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Posted by Ryan Mink on Thursday, September 8th, 2011 at 6:19 pm

HIGH SCHOOL-Scout.com ranked him as the No. 53 safety in the nation, while Rivals.com pegged him at No. 57 in the athlete category (and as the No. 64 overall prospect in California).  A three-year letterman in football, he was first-team All-Southeastern Conference on both offense (wide receiver) and defense (cornerback) as a senior. He was named first-team all-county and his team’s most improved player.  On offense, he had 53 receptions for 1,123 yards and 14 touchdowns, averaging 21.2 yards per catch.  Defensively, he totaled 47 tackles, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, two interceptions and 15 pass deflections.  He also averaged 36 yards on punt returns with one touchdown. As a junior, he was named first-team all-league and second-team all-county on defense. He had 30 catches for 600 yards and four touchdowns on offense, and at his cornerback spot, he tallied 57 tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, an interception and eight passes broken up. He garnered honorable mention all-league accolades on defense as a sophomore starting at safety, when he had 45 tackles and four interceptions on the season-his first year playing football.  Top games his senior year: against Redlands East Valley, he caught six passes for 160 yards and a touchdown, along with nine tackles, four passes broken up an interception in a 41-40 loss; in a 50-12 win over Redlands, he had four catches for 130 yards (one TD), while making three tackles on defense; in a 56-38 win over Rancho Buena Vista, he made seven catches for 171 yards (two TDs) to go with seven tackles. Under coach Harold Strauss, his team went a combined 30-6 in his three years playing football: 9-3 as a senior, 10-2 as a junior and 11-1 as a sophomore; Colton advanced to the second round of the playoffs each year.  He also lettered in basketball and track, earning a combined seven letters between the two.

ACADEMICS-He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology in December 2010.

PERSONAL-Born July 26, 1988 in Fontana, Calif.  Hobbies include playing video games and hanging out with friends in his spare time.  Four brothers have played college football: Ryan Smalls (Millikin), Terrance Smalls (Illinios), Paul Smith (New Mexico) and Anthony Smalls (Idaho State).  After college, he aspires to be an FBI agent.

Chaffey College hurdler Khallifah Rosser won the 400-meter hurdles at the California Community College Athletic Association championship meet last month and will compete in the United States Junior National meet on June 19-23. (Jennifer Cappuccio Maher / Staff Photographer)

Khallifah Rosser planned to compete in multiple events in track and field in his freshman year at Chaffey College, even going out and purchasing a pricey pair of jumping shoes.

A month or so into his spring season with the Panthers, those plans changed.

Head coach Blackman Ihem and hurdle coach Orentheus Hutcherson saw so much potential in their prized recruit they thought it would be better if he focused on one event rather than spreading him too thin, possibly risking injury.

“I told him keep those shoes as a souvenir, he wasn’t going to need them,” Ihem said after a morning workout with his athletes at Grigsby Field. “We knew he had potential to do something special if he just concentrated on one thing.”

Rosser, a graduate of Summit High School, has been thriving ever since. He won the 400-meter hurdles at the California Community College Athletic Association championship meet last month at College of San Mateo with a time of 52.08 seconds, despite having his shoe come untied halfway through the race.

Next up is the United States Junior National meet held in conjunction with the prestigious United States nationals in Des Moines, Iowa, from June 19-23. It is for athletes ages 16 to 19.

And yes, Rosser, 17, has Olympic aspirations.

“I’m not thinking that far ahead, but I would like to have that chance,” Rosser said. “I’m just going to keep working hard and trying to get better and see where it goes.”

There are a lot of factors in Rosser’s favor. At a lean 6-foot-2, Rosser has the perfect body type for a hurdler.

His age is another factor. He’ll be 20 come time for the 2016 Olympics, with another two Olympics coming in the time it typically takes male track athletes to reach their prime.

Diet is not an issue. Unlike most his age, he stays away from fast food and soda.

Ihem and Hutcherson like the progress their pupil already has made, without the benefit of conditioning work that normally takes place in the fall.

A nagging hip injury prevented Rosser from participating in the offseason strength and conditioning program, and yet he was still able to cut almost three seconds off his time in his event by the end of the season. He ran a 54.22 in his first meet of the season.

Hutcherson was hoping to see Rosser get down to 50 seconds flat and thinks that might have happened at state without the shoe mishap. He could still get down to that by the time his sophomore year officially starts.

“We knew he was going to be good, but you never know with guys,” Hutcherson said. “When we saw how much he improved in such a short time, we knew what we had. He also has a great work ethic. He wants to get better.”

Rosser’s improvement also comes even though the event is relatively new to him. High school hurdlers run 300 meters rather than the 400 meters in hurdles, but Rosser also competed in the open 400 meters.

“It really wasn’t that tough because it was a combination of both of those, which I did,” he said.

Rosser, one of seven siblings, played several sports growing up, including soccer, football and basketball. He didn’t try track until his sophomore year of high school and did so because he had watched older brother Fred, who competed for Silverado High School and now attends Division II Humboldt State.

His times are already better than those of his 20-year-old brother. It is a fun, yet coemptive rivalry. It’s also nice to have a relative in which to confide after a bad race or practice.

He looked into going to several four-year schools in the Cal State and UC systems but opted for the school closest to home. Friends also recommended Ihem to him.

“I work and get better in smaller settings,” Rosser said. “Not just when it comes to athletics, but the classroom too. I find I do better.”

Like it or not, Rosser just might have to get used to that bigger stage.
By Michelle Gardner Staff Writer

Posted:   06/04/2013 09:03:45 PM PDT

http://www.sbsun.com/sports/ci_23390274/local-colleges-chaffey-college-hurdler-khallifah-rosser-quickly

2011 NFL – Oakland Raiders

HIGH SCHOOL: He was a 2005 Super Prep All-American, Prep Star All-American, Super Prep All-Farwest, Prep Star All-Western, Long Beach Press-Telegram Best in the West first team, Orange County Register Fab 15 second team, Tacoma News-Tribune Western 100, Cal-Hi Sports All-State third team, All-CIF Southern Section second team, All-CIF Division I first team, Riverside Press-Enterprise All-San Bernardino first team and All-Citrus Belt League selection as a senior defensive back and running back at Colton (Calif.) High. He had 68 tackles and 2 sacks in 2005, plus ran for 1,094 yards on 78 carries (14.1 avg.) with 16 TDs and caught 13 passes for 336 yards (25.8 avg.) with 4 TDs despite missing the first 2 games with a broken left hand.

As a junior in 2004, he made the Riverside Press-Enterprise All-San Bernardino squad while recording 102 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 interceptions and 2 fumble recoveries and rushing for 1,297 yard on 139 carries (9.3 avg.) with 14 TDs. Current Trojan Allen Bradford also prepped at Colton

PERSONAL: He’s sociology major at USC.

Christian Petersen/Getty Images
ANAHEIM, Calif. — On its surface, the story does not make sense.

Kawhi Leonard needed someone to drive him? Leonard, a 6-foot-7, do-everything talent for San Diego Statewhom his coaching staff and teammates hail as the Aztecs’ most tireless worker and the man behind the wheel of their historic N.C.A.A.tournament journey, could not drive himself?

Not exactly. But in what has become a comical subplot to the tale of a player who is one of the topN.B.A. prospects in the tournament, Leonard’s basketball career was once threatened by an inability to secure transportation.

“The coach wouldn’t let me play when I was a freshman,” Leonard said by telephone this week of his first year at Canyon Springs High School in Moreno Valley, Calif. “I missed the tryouts, and I sent him an e-mail saying why and how my mom was out of town and I couldn’t get a ride over there. He knew I was a good player, but he just didn’t want me to play.”

Inspiration, however, is hardly in short supply for Leonard, a 19-year-old sophomore forward.

The memories of his father, Mark Leonard, and how he was shot to death at the age of 43 at his Compton car wash in 2008, remain agonizing and persistent. Yet as the shy and wary Leonard deals with the tournament hype, questions about his father keep coming.

He answers them all respectfully, making clear how much he wishes his father was still part of his life instead of part of his bio. No, he does not want to know the identity of the killer, who was never found. Yes, he misses those weekend days scrubbing cars with his father, with whom he did not live but with whom he spoke every day.

Leonard started playing basketball as a sophomore at Canyon Springs, then transferred toMartin Luther King High in Riverside as a junior and was named Mr. Basketball for California as a senior. The night after his father’s death, he scored 17 points for Riverside King in a loss to Compton Dominguez. Those in attendance saw him burst into tears afterward in the arms of his mother, Kim Robertson.

Those who came to know him later would see the same penchant for perseverance.

“Kawhi has had to deal with more stresses in his life than most at a young age, and he has managed to do that, to do it in his own way, and to do it with his head held high,” Aztecs Coach Steve Fisher said. “He is soft-spoken, quiet off the court, and someone who is filled with the burning desire to compete, improve and win, and he has done that everywhere he has been.”

The next challenge comes Thursday when No. 2 seed San Diego State (34-2) takes on No. 3 Connecticut (28-9) in the West Regional.

The Aztecs had never won an N.C.A.A. tournament game until this year, but victories over Northern Colorado and Temple have them wanting more and have Leonard thinking twice about his future.

There were already plenty of accolades on his résumé, from the back-to-back Mountain West conference tournament titles to his selection by Sporting News as a second-team all-American. But Leonard, who has yet to decide if he will enter the N.B.A. draft in June despite being widely projected as a late lottery or mid-first-round selection, said the fun of the tournament might affect his thinking.

“It’s tempting to come back,” said Leonard, who is averaging 15.6 points and 10.6 rebounds a game. “People like to have a winning team. It makes you want to keep playing.

“My family doesn’t need the money right now. We’re not starving, hungry, living poor. It will be nice to have a lot of money, but I think my family could hold out two more years if I play through my senior year.”

He no longer wants for transportation as he once did. And as Leonard has shown, he will be the one picking his path.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/sports/ncaabasketball/25leonard.html

Monta Ellis has informed the Milwaukee Bucks that he will opt out of the last year of his deal, according to league sources.

Ellis, who had one year, $11 million left on his contract, will become one of the most coveted free agents on the market this summer.

Sources say the Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericksand the Los Angeles Lakers have interest in Ellis, although the Lakers could get Ellis only via an unlikely sign-and-trade deal.

Ellis, who originally signed a six-year, $66 million deal with the Golden State Warriors, is close with Lakers free agent Dwight Howard. The two have long desired to play together.

If Howard cannot achieve his top goal of playing with Chris Paul, teaming up with Ellis may become an option he would strongly consider.

Ellis’ goal in signing his original deal was to give him the flexibility to become a free agent in his prime.

The Bucks reportedly had offered Ellis a two-year, $24 million extension earlier this month, but the offer was contingent on him not opting out of the final season of his contract.

Ellis led the Bucks with 19.2 points per game in the regular season, his eighth in the NBA after being drafted by the Warriors 40th overall in 2005.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9395337/monta-ellis-milwaukee-bucks-opt-contract-sources

USA TODAY Sports
Spurs shooting guard Danny Green made six more 3-pointers in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, bringing his series total up to 25, a new record.

The bright lights of a first NBA Finals can often prove to be too much for a young player, something that seemed evident when James Harden faced the Miami Heat last season. That has not been the case for Danny Green, who has burned the Heat time and time again in his first Finals appearance.

Green continued his remarkable shooting display in the Spurs‘ 114-104 Game 5 victory over the Heat, scoring 24 points on 8-of-15 shooting and 6-of-10 from three. Green’s fourth three of the game in the third quarter gave him 23 for the series, which broke Ray Allen’sprevious NBA Finals record of 22 3-point makes in a series, a fact that Green didn’t even realize at the time.

“I had no idea,” Green said. “After the game today, I found out. I’m lucky enough to have the opportunity to be on this stage. My teammates have done a great job of finding me and getting me open. Seems everything is going right for me. I’m feeling truly blessed right now. It’s got to be a higher power. The basketball gods are in our favor right now.”

Following his 6-of-10 effort on Sunday, Green is now 25-of-38 from three in the series, which is good for 65.8 percent. This has been a breakout series in a season that has seen Green become a permanent member of San Antonio’s starting lineup, which is impressive considering he was in the D-League just two years ago.

“The whole season has made him more confident,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He’s somebody who has gotten a lot of minutes. He basically has the green light. When you do it for 82 games, the last thing to see is if he can do it when the real lights are on. He’s certainly answered that question.”

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/6/17/4436956/danny-green-spurs-heat-game-5-nba-finals-2013

Chris Paul (center) has spent two seasons playing for Clippers owner Donald Sterling. (Noah Graham/Getty Images)

The franchise point guard is reportedly upset with his franchise.

ESPN.com reports All-Star guard Chris Paul, set to become an unrestricted free agent in July, is not happy with the Clippers because he feels he is being wrongly blamed for the organization’s decision to part ways with coach Vinny Del Negro earlier this month.

“He’s angry right now and his anger is directed toward the Clippers organization,” the source said. “Chris is a man of principle and if he feels like you’ve gone against his principles, it will affect how he feels about you. He’s very agitated that his name has been put out there as the reason for Vinny’s firing. He had nothing to do with it.”

The site further reports, citing a source, that Paul “refused to get involved” with the organization’s coaching position and that the decision to let go of Del Negro was made solely by Clippers management.

The Los Angeles Times asked Clippers owner Donald Sterling about the decision to part ways with Del Negro, and Sterling told the paper that he felt the need to “support” the team’s “special players.”

“Was this done,” I asked, “just to hang on to Chris Paul?”

“I always want to be honest and not say anything that is not true,” Sterling said. “So I’d rather not say anything.

…

“So I wonder, is this decision being made because the players are now calling the shots? Am I off base?”

“No, you’re not off base,” Sterling said. “This is a players’ league, and, unfortunately, if you want to win you have to make the players happy.”

…

“But if you have special players, and special players think that they know the best opportunity to win, you have to support them.”

L.A. claimed its first division title, winning 56 games this season, the most in a franchise history that dates to 1970-71. However, the Clippers were eliminated by the Grizzlies in six games in their first-round Western Conference playoff series. That result represented a step back from their semifinals appearance in 2012.

Del Negro told The Dan Patrick Show earlier this week that he was “surprised” that he was let go and said that Paul has “a lot of say-so” in the organization’s decisions.

“Well, Chris is a free agent,” Del Negro said. “They were compelled to make a decision. He’s entitled to his opinion. He made First-Team All-NBA both seasons on defense and on offense and that’s the first time he’s done that in his career. And we set every franchise record. But, in saying that, obviously he’s a free agent, he’s going to have a lot of say-so in a lot of things, as he did the previous summer when we put the team together. … It’s behind me. They are positioned for success in the future. … However it went down, it doesn’t matter.”

When word first broke that Del Negro was being let go, Yahoo! Sports noted that Del Negro wouldn’t be returning because Paul “wanted a different coach.” CBSSports.com also reported Paul was “not a fan” of Del Negro and that lack of support was “among the biggest reasons” the Clippers chose to move on.

The Clippers have not yet picked Del Negro’s successor and are expected to conduct a deep search for his replacement. The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday former Suns coach Alvin Gentry, Pacers assistant Brian Shaw, former Cavaliers coach Byron Scott and ESPN commentator Jeff Van Gundy are among the names being considered.

Del Negro, 46, holds a career coaching record of 210-184 (.533) in five seasons with the Bulls and Clippers. He was 128-102 (.557) in his three seasons in L.A.

Paul, 28, was selected to his sixth All-Star Game, the All-NBA First Team and the All-Defensive First Team this season and posted averages of 16.9 points, 9.7 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game. He can sign a five-year deal with the Clippers this summer or settle for a four-year contract with outside suitors.

http://nba.si.com/2013/05/31/chris-paul-angry-upset-clippers-vinny-del-negro-donald-sterling/

BY BEN GOLLIVER, POSTED MAY 31, 2013

George Karl believes the decision to fire him after a 57-win season is “extremely disrespectful to coaching.”(Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)
Read more:George Karl fires back at Josh Kroenke about being fired as Nuggets coach – The Denver Posthttp://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_23454878/george-karl-fires-back-at-josh-kroenke-nuggets#ixzz2WUyLUDqu
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Upon being fired last week, Nuggets coach George Karl told team president Josh Kroenke, “I think I should tell you, I think it’s very stupid.”

The controversial firing of the reigning NBA coach of the year has led to much debate in Denver. On Thursday afternoon, Karl sat down with The Denver Post and discussed an array of topics, including his firing, his future (possibly landing with the Memphis Grizzlies or the Los Angeles Clippers) and the future of the Nuggets, a team he believes could have won 55 games next season, even with Danilo Gallinari out for much of the season due to knee surgery.

“I’m not going to stand here and justify my (playoff) record,” Karl said, but he believed the franchise was on an upward tick, “and to blow that away, it leaves you helpless, speechless, powerless, sad, a lot of words.”

Following are excerpts from the interview.

Q: Can you explain the emotions of finishing third in the Western Conference and then being fired?

A: “We won 57 games and are in a great place. Continuity, consistency, togetherness all are so much more valuable than what they have on their priority list of playing JaVale McGee or the young players. And first of all, it shouldn’t be that I didn’t play young players. It’s I didn’t play young players enough, because we played a lot of young players — Kenneth Faried, Kosta Koufos, Evan Fournier at the end of the year, Ty Lawson. And, I never had a meeting where there was disappointment, in that part of it, voiced to me. I heard through whispers. I’m sorry that 57 wins doesn’t make you happy. I think it was a special season because of the connection this team has with each other and with the coaching staff and with the city. The fans like this team. The staff likes each other. And to blow up that connection is, in my opinion, extremely disrespectful to coaching.”

Q: Will you coach next season?

A: “I don’t know. I’m talking to Memphis and have had basically preliminary

conversations with L.A. (Clippers) and Memphis. I don’t think there’s anything that’s going to happen this week. If there is, it’s going to be with someone else, it’s not going to be with me. … I want to coach three to four (years) at least. But I want to coach a good team. I don’t want to coach a rebuilding team.”

Q: Can you describe your relationship with the front office?

A: “What I’ve loved about being here is with (the different front office regimes) is I felt we were all equal. This year, after the trade deadline, all of a sudden, I felt like Masai (Ujiri, the general manager) and Josh were over here, and I didn’t feel very equal.”

Q: What does “feel equal” mean?

A: “In the past, Stan (Kroenke, the team owner) would listen to all of us. I know I can be fired and the voices behind closed doors can be against me. But this year, I just felt that at the end, for a team that had so much success, unity and karma, I felt that Masai and Josh drifted into a direction that was difficult to understand.”

Q: What’s an example of that?

A: “It’s hard to say. It’s just communication, them getting mad about what I said in the paper more often than makes sense. Snippy texts about things. The whole thing it comes down to — you’ve got a great coaching staff, a coach who loves coaching the team, a city that loves the team.” (Karl gently pounds the table.)

Q: Can you describe your desire for a contract extension, heading into the last year of your contract?

A: “I didn’t demand an extension. I said to Josh, ‘I will coach this team next year, I’m excited about coaching this team next year, but in the last year of a contract, there are things that could happen.’ I didn’t say they would happen, I said they could happen. I said I didn’t think I deserved a three-year extension, but it’s a signed contract (with an option), so let’s compromise. I don’t think I deserved to get my option picked up, even if we won in the first round (of the playoffs), but there’s a middle ground. The thing that annoys me every day still is the fun connection we have with this team. They think they can unplug us and plug somebody else in, and I’m going, ‘Wow, that is not respectful of the coaching profession.’ ”

Q: Looking back, is there any way to have regrets about not playing McGee major minutes, knowing that they paid him big money?

A: “I’m sorry, I’ve never had management tell me that money’s important (for playing time). Every team I’ve ever coached, it was, ‘It’s your job to distribute minutes.’ I think JaVale built a foundation that next year is going to be very good with him. I don’t think our relationship was in a bad place. It wasn’t in a great place, but it wasn’t in a bad place. … I felt pretty good that JaVale, with a good summer with us, probably would have been the starter next year. But, in the same sense, I don’t think JaVale and Kenneth fit. They have similar limitations. I still think having a passing point guard for JaVale, like Andre Miller, is an asset.”

http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_23454878/george-karl-fires-back-at-josh-kroenke-nuggets

More Inland homes are emerging from “under water” status thanks to rising property values.

Rising home values during the first three months of 2013 helped thousands of Inland Southern California get caught up — at least somewhat — in the pursuit of equity on their homes, a report released this week found.

The number of homeowners in Riverside and San Bernardino counties with mortgage balances higher than the home’s value declined by more than 36,500 in the first three months of 2013, according to a report released Wednesday, June 12, by CoreLogic, an Irvine-based residential property research firm. The percentage of upside-down residences dropped from 35.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 to 31.4 percent.

That change means the Inland area is no longer one of the nation’s centerpieces of negative equity. At the end of last year, the area had the fifth-highest percentage of mortgages that were greater than the home’s market value, but the Inland Empire is no longer on the top-five list.

It does not, however, mean property owners have a significant amount of extra financial wiggle-room. More than 30,000 are barely in the black on their mortgages, meaning they’re not in a position to refinance or otherwise use the equity.

For most homeowners, this will be feel-good news that will mostly offer psychological benefits and some peace of mind, said Linda Itzen, a longtime Riverside-based financial planner with Ameriprise Financial.

“I’m finding more people who are breathing a sigh of relief that maybe they’re breaking even,” Itzen said. “But I don’t see a rush or any big desire to sell and buy up.”

Itzen added that the trend could entice some homeowners who have been renting their properties to sell if they are tired of the expense and responsibilities that come with being a landlord.

CoreLogic reported 294,132 Inland properties with upside-down mortgages in the fourth quarter of 2012. That number was down to 257,595 in the first quarter.

Residential property values have risen steadily for more than a year. Earlier this week, real estate information network DataQuick reported that the median sales price in San Bernardino County in May was up 28 percent from a year ago and up almost 23 percent in Riverside County. That adds up to an estimated $46,000 in equity growth for Inland homeowners in the past 12 months.

Economist John Husing pointed out that during the worst months of the recession in late 2009, almost 55 percent of all Inland homeowners with mortgages were under water, and that number was still close to 50 percent as recently as 2011. The declining numbers mean it’s less likely homeowners will abandon homes and turn Inland communities into eyesores.

Husing said he was concerned that many Inland homes on the sales market are being snapped up by outside investors who do not have a stake in the community. He said the rising home valuations could convince families that the time to get into the market has arrived.

Also, interest rates for mortgages have increased for three straight weeks and are now just below 4 percent for a 30-year loan.

“I think buyers are beginning to understand that prices are moving,” Husing said. “They could be thinking, ‘Oh my god, I’d better get in there.’ ”

Nationally some 9.7 million mortgages, slightly less than 20 percent, had higher balances than the home’s value in the first quarter. The cities with the highest percentages of underwater houses were Tampa-St. Petersburg, Miami, Atlanta, Chicago and Warren, Mich., CoreLogic reported.

Rising home values during the first three months of 2013 helped thousands of Inland Southern California get caught up — at least somewhat — in the pursuit of equity on their homes, a report released this week found.

The number of homeowners in Riverside and San Bernardino counties with mortgage balances higher than the home’s value declined by more than 36,500 in the first three months of 2013, according to a report released Wednesday, June 12, by CoreLogic, an Irvine-based residential property research firm. The percentage of upside-down residences dropped from 35.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 to 31.4 percent.

That change means the Inland area is no longer one of the nation’s centerpieces of negative equity. At the end of last year, the area had the fifth-highest percentage of mortgages that were greater than the home’s market value, but the Inland Empire is no longer on the top-five list.

It does not, however, mean property owners have a significant amount of extra financial wiggle-room. More than 30,000 are barely in the black on their mortgages, meaning they’re not in a position to refinance or otherwise use the equity.

For most homeowners, this will be feel-good news that will mostly offer psychological benefits and some peace of mind, said Linda Itzen, a longtime Riverside-based financial planner with Ameriprise Financial.

“I’m finding more people who are breathing a sigh of relief that maybe they’re breaking even,” Itzen said. “But I don’t see a rush or any big desire to sell and buy up.”

Itzen added that the trend could entice some homeowners who have been renting their properties to sell if they are tired of the expense and responsibilities that come with being a landlord.

CoreLogic reported 294,132 Inland properties with upside-down mortgages in the fourth quarter of 2012. That number was down to 257,595 in the first quarter.

Residential property values have risen steadily for more than a year. Earlier this week, real estate information network DataQuick reported that the median sales price in San Bernardino County in May was up 28 percent from a year ago and up almost 23 percent in Riverside County. That adds up to an estimated $46,000 in equity growth for Inland homeowners in the past 12 months.

Economist John Husing pointed out that during the worst months of the recession in late 2009, almost 55 percent of all Inland homeowners with mortgages were under water, and that number was still close to 50 percent as recently as 2011. The declining numbers mean it’s less likely homeowners will abandon homes and turn Inland communities into eyesores.

Husing said he was concerned that many Inland homes on the sales market are being snapped up by outside investors who do not have a stake in the community. He said the rising home valuations could convince families that the time to get into the market has arrived.

Also, interest rates for mortgages have increased for three straight weeks and are now just below 4 percent for a 30-year loan.

“I think buyers are beginning to understand that prices are moving,” Husing said. “They could be thinking, ‘Oh my god, I’d better get in there.’ ”

Nationally some 9.7 million mortgages, slightly less than 20 percent, had higher balances than the home’s value in the first quarter. The cities with the highest percentages of underwater houses were Tampa-St. Petersburg, Miami, Atlanta, Chicago and Warren, Mich., CoreLogic reported.

Rising home values during the first three months of 2013 helped thousands of Inland Southern California get caught up — at least somewhat — in the pursuit of equity on their homes, a report released this week found.

The number of homeowners in Riverside and San Bernardino counties with mortgage balances higher than the home’s value declined by more than 36,500 in the first three months of 2013, according to a report released Wednesday, June 12, by CoreLogic, an Irvine-based residential property research firm. The percentage of upside-down residences dropped from 35.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 to 31.4 percent.

That change means the Inland area is no longer one of the nation’s centerpieces of negative equity. At the end of last year, the area had the fifth-highest percentage of mortgages that were greater than the home’s market value, but the Inland Empire is no longer on the top-five list.

It does not, however, mean property owners have a significant amount of extra financial wiggle-room. More than 30,000 are barely in the black on their mortgages, meaning they’re not in a position to refinance or otherwise use the equity.

For most homeowners, this will be feel-good news that will mostly offer psychological benefits and some peace of mind, said Linda Itzen, a longtime Riverside-based financial planner with Ameriprise Financial.

“I’m finding more people who are breathing a sigh of relief that maybe they’re breaking even,” Itzen said. “But I don’t see a rush or any big desire to sell and buy up.”

Itzen added that the trend could entice some homeowners who have been renting their properties to sell if they are tired of the expense and responsibilities that come with being a landlord.

CoreLogic reported 294,132 Inland properties with upside-down mortgages in the fourth quarter of 2012. That number was down to 257,595 in the first quarter.

Residential property values have risen steadily for more than a year. Earlier this week, real estate information network DataQuick reported that the median sales price in San Bernardino County in May was up 28 percent from a year ago and up almost 23 percent in Riverside County. That adds up to an estimated $46,000 in equity growth for Inland homeowners in the past 12 months.

Economist John Husing pointed out that during the worst months of the recession in late 2009, almost 55 percent of all Inland homeowners with mortgages were under water, and that number was still close to 50 percent as recently as 2011. The declining numbers mean it’s less likely homeowners will abandon homes and turn Inland communities into eyesores.

Husing said he was concerned that many Inland homes on the sales market are being snapped up by outside investors who do not have a stake in the community. He said the rising home valuations could convince families that the time to get into the market has arrived.

Also, interest rates for mortgages have increased for three straight weeks and are now just below 4 percent for a 30-year loan.

“I think buyers are beginning to understand that prices are moving,” Husing said. “They could be thinking, ‘Oh my god, I’d better get in there.’ ”

Nationally some 9.7 million mortgages, slightly less than 20 percent, had higher balances than the home’s value in the first quarter. The cities with the highest percentages of underwater houses were Tampa-St. Petersburg, Miami, Atlanta, Chicago and Warren, Mich., CoreLogic reported.

Terry Pierson/The Press-Enterprise
Gov. Jerry Brown speaks in Susan Cummins’ 4th grade class at Arlanza Elementary School in Riverside in 2011.

SACRAMENTO — A compromise school-funding formula at the heart of this week’s state budget deal includes more money for suburban and wealthier districts, addressing complaints that an earlier Brown administration plan was unfair.

There will still be extra money targeted at English learners, students receiving free meals, and foster children. But it will comprise a smaller piece of the funding pie than what Brown wanted when he warned his plan’s critics in April that they were in for “the battle of their lives.”

“It’s an improvement, definitely, but we’re still waiting to get all of the details,” said Lori Ordway-Peck, assistant superintendent for business support services at Temecula Valley Unified School District, where officials had raised concerns about the Local Control Funding Formula the governor unveiled in January.

Supporters say the compromise plan will increase funding for schools by about $23 billion over eight years, making up for past cuts while simplifying the state’s school-funding system and helping disadvantaged students close the achievement gap.

Under this week’s agreement, more money will go into base grants for all pupils. The Temecula district, for example, would get a per-pupil increase of more than $3,000, to about $9,400, by 2020-21, according to Department of Finance estimates.

Brown’s formula would have phased in a year earlier, which prevents direct comparisons to the compromise plan.

In seven years, though, Temecula Valley’s per-pupil funding would have increased by only $2,100, based on February estimates by the finance department.

Stacy Coleman, assistant superintendent for business services for the Murrieta Valley Unified School District, said he’s also waiting for more specifics on the proposal.

Murrieta Valley, where about a third of the students are disadvantaged, would receive about $3,000 more in per-pupil funding, to $9,500, by 2020-21. The governor’s earlier plan estimated that the district would receive $9,000 by 2019-20.

Additional base funding is good, Coleman said. He cautioned, though, that the additions could come at the expense of cuts elsewhere. The final result may not be much gain over what the district had expected under existing law, he said.

Disadvantaged districts

Inland districts with large percentages of disadvantaged students, such as Fontana Unified, San Bernardino City Unified and Val Verde Unified, would get almost twice as much in per-pupil funding by the time this week’s compromise takes full effect.

Dale Marsden, superintendent of San Bernardino City Unified, said the compromise formula is just as good for his district as the governor’s January proposal.

“There are no losers,” Marsden said. “Everybody’s base has gone up. But we still have a long way to go.”

This week’s agreement includes “supplemental” payments to districts. Those will be equal to 20 percent of the base grant for every disadvantaged student. Brown had wanted 35 percent.

And districts will qualify for extra “concentration” funding when 55 percent of their students are disadvantaged, up from a 50-percent threshold in the governor’s approach.

Some districts also will get an “economic recovery payment” to restore them to 2007-08 revenue levels.

“What we have here is a final agreement that has the same essential architecture as the governor’s proposal, with some changes,” Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer said Wednesday.

Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown, whose district includes the Fontana and San Bernardino districts, was an early backer of the governor’s plan.

“I’m here with members who are from suburbia,” Brown, D-San Bernardino, said. “They were really concerned they were being short-changed. The way this has turned out, no one is short-changed. Those who need more, will get more.”

Governor’s plan

Some Inland school officials, though, said the governor’s plan would have been better for districts with mid-range percentages of disadvantaged students.

Mike Fine, Riverside Unified’s deputy superintendent for business services, said the district will receive about $1,000 less per pupil in supplemental money under the compromise. About two-thirds of the district’s 40,000 pupils are disadvantaged.

Brown’s acceptance of this week’s deal, Fine said, “was a little shocking to me. I think it goes against some of the governor’s principles.”

The approach to distribute the concentration money, Fine added, fails to recognize that some districts — such as Riverside Unified and Corona-Norco Unified — are short of the 55 percent threshold but have schools that meet it. Senate Democrats had voiced similar complaints about the governor’s plan but signed on to the compromise.

Assembly President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, praised the agreement. It gets more money to all districts, he said, while maintaining the essence of the governor’s “progressive proposal.”

BY JIM MILLER AND

MICHELLE KLAMPESTAFF WRITERS

June 12, 2013