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September 10, 2026 Thursday Edition

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"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best-colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." ― Lyndon B. Johnson

Vol. 57 No. 22

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Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them and these will continue till they have resisted either with words or blows or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance those of whom they suppress. —Fredrick Douglass (1849)

Black Americans Have Doubts About the U.S. Food System By BlackPressUSA Newswire

More than half of Word In Black survey respondents don’t trust that the food they buy is safe, and rising grocery prices are pushing families toward cheaper, less nutritious options. — Credit: ChatGPT

families to choose between what they can afford and what will keep them healthy.” Price, food safety concerns The report draws findings from a survey of 1,249 Black Americans conducted between April 22 and June 8, 2026. Respondents were readers of Word In Black and 10 partner publishers, legendary Black news outlets operating nationwide. Roughly one-third of the respondents have postgraduate or professional degrees, and the largest group had annual incomes of $100,000 or more. Respondents also want to see improvements in the nation’s food quality and availability, as well as better access to nutrition education. Roughly 3 out of 4 respondents said prices for healthy foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables need to be lowered. Forty-two percent of respondents want more grocery stores in their neighborhoods, while 38% want more nutrition education. The barrier isn’t awareness. It’s price, proximity, and a food system that too often asks Black families to choose between what

they can afford and what will keep them healthy. –Dr. Christa Mahlobo, Insights & Research Director, Word In Black More than 60% of respondents reported concerns about the nation’s food safety, reflecting a broader erosion of confidence in the American food system. In July, a Quinnipiac University poll of likely voters found 55% of respondents have little or no confidence in the government’s oversight of food safety. A KFF survey found that less than half of voters approve of the Trump administration’s handling of food policy. This comes as news headlines have been filled with weekly reports of food recalls due to salmonella, E. coli, and the continued cyclospora outbreak that has killed two people and sickened more than 11, 000. KEY FINDINGS Health vs. affordability While many respondents did not report being food insecure, the survey found that rising grocery prices are forcing

difficult trade-offs. Respondents described “trading down” — swapping higher-priced foods or brands for cheaper alternatives, such as buying store brands or swapping chicken for steak. They also look for manager’s specials, use coupons, and use mobile apps for additional savings. Some also rely on local food pantries. Although the most recent government figures estimate that it’s possible to meet federal fruit and vegetable recommendations for roughly $2.50–$3.00 per day, that report—using data from 2022—seems out of step with current conditions. A noticeable segment of WIB survey respondents reported that they’ve begun buying fewer fresh fruits, vegetables, or meat, and are bypassing organic foods. They’re also more willing to accept lowerquality food, or skip healthier options altogether. One respondent described her mindset while grocery shopping: “Put it back or find a cheaper unhealthy version.” The report warns this practice could signal a widening gap in continued on page 3

COMMENTARY: How Much of Our Community Are We Expected to Give Up? By BlackPressUSA Newswire

SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY – SOUTHERNDIGEST — A new controversy has arisen over changes to the African American Cultural Center, prompting Black students to question the facility’s future. This follows a previous situation involving Unity Field. Students are concerned about

suggesting that there are other places that students can occupy space. Yes, technically. But that misses the heart of the whole issue entirely.

HOUSTON DEFENDER — A new report from Word In Black’s Insights & Research Division reveals that Black Americans recognize the link between food and health but encounter economic and structural challenges impacting their dietary choices. More than half of Word In Black survey respondents don’t trust that the food they buy is safe, and rising grocery prices are pushing families toward cheaper, less nutritious options.

Black Americans are intensely aware of the connection between food and health but face economic and structural barriers that limit what they can actually put on the table, according to a new report from Word In Black’s Insights & Research Division. The report, At The Table: Food & Health In Our Community, published September 3, finds that Black Americans have major concerns about the nation’s food safety and their ability to access healthy food choices at prices they can afford. Among the starkest findings: Six in 10 don’t trust that the food they buy in grocery stores is safe, and rising grocery prices are pushing families toward cheaper, less nutritious options. “What we found is a community that knows exactly what it needs to eat well and simply cannot get there on the current terms,” said Christa Mahlobo, Ph.D., Insights & Research Director for Word In Black. Mahlobo is a research scientist who works independently from the newsroom. When it comes to healthier eating, “The barrier isn’t awareness,” Mahlobo says. “It’s price, proximity, and a food system that too often asks Black

COMMENTARY: How Much of Our Community Are We Expected to Give Up?... continued

the implications for culturally significant spaces intended to celebrate Black community and history on campus. So right now, I have to ask: are we really supposed to take none of this at face value? First there was Unity Field. Now the African American

Cultural Center is embroiled in yet another controversy, this one surrounding the latest changes to the facility that have left many Black students questioning the future of a space intended to celebrate and give them a sense of community. And no, before any of you rush to type up an excuse or a thought piece, there is not a single Black student who genuinely believes that none of this has anything to do with race. That usually comes up first when we begin talking about the changing landscape around us. This is about security. This is about space. This is about logistics. This is about policy.

This is apparently about everything in the world that isn’t tied to the very special nature of a space that directly affects Black students as their own special thing. Convenient. This isn’t about an intentional effort by LSU to deliberately make our lives uncomfortable. However, this has reached the point where it’s difficult to simply dismiss what has happened with LSU after the Unity Field situation and call it “just a coincidence.” Unity Field was a space of gathering. The African American Cultural Center is where African American history, culture, and community are concretely manifested on this campus, and you can’t replace either by continued in next 2 columns

You can provide a Black student with another room. But that room is not necessarily the same because it holds a different kind of significance. You can issue a formally written and correctly worded announcement, but that’s of no great comfort. And that “professional” explanation behind any decision, however valid it may be, can still provide Black students with an opportunity to see the bigger picture. From the perspective of Black students, I see all of this because I know that culturally significant spaces can be changed very quickly from being celebrated and special to being seen as simply an optional component of campus life. LSU can talk about being an inclusive institution. LSU can talk about diversity. LSU can showcase African American history with Black History Month. But if the actual spaces where that community thrives

continue to shrink and grow more inaccessible each day, well what in the world is being celebrated? We need to stop allowing anyone to expect that Black students will keep quiet in acceptance and give thanks for our allowance to still exist on the outskirts of campus. That’s not inclusion. That’s accommodation. That’s about accommodation not about inclusion. Unity Field. That was the first step. Next comes the African American Cultural Center. LSU should probably stop telling students to give their process a chance and instead give them a reason to give the current direction a chance. Because sooner or later, none of this can be attributed to chance. Because when the spaces keep disappearing, eventually, we have to stop asking what’s next—and start asking who’s next. Based on reporting by Southern University – SouthernDIGEST.

California’s Legal Cannabis Market Hits $8 Billion as State Touts Progress on Fighting Drugs, Crime Bo Tefu | California Black Media California’s legal cannabis market has generated nearly $8.4 billion in tax revenue since 2018 as the state ramps up enforcement against illegal drugs and touts declines in crime, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Sept. 2. The cannabis revenue includes nearly $4.5 billion in excise taxes and nearly $3.4 billion in sales taxes. In the second quarter of 2026 alone, cannabis retailers remitted $261.7 million in cannabis excise and sales tax revenue. The state uses cannabis revenue to support programs including childcare and early childhood development, youth substance abuse prevention, medical research and environmental recovery. “We are building a legal cannabis market that generates billions for Californians, and going after the illicit operators who undermine it,” said Newsom. “That’s public safety: protect consumers, support the businesses playing by the rules, and put the revenue to work in our communities.” California is also targeting illegal intoxicating products outside the regulated cannabis market. State officials have removed more than 15,000 illegal hemp, kratom and 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, products from store shelves. The enforcement effort resulted in the removal of 7,403 illegal hemp products and 7,888 kratom and 7-OH products. Officials reported compliance rates above 97% among Alcoholic Beverage Control licensees inspected for

both categories. The state has warned that kratom and 7-OH products have been linked to addiction, overdose and other serious health risks. California is also using its law enforcement resources to target violent crime, drug trafficking and other criminal activity. Since 2023, CHP Crime Suppression Teams have made 15,197 arrests, recovered 7,042 stolen vehicles and seized 656 illicit firearms. Since the teams expanded to six regions statewide in August 2025, they have also confiscated nearly 1.7 million grams of illegal drugs, including about 108 kilograms of fentanyl. “Over the past few years, our Crime Suppression Teams have demonstrated the value of proactive, intelligencedriven enforcement,” CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee said. The Newsom administration says the efforts are part of a broader public safety strategy that combines regulation, enforcement, prevention and partnerships with local agencies. California has also reported declines in major crime categories since 2024, including an 18.6% drop in homicides and a 25.8% decline in motor vehicle theft. California officials say the combination of a regulated cannabis market, targeted enforcement and state-local law enforcement partnerships is helping protect consumers, disrupt illicit drug activity and improve public safety across the state.

Thursday, September 10, 2026

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THE SAN BERNARDINO AMERICAN NEWS - LOCAL/COMMUNITY

How Trump’s proposal to strip tax-exempt status Stephenson Celebrates New Book and Growing Legacy affects California private schools Local/Community News

By William Melhado, EdSource

Credit: NNPA

A proposal by the Trump administration to revoke the tax-exempt status of private schools with diversity, equity and inclusion programs could make it harder for independent schools to raise money and maintain programs intended to broaden access for minority students. Nonprofit and tax law experts say the proposal, announced by the Internal Revenue Service Thursday morning, could have a chilling effect on private schools and universities, even if the policy never goes into effect. “The intent, clearly, is to starve these organizations of funding, or at least use that as the threat to keep them from doing things that the administration is opposed to,” said Geoff Green, the CEO of the advocacy group CalNonprofits. If enacted, the proposed regulation would allow the IRS to strip institutions of federal taxexemption status if the Trump administration determines the school has racially discriminatory policies. The U.S. Department of the Treasury said the rule could

affect up to 18,000 independent schools, universities and trade schools across the country. The rule does not apply to public schools. According to the California Department of Education, there were nearly 3,000 private K-12 schools with more than five students enrolled in the 202526 school year. There are roughly 150 private nonprofit colleges in the state, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. “Schools rebranding racebased preferences as equitable, inclusive, or diversityenhancing does not change their discriminatory nature,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement announcing the rule. The federal agency’s proposed regulation is part of the Trump administration’s ongoing effort to reshape the nation’s higher education systems and stamp out DEI programs on college campuses. Legal challenges likely coming Like many of the Trump administration’s contentious

policies, the proposal will almost certainly face legal challenges. The administration cited the 2023 Supreme Court decision that ended race-based affirmative action to support the IRS’ rule change. But this proposed regulation’s impact would have a much wider scope than the Supreme Court decision, said Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a Notre Dame Law School professor. “It reaches a much broader range of activities, not just admissions,” Mayer said of the proposal. “It reaches K-12 schools, not just colleges and universities, and that includes K-12 schools that aren’t subject either to the federal Constitution, because they’re not government entities, or Title VI, because they don’t receive federal financial assistance.” Mayer questioned the Treasury Department’s argument that private schools are discriminating based on race, color, nationality or ethnicity, and therefore should lose their tax-exempt status. He said the agency’s interpretation of tax law is arguably unreasonable. The proposed rule will be subject to public comments, which the federal government will then need to respond to, before it is finalized. Schools may pull back on programming, scholarships If enacted, the rule would prevent donors from deducting charitable contributions from their federal income taxes if the school receiving the donation loses its tax-exempt status.

Mayer noted that some state tax exemptions are based, in part, on approval of federal tax-exempt status, which could further impact nonprofits’ finances. Last year, in response to President Donald Trump’s efforts to target organizations that conduct DEI work, California passed a law to ensure nonprofits in the state can continue to qualify for public funding, even if their federal tax-exempt status is revoked. Green said the Trump administration has not been successful in its attempts to eliminate DEI programs through executive orders, litigation and federal rulemaking. But the proposal could result in independent schools pulling back from access programs and scholarships intended to diversify their student bodies. At private schools, which have a history of catering to wealthier students, there have been efforts to make these institutions more accessible to minority and lowerincome students, Green said. Those efforts could be rolled back, he noted. “The strategy of the administration is to intimidate as many institutions and organizations as possible, rather than having to have to do the work and go after institutions one by one, which they would have taken a lot more time and energy to do if they can simply intimidate entities to self-police or self-censor,” Green said.

Award-winning author and television host Marcus Lee Stephenson recently celebrated the release of his newest book titled Finding My Brother: Some Secrets Were Never Meant to Stay Hidden. Stephenson’s recent honors and appearances include Literacy SoulFest 2026, the We Honor You Awards, MVTV in Martha’s Vineyard, WFAA-TV, Rolling Out, Brianz Magazine and the 5th Annual Living Color of Dallas County recognition. Stephenson shown on the left is pictured above with longtime friends and Inland Empire residents Terry and Patricia Nunley. Photo: James

First 5 San Bernardino appoints Cindy Faulkner as executive director Local Community News

The Business of Educating Black Parents, Teachers and Kids Cindy Faulkner was appointed First 5 San Bernardino’s new executive director.

By BlackPressUSA Newswire

Bolanle Ambonisye turned her parenting philosophy into a business offering workshops, books and training ST. LOUIS AMERICAN — Bolanle Ambonisye founded U&I-RISE, an education business that provides parenting programs, books, and training for schools and educators, with a particular focus on Black families. The concept for U&I-RISE was shaped by Ambonisye’s experiences as a teacher, where she observed parents deferring their authority to her. Bolanle Ambonisye knew she had stumbled onto something when parents began using her name to get their children to behave. “Lil’ Johnny was acting up last night. I told him I’m going to tell Mama Bolanle and he straightened right up,” she recalled parents telling her when she was a teacher at the Frederick Douglass Institute. Ambonisye didn’t take it as a compliment. “It’s backward,” she said. “I’m supposed to tell that child if you don’t straighten up, I’m going to tell your mom or your dad.” The experience helped shape an idea Ambonisye would eventually turn into U&I-RISE, an education business offering parenting programs, books and training for schools and educators, with a particular focus on Black families. Nearly three decades after she began developing her approach, Ambonisye has taken the business from parent workshops to public

school contracts and educator training. Now she’s working to expand its reach online. Ambonisye didn’t come to her theories by chance. After traveling extensively with her military mom, Ambonisye, then Kelly Andrea Moore, left Germany with her mother and settled in St. Louis in 1979. She was in eighth grade with ambitions of becoming a teacher. That dream was dashed at Clinton Elementary, now closed, and Roosevelt High School, where she said disrespectful and unruly classmates led her to believe she’d “wind up behind bars” if she taught in city public schools as an adult. After a stint at Florissant Valley Community College, Ambonisye became pregnant with her first child, Folami, and vowed her child would never attend a public school. She was later introduced to the Frederick Douglass Institute, a tuition-based independent school centered on African-centered education. “I got immersed in ‘Black stuff,’” she said with a laugh. Ambonisye enrolled Folami there while taking an evening course for parents on Africancentered education. She said the school’s founders were so impressed with her homeschooled daughter that they asked Ambonisye to bring what she had done with Folami into

the classroom. She became a full-time teacher certified through the Council of Independent Black Institutions. As the years passed, experiences like the “Mama Bolanle” comments led her to conclude that “as parents, we had given away our power.” “We were undermining our power without even realizing it,” she said. Ambonisye came to believe parents needed to “teach their children to obey them,” helping children develop the self-discipline needed to pay attention, cooperate, and do well in school. “At home it’s called ‘obedience,’ everywhere else it’s called ‘following instructions.’” In 2007, she turned those ideas into her first educational program and parenting guide, “Tapping Our Parental Power (TOPP) In A Nutshell.” Rather than focusing primarily on children’s misbehavior, TOPP asks parents to examine their own actions. In a testimonial posted on U&I-RISE’s website, Brandi J., the mother of a teenage son, said TOPP taught her “patience” and how to deal with her son’s emotions while learning to “get myself together first.” “I am and will be a better parent,” she said. In 2011, Ambonisye founded U&I-RISE with the admittedly ambitious purpose of helping solve “Black community and family problems.” Public schools became customers. She marketed parentengagement workshops first in the Ferguson-Florissant School District and later in St. Louis Public Schools. Securing contracts was one thing. Getting parents to participate was another. Ambonisye said many Black parents reacted to a stigma associated with seeking parenting education. Looking for solutions, she took a job as a family support specialist at Bertha Knox Gilkey

Pamoja Preparatory Academy, an African-centered SLPS school. With the superintendent’s approval, the school required parents to participate in her orientation workshop before their children could enroll. Some responded begrudgingly, she said, but attendance improved. The requirement remains in place today. Over the years, U&I-RISE expanded into school-home engagement and educator training. One program is FLARES, a classroom management system that Ambonisye developed with Rashida Chatman, an SLPS curriculum specialist. Chatman said it was designed to help educators create “cohesive, manageable and safe classroom spaces for students who look like us.” DeAndria Wallace, assistant principal at Pamoja, praised Ambonisye and FLARES. “She is very organized and in tune with the needs of the community,” Wallace said. “Her program is easy to follow and implement, and it gets results when done with fidelity.” The marketplace has changed considerably since Ambonisye started. Parents can now find parenting courses, videos, social media groups, and other resources online, including programs specifically for Black families. That leaves Ambonisye working to carve out an online niche for U&I-RISE’s Africancentered, Black parent-focused material. She continues using feedback from parent groups and workshop participants to hone and promote her courses, books and workshops. The delivery methods may have changed, but the mission she set for U&I-RISE remains the same: helping solve “Black community and family problems.” Based on reporting by St. Louis American.

On Sept. 1, Cindy Faulkner was appointedFirst 5 San Bernardino’s new executive director. Faulkner steps into the role with 22 years of experience at First 5 San Bernardino, most recently serving as interim executive director and, before that, assistant director. Throughout her tenure, she has helped strengthen partnerships and coordinated systems of support that give San Bernardino County’s youngest children and their families the resources they need to be healthy, safe and ready to thrive. “Cindy brings a clear understanding of our mission and the vital collaboration we must have with our partners in order to serve the needs of children and families in our county,” said First 5 San Bernardino Commission Chair Elliot Weinstein, M.D. “Her experience and commitment to identifying new opportunities to expand our impact made her a clear choice to build on our strong foundation.” Faulkner succeeds longtime Executive Director Karen Scott,

who retired in March after 18 years of leadership. The two worked closely together beginning in 2004, advancing First 5 San Bernardino’s priorities of child health, early learning and family support. As executive director, Faulkner will lead First 5 San Bernardino into its next chapter, continuing to strengthen systems serving children prenatal through age 5 and their families, deepen community partnerships and advance investments and initiatives that make a meaningful difference throughout San Bernardino County. “Cindy’s appointment provides important continuity while also bringing a fresh perspective to where we go next,” said San Bernardino County Assistant Executive Officer Gilbert Ramos, who also serves as a First 5 San Bernardino commissioner. “She knows this organization from the inside out and has spent her career bringing people together in support of children. Her leadership will help ensure we remain a trusted partner for families and organizations across the county.” Please join First 5 San Bernardino in congratulating Faulkner on this exciting and well-deserved new role! For more information on First 5 San Bernardino’s initiatives and campaigns, visit first5sanbernardino.org.

MISSION STATEMENT Clifton Harris Editor in Chief Investigative Reporter sbamericannews@gmail.com Mary Martin-Harris Publisher mary@sb-american.com Clifton B. Harris / Audio Engineering Editor Legal /Display Advertising (909) 889-7677 The San Bernardino American News was established May 6, 1969. A legally adjudicated newspaper of general circulation on September 30, 1971, case number 15313 by the Superior Court of San Bernardino County. Our product is a local news publication, The San Bernardino American News, that is made available through both print and digital versions. We offer a wide range of content including local news, features, editorials, and columns that focus on the interests and concerns of the minority communities. Our mission at The San Bernardino American News is to provide accurate, compelling, and insightful content that speaks directly to the experiences and interests of minority communities in the County of San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles. We aim to be a trusted voice and platform for these communities, ensuring their stories are told and their issues brought to light. Our strategies involve a combination of robust content creation, digital and print media marketing, and a strong commitment to community engagement. By offering a range of monetization methods, we ensure our services remain accessible and valuable to our readership, while supporting the sustainability of our operations. News releases appearing in the San Bernardino AMERICAN News do not necessarily express the policy nor the opinion of the publishers. The San Bernardino AMERICAN News reserves the right to edit or rewrite all news releases.

Thursday, September 10, 2026

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THE SAN BERNARDINO AMERICAN NEWS -GOVERNMENT/POLITICS significant journalism bill nears the finish COMMENTARY: America’s Reading Crisis journalism bill Most line...continued

Most significant nears the finish line

By Laura Rearwin Ward, founder California Independent News Alliance | publisher, Ojai Valley News

News outlet owners, journalists and coalitions of organizations that have come together to support the nation’s most important journalism legislation to date were still in scramble mode this week, even as supermajorities in the California Legislature passed the Community NEWS Act, authored by Assemblymember Chris Ward (D-San Diego). This historic legislation, which would provide meaningful support for the free press and the public’s right to know at the local level, is on the verge of becoming law. California news outlets, journalists, and advocates for civil liberties and government transparency are holding their breath as they wait for Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign Assembly Bill 2222 into law. Estimates indicate the law would direct more than $40 million a year to California local news outlets, including print, broadcast and digital operations, regardless of whether they operate under a for-profit or nonprofit business model. The funding would be distributed through tax credits based on the number of journalists employed by each outlet. The structure is designed to serve smaller newsrooms first, as they would receive $20,000 per full-time journalist. That amount would decrease to $15,000 per journalist for newsrooms with greater than five, and with additional funding available for new hires. We are one step away from making sustainable local news a reality. However, concern over the governor’s signature is well founded. Newsom has until Sept. 30 to sign the popular bill. This moment brings the California Independent News Alliance full circle. I founded CINA in 2024 after we lost the battle over SB 1327, a similar

bill introduced by former state Sen. Steve Glazer that would have been funded by Big Tech. When Big Tech, chain news and other powerful lobbies came out hard against it, Newsom refused to support the bill. It was that summer that many independent news outlets fully realized our interests were not being represented by any trade association or organization. We were being picked off one by one as we watched the number of journalists decrease across our regions and the amount of corruption and misinformation in local communities and municipal governments increase. We joined hands in an alliance in hopes our voices would be heard and our newspapers saved. On the surface, AB 2222 looks much like the Glazer bill. But this legislation is financed through a measure that would end corporate tax breaks for executive compensation above $1 million, aligning California’s tax rules with federal law. The news industry is crumbling in California, and the 200 independent newspapers that remain are feeling the heat. This legislative season, CINA has been an important voice and a key connector among the huge coalition built throughout the state and nation to breathe life into our sagging industry. That coalition includes: Rebuild Local News Media Guild of the West SAG-AFTRA California Independent News Alliance California Broadcasters Association California News Publishers Association Pacific Media Workers Guild of The NewsGuild-CWA Latino Media Collaborative American Community Media continued in next 2 columns

California Black Media Institute for Nonprofit News Local Independent Online News Publishers Asian American Journalists Association of Los Angeles The Journalism Chairs of the Cal State University System News/Media Alliance Rebuild Local News founder Steven Waldman underscored the bill’s importance in a Sept. 1 press release, saying, “If signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, a bill passed yesterday by supermajorities in the California legislature would be the most economically significant law supporting local news in the country, possibly in American history.” Glazer worked shoulder to shoulder with media partners to

pass the bill. He was a unifying force, staying focused on our shared goal of protecting Californians’ right to know. The lesson learned in the news industry since 2024 is, as Glazer said that year, to “stop fighting to see who will be the last ship off the Death Star” and work together for the good of the people we serve. I trust Newsom will do the right thing and follow the lead of the Legislature, whose members represent the people and communities they come from. He must sign this bill and build in permanent support for the only industry protected by the Constitution of the United States. Believers in independent local news,

COMMENTARY: America’s Reading Crisis Demands More Than Concern. It Demands Action. By BlackPressUSA Newswire

Demands More Than Concern. It Demands Action...continued consequences when reading instruction falls short. If we are serious about economic mobility and educational justice, literacy must be at the center of the conversation. For more than two decades, many schools embraced Balanced Literacy approaches that sought to cultivate a love of reading by putting books in students’ hands and encouraging independent reading. The approach was well-intentioned, but too often foundational skills instruction, particularly phonics and decoding, suffered. The evidence is increasingly clear that explicit, systematic instruction helps more children become successful readers. States and school districts that are embracing these principles deserve credit for moving in the right direction. But millions of students are already in middle school, high school, and even college struggling to read complicated texts, analyze difficult arguments, and complete entire books. What is our plan for them?

Marc Morial, CEO and President of the National Urban League. SEATTLE MEDIUM — A national literacy crisis is evident as nearly 40 percent of fourth graders read below the basic level, and approximately one-third of eighth graders perform below basic, marking the highest share recorded. This decline, highlighted by New York City’s scores despite extensive literacy reform efforts, threatens economic opportunity, educational equity, and the nation’s future competitiveness. New York City’s troubling decline in reading scores, despite one of the most ambitious literacy reform efforts in the nation, is a wake-up call for the entire nation. Across the country, reading achievement continues to decline. Nearly 40 percent of fourth graders read below the basic level, and roughly a third of eighth graders are reading below basic, the highest share ever recorded. Taken together, these numbers

reveal a national literacy crisis that threatens economic opportunity, educational equity, and our nation’s future competitiveness. Reading is not merely another subject in school. Reading is the foundation upon which all learning rests. A child who struggles to read struggles to learn history, science, mathematics, and civics. A young person who cannot effectively read and analyze complex information faces barriers to college completion, workforce success, and informed participation in our democracy. That is why the growing literacy crisis is fundamentally an opportunity crisis. Behind every percentage point is a child whose future opportunities hang in the balance. Persistent achievement gaps mean that Black and Latino students continue to bear a disproportionate share of the continued in next 2 columns

Too many students arrive in high school lacking the reading stamina necessary to engage deeply with literature, history, or complex informational texts. College professors increasingly describe students who struggle with lengthy assignments that previous generations navigated more comfortably. To be clear, Balanced Literacy alone cannot explain these trends. Increased screen time, constant digital distractions, shortened attention spans, and the dominance of algorithm-driven content all influence students’ reading habits and learning experiences. Yet recognizing these factors cannot become an excuse for inaction. Instead, it should compel us to think more broadly about literacy. The challenge before us is not simply helping children sound out words. It is helping them develop the capacity to wrestle with complex ideas, sustain attention, evaluate evidence, and build knowledge through reading. It is helping them become informed citizens and lifelong learners.

Price also shapes where people shop. Two in five respondents said reasonably priced food is the most important factor in choosing a grocery store — ahead of taste, convenience, and healthfulness. This differs from national survey findings, where taste has been the leading driver of food and beverage purchases since 2006. The Word In Black survey found it’s common for respondents to eat out, especially among younger adults. More than one in three respondents reported dining out—including fast food, takeout, or restaurants—three or more times per week. But this finding skewed younger, with 41 % of respondents aged 18 to 34 saying they were more likely to

eat at a restaurant three or more times per week than respondents aged 55 and older. Food is life— and culture The survey found Black Americans remain strongly tied to their food heritage. Roughly 32% said their knowledge of food came from how they were raised and what their family cooked at home, while 29% said their current food knowledge was shaped by their own research and expanding their food horizons as adults. When asked whether they still want to eat the way they were taught, roughly 47% said they try to balance traditional foods with healthier choices. But a quarter of respondents said they still eat mostly the same foods they grew up with, and about 12% have moved away from their traditional diet for health reasons. Meanwhile, 46% of survey respondents strongly agreed that food in the U.S. contributes to diet–related diseases such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Many say their diet is in a good place When grading the healthfulness of their own diets, a little more than half of

respondents gave themselves a B. That’s around the same percentage as the 51% of respondents in a broader survey who gave themselves the same grade. Nine in 10 agreed that what they eat affects their mental and emotional well-being. Self-reporting diet grades also tracked closely with respondents’ impressions of their overall health. Among respondents who gave their diet an A, more than 85% rated their general health as excellent or very good, compared with 48% who gave their diet a B, 10% a C, and 5% a D. Low awareness of the “MAHA” program While the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again program is reportedly having some success among Republican voters, it is not so successful among WIB survey respondents. Nearly half of them either heard very little about the official government-approved food and nutrition guidelines, had heard of the guidelines but were unaware that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had them updated in 2025, or had never heard of them at all. But survey respondents are having conversations with healthcare providers: 73% said a doctor, nutritionist, or other caregiver had spoken with them

Based on reporting by Houston Defender.

Based on reporting by Seattle Medium.

By BlackPressUSA Newswire

regularly or occasionally about their diet or eating habits. What people say would help Asked what would help them eat healthier, respondents pointed to structural changes. Seventy-three percent want lower prices for fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole foods, while 42% want more grocery stores or fresh food markets in their neighborhoods. But 38% also want more public education about food and nutrition—an appetite for knowledge the report calls an important entry point for public health interventions. The report concludes by calling on policymakers, community health organizations, and food retailers to expand access to healthy foods through subsidies, invest in culturally relevant nutrition programs, and partner with trusted community leaders to deliver health education where Black Americans already live, work, worship, and gather. At The Table: Food & Health In Our Community was produced by the Word In Black Insights & Research Division, which launched in 2025 with support from the MacArthur Foundation and the Knight Foundation. The MacArthur Foundation made the research possible.

We need high-quality literacy instruction beginning in early childhood settings and extending throughout elementary school. We need to strengthen early intervention so that struggling readers receive support before learning gaps become entrenched. We must carefully examine the quality and effectiveness of programs serving our youngest learners, including Head Start and other early childhood initiatives. At the same time, we need a national commitment to literacy recovery for older students. Districts and states should develop evidence-based strategies to help adolescents strengthen comprehension, vocabulary, knowledge building, and engagement with complex texts. Students who fell behind during the pandemic and those who continue to struggle deserve intensive support, not lowered expectations. We should also have serious conversations about the role of technology in children’s lives. Restricting unnecessary screen exposure, particularly in the early grades, should be part of a broader effort to rebuild reading habits and attention spans that support learning. More concerning than the decline in reading scores is the absence of a clear, large-scale strategy to address the growing crisis. Every year that a struggling reader falls further behind increases the likelihood that they will face lifelong educational and economic disadvantages. The recent reading results from New York City are a warning. The national NAEP results are an even louder one. Together, they tell us that incremental change is not enough. We know more about how children learn to read than ever before. We know that literacy is the gateway to opportunity. What remains to be seen is whether we have the collective will to act with the urgency this moment demands. Our children cannot afford for us to wait.

COMMENTARY: An Informed Vote Is a Powerful Vote

Black Americans Have Doubts About the U.S. Food System...continued from page 1 Black Americans’ access to healthy food, which appears to be affecting the larger population. A Pew Research Center survey conducted last year found that 90% of U.S. adults said healthy food has gotten more expensive in recent years. Seventy-seven percent of lower-income adults report it’s now harder to eat healthier, while at the same time, 46% of lower-income adults said it’s “a lot” harder to eat healthy, versus 15% of upper-income adults saying the same.

And that requires a comprehensive, systemic strategy.

Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA

For African Americans, voting has always represented more than simply choosing a name on a ballot. It is an opportunity to participate in decisions that can shape education, employment, public safety, housing, health care, economic opportunity, and the future of our communities. Being politically liberal, conservative, independent, or somewhere in between should not mean automatically supporting every candidate associated with a particular political party. Voters should examine what candidates actually stand for, what policies they have supported, and whether their records match the promises they make during election season. The most important question should be: Which candidates and policies will create meaningful opportunities and address the concerns facing our communities? That requires looking beyond campaign slogans and political labels. Voters can examine positions on issues such as protecting voting rights, strengthening public education, supporting small businesses, expanding economic

opportunities, improving neighborhoods, addressing discrimination, and ensuring equal treatment under the law. Candidates should also be held accountable for their records— not simply their campaign speeches. African American communities are not politically monolithic, and no party should assume that Black voters automatically owe it their support. Political leaders earn votes by listening to constituents, addressing their concerns and demonstrating a commitment to the principles they claim to support. Voting is also about local elections. City councils, school boards, county officials, judges, and state legislators make decisions that can have an immediate impact on families and neighborhoods. Those races deserve the same attention as presidential elections. Ultimately, the responsibility belongs to every voter. Study the candidates. Compare their platforms. Examine their records. Question campaign promises. Discuss the issues with others. Then cast a ballot based on your values, priorities and judgment. The strongest political voice is an informed and engaged community that holds every party accountable. Based on reporting by AfricanAmerican News and Issues – Dallas.

Thursday, September 10, 2026

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THE SAN BERNARDINO AMERICAN NEWS -HEALTH/OBITUARIES Perkins: At 85, a Life of Service, Faith and Racial Healing Starts with Honest Conversations... Arnold Perkins: At 85, a Life of Arnold Giving Back...continued continued

Service, Faith and Giving Back

Perkins believes that health is not simply physical. It is emotional, mental, and spiritual. And for much of his life, he says, his faith and philosophy of service have kept him vibrant, happy and connected to the world around him. By Tanya Dennis

Dr. Arnold Perkins. Photo courtesy Liza Rankow.

The Post’s Healthy Aging Series addresses key components for healthy aging: mind, body and spirit. This article addresses the importance of having a strong spiritual or religious foundation. As America’s population grows older, conversations about healthy aging often focus on diet, exercise and medical care. But for Dr. Arnold Xavier Cornelius Perkins, who will celebrate his 85th birthday next month, another ingredient has been equally important: a spiritual foundation and a lifelong commitment to serving others. Perkins believes that health is not simply physical. It is emotional, mental, and spiritual. And for much of his life, he says, his faith and philosophy of service have kept him vibrant, happy and connected to the world around him. “I am my brothers’ and sisters’ keeper,” Perkins said. “I am a ‘we’ person,” and referenced the South African expression of ‘Ubuntu,’ which means ‘I am because we all are.” Born in Miami, Florida,

Perkins came to California in 1954 with his family to attend a Seventh-day Adventist General Conference. His family ultimately decided to remain in California, unwilling to return to the harsh racism of the segregated South. He grew up in Berkeley, attending Golden Gate Academy, Willard School, and Berkeley High School before joining the Navy during the Vietnam War era. He later attended Merritt College when the Black Panther Party was emerging in Oakland, where he became involved as a volunteer for the Student NonViolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He graduated from San Francisco State University and completed additional coursework at Cal State East Bay. His professional career became a remarkable journey through public service. Perkins served as Alameda County’s homeless coordinator, became a program officer with the San Francisco Foundation, headed a continued in next 2 columns

Young Black Men Suffering in Silence A curse that can be Broken...continued from lastweek

drug and alcohol program, and ultimately served as director of the Alameda County Public Health Department for 12 years before retiring in 2006. But retirement did not mean stepping away from service. Perkins jokingly describes this stage of his life as being in “preferment,” doing what he pleases. What he pleases, however, is continuing to help people. He has worked with young people, served on San Quentin Prison’s warden advisory council, previously served on the Oakland Police Department Selection Commission, and completed two terms as chair of the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Commission. He chaired the University of San Francisco’s Helen Diller Stanley Comprehensive Cancer Center for 10 years and is now in his 11th year serving on the California Wellness Foundation board. Perkins even views a hereditary heart defect through the lens of his spiritual philosophy. “I have a hole in my heart, so I’m not physically perfect,” he said. “But I look at it as I have a hole because I pour my heart out to people.” That perspective may be one of his greatest lessons about healthy living. Perkins believes that kindness, compassion and community have a direct impact on a person’s emotional and spiritual well-being.

“If I see an unsheltered relative, I’d give them that $20,” he said. “My responsibility is to take care.” For Perkins, giving does not deplete a person; it gives life back. “My life’s mission is to give,” he said. “And what I get back is life.” He knows firsthand that one person can change another person’s destiny. As a young man, Perkins stuttered and often fought in response to the teasing and humiliation he experienced. A teacher, Jeff Tedisco, defended him and changed the direction of his life. “If it hadn’t been for him,” Perkins said, “I would have been in San Quentin.” Instead, Perkins now goes to Indaba Court, a restorative justice program, to help young people who have made wrong choices understand that they are part of a larger community. “When they harm one person, they harm the community,” he said. His prescription for a vibrant life is simple: be understanding, be kind and remember that life is not all about you. “When we fold our arms, we can’t receive anything,” Perkins said. “But when we stretch out our arms and serve one another, we build community.” At nearly 85, Arnold Perkins continues to prove that a life rooted in faith, service and love may be one of the most powerful foundations for healthy aging.

Racial Healing Starts with Honest Conversations INNER-CITY NEWSPAPER — WORD IN BLACK — Families, educators, and mental health experts are emphasizing that affirming a young person’s identity can help them process racism without internalizing its harm. Jacinay Coleman-Shelton, who has both Black and Hispanic heritage, shared how her family’s early messaging that “being Black is beautiful” provided a foundation for her racial identity. By BlackPressUSA Newswire

. -to be continued 9/10/26 On top of that, many of us grow up having conversations with our parents about how to act if we are ever stopped by the police. We aren’t taught those lessons because our parents don’t trust us. We are taught them because our parents are afraid of what could happen if someone else doesn’t see our humanity. Living with that kind of pressure affects your mental health, whether people realize it or not. Constantly feeling like you have to prove you are not a threat is exhausting. Always feeling like you have to be perfect just to be treated fairly takes a toll. Those experiences create anxiety, fear, and stress that many young Black men carry every single day, even if they never talk about it. I also think these experiences help explain why some young Black men feel disconnected from politics and voting. If you have spent your whole life watching your community struggle no matter who is in office, it is easy to believe that your vote won’t change anything. You see schools that need more resources, neighborhoods that deserve more investment, and communities asking for change year after year. After a while, some people stop believing anyone is listening. But I also believe that is exactly why voting matters. The people we elect make decisions about education, mental health funding, affordable housing, community programs, healthcare, and criminal justice. Those decisions directly affect neighborhoods like mine and families like mine.

Real strength isn’t pretending you’re okay when you’re not. Real strength is being honest enough to say you’re struggling and courageous enough to ask for help. As I continue growing into the man I want to become, I’m learning that strength and vulnerability can exist at the same time. I can be determined, hardworking and resilient while still being honest about my emotions. I don’t have to carry everything by myself, and neither does the next generation of young Black men. It’s time we change the conversation. Instead of only telling young Black boys to be strong, we should also tell them it’s okay to cry. It’s okay to talk. It’s okay to heal. Because when we create a generation of men who feel safe expressing themselves, we aren’t making them weaker. We are giving them a better chance to live healthier, happier lives. And that is the kind of strength our communities have needed all along.

Preparing Young People With Truth and Context Similarly, other young adults credit family guidance for preparing them to navigate racial identity and recover from moments of racial trauma. A’markis Johnson, 22, recalls entering high school and

realizing that, unlike middle and elementary school, most students weren’t Black. “I grew up in East Orange, New Jersey, around a lot of people who looked like me,” he shares. “It wasn’t a pressing issue until high school, when I started interacting with people who were other races… and by that point, I already understood my racial identity.” He credits his mother for engaging him in discussions about race in a way that felt natural rather than intrusive. These conversations enabled him to enter new environments without losing his sense of self. As an educator, Maera Ochieng-Onyango, 29, says she struggles to balance how much to share with students who are curious about racial identity and how to discuss it in a thoughtful, balanced way. She is a museum educator and arts education advocate who believes truth-telling with younger generations is “the best defense against future generations of painful patterns.” Onyango says preparing students for discussions about race also means making sure they understand their rights in different settings. She has taught young men about their legal rights, as well as students about their education rights and the CROWN Act. “Racial trauma is real, but so is Black resilience. We’ve always found ways to not just survive, but also to create and thrive,” Duncan says. “Encourage these conversations. Be parents, educators, and leaders who normalize conversations about race, start them early, celebrate race, and build spaces where young people feel safe to be themselves.” Based on reporting by InnerCity Newspaper.

Women Learned Their Jail Strip Searches Were Recorded. Their Outrage Changed the Law

By Dominic Boston If we want things to change, we can’t sit back and expect someone else to make those choices for us. Our voices matter, and our votes do too. One of the biggest changes that needs to happen is the way we talk about mental health. We have to stop teaching young Black boys that crying makes them weak. We have to stop acting like asking for help is something to be embarrassed about.

Providing positive representation and affirming race are strong ways to rebuild and heal after harm is done. When young people see themselves reflected positively in school leadership or the media, it “leads to a stronger sense of pride, belonging, and self-worth,” he says. Duncan studies how racial trauma affects Black youth and how repeated exposure to racism can become a psychological injury — one that shapes how young people see themselves and the world around them. In psychiatry, racial trauma is referred to as race-based traumatic stress and is considered a form of post-traumatic stress disorder, Duncan says. Race-based traumatic events can become chronic stressors that, over time, lead to anxiety, depression, difficulty concentrating, and sleep problems. “This can start affecting things like academic performance and mistrust of institutions, such as people not wanting to go to the hospital or see a mental health professional,” he explains. Duncan says cultural competency, a core component of medical education, involves understanding patients’ cultural backgrounds and psychosocial stressors. “At a young age, you notice that people do not look like you, and subconsciously you’re already building stereotypes,” he says. “Silence doesn’t protect our kids from racism, but preparation does.”

Families, educators, and mental health experts say affirming identity helps young people process racism without internalizing harm. As a child, Jacinay ColemanShelton struggled to understand her racial identity, but her curiosity often led her to ask outspoken questions when racial issues arose. Shelton, of both Black and Hispanic heritage, found navigating discussions about race especially complicated. “Having a space to talk to your family first about race is really important,” the 22-year-old says. “I was always taught that being Black is beautiful.” The news mainstream media just doesn’t cover. Racial justice journalism since 1909. That early messaging became a foundation — one that helped her affirm who she was before the world tried to define her. While interning on Capitol Hill this past summer, Shelton recalled those words as she walked through the nation’s halls of power. “I’m going to walk through these halls, my heels are going to click-clack, and this is who I am,” she told herself. Shelton’s experience reflects a growing understanding among mental health professionals and educators: conversations about race aren’t just preparation for bias or discrimination. They can also be a form of racial healing — helping young people process racism without internalizing harm, and affirming their identity in a society where Black youth

encounter racism early and repeatedly. Family Conversations: The Foundation for Healing Her family, Shelton believes, gave her the confidence to approach conversations about race with an open mind and heart, and she says young people should be taught to do the same. “What’s really important is affirming their identity every chance you get,” says Dr. Matthew S. L. Duncan, a fourthyear psychiatry resident at Ocean University Medical Center in New Jersey. Duncan began his public health career at the Newark Department of Health and Community Wellness and in the Family Medicine Department at Rutgers Medical School. Born and raised in North Jersey to West Indian parents, Duncan learned early the importance of community strength and giving back. Those values now fuel his work, which focuses on making mental health care more accessible, culturally relevant, and stigma-free. Understanding Racial Trauma Duncan advocates proactive conversations about race to support mental health and healing among children of color. These conversations can interrupt cycles of harm before they harden into trauma. continued in next 2 columns

TEXAS METRO NEWS — Suzanne Garcia, arrested in 2020, underwent a strip search at La Plata County Jail in Colorado. She later learned that this search, along with dozens of others, had been recorded by an officer’s body-worn camera. In 2022, Garcia was informed by a reporter that La Plata County Jail commander Edward Aber had allegedly viewed her video and those of 116 other incarcerated women. By BlackPressUSA Newswire

Women who organized to push for a new Colorado law hope it will become a model for other states. Suzanne Garcia looked down and away from the officer’s gaze as she went through the motions of a routine jail intake inspection: Remove all clothing, including underwear. Raise both arms. Lift each breast. Run fingers through hair. Show hands and feet. Turn 180 degrees. Bend over and squat. Separate butt cheeks. Cough. Garcia had been arrested in 2020 and spent a day in La Plata County Jail in Durango, Colorado, because of a yearsold restraining order that was later dismissed. She remembers asking the female jail officer why she needed a strip search. The response: “This is just what we do in La Plata County,” Garcia recalled. It all felt excessive, Garcia said, but she complied. She had no other choice. “It’s cold, and it’s humiliating,” Garcia said. “You just feel like an ant under a microscope. It’s just, it’s terrible.” What Garcia did not know at

the time was that her search was recorded by the officer’s bodyworn camera. She was released from jail and moved on with her life. Then, last year, she received an unexpected phone call from a Durango Herald reporter with a shocking revelation: Her video was among dozens of videos that had been improperly viewed by La Plata County Jail’s commander, Edward Aber. Over the course of five years, Aber allegedly logged into the county’s evidence database more than 3,000 times and viewed strip-search videos of 117 incarcerated women, according to county and state officials. In criminal charges filed last year, authorities said the viewings sometimes happened from hotel rooms and residential addresses. Aber, who has pleaded not guilty, has not spoken publicly about the allegations. His attorney did not respond to an email request for comment. Garcia felt sick when she learned of the allegations, not only because of what victims characterize as an abuse of power, but also because Durango — with less than 20,000 people — is a relatively small community. She knew Aber’s family. “His grandson took my daughter to homecoming,” Garcia said. As a former chairwoman for continued on page 7

Thursday, September 10, 2026

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THE SAN BERNARDINO AMERICAN NEWS -LEGALS/CLASSIFIEDS/NEWS FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FBN 20260007715 The FBN Statement was filed with the San Bernardino County Clerk’s Office Date Filed: 08/20/2026 Filing Expires On: 08/20/2031 LIST FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME BELOW (as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg): B.D. SERVICES County of Principal Place of Business: SAN BERNARDINO Street Address of Principal Place of Business (P.O. Box or PMB address NOT acceptable): 864 N. J STREET SAN BERNARDINO, CA 92411 Business Mailing Address: 864 N. J STREET SAN BERNARDINO, CA 92411 Employees: 0 Name of Individual Registrant (First Name): BENJAMIN (Middle Initial only): (Last Name): DELGADILLO Name of corporation or limited liability company as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg: State of Inc./Org./Reg.: Inc./Org./Reg. No: (Optional): Corporation or LLC Street Address: This business is/was conducted by: An Individual Registrant to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: (If registrant has not yet commenced to transact business, insert statement “Not Applicable.): Jan 01, 2026 /s/: BENJAMIN DELGADILLO, OWNER, DECLARES THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). NOTICE- IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUBDIVISION (a) OF SECTION 17920, A FICTITIOUS NAME STATEMENT GENERALLY EXPIRES AT THE END OF FIVE YEARS FROM THE DATE ON WHICH IT WAS FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK, EXCEPT, AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION (b) OF SECTION 17920. WHERE IT EXPIRES 40 DAYS AFTER ANY CHANGE IN THE FACTS SET FORT IN THE STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 17913 A NEW FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT MUST BE FILED BEFORE THE EXPIRATION. THE FILING OF THIS STATEMENT DOES NOT OF ITSELF AUTHORIZE THE USE IN THIS STATE OF A FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME IN VIOLATION OF THE RIGHTS OF ANOTHER UNDER FEDERAL, STATE, OR COMMON LAW (SEE SECTION 14411 ET. SEQ., BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE.) Published in the San Bernardino American Newspaper August 27, September 3, 10, 17, 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FBN 20260007292 The FBN Statement was filed with the San Bernardino County Clerk’s Office Date Filed: 08/06/2026 Filing Expires On: 08/06/2031 LIST FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME BELOW (as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg): 360 TRUCK & TRAILER REPAIR County of Principal Place of Business: SAN BERNARDINO Street Address of Principal Place of Business (P.O. Box or PMB address NOT acceptable): 822 EAST E STREET COLTON, CA 92324 Business Mailing Address: 822 EAST E STREET COLTON, CA 92324 Employees: Name of Individual Registrant (First Name): ENRIQUE (Middle Initial only): (Last Name): MUNOZ-JIMENEZ Name of corporation or limited liability company as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg: State of Inc./Org./Reg.: Inc./Org./Reg. No: (Optional): Corporation or LLC Street Address: This business is/was conducted by: An Individual Registrant to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: (If registrant has not yet commenced to transact business, insert statement “Not Applicable.): Not Applicable /s/: ENRIQUE MUNOZ JIMENEZ, OWNER, DECLARES THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). NOTICE- IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUBDIVISION (a) OF SECTION 17920, A FICTITIOUS NAME STATEMENT GENERALLY EXPIRES AT THE END OF FIVE YEARS FROM THE DATE ON WHICH IT WAS FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK, EXCEPT, AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION (b) OF SECTION 17920. WHERE IT EXPIRES 40 DAYS AFTER ANY CHANGE IN THE FACTS SET FORT IN THE STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 17913 A NEW FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT MUST BE FILED BEFORE THE EXPIRATION. THE FILING OF THIS STATEMENT DOES NOT OF ITSELF AUTHORIZE THE USE IN THIS STATE OF A FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME IN VIOLATION OF THE RIGHTS OF ANOTHER UNDER FEDERAL, STATE, OR COMMON LAW (SEE SECTION 14411 ET. SEQ., BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE.) Published in the San Bernardino American Newspaper August 20, 27, September 3, 10, 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FBN 20260006831 The FBN Statement was filed with the San Bernardino County Clerk’s Office Date Filed: 07/21/2026 Filing Expires On: 07/21/2031 LIST FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME BELOW (as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg): KAR SOLUTIONS County of Principal Place of Business: SAN BERNARDINO Street Address of Principal Place of Business (P.O. Box or PMB address NOT acceptable): 5888 TIMBERMIST PL. RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA 91737 Business Mailing Address: 5888 TIMBERMIST PL. RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA 91737 Employees: Name of Individual Registrant (First Name): (Middle Initial only): (Last Name): Name of corporation or limited liability company as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg: TRADE SOLUTIONS INC. State of Inc./Org./Reg.: CA Inc./Org./Reg. No: (Optional): 6362129 Corporation or LLC Street Address: 5888 TIMBERMIST PL. RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA 91737 This business is/was conducted by: A Corporation Registrant to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: (If registrant has not yet commenced to transact business, insert statement “Not Applicable.): Not Applicable /s/: GORDON STEVEN BRONEY, PRESIDENT, DECLARES THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). NOTICE- IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUBDIVISION (a) OF SECTION 17920, A FICTITIOUS NAME STATEMENT GENERALLY EXPIRES AT THE END OF FIVE YEARS FROM THE DATE ON WHICH IT WAS FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK, EXCEPT, AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION (b) OF SECTION 17920. WHERE IT EXPIRES 40 DAYS AFTER ANY CHANGE IN THE FACTS SET FORT IN THE STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 17913 A NEW FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT MUST BE FILED BEFORE THE EXPIRATION. THE FILING OF THIS STATEMENT DOES NOT OF ITSELF AUTHORIZE THE USE IN THIS STATE OF A FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME IN VIOLATION OF THE RIGHTS OF ANOTHER UNDER FEDERAL, STATE, OR COMMON LAW (SEE SECTION 14411 ET. SEQ., BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE.) Published in the San Bernardino American Newspaper September 3, 10, 17, 24, 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FBN 20260007638 The FBN Statement was filed with the San Bernardino County Clerk’s Office Date Filed: 08/17/2026 Filing Expires On: 08/17/2031 LIST FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME BELOW (as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg): BETTER BUZZ COFFEE ROASTERS County of Principal Place of Business: SAN BERNARDINO Street Address of Principal Place of Business (P.O. Box or PMB address NOT acceptable): 15122 BEAR VALLEY RD VICTORVILLE, CA 92395 Business Mailing Address: 3636 NOBEL DR SUITE 475 SAN DIEGO, CA 92122 Employees: 45 Name of Individual Registrant (First Name): (Middle Initial only): (Last Name): Name of corporation or limited liability company as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg: BETTER BUZZ COFFEE COMPANY, LLC

State of Inc./Org./Reg.: CA Inc./Org./Reg. No: (Optional): Corporation or LLC Street Address: 801 UNIVERSITY AVE SAN DIEGO, CA 92103 This business is/was conducted by: A Limited Liability Company Registrant to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: (If registrant has not yet commenced to transact business, insert statement “Not Applicable.): Not Applicable /s/: JENNIFER MAGLIO, VP, DECLARES THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). NOTICE- IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUBDIVISION (a) OF SECTION 17920, A FICTITIOUS NAME STATEMENT GENERALLY EXPIRES AT THE END OF FIVE YEARS FROM THE DATE ON WHICH IT WAS FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK, EXCEPT, AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION (b) OF SECTION 17920. WHERE IT EXPIRES 40 DAYS AFTER ANY CHANGE IN THE FACTS SET FORT IN THE STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 17913 A NEW FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT MUST BE FILED BEFORE THE EXPIRATION. THE FILING OF THIS STATEMENT DOES NOT OF ITSELF AUTHORIZE THE USE IN THIS STATE OF A FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME IN VIOLATION OF THE RIGHTS OF ANOTHER UNDER FEDERAL, STATE, OR COMMON LAW (SEE SECTION 14411 ET. SEQ., BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE.) Published in the San Bernardino American Newspaper August 20, 27, September 3, 10, 2026.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FBN 20260006864 The FBN Statement was filed with the San Bernardino County Clerk’s Office Date Filed: 07/22/2026 Filing Expires On: 07/22/2031 LIST FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME BELOW (as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg): MONRAY CAFE County of Principal Place of Business: SAN BERNARDINO Street Address of Principal Place of Business (P.O. Box or PMB address NOT acceptable): 16452 LORENE DR VICTORVILLE, CA 92395 Business Mailing Address: 16452 LORENE DR VICTORVILLE, CA 92395 Employees: Name of Individual Registrant (First Name): MONICA (Middle Initial only): (Last Name): RAYGOZA Name of corporation or limited liability company as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg: State of Inc./Org./Reg.: Inc./Org./Reg. No: (Optional): Corporation or LLC Street Address: This business is/was conducted by: An Individual Registrant to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: (If registrant has not yet commenced to transact business, insert statement “Not Applicable.): Not Applicable /s/: MONICA RAYGOZA, DECLARES THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). NOTICE- IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUBDIVISION (a) OF SECTION 17920, A FICTITIOUS NAME STATEMENT GENERALLY EXPIRES AT THE END OF FIVE YEARS FROM THE DATE ON WHICH IT WAS FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK, EXCEPT, AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION (b) OF SECTION 17920. WHERE IT EXPIRES 40 DAYS AFTER ANY CHANGE IN THE FACTS SET FORT IN THE STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 17913 A NEW FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT MUST BE FILED BEFORE THE EXPIRATION. THE FILING OF THIS STATEMENT DOES NOT OF ITSELF AUTHORIZE THE USE IN THIS STATE OF A FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME IN VIOLATION OF THE RIGHTS OF ANOTHER UNDER FEDERAL, STATE, OR COMMON LAW (SEE SECTION 14411 ET. SEQ., BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE.) Published in the San Bernardino American Newspaper September 3, 10, 17, 24, 2026.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FBN 20260007862 The FBN Statement was filed with the San Bernardino County Clerk’s Office Date Filed: 08/25/2026 Filing Expires On: 08/25/2031 LIST FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME BELOW (as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg): 100 TEST PREP County of Principal Place of Business: SAN BERNARDINO Street Address of Principal Place of Business (P.O. Box or PMB address NOT acceptable): 1675 CARMEL CIR W UPLAND, CA 91784 Business Mailing Address: 1675 CARMEL CIR W UPLAND, CA 91784 Employees: Name of Individual Registrant (First Name): MATTHEW (Middle Initial only): (Last Name): MCGINNISS Name of corporation or limited liability company as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg: State of Inc./Org./Reg.: Inc./Org./Reg. No: (Optional): Corporation or LLC Street Address: This business is/was conducted by: An Individual Registrant to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: (If registrant has not yet commenced to transact business, insert statement “Not Applicable.): Not Applicable /s/: MATTHEW MCGINNISS, DECLARES THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). NOTICE- IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUBDIVISION (a) OF SECTION 17920, A FICTITIOUS NAME STATEMENT GENERALLY EXPIRES AT THE END OF FIVE YEARS FROM THE DATE ON WHICH IT WAS FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK, EXCEPT, AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION (b) OF SECTION 17920. WHERE IT EXPIRES 40 DAYS AFTER ANY CHANGE IN THE FACTS SET FORT IN THE STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 17913 A NEW FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT MUST BE FILED BEFORE THE EXPIRATION. THE FILING OF THIS STATEMENT DOES NOT OF ITSELF AUTHORIZE THE USE IN THIS STATE OF A FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME IN VIOLATION OF THE RIGHTS OF ANOTHER UNDER FEDERAL, STATE, OR COMMON LAW (SEE SECTION 14411 ET. SEQ., BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE.) Published in the San Bernardino American Newspaper September 3, 10, 17, 24, 2026.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FBN 20260006626 The FBN Statement was filed with the San Bernardino County Clerk’s Office Date Filed: 07/15/2026 Filing Expires On: 07/15/2031 LIST FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME BELOW (as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg): THE DELIVERY TEAM LLC County of Principal Place of Business: SAN BERNARDINO Street Address of Principal Place of Business (P.O. Box or PMB address NOT acceptable): 15225 APACHE RD APPLE VALLEY, CA 92307 Business Mailing Address: 15225 APACHE RD APPLE VALLEY, CA 92307 Employees: 0 Name of Individual Registrant (First Name): (Middle Initial only): (Last Name): Name of corporation or limited liability company as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg: THE DELIVERY TEAM LLC State of Inc./ Org./Reg.: CA Inc./Org./Reg. No: (Optional): 202464415541 Corporation or LLC Street Address: 15225 APACHE RD APPLE VALLEY, CA 92307 This business is/was conducted by: A Limited Liability Company Registrant to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: (If registrant has not yet commenced to transact business, insert statement “Not Applicable.): Nov 01, 2024 /s/: DARTELL E. HOBSON, PRESIDENT, DECLARES THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). NOTICE- IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUBDIVISION (a) OF SECTION 17920, A FICTITIOUS NAME STATEMENT GENERALLY EXPIRES AT THE END OF FIVE YEARS FROM THE DATE ON WHICH IT WAS FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK, EXCEPT,

AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION (b) OF SECTION 17920. WHERE IT EXPIRES 40 DAYS AFTER ANY CHANGE IN THE FACTS SET FORT IN THE STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 17913 A NEW FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT MUST BE FILED BEFORE THE EXPIRATION. THE FILING OF THIS STATEMENT DOES NOT OF ITSELF AUTHORIZE THE USE IN THIS STATE OF A FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME IN VIOLATION OF THE RIGHTS OF ANOTHER UNDER FEDERAL, STATE, OR COMMON LAW (SEE SECTION 14411 ET. SEQ., BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE.) Published in the San Bernardino American Newspaper August 20, 27, September 3, 10, 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FBN 20260007911 The FBN Statement was filed with the San Bernardino County Clerk’s Office Date Filed: 08/25/2026 Filing Expires On: 08/25/2031 LIST FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME BELOW (as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg): PHO SURE County of Principal Place of Business: SAN BERNARDINO Street Address of Principal Place of Business (P.O. Box or PMB address NOT acceptable): 32 W COLTON AVE REDLANDS, CA 92374 Business Mailing Address: 32 W COLTON AVE REDLANDS, CA 92374 Employees: Name of Individual Registrant (First Name): (Middle Initial only): (Last Name): Name of corporation or limited liability company as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg: SAIGON AI LLC State of Inc./Org./Reg.: CA Inc./Org./Reg. No: (Optional): Corporation or LLC Street Address: 32 W COLTON AVE REDLANDS, CA 92374 This business is/was conducted by: A Limited Liability Company Registrant to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: (If registrant has not yet commenced to transact business, insert statement “Not Applicable.): Not Applicable /s/: ANH DUONG, CEO, DECLARES THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). NOTICE- IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUBDIVISION (a) OF SECTION 17920, A FICTITIOUS NAME STATEMENT GENERALLY EXPIRES AT THE END OF FIVE YEARS FROM THE DATE ON WHICH IT WAS FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK, EXCEPT, AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION (b) OF SECTION 17920. WHERE IT EXPIRES 40 DAYS AFTER ANY CHANGE IN THE FACTS SET FORT IN THE STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 17913 A NEW FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT MUST BE FILED BEFORE THE EXPIRATION. THE FILING OF THIS STATEMENT DOES NOT OF ITSELF AUTHORIZE THE USE IN THIS STATE OF A FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME IN VIOLATION OF THE RIGHTS OF ANOTHER UNDER FEDERAL, STATE, OR COMMON LAW (SEE SECTION 14411 ET. SEQ., BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE.) Published in the San Bernardino American Newspaper September 3, 10, 17, 24, 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FBN 20260007386 The FBN Statement was filed with the San Bernardino County Clerk’s Office Date Filed: 08/07/2026 Filing Expires On: 08/07/2031 LIST FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME BELOW (as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg): MARIPOSA LIQUOR County of Principal Place of Business: SAN BERNARDINO Street Address of Principal Place of Business (P.O. Box or PMB address NOT acceptable): 12555 MARIPOSA RD #F VICTORVILLE, CA 92395 Business Mailing Address: 12555 MARIPOSA RD #F VICTORVILLE, CA 92395 Employees: 2 Name of Individual Registrant (First Name): ZOUHIR (Middle Initial only): (Last Name): DIAB Name of corporation or limited liability company as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg: State of Inc./Org./Reg.: Inc./Org./Reg. No: (Optional): Corporation or LLC Street Address: This business is/was conducted by: An Individual Registrant to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: (If registrant has not yet commenced to transact business, insert statement “Not Applicable.): Apr 01, 2009 /s/: ZOUHIR DIAB, OWNER, DECLARES THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). NOTICE- IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUBDIVISION (a) OF SECTION 17920, A FICTITIOUS NAME STATEMENT GENERALLY EXPIRES AT THE END OF FIVE YEARS FROM THE DATE ON WHICH IT WAS FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK, EXCEPT, AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION (b) OF SECTION 17920. WHERE IT EXPIRES 40 DAYS AFTER ANY CHANGE IN THE FACTS SET FORT IN THE STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 17913 A NEW FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT MUST BE FILED BEFORE THE EXPIRATION. THE FILING OF THIS STATEMENT DOES NOT OF ITSELF AUTHORIZE THE USE IN THIS STATE OF A FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME IN VIOLATION OF THE RIGHTS OF ANOTHER UNDER FEDERAL, STATE, OR COMMON LAW (SEE SECTION 14411 ET. SEQ., BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE.) Published in the San Bernardino American Newspaper September 10, 17, 24, October 1, 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FBN 20260007399 The FBN Statement was filed with the San Bernardino County Clerk’s Office Date Filed: 08/07/2026 Filing Expires On: 08/07/2031 LIST FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME BELOW (as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg): 1. CASHBACK LOANS 2. CASHBACK PAYDAY ADVANCE 3. CASHBACK 4. MYWAGESPAN 5. CALIFORNIA CASH LOANS 6. CALIFORNIA ONLINE LOANS 7. WAGESPAN County of Principal Place of Business: SAN BERNARDINO Street Address of Principal Place of Business (P.O. Box or PMB address NOT acceptable): 10532 ACACIA STREET B5 RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA 91730 Business Mailing Address: PO BOX 6090 LAQUINTA, CA 92248 Employees: 25 Name of Individual Registrant (First Name): (Middle Initial only): (Last Name): Name of corporation or limited liability company as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg: CASHBAK, LLC State of Inc./Org./Reg.: CA Inc./Org./Reg. No: (Optional): Corporation or LLC Street Address: 10532 ACACIA STREET SUITE B5 RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA 91730 This business is/was conducted by: A Limited Liability Company Registrant to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: (If registrant has not yet commenced to transact business, insert statement “Not Applicable.): Dec 16, 2015 /s/: ERIC OTTEN, PRESIDENT, DECLARES THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). NOTICE- IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUBDIVISION (a) OF SECTION 17920, A FICTITIOUS NAME STATEMENT GENERALLY EXPIRES AT THE END OF FIVE YEARS FROM THE DATE ON WHICH IT WAS FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK, EXCEPT, AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION (b) OF SECTION 17920. WHERE IT EXPIRES 40 DAYS AFTER ANY CHANGE IN THE FACTS SET FORT IN THE STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 17913 A NEW FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT MUST BE FILED BEFORE THE EXPIRATION. THE FILING OF THIS STATEMENT DOES NOT OF ITSELF AUTHORIZE THE USE IN THIS STATE OF A FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME IN VIOLATION OF THE RIGHTS OF ANOTHER UNDER FEDERAL, STATE, OR COMMON LAW (SEE SECTION 14411 ET. SEQ., BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE.) Published in the San Bernardino American Newspaper August 20, 27, September 3, 10, 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FBN 20260007481 The FBN Statement was filed with the San Bernardino County Clerk’s Office Date Filed: 08/11/2026 Filing Expires On: 08/11/2031

LIST FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME BELOW (as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg): CHOSEN DYNAMICS County of Principal Place of Business: SAN BERNARDINO Street Address of Principal Place of Business (P.O. Box or PMB address NOT acceptable): 5618 PHEASANT DRIVE FONTANA, CA 92336 Business Mailing Address: 5618 PHEASANT DRIVE FONTANA, CA 92336 Employees: 1 Name of Individual Registrant (First Name): SARAH (Middle Initial only): C (Last Name): NASH Name of corporation or limited liability company as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg: State of Inc./Org./Reg.: Inc./Org./Reg. No: (Optional): Corporation or LLC Street Address: This business is/was conducted by: An Individual Registrant to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: (If registrant has not yet commenced to transact business, insert statement “Not Applicable.): Not Applicable /s/: SARAH C NASH, OWNER, DECLARES THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). NOTICE- IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUBDIVISION (a) OF SECTION 17920, A FICTITIOUS NAME STATEMENT GENERALLY EXPIRES AT THE END OF FIVE YEARS FROM THE DATE ON WHICH IT WAS FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK, EXCEPT, AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION (b) OF SECTION 17920. WHERE IT EXPIRES 40 DAYS AFTER ANY CHANGE IN THE FACTS SET FORT IN THE STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 17913 A NEW FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT MUST BE FILED BEFORE THE EXPIRATION. THE FILING OF THIS STATEMENT DOES NOT OF ITSELF AUTHORIZE THE USE IN THIS STATE OF A FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME IN VIOLATION OF THE RIGHTS OF ANOTHER UNDER FEDERAL, STATE, OR COMMON LAW (SEE SECTION 14411 ET. SEQ., BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE.) Published in the San Bernardino American Newspaper August 20, 27, September 3, 10, 2026. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FBN 20260008043 The FBN Statement was filed with the San Bernardino County Clerk’s Office Date Filed: 08/31/2026 Filing Expires On: 08/31/2031 LIST FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME BELOW (as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg): UNLIMITED BOX TRUCK LLC County of Principal Place of Business: SAN BERNARDINO Street Address of Principal Place of Business (P.O. Box or PMB address NOT acceptable): 13410 PROSPECTOR ROAD VICTORVILLE, CA 92392 Business Mailing Address: 13782 BEAR VALLEY ROAD, STE D3 #29 VICTORVILLE, CA 92392 Employees: Name of Individual Registrant (First Name): (Middle Initial only): (Last Name): Name of corporation or limited liability company as shown in the Articles of Inc./Org./Reg: UNLIMITED BOX TRUCK LLC State of Inc./ Org./Reg.: CA Inc./Org./Reg. No: (Optional): Corporation or LLC Street Address: 13410 PROSPECTOR ROAD VICTORVILLE, CA 92392 This business is/was conducted by: A Limited Liability Company Registrant to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: (If registrant has not yet commenced to transact business, insert statement “Not Applicable.): Jul 24, 2026 /s/: ISHIMINE A GRAYSON, CEO, DECLARES THAT ALL INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions Code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). NOTICE- IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUBDIVISION (a) OF SECTION 17920, A FICTITIOUS NAME STATEMENT GENERALLY EXPIRES AT THE END OF FIVE YEARS FROM THE DATE ON WHICH IT WAS FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK, EXCEPT, AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION (b) OF SECTION 17920. WHERE IT EXPIRES 40 DAYS AFTER ANY CHANGE IN THE FACTS SET FORT IN THE STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 17913 A NEW FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT MUST BE FILED BEFORE THE EXPIRATION. THE FILING OF THIS STATEMENT DOES NOT OF ITSELF AUTHORIZE THE USE IN THIS STATE OF A FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME IN VIOLATION OF THE RIGHTS OF ANOTHER UNDER FEDERAL, STATE, OR COMMON LAW (SEE SECTION 14411 ET. SEQ., BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE.) Published in the San Bernardino American Newspaper September 10, 17, 24, October 1, 2026.

SUMMONS SUMMONS (CITACION JUDICIAL) NOTICE TO DEFENDANT (AVISO AL DEMANDADO): ANDREW ADESIDA an individual; INDUSTRIAL MEDICAL SERVICES & URGENT CARE INC., a California corporation; and DOES 1-10 inclusive, YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF (LO ESTÁ DEMANDANDO EL DEMANDANTE: KRET, LLC, a California limited liability company NOTICE! You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below. You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons and legal papers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you. Your written response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be a court form that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www. courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver form. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court. There are other legal requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit groups at the California Legal Services Web site (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts Online SelfHelp Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/ selfhelp), or by contacting your local court or county bar association. NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in a civil case. The court's lien must be paid before the court will dismiss the case. ¡AVISO! Lo han demandado. Si no responde dentro de 30 días, la corte puede decidir en su contra sin escuchar su versión. Lea la información a continuación. Tiene 30 DÍAS DE CALENDARIO después de que le entreguen esta citación y papeles legales para

presentar una respuesta por escrito en esta corte y hacer que se entregue una copia al demandante. Una carta o una llamada telefónica no lo protegen. Su respuesta por escrito tiene que estar en formato legal correcto si desea que procesen su caso en la corte. Es posible que haya un formulario que usted pueda usar para su respuesta. Puede encontrar estos formularios de la corte y más información en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California (www.sucorte. ca.gov), en la biblioteca de leyes de su condado o en la corte que le quede más cerca. Si no puede pagar la cuota de presentación, pida al secretario de la corte que le dé un formulario de exención de pago de cuotas. Si no presenta su respuesta a tiempo, puede perder el caso por incumplimiento y la corte le podrá quitar su sueldo, dinero y bienes sin más advertencia. Hay otros requisitos legales. Es recomendable que llame a un abogado inmediatamente. Si no conoce a un abogado, puede llamar a un servicio de remisión a abogados. Si no puede pagar a un abogado, es posible que cumpla con los requisitos para obtener servicios legales gratuitos de un programa de servicios legales sin fines de lucro. Puede encontrar estos grupos sin fines de lucro en el sitio web de California Legal Services, (www. lawhelpcalifornia.org), en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California, (www.sucorte.ca.gov) o poniéndose en contacto con la corte o el colegio de abogados locales. AVISO: Por ley, la corte tiene derecho a reclamar las cuotas y los costos exentos por imponer un gravamen sobre cualquier recuperación de $10,000 ó más de valor recibida mediante un acuerdo o una concesión de arbitraje en un caso de derecho civil. Tiene que pagar el gravamen de la corte antes de que la corte pueda desechar el caso. CASE NUMBER (Número del Caso): CIVVS2602009 The name and address of the court is (El nombre y dirección de la corte es): San Bernardino County Superior Court-Victorville District 14455 Civic Drive Victorville, CA 92392 The name, address, and telephone number of plaintiff's attorney, or plaintiff without an attorney, is (El nombre, la dirección y el número de teléfono del abogado del demandante, o del demandante que no tiene abogado, es): Amy A. Mousavi, Esq.; Mousavi Law, PC 4343 Von Karman Ave., Ste. 250-J Newport Beach, CA 92660 (949)864-9667 DATE (Fecha): 3/25/2026 Clerk (Secretario) by: /s/ Alyssa Leber, Deputy (Adjunto) (SEAL) NOTICE TO THE PERSON SERVED: You are served Published in The San Bernardino American Newspaper August 20, 27, September 3, 10, 2026.

PETITION/PROBATE NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: VERNA FAY STEVENS DECEDENT CASE NO: PROVA2600663

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

STEVENS

A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by KENNETH HENRY in the Superior Court of California, County of SAN BERNARDINO THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that: KENNETH HENRY 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. (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: Date: 10/05/2026 Time: 9:00 AM Dept: F2 SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO 17780 Arrow Blvd Fontana, CA 92335 Fontana District 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: Oscar Rodriguez Crestview Legal Inc.

56300 29 Palms Hwy #107 Yucca Valley, California 92284 (760)690-3131 Published in The San Bernardino American Newspaper September 3, 10, 17, 2026. ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME CIVBA 2600589 TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner: MAX EPHRAIM PAILET filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: Present name: a. MAX EPHRAIM PAILET to Proposed name: JEAN CLAUDE PAILET THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter shall appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. NOTICE OF HEARING Date: Oct 06, 2026 Time 1:30 p.m. Dept.: B1 The address of the court is: SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY 235 E Mt. View Street Barstow, CA 92311 Barstow District A Copy of this Order to Show Cause shall be published at least once each week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition in the following newspaper of general circulation, printed in this county: American News, SB Newspaper P.O. Box 837 Victorville, CA 92393 Date: Aug 24, 2026 James R. Baxter Judge Of The Superior Court Published in the San Bernardino American Newspaper September 3, 10, 17, 24, 2026. ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME CIVSB 2624897 TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner: GORDON BOGANG YANG filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: Present name: a. GORDON BOGANG YANG to Proposed name: GORDON YANG WANG THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter shall appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. NOTICE OF HEARING Date: 10/19/26 Time 8:30 a.m. Dept.: S37 The address of the court is: SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO 247 West Third Street San Bernardino, CA 92415 Civil Division A Copy of this Order to Show Cause shall be published at least once each week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition in the following newspaper of general circulation, printed in this county: The AMERICAN (The San Bernardino) P.O. Box 837 Victorville, CA 92393 Date: 8/28/2026 Joseph T. Ortiz Judge Of The Superior Court Published in the San Bernardino American Newspaper September 3, 10, 17, 24, 2026.

LIEN SALES 2013 KIA OPTIMA VIN# 5XXGR4A68DG152871 CA LIC# 6ZBD201 LIEN SALE: 9/23/2026 AT: 09:00 AM 2310 E 3RD ST, SAN BERNARDINO, CA 92410 Published in The San Bernardino American News September 10, 2026

2016 GMC ACADIA VIN# 1GKKRNED1GJ159299 CA LIC# 7PKK259 LIEN SALE: 9/23/2026 AT: 09:00 AM 2310 E 3RD ST, SAN BERNARDINO, CA 92410 Published in The San Bernardino American News September 10, 2026

NOTICE INVITING BID VALLEY-WIDE RECREATION AND PARK DISTRICT NOTICE INVITING BIDS NOTICE IS HERE BY GIVEN that Valley-Wide Recreation and Park District, herein referred to as “District”, will receive prior to 2:00 pm on the 1st day of October, 2026 sealed bids for the award of a contract for the following: Bill Gray Park Accessibility Improvement Project (2026-150) Sealed bids will be received in the main office of the Valley-Wide Recreation & Park District (“District”), 901 West Esplanade Avenue, San Jacinto, CA 92582, and shall be opened publicly and read aloud at the above stated time and place. Any bids received after the time specified above shall be returned unopened. The work generally consists of but is not limited to accessible site improvements, removal of architectural barriers within restrooms. All finished work to conform to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California Building Code (CBC). MANDATORY PRE-BID WALK-THROUGH Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. Location: Bill Gray Park 450 N. Lake Street, Hemet CA 92544 Bids must be accompanied by cash, a certified or cashier’s check or a Bid Bond in favor of the Valley-Wide Recreation and Park District in an amount not less than ten percent (10%) of the submitted Total Bid Price, as a guarantee that the bidder will enter into the contract for the work, the full amount of such guarantee to be forfeited to the District should successful bidder fail to enter into said contract as set forth in Section 20160 et seq. of the Public Contract Code of the State of California. This project is being financed with Community Development Block Grant funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (24 CFR Part 570) and subject to certain requirements including: compliance with Section 3 (24 CFR Part 75) Economic Opportunities requirements; payment of Federal Davis-Bacon prevailing wages; Federal Labor Standards Provisions (HUD 4010); Executive Order #11246; and others. Information pertaining to the Federal requirements is on file with the County of Riverside Department of Housing Homelessness Prevention and Workforce Solutions. Bidders on this work will be required to be licensed by the State of California as Class A General Engineering Contractor, or C-8 Concrete Contractor at the time of the bid and at the time of award as such license is defined in Section 7056 and/or Section 7058 of the Business and Professional Code and Section 732 of the California Administrative Code. Copies of the Plans and Specifications are available for inspection at no cost at https://vendors.planetbids.com/portal/68083/portalhome. For more information, please visit our website at https:// www.gorecreation.org/bidding-opportunities. No bid sets will be available for purchase. All inquiries shall be directed to Anissa Smith at Anissa@ GoRecreation.org or at (951) 654-1505. Published in The San Bernardino American Newspaper September 10, 2026.

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Thursday, September 10, 2026

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THE SAN BERNARDINO AMERICAN NEWS -BUSINESS/FINANCE

costs don’t end when you leave the Healthcare costs don’t end when you leave the doctor’s Healthcare doctor’s office...continued beyond the clinic bill. They may later. office also be useful for: By BlackPressUSA Newswire

Less income coming in makes other healthcare expenses harder to absorb. Home Care and Medical Supplies Create Ongoing Expenses Recovery doesn’t necessarily end when someone gets home. Depending on the condition, families may need to spend money on supplies, equipment, or extra help around the house. Healthcare costs often continue after the appointment through prescriptions, lab work, followup visits, transportation, lost income, and home care needs. Reviewing these expenses helps households understand the full financial impact of treatment and look for ways to reduce recurring costs. How much does a doctor’s visit really cost once the rest of the day is counted? You leave the office with a prescription to fill, instructions for another test, and a followup appointment already on the calendar. Maybe you’ve also lost half a day of work or paid for parking you hadn’t budgeted for. The visit may be over, but the spending has only started to show itself. How Much Can Prescription Costs Add to Your Healthcare Spending? A prescription may turn one doctor’s visit into a monthly expense, especially when treatment involves medication taken for months or years. The price varies depending on the drug, insurance coverage, whether a generic version is available, and where the prescription is filled. People managing chronic conditions may also be paying for several medications at once. Comparing prices through local pharmacies, mail-order services, or options such as PricePro Pharmacy gives patients a better idea of what medication is costing them each month. Why Do Follow-Up Visits Become a Recurring Expense? One appointment may lead to several more. Doctors might want to:

Check progress Adjust medication Review test results See whether symptoms are improving Each return visit brings another possible copay, transportation expense, and block of time away from work. Specialist appointments may also cost more than routine primary care visits. Once follow-ups stretch across several months, they start taking up a regular place in the household budget. Transportation and Parking Add Hidden Healthcare Costs Getting to and from medical care brings expenses of its own, especially when treatment requires several trips. Patients may end up paying for: Fuel Parking fees Rideshare fares Public transportation Tolls Longer trips to specialists A ride home after certain procedures One parking fee or rideshare fare may not seem like much, but several appointments in the same month tell a different story. Time Away From Work Can Reduce Your Income Medical care may cost you before the bill even arrives. Appointments, procedures, recovery days, and follow-up visits sometimes mean missed shifts or unpaid time away from work. Someone caring for a child, partner, or parent may lose work hours too. A few missed hours here and there start cutting into the household paycheck when treatment continues for several weeks.

Those costs might involve: Bandages and wound-care supplies Mobility aids Prescription or over-thecounter medications Special dietary needs Home health visits Childcare or household help Equipment rental or purchase Some purchases last only a few days. Others become part of the recovery routine for weeks or months. Rehabilitation and Therapy May Continue for Months Some injuries require treatment beyond the initial hospital visit. A person hurt in a car accident, for example, might need physical therapy for a shoulder injury, occupational therapy to regain everyday function, or follow-up care for back and neck pain. Appointments may happen several times a week at first and become less frequent as recovery progresses. Copays, transportation, time away from work, and rehabilitation equipment keep adding to the cost along the way. A lengthy recovery may end up costing far more than the emergency room visit that started it. Health Insurance Gaps Can Leave You With Unexpected Bills Insurance may cover much of a treatment plan without covering every service involved. Deductibles, coinsurance, outof-network providers, and excluded services sometimes leave patients with balances they weren’t expecting. The surprise may arrive weeks later in the form of a separate bill from a lab, specialist, imaging center, or another provider.

Check explanation-of-benefits statements against the bills you receive and contact the insurer or provider when a charge doesn’t make sense. Frequently Asked Questions Can You Ask for a Price Estimate Before a Medical Test? Yes. Many providers can give you an estimate for scheduled tests or procedures, although the final amount may change depending on: Insurance processing Additional services What happens during treatment Why Can the Same Medical Test Cost Different Amounts at Different Facilities? Prices vary between: Hospitals Outpatient centers Imaging clinics Laboratories Insurance contracts, facility fees, and the type of location involved may all affect what you’re charged. Do Caregivers Face Healthcare-Related Costs Too? Yes. A family member may spend money on transportation, meals, childcare, or time away from work while helping someone through treatment or recovery. Are Medical Supplies Always Covered by Insurance? No. Coverage depends on the item, the insurance plan, and whether the equipment is considered medically necessary. Some supplies may also require prior approval or a prescription. Can You Use an HSA or FSA for Expenses Outside the Doctor’s Office? In many cases, yes. Eligible expenses may include prescriptions, certain medical supplies, and other qualified healthcare purchases, depending on current IRS rules and the specific account. Why Is It Useful to Keep Receipts for Healthcare-Related Spending? Receipts make it easier to see what treatment is actually costing continued in next 2 columns

FTC Takes Action Against Payment Processor Humboldt Merchant Services for Knowingly Facilitating Payment Processing for Sham Merchants Under proposed order, defendant will be required to pay $12 million, stop payment processing for certain categories of merchants Business/Finance

Payment processing company Humboldt Merchant Services will pay $12 million and be permanently banned from processing payments for merchants with a heightened risk of potential fraud to settle allegations that Humboldt processed payments for merchants that defrauded consumers. According to the FTC’s complaint, Humboldt processed payments for more than 1,000 merchants that were shell entities that served as fronts or pass-throughs for fraudulent companies engaged in unauthorized billing scams, including Legion Media, which the FTC shut down in 2024. “Humboldt was processing payments for companies despite red flags indicating they were scamming consumers,” said Katherine White, Deputy Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “This case underscores the FTC’s commitment to holding companies accountable for

knowingly supporting fraudulent businesses.” The FTC’s complaint alleges that Humboldt: Opened and processed payments for merchants it knew, or consciously avoided knowing, were shell companies used by undisclosed third parties engaged in fraud; Opened these sham accounts despite red flags indicating the merchants were shells and typically incurred chargebacks at rates that were almost 10 times higher than what credit card brands view as excessive; and Attempted to increase the volume of transactions processed through these sham accounts by placing them on a lower-risk bank “BIN” (a bank identification number licensed by the credit card networks), used by an affiliated entity, to improve the likelihood that attempted transactions would be approved by cardholders’ banks.

In addition to paying $12 million for consumer redress, the proposed order will prohibit Humboldt from:

engaging in, or assisting those engaged in, tactics to avoid fraud and risk monitoring, including load balancing.

engaging in or assisting others who are engaged in credit card laundering; payment processing for four categories of merchants: straw companies; merchants on the Mastercard Alert to Control High-Risk (MATCH) list for reasons including excessive chargebacks, laundering and fraud; merchants that have been subject to law enforcement action; and e-commerce entities that either use negative option billing, are new or do not have past processing history, and that use third-party mailbox providers, such as UPS stores, as their only business location;

The Commission vote approving the filing of the proposed order was 2-0. The FTC filed the proposed order in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

making or assisting others in providing false or misleading information to obtain payment processing, such as misleading information about merchants in applications for merchant accounts; and

NOTE: Stipulated final orders or injunctions have the force of law when approved and signed by the District Court judge. The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and protect and educate consumers. The FTC will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize. Learn more about consumer topics at consumer. ftc.gov, or report fraud, scams, and bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts.

Insurance claims Reimbursement accounts Budgeting Tax records Can Medical Travel Costs Ever Be Tax Deductible? Sometimes. Certain transportation costs tied to qualifying medical care may be deductible under IRS rules, depending on the expense and the taxpayer’s situation. Keeping mileage, parking, toll, and receipt records makes it easier to determine what may qualify

The Full Cost of Healthcare Reaches Beyond the Clinic Healthcare costs don’t stop with the consultation or procedure. Prescriptions, follow-up visits, transportation, missed work, supplies, therapy, and insurance gaps may keep affecting your budget for weeks or months. Tracking these expenses gives you a clearer picture of what treatment is really costing and makes it easier to plan for the bills that come after the appointment.

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COMMENTARY: Big Mama Said ‘Don’t Let Grief Break the Bank’ ORLANDO ADVOCATE — Inspired by his grandmother Lucille “Big Mama” Allen’s financial wisdom, the author examines the intersection of grief and money following a close friend’s family funeral planning. He details how emotions, vulnerability, and a desire to honor a loved one can lead to excessive spending, noting how wants can easily be mistaken for needs during this difficult time. By BlackPressUSA Newswire

My grandmother, Lucille “Big Mama” Allen (1906–2003), understood something about money and emotions long before anybody called it financial literacy. Big Mama raised generations with faith, common sense, and the kind of wisdom that could stop you in your tracks. I can almost hear her from the porch saying, “Baby, don’t spend your money on your feelings.” I understand that lesson differently today. Recently, I had a front-row seat as a close friend, and his family planned the homegoing of someone they deeply loved. I wasn’t hearing about it secondhand. I was close enough to witness the conversations, decisions, and dollars firsthand. What I saw taught me how quickly grief, guilt, and glory can become expensive. When somebody you love dies, you are not walking into a funeral home as an ordinary consumer. You are hurting. You want to honor your loved one. You want everything to be beautiful. Most of all, you want to make sure you have done enough. That is when wants can begin masquerading as needs. And that is exactly when somebody must remain financially awake. Funeral professionals provide an important and necessary service. Families need their expertise during one of life’s most difficult moments. But there is a difference between helping grieving people make informed decisions and selling to people whose emotions have made them vulnerable Sales trickery is not sales support. What concerned me most was watching how knowledge of relationships, emotions, and available financial resources could influence the conversation about services. That information should help professionals serve a family better—not become an opportunity to sell them more. From what I witnessed firsthand, my friend’s family paid more for the funeral than they should have. I don’t say that to point fingers at anyone in that family. Grief affects everybody differently. Some people become quiet. Some want to do everything. Others may believe spending more is somehow evidence that they loved more. My lesson is about becoming a wiser consumer

when our emotions run highest. Big Mama would have reminded me, “Separate your needs from your wants. Everything you want, you don’t necessarily need.” That means we have to STOP before we spend. S means separate needs from wants. T means total every expense before agreeing. O means obtain options and ask what can be removed. And P means protect the family budget. Ask for an itemized price list. Compare providers when time permits. Bring someone into the conversation who can think clearly about money. Establish a spending ceiling before discussing upgrades. And never allow the question, “What would your loved one have wanted?” to become a sales closing technique. Because grief can make us believe that the price of the funeral somehow represents the value of the life. It doesn’t. Black history offers some sobering reminders that fame, earning money, and financial security are not the same thing. Jazz legend Billie Holiday reportedly died with only 70 cents in the bank, and another person ultimately paid for her funeral. Legendary entertainer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, once among America’s highestpaid Black performers, earned extraordinary sums during his career yet died nearly penniless; friend Ed Sullivan reportedly helped cover his funeral. Literary giant Zora Neale Hurston died with so little that friends and neighbors collected money for her funeral, and she was initially buried in an unmarked grave. Think about that. These were people whose talent enriched American culture, yet their final days remind us of something Big Mama already understood: You can have glory without having financial security. That’s why conversations about money, preparation, and final wishes need to happen while we are living— not be left entirely to grieving people after we are gone. A casket cannot measure love. Flowers cannot measure sacrifice. A limousine cannot measure memories. And the size of a funeral bill certainly cannot measure somebody’s importance. A beautiful homegoing does not require an ugly financial aftermath. Proverbs 21:5 reminds us, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance.” Big Mama taught us to give people their flowers while they can smell them. That may be the greatest financial lesson of continued on page 7

Thursday, September 10, 2026

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THE SAN BERNARDINO AMERICAN NEWS - EDUCATION/OPINION

Wedding Party That Looked Like U.S. Sole Nation to Oppose U.N. Resolution Aa Funeral Correcting Africa’s Size on World Maps Next June marks 60 years since Loving v. Virginia. My parents did not wait for it.

TENNESSEE TRIBUNE — The United States was the sole nation to vote against a United Nations resolution encouraging the use of world maps that more accurately depict the size of Africa and other equatorial regions. The U.N. General Assembly adopted the non-binding “Correct the Map” resolution, led by Togo and backed by African Union members, by a vote of 164-1 with six abstentions.

By Ben Jealous

By BlackPressUSA Newswire

Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA.

The United States stood alone Friday as the only country to vote against a United Nations resolution encouraging the use of world maps that more accurately depict the size of Africa and other regions near the equator. The U.N. General Assembly adopted the “Correct the Map” resolution Sept. 4 by a vote of 164-1, with six countries abstaining, according to reports from The Independent, BBC and The Hill. The non-binding measure, led by Togo and backed by African Union members, calls for wider use of the Equal Earth

projection and other equal-area maps when the comparative size of continents matters. The resolution does not ban the traditional Mercator projection, which has been widely used for centuries. Developed by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569, the Mercator projection was designed to aid navigation. However, the map increasingly distorts the size of landmasses farther from the equator, making northern regions appear substantially larger while areas near the equator appear smaller,

BBC reported. Africa provides one of the most striking examples. The Mercator projection can make Africa and Greenland appear similar in size, although Africa is actually about 14 times larger than Greenland, according to BBC and The Independent. The Equal Earth projection was created by a team of cartographers in 2018 to more accurately preserve the relative sizes of land areas. The African Union’s 54 member states adopted the projection earlier

this year, according to BBC. The resolution encourages governments, schools, international organizations and technology companies to use Equal Earth or other equalarea projections in appropriate settings, The Independent reported. Supporters say the issue extends beyond geography, arguing that distorted maps can influence how people perceive Africa’s size, importance and potential. “A map is never neutral,” Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey said during a U.N. briefing, according to The Independent. “It shapes perceptions, influences how the place of peoples and continents in the world is understood.” Dussey said African nations are not seeking special treatment, but a more accurate representation of the continent. The United States was the only nation to oppose the resolution. U.S. officials characterized the initiative as promoting an ideological agenda and distracting from more pressing international issues. Based on reporting by Tennessee Tribune.

Women Learned Their Jail Strip Searches Were Recorded. Their Outrage Changed the Law...continued from page 4 the county’s Democratic Party who had previously run for public office, Garcia said she sprang into action. She went to the district attorney’s office and started asking what the DA planned to do. When that did not yield satisfactory answers, she reached out to her state representative’s office, which connected her with the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault. From there, Garcia worked with the coalition’s advocates and other alleged victims of Aber to draft a bill to ensure this would not happen again. In May, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed the legislation, which limits how jails in the state can conduct strip searches and when staff can access any recordings. Advocates working in sexual violence prevention said that the new law is the result of survivors coming together to demand legislative change. They also hope it will be a model for other states — an effort to reconsider the pervasive use of strip searches in the criminal legal system. Strip searches have become standard practice in correctional facilities throughout the United States. Omny Miranda Martone, founder and CEO of the Sexual Violence Prevention Association, said strip searches are “being performed way more often than anybody realizes, often hundreds of times a year for people who are incarcerated.” The national organization assisted with advocating for Colorado’s stripsearch law. While much of the public understands that incarcerated people are strip-searched when they enter jail or prison, Martone said, “it’s also often done whenever somebody moves between the facility, between maybe one building and another,” as well as “before and after somebody visits with their loved ones, which often incentivizes them not to see their loved ones.” Strip searches, Martone argues, are a form of state-sanctioned sexual violence, and they can become the catalyst

for additional sexual violence. Comprehensive data that tracks strip searches does not exist. In Connecticut last year, state lawmakers called for funds to switch to body scanners after finding that the state performed an estimated 355,000 strip searches on incarcerated people in 2024. Supporters of the legislation called the searches “dehumanizing.” Corrections officials argue that strip searches help promote safety inside facilities by stopping contraband — such as illicit drugs or potential weapons — and prohibited items like cash or uncanceled postage stamps. There is also little data showing that visual or physical strip searches are the most effective method for finding contraband. A 2019 study by the Washington State Department of Corrections found that during a pilot program using body scanners as an alternative to strip searches, contraband detection increased from an average of two discoveries per month to 10 per month. In La Plata County, where officers are required to use body-worn cameras during strip searches, these inspections can also be recorded. Until the new strip-search law, incarcerated people did not receive notice of the recordings. Katrina Lile received a letter from the La Plata County District Attorney’s Office in July 2025, four years after her release from county jail, informing her that she was one of the women whose videos Aber allegedly viewed. “All I could do was just cry and cry, because I cannot believe this is happening to me,” Lile said. In the days that followed, she said, her anger grew. She would get into arguments with her husband or lose patience with her young son. “I was taking my hurt and my anger out on my family,” she said. Like Garcia, Lile called the office of Rep. Katie Stewart, a Colorado Democrat, who asked if Lile wanted to be involved with the effort to write the new bill. Stewart was six months into

her first term in the Colorado House when news of Aber’s accusations broke in her district and she started receiving calls from constituents. She consulted more experienced lawmakers before working with the survivors, advocates against sexual assault, attorneys and local law enforcement to craft a possible bill. “There was a broad coalition,” Stewart said. “It was a bit of an arm wrestling match to thread the needle to get a meaningful policy put in place to ensure that this didn’t happen again.” Survivors and advocates were especially eager to address video recordings of strip searches. Rather than banning them altogether, survivors said that the recordings offered a layer of accountability and evidence in case of any misconduct during a strip search, said Elizabeth Newman, director of public policy for the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault. Lile suggested that the law requires officers to inform incarcerated people that they are being recorded. It also requires that jail staff obtain written approval to access strip-search video and log the reason for accessing the video. To better regulate the use of strip searches in Colorado jails, the law established clearer parameters for when incarcerated people can be strip-searched: during the intake process, if staff have a reasonable belief that an incarcerated person is concealing contraband, or if a particular scenario has a history of producing contraband, for example, if there is an overdose in the facility. The law also included whistleblower protections to prevent retaliation against individuals who voice concerns about potential misconduct, Newman said. She added that the new law is limited to jails in the state, and doesn’t include prisons, because of budget constraints and limited federal oversight. She said her organization plans to monitor implementation of the law and review the data collected

by jails to inform potential legislation for state prisons. Stewart and Rep. Javier Mabrey, a Democrat, introduced the bill to the Colorado House in February, and it was passed and signed by May. The new law is the first of what national advocates hope to be a nationwide campaign to pass similar legislation in other states, according to Martone of the Sexual Violence Prevention Association. Martone has studied the success of other public safety initiatives, including nationwide campaigns to end drunk driving as well as “End the Backlog,” aimed at addressing untested rape kits. Their group uses four pillars — research, policy, coalition building and public education — in its work. Part of the work of taking on strip searches is getting the public and lawmakers to be more empathetic to incarcerated people and the circumstances that can lead to incarceration, Martone said. For survivors in Colorado, the new law is the first step in a longer journey to justice. In July 2025, Aber was arrested and charged with 117 counts of invasion of privacy for sexual gratification and one count of first-degree official misconduct for inappropriately viewing the sensitive footage. His criminal trial was initially scheduled to begin Aug. 10 but was pushed to November due to scheduling conflicts. “We passed a bill faster than we got justice,” Lile said. “We kind of feel like we got justice with this bill — almost.” “Everybody worked together, and put their heads together,” she said. “Our main concern was protecting other incarcerated people, so this didn’t happen to anybody again.” Correction: This story has been updated to use the correct pronoun (they/them) for Omny Miranda Martone. Based on reporting by Texas Metro News.

Ben Jealous This month my parents are beginning their seventh decade of marriage despite a law that tried to stop them. Sixty years ago they were married in a church in Washington, D.C. They had to leave Maryland to do it. My mother is Black. My father is White. In Maryland their marriage was a crime. They met in West Baltimore. Her city. Two student teachers at Harlem Park Junior High, the same classroom, one semester after the other. They wrote each other every week that spring. Their students. Life back on campus. What they believed. When my mother came home to Baltimore for the summer, they were both seeing other people. They went on a date anyway. That date was at the recently desegregated movie theater. They slipped in like racial fugitives. They found two empty seats. He walked down one aisle. She walked down the other. They sat side by side but didn't want their entrance or exit to cause a stir. They knew the looks wouldn't all come from White people. It was the summer of Black Power, after all. My father proposed three times in two weeks. She turned him down twice. She was not being

coy. What he asked was against the law. The third time she said yes. My father's uncle told him he believed the love was real. Then he explained that if my father wanted to stay in the family, and in his grandfather's will, he would need to fall in love with someone else instead. Others said, "Think about what it will be like for the children." They married two months later. They arrived at the church separately, the way a bride and groom do. This time it was tradition. Afterward the caravan drove back to Baltimore with its headlights on. Cars on the highway pulled aside to let it pass. In the city people stopped walking to turn and stare and then pray for them. Men took off their hats. Everyone thought it was a funeral. The lights were only so nobody would get lost on the way to my grandparents' house in West Baltimore, where the reception was. At the reception my father danced with my mother. He is red-headed and freckled and looks as English and Irish as he is. One woman watching them decided the groom had to be Black. Apparently she could not imagine a White boy dancing like continued on page 8

COMMENTARY: Big Mama Said ‘Don’t Let Grief Break the Bank’...continued from page 6 all. Love people while they are here. Celebrate them while they can hear you. Honor them with your presence, your time, and your actions. And when that difficult day comes, send them home with dignity, love, and celebration. But don’t send your financial security with them. And when that difficult day comes, send them home with dignity, love, and celebration. But

don’t send your financial security with them. Terry Allen is an NABJ awardwinning Journalist, DEI expert, PR professional, and Vice President at FocusPR, founder of the charity City Men Cook, and Dallas Chapter President of NBPRS.org Based on reporting by Orlando Advocate.

Pedestrian Killed After Being Struck by Vehicle in Victorville Education/Opinion On Sunday, September 6, 2026, at approximately 4:03 a.m., deputies from the Victorville Station, along with personnel from the Victorville Fire Department and American Medical Response (AMR), responded to the area of Silica Drive and First Avenue in Victorville for a vehicle that had collided with a pedestrian. The preliminary investigation revealed a black Mercedes-Benz C-Class traveled eastbound on Silica Drive, west of First Avenue, when it struck a pedestrian in the roadway. Moroyoqui sustained major injuries and was transported by AMR to Providence Saint Mary Medical Center for treatment and was later pronounced deceased. The driver of the MercedesBenz remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators. Alcohol or drugs were not

believed to be a factor in the collision. The Victorville Station’s Major Accident Investigation Team (MAIT) responded to the scene and assumed the investigation. Silica Drive, between Second Avenue and First Avenue, remained closed for several hours while investigators processed the scene. Anyone with information regarding this collision, or anyone who may have witnessed it, is urged to contact the Victorville Station at (760) 241-2911 or Sheriff’s Dispatch at (760) 956-5001. Callers wishing to remain anonymous should call or text "REPORT" to We-Tip at 844909-3006. Online reporting is also available at https://mobile. catapultems.com/sbcsd/Sites.

Thursday, September 10, 2026

Page 8

THE SAN BERNARDINO AMERICAN NEWS-NEWS & ADVERTISING

Pinot Noir Wanda Haynes-Certified Sommelier subtle spice, and vanilla from oak aging. A beautiful medium-body Pinot Noir from Eola-Amity Hills in Willamette Valley, Oregon. Pairs lovely with salmon croquettes, hearty veggie stews, pork loin, and lightly breaded chicken fingers. Heritage 91 Pinot Noir McCollum Family Vineyards

Fall is a terrific time of year to introduce Pinot Noir into the wine list Because its light enough to pair with fish, and heavy enough to pair with steak sandwiches. Very elegant and a great wine for new wine enthusiasts, and here are a couple of my personal favorites.

The "Heritage 91 Pinot Noir wine is from Oregon's Willamette Valley. A wine produced in partnership with Adelsheim Vineyard. This wine drifts out of the glass, offering aromas of red rose petal, cinnamon, boysenberry, and a bold note of freshly turned earth. This light-bodied lively acidity Pinot Noir offers tasting notes that include black cherry, plum, and a dusting of Dutch cocoa. A long-polished finish of blueberry and crushed fall leaves. A modern approach to Pinot Noir that I am glad I discovered. An African American Professional basketball player CJ McCollum started his wine brand in 2020 with wife Elise. McCollum Heritage 91 is all about legacy bringing CJ’s passions to life while honoring his roots in the process. It just so happened that heritage is also the name of the street he grew up on in Canton, Ohio. Combined with his birth year and family name the brand was established. Pair this sleek Pinot Noir with a stylish fall charcuterie board and a circle of friends. Salmon pasta salad, roasted hazel nuts, and drunken goat cheese. They have a great portfolio of wines. https://www.bethelheights.com https://mccollumheritage91.com

Bethel Heights Pinot Noir “Casteel” Terry Casteel, Ted Casteel, Marilyn Webb, and Pat Dudley first saw the abandoned Bethel Heights Walnut Grove in 1977. Featuring gentle south-facing slopes, pure spring water running through a shady ravine and diversity of wildlife. They left their jobs, packed up their growing families, staked out their vineyard, and never looked back. Bethel Heights has a marvelous portfolio of wine, and my favorite is the “Casteel Pinot Noir”. I’ve owned three bottles of the 2019 vintage including a half bottle of Casteel. Purchased from at wine. com and worth every dime. This wine is so delicious it left me spellbound and I can't imagine a world without this fine wine. It has an early fall presence with dried cranberry, and earthy fall leaves on the nose. Elegant and smooth with bright acidity, rich flavors of chewy cherries right from the tree, golden raspberries, trumpet mushrooms, forest floor,

A Wedding Party That Looked Like a Funeral... continued from page 7 that. My father was delighted. Somewhere in there my father made her an offer. Jealous is a strange name to carry. He told her he would take hers instead. He would become Fred Todd. She said no. She took the name Jealous. Telling that used to make me chuckle. Who turns down any name for such a notorious adjective? I hear it a little differently now. His grandfather had already disowned him and cut him out of the will. His own father had died years earlier, of his third heart attack. My father was the eldest grandson of an industrialist. He had a great deal to lose and he lost all of it. His mother and his brothers stood by him. Much of the rest of the family did not. His name was the last thing that was his to give, and he offered to give that up too. She would not let him. The following June the Supreme Court decided Loving v. Virginia. When my parents stood in that church, nobody knew it was coming. They married anyway. They went west. With Loving grinding through the courts, they apparently decided the nation didn't need Jealous v. Maryland too. San Diego first, then the Monterey Peninsula. There my father taught soldiers home from Vietnam, many of whom could not read. Later he founded a community where men learn to listen to one another, and to be listened to, most of them for the first time. My mother spent

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her career as a therapist. They raised us in California, far from her mother and her church and her city. Every summer they sent me back east. Baltimore for her people. Maine for his. The move had cut them off from all of it. They handed it to me. A decade ago they returned to St. James Episcopal Church on Lafayette Square and renewed their vows for the 50th anniversary of Loving. My mother was baptized in that church. So was I. So was my son. My mother wore the dress. Her grandmother sewed it for her in 1966, when my mother was 25. She sewed it for that church, where she worshipped. Then the law sent the wedding to Washington, and the dress never went down that aisle. A half century later it did. My mother was crying. I told her to stop bragging. She looked at me, confused, tears still on her face. I told her she just wanted everybody to know it still fit. Sixty years. My father is still the man who offered to give up his name. My mother is still the woman who would not let him. They were never a test case. They were a marriage. They still are. Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad. Thank you for being so courageous in love. My sister and I literally would never have existed but for it. Ben Jealous is a professor of practice at the University of Pennsylvania and former president and CEO of the NAACP.

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This week’s quote “A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”” — Maya Angelou

7th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Service Gala Awards Celebrating Excellence. Honoring Service. Inspiring the Next Generation. The Southern California Black Chamber of Commerce – Inland Cities East Chapter, in partnership with

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YouthBuild Inland Empire and LUE Productions Community Umbrella Services, proudly invites the community to submit nominations for the 7th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Service Gala Awards. This prestigious event recognizes outstanding athletes whose impact extends far beyond the game. We are seeking individuals who were either raised in our community or have adopted our community as their own and have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to giving back through leadership, mentorship, philanthropy, advocacy, and community service. Nomination Categories High School Athlete Collegiate Athlete Professional Athlete Retired Athlete

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impact. Hosted by: Southern California Black Chamber of Commerce – Inland Cities East Chapter in partnership with YouthBuild Inland Empire and LUE Productions Community Umbrella Services Nominate an athlete who is changing lives and building stronger communities. Nomination Link - https:// w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / events/902360762349561/