Free Republic

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A high-speed bullet train from Southern California to Las Vegas is a step closer to reality. Brightline, the company that will build the system, has announced a landmark labor agreement with the High-Speed Rail Labor Coalition, which is "compromised of 13 rail unions representing more than 160,000 freight, regional, commuter, and passenger railroad workers in the United States." The $10 billion investment is expected to create nearly 35,000 jobs during construction and over 1,000 permanent jobs once operational, according to a press release from Brightline. The fully-electric train will be able to travel 200 miles an...

LAKE ELSINORE: Girl Scouts receive counterfeit bills, woman sought Some Inland Girl Scouts got a hard life lesson this week when they discovered their cookies had been paid for with counterfeit bills. Scouts in Lake Elsinore received two fake $20s on Thursday, Feb. 27, and in Rancho Cucamonga on Saturday there were two reports of girls selling cookies who were paid with counterfeit $50s. Riverside County sheriff’s officials on Tuesday released surveillance images of a woman they described as a “person of interest” in the Lake Elsinore case and are asking for help from the public to identify her. The...

A sword-wielding 33-year-old Rancho Cucamonga man charged deputies while hollering “Allah Akbar,” sheriff’s officials say, until the deputies halted him with a blast from a bean bag shotgun. Montasir Ishag was arrested at 9 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27, along the 9400 block of Glenaire Court and booked for investigation of attempted murder of a police officer, jail records show. His bail is $1 million. Deputies were summoned to the house at 1:26 p.m. by a caller who said his son was under the influence of meth and was having a bi-polar episode, sheriff’s officials said in a written statement. The...

LAS VEGAS—Former Nevada Assemblyman Steven Brooks has been arrested in California on charges including resisting arrest and throwing objects, just hours after he became the first lawmaker ever expelled from the Nevada Legislature. Jail records show Barstow police arrested Brooks, 41, at about 7 p.m. Thursday on Interstate 15 at Stoddard Wells. "We had started to discuss possible next steps," Mitchell Posin, Brooks' attorney, told The Associated Press Friday. "Next thing I know, I heard about this." Posin said he had no details about the arrest, or about why Brooks was on the interstate in Barstow. Records show the North...

A teenager was shot to death and four others were wounded, two critically, when gang members apparently showed up for a going-away party advertised on the Web. The Saturday night apartment gathering was planned as a celebration for someone who is headed off to college, but about 100 people showed up, said Cindy Beavers of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. The party was advertised on the MySpace.com social networking Web site. "When you advertise a party that way, you don't know what kind of people are going to show up, or what kind of problems they may bring," Beavers...

Day Laborer Lied About Being Kidnapped RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A day laborer who reported he had been handcuffed, kidnapped and taken to Mexico made up the story, sheriff's officials said today. San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies had been looking for Jose Feliz Gutierrez since May 9 after the man called his sister, saying he and two other men had been kidnapped and driven to Tijuana, Mexico. Gutierrez said they were abducted from the corner of Arrow Highway and Grove Avenue. Detectives, who eventually spoke to Gutierrez by phone, determined the man left willingly. He told sheriff's deputies he was scared...

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - The governor appointed a gang prosecutor to a San Bernardino County judgeship Thursday. Gregory Tavill, who is known around the Rancho Cucamonga courthouse for his pleasant demeanor and general fairness, will be sworn in next week. "I'm thrilled," Tavill said Thursday. "I'm truly grateful the governor has confidence in me, and I'm happy to be able to continue serving our community." Tavill, 44, has worked for the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office since 1999. He was assigned to prosecute hard-core gang cases in 2002 and has done so almost exclusively for the past five years. He...

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - For workers like Jose Fernando Pedraza, the closure of the day labor center has created hardship. "I've only had one job since it closed,'' Pedraza said in Spanish on Thursday. The center, which had been set up near the corner of Grove Avenue and Arrow Route, closed June 30. This week, workers have waited along the east side of Grove, north of Arrow, for employers seeking short-term workers for jobs in trades such as landscaping, construction and general labor. Without the center, workers said, getting jobs has become difficult. Gilberto Ruiz, 68, of Ontario, does masonry work...

An Oxnard man who broke into the bedroom of a Rancho Cucamonga apartment early Friday morning was shot and killed by one of the occupants — a prison counselor for the state Department of Corrections... The intruder, Hector Soto, 21, of Oxnard, died less than three hours after being shot ... The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department did not release the prison counselor's name. He will not be charged...

Under absolutely oppressive Southern California Inland Empire August heat, the good guys showed up in force to support the President and the troops. There were a handful of FReepers there that I recognized including bittdrvr, Blurblogger, Joy Angela, Aloha Ronnie, and RonDog. Darn, come on, who am I forgetting? There had to be perhaps 300 there on our side, and it was refreshing to outnumber the airheads on the other side. The anti-war, anti-American protestors, not surprisingly had their share of foul mouths and those who smelled badly when they came to our side and walked through the crowd. It...

RAPJA = Riverside Area Peace Justice Action. From the website of the clueless comes the plan to confront the President in Rancho Cucamonga on Monday. From the bowels of hell, Hitler, Tojo, and Mussolini must be wondering where these clowns were when they needed them. ==================================================================== President Bush is making his third trip to the Inland Empire since 2000. According to the August 24 Press-Enterprise, he will be speaking at the Ranch Cucamonga Senior Center and ”is expected to discuss health and human service issues with some 200 Inland guests mid-afternoon Monday.” ANTI-WAR & ANTI-BUSH RALLYMonday, August 29, 2005 1:00...

Please JOIN US as we welcome President Bush to California!"WE SUPPORT President BUSH!"(RALLY and PRESS CONFERENCE)MONDAY (8/29) - 1 pmRancho Cucumonga Meet at the corner of Baseline and Millikenoutside the James L. Brulte Senior Center, 11200 Baseline Road, Rancho Cucumonga Please bring LOTS of AMERICAN FLAGS! Here are some SIGN IDEAS: We Support Our Troops, AND their Commander-in-Chief! REAL AMERICANSSUPPORTPRESIDENT BUSHFor MORE INFORMATION please contact:RON SMITH ("RonDog")ronsmith@quixnet.net(310) 463-5548

.President might visit RanchoBush announcing plans on Friday By Edward BarreraStaff Writer Tuesday, August 23, 2005 - RANCHO CUCAMONGA - President George W. Bush might visit Rancho Cucamonga next week, according to a White House spokesman. Spokesman David Almacy said the president's plans will be finalized and announced Friday. The president has already announced he will visit Arizona on Monday, but he might also stop in the Inland Empire. While in Arizona, Bush will be discussing Medicare, Almacy said. Despite buzz around the city that the commander-in-chief might stop by, local leaders pointed inquiries about any presidential visits to the...

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - The arrest Tuesday of three suspected gang members in race-related shots fired at an inhabited dwelling followed weeks of escalating tensions between black and Latino residents in one area of the city, police said. Phillip Ramirez, 24, of Rancho Cucamonga, and two 17-year-old boys, one from Rancho Cucamonga, the other from Ontario, were arrested Tuesday following a two-week-long investigation into racial threats which culminated June 15 with shots fired into a home in the 10000 block of Salina Street, said San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Sgt. Frank Gonzales. Ramirez and the two boys confirmed their involvement in both...