking about a great man,” Bergeron said, “who gives his time to make a difference for America.”

Since 1999, Novelly’s family and companies have publicly disclosed at least $500,000 to conservative causes and Republican candidates in federal elections. (Before then, he had given to both parties.)

Novelly, who recently stepped down from his CEO roles, ran his business affairs aggressively, ending up on the wrong side of the government in at least two cases. He spends much of his time between St. Louis and Boca Raton, Florida, where he has a 23,000 square-foot palatial estate appraised at $22.2 million. In 2002, Novelly established residency and a holding company in the Virgin Islands. During a hearing

See Clarence Thomas Page 15

Clarence Thomas

with local officials, Novelly described the arrangement there as a “quid pro quo,” meaning the U.S. territory received a boost to the local economy in return for offering substantial tax breaks. The IRS would later call it an “abusive tax avoidance scheme” and pursued Novelly for millions in back taxes and penalties. Novelly denied the characterization and eventually settled with the government for a negotiated amount.

There’s no evidence his friendship with Thomas helped Novelly in one of his most significant disputes.

In 2005, the Justice Department sued Novelly’s company, Apex Oil, because its corporate predecessor had contributed to a massive groundwater contamination beneath an Illinois village and then Apex refused to help with the cleanup. Apex argued the spill had occurred before the company went through a bankruptcy years earlier. Several judges ruled against Apex, which eventually appealed to the Supreme Court in 2010. The justices declined to hear the case, and the company had to pay about $150 million to help remove oil from the soil.

It’s not clear how Thomas voted in the case because such votes are not typically public. The vacations ProPublica identified appear to have occurred after the case was resolved.

In 2020, Apex Oil, Sokol and Crow helped fund a documentary defending Thomas as a response to an HBO film that was critical of the justice. Sokol called the HBO movie a “Molotov cocktail into our homes” and a prime example of America’s eroding civility.

The “Most Coveted” Invitation in the World Thomas’ first billionaire benefactor is likely H. Wayne Huizenga, believed to be the only person in American history to build three separate Fortune 500 companies. One of the three was AutoNation, which Huizenga founded in 1996 before building it into the largest car dealer in the country. Between 1998 and 1999, Huizenga’s holding company spent $500,000 lobbying federal agencies that regulate the automotive industry, according to OpenSecrets data. Over the years, the Huizenga family and companies gave millions to state and federal Republican candidates and once threw a fundraiser for the Florida GOP that helped keep the party afloat for months.

The billionaire was

known to regularly lavish gifts and perks on those in his orbit. He routinely took friends on opulent vacations. He paid his employees handsomely and sometimes covered their bills and personal expenses.

On a whim, Huizenga once handed box tickets for the opera, which were worth thousands, to his caterer, Bob Leonardi.

“I led the life of a multimillionaire without being one,” Leonardi said.

For 20 years, Thomas benefited from Huizenga’s attention as well, availing himself of the billionaire’s fleet of aircraft and other luxuries. Huizenga took Thomas to see the Miami Dolphins and Florida Panthers several times between the mid-’90s and mid-2000s, according to interviews and photographs. Huizenga owned both teams at the time.

Executives saw Thomas around Huizenga’s office often. Richard Rochon, the former president of Huizenga Holdings, said Thomas once shadowed the billionaire during meetings. “He just wants to see what I do every day,” Rochon recalled Huizenga saying.

On at least two occasions, Thomas attended Huizenga’s birthday and Christmas parties, which the billionaire held inside his private hangar at the Fort Lauderdale airport.

Van Poole, a lobbyist and former chairman of the Florida GOP, recalled riding down the elevator at the nearby Hyatt Pier 66 hotel — which Huizenga also controlled — when the Thomases stepped in with a security detail. The group discussed college sports and then traveled to the party together, Poole said.

Thomas occasionally flew on Huizenga’s helicopters, sometimes taking off from the roof of the corporate headquarters, and at least one of his Gulfstream jets around Florida, according to his former pilots. But the billionaire’s most luxurious planes were a pair of 737 jets he had retrofitted like a lounge, complete with recliners, love seats, mahogany dining and card tables and gourmet food.

At least two times in the mid 2000s, Huizenga sent one of them to pick up Thomas and deliver him to Fort Lauderdale, said John Wener, the flight attendant on board.

Wener recalled chatting with the justice about his nomination to the Supreme Court and the tumultuous Senate confirmation hearings after Thomas’ former aide, Anita Hill,

accused him of sexual harassment. “He said, ‘Just imagine a job interview and you’re in front of 100 people that hate you,’” Wener recalled Thomas remarking. “‘How would that interview go?’”

In the early 2000s, Huizenga gave Thomas something that was priceless at the time: a standing invitation to his exclusive, members-only golf club, the Floridian. Designed by golf legend Gary Player, the course was lined with cottages for Huizenga’s friends, a yacht marina for them to dock and a helipad if they wanted to fly in. One family friend told the Huizenga family biographer that the Floridian was “the most coveted private golf invitation in the world.” Those who worked and played there said the membership rolls were a Rolodex of the rich, famous and powerful: From Michael Douglas and Rush Limbaugh to Michael Bloomberg and former Vice President Dan Quayle. Donald Trump once asked to be a member but Huizenga spurned him, according to three of Huizenga’s former employees.

All 200-plus members were “honorary” and didn’t pay dues — Huizenga covered everything. “It was a little slice of heaven, a magical place,” former media personality Matt Lauer told the biographer. “You drove through the gates and it was this fairytale land that he had created.”

It’s unclear if Thomas was a member or Huizenga’s frequent guest with similar privileges. The billionaire’s former personal photographer and two former golf pros at the club recalled seeing Thomas there multiple times over the

years. One of Huizenga’s helicopter pilots said he had picked the justice up from the property. And a fifth employee, a former waitress and concierge, said she once served Thomas and Huizenga, who were wearing golf attire, as they dined alone in the enormous waterfront clubhouse for lunch. “Have you met a Supreme Court justice?” Huizenga asked the waitress before she took their order. “This is Clarence Thomas.”

Today, the Floridian, which the Huizenga family sold in 2010 before it underwent renovations, has a $150,000 initiation fee.

Paying for Access to the Supreme Court Chambers

Thomas first met Huizenga at a formal gala in Washington, D.C., in 1992, when they were both inducted into the Horatio Alger Association. Henry Kissinger and Maya Angelou were among the other honorees that year. The organization, named after the 19th-century novelist who popularized rags-to-riches folklore, gives millions in college scholarships each year and also brings together some of the country’s wealthiest, self-made business tycoons for opulent events. (In real life, Alger was a minister on Cape Cod who resigned from his parish after he was credibly accused of molesting boys.)

“We were proud to honor Justice Thomas more than 30 years ago,” an association spokesperson said in a statement, “and remain grateful for his continued involvement in our organization.” She said Thomas spends countless hours mentoring scholarship recipients.

Thomas appears to

have met Huizenga, Sokol, Novelly and Bergeron through the organization. Several of Thomas’ trips to Florida in the 2000s appear to have been connected with the association. In that time period, he joined Huizenga at Horatio Alger scholarship ceremonies in South Florida, travel that the justice disclosed in several of his yearly financial filings.

However, he never identified Huizenga in any of his disclosures. The association spokesperson confirmed to ProPublica that the billionaire hosted those events “and covered all costs involved.”

Experts said that means Thomas’ disclosures would be, at a minimum, incomplete and misleading because the rules require federal judges to identify the source of the gifts they receive. “Source means the person or entity that paid for it,” said Kathleen Clark, a legal ethics authority at Washington University in St. Louis.

Belonging to the association has had its privileges. As part of a board meeting, the Thomases once went on a lavish trip to Jamaica, where they were hosted by a wealthy donor who owned a luxury hotel atop a former sugar plantation. Johnny Cash performed. Horatio Alger Association membership itself is worth at least $200,000, according to the organization’s meeting minutes in 2007, a sum that those who nominate a new member are responsible for raising in that person’s honor. The association spokesperson said there was no requirement to raise money for new members back when Thomas was inducted.

Thomas has likely helped the group earn many

times that figure since then. Every year, the justice hosts an event for members inside the Supreme Court’s Great Hall. The Times previously reported that the event afforded the Horatio Alger Association unusual access to the court.

ProPublica examined boxes of the association’s historical archives, including financial records that show the group has required donations of at least $1,500 — $7,500 for nonmembers — to attend the Supreme Court event. In 2004, those who donated $100,000 for a table at the main ceremony got 10 seats inside the Supreme Court. In the judiciary’s code of conduct — which is general guidance that does not apply to Supreme Court justices, though they say they consult it — there is explicit language advising federal judges against using their position to fundraise for outside organizations.

But that’s what Thomas has done, sRepublished with Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).aid Virginia Canter, a former government ethics lawyer who served in administrations of both parties and reviewed the association’s financial records at ProPublica’s request.

“To use the Supreme Court to fundraise for somebody’s charity is, to me, an abuse of office,” she said. Canter acknowledged the organization may do good work, but that’s besides the point, she said, because wealthy donors aren’t supposed to be able to pay thousands of dollars to visit a justice inside the courthouse walls.

“It’s pay to play,” Canter added, “isn’t it?”

Republished with Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Clarence Thomas

Exuma, Bahamas. | Photo by Anthony Quintano (CC BY 2.0)

Fire roundup: Blazes erupt in Riverside, Lake Perris, elsewhere countywide

By City News Service

Aweek after the Bonny Fire near Aguanga blackened 2,322 acres of desert wilderness, a number of smaller fire incidents took place throughout Riverside County as of Friday.

Fire erupts along freeway retaining wall in Riverside

A fire that broke out Friday in shrubbery alongside the Riverside (91) Freeway just west of downtown Riverside damaged a retaining wall and briefly threatened properties before crews knocked it down.

The noninjury blaze was reported at 5:30 a.m. in the area of Adams Street and the 91, according to the Riverside Fire Department.

Battalion Chief Bruce Vanderhorst said that five engine crews and a truck company, numbering about 20 personnel, were sent to the location and encountered flames raging in ivy spread along the wall, threatening to move into a residential area.

Firefighters deployed hose lines through an apartment complex and stopped the fire from moving beyond the wall, Vanderhorst said.

No freeway lanes were impacted.

The blaze was completely contained less than 30 minutes later.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

Lake Perris State Recreation Area blaze burns 532 acres

A brush fire that erupted on the southeast end of the Lake Perris State Recreation Area and burned 532 acres was fully contained Thursday.

The noninjury blaze was reported at 2:35 p.m. Wednesday near the landmark known as Pictograph Rock, along the Loop Trail, according to the Riverside County Fire Depart-

ment.

Multiple engine and hand crews from the county and other agencies were sent to the location and encountered flames amid rugged terrain.

Officials at the scene estimated the blaze to be about 150 acres as of 4:15 p.m. Wednesday.

Cal Fire water-dropping helicopters and air tankers slowed the fire’s advance by 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, laying down sufficient retardant to enable crews to begin establishing tentative containment lines.

Winds were pushing the flames to the southeast, but by late afternoon Wednesday, airflows were abating, reducing the fire’s momentum.

Several roads going into Lake Perris were shut down by sheriff’s deputies and park rangers for public safety.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

Fire burns eight mobile homes near Desert Hot Springs

Fire engulfed eight mobile homes in Desert Hot Springs Thursday, but there were no immediate reports of any injuries.

Fire crews responded at 3:54 p.m. to the 17000 block of North Indian Canyon Drive to a report of a residential structure fire, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.

By 4:30 p.m., an official with the agency said that four mobile homes were involved. Crews from the Cathedral City and Palm Springs fire departments responded to the scene to assist with the blaze.

About 15 minutes later, however, fire officials said eight mobile homes were “fully involved in fire.”

“Due to heavy wind conditions, multiple additional resources respond-

ing,” fire officials said.

North Indian Canyon Drive was closed for water lines as fire crews battled the flames, according to the CHP.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

Youths suspected of setting fire in Eastvale neighborhood

Three boys allegedly set an outbuilding aflame in an Eastvale neighborhood, destroying the structure but not causing any injuries, authorities said Thursday.

The alleged arson occurred about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday in the 7600 block of Soaring Bird Court, near Cactus Flower Street, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

Sgt. Art Mendez said that witnesses spotted the youths, whose ages and identities were not disclosed, playing with fire, prompting calls to 911.

Patrol deputies reached the location moments later and “discovered a small structure engulfed in flames,” Mendez said.

Deputies caught sight of the three juveniles “running from the scene” and requested assistance from a sheriff’s helicopter crew to find them, according to the sergeant.

The youths were taken into custody without

incident a short time later.

Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire.

“The structure ... (was) completely charred and a total loss,” Mendez said.

The suspects were booked into Riverside Juvenile Hall on suspicion of arson and conspiracy.

Along with sheriff’s personnel, Cal Fire prevention officers are handling the investigation.

Firefighters battle brush fire near I-10 south of Whitewater

Firefighters battled a small brush fire Tuesday on Highway 111 south of Interstate 10.

Fire crews responded to the blaze at around 3 p.m. Tuesday, according to the California Highway Patrol. CHP officials said the fire was located near Snow Creek Canyon Road.

By 4:30 p.m., the fire had burned approximately three acres on the westbound lanes of Highway 111 as fire units worked to extinguish the flames, Palm Springs Fire Captain Nathan Gunkel told City News Service.

“Nine fire apparatus from PSFD, Cal Fire and (Bureau of Land Management) with 30 personnel are on scene extinguishing the fire,” Gunkel told CNS. “No injuries to firefighters are reported and the fire will be under investigation.”

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

Man displaced from Palm Springs home due to fire

A man was displaced from his residence in Palm Springs early Tuesday when it became fully engulfed in flames.

Fire crews responded at 4:03 a.m. Tuesday to a report of a structure fire in the 2700 block of Cardillo Avenue, according to the Palm Springs Fire Department.

“First arriving fire unit reported a fully involved single story, single family residence and initiated a(n) aggressive fire attack,” Palm Springs fire officials

wrote in a statement. “The occupant met fire crews outside the residence and stated they were the sole occupant.”

The residence was searched two times and firefighters confirmed that there were no additional occupants, according to officials. A total of 24 firefighters worked to contain the flames.

The homeowner was displaced from his residence, which sustained significant fire damage, officials said. He was put in contact with American Red Cross. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

Authorities identify man killed in hit-and-run in Palm Desert

By City News Service

AuthoritiesFriday identified a man who was killed in a hitand-run collision in Palm Desert and found dead on a roadway.

He was identified by the Riverside County coroner’s office as 48-year-old Francisco Rojas of Palm Desert.

Deputies from the Palm

Desert sheriff’s station responded at 10:16 p.m.

Wednesday to a report of a vehicle-versus-pedestrian hit-and-run collision near Country Club and Barrington drives, according to Sgt. Matt Martinez of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

Martinez said that,

upon arrival, deputies found the victim on the eastbound lanes of Country Club Drive. Rojas was pronounced dead at 10:19 p.m., according to coroner’s officials.

“There is no suspect in custody and it is unknown if alcohol and/or drugs were a factor in the colli-

sion,” Martinez wrote in a statement.

The Palm Desert Traffic Collision Reconstruction Team was investigating.

Anyone with information on the case was asked to call Deputy Broughton of the Palm Desert Sheriff’s Station at 760-8361600.

A helicopter drops water on the Rock Fire near Lake Perris. | Photo courtesy of the Riverside County Fire Department/X

Firefighers work to contain the brush fire at the southeast end of the Lake Perris State Recreation Area. | Photo courtesy of the Riverside County Fire Department/X

| Photo courtesy of Pxfuel

connect to your remote hearing, call 657-622-8278 for assistance. If you prefer to appear in-person, you can appear in the department on the day/ time set for your hearing.

IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code.

Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.

YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. In Pro Per Petitioner

LISA JOAN BELK

1525 W. TONIA CT. ANAHEIM CA 92802

8/7, 8/10, 8/14/23

CNS-3726671# ANAHEIM PRESS

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF:

VESTA ANN CLINTON

CASE NO. 23STPB08352

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the WILL or estate, or both of VESTA ANN CLINTON.

A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by CHRISTIAN CLINTON in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES.

THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that CHRISTIAN CLINTON be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

THE PETITION requests the decedent’s WILL and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The WILL and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court.

THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.)

The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 09/05/23 at 8:30AM in Dept. 29 located at 111

N. HILL ST., LOS ANGELES, CA 90012

IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.

YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account

as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.

Attorney for Petitioner

ANTHONY J. VULIN - SBN 86676

624 WEST 9TH STREET, SUITE 201 SAN PEDRO CA 90731, Telephone (310) 548-0746

8/7, 8/10, 8/14/23

CNS-3726773#

GLENDALE INDEPENDENT

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: CESARIA RIOS DE ANAYA

CASE NO. 23STPB08169

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the WILL or estate, or both of CESARIA RIOS DE ANAYA.

A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by RUBEN ANAYA JR. in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES.

THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that RUBEN ANAYA JR. be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.)

The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 08/30/23 at 8:30AM in Dept. 67 located at 111 N. HILL ST., LOS ANGELES, CA 90012

IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.

YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.

Attorney for Petitioner

LEMUEL B. MAKUPSON - SBN 207383, THE LAW OFFICE OF LEMUEL B. MAKUPSON, APC 680 E. ALOSTA AVENUE, SUITE 106 AZUSA CA 91702, Telephone (626) 577-5147 8/7, 8/10, 8/14/23

CNS-3726789#

BALDWIN PARK PRESS

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF:

HELEN C. SUZOW AKA

HELEN SUZOW

CASE NO. 23STPB03654

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the WILL or estate, or both of HELEN

C. SUZOW AKA HELEN SUZOW.

A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by CHERYL A. CUSUMANO in the Superior Court of California,

any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court.

THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.)

The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 09/05/23 at 8:30AM in Dept. 79 located at 111 N. HILL ST., LOS ANGELES, CA 90012

IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.

YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for Petitioner

RYAN D. BOWNE, ESQ. - SBN 236970

4421 W. RIVERSIDE DR., SUITE 200 BURBANK CA 91505, Telephone (818) 846-5515 8/10, 8/14, 8/21/23 CNS-3727331# GLENDALE INDEPENDENT

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF:

RICHARD BARNETT SCHACKNE

CASE NO. 23STPB08402

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the WILL or estate, or both of RICHARD BARNETT SCHACKNE.

A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by RANEY JASON SCHACKNE in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES.

THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that RANEY JASON SCHACKNE be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.)

The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 10/11/23 at 8:30AM in Dept. 5 located at 111 N. HILL ST., LOS ANGELES, CA 90012

IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four

months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for Petitioner ROBERT R. BOWNE II - SBN 179960

ROBERT R BOWNE II ATTORNEY AT LAW 4421 W RIVERSIDE DR, STE 200 BURBANK CA 91505 Telephone (818) 846-0170 8/10, 8/14, 8/17/23 CNS-3727606# BURBANK INDEPENDENT

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: GERRALD RAY ETHEREDGE AKA GERRALD R. ETHEREDGE CASE NO. 30-2023-01339918-PR-LACMC

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the WILL or estate, or both of GERRALD RAY ETHEREDGE AKA GERRALD R. ETHEREDGE.

A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by ROBERT L. COHEN in the Superior Court of California, County of ORANGE. THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that ROBERT L. COHEN be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.)

The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 09/07/23 at 1:30PM in Dept. CM06 located at 3390 HARBOR BLVD, COSTA MESA,, CA 92626

NOTICE IN PROBATE CASES

The court is providing the convenience to appear for hearing by video using the court’s designated video platform. This is a no cost service to the public. Go to the Court’s website at The Superior Court of California - County of Orange (occourts.org) to appear remotely for Probate hearings and for remote hearing instructions. If you have difficulty connecting or are unable to connect to your remote hearing, call 657-622-8278 for assistance. If you prefer to appear in-person, you can appear in the department on the day/ time set for your hearing.

IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.

YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person in-

terested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.

Attorney for Petitioner

ROBERT L. COHEN, ESQ. - SBN

150913, LAW OFFICES OF ROBERT L. COHEN, INC.

8081 ORANGETHORPE AVE. BUENA PARK CA 90621, Telephone (714) 522-8880

8/10, 8/14, 8/17/23

CNS-3727694# ANAHEIM PRESS

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF:

LINDA DIANE BANKARD

CASE NO. 23STPB08573

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the WILL or estate, or both of LINDA DIANE BANKARD.

A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by JAIMIE COPPRELL in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES.

THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that JAIMIE COPPRELL be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.)

The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 09/11/23 at 8:30AM in Dept. 9 located at 111 N. HILL ST., LOS ANGELES, CA 90012

IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code.

Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.

YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.

Attorney for Petitioner

MICHAEL G. EBINER, ESQ. - SBN 183499, EBINER LAW OFFICE 100 N. CITRUS STREET, SUITE 520 WEST COVINA CA 91791, Telephone (626) 918-9000 8/10, 8/14, 8/17/23

CNS-3728145# PASADENA PRESS

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF:

JEFFREY GLEN BOWERS

CASE NO. 23STPB08701

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the WILL or estate, or both of JEFFREY GLEN BOWERS.

A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by JOEL MARTIN BOWERS in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES.

THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that JOEL MARTIN BOWERS be appointed as personal rep-

resentative to administer the estate of the decedent.

THE PETITION requests the decedent’s WILL and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The WILL and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court.

THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.)

The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 09/12/23 at 8:30AM in Dept. 2D located at 111 N. HILL ST., LOS ANGELES, CA 90012

IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.

YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for Petitioner JACK ALBERT MARSH - SBN

150847, LAW OFFICES OF JACK A. MARSH 215 N. MARENGO AVE., FL. 3 PASADENA CA 91101, Telephone (626) 397-9990 8/10, 8/14, 8/17/23 CNS-3728661# PASADENA PRESS

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: STELLA FRANCES MERRIMAN AKA FRANCES MERRIMAN CASE NO. 23STPB08793

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the WILL or estate, or both of STELLA FRANCES MERRIMAN AKA FRANCES MERRIMAN.

A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by KENNETH D. MERRIMAN in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES. THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that KENNETH D. MERRIMAN be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 09/12/23 at 8:30AM in Dept. 11 located at 111 N. HILL ST., LOS ANGELES, CA 90012

IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or

2 men suspected with firearms, fighting roosters released from jail

City News Service

Two men suspected of having several illegally possessed firearms as well as multiple gamecocks and items related to cockfighting were released from jail Thursday on $10,000 bail bonds.

Jorge Alberto Casillas Flores, 30, of Coachella, and 27-year-old Indio resident Antonio De Jesus Casillas Flores were arrested Wednesday afternoon on suspicion of being a gang member with a firearm, animal cruelty and cockfighting, according to Sgt. Paul Heredia of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. It was not immediately known

whether the two men were related.

Antonio De Jesus Casillas Flores was additionally arrested on suspicion of providing firearms to a convicted felon and possessing a stolen firearm while Jorge Alberto Casillas Flores was additionally suspected being a felon in possession of firearms and of ammunition, Heredia said.

The Coachella Valley Violent Crime Gang Task Force along with the La Quinta Special Enforcement Team and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department of Aviation searched two residences,

one in Coachella and one in Indio, according to Heredia.

After searching one residence each in the 52000 block of Calle Leandro and in the 81000 block of Avenue 46, Gang Task Force officers allegedly found several illegally possessed firearms including seven rifles, one which was previously reported stolen, and 10 handguns.

“Additionally, Gang Task Force Officers located multiple gamecocks and items related to cockfighting such as gaffs, the razor-sharp steel blades used to attach to a gamecocks’ legs during a cock-

fight,” Heredia wrote in a statement. “Riverside County Animal Control subsequently responded and took possession of the gamecocks that were located during the search warrant.”

The two suspects were subsequently arrested and booked into the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio but posted $10,000 bail bonds and were released Thursday, according to inmate records.

Anyone with additional information on the firearms or cockfighting was asked to call CVVCGTF member Deputy J. Chavez at 760-836-1600.

Inland Empire event offers youths insights on aviation careers

By City News Service

Inland Empire youths with an eye to the sky for their future were invited to a two-day symposium at San Bernardino International Airport, where airline recruiters and others will speak on commercial flying jobs, technical positions and related opportunities in high demand.

Students from schools in the Riverside metropolitan area and surrounding loca-

tions were slated to participate in the symposium, scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday and Monday in the airport terminal complex, 275 N. Leland Norton Way.

Castle Rock, Coloradobased Shades of Blue hosted the event, which was one of a series throughout the nation that the nonprofit has planned, organizers said.

“According to airline

industry projections, in the next 25 years, there will be a worldwide shortage of aviation professionals,” according to a statement by the nonprofit. “At the present rate, airlines will need to hire an average 14,500 new pilots (internationally) each year until 2030 to eliminate the shortage. America produces between 5,000 and 7,000 pilots annually.”

“Shades of Blue’s goal is to help fulfill the current and future airline employee shortages, thus creating a sustainable flow of qualified candidates into the employee pipeline,” according to the group.

Among those scheduled to speak at the event were representatives from Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, Los Angeles World Airports,

Shooting

out by a woman who lent it to Ricks’ ex-girlfriend, Degonia said, adding that days later, when they broke up because he heard she was seen at a casino with Gordon, Ricks allegedly took off with the truck.

Degonia said Ricks’ emotions boiled over to the morning of Jan. 16, 2017, when he allegedly drove to the house in Banning, stared at the direction of Gordon and the women at the house, stopped, and killed him before driving off.

Prosecutors say that within an hour, Ricks went to the home of two people he trusted and parked his truck in front of their residence before going inside to make a call on their phone. At the same time, his ex-girlfriend allegedly texted the woman who rented out the car and asks her to return the truck, say it was stolen, and to not give any names.

The truck was found the

day after the shooting with gunshot residue outside the front door frame, according to Degonia. Witnesses described a white truck and the driver as a man with a bald head and a tattoo on the side of his head.

DeGonia said the only reasonable interpretation of the evidence is that Ricks was the only one with the means, motive and jealousy to kill Gordon. He asked jurors to look through the evidence, through surveillance footage and the text messages where he said Ricks’ jealousy played out.

However, Ricks’ defense attorney Eugene Stillman told jurors that of all the witnesses who saw and described the white truck and the driver, no one ever identified his client as either the shooter or the driver.

Stillman said at least two people — Gordon and one of the women outside the home — knew who Ricks was and should

have been able to identify him, but didn’t. He added that at least two people looked at the driver of the truck long enough to be able to identify him in a photo line-up, but instead another man was identified.

The witnesses who were at or near the scene at the time of the shooting all described similar events, yet no one mentioned the truck driving backward, according to Stillman, who thinks that should have been noteworthy to bring up to law enforcement.

Stillman added that there should have also been a more of an effort to look at the surveillance footage from commercial areas near the scene, but there wasn’t, so he encouraged jurors to implore and look at all of the evidence before coming to a conclusion.

On Jan. 16, 2017, while Gordon was at a residence helping a woman load

her dogs in a car, another woman saw a man in a white truck back up from a stop sign, stop right in front of the residence and smile at her, according to court papers. As she woman began to walk back to the residence she heard two gunshots, was pushed out of the way by Gordon, and heard a third gunshot.

She saw the driver with his hand and arm extended out the window, with a gun that appeared to be a silver revolver, and saw Gordon with blood coming from his side before he collapsed on the ground, according to court papers. The suspect then fled in the truck.

The witness, who is no longer alive, subsequently identified Ricks as the alleged shooter, according to court documents.

According to a trial brief, Ricks’ ex-girlfriend said he left in the truck and she assumed he would eventually return it.

She was also previously

Texas Instruments and the Barboza Space Center.

There event made flight simulators available, as well as drone and robotic demos.

In Riverside County, flight schools and clubs are located at Corona, French Valley, Hemet-Ryan and Riverside airports.

Cal Baptist University in Riverside operates a Department of Aviation Science, dedicated to full-

time pilot training, with a flight operations center at Riverside Municipal Airport, where the school also keeps a retired Boeing 727 on display.

More information about the Shades of Blue event is available from the organization’s founder, former United Airlines Capt. Willie Daniels, who can be reached via email at thecaptain@ ourshadesofblue.org.

in a relationship with the victim, according to court papers. In text messages from the day before Gordon’s murder, Ricks appeared to be jealous of her previous relationship with Gordon and allegedly told her she was worth killing and dying for.

Police said in a statement that shortly after the shooting, Ricks turned himself in at the San Jacinto

sheriff’s station after Banning police circulated photos of him and identified him as a person of interest. He was initially held on an unrelated offense and was not charged with Gordon’s murder until December 2017, when he was taken into custody in Hemet. Ricks remains held at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside without bail.

Ronald Dean Ricks. | Photo courtesy of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department

Investigators seized these weapons as well as multiple gamecocks from residences of alleged gang members in Coachella and Indio.

| Photo courtesy of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department

CVUSD distributes tribe-donated backpacks with supplies in

The Coachella Valley Unified School District distributed 700 backpacks full of supplies for elementary school students on Friday, with more giveaways planned to the Morongo Unified School District and the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center on Monday.

The first distribution was held Friday at 87-225 Church St. in Thermal, according to a joint statement from the TwentyNine Palms Band of Mission Indians and the CVUSD.

“These 700 backpacks from the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians are more than just supplies; they exemplify their commitment to our kids,” CVUSD Superintendent Luis Valentino wrote in a statement. “It’s amazing how much a backpack can mean to a student, and partnerships like this truly make a difference.”

Friday’s donation was the first of a series from the tribe to students in the region totaling more than 1,200 backpacks.

A second event will be held at noon Monday in Palm Vista Elementary School, 74350 Baseline

Thermal, Twentynine Palms

Local performers to raise funds singing for senior and hospice dogs

By City News Service By City News Service

Road in Twentynine Palms.

“Helping our community’s kids get a great start to a new school year is near and dear to the Tribe,” Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians Chairman Darrell Mike said in a statement. “We are committed to helping students by providing them with the tools they need to

Rescue personnel

succeed throughout the school year.”

The Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms will receive 300 backpacks with school supplies at 2 p.m. Monday at 1551 Fifth St., officials said.

The district will distribute the backpacks on an as-needed basis.

Local performers will sing next month to raise funds for abandoned and hospice senior dogs who were rescued from shelters, officials said Wednesday. The second annual Bash for the Barkees fundraising event will be held Sept. 20 at Shadow Mountain Resort and Club, 45750 San Luis Rey Ave., according to a statement from Barkee LaRoux’s House of Love Animal Sanctuary. Tickets, starting at $75, can be purchased at bashforthebarkees.org.

“We are about to celebrate five years of providing a forever home for medically challenged and hospice dogs from across Southern California shelters,” Barkee LaRoux founder Carlynne McDonnel said in a statement. “We can never do what we do without the love and support of people in our community.”

The event will feature live entertainment from local performers such as Siobhan Velarde, Tod Macofsky, Leanna & Miguel, Bonnie Gilgallon, Kitty Murray, Keisha D., Greg Hicks, and Robbie Wayne, according to sanctuary officials. There will also be an inaugural Barkee Beloved Awards ceremony to honor Society OutKast Animal Rescue CEO Janeen Hudson Bahr and Dr. Jenny Greenhouse of the Banning Veterinary Clinic.

Throughout the day, attendees can also indulge in cuisine, signature cocktails and a “must-see” kissing booth, sanctuary officials said.

More information about the fundraiser can be found at bashforthebarkees.org.

Homes sought for cats seized from overcrowded Eastvale property

By City News Service

Riverside city firefighters are part of the county’s Urban Search & Rescue team. | Photo courtesy of the city of Riverside

miles to the south and tracking to the northwest.

The category 3 storm was losing some energy Thursday, and the high pressure system was weakening, according to forecasters.

U.S. Coast Guard and Army National Guard troops were handling rescue and relief operations around the island.

It was unclear how the Urban Search & Rescue team from California would be utilized.

Members of Riverside County’s Task Force 6 have deployed to numerous disasters over the years, including to the World Trade Center immediately after the 9/11 attacks, to Snohomish County, Washington, in 2014 after a massive mudslide buried homes, as well as in Houston, to assist victims of Hurricane Harvey, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, to provide assistance to first responders after Hurricane Maria — both in the summer of 2017.

Nearly 100 cats rescued fromanEastvale property where the owner was hoarding them are ready to be adopted, officials said Wednesday.

The felines were seized on July 26 following a Riverside County Department of Animal Services investigation into overcrowded conditions at a residence, the location of which was not specified.

“Due to their living conditions, most of them are shy, but they are healthy and ready for a new home,” agency Assistant Director Kim Youngberg said. “Over time, the cats will get to know their new owners and come out of their shell.”

Officials said the animals were treated well by their former owner.

“This is not considered an animal cruelty case,” department spokeswoman Kerri Mabee told City News Service. “The owner willfully surrendered the cats.”

All the felines were placed at the San Jacinto Valley

Animal Campus, which is still in the process of being prepared for full-time operation. The shelter was shuttered during the 2019-20 fiscal year due to the Department of Animal Services’ inability to overcome yearslong budgetary shortfalls.

The Board of Supervisors authorized $3.4 million in appropriations for 2023-24 to reactivate the facility.

“As our shelters continue to be challenged by severe overcrowding of animals, we are urging the community to come together to give these cats hope for a new home and

better life,” agency Director Erin Gettis said.

Instead of fully adopting the cats, interested parties may also volunteer to foster them, or keep them like pets without committing to long-term responsibility for the animals, according to officials.

Anyone interested in fostering or adopting the cats can visit the San Jacinto Valley campus, located at 581 S. Grand Ave., or they can email the Department of Animal Services with questions at shelterinfo@rivco. org.

| Photo courtesy of Riverside County

Siobhan McAllister Velarde entertains the audience and collects donations at last year’s Bash for the Barkees. | Photo courtesy of Barkee LaRoux’s House of Love Animal Sanctuary

These cats were rescued from a hoarding situation and need adoption or fostering. | Photo courtesy of the Riverside County Department of Animal Services