Ontario News Press_12/1/2025 by Beacon Media News

State housing secretary tours

San Bernardino County affordable housing

By Joe Taglieri joet@beaconmedianews.com

SanBernardinoCounty

hosted a recent tour of twomajoraffordable housing communities in the valley region by state Housing SecretaryTomiquiaMoss, officials announced Friday.

The visit highlighted local efforts to expand affordable housing and strengthen collaboration with the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency that Moss leads.

She toured Pacific Village, which officials described as one of the county’s flagship revitalization projects. Pacific Village received $69 million in state funding.

Moss also went to Arrowhead Grove, “a transformative mixed-income development in the heart of San Bernardino,” according to the county. The Arrowhead Grove project received $15.8 million from the state’s Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program.

During her visit, Moss viewed recent progress at both sites and met with local officials and housing services providers to discuss the county’s affordable housing needs.

“Communitiesacross California are working hard to meet the moment, and San Bernardino County is demonstrating what strong collaboration can deliver, Secretary Moss said in a statement. “The state is committed to supporting local partners as we expand affordable housing, strengthen neighborhoods and ensure that families have access to safe, stable places to call home.”

Countysupervisors echoed Moss’ emphasis on partnerships and the role they play in advancing housing initiatives that serve residents.

“Our communities benefit when all levels of govern-

ment collaborate, and Friday’s visit highlighted the progress underway and reaffirmed our shared commitment to supporting the residents who depend on these housing investments,” Board of Supervisors Chairman and 3rd District Supervisor Dawn Rowe said in a statement.

Board Vice Chair and 5th District Supervisor Joe Baca Jr., whose district includes Pacific Village and Arrowhead Grove, said in a statement, “These projects show the power of strong partnerships to bring dignity and opportunity back into our neighborhoods. When we work together, we’re not just building housing, we’re creating second chances for families who deserve stability, support and a real path forward.”

Moss’ tour concluded with a roundtable discussion that included county and city officials along with nonprofit and private-sector contractors on long-term strategies for housing stability. Attendees included officials from the county Community Development and Housing Department, the county Housing Authority, representatives

from the city of San Bernardino and “regional development and service partners” who work on local housing initiatives, officials said.

“We appreciate Secretary Moss for visiting San Bernardino County and recognizing the hard work our team and partners have put into ensuring housing is accessible, safe and supportive for the families who call our communities home,” District 2 Supervisor Jesse Armendarez, who attended the tour and has similar housing projects in his district, said in a statement.

According to the Housing Authority, affordable housing initiativesincluderental vouchers,five-yearrental assistance and “streamlined” lease assistance reducing rents by roughly 25%, transitional housing initiatives for individuals and families experiencing homelessness and the Public Housing Program at the Housing Authorityowned 98-unit apartment building and one single family home.

More information on affordable housing in San Bernardino County is avail-

able on the Housing Authority’s website.

In September state officials reported spending over $1.62 billion to support the development of 12,676 affordable homes statewide since 2020 expected to serve 248,993 Californians. Moss and Gov. Gavin Newsom announced $414 million in grants this year to municipal governments for another 2,099 new homes, with 2,068 reserved for low- to extremely low-income Californians.

“Over $400 million committed to communities across the state will expedite and expand opportunities to build affordable housing and make much-needed infrastructureimprovements,” Moss said in a statement. “These awards will galvanize the collective public-private response to serve low-income households, including seniors, Veterans, large families and residents with special needs, and accelerate climate and health outcomes in neighborhoods across California.”

Additionalinformation on the state’s housing initiatives is online at bcsh. ca.gov/housing/index.html.

Trump’s immigration forces deploy ‘less lethal’ weapons in dangerous ways, skirting rules and maiming protesters

By A.C. Thompson, ProPublica

This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.

This story is part of a collaboration between FRONTLINE and ProPublica that includes an upcoming documentary.

As the Trump administration’s immigration dragnetintensified in June, a nurse in Portland, Oregon, left work one midafternoon and drove to a nearby detention facility to voice his opposition. Federal agents had set off smoke grenades, driving away many protesters at the front of the facility, but Vincent Hawkins lifted his megaphone anyway.

“You should stop and think about what you’re doing!”

The shot came seconds later, a silver projectile launched through the small facility’s closed gate, hitting him in the face. The tear gas canister shattered his glasses, ripped apart his brow, crushed against his eye and concussed him. In video footage, the projectile can be seen bouncing off his face and arcing back toward the unknown Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fired it.

Hawkins, a 25-year veteran of the emergency room, was rushed to one, bleeding and wondering if he’d ever see through his left eye again. A frequent demonstrator, he knew the risks. He’d seen friends struggling to breathe throughtoxicchemical clouds, others pelted with pepper balls. But Hawkins was undeterred.

The 55-year-old said he’d be blind in one eye if not for the shielding effect of his glasses. He’s regained most of his vision but suffers from dizziness and vertigo, sometimes causing him to miss work.

Since President Donald Trump’sadministration launchedhigh-intensity immigration sweeps this year, federal agents have routinely countered protestors using crowd control weapons — rubber bullets, flash-bang grenades, tear gas and pepper balls. They’ve fired on American citizens and noncitizens alike in ways that some experts say might be criminal.

The so-called less lethal weapons are designed to break up mobs engaged in dangerous behavior or deter would-be assailants who pose a threat. They aren’t intended to kill. But research has shown the weapons can cause devastating injuries or death. Federal guidelines generally prohibit agents from targeting the head, neck, throat or spine when firing projectiles like rubber bullets or pepper balls.

ProPublica and FRONTLINE conducted dozens of interviews at protest scenes, reviewed hundreds of pages

“I have things to say,” he said. “And if it means being wounded to do it, then here I am.”

Housing Secretary Tomiquia Moss, fifth from right, stands with county Supervisor Jesse Armendarez, fourth from right, along with county leaders and housing partners gather in front of the former chapel at Pacific Village, which is being converted into housing units. | Photo courtesy of San Bernardino County

Sex registrant admits pimping out teen in Riverside, other places

By City News Service

Aregistered sex offender who pimped out a teenager for call girl services in the Riverside metropolitan area and elsewhere pleaded guilty Tuesday to human trafficking.

Deirdrick Dayvon Bradford, 31, of Rosamond admitted the felony count under a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. In exchange for his admission, prosecutors agreed to drop a related charge against Bradford.

The plea deal was announced during a status hearing Tuesday before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Melissa Hale, who scheduled a sentencing hearing for Jan. 12 at the Riverside Hall of Justice. There was no indication of a potential term of imprisonment.

The judge left the defen-

dant’s bail set at $85,000. He’s being held at the Benoit Detention Center in Indio.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed by the Riverside Police Department, Bradford met the 16-year-old victim, identified in court documents only as “A.F.,” during the summer, coaxing her into working for him as a prostitute.

The sex trafficking operation was uncovered during an FBI investigation that was turned over to the police department’s Vice Squad in August after agents confirmed the juvenile was from Riverside. By the time detectives interviewed her, she had been placed in a group home for troubled and runaway teens, court papers stated.

“She admitted to being on escort websites, but claimed her mother posted the ads,”

the affidavit said.

Her mobile phone was seized, and a search revealed conversations involving A.F. and a Snapchat user telling her “to send him money -- $150,” and there were “screenshots (of him) managing the victim’s ads on Megapersonals, saying he would `bump’ or repost her ad for more visibility,” according to the declaration.

Further investigation confirmed the girl’s images had been circulated on sexoriented sites as enticements, including videos of her nude, touching her intimate parts, police said.

Detectives ultimately confirmed Bradford was the youth’s handler, and had been trafficking her in Riverside, Los Angeles and Phoenix. In Riverside, the girl was situated near the Tyler Mall to perform services, police said.

Riverside County fire chief lifts burning suspension; opens closed hiking areas

By City News Service

The suspension on open burning in Riverside County was lifted by Fire Department Chief Bill Weiser who also reopened six hiking areas that had been deemed hazardous.

“Decreased temperatures and increased rainfall across the region have dictated that permitted open burning can resume,” Weiser said in a statement Nov. 21.

Anyone with a valid agricultural and residential burn permit was allowed to again burn on burn days. Agricultural burns must be inspected by CalFire prior to burning.

The department advised

residents to continue following all guidelines and maintaining fire control as individuals can be held liable if a fire goes beyond their control.

Residential burning is not permitted in Riverside County except for tumbleweeds.

Burning trash, painted wood or other debris is also not allowed, along with burning on windy days, according to the department.

More information on permissive burn days is available by calling the South Coast Air Quality Management District at 866-9663293 or online at aqmd.gov/ home/air-quality/air-alerts.

The victim evidently tried to alert Bradford that police were on to him, advising via phone message to “delete your Snapchat ... and `go ghost,”’ according to the affidavit.

Coordinating with the

U.S. Marshals, detectives tracked the defendant down in Phoenix on Oct. 24, where he was arrested without incident.

He was immediately extradited to California.

According to the Califor-

nia Megan’s Law web portal, the defendant has a prior felony conviction for pimping a minor in 2015, requiring him to register as a sex offender under state Penal Code section 290.

Fest featuring dozens of holiday trees returns to Riverside

By City News Service

The Yuletide spirit came alive Saturday at the Riverside Convention Center, where the 36th annual Festival of Trees was held, featuring elaborately adorned firs and benefiting a Riverside County charity for children.

The event, hosted by the Riverside University Health System Foundation, transformed the venue into a virtual Christmas forest, bedecked with 60 “designer trees” — each sporting its own unique theme — for visitors to view, touch and photograph.

The reopened hiking areas are:

-- Eagle Canyon/Tine Mine, east of Corona;

-- Steel Peak, north of Lake Elsinore;

-- Bautista Canyon, southeast of Hemet;

-- North Mountain, south of Banning, north of San Jacinto;

-- Whitewater Canyon, east of Cabazon; and -- Ramona Bowl, south of Hemet.

Future closures may be implemented upon weather conditions and increased fire threats, according to the department.

The fest, a tradition going back to 1989, was free and open to the public Saturday, beginning at 11 a.m. and wrapping up by 8 p.m.

“The Holiday Fair is a wonderful way to kick off the season and enjoy the beautiful sights and sounds of Christmas,” foundation Director Jill Eaton said in a statement. “We’re looking forward to seeing visitors experience the magic of that day.”

More than three dozen area vendors were slated to have booths inside the Convention Center.

Volunteers return each season to set up and decorate each of the nearly 8-foot trees.

The Festival of Trees

reverted to in-person celebrations at the downtown Riverside location in 2022.

In 2020, because of the COVID lockdowns, the fest was all-virtual, and in 2021 it was outdoors, relocated to Rancho Jurupa Regional park in Jurupa Valley.

“The festival is a powerful reminder that, behind each tree and each light, is a journey of strength and resilience,” Stanbridge University CEO Yasith Weerasuriya, the gala’s leading sponsor, said in a statement. “We are deeply grateful for

the opportunity to partner in extending compassionate care and hope to every patient and family.”

A variety of activities were planned, catering to visitors of all ages as they stroll around the trees, according to organizers. Funds generated by the fest are dedicated to pediatric and neonatal intensive care programs. The event coincides with the first week of the 33rd annual Festival of Lights downtown.

More information is available at ruhsfoundation.org.

Whitewater Canyon near Cabazon. | Photo courtesy of BookOfDisquiet/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

| Image courtesy of the city of Riverside

Deirdrick Dayvon Bradford. | Photo courtesy of Riverside Police Department

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of court documents and photographs, and analyzed some 50 video-recorded incidents in which immigration agents and officers used these weapons in the last five months. That review found more than two dozen cases in which officers deployed the weapons in ways that appear to flout the government’s own rules, including by aiming at someone’s head, spine or groin and deploying chemical agents at moving vehicles or near children.

In Southern California, federal law enforcement fired pepper balls and rubber bullets at people’s heads and backs at least five times, and at least once at a man’s groin, records and interviews show. In Oakland, California, an unarmed pastor who posed no obvious threat was blasted in the face with pepper powder. In Chicago, where more than a dozen people reported being indiscriminately pelted with pepper balls, entire blocks were enshrouded in tear gas, forcing people from their homes. A religious leader was targeted in his head with pepper balls.

Christy Lopez, a former senior civil rights litigator at the Department of Justice, said many of the bystander and news videos she’s seen show “clearly excessive, unreasonable force” that her former office would have investigated as potential crimes.

Immigration forces

injuries, including 14 deaths of people struck by militarygrade gas canisters.

Haar said Americans are witnessing a “far more dangerous use of these weapons” in recent months, despite calls for clearer useof-force policies following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020 and the nationwide protests it spurred.

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“They are clearly violating people’s rights,” said Lopez, who now teaches at Georgetown Law. “It’s probably criminal, and it should be investigated as such.”

“I don’t say that lightly,” added Lopez, who led investigations into misconduct and excessive force at police departmentsincluding Los Angeles, Chicago and Ferguson, Missouri. “This is a very different situation than anything we’ve seen in the past in terms of just the routine and really brazen use of force in violation of people’s rights.”

Rohini Haar, an ER doctor and University of California, Berkeley professor who studies crowd control weapons, told ProPublica that Hawkins’ assault in Portland was “absolutely” a misuse of tear gas because it was fired at his head when he posed no obvious threat. For a 2023 policy paper published by Physicians for Human Rights, Haar and her team analyzed peerreviewed medical literature to identify more than 100,000 instances of people wounded by tear gas since 2015; the researchers found more than 5,000 serious

“You’re going to see a lot more injuries,” she said.

In a statement to ProPublica, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said its ICE and Customs and Border Protection officers show “incredible restraint” but sometimes must use force as they “put their lives on the line to arrest murderers, rapists, and gang members.”

ICE and CBP personnel “are trained to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve dangerous situations to prioritize the safety of the public and themselves,” the statement said. “Our officers are highly trained in de-escalation tactics and regularly receive ongoing use of force training.”

Even when used correctly, manufacturers acknowledge these weapons can be lethal. As Defense Technology, a Wyoming company that makes the type of canister that struck Hawkins, discloses on many of its wares: “THIS PRODUCT MAY CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH TO YOU OR OTHERS.”

The company did not respond to a request for

long-lasting health harms.”

In early September, U.S. District Judge Hernán D. Vera issued an order restricting the use of crowd control weapons and requiring “at least two separate warnings” before agents or officers deployed them. Enforceable only in the Central District of California, which covers much of coastal Southern California, the order also barred agents from firing tear gas canisters and flashbang grenades at the public and shooting rubber bullets or other projectiles “at the head, neck, groin, back, or other sensitive areas, unless that person poses an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury.” That order went further than existing policies at DHS, specifically prohibiting firing on journalists and requiring law enforcement to give clear dispersal orders and allowing crowds to leave before deploying weapons.

comment.

Aggressive Campaign Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino, a 30-year veteran of CBP, has orchestrated many of the most aggressive immigrant roundups across the country.

When forces under Bovino’s command began rounding up suspected undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles in June, vocal demonstrations followed. In response, his troops used tear gas and rubber bullets in ways that drew rebuke from a California federal judge.

On June 7, a Homeland Security agent shot a local reporter in the head with a rubber bullet as the journalist covered a fierce protest at a Home Depot in Los Angeles County, causing a concussion.

In ensuing days, federal personnel repeatedly fired crowd control munitions at media members, protesters and bystanders. The Los Angeles Press Club and a union representing journalists sued the Department of Homeland Security.

“DHS agents have consistently used these weapons to suppress First Amendment protected activity when they faced no meaningful threat of violence,” the suit said. “Despite common perceptions that alleged ‘crowd control’ weapons are harmless, each of these weapons — including, and especially, chemical weapons and projectiles — can cause significant and

DHS appealed, saying the ruling “micromanages how DHS agents respond to violent riots.” The appeal is pending.

Bovino has defended his officers, calling their use of the weapons “exemplary.” Yet allegations of misuse have followed his forces to other cities.

Midway Blitz

After Los Angeles, Bovino took his troops to Chicago. There, he led Operation Midway Blitz — an aggressive campaign of roving immigration sweeps that included the siege of an entire apartment building.

Those apprehended during the blitz were taken to a detention facility in a nondescript industrial park in Broadview, a Chicago suburb. Small demonstrations had been held there for years, but they exploded in size as ICE and CBP officials rushed hundreds of detainees through the suburban streets to jail and possible deportation.

Federal agents and officers turned again to crowd control weapons.

Raven Geary, co-founder of Unraveled, an independent news operation in Chicago, was covering a protest at the Broadview detention facility in late September when a federal agent shot her in the face with a pepper ball, causing her left cheek to bleed and bruise.

“It was this very sudden, horrible pain,” said Geary, who was carrying two large cameras and wearing a press badge. Then she realized

An activist is arrested. | Photo courtesy of DHS/Facebook

Study proposes new way of targeting college financial aid

By Suzanne Potter, Public News Service

Anew study from the University of California-Merced found college financial aid in California fails to target the students considered dually disadvantaged; those from families who are both lowincome and low-wealth.

The families have low annual incomes and have few assets such as college savings accounts, investments or real estate, the type of wealth often passed down through generations.

Laura Hamilton, professor of sociology, cofounder of the HERE Lab at the university and the report’s co-author, said students who are dually disadvantaged end up borrowing a lot more money for their education.

“Relative to their peers who are just low-income, dually-disadvantaged students get about the same amount of aid but they have a lot more need,” Hamilton explained.

The study found only 52% of dually disadvantaged students are predicted to attend college compared

to 83% of students from low-income, high-wealth families. Similarly, only 20% of dually disadvantaged students are predicted to complete a bachelor’s degree compared to 59% of students from low-income, high-wealth families.

Hamilton argued college financial aid needs to be increased to benefit more students.

“We simulated what would happen if we instituted an additional $5,000 need-based supplemental state aid grants given to

students who are both in the bottom income bracket, and have $0 in wealth,” Hamilton explained. “You would see much higher numbers of college graduates in each cohort.”

The report estimated more than 41,000 dually disadvantaged students would qualify for such a grant, so the program would cost the state about $208 million, producing an extra 4500 graduates per year and $966 million in economic returns as the graduates entered the workforce.

CA report calls for expanding youth apprenticeship pathways

By Farah Siddiqi, Public News Service

Anew statewide report showedCalifornia coulddramatically scale up youth apprenticeship programs to strengthen the workforce and close persistent skills gaps.

Laboreducatorsin Southern California said the findings reflect what they see daily: Young people need earlier access to hands-on training and clearer pathways to good jobs. The California Youth Apprenticeship Committee report recommends creating more bridges from high school to registered apprenticeshipprograms, expanding college-connected pathwaysandensuring supportive services for those who are out of school.

David Espinoza, executive director of the Laborers Training Trust, said the programs give young people a practical onramp to careers which might otherwise feel out of reach.

“Apprenticeships are extremely important for the simple purpose of opportunity,” Espinoza explained. “Typically most people

aren’t born with that skill set. There’s a lot of things to learn, from safety to actually unique skills associated with those different types of work projects.”

The report noted 32% of California apprentices are between ages 16 and 24, and estimates the state could grow to serve up to 650,000 apprentices overall.

The recommendations align with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s workforce strategy to expand nondegree career pathways.

Training staff said the need is about more than filling job openings, it is about making sure young people enter the field confident and prepared.

James Smith, a longtime instructor and now training manager at the Laborers Training School in Azusa, said students benefit from using real tools and techniques long before they arrive on a job site.

“It was great practice for them,” Smith emphasized.

“They actually learned something they could take right to the field, and the bosses

recognized ‘em, and our main thing is about safety.”

For students nearing completion, the pathway feels transformative.

Lonnell McTier, a construction apprentice finishing his final class, said the program has opened doors he never had before.

“You have a career to lean on; ultimately you’re making a lot of money,” McTier stressed. “It’s just a great opportunity, and a good experience for somebody that doesn’t mind working with their hands or being physically in the field.”

The report urged the state to invest in early career exposure programs, supportive services and regional intermediaries to help more young people on apprenticeship pathways, especially women, foster youth and formerly incarcerated people. Labor educators said expanding capacity now will be essential to meeting California’s future workforce needs.

References:

Job data: https://www.bls. gov/cps/cpsaat18.htm

Photo by Jawadul Islam on Unsplash

| Photo by Focal Foto / CC BY-NC 2.0

Immigration forces

she was covered in a powder containing the active ingredient in hot peppers. “You’re coughing, you are sneezing, you are wheezing, it can be hard to see.”

Leigh Kunkel, a demonstrator, also got pelted. “The crowd was not doing anything,” she said, yet the pepper balls came flying at them.

Agents shot her in the back of the head and the nose. “I’m incredibly lucky that he didn’t hit me 2 inches higher,” she said. “I could have lost an eye.”

Kunkel and Geary became plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking to curb the use of force by federal forces in the Chicago area.

As part of that lawsuit, a nearby resident and mother named Autumn Hamer told a judge how she swung by the facility in the early morning to see peaceful protestors chanting, “Whose streets?

Our streets!”

Federal officers on the roof intermittently fired rubber bullets and pepper balls into the crowd, she said. A flash-bang grenade landed next to her, causing disorientation and a ringing in her ear.

At a subsequent protest, she saw a projectile tear through an acoustic guitar a woman was playing. The agents fired tear gas, Hamer said, making her choke. As Hamer and others tried to move from the barricaded front of the facility toward fresh air on another street, she told ProPublica and FRONTLINE, they found themselves getting shot through a side barricade, as though agents had flanked them to box them in.

“It all felt cruel,” Hamer told reporters. She noted that the pepper ball launchers are similar in design to recreational paintball guns. “I have teenage boys, so when I look at [agents], I’m like, … are you pretending that you’re in a video game right now?”

Federal Judge Sara Ellis sided with the plaintiffs, issuing a temporary restraining order that barred immigration agents from targeting journalists and using crowd control weapons unless there is a serious threat to public safety.

Still, Bovino’s agents continuedtousethe weapons.OneChicago resident captured a video that looks like it could have come from a video game.

Enrique Bahena wore camera-equipped Meta glasses to a protest in Chicago’s Little Village, a largely Latino neighborhood.

Bahena said he was with a group of activists who were loudly — but nonviolently — confronting Border Patrol agents. “Everyone was just telling them to get out,” he recalled.

Bahena’s camera glasses captured a first-person view of a Border Patrol agent pointing a pepper ball launcher at him, just feet away. In the video, the agent fires at his throat, sending up a cloud of noxious smoke.

On Nov. 6, Ellis, the federal judge for the Northern District of Illinois nominated by former President Barack Obama, said from the bench that “the use of force shocks the conscience,” before ordering dramatic changes in how federal forces use crowd control weapons.

DHS decried her ruling as “an extreme act by an activist judge that risks the lives and livelihoods of law enforcement officers.”

“Rioters, gangbangers, and terrorists have opened fire on our federal law enforcement officers, thrown rocks, bottles, and fireworks at them, slashed the tires of their vehicles, rammed them, ambushed them, and they have destroyed multiple law enforcement vehicles,” a department statement read.

DHS appealed. Last month, a panel of three Republican appointees sided with the government, temporarily blocking her ruling and saying Ellis’ limitations on officers went too far — so much so, the judges wrote, that they “resembled federal regulation.”

Ellis criticized Bovino for an October incident in which he threw a tear gas canister at community members in the Little Village neighborhood. Bovino claimed he’d been attacked by a rockthrowing assailant, forcing him to deploy the gas for his own protection. Ellis said “video evidence disproves this. And he ultimately admitted he was not hit until after he threw the tear gas.”

Bovino did not respond to a request for comment made through DHS.

A DHS official said personnel working under Bovino enjoy a sense of “impunity” when it comes to uses of force. “These events

keep happening because of the lack of accountability by CBP,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions. “And there’s usually no repercussions for agents or officers because federal prosecutors rarely prosecute agents for excessive force.”

“We Come in Peace”

On the morning of Oct. 23, a green-andwhite Border Patrol truck lurched through a crowd of protestors gathered on the Oakland, California, waterfront. The demonstrators had converged after learning that federal agents would be using a nearby Coast Guard base to launch a wave of immigration raids.

Masked Border Patrol agents popped out to disperse people who’d enveloped the vehicle with signs and chants. Hoping to calm the tension, a local pastor named Jorge Bautista joined the crowd to pray.

Videos show an agent exiting the truck, marching toward the pastor and pointing a large-caliber weapon at his face.

“I’m thinking, ‘There’s no way he’s going to shoot this thing at me,’” Bautista recalled. “I’m thinking, ‘He’s just using this to scare me. It’s not going to work.’ And the moment I realized he was close enough to hear me, I said, ‘We come in peace.’”

As he said those words, the agent pulled the trigger, striking Bautista with an object that dispersed what bystanders believed was pepper powder. Videos show Bautista struggling to breathe as his eyes and skin burned beneath toxic granules. The unidentified agent calmly returned to the truck.

Bystanders poured liquid on his face. He kept his eyes shut and wound up in the hospital for treatment of scrapes and bruises on his chin and neck.

“No one should be assaulted for being out there protesting,” said Bautista, who said he intends to sue DHS.

“You would figure they would be trained to de-escalate situations, right? Instead of going straight for using some kind of weapon to assault somebody,” the pastor said.

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

In the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, tens of thousands of pregnant women were wheeled into hospitals where they fought for their lives and the lives of the babies they carried.

It took the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention until August 2021, eight months after the first vaccine was administered, to formally recommend the COVID-19 shot for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. The CDC had found that pregnant women with COVID-19 faced a 70% increased risk of dying, compared with those who weren’t. They also faced an increased risk of being admitted to the intensive care unit, needing a form of life support reserved for the sickest patients, and delivering a stillborn baby. In recommending the vaccine, the CDC assured them that the shot was safe and did not cause fertility problems.

ProPublica examined the harm caused by the delay in rolling out and endorsing the vaccine for pregnant mothers. Federal officials at the time told us that they wanted to ensure “an abundance of evidence” before issuing guidance.

But a surprising turn of events this summer reversed that guidance.

In May, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Health and Human Services secretary and a longtime vaccine critic, announced on X that “the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women has been removed from @CDCgov recommended immunization schedule. Bottom line: it’s common sense and it’s good science. We are now one step closer to realizing @POTUS’s promise to Make America Healthy Again.”

The next month, Kennedy fired all 17 sitting members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and replaced them with a selection of

Amid confusing CDC guidance about vaccines, study highlights new risk of COVID-19 during pregnancy

By Duaa Eldeib, ProPublica

hand-picked members. The committee has since shifted its guidance, encouraging people to decide on their own whether to get the shot and to consider individual risk factors.

Doctors and national medical organizations said the new guidance from the CDC has caused confusion among patients and could put pregnant women and their babies at risk of severe illness or hospitalization.

“COVID-19 infection during pregnancy increases the risk of preterm birth, preeclampsia, and stillbirth,” read a statement from the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.

The organization, as well as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the nation’s leading professional organization for OB-GYNs, reiterated their recommendations that all those who are pregnant or breastfeeding receive the updated vaccine and booster, regardless of the trimester they’re in.

ProPublica found that though unvaccinated women faced devastating risks, the COVID-19 vaccine had been commandeered by disinformation

and doubt. Pharmaceutical companies and government officials had not ensured that pregnant women were included in the early development of the vaccine, despite federal guidance on how to safely include pregnant and breastfeeding people in biomedical research.

The HHS’ communications director, Andrew G. Nixon, defended the federal government’s actions, saying in a statement: “ACIP’s recommendation applies to all individuals six months and older. It includes an emphasis that the risk-benefit of vaccination in individuals under age 65 is most favorable for those who are at an increased risk for severe COVID-19 and lowest for individuals who are not at an increased risk, according to the CDC list of COVID-19 risk factors.”

Pregnancy is listed as a condition that can increase risk.

In the midst of the backlash against the CDC’s guidance, a recent Harvard University study highlights a new risk of COVID-19 during pregnancy. In a rare look at the children

of women who contracted COVID-19 while pregnant, the study found that they may be at increased risk for autism and other neurodevelopmental diagnoses by age 3.

Researchers, who followed the children via their medical records from birth through their toddler years, observed some initial developmental delays at 12 months and again around 18 months, said Dr. Andrea Edlow, one of the study’s senior authors and an OB-GYN at Harvard Medical School.

“We were seeing speech and motor delays, but we really didn’t know if they were going to be persistent or evolve into other diagnoses like autism, or if children were maybe going to catch up,” Edlow said. “But that, unfortunately, hasn’t been the case.”

Edlow treated many pregnant patients during the pandemic, including some who experienced a life-threatening condition known as a cytokine storm. They often had high fevers and severe inflammation for several days. The condition, she remembers thinking, couldn’t be good for the

placenta or the developing fetal brain.

Edlow and her team studied more than 18,000 live births to mothers who delivered between March 2020 and May 2021. Of those, more than 800 had been diagnosed with COVID-19. What surprised them was that 16.3% of those babies received a neurodevelopmental diagnosis by three years, compared with 9.7% of the babies who were not exposed to COVID-19 in utero. That was a statistically significant finding.

During the period covered by the study, the CDC had not yet come out with its formal recommendation for pregnant women to get the COVID-19 vaccine, and as such, most of the mothers were unvaccinated.

The children of mothers who contracted COVID-19 in the third trimester, a critical time for fetal brain development, and boys had an even higher risk. The male placenta and fetal brain, the researchers wrote, are more susceptible to a mother’s immune response to COVID-19 and other infections.

“I know it’s alarming,” Edlow said.

The researchers, she said, are not out to stoke fear. While the risk of autism is increased, Edlow said, the overall risk still remains low. The study underscores the importance of monitoring children born to mothers who had COVID-19 while pregnant for neurodevelopmental conditions.

Edlow encouraged pregnant women to do everything they can to avoid getting COVID-19, including wearing masks, avoiding crowded indoor spaces and getting vaccinated and boosted.

“COVID is a real problem that poses risk to the mom in pregnancy and to the child,” she said. “And it’s still worth preventing, even at this point.”

Dr. Naima Joseph worries about how the reversal of the COVID-19 vaccine recommendation for pregnant patients will affect the health of the country, particularly its most vulnerable residents, women and children.

She remembers standing in line during the pandemic to get her COVID-19 vaccine when her husband, who is also a doctor, turned to her.

“Are you sure you should be doing this?” he asked. Joseph, a maternal fetal medicine doctor at Boston Medical Center who serves on ACOG’s Immunization, Infectious Disease, and Public Health Preparedness Expert Work Group, paused. She was pregnant with twins. Like so many mothers, what she cared about most in this world was protecting her babies, but she also treated many pregnant patients sick with COVID-19 who spent months fighting for their lives from a hospital bed. Some died or lost their babies.

“Yes,” she replied to her husband before getting the shot.

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

This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive ProPublica stories in your inbox every week.

Photo by Suhyeon Choi on Unsplash

Glendale City Notices

CITY OF GLENDALE – NOTICE OF PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD

Substantial Amendment to the HOME-ARP Allocation Plan

The City of Glendale is proposing a substantial amendment to its HOME-ARP Allocation Plan. The original plan, approved by HUD in 2023, allocated nearly all HOME-ARP funding to the development of affordable housing at 426 Piedmont Avenue, with a preference for seniors facing or at risk of homelessness.

Because that project required less funding than anticipated, the City proposes to reallocate $2,100,000 of HOME-ARP funds to support the rehabilitation and expansion of a transitional housing facility in Glendale. The project will create 19 permanent supportive units for women and families affected by domestic violence.

Additionally, HUD identified an administrative error in the City’s original HOME-ARP award. As a result, Glendale’s total allocation has been increased from $5,109,346 to $5,116,976. Consistent with HUD rules, up to 15% of this correction is allocated to Administration & Planning, with the balance added to the domestic violence housing activity. This amend¬ment reflects both the new project activity and the corrected total award.

This amendment qualifies as a substantial amendment under HUD regulations because it adds a new activity and updates the total award amount. The senior preference established for the Piedmont project does not apply to this new activity.

The draft amendment is available for public review at:

- Online: www.glendaleca.gov/affordablehousing

- In person: Community Development Department – Housing Division, 141 N. Glendale Avenue, Suite 202, Glendale, CA 91206

Public Comment Period: November 17, 2025 – December 1, 2025

Written comments may be submitted by email to abrownell@glendaleca.gov or by mail to the address above. All comments received by December 1, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. will be consid¬ered before the amendment is submitted to HUD.

Public Hearing: The Glendale City Council and Housing Authority will hold a joint public hearing on December 2, 2025 at 3:00 PM at 613 E. Broadway, 2nd floor, Glendale, CA 91206 to consider adoption of the substantial amendment.

Contact: Aaron Brownell, Senior Housing Project Manager | abrownell@glendaleca.gov 818-550-4530

Publish November 17, 20, 24, December 1, 2025

GLENDALE INDEPENDENT

NOTICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR DECISION

ADMINISTRATIVE USE PERMIT CASE NO. PAUP-004442-2025

LOCATION: 1240 SOUTH GLENDALE AVENUE (Bliss Restaurant)

APPLICANT: Araz Parseghian

ZONES: “C1” - (Neighborhood Commercial), and “R-2250/P” - (Medium Density Residential / Parking Overlay

)

LEGAL DESCRIPTION: Parcel A, Parcel Map No. GLN 1319A

APN: 5676-029-039

PROJECT DESCRIPTION Application for an Administrative Use Permit (AUP) to continue the on-site sales, service, and consumption of alcoholic beverages (ABC License Type 47) at an existing full-service restaurant (Bliss Restaurant), in the “C1”-(Neighborhood Commercial) and “R-2250/P”(Medium Density Residential / Parking Overlay) Zones.

CODE REQUIRES

1) The sale of alcoholic beverages requires an Administrative Use Permit in the C1 Zone (Glendale Municipal Code §30.12.020, Table 30.12-A).

APPLICANT’S PROPOSAL

1) To allow the on-site sales, service, and consumption of alcoholic beverages at an existing full-service restaurant.

ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION

The project is exempt from CEQA review as a Class 1 “Existing Facilities” exemption, pursuant to Section 15301(e) of the State CEQA Guidelines because the discretionary permit request involves renewal of a previous entitlement for an existing commercial tenant and there is no additional floor area proposed.

PENDING DECISION AND COMMENTS

Copies of plans, staff analysis, and the proposed decision letter are available at GlendaleCA.gov/planning/pending-decisions.

If you would like to review plans, submit comments, or be notified of the decision, please contact case planner Soc Yumul at (818) 937-8166 or SYumul@glendaleca.gov.

DECISION

On or after FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2025, the Community Development Director will make a written decision regarding this request.

APPEAL

After the Director has made a decision, any person may file an appeal within 15 days of the written decision. Appeal forms are available at GlendaleCA.gov/home/ showdocument?id=11926.

Dr. Suzie Abajian, The City Clerk of the City of Glendale

PUBLISHED on December 1, 2025

GLENDALE INDEPENENT

Probate Notices

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF LINDA HAIRONG WU Case No. 25STPB12960

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of LINDA HAIRONG WU

A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by Joey Wu in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES. THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that Joey Wu be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

THE PETITION requests au-

ing 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 rep-resentative 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: JUSTIN M GORDON ESQ SBN 287328

GORDONLAW APC 12100 WILSHIRE BLVD STE 800

LOS ANGELES CA 90025

CN121993 WU Nov 24,27, Dec 1, 2025 ALHAMBRA PRESS

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF:

GENEVIEVE DENZON PACANA

CASE NO. 25STPB13054

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the lost WILL or estate, or both of GENEVIEVE DENZON PACANA.

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

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

THE PETITION requests the decedent’s lost WILL and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The lost 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: 12/18/25 at 8:30AM in Dept. 62 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.

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 GAREE T. GASPERIAN - SBN 136631

GASPERIAN LAW CORPORATION 966 ARTESIA BLVD. HERMOSA BEACH CA 90254

Telephone (310) 606-2576 11/24, 11/27, 12/1/25 CNS-3988483#

GLENDALE INDEPENDENT

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF HASMIK THOROSSIAN

Case No. 21STPB07359

To all heirs, beneficiaries, cred-itors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of HASMIK THOROSSIAN

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

THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that James Leestma 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 Dec. 19, 2025 at 8:30 AM in Dept. No. 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 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 issu-ance 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.

A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by BRIAN J. COLSELL in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES.

THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that BRIAN J. COLSELL be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 12/19/25 at 8:30AM in Dept. 5 located at 111 N. HILL ST., LOS ANGELES, CA 90012

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.

Attorney for Petitioner JENNIFER N. SAWDAY, ESQ.SBN 228320 TREDWAY, LUMSDAINE, AND DOYLE, LLP 3900 KILROY AIRPORT WAY, SUITE 240 LONG BEACH CA 90806 Telephone (562) 923-0871 BSC 227720 11/27, 12/4, 12/11/25 CNS-3990034# BELMONT BEACON

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: JOHN FRANCES CRAVEN CASE NO. 25STPB13110

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

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

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

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.

Attorney for Petitioner MARC P. GRISMER

thority 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 ap-proval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the per-sonal 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 Dec. 18, 2025 at 8:30 AM in Dept. No. 4 located at 111 N. Hill St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. IF YOU OBJECT to the grant-

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-

Attorney for petitioner: JEFFREY FORER ESQ

SHANNON H BURNS ESQ

HINOJOSA & FORER 2215 COLBY AVE LOS ANGELES CA 90064-1504 CN122339 THOROSSIAN Dec 1,4,8, 2025

GLENDALE INDEPENDENT

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: RONDA C. CHAMPAGNE CASE NO. 25STPB13111

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

A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 12/19/25 at 8:30AM in Dept. 79 located at 111 N. HILL ST., LOS ANGELES, CA 90012

Date: 01/12/2026 Time: 8:30AM Dept: T. The address of the court is same as noted above. 3. a. A copy of this Order to Show Cause shall be published at least once each week for four successive weeks prior to the day set for hearing on the petition in the following newspaper of general circulation, printed in this county: Alhambra Press DATED: November 5, 2025 Roberto Longoria JUDGE OF THE SUPERIOR COURT Pub. November 10, 17, 24, December 1, 2025 ALHAMBRA PRESS Order

erty lien, you should understand that there are risks involved in bidding at a trustee auction. You will be bidding on a lien, not on the property itself. Placing the highest bid at a trustee auction does not automatically entitle you to free and clear ownership of the property. You should also be aware that the lien being auctioned off may be a junior lien. If you are the highest bidder at the auction, you are or may be responsible for paying off all liens senior to the lien being auctioned off, before you can receive clear title to the property. You are encouraged to investigate the existence, priority, and size of outstanding liens that may exist on this property by contacting the county recorder’s office or a title insurance company, either of which may charge you a fee for this information. If you consult either of these resources, you should be aware that the same lender may hold more than one mortgage or deed of trust on this property.

NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNER: The sale date shown on this notice of sale may be postponed one or more times by the mortgagee, beneficiary, trustee, or a court, pursuant to Section 2924g of the California Civil Code. The law requires that information about trustee sale postponements be made available to you and to the public, as a courtesy to those not present at the sale. If you wish to learn whether your sale date has been postponed, and, if applicable, the rescheduled time and date for the sale of this property, you may call (866)-960-8299 or visit this Internet Web site https://www.altisource. com/loginpage.aspx using the file number assigned to this case 2025-00865-CA. Information about postponements that are very short in duration or that occur close in time to the scheduled sale may not immediately be reflected in the telephone information or on the Internet Web site. The best way to verify postponement information is to attend the scheduled sale.

NOTICE OF TRUSTEE’S SALE

NOTICE TO TENANT: You may have a right to purchase this property after the trustee auction, if conducted after January 1, 2021, pursuant to Section 2924m of the California Civil Code. If you are an “eligible tenant buyer,” you can purchase the property if you match the last and highest bid placed at the trustee auction. If you are an “eligible bidder,” you may be able to purchase the property if you exceed the last and highest bid placed at the trustee auction. There are three steps to exercising this right of purchase. First, 48 hours after the date of the trustee sale, you can call (855)-976-3916, or visit this internet website https://tracker.auction. com/sb1079, using the file number assigned to this case 2025-00865-CA to find the date on which the trustee’s sale was held, the amount of the last and highest bid, and the address of the trustee. Second, you must send a written notice of intent to place a bid so that the trustee receives it no more than 15 days after the trustee’s sale. Third, you must submit a bid, by remitting the funds and affidavit described in Section 2924m(c) of the Civil Code, so that the trustee receives it no more than 45 days after the trustee’s sale. If you think you may qualify as an “eligible tenant buyer” or “eligible bidder,” you should consider contacting an attorney or appropriate real estate professional immediately for advice regarding this potential right to purchase.

Date: November 17, 2025 Western Progressive, LLC, as Trustee for beneficiary C/o 1500 Palma Drive, Suite 238 Ventura, CA 93003 Sale Information Line: (866) 960-8299 https://www.altisource.com/loginpage. aspx ___________ Trustee Sale Assistant. Run Dates: 11/24/2025, 12/01/2025, 12/08/2025 RIVERSIDE INDEPENDENT

T.S. No.: 2025-01221-CA

A.P.N.:0414-131-01-0000

Property Address: 10695 5TH AVENUE, HESPERIA, CA 92345

NOTICE OF TRUSTEE’S SALE PURSUANT TO CIVIL CODE § 2923.3(a) and (d), THE SUMMARY OF INFORMATION REFERRED TO BELOW IS NOT ATTACHED TO THE RECORDED COPY OF THIS DOCUMENT BUT ONLY TO THE COPIES PROVIDED TO THE TRUSTOR.

NOTE: THERE IS A SUMMARY OF THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT ATTACHED

DEED OF TRUST DATED 09/01/2006. UNLESS YOU TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY, IT MAY BE SOLD AT A PUBLIC SALE. IF YOU NEED AN EXPLANATION OF THE NATURE OF THE PROCEEDING AGAINST YOU, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LAWYER.

Trustor: KENNETH HARTMAN, A SINGLE MAN Duly Appointed Trustee: Western Progressive, LLC Deed of Trust Recorded 09/15/2006 as Instrument No. 2006-0632814 in book ---, page--- and of Official Records in the office of the Recorder of San Bernardino County, California, Date of Sale: 01/14/2026 at 01:00 PM Place of Sale: NEAR THE FRONT STEPS LEADING UP TO THE CITY OF CHINO CIVIC CENTER, 13220 CENTRAL AVENUE, CHINO, CA 91710

Estimated amount of unpaid balance, reasonably estimated costs and other charges: $ 403,752.92 NOTICE OF TRUSTEE’S SALE THE TRUSTEE WILL SELL AT PUBLIC AUCTION TO HIGHEST BIDDER FOR CASH, CASHIER’S CHECK DRAWN ON A STATE OR NATIONAL BANK, A CHECK DRAWN BY A STATE OR FEDERAL CREDIT UNION, OR A CHECK DRAWN BY A STATE OR FEDERAL SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATION, A SAVINGS ASSOCIATION OR SAVINGS BANK SPECIFIED IN SECTION 5102 OF THE FINANCIAL CODE AND AUTHORIZED TO DO BUSINESS IN THIS STATE:

All right, title, and interest conveyed to and now held by the trustee in the hereinafter described property under and pursuant to a Deed of Trust described as: More fully described in said Deed of Trust. Street Address or other common designation of real property: 10695 5TH AVENUE, HESPERIA, CA 92345

A.P.N.: 0414-131-01-0000

The undersigned Trustee disclaims any liability for any incorrectness of the street address or other common designation, if any, shown above. The sale will be made, but without covenant or warranty, expressed or implied, regarding title, possession, or encumbrances, to pay the remaining principal sum of the note(s) secured by the Deed of Trust with interest thereon, as provided in said note(s), advances, under the terms of said Deed of Trust, fees, charges and expenses of the Trustee and of the trusts created by said Deed of Trust. The total amount of the unpaid balance of the obligation secured by the property to be sold and reasonable estimated costs, expenses and advances at the time of the initial publication of the Notice of Sale is: $ 403,752.92.

Note: Because the Beneficiary reserves the right to bid less than the total debt owed, it is possible that at the time of the sale the opening bid may be less than the total debt.

If the Trustee is unable to convey title for any reason, the successful bidder’s sole and exclusive remedy shall be the return of monies paid to the Trustee, and the successful bidder shall have no further recourse.

The beneficiary of the Deed of Trust has executed and delivered to the undersigned a written request to commence foreclosure, and the undersigned caused a Notice of Default and Election to Sell to be recorded in the county where the real property is located.

NOTICE OF TRUSTEE’S SALE NOTICE TO POTENTIAL BIDDERS: If you are considering bidding on this property lien, you should understand that there are risks involved in bidding at a trustee auction. You will be bidding on a lien, not on the property itself. Placing the highest bid at a trustee auction does not automatically entitle you to free and clear ownership of the property. You should also be aware that the lien being auctioned off may be a junior lien. If you are the highest bidder at the auction, you are or may be responsible for paying off all liens senior to the lien being auctioned off, before you can receive clear title to the property. You are encouraged to investigate the existence, priority, and size of outstanding liens that may exist on this property by contacting the county recorder’s office or a title insurance company, either of which may charge you a fee for this information. If you consult either of these resources, you should be aware that the same lender may hold more than one mortgage or deed of trust on this property.

NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNER: The sale date shown on this notice of sale may be postponed one or more times by the mortgagee, beneficiary, trustee, or a court, pursuant to Section 2924g of the California Civil Code. The law requires that information about trustee sale postponements be made available to you and to the public, as a courtesy to those not present at the sale. If you wish to learn whether your sale date has been postponed, and, if applicable, the rescheduled time and date for the sale of this property, you may call (866)-960-8299 or visit this Internet Web site https://www.altisource. com/loginpage.aspx using the file number assigned to this case 2025-01221-CA. Information about postponements that are very short in duration or that occur close in time to the scheduled sale may not immediately be reflected in the telephone information or on the Internet Web site. The best way to verify postponement information is to attend the scheduled sale.

NOTICE OF TRUSTEE’S SALE NOTICE TO TENANT: You may have a right to purchase this property after the trustee auction, if conducted after January 1, 2021, pursuant to Section 2924m of the California Civil Code. If you are an “eligible tenant buyer,” you can purchase the property if you match the last and highest bid placed at the trustee auction. If you are an “eligible bidder,” you may be able to purchase the property if you exceed the last and highest bid placed at the trustee auction. There are three steps to exercising this right of purchase. First, 48 hours after the date of the trustee sale, you can call (866)-960-8299, or visit this internet website https://www.altisource. com/loginpage.aspx, using the file number assigned to this case 2025-01221-CA to find the date on which the trustee’s sale was held, the amount of the last and highest bid, and the address of the trustee. Second, you must send a written notice of intent to place a bid so that the trustee receives it no more than 15 days after the trustee’s sale. Third, you must submit a bid, by remitting the funds and affidavit described in Section 2924m(c) of the Civil Code, so that the trustee receives it no more than 45 days after the trustee’s sale. If you think you may qualify

LEGALS

as an “eligible tenant buyer” or “eligible bidder,” you should consider contacting an attorney or appropriate real estate professional immediately for advice regarding this potential right to purchase. Date: November 24, 2025 Western Progressive, LLC, as Trustee for beneficiary C/o 1500 Palma Drive, Suite 238 Ventura, CA 93003 Sale Information Line: (866) 960-8299 https://www.altisource.com/loginpage. aspx __________ Trustee Sale Assistant. Run Dates: 12/01/2025, 12/08/2025, 12/15/2025 ONTARIO NEWS PRESS

Fictitious Business Name Filings

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS

NAME STATEMENT

File No. FBN20250010467

The following persons are doing business as: CMM Advantage, 14427 Huntridge Drive, Victorville, CA 92394. Mailing Address, 14427 Huntridge Drive, Victorville, CA 92394. # of Employees 1. Thrill The Tastebuds LLC (CA, 14427 Huntridge Drive, Victorville, CA 92394; Monique Jennings, CEO. County of Principal Place of Business: San Bernardino

This business is conducted by: a limited liability company (llc). Registrant has not yet begun to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed herein. By signing below, I declare that I have read and understand the reverse side of this form and that all information in this statement is true and correct. A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Government Code Sections 6250- 6277). /s/ Monique Jennings, CEO. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on November 6, 2025 Notice- In accordance with subdivision (a)of Section 17920. A Fictitious Name Statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the County Clerk, except, as provided in subdivision (b) of Section 17920, where it expires 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to Section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new Fictitious Business Name Statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14411 et seq., Business and Professions Code) File#: FBN20250010467 Pub: 11/10/2025, 11/17/2025, 11/24/2025, 12/01/2025 San Bernardino Press

The following person(s) is (are) doing business as (1). Slim Weight Loss (2). Slim Coaching Group (3). Slim Wellness Group 284 Dupont Street #115 Corona, CA 92879 Riverside County Mailing Address, 5406 Fulmer Ct, Jurupa Valley, CA 91752. Riverside County Better Life Coaching Group (CA, 5406 Fulmer Ct, Jurupa Valley, CA 91752

Riverside County

This business is conducted by: a corporation. Registrant has not yet begun to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed herein. I declare that all the information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code, that the registrant knows to be false, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousands dollars ($1000).)

s.Samuel Abraham, CEO Statement filed with the County of Riverside on November 6, 2025 NOTICE: In accordance with

subdivision (a) of section 17920, a fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of the five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except, as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920, where it expires 40 days after any changes in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new Fictitious Business Name Statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14411 Et Seq., business and professions code). I hereby certify that this copy is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office.

Peter Aldana, County, Clerk File# R-202513466 Pub. 11/10/2025, 11/17/2025, 11/24/2025, 12/01/2025 Riverside Independent

The following person(s) is (are) doing business as ALOHA CONSTRUCTION 4395 LEONARD WAY CORONA, CA 92883 Riverside County ALOHA REMODELING & LANDSCAPING (CA, 4395 LEONARD WAY, CORONA, CA 92883

Riverside County

This business is conducted by: a limited liability company (llc). Registrant has not yet begun to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed herein. I declare that all the information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code, that the registrant knows to be false, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousands dollars ($1000).)

s. BETSABE IRIGOYEN MUNOZ, MANAGING MEMBER Statement filed with the County of Riverside on November 5, 2025 NOTICE: In accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920, a fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of the five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except, as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920, where it expires 40 days after any changes in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new Fictitious Business Name Statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14411 Et Seq., business and professions code). I hereby certify that this copy is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office.

Peter Aldana, County, Clerk File# R-202513420 Pub. 11/10/2025, 11/17/2025, 11/24/2025, 12/01/2025 Riverside Independent

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT 20256728981. The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: (1). Santa Ana Distro (2). Santa Ana – Distro (3). Catalyst – Santa Ana Distro (4). Catalyst Santa Ana Distro , 3400 Warner Ave Unit B, Santa Ana, CA 92704. Mailing Address, 401 Pine Ave, Long Beach, CA 90802. Full Name of Registrant(s) CATALYST –FOUNTAIN VALLEY LLC (CA, 401 Pine Ave, Long Beach, CA 90802. This business is conducted by a limited liability company (llc). Registrant has not yet begun to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed herein. CATALYST –FOUNTAIN VALLEY LLC. /S/ ELLIOT LEWIS, MANAGING

MEMBER. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Orange County on November 12, 2025. Publish: Anaheim Press 11/17/2025, 11/24/2025, 12/01/2025, 12/08/2025

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT 20256728982. The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: (1). CATALYST – FOUNTAIN VALLEY (2). CATALYST CANNABIS –FOUNTAIN VALLEY (3). CATALYST FOUNTAIN VALLEY (4). CATALYST CANNABIS FOUNTAIN VALLEY (5). CATALYST CANNABIS CO. – FOUNTAIN VALLEY (6). CATALYST CANNABIS DISPENSARYFOUNTAIN VALLEY , 3400 W Warner Ave Unit A, Santa Ana, CA 92704. Mailing Address, 401 Pine Ave, Long Beach, CA 90802. Full Name of Registrant(s) CATALYST – FOUNTAIN VALLEY LLC (CA, 401 Pine Ave, Long Beach, CA 90802. This business is conducted by a limited liability company (llc). Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed herein on November 6, 2025. CATALYST –FOUNTAIN VALLEY LLC. /S/ ELLIOT LEWIS, MANAGING MEMBER. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Orange County on November 12, 2025. Publish: Anaheim Press 11/17/2025, 11/24/2025, 12/01/2025, 12/08/2025

The following person(s) is (are) doing business as Local Esthetics 28410 Old Town Front St #102 Temecula, CA 92590 Riverside County Linette Pirschel, 4 1930 Calle Cabrillo, Temecula, CA 92592 Riverside County This business is conducted by: a individual. Registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed herein on September 3, 2025. I declare that all the information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code, that the registrant knows to be false, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousands dollars ($1000).)

s.Linette Pirschel Statement filed with the County of Riverside on November 5, 2025 NOTICE: In accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920, a fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of the five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except, as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920, where it expires 40 days after any changes in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner.

A new Fictitious Business Name Statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14411 Et Seq., business and professions code). I hereby certify that this copy is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office.

Peter Aldana, County, Clerk File# R-202513421 Pub. 11/17/2025, 11/24/2025, 12/01/2025, 12/08/2025 Riverside Independent

The following person(s) is (are) doing business as Baladi 141 E Alessandro Blvd unit 10A Riverside, CA 92508

Riverside County LAZEEZ FOOD LLC (CA, 16117 Hillsmont Lane, Riverside, CA 92503

Riverside County

This business is conducted by: a limited liability company (llc). Registrant has not yet begun to transact business under the fictitious business

name or names listed herein. I declare that all the information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code, that the registrant knows to be false, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousands dollars ($1000).)

s.LINA ZAITAR, CEO Statement filed with the County of Riverside on November 10, 2025

NOTICE: In accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920, a fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of the five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except, as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920, where it expires 40 days after any changes in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new Fictitious Business Name Statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14411 Et Seq., business and professions code). I hereby certify that this copy is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office.

Peter Aldana, County, Clerk File# R-202513540 Pub. 11/17/2025, 11/24/2025, 12/01/2025, 12/08/2025 Riverside Independent

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. FBN20250010392

The following persons are doing business as: St. Francis Episcopal Mission Outreach Center, 2855 N Sterling Ave, San Bernardino, CA 92404. Mailing Address, PO Box 3037, San Bernardino, CA 92404. (1). The Protestant Episcopal Church in the diocese of Los, 840 Echo Park Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90026 (2). St. Francis of Assisi episcopal church, San Bernardino, CA 92404. County of Principal Place of Business: San Bernardino This business is conducted by: a an unincorporated association other than a partnership. Registrant has not yet begun to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed herein. By signing below, I declare that I have read and understand the reverse side of this form and that all information in this statement is true and correct. A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Government Code Sections 6250- 6277). /s/ Claire Z. Bangao, Managing Member. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on October 31, 2025 Notice- In accordance with subdivision (a) of Section 17920. A Fictitious Name Statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the County Clerk, except, as provided in subdivision (b) of Section 17920, where it expires 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to Section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new Fictitious Business Name Statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14411 et seq., Business and Professions Code) File#: FBN20250010392 Pub: 11/17/2025, 11/24/2025, 12/01/2025, 12/08/2025 San Bernardino Press

For the first time since 2010, the poverty rate in America shot up dramatically in 2022, according to data from the Census Bureau. That means more Americans can’t afford basic needs like food, clothing, shelter and utilities than has been the case in more than a decade.

But the situation isn’t just affecting Americans living in poverty. United Way uses the term ALICE to refer to the increasing number of people who are assetlimited, income-constrained, and employed but are still not able to afford their basic needs. In 2021, 13% of Americans earned below the federal poverty level but many more, 29%, fell under the ALICE umbrella, according to the grassroots movement United for ALICE.

A study published in August 2022 from Brandeis University found that more than 75% of low-income families working full-time cannot cover the cost of basic needs. What’s more,

fewer than 1 in 5 low-income Hispanic and Black families in particular are able to afford the costs of a household budget. “Full-time work alone isn’t enough to cover the everyday essentials most families need to support themselves,” the study’s lead author Pamela Joshi, who holds a doctorate in social policy, said in a statement.

If you’re looking for ways to help, particularly as the temperatures drop and the holidays approach, consider cleaning out your closet and donating a coat to those in need. To help point you in the right direction, Stacker compiled a list of coat drives near Riverside using data from One Warm Coat, a nonprofit that provides free coats to children and adults in need across America. Since 1992, they’ve given out more than 7.85 million coats.

“This is one very small way to take a step forward and do something very tangible,” One Warm Coat CEO Beth Amodio told USA

Coat drives near Riverside

By Stacker

Today in October 2023. “It’s impossible to change the world. But it is possible to change one person’s experience, one person at a time.”

Read on to find out where to contribute.

Riverside Free Clinic - 3504 Mission Inn Ave. in Riverside

City of Riverside Parks2060 University Ave.

Keys 2 Awareness - 4150

Chicago Ave. in Riverside

Jurupa Unified School District, Parent Involvement & Community Outreach - 3924 Riverview Drive in Jurupa Valley

Our Promise Foundation - 760 N. Fifth Ave. in Covina

Newcomers Access Center - 233 Harrison Ave., Suite B5 in Claremont

Pilgrim Congregational Church - 600 N. Garey Ave. in Pomona

Menifee Union School

District - 30205 Menifee Road, Suite M

Fostering Kids for Life1895 W. Devonshire Ave., #44 in Hemet

Palm Springs Plaza Theatre hosts open house, other festivities

By City News Service

Toshowcase the newlyrestored Plaza Theatre before the first slate of shows begin in this month, a community open house and block party will was held Nov. 22 to celebrate the reopening.

The open house ran from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and feature tours highlighting aspects of the theatre that has been preserved along with new state-of-the-art technology and live performances, Mayor Ron deHarte announced.

Participating performers on the theatre’s stage were scheduled to include the Coachella Valley’s Men’s Chorus at 10 a.m., Coachella Valley Voices at 11 a.m., Palm Springs Gay Men’s Chorus at noon and Musical Theatre University at 1 p.m.

South Palm Canyon Drive was closed from Tahquitz Canyon Way to La Plaza for other festivities, including community booths from local organizations and music by DJ Mod Girl.

The theatre’s box office was open and Plaza Theatre merchandise was available for sale.

Funding for the restoration was provided through a

multiyear campaign in which the theatre continues in the process of raising the remaining funds needed.

An opening night gala will be held at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 1 with “Wicked” star Cynthia Erivo set to headline.

“It is estimated that after the theatre reopens it

Community Advocates for Residents Empowered - 220 S. Elk St., spc 26 26 in Hemet

will accommodate approximately 135,000 patrons per year who will potentially generate more than $40 million in incremental spending and provide more than $4 million direct economic impact to the city through sales and transient occupancy taxes,” officials said.

AJ.Crew - 555 The Shops At Mission Viejo, Suite 548

The Caritas Corp. - 3 Park Plaza, Suite 1700 in Irvine

The Main Place - 1310 E. Lincoln Avenue in Orange Clothing the Homeless - 5020 Barranca Parkway in Irvine

4.0 license.

San Bernardino County libraries collecting holiday gifts for kids

toydriveatSan BernardinoCounty libraries is underway until Dec. 9, officials said.

The theme for the toy drive is a “Celebration of Giving.”

The effort is a partnership with Children’s Fund to collect toys at 28 library branches.

Officialsencouraged community members to donate new, unwrapped toys at library locations. All donations will directly support the fund’s annual drive that provides holiday gifts to children and youth throughout the county.

“Our libraries are places where the community comes together, and this partnership is a wonderful way to share kindness and generosity during the holidays,” San Bernardino County Librarian Melanie Orosco said in a statement. “Every toy collected represents more than just a gift — it’s a reminder to a child that they are valued and cared for by their community.”

By Staff

In lieu of donating actual toys, other ways to support the toy drive are shopping from the Children’s Fund’s AmazonWishlistsfor children ages 6-8 and teens and by making a monetary donation directly through the fund’s website.

Those who prefer to ship gifts directly from the Amazon Wishlists, the donated Wishlist items may be mailed to Children’s Fund, 348 W. Hospitality Lane, #110, San Bernardino, CA 92408.

“These options provide an easy way for residents to contribute from anywhere, while ensuring children receive meaningful gifts during this season of giving,” according to the county.

Children’s Fund’s Celebration of Giving program serves thousands of local children who are experiencing poverty, homelessness, abuse, neglect or are in foster care.

Officials said that “each

toy collected helps ensure every child receives something special during the holiday season.”

The 28 participating library branches are located throughout the county’s High Desert, Mountain and Valley regions. A full list of participating branches is available on the library website.

The drive began Nov. 21. Moreinformation about the library system is at library.sbcounty.gov or available by calling call 909-387-2220 and following on Facebook or Instagram.

The San Bernardino County Library system has 32 branches.

The Children’s Fund was founded in 1986 and works with public agencies, nonprofits and community members to provide critical resources, including the annual Celebration of Giving toy drive that serves thousands of children each holiday season.

Franklin Mortgage41607 Margarita Road, Suite 102 in Temecula

This article was copy edited from its original version. Republished with CC BY-NC

| Photo courtesy of Canva/Stacker

Community members attend the Plaza Theatre’s open house event. | Photo courtesy of the Palm Springs City Government/ Facebook

Jury deadlocks in trial of one of two men accused in drug-related killing

By City News Service

Jurors in the trial of a documented Beaumont gang member accused of gunning down a man during a robbery at the home of a known marijuana dealer deadlocked on verdicts, while a separate jury convicted the defendant’s cohort of murder.

After three days of deliberations, the Murrieta jury weighing the fate of 21-yearold Adam Anthony Garcia hung 11-1 on Monday, with only one juror holding out against convicting him in the slaying of Leo Miguel DeLara in 2020.

When Riverside County Superior Court Judge Jeff Zimel learned of the impasse, he declared jurors hopelessly deadlocked on charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder, burglary and two counts of robbery, as well as special circumstance allegations of killing for the benefit of a criminal street gang and perpetrating murder in the course of a robbery, along with sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.

The District Attorney’s Office has confirmed prosecutors are considering options and whether to possibly amend the criminal complaint. A retrial status conference is set for Dec. 30 at the Southwest Justice Center. Garcia remains held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center.

Last Wednesday, the jury

A32-year-old Banning woman who engaged in sex acts with a boy over a months-long period was sentenced last week to three years’ felony probation and six months in a work release program.

Reyna Virginia Rincon pleaded guilty in April to lewd acts on a child under 14 years old under a pretrial agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. In exchange for her admission, prosecutors dropped charges of unlawful intercourse with a minor, oral copulation of a minor and perpetrating

hearing the case against Garcia’s co-defendant, 33-year-old Roberto Armando Gutierrez, convicted him of murder, along with attempted murder and burglary, as well as special circumstance allegations of killing for the benefit of a criminal street gang and perpetrating murder in the course of a robbery. They acquitted him, however, of two counts of attempted robbery.

Gutierrez is being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center and is due for sentencing on Feb. 6.

According to a trial brief filed by the DA’s office, Gutierrez and Garcia intended to rob a man, Benjamin Silvey, because they knew he had a pound or more of marijuana at his mother’s house in the 100 block of Myrl Drive, near Edgar Avenue, from which he sold cannabis.

Despite being childhood friends, Gutierrez and Silvey turned hostile after the latter adamantly refused to join the South Side Beaumont — SBB — gang, with which the defendant had been long affiliated, prosecutors said.

Gutierrez had pushed Silvey to join, believing that “Benjamin’s (successful marijuana) business would further SBB’s drug enterprise,” according to the brief.

Silvey at one point complained to one of the

gang leaders about Gutierrez, saying the defendant had stolen from him. With their friendship dissolved, Gutierrez conspired with Garcia to rob the victim at the Myrl Drive residence, according to the prosecution.

Unbeknownst to the defendants, when they went there shortly before 9 p.m. March 18, 2020, Silvey was gone, with only his mom, identified in court documents as “T.S.,” and her close friend, DeLara, going in and out of the house to pack and haul items in preparation for her move to another property.

As T.S. was outside, the defendants burst into the house, where DeLara was in the living room gathering things, prosecutors alleged.

T.S. ran into the home and heard gunfire.

“Not realizing in that moment she had been shot, T.S. walked into the living room when she heard another ‘pop,’” according to the narrative. “She then saw Leo DeLara slumped in the bean bag chair with a gunshot to his face.”

The distraught woman summoned police and paramedics, but “DeLara stopped breathing a few minutes before officers arrived,” the brief said.

T.S. was unable to get a clear look at the robbers’

faces because they were wearing hoodie jackets pulled up to conceal their identities. She suffered a gunshot that blew away the lower end of her left ear, which she didn’t realize until after paramedics reached the house and noticed her bleeding, according to the prosecution. She ultimately recovered.

“Two 9mm bullet casings were located within the residence, one in the living room and one on the floor of the nearest bedroom,” court papers stated. “The bedroom appeared to have

been ransacked. Officers found more than one pound of marijuana, along with packaging, vape cartridges, apparent edible THC items and other indications that the room may have been used for selling marijuana.”

Although the robbers’ sedan was captured via a neighbor’s security surveillance video camera, the plate information was unreadable, and detectives spent the ensuing two years gathering evidence that finally pointed to Gutierrez and Garcia as the alleged home invaders. Social media

Woman who sexually abused Banning boy sentenced

three or more lewd acts on an underage person.

During a hearing Nov. 24 at the Banning Justice Center Monday, Superior Court Judge Jay Kiel certified the terms of the plea deal and imposed the sentence stipulated by the prosecution and defense. In addition to probation and work release in lieu of jail, the judge ordered Rincon to register as a sex offender under Penal Code section 290, which prohibits registrants from working around kids or having any contact with them outside of relatives.

Kiel further signed a

By City News Service

criminal protective order, barring the defendant from communicating with the victim for a decade.

According to the Banning Police Department, investigators received information on June 28, 2023, that a youth “was being sexually abused” by the defendant.

Agency spokeswoman Sol Avila said detectives learned Rincon was a “family friend who frequented” the victim’s home.

“(Investigators) also discovered that the abuse had been occurring since September 2022,” Avila said.

The criminal complaint indicated the defendant had been seeing the boy without his family’s knowledge, sometimes going behind closed doors in his bedroom, “gratifying her lust, passions and sexual desires.”

Detectives obtained sufficient evidence to procure an arrest warrant, which was served on Rincon without incident at her apartment on Westward Avenue in early July 2023.

She had no documented prior felony convictions.

posts by police helped in eliciting information from witnesses.

The defendants were arrested in June 2022. The brief said they acknowledged breaking into the house but denied being the individual who opened fire on DeLara and T.S. Court records show Gutierrez has prior convictions for auto theft, possession of controlled substances for sale and presenting false identification to law enforcement. Garcia has no documented priors in Riverside County.

The work release program requires her to be employed, engaged in community service, in school or some type of vocational training for 180 days.

| Photo courtesy of Rawpixel (CC0)

Reyna Virginia Rincon. | Photo courtesy of the Banning Police Department