FREE
Explore silver mining town during Calico Days
IE ceremonies mark anniversary of Sept. 11 attacks
PG 02
PG 28
VISIT HEYSOCAL.COM
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15-SEPTEMBER 21, 2025
San Bernardino County board bans homeless encampments
VOL. 11,
Students sue school district, state over transgender policy in sports By Joe Taglieri
By Joe Taglieri
T
he San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday took what officials called “an important step toward humanely eliminating homeless encampments” by prohibiting camping on flood channels and other potentially dangerous public properties. With a 5-0 vote the board upheld its Aug. 19 approval of Ordinance No. 4494, which bans camping on county public property where people may be exposed to dangers such as flooding, wildfire, extreme cold, extreme heat, rail collisions and traffic accidents. Officials said the ordinance seeks to protect people experiencing homelessness by transitioning them out of environments considered public health and safety risks. “The number of encampments on county public property has increased over recent years,” Board of Supervisors Chairman and 3rd District Supervisor Dawn Rowe said in a statement. “These conditions threaten not only those living within the encampments, but also the broader community. The goal of this ordinance is to address critical health and safety risks, while also ensuring that people experiencing homelessness have access to the care and support they need.” Officials said the ordinance aligns with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order issued in July 2024 that urges local governments to enact policies that address homeless encampments and take action to humanely remove them. “Passing this ordinance is an important step in our proactive approach to addressing homeless encampments,” Rowe said. “It also ensures that people experiencing homelessness have
joet@beaconmedianews.com
joet@beaconmedianews.com
A San Bernardino County resident experiencing homelessness camps in a field near the 210 Freeway and Highland Avenue in San Bernardino. | Photo courtesy of Jeff James/Facebook
access to the appropriate supportive services.” With the legal backing in place, the county will prioritize flood channels and other areas that pose public health and safety dangers and “humanely relocate” people living in encampments while connecting them with housing and supportive services. Officials said county workers have consistently done homeless outreach, and such efforts will continue before to any encampment clearing occurs. Peggy Lee Kennedy was among eight people who spoke against the ordinance during the public comments portion of the meeting. She told the board, “62.5% of the people in your point-intime count had zero income, that’s a huge number. So making it illegal for them to be outside and sleep outside is inhumane. We should be doing things to find solutions, real solutions.” Fatima Baeza, who said
she does outreach work in San Bernardino and Redlands to assist people experiencing homelessness, also criticized the ordinance and county homelessness policy. “From listening to them, the way houselessness is being handled is getting worse and it’s getting worse because of you,” Baeza told board members. “You, the people with the power to make a change, are choosing to pass ordinances like this that harm houseless people, that keep them on the streets or puts them in jail. ... “Maybe you just don’t care about what happens to these people, as long as they’re out of sight from the public so we don’t have to be reminded about your failure to help the unhoused,” she added. A county report noted
NO. 241
that the ordinance was developed with input from staff members from the Office of Homeless Services along with the departments of Community Development and Housing, Public Works and Land Use Services. “These departments will continue working collaboratively to support encampment residents through coordinated entry, case management, transportation, and behavioral health services, ensuring that implementation of the ordinance prioritizes both human dignity and community well-being,” according to the report. The ordinance takes effect 30 days from Sept. 9. San Bernardino County reported a homeless population of 3,821 individuals following the 2025 Pointin-Time Count, a 10.2% decrease from 2024. A total of 2,620 people were unshel-
See Homeless encampments Page 27
From left, Hadeel Hazameh, Alyssa McPherson and Madison McPherson. | Photo courtesy of Advocates for Faith & Freedom
T
hree Jurupa Valley High School students filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Tuesday that seeks to end a policy at the local and state levels that allows boys identifying as transgender on girls sports teams. Attorneys from Murrieta-based Advocates for Faith & Freedom filed the suit on behalf of plaintiffs Hadeel Hazameh and siblings Alyssa and Madison McPherson. The lawsuit alleges the Jurupa Unified School District’s policy violates Title IX, a federal law that prohibits gender discrimination, and notes constitutional concerns based on the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause and First Amendment free speech issues. The suit names JUSD, the California Department of Education and California Interscholastic Federation as defendants, alleging “school officials knowingly allowed a male athlete onto the girls’ volleyball and track teams, into the girls’ locker rooms, and ignored repeated reports of ‘butt tapping,’ sexual harassment, and unsafe conditions caused by the male athlete.” Plaintiffs accused school administrators of retaliating against students-athletes “who spoke out, threatening suspension from school,” while accusing them “of failing to be ‘team members’ and removing athletes from team communications.” AFF President and Chief Counsel Robert Tyler said in a statement, “Title IX was passed to stop sex discrimination against women, not to erase them from their own sports. Our daughters are being denied fair play and subjected to sexual harassment, all because California insists on putting radical gender ideology ahead of common sense and safety.” JUSD spokeswoman Jaqueline Paul said district officials See Transgender sports Page 27