One day in June

So anyways, I was at Country Cuts in Ontario this morning, getting my hair cut.

While sitting in the barber chair, I flashed back to an episode in a story in which the (fictional) President of the United States was getting his hair trimmed, right in the midst of a national crisis. I believe that the episode occurred in Seven Days in May, which I read decades ago. Since the Ontario Library is just down the street from Country Cuts, I thought I'd go there and check out the book.

The Ontario Library has no book with the title Seven Days in May.

I logged into one of the online computers, found the names of the co-authors (Fletcher Knebel and Charles W Bailey II), and then did an author search. No such luck.

You know that you're old when you look for a book that is so old that even the library doesn't have it.

P.S. The aforementioned Country Cuts now has its own Facebook page.

[11:20 POSTSCRIPT] The link above goes to a generic page. Country Cuts' own page is here.

Join the Wal-Mart conversation at Inland Utopia

For some unknown reason, a 2008 Matt Munson post about Wal-Mart has suddenly attracted a number of comments.

Naturally, I had to join in, and it was just then that I realized how long this whole Wal-Mart thing has dragged out.

Heck, I was writing about City Rentals' pollution record back in 2005. (And if you don't know what City Rentals has to do with Wal-Mart, perhaps this post from the same period may offer a clue.)

And perhaps it's appropriate to repeat part of what I wrote in 2010:

You see, Briggs hasn't only opposed the Walmart in Ontario. At around the same time that the Ontario Mountain Village Association started its battle, there was a battle that was being waged in another city....

On January 2, Cory Briggs of Upland registered an organization called the "Murrietans for Smart Growth." (He also registered an organization called "Blythe Citizens for Smart Growth" on the same day.) One day later, the Murrietans for Smart Growth filed a suit to block a SuperTarget in Murrieta.

Now the city of Murrieta hadn't run into a lot of Murrietans who were demanding smart growth, and people began to wonder if the only one demanding this was non-Murrietan Cory Briggs.

Read the rest here.

Since I wrote that post, the Target in Montclair has expanded to include a full grocery section. Yes, that's the Target in Montclair, California - the Target that used to be in Ontario, California way back before Mountain and 5th became the Cory Briggs Ghetto Vandalism Park. (Anthony Muñoz must be so proud.)

The Spot - a belated update to my post about Robeks Claremont

A little over a year ago, I wrote a post entitled "The advantage of Facebook-friending Robeks Claremont." That post concluded as follows:

Incidentally, if you're an Inland Empire Facebook user, just search for "Robeks Claremont" and you'll find their page.

But if you're a driver, searching for Robeks Claremont, you won't find it.

A few days ago, I was in Chino Hills and was unable to locate another Robeks that I had visited a couple of years ago.

It turns out that Robeks is still going strong. I don't know what happened in Chino Hills, but Claremont declared its independence:

On a December 2010 evening, the Owner and Staff voted to cut its corporate ties from a smoothie franchise to become an independent, family-owned, student-powered establishment.

The Staff voted to renew the store “The Spot”, while the logo was co-created by CHS Alumni Kevin Coduto ‘10 & Matt Arias ‘09. Arias and Courtney Kessler ’12 added panini recipes.

The smoothies now have more fruit and less sugar/dairy, and the establishment has instituted touches that are very Claremont-like:

New relationships were formed to better serve the 909 Community by buying 100% Organic Wheatgrass from local farmers Cal Grass of Pomona, Organic Oranges for freshly squeezed OJ from King Ranch of Alta Loma, & world class roasted coffee beans from Coffee Klatch in Upland.

And yes, I stand corrected - Coffee Klatch's headquarters are in Upland.

Free book offer for pastors of local churches

Jim Ulvog is offering free copies of his book Once Upon Internal Control to local church pastors.

Read the details here.

Update on the University of LaVerne Law School Accreditation

I haven't written a lot here lately. In fact, my last post was on May 24, and discussed the possibility that the American Bar Association may revoke its provisional accreditation of the University of LaVerne Law School.

Guess what the ABA did? Tiffany Ray of the Press-Enterprise reports that the ABA did deny accreditation, but that the college had other options.

[Dean Allen] Easley said he intends to quickly reapply for provisional ABA approval, and to apply for accreditation from the California Bar.

From my previous post, you'll recall that even if the University of LaVerne lacks state accreditation, its students could still sit for the California bar exam - they'd just have to go through an additional step - the First Year Law Students' Examination. (Students at accredited schools are exempt from this requirement.)

The full list of California bar requirements can be found here. Note that the legal education requirements do NOT require graduation from an accredited school:

LEGAL EDUCATION

•J. D. degree from a law school accredited by the State Bar of California or approved by the ABA;
•Four years of study at a fixed-facility law school registered with the Committee;
•Four years of study, with a minimum of 864 hours of preparation and study per year, at an unaccredited distance-learning or correspondence law school registered with the Committee;
•Four years of study in the law office/judge’s chambers study program; or
•A combination of these methods.

The latest on the University of La Verne Law School in Ontario

Back on May 6, the Press-Enterprise reported that the University of La Verne Law School, which happens to be located in Ontario (kinda like how Pomona College isn't in Pomona), might lose its accreditation. It currently is "provisionally approved" by the American Bar Association, but at the time it did not appear that the ABA would recommend full accreditation.

Last Friday, the Press-Enterprise updated the story, after the ABA sent a 14 page letter to the University:

According to ABA accreditation standards, there are two batches of statistics that the group uses to judge schools: For at least three out of the past five years, the number of graduates to pass the bar exam must be 75 percent or higher or the percentage of first-time exam takers must be within 15 percentage points of the ABA average.

[Dean Allen] Easley acknowledged that his school doesn't qualify on the latter standard, but it does pass the first.

So if the University is unsuccessful in appealing the ABA's decision, what could happen? The experience of the University of West Los Angeles School of Law in 2006 may prove illustrative. Here's what was reported in March 2006:

The University of West Los Angeles School of Law has lost one key accreditation, which will affect students' ability to get federal financial aid.

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges voted in November to terminate its accreditation of the school....WASC reviewed the law school's appeal, but decided two weeks ago to terminate the school's accreditation....

State accreditation is critical because students who attend a nonstate-accredited law school are ineligible to sit for the bar exam without first passing the First-Year Law Students' Examination, or "Baby Bar," according to the State Bar.

As of today, the school still lacks WASC accreditation. It also lacks ABA accreditation - the accreditation that the University of La Verne is in danger of losing - but UWLA considers that a plus:

The School of Law has made a decision not to seek ABA approval because we believe that meeting the standards for ABA approval would be in conflict with the University’s Mission to offer affordable, quality legal education to the non-traditional student (one who must work, attend to family issues, and so on). We also believe that adoption of ABA criteria would impose increased financial burdens on students while severely limiting admission opportunities to the students we want to reach.

Back to La Verne. Even if it loses its ABA accreditation, it still maintains a WASC accreditation. More will be known next month.

San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society

When I began BBS'ing 20 years ago, I met a man who worked for the (then) Santa Fe railroad. We still keep in touch a bit via Facebook, and his wife is a fellow Gardens of Time player. I couldn't help but notice that she has a train in her garden.

One night I was scanning through YouTube videos of the Inland Empire, and I found several videos of Santa Fe 3751. I figured there had to be some significance to that particular train...and there is.

[T]he San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society (SBRHS) ... is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization founded in 1981 and dedicated to the preservation of Santa Fe Railroad operating and mechanical documentation and the maintenance and operation of former Santa Fe steam locomotive 3751.

Past contributions and volunteer power have helped transform steam locomotive 3751 from a rusting display in a park into one of the country's premier passenger steam locomotives.

The website is http://www.sbrhs.org/. And here's one of the videos. Spot the train enthusiasts.

To the Michaels' employee who told my wife about reading my blog

I hope you don't think that my blog is 40% worse than other blogs.

In case you wine - I mean whine - about Upland's personnel delays

This is a little bit dated, but I figure that there are people like me who haven't really been keeping up with the scandal in Upland. (I doubt I'm the only clueless one out there.) This has engulfed a number of people, including the mayor and the city manager. The mayor has already resigned, and the city manager was fired - but not until early May.

Why did the Upland City Council take so long to act? You see, there's a law:

A statute in the city's municipal code prohibited the council from terminating Quincey within 180 days of an election if a new council member was elected. Councilman Gino L. Filippi was elected on Nov. 2.

The presumed reason for this was to make sure that the Council didn't take advantage of a new Council member. For the record, Filippi joined the other Council members in unanimously voting to terminate Robb Quincey.

Wow, that sounds appealing - duties but no power

Years ago, I served as an alternate on a jury. It was the worst possible situation - I had to sit through the entire trial, but I wasn't allowed to go in the jury room and shoot my mouth off regarding whether the accused should be punished or not. (The bailiff was kind enough to phone me and tell me of the jury's decision afterwards.)

I was reminded of this when I read this call for a volunteer:

City officials [in Ontario] are seeking a non-voting student representative to the Recreation and Parks Commission.

What a way to begin. Even before you're told what the job is, you're told that you'll have no power. But you will have responsibilities:

The duties will include attending regular and special meetings of the Recreation and Parks Commission. The regular meetings are held every fourth Monday of every month at 6 p.m.

The student shall express opinions and participate in discussions regarding matters that affect recreation and park programs and facilities in Ontario.

But the student, like an alternate juror, won't have any say in what the Commission does.

Now arguments can be made that this is a wonderful experience, and maybe the student can get some school credit or something like that.

But it doesn't sound all that enticing.

Food trucks without the wheels...and with the fees

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

In Los Angeles and Orange Counties, it's easy to find food trucks in any industrial park. Right around break time, the trucks will drive into the parking lot, and employees will swarm around the food trucks to buy stuff.

It's a different situation in San Bernardino County. Liset Marquez:

As you may know, San Bernardino County has an ordinance which prohibits food trucks from roaming the streets.

But there's a solution - sort of. Liset Marquez:

Ordering a Korean barbecue taco or a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich from a food truck in San Bernardino County will soon be possible - at least for a day.

I.E. Food Truck Fest has been organized for June 18 in the parking lot of Citizens Business Bank Arena. At least 50 food trucks will participate.

Now this is on a Saturday, so you won't have a lot of employees lining up to get stuff.

Oh, and there's one other difference between getting to a San Bernardino County food truck and one in another county. In San Bernardino County, you have to pay to get in.

Tickets can be purchased at www.ticketmaster.com - a fee will apply - or at the arena's box office, 4000 E. Ontario Center Parkway.

VIP tickets are being sold for $25, and allow the ticket holder to enter the festival an hour before it opens to the public.

General-admission tickets are $10, and tickets purchased before June 15 are $8.

The website and Facebook page don't say, but I would assume that the food itself costs extra.

I never thought that I'd have to pay a Ticketmaster fee to buy a taco. Presumably Pearl Jam won't have a food truck there.

Why is there no sound on this July 4 Ontario parade video? There's a good reason.

A family friend will be visiting us in July, and I was searching for YouTube videos for her to see. (Her friends visited us one July several years ago, and we took them to KABOOM! in Pomona to see fireworks and a monster truck rally. I don't think they have a lot of monster truck rallies in Europe.)

So anyways, I ran across this video of the Fourth of July parade in Ontario, California. If you view the video, you will notice that it has no sound.



That's because the video was shot in 1956.

Frankly, it doesn't look all that different from today's version of the parade.

Logan's Candies Honored by Gary Ovitt

Liset Marquez shared the following in an April 20 post:

Logan's Candies, a downtown Ontario fixture since 1933, has gained notoriety for their handmade candy canes.

On Tuesday, San Bernardino County Supervisor Gary Ovitt held a ceremony to recognize the candy store as the March Small Business of the Month.

Read the rest of her post here, including the story of Hannah Rowley. See my 2005 post on Rowley.

An Orange County company expands into Ontario - but will it remain in California?

I work in Orange County in an area with older commercial and industrial buildings. The building in which I work, for example, is at least a quarter century old. (For professional sports team owners, a building of that age is an immediate excuse to relocate to a new city. For all other businesses, a building of that age is par for the course.)

Some of the buildings in this area have partially filled parking lots, while others have nearly empty parking lots. But there's one company that owns three buildings with parking lots that are filled to the brim.

That company is C Brewer Co:

We are Michael and Chuck Brewer III.

We are second-generation molders and third-generation mold makers. Our company is our namesake, and we place our family name on the line with every part we mold.

More than thirty years ago, our father created C. Brewer Company as a proving ground for resourceful people with a passion for excellence with unmatched responsiveness. Today we blend technology and technique to deliver scientific molding solutions — solutions built upon our father's formula for success in exceeding a customer's expectations.

The company's facilities in Orange County (they have more than the three buildings that I've seen) are all ISO 9000:2001 certified.

And they have recently expanded into San Bernardino County:

C. Brewer Co. of Anaheim is integrating a recently acquired Ontario, Calif., operation. The company is introducing C. Brewer-oriented culture to the plant, as well as cavity-sensor and scientific-molding practices.

C. Brewer bought the assets of the former Kipp Group plant from CareFusion Corp. and took charge of the location on Nov. 22, said Chuck Brewer III, CEO of C. Brewer. Terms were not disclosed.

The Ontario site has 17 Engel, Nissei, Sumitomo and Toyo injection molding machines with clamping forces ranging from 55-260 tons. The plant, which is ISO 13485-certified, also has a Class 8 clean room, and is running around the clock on a five-day schedule.

The Kipp Group/Care Fusion/C Brewer facility is on the east side of town.


View Larger Map

But another article that talked about the Ontario purchase made some points about doing doing business in California:

By leasing the Ontario building instead of buying one, the company is keeping its options open about remaining in California or moving.

“My mom is a past assemblywoman; all my brothers are native Californians. We have real affection for California,” Chuck Brewer said.

“But we have to wait and see if we can remain competitive in California or are we going to have to exercise other options.”

How does C Brewer's California location hurt business? One example is California's sales tax:

Brewer Co.’s customers pay $20,000 to $100,000 for a mold that then is used to make their products. The sales tax in Anaheim currently is 8.75%, which adds $1,750 to $8,750 to the price of a mold.

California’s sales tax rate is second highest in the United States, and five states don’t charge any sales tax, according to the Tax Foundation. California’s rate is due to drop to 8.75% July 1, but Gov. Jerry Brown is trying to get a five-year extension of that one percentage point and other taxes to help deal with the state’s $26.4 billion budget deficit.

As a point of clarification, it should be noted that counties can added their own sales taxes on top of the state sales tax. Thus a drop in the state sales tax to 8.75% will allow Orange County to drop its current sales tax BELOW 8.75%.

But it's not just tax. The article also notes that California workers compensation costs, wages, and cost of living exceed the national average.

I don't know the Brewers, so I don't know if their statements are merely negotiating ploys, or whether they're actually planning their California exit right now. But it's certainly something to consider as California fights to get out of its own recession. Some of those cars in the C Brewer parking lots may be relocated to states with lower vehicle registration fees...while other cars may stay behind as their owners scramble for new jobs.

Civilc pride fail - Orange County holds an event in San Bernardino County

Does this strike anyone else as funny?

Orange County Department of Education’s Inside the Outdoors program will host the annual Get Outdoors! OC event at the Wildlands Conservancy at Oak Glen Preserve in Yucaipa on Saturday, April 16th from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. The event challenges families to get outdoors and enjoy all that the surrounding landscape has to offer.

Yes, you read that right - Orange County residents are encouraged to go to the outdoors - in Yucaipa, which is in San Bernardino County and is over 50 miles away from Orange County.

William M. Habermehl, Orange County Superintendent of Schools stated, “As summer fast approaches, the Get Outdoors! OC event serves as a reminder to families that any place can be a place to play. With trees to climb, rocks to skip, and trails to explore, nature is the ultimate playground.”

Well, if any place can be a place to play, then why not find a place to play within Orange County? Perhaps I shouldn't be tooting Orange County's horn - this is an Inland Empire blog, after all - but Superintendent Habermehl may want to check out http://www.ocparks.com/, a listing of parks within Orange County itself.

OC Parks manages nearly 60,000 acres of parks, historical and coastal facilities and open space for the County of Orange as part of OC Community Resources.

OC Parks includes roughly 32,000 acres in more than 20 urban and wilderness parks, 7 miles of beaches and other coastal facilities and 27,000 acres of open space lands.

Do you think that the Orange County families could find a place to play in Orange County? Bet they can. Perhaps the Orange County Department of Education, whose "Inside the Outdoors" office is located in REDLANDS, should try to cooperate with OC Parks.

And people still think that the government is working against us. The government can't even work with itself.

But Ontario has always been interesting...

No, this post doesn't have anything to do with corruption.

A brief history - for a brief period after my arrival in California in late 1983, I semi-regularly attended the young adult group at the First Baptist Church of San Antonio Heights. One of the people that I met there was Tad Decker, whose father Bruce owned the Paint Bucket store in Ontario and the newer Paint Bucket location in Upland.

I had lost track of the Deckers, but I recently happened upon this David Allen post from February 2009 that I had somehow missed the first time around. The article was devoted to two long-gone restaurants, including this one as shared by Dave Linck:

"Another long-gone fave was O'Reilly's Buffet Burger on Holt near Mountain, which is now housing The Paint Bucket. O'Reilly's was beloved among we kids because they sent you a coupon for a free 'Buffet Burger' on your birthday. O'Reilly's served burgers, broasted chicken and dip sandwiches.

"There was a 'buffet bar' where you could dress your burger as you liked, as well as a twin 'sundae bar' where you could do so with ice cream sundaes. It was always crowded and I am sure lots of people will respond with their own memories of this long-gone icon of burger cool."

Ms. Lois shared a comment praising O'Reilly's and closed it as follows:

I really hate that Paint Bucket. :)

So who should post a follow-up comment? My old long-lost friend Tad Decker. Noting the smiley face on Ms. Lois' comment, Decker responded in kind:

Hey, Ms. Lois, don't blame us for O'Reilly's demise...it was long gone before we moved here in 1978 :)

Faithfully yours since 1948,
Paint Bucket, Inc.

That gave David Allen his opening:

[Nice to know the Paint Bucket isn't seeing red over this. -- DA]

The Paint Bucket is still going strong, at least in its Ontario location (I haven't been on that stretch of East Foothill Boulevard lately).

Now Ontario is getting interesting...

I subscribe to Matt Munson's blog Inland Utopia, and I was intrigued with the opening of this blog post:

If it is true that Supervisor and former mayor of the city Ontario gets arrested for his alleged political corruption, I guess the city of Ontario will have to rename the city library because one, some of these crimes were related to him being city councilman and mayor, and two we should not reward a black stain in the history of our city.

For those who don't know who Munson is talking about, the official name of the city's library is the Ovitt Family Community Library. One member of the Ovitt family, Gary, is a former mayor (and former high school teacher at Chaffey High) and current San Bernardino County Supervisor.

Munson didn't give any more specifics, so I went to iePolitics (Munson either was or still is associated with this site), and they provided a little more detail:

We have now heard from multiply (sic) sources connected to law enforcement that the FBI investigation in Upland is far from over. We have heard the current target is Supervisor Gary Ovitt.

That particular post elicited a comment from a name from Ontario's past - Debbie Acker:

When I faced lawsuits while serving in my capacity as an Ontario citycouncil member, Ovitt was Mayor. He and the rest of the council chose not to indeminify me. As a result I had to get my own attorney. I filed a cross-complaint and ultimately the city paid for my attorneys fees. Ovitt is a dirty guy and soon he will be found out!!

By the time I started blogging, Acker's political career was almost over, but I still worked in some references to the Ovitt-Acker enmity. For example, when I reproduced a portion of a Deborah Acker real estate ad in April 2005, I gave my post the title "I Bet Gary Ovitt Won't Use This Real Estate Agent." Acker, by the way, is no longer listed as a real estate agent with Century 21 King Real Estate, although she still has a valid real estate license.

Removing my local cluenessness - Anthony Orlando Sanchez doesn't sound "gracious"

It's one thing to be indicted on various criminal charges. It's another thing to be, for all intents and purposes, a fugitive.

No, not the ex-mayor of Upland. This has to do with an alleged co-conspirator. Sandra Emerson links to her own article, which reads (in part):

Anthony Orlando Sanchez, who was charged on Feb. 1 by the U.S. District Attorney's office in Riverside, failed to appear at his arraignment Tuesday in federal court in Riverside.

This was Sanchez' third failure to appear.

More here.

Sanchez is the agent of Venture West Capital of Rancho Cucamonga, which has been around since 2007. When the Upland story initially broke in mid 2010, Emerson and Wendy Leung documented what was being sought from Sanchez:

The FBI and IRS investigation that closed City Hall for an entire day Thursday is a far-reaching one that involves not only the mayor but a number of businesses and business owners in the region.

According to an FBI search warrant served to Mayor John Pomierski on Thursday to support the seizure of his cell phone, investigators were seeking records related to a number of businesses and people including Chronic Cantina, JH Builders, Upland Market Place and many others.

The records – including e-mails, text messages and address lists – are described as evidence of violations, including conspiracy, extortion, bribery, fraud, money laundering and racketeering, according to the search warrant....

A team of more than 40 FBI and IRS agents on Thursday seized boxes of evidence at four locations – City Hall, Pomierski’s home, JH Builders and Statewide Bancorp....

Statewide Bancorp, also known as Venture West Capital, is a mortgage company at Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga....

Investigators also seized Pomierski’s cell phone and were specifically looking for any information on businesses Best Value Grocery, Upland Market Place, The Cellar, Chronic Cantina, Gilligan’s, Rockin’ Roadhouse, Venture West Capital, JRC Group, JH Builders, Southern Wine & Spirits and 2nd Avenue Saloon and Sports Bar.

(At the time, some of these businesses were cooperating with the FBI, and I don't think that all of them were accused of wrongdoing. However, I haven't been following this story.)

Investigators are also seeking evidence from Pomierski’s cell phone related to Daniel Hernandez, Hossein Moalej, Anthony Sanchez, Jason Crebs, John Hennes, Christopher Leggio, Thomas Smith, Robert Mills, Scott Schaller, Stephen Wade, Dan Biello and James (Scott) Hendrix....

Sanchez and Smith have both filed an application with the city to open Gilligan’s and Rockin’ Roadhouse.

Later, the precise nature of Sanchez's alleged involvement was clarified:

According to the indictment, [former mayor] Pomierski demanded and received money from the owners of two Upland businesses in exchange for the performance of official acts in connection with city government business and transactions.

The indictment alleges that [municipal board appointee John] Hennes and two others involved in the scheme - Jason Crebs and Anthony Sanchez - communicated Pomierski's extortion demands to the business owners and collected money on behalf of Pomierski.

Hennes and the two other co-conspirators entered into consulting agreements with the business owners to disguise the nature of the payments and to protect Pomierski, according to the indictment.

Additional information is provided in the Department of Justice press release.

Pomierski, Hennes, and Crebs have appeared in court, but as of Monday Sanchez had not.

Sanchez's public LinkedIn profile is here. At the time that I accessed it, Sanchez had 0 connections. I don't know if he had connections before all of the unpleasantness came out.

But all in all, this is quite a black eye for the city with the official motto "City of Gracious Living." A blog for mobile home park residents offered some thoughts when the FBI and IRS began their search:

In past posts I have pointed out that the City of Upland's motto is "The City of Gracious Living" and that to many of the City's residents, this motto appears only to apply to homeless animals and wealthy developers. Well recent news indicates that the City of Upland has had a hard fall from grace and that my feelings about wealthy developers may not be too far off base.

On Empires

Some of you may recall that most of my online interactions used to be under the pseudonym "Ontario Emperor." I selected this online name in about 1998, using the following rationale:

The Inland Empire needs an emperor. The "Inland Emperors" are a band signed to a Seattle label. Hence, I am the Ontario Emperor.

Just think - if I hadn't found that band via a web search all those years ago, I might have proclaimed myself as THE Inland Emperor - the name, of course, taken from the regional name "Inland Empire."

But AliAgins questions whether "the Inland Empire" is truly a single entity:

Riverside is and always has been totally different from San Bernardino. We have never co-mingled much unless Riversiders would go to the Orange show. Riverside is Riverside. Folks in Corona where I live don’t bother to go there very often unless they get a summons from the courthouse to do jury duty. Chino, Ontario,Montclair? They are what they are and I can’t remember the last time I was over that way. And then at the Southern end is Temecula and Murrietta and one goes through there on the 15 to go to San Diego. I’ve been to San Diego more times in oh let’s say five years than I’ve been to San Bernardino in ten. And then there is Palm Springs at the Eastern edge. So completely different from Riverside or San Bernardino or maybe anywhere.

While I'll grant the exception for Palm Springs, I submit that there is more similarity between Temecula and Fontana than there are differences - especially when compared to cities such as Fullerton, Pasadena, and Hawthorne.

The first distinction that I claim for the Inland Empire is that it feels less crowded than places to the west and southwest. You find far fewer fourth floors in Inland Empire buildings than you do elsewhere.

The second distinction is that it is clearly considered well outside of Los Angeles, especially by media outlets. When a radio station announces that it is designed to serve Los Angeles and Orange Counties, the immediate message is that I should tune out and the folks from Lancaster should tune in. And the perception of "the 909" (so, um, "tagged" before the 951 area code split) in local and national media is undeniable.

The third distinction is geographical - and here I again exclude Palm Springs. With mountain ranges on the north, east, and southwest, there is a clear boundary that separates Corona from, say, Yorba Linda. Now some could argue that the Jurupa Hills serve to divide San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, and there is a clear division further east between Moreno Valley and Redlands, but I submit that hills are hills and mountains are mountains. When was the last time that Caltrans closed Sierra Avenue between Fontana and Rubidoux due to snow?

So I'll argue that the Inland Empire is one.

Follow-up on my local cluelessness

Earlier today, I shared a post in which I confessed that I wasn't aware of the investigation into Upland mayor - now former mayor - John Pomierski.

Later in the day on February 22 - presumably below his furlocation - David Allen weighed in on the episode, drawing parallels between Pomierski's departure from office and the departures/possible departures of others.

My theory is that, in a last-ditch effort to cling to power, Pomierski had ordered Upland's air force to bomb San Antonio Heights. But pilots at Cable Airport had refused to carry out his order, since that would have required them to put down their coffee cups at Maniac Mike's Cafe.

Also:

Akin to another past leader of renown, I like to imagine Pomierski flashing a "V" for victory sign and waving farewell from the City Hall lawn as the emergency medical helicopter - the Upland equivalent of Marine One - carried him away.

But Allen did turn serious when discussing the ramifications of Pomierski's resignation.

[H]is departure, while overdue, was the right thing to do. The eight-month investigation by the FBI and IRS had cost Pomierski his legitimacy and his insistence on remaining was distracting everyone.

Except, of course, for yours truly - the clueless one.

Be sure to read the rest of Allen's column here.