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MONDAY, DECEMBER 25- DECEMBER 31, 2023
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Project targets 1,900 transportation investments in Inland Empire
VOL. 7,
Riverside County hosts events highlighting plight of area’s homeless
By City News Service and Staff
By City News Service and Staff
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he Southern California Association of Governments has identified about 1,900 transportation improvement projects for the Inland Empire over the next 25 years, officials said Wednesday. SCAG released its draft Connect SoCal 2024 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy last month as a long-term vision for transportation investments throughout the six-county region, which comprises Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties. The Inland Empire projects that were identified as needing improvement over the next 25 years included: -- express lanes along Interstate 15 in Riverside County from Cajalco Road to state Route 74 and on state Route 60 from I-15 to the state Route 91/60/215 interchange; -- express lanes along Interstate 15 in San Bernardino County from state Route 60 to state Route 210; -- the Brightline West High-Speed Rail system from Las Vegas to Rancho Cucamonga; -- the Ontario International Airport Loop; -- the West Valley Connector bus rapid transit system; and -- bus replacements throughout the Riverside Transit Authority service area. Officials said the return on investment of implementing the plan would be significant, reducing travel delays, improving health outcomes and generating about 87,500 jobs directly and indirectly each year in the IE alone. Another Riverside area mention in the draft plan
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he plight of the homeless and the ongoing effort to provide resources to those in need was at the heart of multiple events that took place Thursday in Riverside, Hemet and Indio. Riverside County officials have organized gatherings to commemorate the “Longest Night,” which is the winter solstice, but also an occasion to underscore the adversity facing those on the streets or otherwise unsheltered, as well as honor those who have died under such circumstances. “Riverside County is committed to mobilizing all available resources to address the urgent needs of our homeless community,” outgoing Board Chairman Kevin Jeffries said. “We stand united in our mission to provide hope, care and support to every individual facing the hardship of homelessness.” A Longest Night ceremony was scheduled between 5 and 7 p.m. Thursday at Fairmount Park, 2601 Fairmount Blvd., See Homeless Page 23
A map in the Connect SoCal 2024 plan shows top freeway bottlenecks in the region. | Image courtesy of SCAG
referred to SCAG’s task of determining areas that are most sensitive to the negative consequences of transportation projects and real estate development. “Areas at risk for both flood and wildfire would be deemed more sensitive to growth than areas with only wildfire risk,” the draft plan states. “An example is the Lake Matthews area in Riverside County, where portions of land fall in very high wildfire severity zones ... and also fall in 100-year flood hazard areas.” Officials from the Riverside area currently on the SCAG Regional Council are County Supervisor Karen Spiegel and city council members Patricia Lock Dawson, Riverside; Kathleen Kelly, Palm Desert; Linda Krupa, Hemet; Clint Lorimore,
Eastvale; Steve Manos, Lake Elsinore; Marisela Nava, Perris; Oscar Ortiz, Indio; Jan Harnik, Palm Desert; and Zak Schwank, Temecula. Regional Council members from the San Bernardino area include city council members Damon L. Alexander, San Bernardino; Elizabeth Becerra, Victorville; Rick Denison, Yucca Valley; Ray Marquez, Chino Hills; L. Dennis Michael, Rancho Cucamonga; Frank J. Navarro, Colton; and Deborah Robertson, Rialto. “The SCAG region’s financially constrained Connect SoCal plan includes revenues from both core and new reasonably available revenue sources — which together total $750.1 billion from FY2024-25 through FY2049-50,” according to
the draft plan, which gets 61% of its funding from local sales-tax revenue, 32% from state sources and 7% the federal government. Following the public review period, a final version of Connect SoCal 2024 is expected to be presented to SCAG’s Regional Council for approval in spring 2024. “This plan incorporates local input more so than in past cycles,” said Buena Park Mayor Art Brown, SCAG’s Regional Council president. “This can help us move together as a region toward improving our transportation network and meeting our sustainability goals.” The draft Connect SoCal 2024 is available for public comment and review until Jan. 12. To learn more and submit comments, visit connectsocal.org.
Brothers each sentenced to 24 years for heroin trafficking By City News Service
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wo Riverside County brothers who operated a heroin trafficking ring and used two Orange County-based call centers to distribute their drugs were each sentenced Dec. 18 to 24 years in federal prison. One person died of a fatal overdose from the drugs distributed by the brothers, according to Ciaran McEvoy, the public information officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Julio Cesar Martinez, 45, also known as “’Primo,” of Riverside, and Victor Martinez, 46, also known as “Hector,” of Hemet, were sentenced by United States District Judge Cormac J. Carney in separate hearings in a Santa Ana courtroom. Each Martinez brother pleaded guilty on Aug. 16 to one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin. From at least 2003 to July 2021, the two brothers ran a drug trafficking organization that imported heroin from Mexico into the United States by couriers who concealed the drug, sometimes in their body cavities, to Orange County, McEvoy said. Once the heroin arrived in Orange County, Julio Martinez oversaw its distribution to various call centers that he also supervised. He also oversaw its distribution to customers. See Heroin trafficking Page 24