IE Chatter

Fred Shorett Trounces Field in San Bernardino City Council Special Election

In a mail in election to replace newly elected Supervisor Neil Derry, Fred Shorett received an overwhelming majority of the votes cast to replace him.  Congrats to Shorett.  Why he would want to be a Councilman in San Bernardino is beyond me.  Got lots of problems over there.

Shorett received nearly 75% of the vote. Saman Saman, the clown candidate with a rap sheet littered with domestic issues garnnered 2% of the vote.

Shorett won more than 73 percent of the more than 3,100 votes tallied for Tuesday night's vote count. Joe Arnett, an IT manager, took second place in Tuesday's totals with nearly 20 percent of the vote. Pharmaceutical company representative John Valdivia collected nearly six percent of the vote. Internet mattress salesman Saman Saman won nearly 2 percent of the vote.

Dirtbag Welty Has 1 Million Dollar Arrest Warrant

This guy is a Grade A Dirtbag.  What a sicko! I hope he gets a whole lot more coming to him in the joint.

A Colorado judge on Tuesday issued a $1 million arrest warrant after former strip-club manager Ryan Ward Welty failed to appear for his trial date.

Welty, whose father owns Tropical Lei in Upland and two other local strip clubs, was set to stand trial in Fremont County, Colo. on five felony charges for allegedly soliciting sex with a 9-year-old girl.

Welty, a Rancho Cucamonga resident, failed to appear because he is currently jailed in San Bernardino County, where he pleaded guilty last month to three felonies - one related to his Colorado case.

He was sentenced to 270 days in jail on Monday in West Valley Superior Court in Rancho Cucamonga. He was taken into custody immediately following the hearing.

Welty, 38, was arrested in Colorado in June when he traveled to the state to allegedly meet a woman - actually an undercover police detective - who said she was willing to involve her young daughter in sex.

Crazy Union Shenanigans

Not to be a "spokeshole" for the John and Ken Show, but here are two more stories I learned about from their show.  They both involve some interesting union stuff.

In the first story, a union employee making $68,000 a year in his regular job has a cushy gig leading some "nonprofit" on nights and weekends where he also makes another $117,000.  The employee works for SEIU - one of the hot shot unions in the stae of California.

Not only that, but this Service Employee International Union employee is employing his son on the "nonprofit" payroll as well...........to the tune of oh...$62,000.  What a joke!  How does a guy make six figures for running a nonprofit in his spare time when he is only making $68,000 for full time work?

The other story is about another SEIU employee.  Anelle Grajeda...a muckety muck up top...is stepping back away from leading the organization after an investigation into payments that were made to an ex-boyfriend.

Grajeda had been on leave since August, when the union began examining whether she played a role in payments to Alejandro Stephens, a former president of the Los Angeles local.

The SEIU has said Stephens violated a severance agreement by remaining on the county payroll after he lost his union position. Two local members had filed an internal complaint that suggested Grajeda used her influence to help Stephens continue receiving a government paycheck, something she denied.

One of the members, Ron Tanner, a retired county worker, said he was disappointed that the union didn't bar Grajeda from holding any future office. "I don't particularly care for this," he said. "I'd rather see her banned."

John and Ken Show...On an IE Rampage...

John and Ken of the "John and Ken Show" on KFI 640AM talk radio have been on an absolute rampage lately.  It all started with an infamous interview of Assemblyman Anthony Adams up in the High Desert where he basically stated almost enthusiastically that he supported raising taxes.  It would then follow that they would jump all over Assmeblyman Jeff Miller who represents the Corona area as well as parts of Orange County.  Now...Assemblyman Paul Cook is getting blasted because of a post over on a political blog called Red County.

You can find Assemblyman Cook's musings here.

John and Ken have been making the case that the budget and its tax increases were supported in a well orchestrated effort by the Republican Caucus and not just the three that voted for it and they have cited various items to support their case.  Chiefly, a talk show interview done by Anthony Adams on a public radio show.

Cook writes in part that there was no conspiracy to raise taxes.  Well...he has been getting the crap kicked out of him today.  I don't know much about Paul Cook. I do know that he proudly served his country with honor and valor and fought with distinction.  He won a Bronze Star if I am not mistaken.  While I understand the J&K rage...I wihs they would have been a little more tactful in their criticisms.  I am not saying war heroes get a free pass.......but they are a little ad hominem with their attacks today.

Can You Hear Me Now?

A Riverside County employee has been arrested on embezzlement charges due to his alleged cell phone scheme involving the Riverside County Regional Medical Center in Moreno Valley.

Law enforcement authorities said Thursday that Lopez, a communication technician at the Riverside County Regional Medical Center in Moreno Valley, used his connections to order hundreds of phones through the county's account with a cell phone provider and then sold, in cash transactions, many of those phones to county employees.

The list of people who bought the phones from Lopez, who reportedly used some of the money to buy a new truck and personal watercraft with cash, includes hospital employees and Sheriff's Department personnel, investigators said in a declaration to support his arrest.

My question is: "Did these people know that these phones were bought through this scam?  Or did Raymond Lopez give the impression that he was running a side business?"  Something doesnt add up here.  Were these people paying monthly bills to the cell phone provider? If so...how is that possible?

I am troubled by the following in the article:

A district attorney's spokesman said no other arrests are anticipated.

You Walk Away, LLC - Facing Class Action Lawsuit

You guys remember "You Walk Away, LLC"?  That is the organization that showed you "how" to walk away from your mortgage while charging you a fee of $995.  Well...I found a blog post discussing a class action lawsuit that has been filed against You Walk Away...by these deadbeat homeowners.  TOO FUNNY!

The suit alleges:

“We believe that You Walk Away’s conduct falls within that described by the California Attorney General’s Office as the ‘Foreclosure For a Fee Scam’” says attorney Benjamin Meeker. As described by the California Attorney General’s Office, foreclosure consultants who perpetrate this scam advertise to homeowners that they can provide “advice” on staying in their home until they are evicted.

“As its business name illustrates, the plaintiffs allege that You Walk Away entices homeowners into believing that simply walking away from a foreclosed home has few, if any, consequences, while charging hefty fees for its products” Mr. Meeker explained.

Lake Elsinore Councilman Thomas Buckley Faces Recall

Voters up and down the state are getting pissed off and riled up.  Councilman Thomas Buckley was served by voters and the recall proponents have 120 days to gather 2,800 valid signatures.

The document levies several accusations, including that Buckley has illegally accepted money such as campaign donations to support himself and personally benefited from a redevelopment agency purchase of property.

Buckley contends the allegations are false and the recall is an attempt to discredit him by the owner and supporters of Trevi Entertainment Center in response to his vote against allowing live entertainment in a nightclub there.

Convicted Murrieta Councilman Gets Slap on the Wrist: House Arrest!

Warnie Enochs, the now disgraced and convicted ex-Murrieta Councilman will do his time house arrest style.  Oh...except that...he only has to be in his house for 12 hours each day!

Ridiculous!

Per the terms of the agreement, Enochs will be allowed 12 hours of free time every day during which it is presumed he will continue working as an electrical contractor. If he stops working during his period of home detention, his daily allotment of free hours will be reduced to eight hours, Thetford said. He will not be allowed to travel outside California and must return to his home every night, the sergeant added.

Reached by phone Thursday, Enochs declined to comment.

Enochs' attorney, Virginia Blumenthal, said that even if he hadn't requested the home detention program he would likely have spent his weekends performing community service rather than sitting in a jail cell.

"You have various ways in which you are allowed to serve weekends," Blumenthal said. "Because of our (jail) crowding conditions, they have alternative means for serving."

Even the Girl Scouts Aren't Immune

The economic downturn is hurting the Girl Scouts and their annual cookie sales fundraising effort.

The Girl Scouts cookie season has arrived but officials fear a shortfall of $500,000 in sales threatens activities and programs for 5,000 Inland Empire girls.

After a presale that officially began Jan. 24, troops of the Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council began selling cookies for $4 a box at booths outside stores and shopping centers Friday. So far, sales are down about 10 percent, according to the council. Officials hope that booth sales will close the gap by the end of the month, when they conclude.

Jamie Wearing, a leader for Troops 380 and 384, believes that sales will climb despite the dreary numbers, she said while selling cookies with some of her troop at a Rite-Aid in Riverside Sunday.

"Girl Scouts cookies are comfort food," Wearing said. "People will buy them no matter what."

Todd, who was a brownie in 1969, isn't concerned about poor sales numbers either.

"What's great about the Girl Scouts is that it has been around for 97 years; in times of war and peace and in good and bad economic times and the bottom line is, you don't need a lot of money to teach leadership skills," she said.

An Actual Brightspot

San Bernardino County's investment pool remains strong with the top rating possible.  No Enron here.

San Bernardino County may be facing a $131 million budget deficit over the next two years, but its $4 billion investment pool remains one of the best in the state, Treasurer-Tax Collector Dick Larsen announced Monday.

The county recently received a top rating of AAAf from Standard & Poor's, an arm of McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. that publishes financial research and rates stocks and bonds according to investment risk. The county, which is rated quarterly by the company, has received the coveted ranking since 1999.

"As the guardian of the public's dollars it is of utmost importance to me and our office to ensure the county's tax dollars are invested properly and kept safe," Larsen said in a news release.

Regional Economic Carnage...

Man...it is just ugly and uglier out there.

San Bernardino Unified School District looking to do layoffs.

San Bernardino City is a wreck.

Redlands is in trouble.

Fontana is doing the layoff thing.

Riverside County is laying off people.

San Bernardino County is looking to do furloughs and hopefully avoid layoffs.

Victorville is a disaster.  Their former city manager may have been criminally negligent on some "verbal contracts".

Temecula had a round of layoffs I believe.

Unemployment is at historic levels.

Car dealerships are begging for handouts.

The stock market is plummeting.

The state is raising taxes to astronomical levels.

The president is spending trillions of dollars on what exactly?

Foreclosures litter the landscape.

It is depressing.

UCR Medical School in Limbo?

One of the coolest things happening in the region is the prospect of landing a medical school at UCR.  However, the economy and state budget issues are threatening to derail this potential gem.

The article touches on a key point and that is the failure of our state leaders to actually spend tax dollars on things the taxpayers need...like infrastructure.  We don't build roads. We don't build water systems.  We don't build medical schools.  The list goes on and on.

According to the article, there hasn't been a public medical school built in 40 years.  That is ridiculous.

UC Riverside officials are counting on $15 million from a state budget revision later this spring to keep a planned medical school on schedule.

"We really believe our best opportunity is getting in the revised state budget," said Dr. Phyllis Guze, interim dean of the medical school, which is scheduled to open in 2012. "We're really going full-bore ahead to get that included."

The recently reached state budget package didn't include $15 million the university sought for the medical school. The university's medical school proposal hinges on a $100 million investment from the state between now and 2021, when the school is projected to be self-sustaining.

Metrolink Boy Loving Engineer Was Giving "Rides" and Texting...

Metrolink engineer Rob Sanchez, one time Murietta resident, was texting during his shift and seconds before the fatal crash killing 25 passengers.

The investigation shows that Sanchez who is gay, apparently had a very friendly relationship with these teenage boys euphemistically referred to as "rail enthusiasts".  Insert your own pun.

The following is a text exchange between Sanchez and one of the boys:

"Yea...but I'm REALLY looking forward to getting you in the cab and showing you how to run a locomotive," Sanchez wrote in a message four days before the fatal wreck.

"Omg dude me too," an unidentified acquaintance of Sanchez responded. "Running a locomotive. Having all that in the palms of my hands. It's a great feeling. And I'll do it so good from all my practice on the simulator."

I bet he was REALLY looking forward to having one of those kids sit in his lap while he 'mentored' them.  Guy was using his "cab" like Uncle John uses his lap or the ice cream man uses his truck.

I think the media is deliberately avoiding this issue due to the homosexual radicals who repeatedly try to make the homosexual/sexual molestation link taboo to talk about.

C'est La Vie Red Light Cameras

Hooray! Score one for the good guys.  Red light cameras are going the way of the DoDo bird in Upland.  Not only are the cameras costing the city money, they aren't even proving to be a net benefit to public safety.

A committee will recommend the termination of the city's contract at the next council meeting.

One officer monitors the red-light cameras per shift. Without the cameras, the officer could be out on patrol.

The cost of a ticket can run as high as $426, but the court can reduce the fine, Adams said.

Redflex must be paid $89 per citation no matter the amount of the fine.

"One fine was reduced to $81," Adams said. "When the fine gets reduced to $81 we still owe the company $89."

"The goal was never to make money. Actually at the end of the day it looks like it's cost us money," Thomas said. "We have had less situations with people running red lights but an increase in rear-end collisions, when people remember the (cameras) are there and slam on the brakes and the car behind them crashes into them."

These camera's are popping up like a plague and they need to be stopped.

Murrieta Canvassing Neighborhoods for Unlicensed Dogs

I am posting this story for a couple of reasons.  It seems that rabies might be making a bit of a comeback and I also thought it was interesting that Murrieta was using a nonprofit group to do this work for them.

When Danika Maldonado knocks on your door, she's got a pretty good idea how many dogs are inside, what their names are and, most important, whether they are licensed.

Maldonado is an animal control officer with Animal Friends of the Valley in Lake Elsinore. The nonprofit organization provides animal control services to the cities of Murrieta, Temecula, Canyon Lake and Lake Elsinore.

Armed with a clip board and a stack of papers as thick as the Yellow Pages, she's been canvassing the streets of those cities checking the licenses of every registered dog.

How many people really do not know that their dog needs to be licensed?  I love that excuse.  The other interesting tidbit is that I read that the city of San Bernardino is going to start callling on cats to be licensed.  Talk about a money grab.

Up In Smoke: Body Found In Chimney

Crazy story in the papers.

Skeletal remains were found in a chimney in a vacant Fontana home.  Initially, I assumed some sort of foul play.  Turns out that a transient appears to have been caught in the chimney and died while trying to enter the residence.  Pretty sad story and an absolutely horrible way to die.  Who knows how long he was there...if he starved or if he suffocated to death. 

Corona Off Road Figure with Child Porn Sentenced

Good Riddance!

The former president of a Corona off-road racing business was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for distributing child pornography, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday in a news release.

William Kreag Donahoe, 39, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Stephen G. Larson in Riverside federal court. Larson also ordered that Donahoe be on supervised release for the rest of his life once he is out of prison.

Donahoe has been in custody since his arrest at his business, Donahoe Racing, on Dec. 3, 2007, according to a Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles. He pleaded guilty in June.

San Bernardino Police Caving on Demands as Budget Crisis Worsens

San Bernardino Police Officers can't stand Police Chief Mike Billdt.  They have been calling for his ouster for months and he was supposed to retire/resign.  However, Mayor Morris stated that Billdt would stay on.  During budget negotiations, the SBPOA was demanding Billdt's ouster.  Now the San Bernardino Sun is reporting that Chief Billdt's resignation has been taken off the table.

Tuesday's negotiations followed the City Council's decision to impose furloughs on police officers as part of a plan intended to solve a $9 million deficit.

The council voted for furloughs Thursday when negotiations broke down after the police union demanded Police Chief Michael Billdt's departure in exchange for $3.3 million worth of concessions.

Weinberg wrote in an e-mail that the police union has dropped its demand for Billdt to leave his job. He also wrote that the police union's interest in discussing matters beyond dollars and cents has created a challenge.

Scumbag Sex Predator Going to Jail

The son of the man who owns various strip clubs in the area pleaded guilty to charges stemming from soliciting sex from a minor and possession of steroids.  The article is comical and a must read just to see what the defense attorney has to say.

But an attorney for Ward "Ryan" Welty -- formerly associated with Tropical Lei in Upland and the Flesh Club in San Bernardino -- maintains Welty is innocent of the charges despite his Friday guilty pleas in West Valley Superior Court.

"He's not guilty of the charges in California," said Roger Diamond, Welty's attorney.

When asked why Welty pleaded guilty, Diamond responded: "That requires a legal analysis and strategic explanation that I'm not going to give to you."

Reached by phone Tuesday and asked about his reasons for pleading guilty, Welty said, "None of your business. Good day." He then disconnected the call.

Welty, a 36-year-old Rancho Cucamonga resident, was arrested in Colorado in June after traveling there to allegedly meet a woman who was interested in involving her 9-year-old daughter in sex.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do?

The Press Enterprise has a cool article about Inland Empire Supervisors and the money spent by taxpayers on their vehicles.