Free Republic

Peraza, who was shot in the back and is now recovering at home, honors the "amazing man" who sacrificed his own life to save hers. "I will always remember his left arm wrapped around me, holding me as close as possible next to him behind that chair," the statement reads. "And amidst all the chaos, I'll always remember him saying these three words, 'I got you.'" Johnson, 45, was a Los Angeles resident who had worked as an environmental health specialist for 10 years...Shannon rose before dawn each morning to get to his job as a San Bernardino County health...

Clowns Brawl With Protesters Under Circus Big Top in San Bernardino • Hundreds of spectators watched the fight break out when workers allegedly tried to stop the activists from forcing their way inside Clowns brawled with animal rights protesters under a circus big top in San Bernardino Friday night, witnesses say. Hundreds of spectators watched the fight break out when workers allegedly tried to stop the activists from forcing their way inside after the Ramos Bros. Circus show began. Two protestors were arrested following the melee, while two circus employees were injured when the fight broke out at 8:08 p.m.,...

MURRIETA: Mayor, arrested in suspected DUI crash that injured four, apologizes Murrieta Mayor Alan Long was arrested on suspicion of DUI on Thursday after a crash left four Murrieta Valley High School cheerleaders with injuries ranging from moderate to major, authorities said. Long, 44, was booked into the Southwest Detention Center in French Valley and later released on $50,000 bail. He did not respond to requests for comment. About 8:15 p.m., Long was driving south on Jefferson Avenue when his full-size pickup truck crashed into the back of a car waiting to make a left turn at Lily Avenue, Murrieta...

You probably know your Social Security number, your driver’s license number and perhaps the latest wrinkle in mattress marketing, your sleep number. But do you know your drought number? The latter represents the amount of water you are allowed to use per day. If you don’t know it, you probably should. Not knowing could cost you money. As California’s severe drought moves into a fourth year, state and local water agencies are working on something called “allocation-based rate structures,” a kind of precursor to water rationing that’s all the rage in Sacramento and in some areas such as Santa Cruz,...

Man, 79, Beaten After Accidentally Bumping Into Car In Grocery Store Parking Lot APPLE VALLEY (CBSLA.com) — A 79-year-old man was attacked when he accidentally bumped into a car in a grocery store parking lot in Apple Valley. The incident happened Sunday at a Stater Bros. on Bear Valley Road. According to sheriff’s officials, Alfred McOsker was unloading his groceries into his car when his leg touched a newer Hyundai parked next to him. The car’s owner accused McOsker of scratching his vehicle and then punched the older man repeatedly in the face. The victim’s daughter, Alison Rennie, said the...

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...

In Upland, a baby daddy has been busy. At a baby shower recently in the City of Gracious Living (Upland, Ca.), the expectant mother's husband showed up to claim the presents himself. Why? According to the city's police blotter, he "took the gifts to give to his girlfriend who just gave birth to his child." Yes. He burst into his wife's baby shower and grabbed the gifts to give to his second family with his mistress. I'm no etiquette expert, but that seems wrong, doesn't it? Needless to say, "she became upset and they argued." He hit her and fled,...

PERRIS: Fannie Mae abandoned horse, records show A horse that was found blind, starving and nearly crippled at a foreclosed home in Perris may have been a victim of Fannie Mae. I reported on the horse’s rescue last week by a couple of local good Samaritans, but I didn’t know who owned the property. I do now. It was Fannie Mae. That’s what the County Assessor’s records show, anyway. I had a feeling this was the case, based on an unreliable tip that was blurted at me by the real estate agent in charge of the property. When I called...

Tombstone mystery in drug case San Bernardino County Sheriff's investigators are left with a mystery following the discovery of 24 cemetery headstones in the backyard of a Loma Linda home they were searching for evidence in a drug case Tuesday. One of the headstones was tentatively traced to Montecito Memorial Park in Colton, sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Bachman said. But a spokeswoman for the cemetery's parent company said workmen found a headstone in place on the grave in question. Lisa Marshall, spokeswoman for Service Corporation International, said no markers were reported missing and that the company is cooperating with investigators. Deputies...

Out-of-work plumber Pablo Haro scoured the postings at a Murrieta jobs center for openings at local utilities, but he didn't expect any plumbing companies to be hiring. The recession-ravaged Inland Empire is flooded with laid-off plumbers trying to scratch by, he said. That's why Haro is all for the rash of tough new laws cracking down on the hiring of illegal immigrants in this conservative, suburban valley. "They're working for almost nothing; it's hard to compete with that," said Haro, who was born in Mexicali but became a U.S. citizen a decade ago. "Construction has crashed, so everyone is scrambling...

Mojave Cross replaced, then removed By BEN GOAD and DUG BEGLEY The Press-Enterprise The Mojave Cross saga took yet another unexpected turn Thursday, when the contested symbol that vanished last week reappeared briefly before being taken down by federal officials. National Park Service officials learned Thursday morning that a cross again was on top of Sunrise Rock, about 10 miles south of Interstate 15 near Cima Road, a sparsely traveled route into the Mojave National Preserve. It's about 30 miles east of Baker. Some version of the cross has stood there for 75 years as a tribute to fallen World...

Inland swindler awaiting sentencing commits suicide By RICHARD BROOKS and LESLIE BERKMAN The Press-Enterprise An admitted swindler has hanged himself in Palm Desert where he was awaiting sentencing to as much as 32 years in federal prison for filing false tax returns and for his role in a mortgage and security scheme that prosecutors say cost investors $142 million. Christopher J. Oetting was found dead at 7:50 p.m. Feb. 16 at his home along the 40000 block of Sagewood Drive. He was free on $225,000 bond. Oetting pleaded guilty Dec. 21 in federal court in Los Angeles to money-laundering, conspiracy...

"Access Hollywood" executive bitten by rattlesnake Editorial Note: While this story is outside our local area, we thought it important to remind people to be careful of rattlesnakes. Sunday, July 12th, 2009.Issue 28, Volume 9. An "Access Hollywood'' executive bitten by a rattlesnake -- just in time to put her out of action on the Michael Jackson story -- is expected back at work tomorrow after a nasty reaction and two-week recovery that required 22 vials of antivenin, she said today. Sharon Smith's disastrous encounter with the cold-blooded viper occurred June 27 at a roadside rest area on U.S. 101...

Tea Party IE is a non-partisan coalition of local Inland Empire citizens who honor and promote the principles set forth in America's founding documents: the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution. Also, dedicated to exposing difference between true Freedom and "the illusion of Freedom."

Obama: The first 100 days KTIE 590 is proud to present Michael Medved and Mike Gallagher live and in person - discussing the implications of Obama's first weeks in office, during a rare, Inland Empire appearance. This "one-night only" event takes place Monday, April 13 at the Ontario Doubletree hotel. Tickets are available right now - For every ticket purchased, you'll receive a companion ticket...

What part of illegal alien is so difficult to understand? Apparently, there are those who are either too confused, too unwilling or too incapable of understanding the meaning of those simple words. Instead, they'd rather emotionalize any debate on illegal immigration with cries of racism, discrimination and an alleged lack of compassion for our fellow human beings. They choose this course rather than honestly dealing with the established fact we are a nation of laws - laws intended and necessary to preserve civility and order for our common good. I, for one, refuse to be intimidated or influenced by such...

The nation of road movies, freeway freedom and dreams of endless horizons is waking up to the reality of soaring fuel prices. Paul Harris in Riverside, California, reports that people are leaving their gas guzzlers in the garage It is known as the Inland Empire: a vast stretch of land tucked in the high desert valleys east of Los Angeles. Once home to fruit trees and Indians, it is now a concrete sprawl of jammed freeways, endless suburbs and shopping malls. But here, in the heartland of the four-wheel drive, a revolution is under way. What was once unthinkable is...

FBI searched Murrieta businessmen's homes in investment probe Friday, March 7, 2008 By LESLIE BERKMAN The Press-Enterprise The FBI confirmed Friday that it searched the Murrieta homes of James Duncan and Hendrix Montecastro for documents and computer data as part of a criminal investigation. Contents of the search warrant indicate that the FBI is looking into the investment schemes that already have made the two Murrieta businessmen and their colleagues the targets of lawsuits by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and irate investors. The U.S. attorney's office, acting on behalf of the FBI, obtained the search warrant from U.S....

Ontario, CA has not succumbed to the pressure felt in other cities across the country. The city of approximately 180,000 has large grass-covered median in the center of town with three lanes on each side. Many years ago, long before I was a member of Ontario Parkway Kiwanis, the group acquired very heavy statues of the Nativity scene and other scenes in the life of Christ. After four years, OPK donated them to the Chamber of Commerce. Every year, we get them out of storage and put up the scenes that can be seen on both sides of Euclid Avenue....

From dreams to debt Investors say they expected to cash in on the hot real estate market when they entrusted money to a company in Murrieta. Instead, many are losing their homes and facing bankruptcy. 03:08 PM PST on Saturday, November 17, 2007 By LESLIE BERKMAN The Press-Enterprise Video: Anna Richter talks about losing money in the investment scheme Residents of Copper Canyon in Murrieta watched in astonishment as a group of investors snapped up homes in their middle-income community last year, paying $50,000 to $100,000 more than the sellers wanted. Today, the front yards are browning, overgrown with weeds....