Concern regarding rare earth metal mining within the vast reaches of San Bernardino County’s outback is reviving.
That concern is vectored from two perspectives that are nearly at polar opposites of the political spectrum. Some have misgivings that the intensive disturbance of the soil, to include pit mining and hydraulicking involving vast amounts of water in an arid environment will ultimately redound in an ecological disaster. Others find it more disturbing that restrictions growing out of that environmental advocacy which are being imposed by both local and state government at present on what they consider to be an activity that has tremendous strategic importance for the Unitied States both economically and militarily are giving foreigners the upper hand in terms of access to a vital resource.
Rare earth metals, also referred to as lanthanides, are a set of 17 minerals – specifically scandium, yttrium, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, gadolinium, europium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, lutetium and ytterbium.
Prior to the late 19th Century, rare earth elements did not have a crucial or indispensable role in important applications. Rare earth metals first achieved significant industrial and consumer relevance in the 1890s when chemist Carl Auer von Welsbach utilized cerium and thorium to create the Welsbach gas mantle, which allowed for very bright gas-burning street lights. Welsbach thereafter developed “mischmetal,” an alloy of rare earths, which was widely used as flints in pocket cigarette lighters. The advent of color television in the 1950s and its refinement in the 1960s created unprecedented and enduring demand for europium, which creates a bright red illumination within television screens. Continue reading →

By a bare 4-to-3 margin, The Chino Planning Commission on Wednesday, July 15 shot down AYPA Power’s request to develop a 400-megawatt battery energy storage system facility between Benson Avenue and Oaks Avenue, south of Shaefer Avenue and north of Edison Avenue on industrially-zoned property adjacent to residentially-zoned property.
The decision comes after multiple other cities in California, including ones in San Bernardino County, have struggled with safety issues relating to dense energy storage facility dependent upon lithium batteries, which are vulnerable to “runaway thermal” in circumstances in which the integrity of their containers have been breached.
While the project site technically is within an industrial zone and proximate to the Edison Corridor and its power lines which span a swath running virtually the entire width of the city, it also lies roughly 900 feet from the city’s premier recreation amenity, Ayala Park, and is close to residential neighborhoods.
AYPA Power’s proposal, referred to as the Dirac project, is the logical outgrowth of a surge in the popularity of battery storage facilities in that they provide rapid solutions to unprecedented power demands such as those from artificial intelligence and data centers, prevent rolling blackouts during extreme weather, and store cheap renewable energy for use during expensive peak hours. Continue reading →

In response to a lawsuit that alleged unregistered foreign nationals being detained at the Adelanto Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s processing Center in Adlanto are being subjected widespread abuse and inhumane conditions, Federal Judge Judge Sunshine on Thursday issued an order that federal immigration officials undertake immediate reforms at the facility to safeguard the the health and safety of the inmates there.
Public Counsel, along with the Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), Immigrant Defenders Law Center, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher, filed a lawsuit in January 2026 against federal authorities and agencies, asserting the operators of the prison, GEO, on behalf of the federal government and the Donald Trump Admionistration were subjecting those incarcerated there to inhumane conditions “a core part of its broader scheme to harass, intimidate, punish, and deport immigrants.”
That mistreatment extended, but was not limited, to providing the inmates with insufficient food, unclean drinking water, moldy towels and inaequate medical care, according to the lawsuit. In encouraging or tolerating the manner in which GEO is operating the Adelanto Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center, Public Counsel, the Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights, Immigrant Defenders Law Center and Willkie Farr & Gallagher maintain the government is denying those incarcerated “basic human needs” such as “food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and reasonable safety.” As such, without having obtained a conviction or any form of adjudicated determination, those inmates are being subjected to punishment that violates their constitutional rights to due process of law. Continue reading →

A dozen years after a Rialto Unified School District accountant was caught embezzling at least $1.8 million in student lunch money from the district’s Nutrition Services Department, the audits and investigations division within the California Department of Education has determined that the district never fully redressed its accounting and internal auditing shortcomings, resulting in it misdirecting to itself over $3 million in state funding for the district’s student meal program.
Whereas the thefts Rialto Unified School District Accounting Manager Judith Oakes was proven to have perpetuated between 2005 and 2013 were crudely but effective carried out and entailed physically removing cash and coins, the activity that took place during the 2020-to-2022 COVID crisis that involved Nutrition Services Director Fausat Rahman-Davies, Assistant Nutrition Services Department Director Maria Rangel and Nutrition Services Program Innovator Kristina Kraushaar was more sophisticated, involving electronic entries across two data entry systems and the conveyance of some of the food purchased for the district by the state being handed off to charities or others connected to Rahman-Davies.
Similarly, the perpetrators of the 2005-to-2013 and 2020-to-2022 diversions were able to keep a lid on them through the compromising of those at a higher administrative or political level within the district. Oakes succeeded in keeping the thefts from coming to light, at least during the end stage of that chapter, by entering into a sexual relationship with Harold Cebrun, who was then Rialto Unified’s superintendent. Rahman-Davies insulated herself and the misuse of the state funding by arranging for the district to hire the mother of one of the school district’s board members as a nutrition services division employee. Continue reading →

In what has virtually grown into an annual event, Silverwood Lake was the site on an algae bloom.
In response, the California Department of Water Resources instituted temporary restrictions at the popular recreational venue, including banning the use of boats, watercraft and fishing. On Tuesday, July 14, the lake was close to allow for the infusion of copper sulfate into the water to manage the algal bloom.
The California Department of Water Resources’ action was taken to head off what would otherwise have become a severe “danger” level at the lake in the San Bernardino Mountains, south of Hesperia. Continue reading →

By Mark Gutglueck
There has been further fallout in the case involving Eric Chase Saavedra, the Chino man who moonlighted as the “Policeman for the Mob” while he was simultaneously a respected member of Southern California’s law enforcement profession.
Scott Allen Simpkins, 34, of Brea who at one time worked side-by-side with Saaverda as a member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and then simultaneously went to work with a private security company owned by Saavedra to carry out investigative, muscle, intimidation, kneecap-busting, surveillance, extortion and other illicit assignments for organized crime figures, garden variety criminals or anyone who would pay for it, was sentenced to one year, six months in prison and fined $10,000 on Monday, July 13 by U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson, who also fined him $10,000.
Within the next week, another former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, 45-year-old David Anthony Rodriguez, is to be sentenced for his misdeeds in assisting Saavedra with operation that turned data bases operated by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies into assets for the underworld.
Saavedra, who was then 38 years old, founded a private security company, Saavedra & Associates LLC, registering it with the California Secretary of State on August 26, 2021. Saavedra & Associates remains registered with the State of California as an active business entity. Saavedra & Associates provided private security for its clients, employing active Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department deputies and other law enforcement officers.
Members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, as do other California law enforcement agencies, have access to the Justice Data Interface Controller, known as JDIC, maintained by their department; can obtain access to the Central Name Index, maintained by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department; are able to tap into the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, known by its acronym, CLETS, which is maintained by the California Department of Justice, which incorporates within its bailiwick the California Attorney Generals’ Office; can log into NCIC, the National Crime Information Center data bank maintained by the FBI; and have privileges to utilize NLETS, the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System maintained by a consortium of law enforcement agencies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories are database and information retrieval systems available to law enforcement agencies that are interlinked and intended to provide information relating to actual or suspected criminal activities, crime reports, incident reports, suspects, arrestees, those convicted of crimes, victims and witnesses. Use of and access to these systems are supposed to be limited to law enforcement agencies and their officers who are engaged in legitimate law enforcement activity and investigations. Continue reading →

FBN20260005872
The following entity is doing business primarily in San Bernardino County as
BLUEFIN 15229 HALLMARK LN VICTORVILLE, CA 92394: MARLON R SOLARES
Business Mailing Address: 15229 HALLMARK LN VICTORVILLE, CA 92394
The business is conducted by: AN INDIVIDUAL.
The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or name listed above on: N/A
By signing, I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime (B&P Code 17913). I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.
/s/ MARLON R SOLARES, Owner
Statement filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 06/24/2026
I hereby certify that this copy is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office San Bernardino County Clerk By:/Deputy J9535
Notice-This fictitious name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14400 et seq., Business and Professions Code).
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on June 26 and July 3, 10 & 17, 2026

FBN20260005091
The following entity is doing business primarily in San Bernardino County as
SCIENCE EDVENTURES 18217 BETONY PLACE SAN BERNARDINO, CA 92407: JOANN C PERSAUD
Business Mailing Address: 18217 BETONY PLACE SAN BERNARDINO, CA 92407
The business is conducted by: AN INDIVIDUAL.
The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or name listed above on: April 19, 2026
By signing, I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime (B&P Code 17913). I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.
/s/ JOANN C PERSAUD, MRS
Statement filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 06/01/2026
I hereby certify that this copy is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office San Bernardino County Clerk By:/Deputy K3379
Notice-This fictitious name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14400 et seq., Business and Professions Code).
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on June 26 and July 3, 10 & 17, 2026

FBN20260005255
The following entity is doing business primarily in San Bernardino County as
RC PIANO LESSONS 8006 HENBANE STREET RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA 91739: LINO LEVERAGE GROUP INC. 8006 HENBANE STREET RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA 91739
Business Mailing Address: 8006 HENBANE STREET RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA 91739
The business is conducted by: A CORPORATION registered with the State of California.
The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or name listed above on: June 1, 2026
By signing, I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime (B&P Code 17913). I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.
/s/ KIMBERLY LINO, Secretary
Statement filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 06/04/2026
I hereby certify that this copy is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office San Bernardino County Clerk By:/Deputy J9676
Notice-This fictitious name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14400 et seq., Business and Professions Code).
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on June 26 and July 3, 10 & 17, 2026

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A two-year-old child yesterday killed himself with a gun he came across in the Highland apartment he lived in with his mother and her boyfriend.
According to authorities, the gun was hidden between the seat cushions of a couch in the small apartment at 6920 Victoria Avenue, near the corner of Pacific Street and Victoria Avenue.
According to San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Gloria Orejel, “Through investigation it was determined that the child found a loaded firearm inside the house, in between some cushions on the couch. He grabbed the gun and accidentally shot himself.”
According to a statement put out by the sheriff’s department, “On Thursday, July 16, 2026, at about 5:27 p.m., deputies in Highland were dispatched to a residence on Victoria Street for a two-year-old child who had been shot. Deputies arrived at the location and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the child. Emergency medical personnel responded and transported the child to the hospital where he died shortly after. The child’s mother, Jamaria Cobb, and her boyfriend, Armand Bright, were inside the residence when the shooting occurred.”
Jamaria Heaven Ana Cobb, 20, and Armand Shay Bright, 52, both of Highland, were arrested. The firearm was legally registered to Bright, who is not the victim’s biological father, according to Orejel.
San Bernardino County Child and Family Services took a second child, the victim’s one-year-old sibling, who was also residing inside the home, into protective custody. by, Orejel said. Continue reading →