Additional officers from the San Bernardino Police Department will be out on patrol on Thursday, August 15, 2020 from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. looking for drivers suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the San Bernardino Police Department is committed to keeping the public safe when they need to run essential errands, “Safety is paramount, but especially during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Sergeant Jeff Harvey said. “We are all in this together and want everyone to be as safe as possible when they are out. One way to do that is by not driving impaired.”

The San Bernardino Police Department reminds the public that impaired driving is not just from alcohol. Some prescription medications or over-the-counter drugs may interfere with driving. Always follow directions for use and read warning labels about driving or” operating heavy machinery,” which includes driving a car. While medicinal and recreational marijuana are legal, driving under the influence of marijuana is illegal.

If you plan on drinking or taking medications that may impact your ability to drive safely, plan on staying at home. Driving sober is your safest bet. Drivers caught driving impaired and charged with DUI will pay a stiff price: an average of $13,500 in fines and penalties, as well as a suspended license.

The San Bernardino Police Department will have additional officers on patrol on Friday, August 14, 2020 from 06:00 a.m. to 06:00 p.m. making sure drivers and passengers are wearing their safety belt. Drivers and passengers who do not have a safety belt on will be stopped and ticketed. This also includes drivers who do not secure children in child safety seats.

In California, the fine for a safety belt violation is $162. The fine for not securing a child in a child safety seat is $490. In 2016, 426 people killed in crashes across the state were unrestrained.

Under California law, children under two years old who weigh under 40 pounds or are under 40 inches tall must ride in a rear-facing car seat. Children under the age of eight or under 4’ 9” tall must be secured in a car or booster seat.

Meals Now Available for Pickup from 8 to 11 a.m.

San Bernardino City Unified School District (SBCUSD) will continue to provide free Grab and Go Meals to students on Mondays and Wednesdays.

All SBCUSD students, regardless of family income, are eligible for free Grab and Go Meals. Both breakfast and lunch to-go meals are available for pick up Mondays and Wednesdays from 8 to 11 a.m. Distribution ends at 11 a.m. to protect families from heat-related health issues and to prevent food from spoiling in high temperatures. However, students will be provided with multiple meals at a time. Families are encouraged to refrigerate those meals to maintain food safely.

“Originally, meal distribution was scheduled to start at 9 a.m., but due to overwhelming requests by families that meal distribution start earlier, our Nutrition Services team responded quickly to add an hour and start distribution at 8 a.m.,” said Executive Director of Community Engagement Ginger Ontiveros. “We believe that parent and student input is vital to school success, and we continue to do our best to meet the needs of our families in these unpredictable and unprecedented circumstances.”

Families will be required to provide the name and school of each child for which they are picking up meals. Every student is eligible to receive five days worth of meals each week.

Grab and Go Meal distribution is at the following locations:

Cajon High School, 1200 West Hill Drive, San Bernardino

Del Vallejo Leadership & STEAM Academy, 1885 East Lynwood Drive, San Bernardino

H. Frank Dominguez Elementary School, 135 S. Allen Street, San Bernardino

Golden Valley Middle School, 3800 North Waterman Avenue, San Bernardino

Indian Springs High School, 650 North Del Rosa Drive, San Bernardino

Juanita Blakely Jones Elementary School, 700 North F Street, San Bernardino

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, 1250 Medical Center Drive, San Bernardino

Muscoy Elementary School, 2119 West Blake Street, San Bernardino

Pacific High School, 1020 Pacific Street, San Bernardino

Richardson PREP HI Middle School, 455 South K Street, San Bernardino

San Bernardino High School, 1850 North E Street, San Bernardino

San Gorgonio High School, 2299 Pacific Street, San Bernardino

Serrano Middle School, 3131 Piedmont Drive, Highland

Thompson Elementary School, 7401 Church Avenue, Highland

Vermont Elementary School, 3695 Vermont Street, San Bernardino

As of August 3, Chavez Middle School is no longer a Grab and Go Meal distribution site.

A map of Grab and Go Meal distribution sites is available on the District’s website. For more information, call (909) 381-1224.

Stacy Augustine, a husband, father and 31-year resident of Rialto, believes that moving here in 1989 was one of the best decisions he’s ever made. Not only for himself but for his children as well who have grown to become successful adults with their own families.

Regarding his City of residence, Stacy states: “I have observed many positive changes occurring throughout Rialto and as a constituent, I believe in the advancement of this great City. As a council member, I want to address the homelessness, lack of livable wage jobs, work with the Rialto Police Department to reduce crime and ensure our senior population has access to City services.”

Stacy earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from the University of Atlanta. For the past 15 years, he has been the Operations Manager for a large food-manufacturing corporation located here in Rialto. He currently oversees eight (8) supervisors, eight (8) managers and over 300 employees. In total, Stacy has over 40 years of experience in food and beverage manufacturing. He also owns his own electrical contracting business and a brand new up and coming restaurant in Downtown Rialto called “Jack’s Grill and Billiards.” Stacy is no stranger to management and entrepreneurship as his ambition was sparked many years ago while managing his family-owned restaurant “Bar None Bar B Que” in Los Angeles, CA.

Stacy has played a key role in enhancing Rialto’s critical infrastructure by serving as Chairman of Rialto’s Budget Advisory Committee and as a Transportation Commissioner. He also served on the Board of the Rialto Chamber of Commerce from 2005-2010. Stacy has always been a natural born leader with the desire to serve others. With his proven leadership and business experience, Stacy will be a promising addition to the Rialto City Council. He believes that all problems are solvable with the right mindset, correct initiative and creativity. Stacy’s values, integrity and decision-making skill set will assist him as your next Rialto City Council Member!

Stacy Augustine’s campaign office is looking for volunteers and donations. For more information, visit ElectStacyAugustine.com and his social media at Facebook: Stacy Augustine Instagram: elect_stacy_augustine and Twitter: stacyaugustine12

By John Coleman, Community Photographer

Rebellion against authority has been a big feature of governance and society in America since it’s early days. Rebellion against the authority of the King of England over the control of England’s 13 colonies in North America lead to the Revolutionary War; the independence of the people and government of the United States of America; The U.S. Constitution; and the “Bill of Rights”.

But among the number of issues NOT effectively resolved by “the Revolution”,   “the Constitution”,   or “the Bill of Rights”,    was the “peculiar institution” of slavery in the U.S. as the country grew and evolved, and conflicts emerged over who had the “right” and power to decide outcomes.

The issue opened with whether the “Federal government” or the individual state (in collection with like-minded individual states) was the decision-maker. This opinion was more widely shared in the mainly agricultural sections of the country known as ‘the South’, as distinguished from the increasingly mercantile ‘North’. In many areas of the South there were many more enslaved Black people than there were Whites, who feared revolts and retribution.

To Southern officials, the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 was taken as a rejection and a sign that the South HAD to go its own way. Southern states withdrew ‘membership’ in the United States; established its ‘own’ Army and Navy; (almost ALL had been ‘regulars ‘ of the United States); and eventually fired another ‘shot heard around the world’. War again became THE instrument for ‘problem-solving’!

In September 1862, in the middle of America’s horrendously bloody Civil War (referred to in ‘the South’ as “the war between the states”) President Lincoln issued a Presidential Order, under his authority, during wartime, to go into effect on January 1, 1863, as an “Emancipation Proclamation”, which ordered that “ALL PERSONS HELD AS SLAVES ” WITHIN THE REBELLIOUS STATES “ARE AND HENCEFORTH SHALL BE FREE !…” Furthermore, Lincoln pointedly directed the military to fully and faithfully effect this order.

As the Civil War was going on, the Emancipation Proclamation and Lincoln’s authority was disregarded by the Confederate South, which greatly depended on slavery to support its economy, and for the labor support for its Army; however, the Emancipation Proclamation helped turn the tide of the war. Every advance of the Union Army expanded the areas of freedom and great numbers of newly-freed men enlisted into the U.S. Army, & Navy. By the time the Civil War ended, almost 200,000 Black men fought for the Union AND for freedom!

Still, until the end of the war and the presence of Union troops, the Emancipation Proclamation had no liberating effect in many areas. Only after the surrender of the Confederacy and the arrival of Union General, Granger, with 2,000 Federal troops into Galveston, Texas, on June 18 and 19, 1865, did the dream of FREEDOM become real.

Riverside’s 11th Annual Juneteenth Celebration had many similarities with Southern celebrations in the years following emancipation. Inside the Stratton Center at Bordwell Park there were speakers, displays and reading material about African American inventors, educators, performers and organizations whose work benefitted society. Most people however, preferred to be outside where there was food, music, dancing, performances, and gatherings of families and friends enjoying their freedom to celebrate.  ‘Twas  a bright, sunny “Juneteenth” day.

Where are ‘we’ now?    2020,     Pandemic?     “United? States”   Governance?      Laws & “Justice”?      

Perhaps ‘we’ can check back in another 150 years.

The San Bernardino City Unified School District (SBCUSD) Board of Education promoted two longtime, highly qualified administrators to key executive positions during its meeting on Tuesday, August 4.

Dr. Sandra Rodriguez, a passionate advocate for providing high-quality education for all students, is the new assistant superintendent of Student Services. The division oversees a variety of programs aimed at student support and enrichment, including the Family Engagement Office and CAPS. Dr. Marcus Funchess, a former elementary school principal and Human Resources director in SBCUSD, was promoted to assistant superintendent of Human Resources. The Human Resources Division oversees the hiring and development of District employees.

Dr.  Rodriguez is attuned to the needs of the community. She is a San Bernardino resident and a 1990 graduate of Cajon High School. She has devoted her entire educational career to serving the students of San Bernardino and Highland. She has worked for SBCUSD for more than 20 years, dedicating her career to ensuring each child graduates from high school ready for college and career. While pursuing that goal, she has worked in varying roles in education, including as a classified employee, a high school Special Education teacher, and an assistant principal. She was the principal of San Bernardino High School from 2006 to 2015. Most recently, Dr. Rodriguez served as the director of Employee Relations, where she was responsible for ensuring good communication among different employee groups and maintaining effective labor relations.

Dr. Rodriguez earned her doctorate in Educational Leadership from Azusa Pacific University. Her passion for student advocacy, diversity, and academic progress drives everything that she does.

“I believe that when teachers and staff know every student in their school by name and need, we can tailor their educational experience to bring out the best in them,” Dr. Rodriguez said of her philosophy of fostering student success.

As assistant superintendent of Human Resources, Dr. Funchess will guide the hiring of the region’s best teachers and support personnel. With more than 8,000 teaching and non-teaching employees, SBCUSD is one of the largest employers in San Bernardino County and the ninth-largest school district in California.

In 2014, Funchess earned his doctorate in Leadership for Educational Justice from the University of Redlands. In 2016, he joined SBCUSD’s Human Resources Division where he has managed day-to-day operations and been involved in hiring more than 200 teachers and other certificated employees to make sure schools are fully staffed. Dr. Funchess collaboratively developed the Aspiring Administrator program to grow and develop aspiring SBCUSD leaders from within the District’s own ranks. His focus on creating opportunities for advancement within SBCUSD doesn’t just include current employees. Dr. Funchess developed the Golden Bell Award-winning Grow Our Own initiative to educate and hire the next generation of educators from within the community. Current SBCUSD students who are interested in careers in education are encouraged to pursue their dreams with support from the District, even after leaving high school, and return to SBCUSD to share their knowledge and experience.

“My goal is to build an empowered workforce for the San Bernardino City Unified community,” Dr. Funchesssaid.

Prior to his role with Human Resources, Dr. Funchess served as the principal at Henry and Thompson Elementary Schools and was an elementary school teacher.

Funchess and Rodriguez are a testament to the quality of leadership within the District, said Interim Superintendent Dr. Harold J. Vollkommer.

“Sandra and Marcus are proven leaders with extensive experience serving all levels of our school system,” Vollkommer said. “Both have a successful track record of implementing meaningful programs, with results that were evident across our school district. We look forward to introducing them to stakeholders in the coming weeks.”

The District also announced the promotion of SBCUSD graduate Dorie Stratton, who was promoted to principal of San Andreas High School. She has worked for the District for 18 years, most recently as assistant principal at San Andreas since 2017. The award-winning alternative high school serves students who are deficient in credits necessary to graduate. 

Senate Republicans, by rejecting the Congressional COVID-19 Stimulus Plan, are encouraging COVID-19, suppressing the economy, suppressing the vote and promoting chaos! Cashless renters are facing eviction… Cashless mini-landlords and cashless homeowners are threatened with foreclosure! Small and large businesses are closing because they have no consumers!

The Republican leadership is obviously willing to kill urban dwelling minorities and Democrats! The red state governors proved that with their “no mask- crowds welcome- get back to work” policies utilized in their urban area! This opinion was declared ridiculous when I first suggested it in March… Now the term “killer republicans” has a hat-rack!

The fact that the COVID-19 stimulus, if delivered, will also benefit poor and middle class Republican voters, is either invisible to or ignored by Senate Republicans! It appears that Senate Republicans are mean-spirited enough to sacrifice poor and middle class republican voters along with minorities and Democrats! They are willing to do it all in order to maintain their racist, inequitable, self-serving, freedom eroding power.

People are dying daily from the virus and yet, Republican leaders are still sending mixed messages regarding COVID-19 policy… Their lack of action on the stimulus plan will definitely suppress the small business economy! It will cause evictions which will disproportionately affect minorities and poor people… Evictions and foreclosures will cause address changes, which can void voter registrations and suppress votes!

Walk together children, and don’t you get weary! There is a long hot road ahead!

Written from the Desk of Joseph Williams

I am grateful for the trust and keenly aware of the responsibility to serve our community college students at a time of historical challenges, but great possibilities. 

I am humbled that Governor Gavin Newsom understands the importance of regional inclusion and elevating the Inland Empire into the statewide conversation as it relates to higher education. 

The Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges sets policy and provides guidance for the 73 districts and 115 colleges that constitute the system.

The Board of Governors also selects a chancellor for the system. The chancellor brings recommendations to the board, which has the legislatively granted authority to develop and implement policy for the colleges. In addition, the Board of Governors serves as the Board of Trustees for the California Online Community College District.

I look forward to my service on the California Community Colleges Board of Governors, continuing my work on the San Bernardino Community College District Board of Trustees, and collaborating with everyone who are passionate about helping students succeed.

This is a State appointment; however, I appreciate the local and regional support from my constituents, whom I will continue to represent through tenacity and honor. 

I got you!

By Lou Yeboah

“And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, Woe, Woe, to the inhabitants of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! [Revelation 8:13]. One more trumpet blast will sound. One more final woe is coming upon the earth. Repent NOW before there will be no more time to repent!

Listen, God sends warnings and redemptive judgments so that we will change our course. If His warnings are ignored and His redemptive judgments do not produce repentance and reformation, God will send a destroyer to destroy the unrepentant. If the situation is not redeemable, God will send totally destructive judgments. Do not bring harm to yourself [Jeremiah 25:4-5]. Repent NOW before there will be no more time to repent! If you do not, thus saith the Lord:  ‘Because you have not listened to my words, I will summon all the peoples of the north…, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy [you] and make [you] an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. I will banish from [you] the sounds of joy and gladness, the voice of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. This whole country will become a desolate wasteland…” [Jeremiah 25: 8-11].

Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand! Repent, Repent, Repent! For as I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked: but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn! Turn from your evil ways. For why should you die? [Ezekiel 33:11]. Judgment is about to come to the earth like never before. The storm is about to break in all of its fury. Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. [Luke 13:3]. You see, the “Third Woe” involves the seven last plagues [Revelation 16]. I tell you, a prudent man sees danger and takes refuge… the simple keep going and suffer for it.” [Proverbs 22:3]. Repent while there is still time! “Come out of her, lest you share in her sins, and receive of her plagues.” [Rev.18:4]. “For He swore by him who lives forever and, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, “There will be NO MORE DELAY!” [Rev.10:6]. Turn away from your sin and turn to God NOW. Desire to have nothing to do with sin! “…God is not wishing that [you] should perish, but that [you] should reach repentance.” [2Peter 3:9]. I tell you, the “Third Woe” is coming soon! Repent NOW before there will be no more time to repent!