Below are the high school graduates and valedictorians for the 2020 school year. Congratulations to all of our graduates. Our hearts go out to you during these difficult times.
Anderson School: Graduates: Undetermined at this time
Arroyo Valley High School: Valedictorians: Veronica Banuelos, Edward Dominic Castaneda, and Jesus Giselle Pantoja. Salutatorian: Natalie Luna. Graduates: 580*
Cajon High School: Valedictorians: Tomas Ascencion Flores, Randy Gerond Medley, Elysia Rios, Brad Joseph Bolluyt, Serenity Ngoc Chavez, Thu Anh Nguyen, Ryan Daniel Chapin, Trevor Allen Chapin, and Yulissa Guadalupe Sanchez. Salutatorians: Raziel Plata Serrato, Moremi Elize Olora, Saul Mercado, and Abigail Grace Willis. Graduates: 652*
Indian Springs High School: Valedictorian: Kyla Duhart. Salutatorian: Kacey Lam. Graduates: 376*
Inland Career Education Center (formerly San Bernardino Adult School): Graduates: 125*
Middle College High School: Valedictorians: Naeli Marie Mills and Adriana Toledo Calvillo. Salutatorians: Lester Cedeno, Antonia Lopez-Vega, and Samuel Rojo-Aguayo. Graduates: 62*
San Bernardino High School: Valedictorian: Remijia Plascencia. Salutatorians: Anthony Craddock and Jose Rosales-Torres. Graduates: 311*
San Gorgonio High School: Valedictorians: Matthew Jackson, Henry Luu, and Jeffry Umana. Salutatorians: Maia Garcia and Dennis Phan. Graduates: 400*
Sierra High School: Graduates: 200*
Approximately 3,150 San Bernardino City Unified School District students will receive their high school diplomas or GED certification this year. This does not include those graduating from vocational programs.
Side Note: Anderson serves students ages 12 to 22 with a variety of physical and intellectual challenges. Graduates receive a certificate of completion, not a high school diploma. Graduate counts are approximate at this time.
The Justice Department said Monday that federal prosecutors are weighing possible hate crime charges in the slaying of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man gunned down after being pursued by two armed White men in a Georgia subdivision.
Arbery was fatally shot February 23 by a father and son who told police they chased him because they believed he was a burglar. They were arrested last week, more than two months later, on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault after video of the shooting appeared online.
Georgia has no hate crime law
Attorneys for Arbery’s parents and others, including Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and the Southern Poverty Law Center, have asked for a federal investigation. Georgia has no hate crime law allowing charges at the state level.
“We are assessing all of the evidence to determine whether federal hate crimes charges are appropriate,” Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in a statement Monday.
Previously, a Justice Department spokesman had said the FBI is assisting in the investigation and the department would assist if a federal crime is uncovered.
Feds considering investigating local police
Kupec’s statement Monday also said the Justice Department was considering Carr’s request for federal authorities to investigate how local police and prosecutors handled the case. She said Carr has been asked to “forward to federal authorities any information that he has.”
Gregory McMichael, 64, and his 34-year-old son, Travis McMichael, are jailed on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault in Arbery’s slaying. Gregory McMichael is a former Glynn County police officer who later worked 20 years as an investigator for the local district attorney’s office. He retired a year ago.
The father and son told police they thought Arbery matched the appearance of a burglary suspect who they said had been recorded on a surveillance camera some time before, according to the Glynn County police report filed after the shooting.
Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, has said she thinks her 25-year-old son, a former high school football player, was just jogging in the neighborhood before he was killed.
Man who recorded video not charged
Meanwhile, a man identifying himself as the person who recorded the cellphone video of the shooting said he’s received death threats.
William “Roddie” Bryan is identified as a witness in the police report taken after Arbery’s shooting. He appears to be mentioned in a single sentence of the report, which says Gregory McMichael told an officer that “‘Roddy’ attempted to block (Arbery) which was unsuccessful.”
“I had nothing to do with it. I’m trying to get my life back to normal, and it’s been smeared for the last week,” Bryan told WJAX-TV in an interview that aired Monday.
“I was told I was a witness and I’m not sure what I am, other than receiving a bunch of threats.”
Bryan has not been charged in the case. The TV station reported Bryan would not discuss his involvement in the events that led to Arbery’s death.
Outside prosecutors were appointed to handle the case. But the McMichaels weren’t arrested until last week. After video of the shooting leaked online Tuesday, the lead prosecutor on the case asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to look into the shooting. The McMichaels were arrested Thursday.
It was not known Monday whether the McMichaels had attorneys to represent them. They had no lawyers at their first court appearance Friday.
The leaked video shows a Black man running at a jogging pace. The truck is stopped in the road ahead of him, with one of the White men standing in the pickup’s bed and the other beside the open driver’s side door.
The running man attempts to pass the pickup on the passenger side, moving just beyond the truck, briefly outside the camera’s view. A gunshot sounds, and the video shows the running man grappling with a man over what appears to be a shotgun or rifle. A second shot can be heard, and the running man can be seen punching the other man. A third shot is fired at point-blank range. The running man staggers a few feet and falls face down.
This photo combo of images taken Thursday, May 7, 2020, and provided by the Glynn County Detention Center, in Georgia, show Gregory McMichael, left, and his son Travis McMichael. The two have been charged with murder in the February shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, whom they had pursued in a truck after spotting him running in their neighborhood. (Glynn County Detention Center via AP)
It will probably be safe to group and gather at work when City Councils, County Supervisors, School Boards, State Legislatures and Congress members begin meeting face to face. When the Courts open up the courts. When the New York Stock Exchange opens the floor for trading. When the NBA, MLB and NFL team owners meet in the same room to negotiate with their respective Players Union representatives. When the medical and scientific experts are comfortable meeting with the public in person to discuss COVID-19. Until then, please continue to wash your hands, keep your distance, wear a mask, and evolve into the healthy lifestyle that will build your immune system and help you fight off the virus!
Little Richard, the self-proclaimed “architect of rock ‘n’ roll” whose piercing wail, pounding piano and towering pompadour irrevocably altered popular music while introducing black R&B to white America, died Saturday. He was 87.
Pastor Bill Minson, a close friend of Little Richard’s, told The Associated Press that Little Richard died Saturday morning. His son, Danny Jones Penniman, also confirmed his father’s death, which was first reported by Rolling Stone.
Danny Jones Penniman said his father had cancer.
Born Richard Penniman, Little Richard was one of rock’n’roll’s founding fathers who helped shatter the color line on the music charts, joining Chuck Berry and Fats Domino in bringing what was once called “race music” into the mainstream.
Richard’s hyperkinetic piano playing, coupled with his howling vocals and hairdo, made him an implausible sensation — a gay, black man celebrated across America during the buttoned-down Eisenhower era.
He sold more than 30 million records worldwide, and his influence on other musicians was equally staggering, from the Beatles and Otis Redding to Creedence Clearwater Revival and David Bowie.
Wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom
In his personal life, he wavered between raunch and religion, alternately embracing the Good Book and outrageous behavior and looks – mascara-lined eyes, pencil-thin mustache and glittery suits.
“Little Richard? That’s rock ‘n’ roll,” Neil Young, who heard Richard’s riffs on the radio in Canada, told biographer Jimmy McDonough. “Little Richard was great on every record.”
It was 1956 when his classic “Tutti Frutti” landed like a hand grenade in the Top 40, exploding from radios and off turntables across the country. It was highlighted by Richard’s memorable call of “wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom.”
A string of hits followed, providing the foundation of rock music: “Lucille,” “Keep A Knockin’,” “Long Tall Sally,” “Good Golly Miss Molly.” More than 40 years after the latter charted, Bruce Springsteen was still performing “Good Golly Miss Molly” live.
The Beatles’ Paul McCartney imitated Richard’s signature yelps — perhaps most notably in the “Wooooo!” from the hit “She Loves You.” Ex-bandmate John Lennon covered Richard’s “Rip It Up” and “Ready Teddy” on the 1975 “Rock and Roll” album.
Little Richard in 1966. The self-proclaimed “architect of rock ‘n’ roll” whose piercing wail, pounding piano and towering pompadour irrevocably altered popular music while introducing black R&B to white America, has died Saturday, May 9, 2020.(AP Photo, File)
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
When the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opened in 1986, he was among the charter members with Elvis Presley, Berry, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Sam Cooke and others.
“It is with a heavy heart that I ask for prayers for the family of my lifelong friend and fellow rocker Little Richard,” said Lewis, 84, in a statement provided by his publicist.
“He will live on always in my heart with his amazing talent and his friendship! He was one of a kind and I will miss him dearly. God bless his family and fans.”
Few were quicker to acknowledge Little Richard’s seminal role than Richard himself. The flamboyant singer claimed he paved the way for Elvis, provided Mick Jagger with his stage moves and conducted vocal lessons for McCartney.
“I am the architect of rock ‘n’ roll!” Little Richard crowed at the 1988 Grammy Awards as the crowd rose in a standing ovation. “I am the originator!”
One of 12 children in Macon, Ga.
Richard Wayne Penniman was born in Macon, Georgia, during the Great Depression, one of 12 children. He was ostracized because he was effeminate and suffered a small deformity: his right leg was shorter than his left.
The family was religious, and Richard sang in local churches with a group called the Tiny Tots. The tug-of-war between his upbringing and rock ‘n’ roll excess tormented Penniman throughout his career.
Penniman was performing with bands by the age of 14, but there were problems at home over his sexual orientation. His father beat the boy and derided him as “half a son.”
Richard left home to join a minstrel show run by a man known as Sugarloaf Sam, occasionally appearing in drag.
In late 1955, Little Richard recorded the bawdy “Tutti Frutti,” with lyrics that were sanitized by a New Orleans songwriter. It went on to sell 1 million records over the next year.
When Little Richard’s hit was banned by many white-owned radio stations, white performers like Pat Boone and Elvis Presley did cover versions that topped the charts.
Fired Jimi Hendrix
Little Richard went Hollywood with an appearance in “Don’t Knock the Rock.” But his wild lifestyle remained at odds with his faith, and a conflicted Richard quit the business in 1957 to enroll in a theological school and get married.
Richard remained on the charts when his label released previously recorded material. And he recorded a gospel record, returning to his roots.
A 1962 arrest for a sexual encounter with a man in a bus station restroom led to his divorce and return to performing.
He mounted three tours of England between 1962 and 1964, with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones serving as opening acts. Back in the States, he put together a band that included guitarist Jimi Hendrix — and later fired Hendrix when he was late for a bus.
In 1968, Richard hit Las Vegas and relaunched his career. Within two years, he had another hit single and made the cover of Rolling Stone.
Cocaine and recovery
By the mid-1970s, Richard was battling a $1,000-a-day cocaine problem and once again abandoned his musical career. He returned to religion, selling Bibles and renouncing homosexuality. For more than a decade, he vanished.
“If God can save an old homosexual like me, he can save anybody,” Richard said.
But he returned, in 1986, in spectacular fashion. Little Richard was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and appeared in the movie “Down and Out in Beverly Hills.”
A Little Richard song from the soundtrack, “Great Gosh A’Mighty,” even put him back on the charts for the first time in more than 15 years.
Little Richard was back to stay, enjoying another dose of celebrity that he fully embraced.
Macon, Georgia, named a street after its favorite son. And Little Richard was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In August 2002, he announced his retirement from live performing. But he continued to appear frequently on television, including a humorous appearance on a 2006 commercial for GEICO insurance.
Richard had hip surgery in November 2009 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, and asked fans at the time to pray for him. He lived in the Nashville area at the time. _____ Former Associated Press Writer Larry McShane contributed to this report
“L.A. County is continuing its progress on the road to recovery, with planned reopening of beaches for active recreation and an expansion of permitted retail activities coming tomorrow. While the Safer at Home orders will remain in place over the next few months, restrictions will be gradually relaxed under our 5-stage Roadmap to Recovery, while making sure we are keeping our communities as safe as possible during this pandemic,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health.
“We are being guided by science and data that will safely move us forward along the road to recovery in a measured way—one that allows us to ensure that effective distancing and infection control measures are in place. We’re counting on the public’s continued compliance with the orders to enable us to relax restrictions, and we are committed to making sure that L.A. County is in the best position to provide its 10 million residents with the highest level of wellness possible as we progressively get back to normal.”
The services are meant to help vulnerable seniors fight food insecurity during COVID-19 pandemic
From quick meals that can be picked up to food dropped off at homes, Riverside County is offering several free food options to disabled and vulnerable adults as stay-at-home orders continue during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Adults who have a disability or are over age 60 can contact Riverside County Office on Aging, which offers food delivery for critical emergencies, two weeks supply of pantry and essential items, home-delivered meals, and Grab-and-Go meal packages at community center locations.
“We have a number of programs, depending on our callers’ needs and nutritional risk. We will tailor enrollment to any one or more of these important nutrition programs,” said Gary Robbins, Deputy Director for Programs and Operations with Office on Aging. “We’re averaging almost 1,200 calls a day at this point, and our requests for food have tripled. I’d encourage folks who want to find out more to visit the Office on Aging website or send us an email.”
Seniors or disabled adults can call 800-510-2020 or visit rcAging.org to determine their need for any one of the following service options:
Grab-and-Go Meals: Up to seven to 14 days of cooked and frozen meals ready for pick up
Courtesy Pantry: Two weeks supply of food delivered within five to seven days
Home-Delivered Meals: Up to seven to 14 days of delivered food with no contact for vulnerable adults
Emergency Meals: Up to three days of immediate food delivered to fragile adults and seniors
Details on Office on Aging’s program can be found at rcAging.org. Riverside County has also released a map showing where senior meals, school meals and food pantries are available.
To meet the growing need, the state of California is also launching a restaurant meal delivery program specifically for seniors who don’t qualify for other food assistance programs.
“I am very proud of the Riverside County Office on Aging, which has been leading a number of innovative programs and will soon have this new effort up and running to further support Riverside County’s senior population,” said Board Chair V. Manuel Perez, Fourth District Supervisor. “This is a great program because it enhances food security and the senior safety net that provide service and dignity that all senior citizens in our community deserve. This program has many wins for our communities, it will help our seniors, our restaurants and taxi industry. We encourage any senior in need and any restaurant in our community that wishes to partner in this program to contact us.”
Office on Aging wants restaurants, especially those who deliver, to fill out a contact form or email rcaging@rivco.org if they want to participate in the program.
Once implemented, seniors will be able to select from preapproved restaurants, who will deliver a maximum of three meals a day to their homes. More details on the newly announced statewide program can be found here or at rcAging.org.
Firefighters responded to a 3-alarm commercial structure fire at the vacant Splash Kingdom water park early Saturday morning, May 2. No injuries were reported.
Crews arriving to the 5:30 a.m. blaze found heavy smoke showing from the distinctive pyramid-style structure located beside the westbound lanes of Interstate 10 at California Street.
It took firefighters approximately an hour to knock down the blaze. The structure suffered major fire and smoke damage. No other structures were damaged.
While the building was equipped with fire sprinklers, the sprinklers didn’t activate.
In addition to Redlands, crews from Loma Linda, Rialto, Colton, San Bernardino and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians responded to the blaze along with an ambulance from American Medical Response and a crew from Southern California Edison, who cut power to the building.
Damage to the structure is estimated at $750,000. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
REDLANDS, CA—-First responders from Redlands and surrounding agencies paid tribute to health care workers at Redlands Community Hospital with a parade of fire apparatus, police cars and ambulances outside the hospital Tuesday morning, April 28.
Organized by members of the Redlands Fire Department, the parade also included emergency vehicles from the Redlands Police Department, Loma Linda Fire Department and American Medical Response.
After parading by the front of the hospital with lights flashing, the vehicles stopped near the hospital’s emergency entrance where first responders got out of their vehicles and applauded the hospital staff that had briefly assembled outside the building.
The parade was organized as a gesture of gratitude and respect for medical personnel currently treating patients affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The National Day of Prayer Committee will be having the Annual National Day of Prayer on Thursday, May 7, 2020 at 12 p.m. in spite of the COVID19 pandemic.
The committee has been working closely with the Mayor’s office and city leaders, and clergy to see the feasibility to have the prayer gathering due to the social distancing guidelines. However it was decided as long as participants remain in their vehicles, it will be permitted to gather and pray. Many other cities will utilize this same method when they meet and pray in the county.
The SBPU and National Day of Prayer committee is asking the community to join within the corporate prayer. The San Bernardino community residents must remain strong through these challenging times, and trust God to bring us through. For more information call 909-353-7977, or email sbpastorsunited@gmail.com or contact Rev Alan Rosenberg San Bernardino Christian Missionary Alliance, NDP Chair at 909-885-0012. Thank you for your prayers .
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the world. Amen.”
“Seventy sevens are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place,” before judgment come to the earth like never before. [Daniel 9:24-27]. Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. “For I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.” [Genesis 6:13; 17]. But, “for my own name’s sake, I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise, I hold it back from you, so as not to destroy you completely. [Isaiah 48:9]. Repent and return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing, for this is the Final Call. [Joel 2:12-13].
“This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: Vision of Locusts- He was preparing a swarm of locusts…, I cried out, Sovereign Lord, forgive, How can [insert your name] stand? [He\she] is so small.” So, the Lord relented. This will not happen,” the Lord said.
“Then the Sovereign Lord showed me: Vision of Fire- The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land. Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you stop! How can [insert your name] stand? [He/she] is so small.” So the Lord relented. “This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.
“Then, He showed me: Vision of the Plumb Line- The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb-line in His hand. And the Lord asked me, “What do you see…? “A plumb-line,” I replied. Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb-line among my people…; I will spare them no longer… [Amos 7: 1-9].
The passage message. God bears long, but he will not bear always with a provoking people. If God’s word and his warnings are not heeded, then God will judge and punish without any reprieve.
You see, ever since the Great Flood in [Genesis 7], God has given mankind invitation after invitation to escape the Final Judgment. First it was through the Old Testament prophets—but the world didn’t listen. Next it was through the words of Jesus Christ—but the world still didn’t listen. Finally, it was through the Apostle John’s vision in Revelation.
The question is: Are you listening? God’s grace is for a limited time, not forever. God always gives Grace for a period as he did in the days of Noah. In that day he gave a period of 120 years for people to repent their ways. After that Grace period ended, God visited his judgment upon the people of the earth through the flood during which everything perished except Noah and his family of eight persons. Where was God’s Grace when the floods came and all the people died? God’s grace had ended. “And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.” [Genesis 6:3].
In Judah, God sent Jeremiah to preach for about 30 years to the people of Israel to repent until the Babylonian captivity. When Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem in 598 BC hundreds of thousands of people of God’s chosen nation were destroyed and the rest that were not killed was taken faraway into captivity in Babylon. Where was the Grace of God during the time? It had expired.
In 70 AD almost 30 years after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, the Jewish nation still refused to accept that Jesus was truly the Son of God after the preaching of His disciples. In 70 AD Rome attacked Jerusalem and destroyed the City and Temple the second time and killed over 1 million of God’s chosen people. Where was the Grace of God at the time?? It had expired.
If God didn’t spare His own people from His wrath due to their unbelief, unrepentant heart and turning back to Him, what will happen to us when the Grace period expires? Jesus Christ himself declared, there is coming a time of trouble such as there has never been since there was a nation on earth according to Matthew 24.
God’s grace will soon expire. [Revelation 14]. Let us learn a lesson from the fig tree.
“…And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hearth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” [Revelation 22:13-17].
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