Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Rialto Water Case in Stall (San Bernardino Sun 08132007) Legal Wrangling Holds City Back!!!.....

Rialto water case in stall
Legal wrangling holds city back
Jason Pesick, Staff Writer

The long and winding road leading to cleanup of the drinking water around Rialto is getting more tortuous.

On July 31, Goodrich Corp. sued Rialto and other parties in San Bernardino Superior Court to try to force the city to require a local businessman to clean up perchlorate contamination.

Next week, Emhart Industries - a defunct company associated with Black & Decker - Goodrich and Rialto-based Pyro Spectaculars are expected to ask a Los Angeles Superior Court to stay state hearings on the perchlorate contamination.

The legal efforts are the latest action the three companies have taken to thwart the state regulatory bodies trying to get the perchlorate cleaned up.

Perchlorate, a substance used to produce rocket fuel, fireworks and other explosives, has been flowing from Rialto's north end through the city, and possibly into Colton and toward Fontana. Perchlorate can interfere with the thyroid gland, which is important in the development of unborn babies.

"What this is really about is Goodrich's attempt to deflect attention from its own responsibility for contaminating the groundwater," Cris Carrigan, one of Rialto's lawyers, said about the suit against the city.

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BS Ranch Perspective

When there is a huge price tag that is being assessed to this whole conflict there is bound to be a stall some time in the case just so that one side of the case can take the time to see what the heck that the other side is trying to or attempting to pull.

Down the road we discover that there is a possible price of $23,000,000.00 so now that the price tag is possibly that high they thought that they had better take a long recess and have a look at this whole mess!! I just hope that it is recessed for a great long time, because there is something crooked here and it isn't straight, so We had better have a look and see what they are doing. So I hope that they get a chance to have a good long look.

BS Ranch

The StateWater Resources Control Board is scheduled to hold hearings on the contamination - which was discovered in 1997 - later this month. The hearings have been delayed numerous times because of procedural objections raised by the three parties.

In the lawsuit against Rialto, Goodrich claims Rialto is obligated to order Ken Thompson, who owns land where perchlorate has been discovered, to clean up the contamination. It also says Rialto needs to enforce its own 1987 declaration requiring Thompson to clean up the area known as the McLaughlin Pit.

Goodrich has also claimed that the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, whose staff will be arguing against the three companies at the hearings, has not lived up to its responsibility to close the pit properly.

Patrick Palmer, a Goodrich spokesman, said the parties responsible for the contamination should clean it up and that if the proper procedures had been followed in 1987, the perchlorate would have been discovered years earlier. By not pursuing Thompson at the state hearings, Rialto and the Santa Ana board staff are failing to go after one of the responsible parties, Goodrich claims.

"We're very disappointed in this matter, where only select responsible parties and very key facts are being ignored," Palmer said.

Carrigan and Kurt Berchtold, assistant executive officer of the Santa Ana water board, both said their agencies have done nothing wrong and that Thompson might still be pursued in the future.

Thompson hasn't been a focus of the cleanup investigations thus far because he did not discharge perchlorate into the ground; he merely bought property from a party that did, said Scott Sommer, Rialto's lead attorney in the perchlorate matters. So far, the state regulatory agencies have focused on pursuing the parties suspected of actually discharging perchlorate. Any perchlorate he did spread by operating on the site was spread unknowingly because the perchlorate hadn't even been discovered there yet, Sommer said.

Carrigan said it's not even clear what Goodrich wants the city to do and that the suit is just another attempt to outspend state agencies and Rialto by using clever legal tactics.

At last count, Rialto has spent about $15 million on its efforts to investigate the perchlorate and take legal action. As that number has risen, dissatisfaction with the city's legal strategy has mounted.

The three parties being pursued in the state hearings have been criticized for using a number of aggressive legal strategies. One of the environmental groups involved in the hearings, the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, dropped out after being overwhelmed by how difficult the process had become.

In a letter to one of Goodrich's lawyers, Jeffrey Dintzer, the executive officer of the Santa Ana board, Gerard Thibeault, said the parties' legal efforts cost the state $954,000 and 9,430 hours in staff and attorney time in the 2006-07 fiscal year, and the costs are still growing.

At a Rialto City Council meeting on Wednesday, a woman - who identified herself as Donna Worley and claimed to be a concerned citizen - caused quite a stir when she went before the council to complain about the same matters contained in the Goodrich lawsuit. Earlier, she had provided The Sun with information about Thompson, in a letter calling the situation "just another case of the city helping the rich." At the meeting, she mentioned a potential recall of members of the council, prompting a vigorous response from the dais, especially from Councilman Ed Scott, who noted she lives in Burbank and accused her of working for Goodrich.

In the other matter regarding potential court action in Los Angeles, on Tuesday, James Meeder, an attorney for Emhart, wrote a letter on behalf of all three companies saying that if the hearing officer of the state proceedings did not disqualify the state board and the regional board from the process, he would go to court to ask for a stay in the hearings.

The companies claim the Santa Ana board's staff and the state board have taken part in improper communications or are biased against them because the state board handed out grants to local agencies to treat perchlorate. They have also claimed bias on the grounds that the Santa Ana board's staff erred in its handling of the closing of the McLaughlin Pit and is itself therefore partially responsible. Palmer also said the state board has no right to try the matter at this point.

Hearing officer Tam Doduc ruled Saturday against the companies.

"I think their disqualification argument lacks merit, and it would be sad if the proceedings are stayed," Carrigan said.

Berchtold said allegations of bias or that the Santa Ana board tried to cover up its own actions are "just not the case."

If all else fails, a federal trial on the contamination is tentatively scheduled for October 2008.

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BS Ranch Perspective

After reading this it seems that The City of Rialto, and The City Council is being Treated as I was treated when it came to my workers compensation case, It took me 10 years to settle my case, and it was only settled because my lawyer made an offer to settle out of court, well Rialto accepted that offer and that was the only reason that my case was well handled. I even Died On Duty, in a Motorcycle Accident. But that didn't matter.

This case will not be settled and all of the J&K Utility Tax money is going to the lawyer, Owen's so that he can take this case to Court. I don't think that this will go very far in October 88 either...

BS Ranch

Monday, August 13, 2007

Two Die in Gun Battle Outside Rialto Night Club. (Press Enterprise 08052007)

BS Ranch Perspective

It is the case of the Security Guard to do his job and protect the people that are going to that Night Club, One Which is a magnet at times for Hispanic Gangsters that seem to want to bring harm with them as they often do! Funny how the trouble that comes is when you least expect it, I just hope that the job that was done will be seen as a job well done by the District Attorney, after all it Seems That the Men and Woman at the Rialto Police Department have Felt that the Shoot was a good one As they have allowed the Suspect to go Without Booking and the Review of the Case boils down to the District Attorneys Office.

BS Ranch



Two die in gun battle outside Rialto club


  Download story podcast

11:43 PM PDT on Sunday, August 5, 2007
By DUANE W. GANG
The Press-Enterprise

Two people were killed and a third was critically wounded after an early morning gunbattle Sunday outside a Rialto nightclub, police said.

About 1:45 a.m., a crowd had gathered outside the El Patio Nightclub at 333 E. Foothill Blvd. when a confrontation broke out and a man pulled a handgun and opened fire, police said.

The man fatally shot Adrian Alvarado, 17, of Rialto, in the head and wounded Eduardo Marin, 25, in the torso before the club's armed security fatally shot the gunman, Rialto police Sgt. Tim Lane said Sunday.

Alvarado and Marin had been standing in the parking lot when they were hit by gunfire, police said. The club's private security then confronted the gunman, whose identity has not been released, and exchanged gunshots, police said.

The gunman at the scene and the private security guard, whose name was not released, was not injured, police said.

Alvarado and the suspect died at the scene, while Marin was taken to a local hospital where he was in critical condition on Sunday, Lane said.

Police interviewed and released the private security guard, and authorities will forward the case to the San Bernardino County district attorney's office for review, police said.

No one returned a message left at the nightclub on Sunday.

Reach Duane W. Gang at 909-806-3062 or dgang@PE.com

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Renaissance Rialto Project DELAYED ?? (SB Sun 07312007) Economy a factor in plan's slowdown

BS Ranch Perspective

I don't understand why the City Council, City Planning, and the City Administration of Rialto would want to wait on the biggest Commercial planning Event that they have wanted for the past (5) Five years!

Ever since they met in the Cocoa's Restaurant in Diamond Bar, with Rep. Gary Miller (Whittier) and the city Planning Director, and cooked up a plan to close the Rialto Airport, Via a, Pork Measure, Attached to the Largest Transportation Bill that has ever been sent to the Presidents Oval Office to be signed. President Bush Signed the Transportation Bill, Which Meant the Following:
  • The airport could close by a Vote of The City Council
  • The City Council would be Relieved from the money  owed to Expand the Airport in the  1990's
  • As Payment for the "Pork Bill" Rep. Gary Miller's Development Company (Lewis Homes) Would get the contract to Develop the Airport-Instead of the Development job going to a bid
  • They would plan a Commercial Shopping area similar to that of Victoria Gardens, Called Rialto Renaissance @ the I-210
Now that all the paper work is done the airport needs to close, and the Real Estate Sales are in a Slump, by almost 50%, so they decide to take it at a snails Pace, Which means that they will not close the Airport when they had planned, Which was at the end of the Summer 2007, and move the Lease's To The San Bernardino International Airport, where they will be located from now on.

The Businesses that are tied to the Airport all will be moved at the City of Rialto's Expense and they're First Year's Lease will be also Paid by Rialto or the inconvenience of having to move.

Now I agree that the City should pay for all this, but I also think that they made a Schedule and they should live by it. the Freeway is open and the sooner that they develop Rialto, the sooner that they will not have to be paying for Rent at the San Bernardino International Airport!!

City of Rialto Get off the POT, WIPE and GET TO WORK!!

BS Ranch





Renaissance Rialto project delayed
Economy a factor in plan's slowdown
Jason Pesick, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun
Article Launched:07/31/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT

Photo Gallery: Renaissance Rialto

RIALTO - Plans to turn Rialto Municipal Airport and the surrounding area into 1,500 acres of mixed-use development along the 210 Freeway are a little behind schedule, but construction could start sometime next year.

Only a few months ago, it looked as if the City Council would take up a land-use plan for the project, dubbed, later this year and that the airport could be closed this year as well.

But it looks as if the council won't get the proposal until next year, and it's not clear when the airport will close. Officials are even talking about breaking the project into two parts so the commercial zone along the 210 can get going as quickly as possible, said Robb Steel, the city's economic development director.

"I think they're probably re-evaluating some of the things that they had planned with the economy changing," Councilwoman Winnie Hanson said of the developers. She doesn't mind the developers taking their time, she said, if it helps get the project right.

The slowing housing market is a factor in the delay. Steel said the developers, a partnership between the Lewis Group of Companies and Texas-based Hillwood, are considering cutting the amount of housing to be included in the project - and that's why the council will be getting a plan later.

Some city officials also weren't thrilled after a May workshop that discussed the retail options considered for the project.

Until there's a workable plan for the project that the council is happy with, nothing can move forward, Steel said. The developers aren't going to want to pay an estimated $40 million required to relocate the tenants from the airport unless the project is moving forward, Steel said.

Two or three of the airport's 250 tenants have already left, but most probably won't start leaving until the spring, said airport Director Rich Scanlan. The entire process could take nine or 10 months, he said.

The retail zone can be built as long as the north-south runway is closed, meaning the east-west runway could remain open for a while if the project is split in two, Steel said.

The project's environmental impact report is also taking longer than hoped. At the City Council meeting on July 17, the council approved tweaking the EIR.

At the May workshop, consultants and representatives from the development team told council members and residents a Target store will anchor the retail center. It also will likely include an office-supplies store, an electronics store, like Best Buy, and some other large stores.

At the outset, the project won't be able to attract high-end restaurants or shopping, the presenters said. Until the area grows, and wealthier residents move in, the restaurants would probably include places like Applebee's and Red Robin.

Councilman Joe Baca Jr. said he would give the presentation a "C-" at best and that Lewis is going back to the drawing board. He said he's interested in creating a lake in the project and wants there to be community-oriented venues like a movie theater even if they don't generate a ton of sales-tax revenue.

Aside from thinking about reducing the number of homes, Lewis is making small changes to the project, Steel said.

"There is some retooling, but it's not radically different as far as the retail side goes," he said. He agreed the presentation about the types of tenants the area could attract did worry some of the council members, but he said he thought the presentation was also optimistic because the presenters pointed out that as the area grows, it will be able to attract higher-end tenants. Those could include The Cheesecake Factory, P.F. Chang's, California Pizza Kitchen or Claim Jumper, according to a report by Greg Stoffel, a retail consultant on the project.

Some of the properties near the main retail area could host entertainment venues like a movie theater, Steel said.

Hanson said developing the area will take time.

"I do know that luring a higher quality store is not easy, but I think they will come."


Wednesday, August 08, 2007

IT's Time For Rialto to Call in the E.P.A.!!! A.S.A.P.!!

It's time for Rialto to call in the EPA
Article Launched:07/16/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT

When is enough enough? When should Rialto throw in the towel and call in the big dogs?
The city has been fighting for a decade to get suspected polluters, including major corporations and the Pentagon, to pay the costs of cleaning up perchlorate that has contaminated Rialto's wells. But the lawsuits and extended legal battle have cost more than $18 million so far and could go much higher.
And while Rialto's city attorney seems content to play David to the suspected polluters' Goliath - albeit, with the help of a cadre of top-level lawyers - it's chiefly customers of the city's water utility that have had to bear the burden, and the brunt of the costs, with no quick end in sight. So far, the city has spent the equivalent of its Police Department's budget on the fight.
The city's water agency serves about half of Rialto, with Fontana Water Co. and West Valley Water serving the rest. And so, it is about half of Rialto residents who are footing the bill for the city's legal juggernaut. The surcharge on water bills starts at $6.85 a month and rises from there.
If Rialto eventually wins its case in court, resident ratepayers will be reimbursed. But that could be a long time in coming. And the total for actual cleanup of the contaminant could be $300 million.
Besides ratepayers' hefty chunk, the City Council also contributed $5 million from general fund reserves to escalate the fight last year. But even the council has become leery, without seeing much in the way of results.
Why won't Rialto call in the cavalry and ask the feds for help? We're sure city ratepayers would like to know.
Why is it that the city has insisted on going it alone, without bringing the resources of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to bear?
Commenting on Rialto's reluctance to do the logical thing, Penny Newman, executive director of the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, said, "I think going with EPA and the Superfund program is probably the strongest mechanism a city or community has. I'm always amazed that people - communities - shy away from that."
Indeed, Rialto has become almost territorial in pursuing the fight on its own. It's almost as if time and money were no object. Let the ratepayers pay it - that seems to be the city's attitude.
But with the pricetag reaching into the millions, it's time to regroup. The city needs to take a more regional approach and spread out the costs.
Rialto initially considered going with EPA. But after looking at a variety of Superfund projects, and finding that each took 17 to 27 years to start cleanup, the city felt it would take too long, said City Attorney Bob Owen.
So, this is any better? How long does the city expect ratepayers to keep fronting litigation costs?
The state Water Resources Control Board, which has taken over from the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, plans hearings in August. At that time, it could order three suspected polluters - Goodrich, Pyro Spectaculars and Emhart Industries, parent company of Black and Decker - to remove the contamination.
Then again, those companies all have been fighting long and hard to delay any consequences.
The San Gabriel Valley Water Co., which owns Fontana Water Co., and the West Valley Water District have urged Rialto go with a regional coalition that works with the EPA.
Rialto has been fighting for cleanup of the Rialto-Colton Basin, without regard for pollution of West Valley and Fontana wells.
And while a fault separates the West Valley and Fontana wells from the Rialto-Colton Basin, such that the regional agency has said it can't prove the suspected Rialto-area polluters caused contamination of the other wells, it's all the more reason for a regional approach that takes all of the pollution into account.
Yet Rialto persists in its one-sided struggle.
Better to lean on the EPA - and save residents the aggravation.


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BS Ranch Perspective

I am wondering why, the County of San Bernardino is not mentioned in this fight for the water rights and the fight for the water, and the monies to pay for the filtration to clean out the Perchlorate from the filters. I did a vast Search across the State and found that there was over 200 Wells in California that was effected by Perchlorate, many wells had to be shut down and some had to be filtered with the Revers Osmosis Filtration system, Each filter, I am talking about one filter, costs $4 Million Dollars, and they are very expensive. Rialto needed to have many of these Expensive Filteration systems on their system to clean the water and make it safe from Perchlorate!

But The question that Remains is What or who paid for the cleaning of those other 190 wells in the State of California tha that I could not find any news on? Who paid for the Filtration systems, and why didn't I find any other City's or Counties taking the Privious Owners of the Businesses to court that was responsible for placing the Perchlorate in the Water Table in the first place? I guess I can tell you that one thing is for sure.

Back when they started and found out that they had Perchlorate in contamination in the water table in Rialto, Rialto's Council Immediatly said that he must start a law Suit against the Businesses that were found to be responcible for the contamnation of the Perchlorate in the Water Table. I have Written all along that this was a bad Move since the Companies all have said that they were going to pay for the filters and clean up what they could of the Perchlorate from the Water Table, but Owen said that even with the Company spoksman saying that they were going to pay for their clean up.

I beleive that Owens, with all the extra pay that he received from the city should be held responcible for paying for the clean up of the water table, and the Perchlorate! They cannot beleive that Owen's did this law suit for the City of Rialto's Benefit, because Clearly it was not for the City of Rialto's Benefit, since it didn't benefit the City of Rialto!

Rialto Lost in this whole thing, Clearly since Owen's Continued his Pursuit of the Law Suit against the Businesses that admitted to being responsible for the Perchlorate Contamination of the Water Table, Dating back to World War One, and Clearly they were not the owners of those businesses then, they were the purchaser's of the businesses, so they got the businesses, and with that they inherited the responciblity of the Wrong Doings of those companies form a long time ago. When Owen's Representing the City of Rialto Took the Responcible Businesses to Court they decided to pay for only the stuff that they were told topay for, that left a huge amount that was left unpaid and The City of Rialto's Water Department was left with these Bills for the Remaining Clean up.

You Clearly Cannot Blame the Businesses, but the Lawyer's that Represented the Law Suit that started it!!

THE LAW SUIT IS TO BLAIM FOR THE LIMITED CLEAN UP OF IT!! NOT THE BUSINESSES HERE! THE LAWYERS ARE TO BLAME!

When I say lawyer I mean the one that started the whole Law Suit, OWEN!

The City of Rialto, and The Rialto City Council should fire their council, Owen, simply has to go, he has been there long enough and has made his milliions off the city, and if left in the City Representation Positon, he will make himself a millionare over and over and over again. With Law Suits, JUST LIKE THE ONE THAT THEY JUST LOST!! 10 FOLD W/PERCHLORATE!!

BS Ranch

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

The Man Behind Rialto's Renaissance (SB Sun July 31st 2007) Rep. G. Miller & Robb Steel. Who doesn't even live in Rialto,

The man behind Rialto's renaissance
Jason Pesick, Staff Writer

RIALTO - One of the most important meetings in city history actually took place outside the city - at the Coco's in Diamond Bar in fall 2004.

About a half dozen people met for a power breakfast that morning. The topic of conversation: getting Rep. Gary Miller's help to close Rialto's airport so it could be replaced with the indiscreetly named Renaissance Rialto, a master-planned community.

Set up by the project's developer, the Lewis Group of Companies, breakfast-goers included Miller, David Lewis, some advisers and Robb Steel, Rialto's economic development director.

"It was such a pipe dream," Steel said of closing the airport, which, with Miller's help, Congress approved in 2005. The breakfast was a success.

After chowing down on the weekday special of scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and coffee, Steel, now 50, picked up the check, calling it a "small price" to pay.

It's been a week since the opening of the 210 Freeway extension between Rialto and San Bernardino. The completion of the freeway makes the coming months and years critical for Rialto, and Steel is the man in the center of it all.

"I feel really, really blessed to have him," said City Administrator Henry Garcia.

Garcia said he "begged" Steel to come to Rialto after the two worked in the same capacities in Colton.

An old baseball player with a dry wit and dark hair sprinkled with gray, Steel looks like a guy a developer can do business with. And he talks like someone you want managing projects. He has a tendency to answer questions by referencing complex economic models, footnotes in financial studies and in a bureaucrat-speak it takes a master's degree in public administration to have a chance at decoding.

Steel couldn't be at the city at a better time, said former Councilman Joe Sampson.

"From an economic development and redevelopment point of view, Robb has been one of the best things that has happened for the city," he said.

Earlier this year, Steel saved the city millions of dollars by negotiating an increase in the minimum amount of money the city would make off selling the airport to develop it.

When it became clear the city might get only $6 million because of a disagreement with other parties in the deal, Steel helped negotiate increasing the minimum the city would make to $26 million.

"I respect Robb Steel more than any redevelopment director we've ever had," said resident Greta Hodges, who doesn't shy away from criticizing city officials and decisions she doesn't like. She said she's a fan of Steel because he's honest - he answers even tough questions truthfully, she said - and because he's realistic about what should be built in Rialto.

Steel, who lives in San Clemente, said he's willing to make the drive because working as a redevelopment director in the Inland Empire is exciting. He likes the intellectual challenge of dealing with a region that is growing faster than its infrastructure can be built.

A project like Renaissance Rialto, with a price tag between $1 billion and $2 billion, is almost unheard of in a city the size of Rialto, he said.

"I'd like this to be the last city that I work for."

Steel's office is packed with binders about the projects moving forward in Rialto. He also has a Maxwell Smart bobblehead - "I'm bumbling like he was," he said - and an autographed photo of Barbara Feldon, who played Agent 99 in "Get Smart."

Steel thought the autograph was real, but learned it was a joke perpetrated by some of the staff in the office.

There's an air of levity in the Redevelopment Agency office downtown, which is down from City Hall a few blocks.

Steel's No. 2, Economic Development Manager Greg Lantz, said Steel makes the staff work long hours.

"He's a taskmaster," Lantz said of the boss, "but at least he's good to work for."

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BS Ranch Perspective

That very important meeting as it is quoted as saying took place, and I am actually surprised that the reporter finally!! FINALLY!! A Reporter got it right that there was something funny going on with the Congress, and the "Largest Transportation Bill" in the Congresses History!

Representative Gary Miller of Chino Hills, Whittier, and that area, Which had NOTHING TO DO WITH RIALTO at that time, placed a small piece of "pork" to the Transportation bill. If the president signed the bill, that little piece of added pork that Rep. G. Miller placed in the can was going to allow the City Council to Close the Rialto Airport with a small Popular Vote by them. Something that had NEVER BEEN DONE IN THE UNITED STATES of AMERICA BEFORE!! Rialto was about to make history, against the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration). As we know the president signed the bill and the City of Rialto made that Historical Vote Against the advice of the F.A.A.

Rep. G. Miller's Payback for his contribution to this plan was simple, Rialto Council member's Ed Scott and Joe Sampson Promised by a hand shake no doubt, since this is kind of not so up above par, promised the Development of the Airport land to Rep. Gary Miller's Development Company, You know it makes you wonder? How the congressmen, and Representatives of this fine land go into Office and come out Richer then when they entered!!! Just something that makes you wonder?? Especially since this was such a cut and dry thing. However I hope that the properties were held above the standard again. It just makes me sick how this happens. Business is just sickening.

This whole meeting makes me sick, because the hard working development companies that worked hard to get to where they are today!!

I truly hope that the business practices that Rep. Gary Miller took to get the Bid for the development of Rialto's Airport Land ("The Rialto Renaissance) Because that sure puts a bad taste in my mouth about how the business is done for small cities and towns. Bloomington is attempting to become a City, however I feel that Fontana, and Rialto might be putting up some blockages up to keep that land from becoming a City all their own! Now it doesn't seem like it on the news and this report (My BLOG) is the first that you are hearing of it, but mark my words there will be some blockages in a way that you will least expect it, to keep Bloomington from becoming their own City!!

Rialto Renaissance is something that might or might not happen either, they keep closing and slowly closing the airport. but as for now the airport is still open!! The places that they were hoping to make large gatherings of Automobiles and travelers to get from their homes to the 210 Freeway are not happening.

In fact there are less cars on Ayala, Riverside, Baseline, and well most all the commuter streets in Rialto then there was before, with the exception of the ones that are around the commuter streets (Valley S.Riverside Ave, Riverside around the 210 on ramps, Ayala at 210 fwy, Ayala at 210, North Riverside Ave @ Sierra Ave, to get in I-15 fwy) Other then that the city streets have about the same amount of traffic on them and there is less or slower traffic.

There really isn't that much Traffic increase that would warrant any closure of any Airport for shopping and more traffic desire, the Rialto Renaissance should be placed on hold because the demand is slow for it right now. Also the way that the airport was closed should be looked into by the Federal Government for any Criminal Wrongdoing, on the part of Rep. Gary Miller, any and all of the Council members on Rialto City Council, Specifically Edward Scott, and Joseph Sampson, the rest of the council for possible wrong doing on this passing of the note & closure of the Airport Via their Vote!!

BS Ranch

Monday, August 06, 2007

Fontana Officer Killed in Motorcycle Crash!! (Daily Bulletin Aug. 06, 2007)

BS Ranch Perspective

Being one that came close to loosing my life in a collision between a Motorcycle and another vehicle, it isn't much hope, but I just want to say that I am offering my prayers for the Molina Family, and for his extended family. I understand that he has two small children and that isn't going to be easy on them. The power of prayer works, I am a test to that! However in this case, God had a stronger calling for Jose Molina Jr., Stronger then his own family, and stronger then the Citizens of Fontana and surrounding area that trusted to keep them safe in the crime area that they lived.

I often go through the problem in my Life when this sort of accident happens. See, Officer Jose Molina Jr. was probably a great Officer with Fontana Police Department! The calling that God had for him was to probably to protect the gates of Heaven or the Walls of Heaven or the likes of Security for the Lord God. It was that I fought to hard to stay alive, and when God kept pulling my Heart to stop, the four times that he did, the prayers from my Family, Friends, and the People From the City of Rialto Prayed me back to life.

I am left now in this world with a Chronic Pain Disorder, and now I just pray and pray and pray for all the fallen Officers. They either, Pass while on a motorcycle, or in a car accident, while on duty or off duty! During my accident I had passed away five times, but the doctors and the paddles were able to bring me back to life. I credit the doctor's, however I cannot be blind to the fact that there was half of Rialto praying for me to live. Keeping that in mind, I have to give a very large credit to God, and the Spiritual side that was raised by the people from my Family, Friends, and the people of Rialto.

Because God Granted me a pass, I really wish I could give it up, and pass it on to Officer Jose Molina Jr. so that he could be left to raise his children. and tell them stories of his conquests in his life not just the ones that he had when he was a Police Officer. J. Molina and his family, My prayers are going out to you and that will be it. I am filled with sorrow for you and yours.

BS Ranch



Fontana officer killed in motorcycle crash

MAIT investigates a scene of fatal accident involving an off-duty Fontana PD officer and a big rig that happened early Monday, Aug. 6, 2007 near the intersection of Foothill Boulevard and Cherry Avenue in Fontana.(Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino/Staff Photographer)
FONTANA -- An off-duty Fontana police officer was killed in a motorcycle crash this morning.

Jose Manuel Molina Jr., 28, was riding a motorcycle east on Foothill Boulevard when he collided with a semi truck that was pulling out of a business lot.

The 2:30 a.m. crash occurred at the intersection of Foothill Boulevard and Cherry Avenue. Molinas died at the scene. It is unclear whether the other driver was injured.

The California Highway Patrol's Major Accident Investigation Team came to the scene at 2:50 a.m. to investigate the crash, said Officer Jeremy Pursley.

Officers shut down Foothill between Cherry and Mulberry Avenue.

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Former Councilmember gets New State Post. (Press Enterprise 080107) Kurt Wilson is appointed by California Corrections...

BS Ranch Perspective
I beleive that Kurt Will do good there. He has moved on from working for the Mayor of San Bernardino, and working for the State of California Corrections he is making a great deal more money then he was as a Council Member and has he was running the Crime Prevention Unit of the San Bernarino.
I am proud of Kurt and feel that he will do a great job.
BS Ranch
10:42 PM PDT on Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Former councilman gets new state post

Former Rialto City Councilman Kurt Wilson has been appointed chief of external affairs, a new post with the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, according to a news release issued Wednesday by Gov. Schwarzenegger.

In his new post, Wilson will work with outside groups interested in the prison system and advise department administrators about policies and programs.

Most recently, Wilson, 34, has served for about a year as director of the Office of Community Safety and Violence Prevention for the city of San Bernardino. From 1992 to 2006, Wilson was chief operating officer for Innovation Treatment Centers in Rialto and served as chief executive officer beginning in 2000.

Wilson served on the Rialto council from 2000 to 2004 and as a city planning commissioner from 1992 to 2000. Wilson, a Democrat, will be paid $97,296, according to the release.

--Gail Wesson

gwesson@PE.com

Rialto Airport Project Slow To Take Off (Daily Bulletin July 30, 2007) Economy, Housing Market looked at as possible factors in devlopment slowdown..

BS Ranch Perspective
I feel that the Rialto City Council was in a Hell Fire Hurry to close the Rialto Airport, and Replace it with a Shopping Mall, and over 750-800 Single Family Houses! However since the Real Estate market isn't what it should be there is a change of heart. Does this mean that the Leadership of the City will only lead the City of Rialto if It is the Style the Thing to do at the time. If it's the Buyer's Market, then it's the time to Develop the city into a Place to be inviting and a place to live, but not now!!
Sometimes I wonder about the leadership of the city, they figure that they will get cheaper Law Enforcement with the County of San Bernardino, so with a Quick Decision they decide to close the doors of a Seventy year old Tradition of Law Enforcement in the the Community of Rialto, and Suddenly they voted the Sheriff Department contract on the table to be the Law Enforcement for the Community of Rialto!
After an almost year long fight, from the RPBA (Rialto Police Benefit Assoc.) and the Citizens of Rialto that wanted a Community Police Department, they won that right. Because the Rialto City Council LOST this idea to "save" money, they decided to try to make nice and agree to change the laws regarding the way that Law Enforcement is Controlled for the City.
Way back in 2004, Joe Sampson and Ed Scott both Made a Deal with the Devil, To get things in line with the Federal Government, and Close the Airport. During this Coffee Meeting with Congressmen Miller, Joe Sampson, and Ed Scott they formed a plan to attach a small bit of pork to the Transportation Bill of 2004, and if President Bush Signed the Bill it would allow the City of Rialto to close the Airport and Relieve them of the amount that they owe the Federal Government for the expansions that they did to the airport back in the 1990's.
As we all know President Bush signed the bill and that gave the city council the right to close the airport. It is the first time in the United States history that an Airport has been closed by anything other then the Federal Aviation Administration. The Federal Aviation Administration recommended against the closure of Rialto Airport because (in there words) There is a need for an additional Small Airport, for a small airport for those small planes that fall into trouble and need a place to land suddenly!!
Even with the recommendation from the FAA, the Rialto City Council Closed the Airport, Yet now that the Sales of Real Estate has slowed down to a Snails Pace, so the Leadership of Rialto City decides, to hold off on the Closure of the Airport and the development of the land because of the Common Trends.
But I say if you set out to do a Goal, THEN YOU SHOULD FIGHT TO ACCOMPLISH THE GOAL!!! By waiting because of the Real Estate Trends they can and just might loose the Anchor store such as, TARGET, who has made a Commitment originally, but could back out at any time if the Leadership or Developers of Rialto don't make the area for them to build and open their store available to them to achieve their promise, Target is all about making money, and there are over 90,000 people that live in Rialto who would love to shop at an Open Target Store in the City Limits of Rialto, However Rialto doesn't make the space available for them then Target will just tell Rialto to keep their Airport open and not worry about having any RENAISSANSE.
BS Ranch
Rialto airport project slow to take off
Economy, housing market looked at as possible factors in development slowdown
By Jason Pesick, Staff Writer

Airplanes sit on the tarmac at the Rialto Municipal Airport on Friday. Development plans for the site, which includes 1,500 acres of mixed-use development along the 210 Freeway, have been delayed in part because of the housing market and the economy. (Gabriel Luis Acosta/Staff Photographer)
RIALTO - Plans to turn Rialto Municipal Airport and the surrounding area into 1,500 acres of mixed-use development along the 210 Freeway are a little behind schedule, but construction could start sometime next year.

Only a few months ago, it looked as if the City Council would take up a land-use plan for the project later this year and that the airport could be closed this year as well.

But it looks as if the council won't get the proposal until next year, and it's not clear when the airport will close. Officials are even talking about breaking the project into two parts so the commercial zone along the 210 can get going as quickly as possible, said Robb Steel, the city's economic development director.

"I think they're probably re-evaluating some of the things that they had planned with the economy changing," Councilwoman Winnie Hanson said of the developers. She doesn't mind the developers taking their time, she said, if it helps get the project right.

The slowing housing market is a factor in the delay. Steel said the developers, a partnership between the Lewis Group of Companies and Texas-based Hillwood, are considering cutting the amount of housing to be included in the project - and that's


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why the council will be getting a plan later.

Some city officials also weren't thrilled after a May workshop that discussed the retail options considered for the project.

Until there's a workable plan for the project that the council is happy with, nothing can move forward, Steel said. The developers aren't going to want to pay an estimated $40 million required to relocate the tenants from the airport unless the project is moving forward, Steel said.

Two or three of the airport's 250 tenants have already left, but most probably won't start leaving until the spring, said airport Director Rich Scanlan. The entire process could take nine or 10 months, he said.

The retail zone can be built as long as the north-south runway is closed, meaning the east-west runway could remain open for a while if the project is split in two, Steel said.

The project's environmental impact report is also taking longer than hoped. At the City Council meeting on July 17, the council approved tweaking the EIR.

At the May workshop, consultants and representatives from the development team told council members and residents a Target store will anchor the retail center. It also will likely include an office-supplies store, an electronics store, like Best Buy, and some other large stores.

At the outset, the project won't be able to attract high-end restaurants or shopping, the presenters said. Until the area grows, and wealthier residents move in, the restaurants would probably include places like Applebee's and Red Robin.

Councilman Joe Baca Jr. said he would give the presentation a "C-" at best and that Lewis is going back to the drawing board. He said he's interested in creating a lake in the project and wants there to be community-oriented venues like a movie theater even if they don't generate a ton of sales-tax revenue.

Aside from thinking about reducing the number of homes, Lewis is making small changes to the project, Steel said.

"There is some retooling, but it's not radically different as far as the retail side goes," he said. He agreed the presentation about the types of tenants the area could attract did worry some of the council members, but he said he thought the presentation was also optimistic because the presenters pointed out that as the area grows, it will be able to attract higher-end tenants.

Those could include The Cheesecake Factory, P.F. Chang's, California Pizza Kitchen or Claim Jumper, according to a report by Greg Stoffel, a retail consultant on the project.

Some of the properties near the main retail area could host entertainment venues like a movie theater, Steel said.

Hanson said developing the area will take time.

"I do know that luring a higher quality store is not easy, but I think they will come."

Contact writer Jason Pesick at (909) 386-3861 or via e-mail at jason.pesick@sbsun.com.

$18 Million Down The Drain? (SB Sun July 9, 2007) With NO Results yet, City's Perchlorate Strategy Questioned!!

BS Ranch Perspective

The strategy that the city is taking should be questioned? The City of Rialto is trying to take this on and get it all for FREE!! The City of Rialto wants the business that has been found to be responsible for the contamination of the Perchlorate, However in many cases they are not the original company that are responsible, since they purchased the company that caused the contamination long ago during The First World War!
It has long been my thought that Owen has wanted a case like this that he could charge the city an almost open Check Book of charges for Lawyer Fees, It is not surprising that it is up to $18 Million, I just wonder how much of the $18 Million has entered the bank accounts of Owen's Private home account!! He after all knows that the city of Rialto has to be getting tired of the over paid fees that they pay him, after all to pay a Layer almost $734, 000.00 a year just to be present in most City Council Meetings is just a little bit much.
Now Rialto gets this Perchlorate Contamination in their Drinking water, and come to find out that there are many Southern California Cities that also had Perchlorate Contamination in their Drinking Water Wells within their City Limits!!
Rialto Spends 18 Million in Legal Fee's to clean up the Perchlorate, and gets no where!! All the other Cities in Southern California Clean their Perchlorate Problem, with the help of the "EPA" and spend a total of about $1 Million, with all their filters needed and the water is all paid for and everything is clean!!
What does Rialto Have that is different then these other cities that seem to be able to get things done at about $17 Million cheaper and counting, that difference is a Lawyer by the name of Owen.
Rialto City Council needs to wake up and get rid of this guy and try to clean up his mistake in this "Lawsuit"!
BS Ranch

$18 million down the drain?
With no results yet, city's perchlorate strategy questioned
Jason Pesick, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun
Article Launched:07/09/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT

RIALTO - City officials see their fight to clean up perchlorate-contaminated drinking water as a classic underdog story - a modest city going to court to get big corporations and the Pentagon to clean up a mess.

To City Attorney Bob Owen, it's like David and Goliath, with Rialto as David of course.

It might take more than a slingshot to do the job, though.

It might take $300 million to clean up contamination discovered in 1997.

Thus Rialto has armed itself with a team of top-tier lawyers to pursue lawsuits against suspected polluters.

City leaders say they're on a righteous quest, but some water-cleanup experts and others who have dealt with similar challenges call it folly.

Taking on the likes of the Defense Department, Goodrich, and Black and Decker during the past decade has already cost the city the equivalent of the Police Department's annual budget.

Critics want to know what that money has bought beyond constant delays in court and before state regulatory boards. They also want to know why the city didn't seek the help of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as other communities with similar

problems have.

"It's just beyond imagination how much money they've spent on this thing," said Anthony "Butch" Araiza, general manager of the West Valley Water District, which also serves water to Rialto residents.

Owen said the city has spent about $18 million on lawsuits, legal investigators, water treatment, public relations and community meetings.

It sounds good to say the city shouldn't spend so much on attorneys, Owen said, but the city would have to pay much more to clean up the mess.

"Everybody hates lawyers," he said. "We know that."

Residents foot the bill

Rialto's legal battle is funded largely by a surcharge for customers of the city's water utility.

The surcharge starts at $6.85 a month and rises based on usage. The city water agency serves about half of Rialto, meaning about half the residents fund the formidable perchlorate effort.

West Valley Water and the Fontana Water Company serve the rest.

If Rialto wins its case in court, residents will be reimbursed, Owen said.

The council also has allocated $5 million from General Fund reserves to escalate the legal effort last year.

Rialto's best hope at getting perchlorate cleaned up quickly is the State Water Resources Control Board, which has planned August hearings on the contamination.

The board could order three suspected polluters, Goodrich, Pyro Spectaculars and Emhart Industries, which the city says is really Black and Decker, to remove the contamination.

"There's been a wealth of evidence that's been generated as a result of Rialto's litigation," said Kurt Berchtold, assistant executive officer for the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board and member of the advocacy team that will argue alongside Rialto during the state hearings.

But the companies' legal maneuvers have delayed those hearings numerous times. The state water board took over cleanup efforts because the Santa Ana board couldn't move forward.

"It's gone from bad to worse to untenable," said Michael Whitehead, president of the San Gabriel Valley Water Company, which owns Fontana Water.

Whitehead and Araiza have publicly talked about the benefits of bringing in the EPA to take over the cleanup.

The hearing delays have upset environmentalists as well.

"The corporations know how to use the legal system," said Penny Newman, executive director of the Riverside- based Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, which will be a party in state hearings.

She defended the city's strategy and the amount of money it has spent.

"When you've been harmed, you go after the person who harmed you, which can be difficult for people of limited income," she said.

The idea is simple: Polluters should clean up their messes.

"Is it an Erin Brockovich scenario? You bet," Rialto City Administrator Henry Garcia said at a council meeting.

But "Erin Brockovich" is the wrong movie to emulate because the contamination is too complicated, Whitehead countered. He suggested watching "A Civil Action," in which the EPA takes over because the case costs too much money to put on in court.

"It's a very conventional legal strategy. It's also a failed legal strategy," Whitehead said.

He and Araiza recommend using the model the San Gabriel Valley used to clean up contaminants including perchlorate: a regional coalition of entities working with the EPA.

Comparing situations

To remove perchlorate discovered in 1997 from Baldwin Park, Whitehead said the San Gabriel Valley Water Company spent less than $1 million on legal fees. Polluters and the U.S. government paid most of the cost.

Wayne Praskins, an EPA Superfund project manager, said that if a polluter refuses to follow an EPA cleanup order but is found responsible in court, the polluter faces penalties of three times the cleanup cost.

"I think going with EPA and the Superfund program is probably the strongest mechanism a city or community has I'm always amazed that people - communities - shy away from that," Newman said.

But the EPA doesn't have super powers. The San Gabriel Valley was already a Superfund site as early as the mid-1980s, which made it easier and faster to get perchlorate cleaned up.

"It's a tough comparison," Praskins said. "It took a long time to reach agreements in the San Gabriel Valley."

To Owen, the city attorney, comparing the Rialto-Colton Basin cleanup to that of the San Gabriel Valley is like comparing apples to oranges. The EPA started looking at contamination in the San Gabriel Valley in the 1970s. When it was looking at whether to go the EPA route, Rialto looked at a number of Superfund sites, and in every case it took between 17 and 27 years to start cleaning the contamination up, Owen said.

"And that was simply unacceptable to us."

The EPA has followed the case but hasn't yet decided whether to take over, Praskins said.

A combination of factors kept the EPA from taking the lead from the get-go. Rialto thought the EPA would take too long. Owen has also said he was afraid a large Superfund site in the city would create a stigma.

EPA officials also thought state regulatory agencies could handle the case.

Berchtold speculated that Whitehead and Araiza might be pressing for an EPA takeover because the state would probably not order cleanup of some West Valley and Fontana wells.

A fault separates those wells from the Rialto-Colton Basin, and Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board staffers said they can't prove the suspected Rialto-area polluters caused the contamination in those wells.

Whitehead says the board is in over its head.

Despite the fault, Araiza prefers a regional approach and said Rialto is selfish for excluding other water agencies.

"I just don't understand being that territorial about this."

Owen said he's just looking out for Rialto. He doesn't want to divide money equally because the problem doesn't affect all agencies equally.

Rialto's City Council is getting uncomfortable with the cost. The council called for an audit of how much the city has spent on perchlorate, but members insist there will be no strategy change.

The newest councilman, Joe Baca Jr., thinks there should be.

"I'm concerned about there being a blank check out there for the attorneys," he said.

He said he can't even find out how much the city has spent.

"We have to look at it as a regional approach," he said.

Owen, on the other hand, doesn't want to change course now.

"This city's involved in possibly its largest legal battle ever in its history," he said.

"Now is not the time to blink."


What is perchlorate?

Perchlorate is used to produce such explosives as fireworks and rocket fuel.

It flows from industrial sites on Rialto's north end through the city and into Colton.

It's not clear how dangerous perchlorate is, but a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released last year says even low concentrations of perchlorate can affect the thyroid gland. Treatment systems remove perchlorate from the water before it reaches residents.

Rialto Airport Project Slow to Take Off (Daily Bulletin 073007) Economy, housing market looked as possible factors in development slowdown..

BS Ranch Perspective
It seems that the "Rialto Renaissance" is going to be placed on hold for another few years until the housing market is considered to be a "Seller's Market" then they will start to close the Airport Down, and Sell off the divided land, since they have land purchaser's ready to purchase land from them, but since the land sales are in a slump, they are in no hurry to get that shopping mall that was promised to the shopping public of Rialto to shop, or the people that were said to have a Target that was to be the only Anchor store that was going to be at this Renaissance Mall, but there isn't any other store mentioned as of yet. but I guess that is pending..
BS Ranch
Rialto airport project slow to take off
Economy, housing market looked at as possible factors in development slowdown
By Jason Pesick, Staff Writer

Airplanes sit on the tarmac at the Rialto Municipal Airport on Friday. Development plans for the site, which includes 1,500 acres of mixed-use development along the 210 Freeway, have been delayed in part because of the housing market and the economy. (Gabriel Luis Acosta/Staff Photographer)
RIALTO - Plans to turn Rialto Municipal Airport and the surrounding area into 1,500 acres of mixed-use development along the 210 Freeway are a little behind schedule, but construction could start sometime next year.

Only a few months ago, it looked as if the City Council would take up a land-use plan for the project later this year and that the airport could be closed this year as well.

But it looks as if the council won't get the proposal until next year, and it's not clear when the airport will close. Officials are even talking about breaking the project into two parts so the commercial zone along the 210 can get going as quickly as possible, said Robb Steel, the city's economic development director.

"I think they're probably re-evaluating some of the things that they had planned with the economy changing," Councilwoman Winnie Hanson said of the developers. She doesn't mind the developers taking their time, she said, if it helps get the project right.

The slowing housing market is a factor in the delay. Steel said the developers, a partnership between the Lewis Group of Companies and Texas-based Hillwood, are considering cutting the amount of housing to be included in the project - and that's

why the council will be getting a plan later.

Some city officials also weren't thrilled after a May workshop that discussed the retail options considered for the project.

Until there's a workable plan for the project that the council is happy with, nothing can move forward, Steel said. The developers aren't going to want to pay an estimated $40 million required to relocate the tenants from the airport unless the project is moving forward, Steel said.

Two or three of the airport's 250 tenants have already left, but most probably won't start leaving until the spring, said airport Director Rich Scanlan. The entire process could take nine or 10 months, he said.

The retail zone can be built as long as the north-south runway is closed, meaning the east-west runway could remain open for a while if the project is split in two, Steel said.

The project's environmental impact report is also taking longer than hoped. At the City Council meeting on July 17, the council approved tweaking the EIR.

At the May workshop, consultants and representatives from the development team told council members and residents a Target store will anchor the retail center. It also will likely include an office-supplies store, an electronics store, like Best Buy, and some other large stores.

At the outset, the project won't be able to attract high-end restaurants or shopping, the presenters said. Until the area grows, and wealthier residents move in, the restaurants would probably include places like Applebee's and Red Robin.

Councilman Joe Baca Jr. said he would give the presentation a "C-" at best and that Lewis is going back to the drawing board. He said he's interested in creating a lake in the project and wants there to be community-oriented venues like a movie theater even if they don't generate a ton of sales-tax revenue.

Aside from thinking about reducing the number of homes, Lewis is making small changes to the project, Steel said.

"There is some retooling, but it's not radically different as far as the retail side goes," he said. He agreed the presentation about the types of tenants the area could attract did worry some of the council members, but he said he thought the presentation was also optimistic because the presenters pointed out that as the area grows, it will be able to attract higher-end tenants.

Those could include The Cheesecake Factory, P.F. Chang's, California Pizza Kitchen or Claim Jumper, according to a report by Greg Stoffel, a retail consultant on the project.

Some of the properties near the main retail area could host entertainment venues like a movie theater, Steel said.

Hanson said developing the area will take time.

"I do know that luring a higher quality store is not easy, but I think they will come."

Contact writer Jason Pesick at (909) 386-3861 or via e-mail at jason.pesick@sbsun.com.

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Foreclosure Activity Baloons in Riverside, San Bernardino Counties for First Half of 2007 (Press Enterprise Aug 1, 2007).

BS Ranch Perspective
What goes around comes around, the Real Estate market is moving in it's Full circle now, with the Bank foreclosure's, and all the homes that are on the market now for people to suddenly purchase all because the market has changed from the "Seller's Market" to the "Buyer's Market" when it comes to the purchase of Real Estate!!
BS Ranch

Foreclosure activity balloons in Riverside, San Bernardino counties for first half of 2007

08:59 AM PDT on Wednesday, August 1, 2007

By LESLIE BERKMAN
The Press-Enterprise

Foreclosure activity more than doubled in Riverside County and more than tripled in San Bernardino County in the first half of 2007 compared to the first half of 2006, according to a report released this week by an Internet marketer of distressed property.

There were 22,166 filings of defaults, trustee auctions and bank repossessions in Riverside County in the first six months of 2007, up 222 percent from the same period a year ago. Foreclosure activity increased 345 percent to 19,185 filings in San Bernardino County for the same time periods.

"Riverside (County) and San Bernardino County are really the hot spots for foreclosure in Southern California," said Daren Blomquist, spokesman for RealtyTrac, which wrote the report.

Statewide the number of foreclosure-related filings were double, a trend that Blomquist blamed on the lenient lending practices of recent years coupled with skyrocketing home prices.

For the first time, RealtyTrac also looked at the number of individual homes in the foreclosure process rather than counting the total filings that may count the same house more than once.

By the new method, Realty Trac found that in Riverside County there were 12,876 homes in some stage of foreclosure in the first half of this year, up 207 percent from a year ago, a rate of increase that wasn't much different that for the total number of filings.

However, in San Bernardino County 9,412 homes were in some stage of foreclosure in the first six months of 2007, which was not quite double the number a year ago, while the number of filings more than tripled.

Jon Marcell, owner of Better Mortgage Bankers in Upland and immediate past president of the California Association of Mortgage Bankers said he expects foreclosures will keep increasing for at least 12 more months, adding to the already large inventory of unsold homes.

He said the problem has caused a tightening of credit that is making it increasingly difficult for homebuyers to qualify for mortgages of any kind.

Foreclosures are even more prevalent in Riverside County than San Bernardino County, Marcell said, because Riverside County has had more new development and builders made riskier mortgages available to clear unsold inventory.

"What has happened is loans are sold to Wall Street on the secondary market and they are paying attention to foreclosures and pulling in their horns ... and then the market is drying up," Marcell said.

James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac's chief executive, said earlier this week the country could easily see more than 2 million foreclosures before the end of the year. More than 925,000 foreclosure-related notices were sent out in the first six months.

That would be a 65 percent increase over the previous year. Notices of default made up about 416,000 of these actions.

The national foreclosure rate until the end of June was one for every 134 American households, according to RealtyTrac data.

Nevada, Colorado and California had the highest foreclosure rates, based on the total number of households.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.