BARSTOW—Barstow Police Chief Dianne Burns, the first woman to head a police department in San Bernardino County history, voluntarily retired on June 29, three days before her five-year contract was set to expire. Burns’ trailblazing on behalf of her gender within the ranks of southern California law enforcement featured stints as a patrol officer, homicide … Read the Rest ->

Dr. Kali Chaudhuri’s KPC Group has once again emerged as the most likely buyer of troubled Victor Valley Community Hospital. Riverside-based KPC appears to have supplanted both Ontario-based Prime Healthcare Services, owned by Dr. Prem Reddy, and  St. Joseph Health System, which operates St. Mary Hospital in Victorville, as Victor Valley Community Hospital’s main suitor. … Read the Rest ->

The city of Victorville squandered at least $116 million on efforts to develop electrical generating projects since 2005, according to the final report of  the 2011-12 San Bernardino County Grand Jury. The city’s failed power plant projects were among five elements of Victorville’s municipal and ancillary operations scrutinized by the 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 grand … Read the Rest ->

Powerful opposition is forming to the inclusion of eminent domain as a key component of the foreclosure fighting arsenal a newly-formed homeowner assistance joint powers authority is seeking to acquire. The county of San Bernardino and the cities of Fontana and Ontario have banded together to form the Homeowner Protection Joint Powers Authority, which is … Read the Rest ->

CHINO HILLS— California Public Utilities Commission President Michael Peevey on July 2 ordered Southern California Edison and the city of Chino Hills to ready information and prepare testimony by February 28, 2013 pertaining to the options for undergrounding large scale transmission lines previously approved to be strung from massive towers through the heart of the … Read the Rest ->

A British company is proposing erecting several score of 195-foot high wind turbines in the desert north of Yucca Valley on Black Lava Butte and Flat Top Mesa north of Pipes Canyon Road between Pioneertown and Yucca Mesa. London-based Element Power, which has its main North American office in Portland, Oregon, is doing exploratory work … Read the Rest ->

TWENTYNINE PALMS —In reaction to a recommendation by the San Bernardino County Local Agency Formation Commission, the Twentynine Palms Water District Board of Directors on June 27 voted to initiate the process of divesting the area’s fire district from the water district. After the California Department of Forestry ceased providing local fire service in 1958, … Read the Rest ->

A woman who was recently promoted to the position of  captain with the Redlands fire department has sued the city, its fire chief and two battalion chiefs, alleging she was thrice earlier denied that promotion on the basis of gender discrimination. Eva Toppos, 36, who went to work with the Redlands Fire Department in June … Read the Rest ->

SAN BERNARDINO—Graduation rates among high school seniors throughout San Bernardino County increased by 3.5 percent in the 2010-11 academic year, the California Department of Education announced this week. While the 74 percent graduation rate in San Bernardino County trailed the statewide average of 76.3 percent, the graduation rates among Hispanic and African- American students were … Read the Rest ->

VICTORVILLE—A jury this week acquitted a 20-year-old Las Vegas man of gross vehicular manslaughter and deadlocked on the lesser charge of negligent vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in regard to the death of California Highway Patrol  Officer Justin McGrory. Rafael Garcia was driving a car with four passengers in the early morning of June 27, 2010 … Read the Rest ->