Ontario News Press_4/6/2026

Censured councilwoman says she’ll pursue $2M lawsuit vs. San Bernardino

By Joe Taglieri joet@beaconmedianews.com

The San Bernardino City Council on Wednesday voted 6-0 to censure CouncilwomanTreasure Ortiz, who said she won’t resign and will pursue to trial her $2 million lawsuit against the city over an alleged records search by police.

After a more than fourhour public hearing, the council censured Ortiz for allegedly violating city laws that “require honesty, integrity, transparency, and conduct above reproach from elected officials,” according to a statement from the city Thursday.

The City Charter does not afford a vote to the mayor, and Ortiz also did not vote.

Council members found that Ortiz used her elected position and city funds to promote false claims against the city and police department for her own political and personal benefit, according to city officials, who contend that Ortiz filed a “bogus $2 million lawsuit to bury her arrest history” and publicize her council race with taxpayers footing the bill.

“Ortiz’s arrest history threatened to damage her politically, so Ortiz not only falsely accused the City and police of accessing her arrest records, but she also then tried to legitimize her lie with a lawsuit seeking a $2 million taxpayer payout for herself,” according to the city.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m not resigning,” Ortiz said at the censure hearing. “I’m not gonna keep telling the truth. I’m not gonna keep exposing things. I’m gonna keep doing the job I was elected, which is to defend the Constitution of The United States and the Constitution of the state of California against all enemies, foreign and

domestic. And as long as I am holding this office, I will continue to do so.”

The Ward 7 councilwoman said she “filed a claim, and then I was called a liar and a swindler and a crook from you guys, and it was denied without due process. And then more press releases go out, and more press releases go out. And I’m not supposed to speak. I’m not supposed to present a side as an elected official,” Ortiz continued.

“You think my duty is not to speak out against corruption and wrongdoing and mismanagement? That is the job. That’s the essence of what we do. ...

“You want to censure me for what? Telling the truth? I told the truth, and that’s why I go out these doors and I tell the truth. That’s why I’m going to trial because I’m going to make sure that the people I met with are put under oath in a court of law, not a court of public opinion, a court of law. Because that’s where it’s supposed to be done.

And the beauty is each and every one of you can also be subpoenaed to testify because there’s not going to be a settlement behind closed doors. ... This is going to go as far as it needs to go so that this never happens again in our city. That’s my commitment. That’s what I’m here to do.”

Ortiz filed a legal claim in March 2025, then sued the city in federal court in November after city officials rejected it. An outside investigation found her allegations to be false and the lawsuit an attempt to obtain millions in taxpayer dollars, officials said.

Ortiz also illegally recorded police officials to prop up her false claims, city officials allege. California law requires all parties’ to give consent to a recording. Ortiz secretly recorded Lt. Jose Loera on Aug. 15, 2024, and Chief Darren Goodman on Aug. 29, 2024, while trying to gather evidence

for her claims that police and city officials had illegally accessed her records and targeted her. The San Bernardino County District Attorney later filed criminal charges against her.

The council’s censure resolution additionally found that Ortiz lied about her arrest history and falsely claimed the records were fabricated. Records show arrests on June 22, 2006, for domestic battery and March 7, 2015, for battery, even though Ortiz publicly denied ever being arrested.

She also falsely claimed no public arrest records existed and that the records used during the 2024 election were fabricated, officials said.

“That lie was designed to mitigate damage to her City Council race and keep her political career alive,” according to the city. “Ortiz claimed she had never been arrested, and that there were no public arrest

Riverside County Animal Services requests public’s help locating dogs involved in donkey attack

Affordable housing complex for veterans officially opens in Redlands

By Staff

Liberty Lane, an affordable housing community for veterans and people with special needs, officially opened Wednesday in Redlands, county officials announced.

A Community of Friends, the county’s nonprofit partner, co-hosted a ribboncutting event for the facility with 80 affordable homes, including 62 permanent supportive housing units dedicated to homeless and at-risk veterans.

In attendance at the ceremony were local leaders and project partners who formally recognized the community, which began housingresidentsin December.

Speakers at the event included county Board of Supervisors Chairman and 3rd District Supervisor Dawn Rowe, ACOF President and CEO Dora Leong Gallo, Redlands Mayor Mario Saucedo, representatives from the offices of Assemblymember James C. Ramos and Congressman Pete Aguilar, along with project and community partners. A Liberty Lane resident also shared remarks highlighting the impact of stable housing.

“This project demonstrates our dedication to supporting veterans in our community, many of whom have faced housing challenges,” Rowe said in a statement. “Liberty Lane provides a safe and stable place to live along with the supportive services residents need to rebuild their lives. This is our way of giving back to those who have given so much.”

Liberty Lane was developed by ACOF with support from the county Community

Development and Housing Department, the Department of Behavioral Health, the Housing Authority, along with Loma Linda VA Medical Center and the nonprofit U.S. VETS. San Bernardino County contributed funding from the federal HOME Investment Partnerships Program, plus state and local housing resources, officials said.

“Liberty Lane was a deeply collaborative effort powered by the commitment of the community and our government partners,” Gallo said in a statement.

“Together we persevered through every challenge, never losing sight of our shared mission: to create affordable, safe and stable housing for our veterans who served our country.”

The project also received significant support from J.P. Morgan Chase.

“We’re proud to help finance Liberty Lane Apartments, expanding access to quality affordable homes for veterans and their families in Redlands and San Bernardino County,” William Ho, executive director of J.P. Morgan community development banking, said in a statement. “At J.P. Morgan, our affordable housing investment work is rooted in the idea that strong communities create opportunity, and Liberty Lane’s mission to support veterans facing disability, homelessness or economic challenges reflects that commitment. By offering permanent supportive housing, Liberty Lane gives residents the foundation to build stability, pursue their goals and thrive for years to come.”

Supportive services for residents include case

Deliberations begin in trial of man accused in MoVal rage killing

By City News Service

Jury deliberations began Thursday in the trial of a Moreno Valley man accused of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend’s new lover -- in front of their children -- stemming from extreme jealousy over the pair’s relationship.

Jerome Roy Jackson, 37, allegedly killed Jason Williams, 38, of Riverside in 2022.

Jackson is charged with first-degree murder, two counts of child endangerment and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.

The prosecution and defense delivered closing statementsThursday morning, after which Riverside County Superior Court Judge Matthew Perantoni sent the jury behind closed doors to begin weighing evidence from the two-week trial at the Riverside Hall of Justice. The panel was directed to resume deliberations Monday.

Jackson is being held on $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail.

According to a trial brief filed by the District Attorney’s Office, the defendant and Williams were one-time friends, but a conflict developed in 2021 when Jackson and his girlfriend, Corina Aguirre, split up, and he moved out of their twostory house on Tea Rose Lane, where he and Aguirre had been raising their four children.

Jackson and Aguirre had been a couple for 15 years, and after he left the house, “he repeatedly told her that he would hurt any man she dated after him,” the brief stated.

In the early afternoon of Aug. 6, 2022, Jackson drove with his then- girlfriend, 48-year-old Danielle Ryan Rainey of Riverside, to the Tea Rose Lane neighborhood, parking about a block away on Snapdragon Lane, prosecutors said.

Jackson had allegedly armed himself with a .380 semiautomatic pistol and a 9mm handgun. The brief said he contacted his eldest daughter, identified only as “K.J.,” and directed her to send him a message when the victim arrived to meet Aguirre.

When Williams pulled up in his Mercedes E350, K.J. did as instructed, at which point Jackson told Rainey to drive her Chevrolet Cruz over to

Aguirre’s house while he loaded his two pistols, prosecutors alleged.

After she parked, he got out of the car and “made contact with Williams in the driveway, where they began to argue,” according to the brief.

“This resulted in a brief shoving match (until) Williams reached out his hand to shake the defendant’s, seemingly to bury the hatchet,” the narrative said.

“The defendant took a few steps backwards, pulled out a gun and began firing.”

The victim was struck by multiple rounds through both shoulders, lower back, right hip, right arm and right-side rib cage, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Jackson emptied the .380, pausing only to walk over to the Chevy to obtain the 9mm, prosecutors alleged.

Aguirre, K.J. and one of the other children ran into the driveway, screaming at Jackson to stop his attack.

Despite the severity of his wounds, Williams stumbled to his Mercedes and tried to enter it when the defendant walked over and aimed at the man’s head, allegedly shooting him through the temple, killing the victim instantly, according to the prosecution.

Witnesses called 911, as did Jackson, who conveyed to dispatchers that Williams had allegedly initiated the

Tconfrontation by trying to throw a punch, according to the brief.

During questioning by detectives, the defendant’s story changed several times, until he ultimately commented that Williams had “pulled a gun and fired, bro,” the brief said. No firearm was found in the victim’s possession. Statements from Aguirre and the children contradicted the defendant’s version of what happened, along with security surveillance videos captured via cameras attached to surrounding houses, according to prosecutors.

Rainey was originally charged with being an accessory after the fact. However, following a February 2024 preliminary hearing, the allegation against her was dismissed.

Court records indicated Jackson has a prior misdemeanor conviction for reckless driving, but no documented felonies.

Nonprofit receives $20K grant to expand sports equipment access for CV youth

he Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians has awarded a $20,000 grant to a nonprofit aimed at making sports more accessible for youth and families in the Coachella Valley, it was announced Thursday.

“We are incredibly grateful to the Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians for believing in our mission and investing in the young people of the Coachella Valley,” Yvonne Garcia, president of Gear

By City News Service

It Forward, Inc., said in a statement. “This grant helps us grow our workshops and clinics, reach more families, and make sure more kids have the opportunity to play, participate and feel supported through sports.”

Gear It Forward, Inc. will use the funds to launch a “1:1 Coaching and Youth Development Initiative” across 10 sports programs and to expand outreach throughout the region, officials said.

San Bernardino County joined U.S. VETS, the city of San Bernardino and Kingdom Development to celebrate the groundbreaking of the E Street affordable housing development, a project designed to provide safe and stable housing along with supportive services to veterans and their families. The county contributed $5 million through the Community Development and Housing Department toward the project’s total cost of $28.4 million.

“Veterans and their families have sacrificed so much in service to our nation,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman and Third District Supervisor Dawn Rowe. “Our investment in this development is one way we can recognize their service

and support their continued success in our community.”

“Our investment in the E Street project is about bringing dignity and respect to the veterans and families who call our community home,” added Vice Chair and Fifth District Supervisor Joe Baca, Jr. “This development reflects our commitment to honoring their service with action.”

“Our veterans have given so much, and they deserve not only our gratitude, but also access to the services and opportunities that will help them succeed,” said Fourth District Supervisor Curt Hagman. “We must continue building and investing in solutions like this to ensure that every veteran has a place to call home.”

The group said youth participation in sports can help children stay active and build confidence on and off the field.

The nonprofit said it provides sports equipment to young athletes who lack access due to financial constraints. The organization collects and redistributes gently used or new gear, covers registration fees for families in need and supports community-based outreach.

Affordable housing development for vets breaks ground in San Bernardino

By Staff

The E Street project will include 30 homes ranging from one to four bedrooms, with half the units set aside for veterans experiencing homelessness. Kingdom Development will construct the homes, while U.S. VETS will provide on-site services, including mental health support, career development programs and peer engagement opportunities. Each home will feature a modern kitchen and bathroom with essential appliances. Community amenities will include laundry facilities, a community center and common areas designed to foster connection. The project is anticipated to open in 2027 and will serve veteran households earning 60 percent or less of the area median income.

Trump’s Justice Department dropped 23,000 criminal investigations in shift to immigration

By Ken B. Morales and David Armstrong, ProPublica

In the first days after Pam Bondi was appointed attorney general last year, the Department of Justice began shutting down pending criminal cases at a record pace.

The cases included an investigation into a Virginia nursing home with a recent record of patient abuse; probes of fraud involving several New Jersey labor unions, including one opened after a top official of a national union was accused of embezzlement; and an investigation into a cryptocurrency company suspected of cheating investors.

In total, the DOJ quietly closed more than 23,000 criminal cases in the first six months of President Donald Trump’s administration, abandoning hundreds of investigations into terrorism, white-collar crime, drugs and other offenses as it shifted resources to pursue immigration cases, according to an analysis by ProPublica.

The bulk of these cases, which were closed without

prosecution and known as declinations, had been referred to the DOJ by law enforcement agencies under prior administrations that believed a federal crime may have been committed.

The DOJ routinely declines to prosecute cases for any number of reasons, including insufficient evidence or because a case is not a priority for enforcement.

But the number of declinations under Bondi marks a striking departure not only from the Biden administration but also the first Trump term, according to the ProPublica analysis, which examined two decades of DOJ data, including the first six months of Trump’s second term. ProPublica determined the increase is not the result of inheriting a larger caseload or more referrals from law enforcement.

In February 2025 alone, which included the first weeks of Bondi’s tenure, nearly 11,000 cases were declined, the most in a

month since at least 2004. The previous high was just over 6,500 cases in September 2019, during Trump’s first administration. Some of the cases shut down were the result of yearslong investigations by federal agencies such as the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration. For

complex cases, the DOJ can take years before deciding whether to bring charges.

The shift comes as the DOJ has undergone an extraordinary overhaul under the Trump administration, with entire units shuttered, directives to abandon pursuit of certain crimes and thousands of lawyers quitting or, in some cases, being forced out of the agency.

In doing so, the DOJ is retreating from its mission to impartially uphold the rule of law, keep the country safe and protect civil rights, according to interviews with a dozen prosecutors and an open letter from nearly 300 DOJ employees who have left the department under Trump. The Trump DOJ, the employees wrote, is “taking a sledgehammer” to longstanding work to “protect communities and the rule of law.”

The change in priorities was outlined in a series of memos sent to attorneys early last year. Trump’s DOJ has said it is “turning a new page on white-collar and corporate enforcement” and emphasizing the pursuit of drug cartels, illegal immigrants and institutions that promote “divisive DEI policies.” Trump, in an address last March at the department, said the changes were necessary after a “surrender to violent criminals” during the past administration and would result in a restoration of “fair, equal and impartial justice under the constitutional rule of law.”

The department prosecuted 32,000 new immigration cases in the first six months of the administration, which was nearly triple

the number under the Biden administration and a 15% increase from the first Trump term. It has pursued fewer prosecutions of nearly every other type of crime — from drug offenses to corruption — than new administrations in their first six months dating back to 2009.

The DOJ has also closed hundreds of cases involving alleged crimes that the administration has publicly emphasized as enforcement priorities. Even as the Trump administration unleashed Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency operatives to root out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government, the DOJ declined over 900 cases of federal program or procurement fraud. About three times as many cases of major fraud against the U.S. were declined under Trump compared with the average of similar time periods under prior administrations. And while the Trump administration has promised to “make America safe again,” its DOJ has declined more than 1,000 terrorism cases, also more than prior administrations.

Federal prosecutor Joseph Gerbasi had spent years in the department’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section helping build cases against major suppliers of fentanyl ingredients in India and China. After Bondi came in, he was left bewildered when his team was ordered to abandon its work.

“All of the building blocks of what would become successful prosecutions were pulled out,” said Gerbasi, who retired as the section’s acting deputy chief for policy in March 2025 after 28 years with the department.

The move had an “overwhelming deflating effect on morale,” he said.

Barbara McQuade, who worked as a federal prosecutor in Michigan for two decades until 2017 during Republican and Democratic administrations, said it was not unusual for new administrations to come to office with a few “pet priorities” — such as a focus on violent crime or drug trafficking. But she said those changes usually involved modest adjustments in policy and that most of the decisions on what crimes to focus on were typically made at the

local level by the district U.S. attorney in coordination with the FBI or other agencies.

“We would revise those about every five years, not having anything to do with any administration, just because it made sense,” she said.

A DOJ spokesperson, in an emailed response to questions about the spike in declinations, said that in “an effort to clean, remediate, and validate data in U.S. Attorneys’ case management system,” the department reviewed all pending criminal matters opened prior to the 2023 fiscal year, which included updating the status of closed cases. “This Department of Justice remains committed to investigating and prosecuting all types of crime to keep the American people safe, and the number of declinations is a direct result of our efforts to run the agency in a more efficient manner.”

The agency did not respond to questions about the types of cases declined.

The spike of declined cases began in February 2025 when the department ordered prosecutors to review every open case launched prior to October 2022 and determine whether to close it. Such a review would typically take months, according to one attorney tasked with reviewing cases. A memo, which was described to ProPublica reporters, ordered the review to be completed within 10 days.

Former DOJ prosecutors told ProPublica that they typically reviewed caseloads every six months with supervisors and that closing out languishing cases wouldn’t ordinarily be cause for concern. They said the February directive, however, was unusual. None could recall a similar order.

The directive came as higher-ups in the department had begun making frequent demands for data about specific types of cases and charging decisions, such as the outcome of fentanyl cases, according to former prosecutor Michael Gordon. Gordon, who helped prosecute Jan. 6 cases before moving to white-collar crime prosecutions, said the “fire drills” from officials in Washington became so regular that he grew used to the forlorn

look on his supervisor’s face when he showed up at Gordon’s door, apologetically delivering yet another frantic request.

“It was either ‘give us stats we can use to make ourselves look good’ or ‘give us the stats to show how bad things are in this area,’” Gordon said. “It was never productive fact-finding.”

Though Gordon didn’t see the memo, he remembered getting the request to review all cases that had been open for more than two years and report back on their status, entering into a master spreadsheet basic information about any that he wanted to keep pursuing.

“The office was pushing us to close everything by a certain date so that when they had to report up to D.C. they had a low number of open cases,” he said. “You really had to go to bat to keep open a case that was more than two years old.”

Gordon said he was fired by the DOJ last June. He has filed a lawsuit alleging his termination was politically motivated. The department did not respond to questions about Gordon’s comments or his lawsuit. The government filed a motion to dismiss the case late last year, arguing that the federal court did not have jurisdiction over the matter. The court has not yet ruled on that motion, and the case is still pending.

Investigations into individuals or corporations declined for prosecution are generally not reported to courts and usually only disclosed in summary form by the DOJ in annual reports.

To conduct its analysis, ProPublica obtained declination data from the DOJ and the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a center that obtains data through Freedom of Information Act requests.

Here are some of the areas most impacted by the spike in declinations.

Drugs

As president, Trump has spoken frequently about the “scourge” of drugs coming into the country. At the same time, the Justice Department has declined to prosecute nearly 5,000 cases of federal drug law violations, including trafficking and money laundering. The number of declinations were 45% higher than the average of the prior three new administrations.

Gerbasi, the counternarcotics prosecutor, declined to comment on specific cases that might have been declined in his office. But, he said, once Bondi was appointed, the priority in the office became building cases against Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan group that the Trump administration has labeled a foreign terrorist organization.

“Tren de Aragua was not anywhere close to the scale or impact of the cartels we were focused on,” Gerbasi said. “But we were told to generate those cases.”

He said his office had to scramble to fly people to investigate local gangs in small towns that were reportedly affiliated with Tren de Aragua. “They never would have merited a fullscale federal investigation,” he said.

“It told me that decisions were going to be based on political appearances and not based on the merits of where investigative resources should be placed.”

The DOJ declined to comment on Gerbasi’s remarks.

National Security

Under Bondi, the DOJ declined more than 1,300 cases involving terrorism and national security, nearly twice what was typical at the start of the most recent new administrations. While domestic terrorism was the hardest-hit program, just over 300 cases involving charges of providing material support to foreign

Immigration

terrorist organizations were also dropped.

The DOJ program handling matters relating to national internal security — which considers cases of alleged spy activity and the security of classified information — saw over 200 declinations, which is four times as many as typical in the first six months of a new administration. Some of the cases related to serving as an unregistered foreign agent, a charge Bondi ordered prosecutors to stop pursuing unless they involved “conduct similar to more traditional espionage by foreign government actors.”

Jimmy Gurulé, a former federal prosecutor and George W. Bush appointee to the U.S. Treasury Department who investigated the financing of terrorism, said the decline in terrorism cases was troubling.

“The Trump DOJ has been used as a political weapon,” he said. “It’s a question of prioritizing resources. Are they going to be used for national security threats or to prosecute his political enemies and critics?” The DOJ did not respond to a request for comment on Gurulé’s remarks.

Labor

The DOJ shut down over 60 union corruption and labor racketeering cases, 2.5 times the number in Trump’s first term. Nearly half of the cases turned down for those offenses were out of the New Jersey U.S. attorney’s office, which in the past has aggressively pursued alleged union corruption. All were noted as declined for insufficient evidence.

Most of those cases had been opened by Grady O’Malley, an assistant U.S. attorney who oversaw several prosecutions of union corruption while working in the New Jersey office over four decades. He retired in 2023 and was

disturbed to learn from former colleagues that the office was shutting down the open union probes.

A Trump supporter, O’Malley said that while he doesn’t blame the president, he worries the decision to drop so many cases could embolden unions that he and his colleagues spent years working to hold accountable. “No one is assigned to do labor union cases, and the unions have every reason to believe no one is looking.”

The New Jersey U.S. attorney’s office said it had no comment on the declination of labor cases.

White-Collar Crime

The Trump administration has pledged to root out “rampant” fraud in federal benefit programs like food stamps and welfare. The controversial surging of federal agents to Minnesota in January began as a stated crackdown on noncitizens allegedly ripping off nutrition and child care programs.

The DOJ, however, shut down more than 900 cases of federal program or procurement fraud in the first six months of the administration, including one targeting a mortgage lender accused by several state regulators of defrauding the Federal Housing Administration. The case was dropped due to “prioritization of federal resources and interests.”

The U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of Alabama, which declined the case, did not reply to a request for comment. The number of fraud cases closed was about double that in the same time period of the Biden and first Trump administrations.

The agency also closed over 100 health care fraud cases as a result of “prioritization of resources and interests” even though the Trump administration has said it is making this area of enforcement a priority.

Among other cases the DOJ determined weren’t a priority: the probe into the Virginia nursing home accused of abuse, as well as investigations in Tennessee into fraud at a national hospital chain and one of the largest Medicaid managed care companies.

The Western District of Virginia U.S. attorney’s office, through a spokesperson, declined to comment on the nursing home case.

A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney in the Middle District of Tennessee said the office does not comment on investigations that do not result in public charges.

The DOJ’s Antitrust Division, which focuses on preventing big businesses from creating harmful monopolies, also declined an unusually high number of cases in Trump’s second term. More than 40 cases were dropped within the first six months of Bondi’s tenure. That’s more than double the number declined in the same time period by the prior three new administrations.

Despite the declinations, the department said it charged slightly more people with fraud in 2025 compared with the final year of the Biden administration, and those cases alleged larger financial losses.

Promises Kept

The DOJ under Bondi has also rapidly pursued many of the priorities laid out in Trump’s early executive orders and her own “first day” directives to staff.

Trump in February 2025 issued an executive order pausing new investigations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits citizens and companies from bribing foreign entities to advance their business interests. The order asked the attorney general to review and “take appropriate action” on any existing probes to “preserve Presidential foreign policy

prerogatives.”

In the first six months, Bondi’s DOJ shut down 25 such cases, which is more than the combined number dropped by the prior three new administrations over the same time period. One of the cases declined for prosecution involved a major car manufacturer, which had reported possible anti-bribery violations to federal investigators involving a foreign subsidiary. The DOJ declined the case for prosecution last June, citing the “prioritization of federal resources and interests.”

On her first day, Bondi ordered a review of criminal prosecutions under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances, or FACE Act, which prohibits people from illegally blocking access to abortion clinics and places of worship. The department dropped as many cases under the act in its first six months as the past three new administrations combined, over the same time frame. Bondi’s order focused on “non-violent protest activity,” although at least one of the closed cases was being investigated as a violent crime. The DOJ has since charged protesters against Immigration and Customs Enforcement and journalists in Minneapolis under the FACE Act. The defendants in the case have pleaded not guilty.

The agency closed three times the number of cases alleging environmental crimes as the Biden administration did and one-anda-half times as many as compared with Trump’s first term. The declinations came as the DOJ reassigned and cut prosecutors working on environmental cases. Onefifth of all of the dropped environmental protection cases were shut down for “prioritization of federal resources and interests.”

Republished with Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

SoCal native aboard as historic Artemis II lunar mission launches

By City News Service

Piloted by a Southern Californianative, NASA’sArtemisII mission, the first crewed lunar mission in more than 50 years, launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida Wednesday, sending four astronauts on a roughly 10-day journey around the moon and back.

The Orion spacecraft, powered into space by a Space Launch System rocket, launched just after 3:30 p.m. California time, beginning a journey that will carry the astronauts farther from the Earth than any other previous mission. The astronauts will also travel closer to the moon than any human has been in more than a half-century.

Among the astronauts aboard is Victor Glover, who was born in Pomona, attended Ontario High School and graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Serving as pilot of the Orion spacecraft, he is the first person of color to take part in a lunar mission.

Glover spent more than five months aboard the International Space Station in 2020-21, traveling there aboard SpaceX’s first full

crew rotation flight by a U.S. commercial spacecraft. That work made him the first Black crew member to ever serve on the ISS.

“The Artemis II crew represents thousands of people working tirelessly to bring us to the stars. This is their crew, this is our crew, this is humanity’s crew,” then-NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in 2023 when announcing the team.

“NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Hammock Koch, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen, each has their own story, but, together, they represent our creed: E pluribus unum -- out of many, one. Together, we are ushering in a new era of exploration for a new generation of star sailors and dreamers -- the Artemis Generation.”

Glover also has extensive ties to Southern California beyond his upbringing, having served as a test pilot at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in the Mojave Desert and earning a master’s degree from Air University at

Edwards Air Force Base.

Commander Wiseman, pilot Glover and mission specialists Koch and Hansen arrived at Kennedy Space Center last week to begin final launch preparations.

The Artemis II mission will not land on the moon but will travel thousands of miles beyond it, providing astronauts with views of the lunar far side before returning to Earth.

Once the spacecraft departs Earth orbit, communications will be handled in part by NASA’s Deep Space Network, which is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

The mission is part of NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the moon for the first time since the Apollo era and eventually establish a sustained presence there, ultimately serving as a base assisting in the effort to send humans to Mars.

Artemis II is expected to provide NASA with a wealth of scientific data, assisting in planning for an anticipated landing on the moon in a few

years. That data is expected to include information about the effects of deep space travel on the body and mind, along with photographs and geologic analysis about the far side of the moon that is always facing away from Earth.

The full match schedule for the 2026 World Cup was finalized Wednesday following European play-off qualifiers, with Inglewood set to host eight matches -- including games featuring the U.S. Men’s National Team -- at SoFi Stadium.

Five group-stage matches are set, beginning June 12 with the United States vs. Paraguay, with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey newly added to the openinground lineup, followed by three knockout-stage matches.

A marquee matchup is set for June 25, when the U.S. will face Turkey in a Group D contest at the Inglewood venue. SoFi Stadium, designated as “Los Angeles Stadium” for

the tournament, will also host two Round of 32 matches and a quarterfinal scheduled for July 10.

“With the final schedule now set, we are focused on delivering an exceptional experience for players, fans and our local communities,” Kathryn Schloessman, CEO of the Los Angeles World Cup 2026 Host Committee, said in a statement.

The tournament will be played across multiple cities in the United States, Mexico and Canada and will be the largest in history, featuring 104 matches.

Officials said the final phase of ticket sales opened this week, with tickets available on a first-come, firstserved basis while supplies last.

The schedule includes a

By City News Service

group-stage match involving Iran, although uncertainty has surrounded the team’s participation. Iran’s sport minister said last month the country would not participate in the World Cup following U.S. and Israeli airstrikes.

FIFA said it was working with all participating teams to ensure the tournament goes as planned.

“FIFA is in regular contact with all participating member associations, including (the Islamic Republic of) Iran, to discuss planning for the FIFA World Cup 2026. FIFA is looking forward to all participating teams competing as per the match schedule announced on 6 December 2025,” FIFA said in a statement last month.

The current program schedule calls for the Artemis III launch sometime next year, testing lunar landers being developed by Hawthorne-based SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. Artemis IV is expected to launch in early 2028, marking the return of astronauts to the lunar surface using a lunar lander.

Artemis V, another lunar surface mission, is expected to occur in late 2028, with additional missions planned roughly once a year after that.

World Cup schedule finalized; Bosnia, Turkey added to LA matches

Iran had attempted to negotiate with FIFA to move its matches to Mexico.

The eight matches scheduled for SoFi Stadium are:

-- June 12, United States vs. Paraguay;

-- June 15, Iran vs. New Zealand; -- June 18, Switzerland vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina; -- June 21, Belgium vs. Iran; -- June 25, Turkey vs.

United States; -- June 28, Round of 32; -- July 2, Round of 32; and -- July 10, Quarterfinal. More information can be found at https://losangelesfwc26.com/.

CSU survey: AI content must be verified for accuracy

By City News Service

Use of artificial intelligence across Califor-

nia State University’s campuses is high, with most faculty, staff and students agreeing that AI-generated content must be verified, according to a CSU survey released Wednesday.

The CSU AI Survey found a near universal demand for transparency, ethical use and responsible regulation of AI content. Of the more than 94,000 survey respondents, just over 80,000 were students -- 85% undergraduates -- while more than 6,000 were faculty and over 7,300 were staff.

“We launched the largest AI initiative in higher education last year to ensure that this extraordinary technology equitably expands opportunity for CSU students, bolsters faculty and staff excellence, strengthens the

California workforce, and is implemented in a manner that reflects the CSU’s core values,” CSU Chancellor Mildred García said in a statement.

“Data must inform and guide our decision-making moving forward, and this survey -- given its size -- sets not just a CSU benchmark, but a national one. And it marks an exciting moment for the CSU, one that demonstrates our commitment to student success by boldly and thoughtfully leading through innovation.”

Among the survey’s key findings:

-- More than half of students, six in 10 faculty and two-thirds of staff regularly use AI-powered tools;

-- 95% of respondents used at least one of the 21 AI tools listed in the survey;

-- ChatGPT is the most

commonly used AI tool across CSU, used by more than 84% of survey participants;

-- More than eight in 10 staff respondents and roughly seven in 10 faculty want formal AI training;

-- About 80% of student respondents oppose submitting AI-generated work as their own;

-- The majority of faculty, staff and student respondents say it is necessary to verify the accuracy of

AI-generated content;

-- More than half of faculty respondents use AI to develop course materials, and 69% provide students with guidance on how to use AI effectively;

-- About 82% of staff respondents, 78% of faculty and 69% of students believe AI will become an essential part of most professions; and

-- 82% of students, 78% of faculty and 74% of staff express concern about AI’s impact on job security.

Developed by researchers at San Diego State University, the CSU AI Survey was conducted in fall 2025.

The survey “captures a moment of transition in higher education, where both students and faculty are actively assessing how AI fits into teaching

and learning,” said David Goldberg, SDSU AI Faculty Fellow, associate professor of management information systems and a lead researcher on the survey.

“The data gives us a powerful foundation to better support faculty by tailoring training to real needs, bringing more consistency to AI use in the classroom, and ensuring that its use strengthens learning outcomes,” he said. “It also offers a roadmap for institutions nationwide to better understand AI’s role and to implement it thoughtfully, consistently, and responsibly.”

CSU’s 18-month, $17 million deal with OpenAI, launched in February 2025, provides ChatGPT to nearly 470,000 students and 63,000 faculty and staff. The contract ends in July.

LGBTQ+ advocates slam Supreme Court ruling on conversion therapy

Groups advocating for the LGBTQ+ community are slamming a March 30 Supreme Court decision overturning a Colorado law banning conversion therapy for minors.

Justice Neil Gorsuch argued for the majority that the bill violated therapists’ First Amendment free speech rights.

Jorge Reyes Salinas, communications director for the group Equality California, said conversion therapy, which tries to change a person’s sexual orientation or

gender identity, hurts patients by fostering self-loathing.

“Every major medical and mental health organization continues to condemn conversion therapy because of its harmfulness,” Salinas pointed out. “It creates depression, anxiety, and suicide.”

Currently, 20 states, including California, ban conversion therapy for minors. The Supreme Court decision does not lift those bans immediately but makes them vulnerable to legal challenges. Justice Ketanji

By Suzanne Potter, Public News Service

Brown-Jackson argued in her dissent that states should be able to regulate professional conduct in the medical field without running afoul of the First Amendment.

Angela Dallara, director of rapid response and campaigns for the advocacy group GLAAD, said we need to prioritize people’s right to effective, science-based medical care.

“We must amplify the voices of survivors and continue to hold liable anyone who peddles in this junk science,” Dallara argued.

“Conversion practices are also very much a form of medical malpractice and consumer fraud, because they don’t work.”

In California, adults can sue for medical malpractice if they believe they have been harmed by conversion therapy. A new bill in the state legislature, Senate Bill 934, would make it easier to sue and extends the time limit for filing a suit.

References: State data: https://www. lgbtmap.org/equality_maps/ profile_state/CA

UCLA study finds gaps in care for women with diabetes

By City News Service

Women with diabetes are less likely to receive preventive care and routine health screenings than women without the condition, according to a UCLA-led study published Friday.

The research, based on an analysis of more than 40 studies from multiple countries, found gaps in services including contraceptive counseling, cancer screenings and pre-conception care.

Researchers said the findings, published in the Journal of General Internal

Medicine, highlight how routine preventive care is often overlooked for women with diabetes, potentially increasing their risk for complications such as issues during pregnancy.

“These findings are important because they identify that women with diabetes are not receiving recommended well-woman care, which is essential to support both managing their diabetes and their overall health,” senior author Lauren Wisk, an associate professor of medicine at the David Geffen School

of Medicine at UCLA, said in a statement. “Providers need to be aware that they should not forget to provide these essential services for women with diabetes.”

The study examined care patterns among women ages 15 to 49 with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, focusing on four areas: contraceptive services, breast and cervical cancer screenings, pre-conception counseling and screenings for sexually transmitted infections.

Among the findings, about 48% of women with

diabetes received contraceptive services compared to 62% of women without the disease. Cervical cancer screening rates ranged from 38% to 79% for women with diabetes, compared with 46% to 86% for those without. Breast cancer screening rates were also lower among women with diabetes.

Researchers found particularly low rates of preconception counseling, with just over 1% of women with diabetes receiving such care compared with 46% of women without the disease who were

planning to become pregnant.

The study also noted a lack of research on screening for sexually transmitted infections among women with diabetes, calling it a significant gap.

Researchers said better coordination among care providers could help improve access to preventive services, noting that patients who receive care from multiple specialists are more likely to receive recommended screenings.

Single, savvy and secure: 3 steps to owning your financial future

By Sarah Maddigan for Ally Financial via Stacker

The beauty of being single is that you can design your life on your own terms. Whether it’s cultivating your personal sanctuary or making big career moves and travel plans without a second opinion, you’re the sole architect of your future. While this freedom is a major asset, it also means being completely responsible for everything — a challenge that requires both savvy and strategy.

Single spender? A financial peek behind the curtain

Unless you have roommates or outside financial support, being single likely means you’re covering all of the expenses for me, myself and I.

That’s not necessarily a disadvantage. It just requires a different approach to set yourself up for success.

In Ally Bank’s “The Cost of Singledom” consumer report, only 17% of singles feel they spend more money because they are single, and only one-third claim they’ve experienced a “singles’ tax.” Many actually feel that being single offers a better benefit: the freedom and independence to make their own choices. Ally Financial shares highlights from the report and offers tips for managing finances as a single person.

Your money, your rules: 3 financial tips for a party of 1

For many, being single can be a time to get finances in order because they don’t have to consider another person’s debts or spending habits. Still, 75% of singles say they worry about money at least several times a year, compared to 69% of those in a relationship. Women, both single and partnered, also feel significantly more overwhelmed, anxious and worried about their finances than men, reporting higher levels of anxiety, worry and frustration.

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to help you feel more in control of your financial situation.

1. Feel the support of a solo safety net

When you’re single, you typically can’t depend on another person’s financial support during emergency situations. Because of this, one of the best ways to prepare for unexpected expenses, like medical bills or home repairs, is to build an emergency fund. While how much you should save depends on factors like your income and monthly costs, general guidance suggests keeping three to six months’ worth of essential expenses in your emergency savings. Start building your solo safety net (emergency fund) by:

• Creating a budget: List out all of your essential and nonessential expenses

to assess how you’re spending and where you could cut down.

• Automating your savings: Set recurring transfers to help your account grow with minimal effort.

• Saving unexpected income: Keep your raise, bonus or tax refund for a rainy day by automatically routing it to your emergency fund.

2. Break up with debt on your terms

According to the survey, 39% of singles find debt to be the most challenging expense to cover on their own. If you’re unsure of how to tackle debt, consider following one of these methods:

• Snowball strategy: Pay the minimum balance on all debts and apply remaining funds to your smallest debt first.

• Avalanche strategy: Pay the minimum balances on all debts and apply remaining funds to the debt with the highest interest first.

• Debt consolidation: Combine debts into one manageable payment.

• Debt management: Work with a professional if debt becomes overwhelming.

3. Making money moves: Other paths toward financial independence Being single has its advantages, like the ability to tailor your savings and

investments to your lifestyle and goals. Some smart money moves to consider include:

• Taking advantage of employer benefits: Make sure you’re using your employer benefits to the fullest. These might include contributing to a 401(k), opting into health insurance that matches your lifestyle or taking advantage of access to financial planning tools.

• Investing early: When it comes to investing, time can be your biggest advantage. Putting even a small amount of money in the market could pay off in the future. Keep in mind, investments have the potential to grow, but also carry the risk of loss.

• Build a personal financial system: Optimize your

accounts for everyday spending and short- and long-term savings goals.

2 hearts, 1 budget, same stress

Plot twist: Being coupled doesn’t necessarily relieve financial anxieties. Ally’s survey shows that levels of financial confidence are actually fairly similar, regardless of relationship status, with 38% of coupled respondents saying they’re able to set aside money in savings each month and 29% of singles say the same. Sentiment around debt repayment is also similar: 54% of couples say they will be able to pay off their debt over time, and 45% of singles say the same.

If you have a special someone in your life, it’s important to discuss finances openly and regularly about

things like:

• Spending habits

• Debt and financial obligations

• Short- and long-term goals

Having these conversations often and early can ensure you’re both on the same page as you transition from being single to merging finances with another person.

The sole architect: Building a financial foundation

Financial confidence depends on your intention, not on your relationship status. By building strong habits now, you’re securing the freedom to live exactly how you choose, now and in the future.

This story was produced by Ally Financial and reviewed and distributed by Stacker. Re-published with CC BY-NC 4.0 License.

Dodgers’ Ontario California League affiliate loses debut

By City News Service

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ new single-A California League affiliate, the Ontario Tower Buzzers, fell short in a comeback attempt at the Ontario Sports Empire Complex Thursday evening in their first game.

Ontario scored four runs over the final three innings in a 7-5 loss to the Lake Elsinore Storm in front of a crowd announced at 6,611 at ONT Field, whose listed capacity is 6,000.

Brendan Tunink hit solo home runs in the second and seventh innings and Chase Harlan went for 3-for-4 with an RBI for the Tower Buzzers, who out- hit the San Diego Padres’ single-A California League affiliate, 8-7.

The Storm scored five runs in the third and two in the seventh.

The Tower Buzzers are

owned by Diamond Baseball Holdings, which was established in 2021 by the media conglomerate Endeavor and owns more than 40 minor league baseball teams, including five of the California League’s eight teams.

DiamondBaseball Holdings announced the purchase of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, then the Dodgers’ single-A affiliate, on Dec. 12, 2024, and said they would mover to Ontario for the 2026 season and retain the affiliation with the Dodgers.

In conjunction with the announcement of the Quakes’ move to Ontario, Diamond Baseball Holdings announced the San Bernardino-based Inland Empire 66ers, then the Angels’ single-A affiliate, would move to Rancho

Cucamonga in 2026 and retain the Angels’ affiliation.

DiamondBaseball Holdings also announced the purchase of the Modesto Nuts on Dec. 12, 2024, the Seattle Mariners’ single-A affiliate, and their move to San Bernardino for the 2026 season to play as the Inland Empire 66ers.

The Tower Buzzers nickname is a salute to Ontario’s aviation legacy and inspired by the following line from the 1986 film “Top Gun”: “Sorry Goose, but it’s time to buzz the tower.”

“The airport is a huge player in our market, transformational for the city and economy and we wanted to lean in,” general manager Allan Benavides told reporters at the Sept. 18 announcement at Ontario

Town Square.

“There were a lot of fun assumptions made about what the (team) name would be, like Aviators and Pilots, but those were already taken.”

Furthering the tie to “Top Gun,” the team’s bee mascot is named Maverick, the code name for the character played by Tom Cruise.

The 6,000-seat ONT Field at the 160-acre Ontario Sports Empire Complex has traditional fixed seats, premium hospitality areas, a grass berm and terraced seating. It also includes a private club, exterior food hall and a kids zone with a splash pad.

The sports complex includes 20 multipurpose fields for soccer, lacrosse and other sports; 14 youth diamond fields and eight

full-size diamonds for baseball and softball tournaments; four football/ rugby fields; and a second “championship baseball field” for major regional and national competitions.

The Tower Buzzers are managed by John Shoemaker, who has been a manager, coach, coordinator or instructor in the Dodgers’ organization since 1981 after playing in their minor league system from 1977-80, reaching Triple- A. Shoemaker was named the Dodgers’ Captain of Player Development in 2015 by then-Director of Player Development Gabe Kapler for displaying “superior teammate behavior over his coaching career.” Following the hockey tradition, he will wear the letter C on his uniform for the remainder

of his career.

The Tower Buzzers’ roster also includes 19-yearold shortstop Emil Morales, selected for top-100 prospect lists by Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs, ESPN, The Athletic, and MLB Pipeline. He was selected as the Dominican Summer League MVP in 2024 after hitting .342 with 14 home runs and 46 RBIs in 46 games with the DSL Dodgers Mega.

Morales split the 2025 season between the Rookie classification Arizona Complex Dodgers, hitting .300 with 9 home runs and 43 RBIs in 59 games, and Rancho Cucamonga, hitting .339 with 5 home runs and 27 RBIs in 30 games.

Morales was hitless in three at-bats Thursday, but walked twice and scored.

Temple City City Notices

TEMPLE CITY

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE PLANNING COMMISSION

The Planning Commission is holding a public hearing on the project described below. You are receiving this notice because your property is located near the project, the project may directly, or indirectly affect you, or because you have requested to be notified.

Project Location: Citywide, City of Temple City, County of Los Angeles

Project: PL 22-3598: An Ordinance to amend Chapter 2 (Subdivision Regulations) of the Temple City Municipal Code. The proposed amendments will update the City’s Subdivision Ordinance to reflect recent changes in State law, clarify applicable procedures and standards, and maintain compliance with current statutory requirements related to the division of land. In addition, this amendment will implement policies of the Housing Element. The Planning Commission will review and make a recommendation to the City Council. The City Council will make the final decision on this project.

Applicant: City of Temple City, 9701 Las Tunas Drive, Temple City, CA 91780

Environmental This Ordinance is not subject to environmental Review: review under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (activities that will not result in physical change in the environment) and 15162 (subsequent environmental review) of the CEQA Guidelines.

The Planning Commission Public Hearing will be held: Meeting Date & Time: Tuesday, April 28, 2026, at 7:00 P.M. Meeting Location: City Council Chambers, 5938 Kauffman Avenue, Temple City, CA 91780

If you have a request for reasonable modification or accommodation due to a disability covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act please contact staff 48 hours in advance of the meeting at planning@templecityca. gov or (626) 656-7316.

For questions or concerns regarding this project, or if you wish to review the project file, please contact: Project Planner: Andrew Coyne, AICP, Associate Planner (626) 285-2171, extension 4344 acoyne@templecityca.gov or visit the Community Development Department offices at City Hall located at: 9701 Las Tunas Drive, Temple City, CA 91780 Monday – Thursday: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

A separate public hearing for the project will be held before the City Council. When scheduled, the hearing will be separately noticed. If you challenge any of the foregoing actions in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing or in written correspondence delivered to the hearing body at, or prior to, the public hearing.

Date: April 6, 2026

Signature: Andrew Coyne, AICP, Associate Planner

Publish April 6, 2026

TEMPLE CITY TRIBUNE

EL Monte City Notices

CITY OF EL MONTE CITY COUNCIL NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

Hablamos Espanol - Favor de hablar con Sandra Elias (626) 258-8626

TO: All Interested Parties

FROM: City of El Monte Community & Economic Development Department

LOCATION: Citywide

TOBE CONSIDERED: The City Council will hold a public hearing to consider an Urgency Ordinance instituting a 10 month 15-day moratorium extension prohibiting processing, approval, and acceptance of new data center land use applications within the City of El Monte

LEGALS

pursuant to Government Code Section 65858(a).

ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTATION: Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) (Pub. Res. Code§ 21000 et seq.) and CEQA Guidelines (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, § 15000 et seq.) the proposed Ordinance is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) because it is reasonably foreseeable that the adoption of the proposed Ordinance would not result in a physical change in the environment, either directly or indirectly. Therefore, no additional environmental analysis is required.

TIME AND PLACE OF PUBLIC HEARING: Pursuant to State Law, the City Council will hold a public hearing to receive testimony, orally and in writing, regarding the proposed Ordinance. The public hearing is scheduled for:

Date: Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Place:El Monte City Hall East - City Council Chambers 11333 Valley Boulevar El Monte, California 91731

OPTIONS TO PARTCIPATE:

Observe the Meeting Remotely (1) Turn your TV to Channel 3; or (2) City’s website at http://www.elmonteca.gov/378/Council-Meeting-Videos; or (3) In person

Provide Public Comment in Person

Persons wishing to address the City Council in person are asked to attend the City Council meeting on the date and at the time noted in this notice. Persons will be asked to fill-out a blue speaker card providing their name and identifying the agenda item. Speaker cards should be submitted to the City Clerk or the Sergeant at Arms (a uniformed El Monte Police Officer) before the City Council's approval of the agenda, if possible.

The City Council shall be under no obligation to entertain comments from persons who submit a speaker card after the City Council closes the applicable commenting period. With this in mind, speakers are strongly encouraged to submit cards or call in as early as possible to avoid missing the opportunity to speak. The City Council shall be under no obligation to respond to or deliberate upon any specific questions or comments posed by a speaker or take actionon any issue raised by a speaker beyond such action as the City Council may be lawfully authorized to take on an agendized matter pursuant to the Brown Act (Govt. Code Section 54950 et seq.) ("Brown Act").

Members of the City Council may provide brief clarifying responses to any comment made or questions posed. Persons who wish to address the City Council (in person or by calling-in) are asked to state their name and address for the record. Speakers may not lend any portion of their speaking time to other persons or borrow additional time from other persons. All comments or queries presented by a speaker/caller shall be addressed to the City Council as a body and not to any specific member thereof. No questions shall be posed to any member of the City Council except through the presiding official of the meeting, the Mayor.

If you challenge the decision of the City Council, in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the City Council at, or prior to, the public hearing. For further information regarding this proposed Ordinance please contact Steven Fowler at (626) 258-8626 or sfowler@elmonteca.gov, Monday through Thursday, except legal holidays, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

The staff report and attachments on this matter will be available 72 hours in advance on the City of El Monte website,

which may be accessed at https://www. elmonteca.gov/AgendaCenJer.

AMERICAN WITH DISABILITIES ACT: In compliance with Section 202 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12132) and the federal rules and regulations adopted in implementation thereof, the agenda will be made available in appropriate alternative formats to persons with a disability. Should you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact the City Clerk’s Office by calling (626) 580-2016. Notification 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City of El Monte to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting.

PUBLISHED ON: Monday April 6, 2026

EL MONTE EXAMINER

Probate Notices

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF ASHLEY WANDSCHNEIDER CASE NO. 26STPB02851

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of: ASHLEY WANDSCHNEIDER

A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by ROBIN STIEGELMAR in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles.

THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that ROBIN STIEGELMAR be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act with full authority . (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A HEARING on the petition will be held on 04/16/2026 at 8:30am in Dept. 79 located at 111 N. HILL ST. LOS ANGELES CA 90012 STANLEY MOSK COURTHOUSE.

IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.

YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for Petitioner: Dmitriy Aristov SBN 298467 Forward Estate Planning, A Law Corporation

222 N. Pacific Coast Hwy., Suite 2000 El Segundo, CA 90245

Telephone: (424) 259-3550 3/30, 4/2, 4/6/26 CNS-4027523# AZUSA BEACON

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF:

JOAN ELIZABETH SMOTHERS

CASE NO. 26STPB03173

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the WILL or estate, or both of JOAN ELIZABETH SMOTHERS. A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by MICHAEL JOHN FORSMAN in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES. THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that MICHAEL JOHN FORSMAN be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

THE PETITION requests the decedent’s WILL and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The WILL and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 04/23/26 at 8:30AM in Dept. 11 located at 111 N. HILL ST., LOS ANGELES, CA 90012

IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.

YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for Petitioner

DANIEL B. BURBOTT - SBN 279759 GAUDY LAW INC. 267 D STREET UPLAND CA 91786 Telephone (909) 982-3199 4/2, 4/6, 4/9/26 CNS-4027022# AZUSA BEACON

Greater Palm Springs Pride announces theme for 2026 celebration

By City News Service

Greater Palm Springs Prideannounced Wednesday that the theme for this year’s Pride celebration is “Be Included.”

“Through our year-round efforts to educate the public, advocate for civil rights and foster authentic inclusion, we serve as a vital cultural touchstone and a powerful catalyst for the LGBTQ+ movement driving significant economic, artistic and social progress for the city we call home,” Ron deHarte, president of Greater Palm Springs Pride, said in a statement.

The 40th annual event will be held from Nov. 6-8. A festival will take place along the downtown area and the Arenas District, which will feature live entertainment, an expansive marketplace and nightly block parties. The Pride parade will be held at 10 a.m. on Nov. 8, with more than 200 entries traveling along Palm Canyon Drive to Amado Road.

Hailed as the largest event in Palm Springs, Pride Week usually attracts more than 20,000 attendees and

is expected to generate $38 million for local hotels, restaurants and other stores throughout the city, organizers said.

“The theme is an invitation to embrace you full self,” Jasmine Sullivan Waits, the organization’s executive director, said in a statement. “In a time when fundamental rights are

San Bernardino County assessor-recorder-county clerk warns of website impersonation

By Sta

Sunder persistent legislative attack across the United States, being included is a meaningful act of community strength. Our goal is to ensure that every individual, regardless of where they are from, finds more than just a festival in Palm Springs; they find a foundation for empowerment and community solidarity.”

Officials to unveil plans to relieve traffic congestion countywide

By City News Service

Residents throughout Riverside County are invited to view a live webcast Monday evening that will provide specific details on the implementation of strategies to relieve traffic congestion in multiple locations.

The “Traffic Relief Plan” will be described during an online broadcast available to the general public at 5:30 p.m. Monday, according to the Riverside County Transportation Commission.

The hourlong cast is available on Zoom via tinyurl.com/3f9vrday.

“The TRP is a comprehensive countywide strate-

gic blueprint that identifies more than $30 billion in transportation investments to help reduce traffic congestion, repair potholes on local roads and streets, increase the frequency of public transportation and strengthen the county’s transportation infrastructure against natural disasters,” according to an agency statement.

The plan was formally approved in 2024 following a period of public comment. The Coachella Valley is one of the direct beneficiaries.

“The plan reflects input from thousands of voices ... with residents sending

a clear message: they want a reliable, safer, more efficient transportation system that anticipates growth, promotes prosperity and preserves the freedom to get from here to there without long waits,” RCTC stated.

The last relief plan was circulated for public review in 2020. Officials said the latest one is intended to address ongoing population growth, as well as the pressures associated with that, most prominently greater burdens on infrastructure.

The plan summary is available at rctc.org/trafficrelief-plan.

an Bernardino County Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk (ARC) Josie Gonzales is alerting the public to an unauthorized website impersonating the department. An unknown party has registered the domain sbcountyarc.org and is using it to display content that mimics the style and layout of a past department website.

“Protecting the public and ensuring confidence in county services is one of my highest priorities,”

said Gonzales. “Any website impersonating a government agency poses a risk to our residents. We want our community to know which resources are legitimate and which are not.”

Upon discovering the issue, ARC took immediate action to confirm that the website was not legitimate and began coordinating investigation into the matter. Efforts are underway to contact the company responsible for managing the domain to gather more

information and determine the options available to address the impersonation. In a statement, ARC says it is continuing to assess potential risks associated with the impersonation website, including public confusion, misuse of information or misrepresentation of county services. Residents are encouraged to verify they are using the correct website arc. sbcounty.gov when seeking ARC services or information.

Palm Springs Plaza Theatre surpasses goal of 120 events in 4 months

By City News Service

The Palm Springs Plaza Theatre has reached a milestone of hosting 120 events in its first four months since reopening in December 2025, officials announced Thursday.

“Achieving the Plaza Theatre’s goal of 120 events a year in just four months is truly phenomenal,” Greg O’Dell, president at Oak View Group, said in a statement.

“I commend the local Oak View Group team in Palm Springs and the entire Plaza

Theatre Board of Directors for what they have been able to accomplish since opening December 1 with Cynthia Erivo.”

The historic 700-seat venue surpassed its annual goal of 120 events in just 121 days. Officials said the theatre is expected to generate about $40 million in annual economic impact and $4 million in annual tax revenue for the city.

Since reopening, the venue has hosted a range of arts and

community events, including the Palm Springs Speaks Lecture Series, Modernism Week, the Palm Springs International Film Festival and the Arts Teach Kids School Day Performance Series.

“The Plaza Theatre continues to deliver guests from all over the world to downtown Palm Springs for events, enhancing the economic impact to the city of Palm Springs,” said J.R. Roberts, president of the Plaza Theatre Foundation.

By City News Service

The Riverside County Department of Animal Services is requesting the public’s help locating two dogs involved in a recent attack on a wild burro on March 31. The burro was attacked near Reche Canyon, and a local resident filmed the attack on their phone.

RCDAS Animal Control Officers made contact with the person who provided the video footage and photo of the dogs and gathered additional information from

other residents in the area.

Animal Control Officers patrolled the incident area near Keissel Road and confirmed the donkey in the attack was deceased. The two dogs involved in the attack are a large black Cane Corso and a black and tan Shepherd mix.

“Because of the resident’s quick action filming and reporting the incident to us we are now looking for the public’s help to find these two dogs,” said RCDAS

Affordable housing

Field Commander Lesley Huennekens. “We have shared what we know with our partner agencies as we continue our investigation, and we ask the public to call our call center when they have information to share.”

Community members can call RCDAS at (951) 358-7387 to report activity or injured wildlife sightings. All incoming calls during closed hours will go to the after-hours line for emergencies.

Felon accused of killing homeless man, woman during Riverside stabbing spree arraigned

By City News Service

Afelon accused of fatally stabbingtwotransients during random attacks in downtown Riverside pleaded not guilty Thursday to two counts of first-degree murder and other charges.

Cesar Aguirre, 32, of Perris, was arrested last month following a Riverside Police Department investigation into the deaths of 54-year-old Richard Hinds and 57-yearold Corrina Segovia.

Along with the murder counts, Aguirre is charged with special circumstance allegations of targeting multiple people in a deadly crime and lying in wait, as well as sentence-enhancing allegations of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony.

The defendant was arraigned Thursday before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Jay Kiel, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for Aug. 18 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

Aguirre is being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center.

According to Riverside police Detective Steven Espinosa, sometime after midnight on March 11, Aguirre boarded an RTA bus near his Perris home and rode it into Riverside, where he began walking downtown streets.

Shortly after 2 a.m.,

he encountered Hinds in the area of 12th and Main streets. Espinosa alleged the defendant pulled a knife and stabbed the victim several times, then walked away, leaving the homeless man bleeding to death.

Moments later, at the intersection of 12th and Orange streets, Aguirre attacked Segovia, inflicting mortal knife wounds and then walking away, the police spokesman alleged.

“These were local homeless individuals known to frequent the downtown area,” he said. “Investigators later determined Aguirre’s

Censure

records, because she had those online arrest records deleted to try to hide them from public scrutiny. In fact, she contacted a website that contained her arrest records and asked them to be deleted.”

Ortiz said if the council had reconciled with her over the legal claim, she would have dropped it.

“I told you if you shook my hand and apologize, I’d walk away from my claim.

... All you had to do was say ‘I’m sorry’ publicly. You’re forced to do that. I’m not here because of me. I’m here because of you. I’m here because I was illegally run,” she said, referring to the alleged search of her records on the statewide CLETS database. “I was told I was illegally run. I was given documentation, sat with witnesses. If any of that has changed, why have you ... never even accepted that I was told any of that? That’s the problem with a

attacks were unprovoked.”

The victims were discovered a short time later by passers-by, who called 911. Both died where they fell.

Aguirre was identified based on undisclosed evidence that Riverside police Chief Larry Gonzalez said the detective squad worked “around the clock” to procure. The defendant was tracked to his residence on Spectacular Boulevard, where he was taken into custody without incident on March 13.

Aguirre’s prior convictions were not listed by the court.

one-sided investigation and a one-sided narrative. And so we must go to court.”

Officials said the council was obligated “to protect taxpayers, uphold transparency and put the truth on the public record. Censure is the strongest action the council is allowed to take under its charter.”