Corona, CA: Corona Wants Temescal Valley - Lake Elsinore's Neighbor Moving Closer

If the Temescal Valley annexation is approved, Corona’s city limits would stretch to within about two miles of Lake Elsinore’s boundaries.

Corona and Lake Elsinore could become next-door neighbors if a proposed annexation gets approved.

Representatives from Riverside County agencies will attend the Temescal Valley Municipal Advisory Council meeting July 11 to answer questions and provide information to Temescal Valley residents about the city of Corona’s ongoing proposal to annex their community. Temescal Valley is currently within the city’s sphere of influence.

Corona, CA: Corona places # 9 of 10 Great Cities to Raise Your Kids!!!

City population: 152,374

Average family income: $97,618

Percentage of families with children: 45.2%

Metro-area spending per student: $5,917

Public playgrounds: 25

Corona sits on the fringes of Los Angeles and Riverside, right where the dense cities of California's "Inland Empire" start to fade into suburbs. The city is, in part, a bedroom community for these larger locales. While Southern California traffic jams are infamous, parents can commute comfortably enough from Corona to Riverside, San Bernardino, Irvine and L.A.

Corona, CA: NATIONAL PORTRAIT EXHIBIT TO CORONA

Exhibit Goal to Find Forever Families for Foster Children

A heart rendering photographic exhibit officially opens on Monday, April 23 at The Shops at Dos Lagos in Corona. The Heart Gallery features professional photographs of 50 children in foster care in California and other states across the U.S. The public is invited to view the gallery size portraits in display windows throughout The Shops at Dos Lagos, located at on Temescal Canyon Road between Weirick Road and Cajalco Road, just off the I-15 in Riverside County.

Professional photographers volunteered their time and talents to photograph the children who are featured in the national traveling exhibit which is touring selected venues throughout the U.S. Many of the children featured in the gallery are considered “hard to place in permanent homes” because they are older, in sibling groups that hope to stay together, or have special needs. The children’s photographs can also be viewed on line at www.nationalheartgalleryexhibit.org.

Corona, CA: California poised to vote on new 'clean car' regulations

The head of California's air quality board on Thursday called proposed rules that would require automakers to build less-polluting cars and trucks by 2025 a historic move for a cleaner environment.

California Air Resources Board Chairman Mary Nichols said she hopes the rules to require that vehicles emit about 75 percent less smog-producing pollutants will "lead the nation and the world."

Corona, CA: On display at SEMA Show: two tricked-out Kias

On display at the SEMA show, which ran from November 1 through November 4, were two tricked-out vehicles, which were inspired by sports ambassadors Blake Griffin and Michelle Wie. The two outrageous vehicles were a product of West Coast Customs (WCC), based in Corona, CA. The basketball-themed Optima Hybrid, inspired by basketball all-star Blake Griffin, features hardwood floors and a pop-up basketball hoop. The golf-themed Kia Soul, inspired by Michelle Wie of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), features Michelle’s personal artwork.

Kia's first-ever hybrid in the U.S. delivers up to 40 miles per gallon on the highway. Inside, hoop fans will find basketball court flooring in the front and rear wells and custom Roadwire Kings Ranch leather seats with suede inserts, white contrast stitching and Blake Griffin's autograph embroidered in the front headrests. The combination of leather and suede continues on the door panel inserts, headliner and sun visors.

Corona, CA: Reclamation Awards $1.5 Million To Further Research Into Alternative Water Treatment Technologies

New Technologies Show Potential for Stretching Current Water and Energy Supply

Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Michael L. Connor has announced that $1,509,000 has been awarded for seven new projects under the Desalination and Water Purification Research Program. The awards include five research and laboratory studies and two pilot tests. Reclamation is also funding the second phase of two previously awarded projects. This funding will be leveraged to support $2,771,752 in research of alternative water treatment technologies.

"By investing in alternative water treatment technology research we are working to find ways to stretch the nation's current water supply, use less energy and reduce impacts to the environment," Commissioner Connor said today. "The research we are funding has the potential to unlock efficiencies that ensure future water supplies, strengthen our economy and create jobs."

Riverside County, CA: Supervisors Approve Halloween Curfew For Sex Offenders

Editors Note: Good! Check Sex Offender locations HERE

(120 in Corona, CA alone!)

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors approved a measure that would prohibit convicted sex offenders from handing out candy or taking part in any other activity that might attract children to their homes on Halloween.

As part of a strategy to enhance protections for children trick-or- treating, Supervisor Jeff Stone is seeking a revision to the county's anti- loitering law that would impose additional restrictions on registered sex offenders who reside in unincorporated communities.

Corona, CA: Cleveland National Forest announces elevated fire restrictions for Corona and Temecula areas

Cleveland National Forest announced that elevated fire restrictions were imposed yesterday in the Corona and Temecula areas of Riverside County as the dry "forest fire season" looms closer.

The heightened restrictions are because of "dryer fuel conditions, higher temperatures and the likelihood of small fires becoming large fires," Cleveland National Forest Public Affairs Officer Brian Harris said.

Riverside, CA: Supervisor Proposing 13 Counties Secede From California

Under the proposal, Riverside, Imperial, San Diego, Orange, San Bernardino, Kings, Kern, Fresno, Tulare, Inyo, Madera, Mariposa and Mono would be asked to consider forming a 51st state, the State of South California.

Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone, 3rd District, announced Thursday that he will ask leaders in 13 counties to begin discussions about seceding from the State of California.

Under the proposal, Riverside, Imperial, San Diego, Orange, San Bernardino, Kings, Kern, Fresno, Tulare, Inyo, Madera, Mariposa and Mono would be asked to consider forming a 51st state, the State of South California.

Boards of supervisors and city councils within those counties would be invited to meet and discuss the feasibility of secession from California, Stone said in a statement sent by Ray Smith, spokesman for the Riverside County Executive Office.

"He is so disenfranchised with the state's inabilities," said Verne Lauritzen, Stone's chief of staff, in a phone interview late Thursday.

"So he is recommending we start some discussions with other counties, and there are lots of them.

"He is dead serious."

Lauritzen said Stone, who represents the communities of Murrieta, Temecula, Menifee, Canyon Lake, Hemet and San Jacinto, as well as several unincorporated areas, is largely frustrated with the Legislature's passage of Senate Bill 89.

The bill threatens to dismantle newly incorportated cities because it diverts vehicle license fee revenue to fund public safety.

The bill would drastically affect newly incorporated cities of Wildomar, Menifee, Eastvale and Jurupa Valley, Lauritzen said.

All are dependent on the vehicle license fee revenue.

Wildomar stands to lose $1.8 million in revenues if SB 89 is not amended. Potential revenue losses for the three other new cities are even higher, with Eastvale standing to lose $3.1 million, Jurupa losing $6.2 million, and Menifee dropping $3.9 million, according to a letter written by legislators to Gov. Jerry Brown.

The legislators asked the governor to return Senate Bill 89 to lawmakers for amendments.

“This revenue accounts for 20 percent to 25 percent of the entire budget for these new cities. These cities will be seriously impacted by this realignment and will have way no ability to recover from this devastating loss of revenue. The four cities in Western Riverside County (and unknown others statewide) may be forced into bankruptcy or un-incorporation as a direct result of this bill,” the letter states.

Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, 66th District, Assemblyman Paul Cook, 65th District, Assemblyman Jeff Miller, 71st District, Assemblyman Brian Nestande, 64th District, Senator Bill Emmerson, 37th District, and Senator Bob Dutton, 31st District, all signed the letter.

Otherwise there will be a “devastating effect on four new cities within our region and may well result in bankruptcy or un-incorporation of one or more of them,” the letter stated.

Stone is slated to bring his breakaway proposal to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors on July 12.

Stone suggested the new state consider a part-time legislature, shifting governance more toward local control. Part-time legislators might receive only a $600 per month stipend and no other financial benefits except travel expenses to the new state capitol, he said.

Also open for consideration would be doing away with term limits, actually enforcing the state’s borders, adopting reasonable sales taxes and a provision like Prop. 13 that would control property taxes.

Counties and cities interested in the proposal, including those Stone has not already identified, would be invited to sit down and discuss the proposal.

He also suggested convening a meeting at the Riverside Convention Center, where residents and officials from each county and city would be welcome to offer ideas and testimony.

“Are there huge challenges? Absolutely,” Stone acknowledged. “But the destruction of California has to stop and we won’t know what we can accomplish unless we sit down and consider the possibilities.”

Corona, CA: From No Experience to 'Near Perfect'

Ontario, Calif., ARCO Owner named franchisee of the year

ARCO's franchisee of the year is Amy Kim, the owner of the gas station and ampm convenience store in Ontario, Calif., reported The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. Kim won the distinction this month from a field of 1,200 U.S. stores, according to the report. She is the first woman to win the award, which parent company BP has been handing out for 11 years.

"I was completely surprised," said Kim, who was unaware she was even in the running for the award until her name was called at a BP event in Alaska. "I started crying, I don't know why," she told the newspaper.

Considerations such as store performance and the franchisee's ability to generate positive promotion for the ampm brand led to Kim's selection, BP spokesperson Scott Dean told the paper. She received a unanimous vote from a panel of regional sales managers and the vice president of franchise operations, Dean added.

Since the Corona, Calif., resident bought the Ontario store in 2002, it has surpassed every year its sales from the prior year. The store has received consistently near-perfect scores in examinations that occur six times per year for factors such as cleanliness, safety and customer service.

"Amy is a fantastic person. She's a fantastic franchisee," Michelle Khalil, the BP regional sales manager who nominated Kim for the award, told the Daily Bulletin. "When we look at the overall, it's what do people do for the community? How do they support the people? She's a wonderful operator."

Kim bought the Ontario store, which is on a busy stretch of Archibald Avenue just off the freeway, with no experience operating a franchise. She and her parents previously owned and managed a neighborhood grocery store in Florida.

"I was a fish out of water," she said.

Kim is now a certified trainer for BP, coaching incoming ampm owners, said the report.

Owning a gas station has become more competitive in the Inland Empire, she said, since she first started in the market. "Now gas stations are oversaturated," Kim said. "It's hard to find a money-making gas station."

Riverside, CA: Riverside County Considers Charging Jail Inmates

Officials in Riverside County are considering a proposal to charge convicted inmates for the cost of their incarceration.

Under the plan, sponsored by Supervisor Jeff Stone, the county would charge a daily rate of $142 to cover cost of housing and feeding the inmate.

The proposal would also impose a $5 fee for visitors and seek reimbursement for the cost of medical care, court filing fees, use of jail telephones and probation services.

Stone says the measure is designed to target people convicted of misdemeanors who have assets and jobs.

The Board voted 4-0 to direct County Counsel Pamela Walls to study the idea and return with a proposed ordinance in four months.

Corona, CA: Freeway widening to affect hundreds of properties

A handful of property owners in Corona are in early negotiations to sell their property and make way for the county's most expensive freeway widening project.

Officials in charge of the $1.3 billion Highway 91 project said they might need to purchase part or all of about 400 residential and business properties in Circle City, a number that includes temporary uses and could vary depending on the final plan.

"Some of the businesses were early, willing sellers. They actually wanted their buildings bought because they wanted to move on," Corona Councilman Eugene Montanez said.

About 80 of those properties are needed for the project regardless of which design is chosen, said John Standiford, deputy director of the Riverside County Transportation Commission.

The project would extend two toll lanes on the 91 from the Orange County line to McKinley Street in Corona. Officials are waiting on a $446 million loan from the U.S. Department of Transportation to fund the four-year project, which would start in 2013.

Montanez said more businesses than residences are expected to be affected.

"In the Lincoln Avenue and Pomona Road area, there are a whole string of businesses that are going to be relocated or moved because Pomona Road is going to be reconstructed. That's probably the single biggest impact," Montanez said.

The popular restaurant Mill Creek on Lincoln Avenue is one of those businesses.

"They are going to be completely taken away. They're probably the most visible one that is a complete taking," Montanez said.

Most homes that would have to be sold are scattered throughout the project area, with a few spots where more than one home sits, Standiford said.

The public can view a 22-foot map of the affected areas Thursday at a public hearing on a draft environmental impact report.

The meeting is from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the gymnasium of the Corona Civic Center, 502 S. Vicentia Ave.

The area of Norco in the study area includes land adjacent to Interstate 15 from Hidden Valley Parkway to Fifth Street.

Norco Mayor Berwin Hanna said he doesn't have any major concerns about the project severely affecting the city, other than minor traffic.

"I imagine we'll all be impacted from the construction," Hanna said.

English and Spanish notices of the public hearing were sent to everyone within a 500-foot radius of the project, said Robert Morin, Corona principal civil engineer and project liaison.

"It's impacting both sides of the freeway from the 15 to Auto Center Drive," Morin said.

Corona, CA: Corona's Antiques Adventure turns "10"

The 10th Anniversary Corona Antiques & Collectibles Faire will be hosting 54 dealers and tasty new food vendors for your springtime Saturday enjoyment. It just keeps growing and is one of the most intriguing events at the park.

There'll be live entertainment and lots of local celebrities as usual. The museum, trains, artists and the natural beauty of the park will all be available for perusing. If you're a antiques enthusiast, make sure you plan to be in town for this picker's paradise.

This year, in addition to the Cornbread Washtub Band, we will have several other local musicians playing sample sets. We are particularly proud to present the Guitar Center's (the world's largest musical instrument retailer) 2010 King of Blues, Randy Scott, from a nationwide search for great undiscovered blues guitar players. Scott beat out four other finalists at the House of Blues in Los Angeles in front of a live audience and a panel of celebrity judges, and shared the stage with world-renowned guitarists. Now you can here him play this Saturday, June 4th, along with others for free.

If you're an antiques dealer, contact our coordinator now for your shot at a space. (No garage sale rummage allowed!) You can download an application online from our web page by clicking here. Or, for more info, call Shellie Norland at (951) 302-0080.

 

Corona, CA: City employee concessions continue

Corona is expected to extend labor contracts with some employee groups this week withholding salary or cost of living increases and extending some concessions.

The memorandums of understanding are expected to be approved Wednesday at a City Council meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Corona City Hall, council chambers, 400 S. Vicentia Ave., Corona.

The total savings to the city is expected to be about $2 million, a city report said.

The agreement would extend labor contracts for supervisors to June 2014 and for general employees until June 2015, the report said.

Corona Finance officials said the last time employees received a negotiated base pay increase was in July of 2007 at 3 percent for general employees, 4 percent for Corona supervisors and 4 percent for management and confidential employees.

This year, supervisors and general employees agreed to continue forgoing a $1,500 allowance to their flexible spending accounts.

Supervisors are doing without a $1,900 match to tax-deferred retirement plans while general employees are not receiving a $500 match to their plans, a city report said.

Overall, employee groups have taken wage and benefit concessions that will save the city $9 million through 2013-14.

The city has eliminated about 200 positions since the fall of 2008, City Manager Brad Robbins has said. Norco currently has 700 to 720 employees.

The city also has cut more than $20 million from the budget since 2008.

Finance Director Debra Foster has said she plans to present a balanced budget for 2011-12 but faces an $8,484,917 shortfall for 2012-13.

She also expects the city to see increases in revenues from sales and property taxes in the next couple of fiscal years.

Riverside, CA: Riverside professor studies spread of brown widow spider

A UC Riverside entomologist is studying the spread of the new kid on the web in Southern California: the brown widow. That poisonous spider didn’t appear in Southern California until about eight years ago, but it’s spread quickly since then.

The Inland Empire reported its first brown widow sightings two years ago.

"This thing has spread quickly," says UC Riverside spider expert Rick Vetter. "It was not in Riverside or San Bernardino in 2009. Last year, it was all over the place. And it’s now starting to show up in Ventura and Santa Barbara County. And (we) have no idea if it’s going to stop there or if it’s going to be plentiful this year."

So far nobody has found the spider in eastern Riverside and San Bernardino counties or north of Santa Barbara.

Vetter is tracking the spider as people send him brown widow samples from areas where the non-native spider is not yet known to be established.

"It seems to be the consensus that black widows are being pushed out by the brown widows," Vetter says. "The thing is, the brown widow is found in a lot of places you would never find a black widow. Like, they’ll be underneath a wrought iron railing or underneath those solar powered lights that you stick in the ground on your walkway. You would never find a black widow in that much of an exposed area."

Vetter says a bigger span of territory means more brown widows.

"It just goes from people having five or six black widows to having 50 to 100 brown widows. And that’s something that you typically would not ignore," Vetter says. "I mean, the black widows, you can say, 'OK, I’ve got a few black widows. It’s fine.' But if you look at the brown widows, they’re just everywhere."

Brown widows can sometimes be hard to distinguish from immature black widows. The brown widows are the same shape as black widows, but are a mottled color. Both have a red hourglass shape on their undersides.

Vetter says the egg sac is the dead giveaway. He says black widows have round, smooth yellow egg sacs.

"The brown widow has an egg sac that looks like a pollen ball. It has all these little spikes on it," he says. "And it looks like one of those World War II harbor mines that were floating around in the harbor, blowing up ships."

Brown widows carry the same sort of venom as black widows do, but they’re not as aggressive. They’ll even pretend to play dead rather than bite. And their bites are not only rarer, but tend to be less severe than black widow bites.

Still, Vetter says they’re so new to the area, we don’t know much about them, such as what pesticides will kill them and whether they will move into agricultural areas, which could pose a risk for farm workers.

Vetter would like to get some answers with his research.

Riverside, CA: UC-Riverside chancellor goes undercover as ‘Pete’

Do college administrators really understand what life on their campus is like for students, faculty and staff?

This semester the chancellor of the University of California, Riverside, went undercover to find out. For a week, Chancellor Timothy P. White was “Pete.”

He buzzed his hair, wore a mustache, popped in some false teeth, added an earring — and then filled in as an assistant chemistry professor track coach, library worker and tour guide.

His ad­ven­ture was recorded by CBS crews for the season finale of the reality tv show "Undercover Boss,” which airs next Sunday.

White told the student newspaper, The Highlander, that it was an honor to observe campus life from the front lines and the experience strengthened his respect for the public research university in Southern California, which he has led for the past three years. (White also told the student paper that he’s ditching the earring.)

“I was moved and changed as a person and as a leader by the level of dedication of our students, staff and faculty,” White said in a statement.

We will have to wait until Sunday to learn everything else that White learned. Until then, here’s the pre-view for the show.

Corona, CA: Watson Designates Parsippany, NJ Facility as Corporate Headquarters

New Parsippany Facility Supports Global Expansion; Unites NJ Operations in Single Location

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: WPI) today announced that it has formally designated its Parsippany, New Jersey facility as its Corporate Headquarters. The Company's new Corporate Headquarters address is Morris Corporate Center III, 400 Interpace Parkway, Parsippany, NJ 07054.

Previously, Watson Corporate Headquarters was located at 311 Bonnie Circle, Corona, CA 92880. Executive Offices and Commercial Headquarters were located at 360 Mt. Kemble Avenue, Morristown, NJ 07962.

The Company's new Corporate Headquarters occupies an entire building within a multi-tenant corporate office campus as well as a floor of an adjacent building and totals approximately 148,700 square feet. Watson is in the final stages of relocating all New Jersey employees from various facilities to the new site. The new facility enables Watson to combine the operations currently in separate facilities in the Morristown, NJ area into a larger space allowing the Company to more efficiently manage its growing global generic and brand pharmaceutical and biologics businesses around the world.

Corona, CA: Big Spender?

A new report on congressional spending placed Inland Rep. Ken Calvert among the top House members in terms of the amount of cash they shelled out last year for things such as staff salaries, travel expenses and official mailers.

Calvert's 2010 expenditures through his "Member Representational Allowance" totaled $1,474,444.48 -- more than the vast majority of the House's 435 members, according to the report issued by the Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan Washington-based group that promotes transparency in government.

Rebecca Rudman, a spokeswoman for Calvert, R-Corona, attributed the number to multiple factors. She noted that Calvert's district, which includes Corona, Riverside, Norco and part of Orange County, has grown faster than all but one California district since representational lines were last drawn 10 years ago.

The growth has left the district with roughly 140,000 too many people, which has resulted in "intensive constituent outreach," Rudman said. Also, she said, Calvert travels from Washington to the district virtually every week, racking up plenty of travel expenses. The long distance is one reason why several California lawmakers are near the top of the list.

Calvert has trimmed his office's budget by 5 percent, and he hasn't given his staff a raise in 2010 or 2011, Rudman said.

Corona, CA: Tie For First Place In Riverside Spelling Bee

Two students tied for first place at the 34th annual Riverside County Spelling Bee in Moreno Valley today.

Thirty students from public and private schools across the county competed in the bee at the Moreno Valley Conference & Recreation Center but after 3 1/2 hours and 18 rounds, only two survived. Eanna Mejia, who attends Corona Ranch Elementary School, squared off against Raymond Galloway, of Vista Verde Middle School.

“Judges finally called the match a draw after what they said was the longest one-on-one showdown in memory,” said Rick Peoples of the Office of Education, with the kids sounding out such words as sequacity and impuissant.

According to the County Office of Education, Galloway, who has been competing in spelling bees since he was five, was selected to advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.. Mejia will represent Riverside County in the California Spelling Bee in Stockton on April 16.

Inland Empire, CA: No Risk of Radiation From Japan in Riverside County

Even though California is thousands of miles away from Japan, some people here are still rushing to buy iodide pills.

"We had people coming in and calling asking for Potassium iodide...and the phone was off the hook," said Aron De La Campa, an employee at Nature's Health Food and Cafe in Palm Springs.

Nature's is all out of Potassium iodide right now. That's because some in the valley are stocking up, worried about radiation exposure from Japan's leaking nuclear plant.

Once the Potassium iodide ran out, De La Campa said many customers started buying supplements and dozens of packs of Kelp noodles which have naturally occurring Potassium iodide in them.

"I got some kelp that doesn't have Potassium-- only iodine," said Doug Jung.

Jung says he's worried about winds blowing harmful radiation exposure to California.

"It's quite serious because it looks like they're losing control of the reactor," said Jung.

Apparently, the concern over possible radiation making its way to the Southland is so great, the Riverside County Department of Public Health was prompted to issue the following statement Wednesday:

The current crisis at Japanese nuclear plants poses no increased risk of harmful radiation exposure in Riverside County or elsewhere in the United States, Riverside County Health Officer Eric Frykman said Wednesday.

Frykman cautioned residents against ingesting potassium iodide out of fear about “possible” radiation exposure, the subject of recent reports in the U.S. media.

“Current radiation levels pose no risk to our residents and taking potassium iodide when levels are normal could cause side effects,” Frykman said.

Riverside County and other local, state and federal agencies nationwide are monitoring systems that detect changes in radiation levels, which remain in the normal range. If at some point residents need to take potassium iodide as a protection against radiation exposure, that recommendation will be made publicly by county health officials and other local, state and federal agencies. We do not anticipate that step will be needed.

Instead, residents should ensure they are prepared for earthquakes or other potential emergencies that could occur here at any time. A basic emergency preparedness kit should include:

Enough water to last at least seven days

Food for at least seven days

Cash and important documents

Clothes

Flashlights

First-aid kit

Prescription medication

Radio

Toiletries

Tools

These essential items will help ensure that people have basic essentials that might not be available during an emergency. It is also vital that families develop a plan to deal with emergencies before they strike. Plans should include a pre-planned meeting place and a designated out-of-state contacts, in case family members are separated or at work or school when an emergency strikes.

More information on earthquake and disaster readiness can be found at http://www.rivcophepr.org or http://www.rvcfire.org/opencms/functions/oes