One of the world premieres in the concert is “Al Pie de la Monta帽a” (“At the Feet of the Mountain”), a piece by Fernando Arroyo, the orchestra’s first composer in residence, who was commissioned to write the symphonic poem centered around San Bernardino and its history.

“It鈥檚 a retrospective of the city going through its early indigenous roots, the mission and pioneers of the region, the 1920s and old Hollywood, the boom of the Black and Latino communities, the struggle and a hopeful future with the idea of the mountain range and the desert as two spirits watching over the town,” Anthony Parnther, the orchestra’s music director and conductor, said in a news release.

Arroyo received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in composition from the Manhattan School of Music and a doctorate in composition from UCLA where he worked with composers Bruce Broughton, Paul Chihara, Ian Krouse and David S. Lefkowitz.

His music has been performed throughout the world and ranges from solo instrumental works, chamber music and large symphonic works to film, theater and popular music. His film music includes work on “Independence Day: Resurgence,”聽 “Pet Fooled,” “Survivors” and “Midway,” according to the news release.

The second premiere on the program is the “Morgante” violin concerto by Argentinian composer Andres Martin, dedicated to African American conductor Michael Morgan. Venezuelan violinist Samuel Vargas will be the soloist.

Vargas, who has performed on tours in 40 countries, has won awards including first prize in the 2021 Sphinx Competition and grand prize in the 2019 Jefferson Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. He has founded eight Venezuelan chamber orchestras and mentors young musicians in the United States and South America, according to the news release.

The program also includes the first movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 and “Danz贸n No. 2” by Mexican composer Arturo M谩rquez.

M谩rquez, who was born in Mexico, spent his middle school and high school years in Southern California, where he began his musical training. After he returned to Mexico, he studied at the Conservatory of Music and the Institute of Fine Arts, then studied in Paris and at the California Institute of the Arts.

Raphaela Lacerda, who is in her second year as associate conductor of the San Bernardino Symphony, will conduct M谩rquez’s “Danz贸n No. 2.”

Tickets for the May 25 concert are $20-$100, available at or by calling 909-381-5388. Tickets for students and active military are $15.

The cemetery was founded in 1857 and is home to people such as William A. Kirk, who died “May 9, 1888, aged 39 years, 1 mo. & 11 days,” says the inscription on a pillar that supports the torso of a headless woman. Some bodies are buried below grave markers measuring about 3 feet by 2 feet.

And then there are even smaller markers, measuring about 10 inches by 8 inches, that lay atop vaults containing the ashes of people such as the Medranos’ father, John Medrano, a longtime Santa Fe Railway worker who died from cancer in 1993 at age 43.

The sisters are calling on the city, which operates the grounds next to Seccombe Lake Park, to improve security after their father’s rest was upended by vandals who on Saturday, May 11, not only stole his grave marker but also pulled his ashes out of their container and dumped them onto the grass. Two other graves were similarly disturbed.

The crime was discovered by Margaret’s aunt when she arrived that morning to leave flowers for her mother. Margaret headed to the cemetery when others in the family alerted her. Margaret then flagged down security guards when they arrived to lock up around 7:20 p.m.

At some point, said Jeff Kraus, a city spokesman, vandals used a crowbar to break a lock on the gate and pry open the graves.

“Somebody should have been there to make sure this didn’t happen,” said Margaret Medrano, 53.

Making the situation worse, she said, was that while she was able to file a police report that day, the Police Department told her that no one from the city would be available to help until Monday. There were no signs listing contact information for someone who could be reached on a weekend.

“When something tragic happens, you always hope you’d have an immediate response,” Margaret Medrano said.

She wished that someone from the city could have scooped up her father’s ashes and placed them in a container, or at least section off the area until the ashes could be properly handled.

“He died an awful death, and he didn’t deserve to be scattered and left in the cemetery for two days,” Medrano said.

“Will somebody step on him on Mother’s Day?” wondered Andy Medrano, 50.

The city is attempting to make things right, Kraus said.

Employees have met with the family, recovered the ashes and put them in a new container, Kraus said. A new vault will be installed and sealed, and the grave marker will be replaced.

“They’ll have a reburial ceremony with the family when they are available,” Kraus said.

And the city plans to post signs with after-hours contact information.

“Anything we can do to make what they’ve had to endure (better). We want to be as respectful and as accommodating as we can,” Kraus said earlier this week.

But Margaret Medrano said Thursday that the family has decided it won’t be enough. His burial site is mere feet off 7th Street and across a nearby fence from a large homeless encampment that sprung up in a weed-filled vacant lot.

“I went down there today and left,” she said. “There were four homeless cars with people there and some of them were very shady, going back and forth to the fence to do who knows what. We’re thinking this is very unsafe, and so we decided not to take our dad back over there and bury him. So we did pick his ashes up from the city. He will not be going back to Pioneer.”

Sebastian Bailey Villase帽or, 18, faces five counts of attempted murder. Prosecutors said he posed for selfies with his father’s rifles at their Eastvale home, watched videos about school shootings and obsessively researched the topic right down to which bullets could pierce armored vests and how long it would take police to respond. He was arrested and charged in February.

Villase帽or told detectives, they testified, how he would do it theoretically. Prosecutors have never alleged that Villase帽or fired a shot or pointed a gun at anyone.

Villase帽or’s family and school officials , which defense attorney Daniel DeLimon suggested could have influenced his behavior, but there has been no formal diagnosis.

This month, District Attorney Jason Anderson told the Southern California 色情论坛 Group that he was seeking a resolution to the case that included probation and mental-health treatment for Villase帽or but did not include immediate jail time.

But DeLimon said in an interview Wednesday that when the DA’s Office proposed a resolution, he found the terms unacceptable.

“The ‘no jail time’ offer included an offer to plead to another crime he didn鈥檛 commit: assault (with) a firearm and a gun enhancement for personally using a firearm during the commission of the crime,” DeLimon said. “In order to be guilty of such an offense, someone has to point a loaded gun or rifle at a person, and (the crime) carries a potential term of incarceration of 19 years in state prison if he violated any condition of probation.”

DeLimon said Villase帽or was 17 when he posed with the rifles in December. Villase帽or is being tried as an adult.

“There鈥檚 no evidence that Sebastian even possessed a gun or rifle after the age of 18, so I was somewhat surprised by the offer,” DeLimon said.

The District Attorney’s Office did not respond to a request to verify and discuss the plea offer.

Villase帽or has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

DeLimon argued that the law on attempted murder requires not just preparation and planning, but a direct step to carry out a plot, and that the charges should be dismissed.

But Deputy District Attorney Debbie Ploghaus successfully argued to a judge that the 4,500 related searches, downloads or texts found on Villase帽or’s electronic devices amounted to the direct step required by law to hold him for trial.

Villase帽or has been in custody since his arrest. He has a bail amount of $1 million.

It was a remarkable, if low-key, moment. Whitehorn was among those who had turned in a card to speak during the public comment period.

I was in the audience. When her name was called, I wondered why the finance director was speaking. It quickly became clear why.

鈥淚 am no longer in the employ of the city of San Bernardino,鈥� , explaining that earlier that day, City Manager Charles Montoya had 鈥渢hreatened鈥� her and then terminated her without cause.

鈥淪o I was fired today as your finance director,鈥� Whitehorn said.

Now she was speaking 鈥渁s a whistleblower,鈥� she said, to make sure the council and the public had the correct information about the City Hall renovation. Those potential expenses, she said, were not included in the proposed budget that was on that night鈥檚 agenda for discussion.

Renovation 鈥渉as expanded from approximately $80 million to about $120 million,鈥� Whitehorn said. Gasps from the audience were audible.

Whitehorn said that for debt service on the bonds, equivalent to a homeowner鈥檚 mortgage payments, 鈥�$10 million will be needed annually, at a minimum鈥or the next 30 years.鈥�

She added: 鈥淭he city does not have that money.鈥�

If anyone would know, it would probably be the (ex-)finance director.

As she wrapped up, Whitehorn said: 鈥淚 come to you because I care about this city 鈥� more than I care about my job, more than I care about anything else today.鈥�

Immediately after Whitehorn left the lectern, City Attorney Sonia Carvalho announced:聽鈥淲e would decline to comment on personnel matters.鈥�

From her seat, Treasure Ortiz, a city critic and council candidate, shouted: 鈥淵ou are representing a false budget!鈥� She was admonished by Mayor Helen Tran.

The council that night was set to consider the first step in the City Hall renovation, which was to create a legal entity for bond-financing purposes. That was punted at the May 1 meeting and punted again Wednesday. It may return June 5.

In the lobby, Whitehorn and I had a long talk.

We were interrupted now and then by well-wishers, some of them former colleagues, who offered a hug or words of encouragement.

One councilmember heading toward the restrooms stopped, gave her shoulder a squeeze and said: 鈥淲e鈥檒l talk later.鈥�

Whitehorn has 20 years in public service. She arrived here in February 2021 from Asheville, North Carolina, where she was the city鈥檚 finance chief and had been involved in bond financing.

Why come to San Bernardino, a city that had recently emerged from Chapter Nine? 鈥淚 was looking for another challenge,鈥� Whitehorn told me. 鈥淲hat could be a bigger challenge than bankruptcy?鈥�

She lives in the city and has loved working here.

鈥淚t feels like a community that wants so much for this city to succeed,鈥� Whitehorn said. Even small steps, like when a street is repaved or a park is improved, she said, is greeted as a win.

About the City Hall project, she said the Finance Department was left out of discussions about the financing. She said she was startled to learn that a seven-year process was being compressed into 18 months, which would inflate the borrowing costs.

She said she presented her views in a memo on May 1 before leaving for vacation. When she returned to work on Wednesday morning, Montoya confronted her.

In Whitehorn鈥檚 telling, Montoya said she should resign, and if she didn鈥檛, he would release unspecified 鈥渃areer-ending鈥� information about her. She challenged him to go ahead. Montoya instead fired her without cause.

鈥淚 think he was trying to avoid paying me severance,鈥� Whitehorn said.

She said she notified the City Council and Carvalho by letter that afternoon of her concerns. At least one councilmember, and several people in the community, 鈥渆ncouraged me to speak tonight,鈥� she said.

Her concern is that the debt might overwhelm the city. She envisioned a scenario in which the City Hall renovation would be halted midway through due to lack of money to continue and 鈥渨e would look stupid again,鈥� she said.

I like Whitehorn and she seems utterly sincere. But is she correct? Or is she jumping the gun, or operating off only partial information? That all remains to be seen.

Also, was stepping forward helpful or harmful?聽鈥淭his is a city with a bad reputation,鈥� one official griped to me in confidence, 鈥渁nd this doesn鈥檛 help.鈥�

Before the budget presentation, Carvalho made further public comments to offer context.

Whitehorn is not a whistleblower because she is not reporting an illegal act, Carvalho said.

Rather, Whitehorn is saying she had informed the capital projects team 鈥渢hat the City Hall project is not financially sustainable,鈥� said Carvalho, who added:聽鈥淭here are no cost estimates or documents with a figure of $120 million.鈥�

She encouraged council members to ask questions about the financing and whether the proposal is in the best interests of the city.

They didn鈥檛 have a chance that night because the City Hall item was postponed.

The budget presentation itself was positive, showing a surplus and reserves of 25%. Councilmembers鈥� reaction, though, was muted.

Juan Figueroa said: 鈥淚 went from having questions to having concerns, especially given the events of today. I鈥檓 at a loss for words here at this point.鈥�

Kimberly Calvin said she was reluctant to proceed too, 鈥渋n light of what鈥檚 been mentioned to us.鈥�

After the meeting, I buttonholed Montoya. What was his reaction to Whitehorn鈥檚 financial concerns?

鈥淚 would say this,鈥� Montoya replied. 鈥淭he concerns that were stated are false. And wrong.鈥�

When will we know the numbers?

鈥淲e鈥檒l bring something back on June 5,鈥� Montoya promised.

On June 5, for what it鈥檚 worth, I will be landing in St. Louis to see my folks. Ah, well. I can鈥檛 organize my life around San Bernardino council meetings 鈥� tempting as that is.

David Allen organizes his life around Friday, Sunday and Wednesday. Email dallen@scng.com, phone 909-483-9339, like davidallencolumnist on Facebook and follow @davidallen909 on Twitter.

On April 22, San Bernardino Police officers responded to a shooting in the 2800 block of Rialto Avenue in San Bernardino.

A man was found on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds and died, police said on social media on May 9.

The victim of the shooting was identified as Gabriel Paez, 33, of Rialto, according to Capt. Nelson Carrington, a spokesman for the San Bernardino Police Department.

After investigating, detectives identified the suspect as Danny Quezada, 34, of Colton, Carrington said on Wednesday, May 15.

Quezada was arrested on May 1 at 2898 W. Rialto Avenue in San Bernardino on suspicion of murder, according to the San Bernardino County jail log. He was being held on $1 million bail at the Central Detention Center, arrest records show.

Police found a firearm that matched bullet casings recovered at the scene of the shooting, Carrington said.

Carrington said the motive for the shooting is still under investigation.

On May 3, Quezada pleaded not guilty to a felony count of murder, one charge of discharging a firearm, one charge of discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury and one charge of using a firearm, court records show.

Anyone with additional information regarding the shooting can contact the San Bernardino Police Department at 909-384-5742.

To residents of the region, it鈥檚 a place of affordable housing yet interminable traffic, sweeping vistas shrouded by , and huge employers alongside family-owned businesses.

More than 4.7 million people 鈥� 12% of California鈥檚 population 鈥� live in its 27,000 square miles and more are moving in, including a growing Latino population. Though the Inland Empire is a major for the state, its workers Its homes cost about half the price of those in coastal counties, and there are fewer college graduates than in most metro areas in California.

Lower education levels mean 鈥渨e have been unable to attract higher-tech, higher pay, higher quality industry to the region,鈥� said state Sen. Richard Roth, a Democrat from Riverside. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 beginning to change, and it needs to change. The Inland Empire is going to have to move out of the warehouse era and move into the high-tech industry era.鈥�

Tom谩s Morales 鈥� president of Cal State San Bernardino

Inland Empire鈥檚 massive warehouses increasingly are and expanding beyond distributing goods to manufacturing them. Tom谩s Morales, Cal State University Bernardino鈥檚 president, says demand for an educated workforce is increasing 鈥斅� but the transition could displace some workers while shifting the job market from lower-wage positions to skilled trades and high-tech jobs.

One obstacle is the region鈥檚 low educational achievement level: 20% of Inland Empire residents hold a bachelor鈥檚 degree or higher, Morales said, while and averages are about 37%.

鈥淐learly that鈥檚 a big challenge for the industry and a big challenge for the community: how do we prepare an educated workforce to provide leadership in the area,鈥� Morales said.

With 88% of its coming from Riverside or San Bernardino Counties, Cal State San Bernardino is training a home-grown workforce for local industries, with undergraduate and graduate programs in cybersecurity, entrepreneurship and supply chain management.

The effort to educate new professionals took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, Morales said. The university鈥檚 four-year graduation rate of 25% and six-year rate of 55% are down from its of 31% and 62%, respectively, in 2020.

Faculty and administrators hope to improve graduation rates while focusing on the region鈥檚 workforce needs.

鈥淲e鈥檙e graduating students in computer science, prepared to work in the robotics space in distribution centers,鈥� Morales said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e producing managers to support logistics and supply chain management throughout the Inland Empire.鈥�

Michael Burrows 鈥� CEO of San Bernardino International Airport

San Bernardino International Airport emerged from the site of , which operated a military logistics depot for half a century. When the base closed in 1994, it took more than 10,000 jobs with it.

It took decades to bring those jobs back, CEO Michael Burrows said.

The year after the base closure, the airport began leasing vacant space to various businesses: a paper company, an aerospace firm, an RV manufacturer. Then it added charter flights and aircraft maintenance.

鈥淚n many cases we鈥檝e seen our aircraft mechanics graduate up to other careers in aviation, to become pilots and air traffic controllers,鈥� Burrows said.

The pace picked up with the launch of commercial air cargo, starting with UPS in 2017, FedEx in 2018, and then Amazon Air鈥檚 Southern California hub in 2021.

鈥淭ransportation logistics are literally in our DNA,鈥� Burrows said.

The former air force base came with 500 acres of open land, so airport officials teamed up with developers to build 16 million square feet of industrial and office space 鈥� the equivalent of about 277 football fields 鈥斅� to host clients ranging from Stater Bros. grocery markets to Fender Guitar manufacturing.

By 2022 the airport and business park reported , more than the jobs lost from the base closure.

Behind the executive jet terminal, cargo planes offload freight into hangars, connecting global markets to U.S. consumers. Everything from satellite components and drones, to medical devices and transplant organs, crosses the tarmac.

鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of like a freeway,鈥� Burrows said. 鈥淵ou want it to always be open.鈥�

One airport tenant is entirely devoted to painting planes, with a hangar equipped as a massive paint stall. It takes about eight weeks to complete an aeronautical paint job, Burrows said.

The logistics and distribution industry has generated plenty of press for the it generates. So the airport鈥檚 goal has been to go greener, Burrows said, with electric vehicles deployed in 2010 and plans for an on-site hydrogen fuel station, to produce the fuel for vehicles and ground support.

In 2022 the airport reached another milestone with the introduction of commercial flights.

鈥淭hat has been our North Star,鈥� Burrows said.

Breeze Airways, founded by the creator of Jet Blue, offers a quirky selection of flights from San Bernardino to San Francisco, Utah, Arizona and Connecticut under the motto 鈥溾��

Bansree Parikh 鈥� president of Bank of America Inland Empire

The Inland Empire is known for its commerce and for . Bansree Parikh aims to turn that around and position the region as a worldwide leader in 鈥渟ustainable logistics.鈥�

鈥淭hat means electrification, hydrogen, technology, robotics,鈥� Parikh said from her Ontario office.

The plan is to generate advanced manufacturing jobs in partnership with educational institutions.

鈥淓conomic development, quality of life, environmental protection; I don鈥檛 think they鈥檙e mutually exclusive at all,鈥� Parikh said. 鈥淚 think they鈥檙e complimentary.鈥�

Various parts of the region have their own characteristics and business opportunities, she said.

For the Coachella Valley it鈥檚 hospitality, tourism and entertainment, with boutique hotels, restaurants and golf courses. The draws hundreds of thousands of music fans each year. And Disney is to resort housing, with its master-planned 鈥淪toryliving鈥� development in Rancho Mirage.

In Temecula and Murrieta, manufacturing, bioscience, construction and business parks drive the economy, she said, along with agri-tourism at the area鈥檚 bucolic wineries.

The High Desert runs on logistics and distribution, healthcare and commercial and residential real estate. That鈥檚 expected to get a boost with the project from Southern California to Las Vegas, which broke ground April 22.

Parikh says the objective for each region is to generate enough local jobs to support the families who live there. Shorter commutes would also mean less traffic and pollution.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a quality of life game changer when you can live and work in the Inland Empire,鈥� she said.

Juan Carlos Belliard 鈥� assistant VP for Community Partnerships at Loma Linda University Health

With more than 17,000 employees, is one of the biggest employers in the region and a highly ranked medical center.

It encompasses a university with eight healthcare schools and six hospitals, making it both an employment hub and a workforce pipeline, said Juan Carlos Belliard, Loma Linda health鈥檚 assistant vice president.

鈥淲hat I would say our region needs more of is that linkage between education and workforce,鈥� he said.

To support that, Loma Linda pairs with local school districts to offer summer mentorships for high school students.

鈥淭hat is getting the students to envision what it takes to become a physician or a public health professional or a nurse,鈥� Belliard said.

Loma Linda also employs , called promotores, who survey community needs and connect residents with services for disease prevention and treatment.

Belliard views Loma Linda鈥檚 array of services and training programs as a microcosm of the region鈥檚 entrepreneurial character.

鈥淭he focus from the outside is on the negative, what hasn鈥檛 worked here, or what used to be, and it鈥檚 too bad we don鈥檛 have what we had before,鈥� Belliard said. 鈥淚 really see the opposite of that deficit model, and see people who move here for opportunity.鈥�

鈥淭he signals aren鈥檛 controlled by traffic flow sensors embedded in the street like most intersections. Instead, the signals change by the use of a timer in all directions as well as the left turn lanes. Even if a vehicle is not in a left turn lane the signal goes through a green light cycle and waiting traffic in other directions has to wait for it to cycle in their direction,鈥� he said.

Van Buren believes traffic flow through this intersection would move faster if it was based on the number of vehicles traveling in the various directions instead of waiting for the signal to cycle by use of a timer. He asked why this intersection is controlled this way and if it could be changed.

A: Jeff Kraus, spokesperson for the city of San Bernardino, said Van Buren is correct about the way this intersection is controlled. It operates on a 90-second cycle in the morning, midday and evening peak hours, Monday through Friday.

鈥淥ne of the principal reasons for this is to maintain flow not just at this intersection, but also at additional intersections to the east and west of Victoria on Highland,鈥� Kraus said. 鈥淚f we were to significantly modify the timing at that intersection, it would disrupt flow at multiple intersections, potentially creating additional neighborhood cut through issues.鈥�

Kraus said the city is looking into an alternative to the status quo. 鈥淲e will engage with Yaamava鈥� to coordinate days of the week, times, as well as special event and concert schedules in which resort attendance spikes,鈥� Kraus said, adding that this information is already shared between the casino鈥檚 Public Safety team and San Bernardino police. 鈥淲ith this information, we may be able to adjust the Highland/Victoria cycle length at times in which heavy volumes are either arriving or leaving Yaamava鈥�. Kraus said to stay tuned for more information on this issue.

Q: Mark Hansen of Riverside said he frequently uses on the 91 Freeway and noticed a message on the message board that the HOV3+ lane restriction is being enforced. He also noticed a camera at the toll booth pointed at the cars. He asked what the fine is for this violation and how it鈥檚 enforced.

A: The 91 Express Lanes are owned and operated by the Orange County Transportation Authority and the Riverside County Transportation Commission. The message sign regarding enforcement is for the California Highway Patrol, which visibly enforces the HOV rule and tickets violators, said RCTC spokesperson Ariel Alcon Tapia. A citation for using the HOV3+ lane without the required number of occupants is about $234, Alcon Tapia said.

The camera our reader saw was from a pilot program the RCTC ran from May to July 2023 for automated occupancy detection to help with enforcement of the HOV3+ occupancy requirements, Alcon Tapia said. The pilot program鈥檚 results will be evaluated and the RCTC will decide whether to permanently implement the program in the future. He said violations caught by camera were 鈥渕inimal.鈥� Exact numbers were not available.

DMV delays Murrieta office’s opening

Finally, you know that that was supposed to open Thursday, May 16?

Well, the opening was delayed and no new date has been set, the DMV says. The office at 27890 Clinton Keith Road, Suite F, will offer limited DMV services including original and replacement ID cards, driver鈥檚 license replacements with changes (address/name), driver鈥檚 license knowledge (written exam) retests, commercial driver鈥檚 license medical updates/submissions, duplicate vehicle titles, commercial motor vehicle partial year registration and applying for a disabled person parking placard.

Do you commute to work in the Inland Empire? Spend a lot of time in your vehicle? Have questions about driving, freeways, toll roads or parking? If so, write or call On the Road and we鈥檒l try to answer your questions. Please include your question or issue, name, city of residence, phone number and email address. Write ontheroad@scng.com or call us at our new phone number, 951-368-9995.

The notice was made in the minutes of a hearing in Superior Court in Victorville on Thursday, May 9.

Jose Manuel Burgos Parra, 26, of Adelanto, and Jose Nicolas Hernandez-Sarabia, 33, of Adelanto, face the death penalty if convicted as charged.

The minutes said the district attorney will pursue life in prison without parole for Toniel Baez-Duarte, 34, and Mateo Baez-Duarte, 24, of Apple Valley, and Jose Gregorio Hernandez-Sarabia, 34, of Adelanto, if convicted as charged.

The men have pleaded not guilty to all of their charges.

The DA鈥檚 Office on Friday, May 10, would not explain what prompted it to seek capital punishment for the two men聽and not the others.

鈥淎t this time, based on the evidence obtained, we believe we are seeking the appropriate punishments,鈥� said Jacquelyn Rodriguez, a DA鈥檚 spokeswoman.

Both Burgos Parra and Nicolas Hernandez-Sarabia, who face death, have been charged with six counts of murder, each with three sentencing enhancements for firearms violations, and six counts of second-degree robbery, each with three enhancements for firearms violations.

But Mateo Baez-Duarte and Gregorio Hernandez-Sarabia have been charged with the same counts and face life without parole if convicted as charged.

Toniel Baez-Duarte has been charged with six counts of murder and six counts of second-degree robbery with no enhancements. The DA is seeking life without parole for him.

On Jan. 23, a 911 call from a man who said he had been shot drew law enforcement to a dusty area known as El Mirage about 4 miles west of Highway 395 near Shadow Mountain Road. Deputies immediately found five victims. The sixth, the 911 caller, was found the next day nearby.

All six suffered fatal gunshots, while four were also set ablaze by their attackers, the Sheriff鈥檚 Department said.

The victims were identified as 聽Baldemar Mondragon-Albarran, 34, of Adelanto; Franklin Noel Bonilla, 22, and Kevin Dariel Bonilla, 25, of Hesperia; Narcisco Sandoval, 47, of San Rafael; Jose Ruelas-Calderon, 45, of El Mirage; and Adrian Ochoa-Salgado, 34, of Llano.

The next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 9.

The jury’s decision on Jerome Anthony Rogers, 68, was revealed in a quiet San Bernardino Justice Center courtroom after a two-month trial during which he was convicted. Rogers had pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Judge J. David Mazurek can accept the jury’s recommendation or impose life without parole. Sentencing was set for July 19.

Rogers was a neighborhood handyman accused of strangling Wanda Lee Paulin, 86, on Dec. 12, 2010, on North Mountain View Avenue, and Mary Beth Blaskey, 76, at her Fremontia Drive home on Nov. 14, 2012.

Neither Rogers nor any of the family members of Paulin and Blaskey reacted noticeably when the clerk read the sentencing recommendations. San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson sat among the victims’ family members.

Anderson declined to comment on the case.

“It’s their time,” Anderson said, pointing to the family members in the hallway after the courtroom emptied.

Among them was Paulin’s 72-year-old daughter, Joanne Ballard of San Bernardino.

“I am very pleased with the jury that they decided he was guilty,” she said. “And I feel that the most atrocious, heinous crimes committed against elderly women deserve the harshest punishment that our system allows.”

She said she was thankful for the prosecutors, the court staff and the San Bernardino police detectives.

Some family members of the victims hugged prosecutors after the recommendations were announced.

Paulin had been the bookkeeper at First Presbyterian Church in San Bernardino 鈥� which Blaskey attended 鈥� for 27 years, Ballard said. Blaskey knew Paulin, said a Blaskey relative who attended the jury’s ruling.

“The most important things to my mother were her family, my father and us, and her church and her church family,” Ballard said.

Blaskey was a retired clerk and secretary for the San Bernardino City Unified School District. She worked for the district from 1994 to 2006. Blaskey continued to work as a clerical substitute at San Gorgonio High and other schools until about two weeks before her death.

Many educators knew her as a woman whose response to any task was, 鈥淣o problem.鈥�

After less than one day of deliberations on April 23, Rogers was convicted of two counts of murder, and one count of sexual penetration by force. The jury found true three special-circumstances allegations that made Rogers eligible for the death penalty: committing a robbery during a murder, being convicted of multiple murders, and inflicting torture during a murder.

The jurors’ decision on the penalty also took about one day.

Rogers was charged in 2013 in the death and sexual assault of Blaskey. Her home had been ransacked, and her 2001 Lexus was missing. Some other items believed to have been taken from her home were found in a residence where Rogers was sleeping, authorities said.

Rogers was linked to the crime by DNA evidence.

While Rogers was in jail, he mentioned he knew Paulin to investigators and that she had been killed. Paulin鈥檚 home had been ransacked, and rings were taken from her fingers. Tipsters would report seeing Rogers with items in December 2012, about the time of the second murder, that they felt were out of place for him.

He was also tied to Paulin鈥檚 slaying through DNA evidence, police said. A second case was filed in January 2015 that incorporated the previous charges tied to the Blaskey homicide.

Rogers’ attorney, Daniel J. Mangan, a court-appointed lawyer, questioned the DNA evidence in an interview on Friday. When Rogers was arrested, , including Rogers.

“Some of the items (in the homes) were not tested,” Mangan said. “We don’t know whose DNA was on them. We feel there were more people involved that were never arrested or charged.”

In 2019, Gov. Gavin 色情论坛om imposed a moratorium on executing prisoners in the state. No one has been put to death in California since 2006. As of May 6, , according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Author, professor, and trailblazing activist bell hooks once said: 鈥淭o build community requires vigilant awareness鈥� rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of community.鈥�

That wisdom serves as a springboard for the Coalition for Innovative Restorative Justice Practices initial gathering. The event will be at 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, June 14 at La Quinta Resort. A pre-event gathering will also take place at noon, Thursday, June 13.

鈥淲e want to build community,鈥� said Dr. April Clay, whose San Bernardino-based Clay Counseling Foundation offers numerous services. 鈥淲e want restorative practitioners to meet one another at this event. There are schools doing or beginning to do restorative work. We want them to meet those who have been doing this work for some time.鈥�

鈥淲e really want to get into the space of having intersecting conversations, which allows folks not normally in conversation with each other to start dialoguing and having discourse around what restorative practices should look like,鈥� she said.

This work runs from the classroom to the boardroom to the playground, the ripple effects can be significant, Clay said, affecting safety officers and policy makers, who can learn from various practitioners in a safe space.

鈥淲e really want this to be a systemic change, including the judicial system,鈥� Clay said. The idea for the event came several years ago when the Clay Counseling Foundation began using restorative practices with families, teaching them how to use restorative questioning with children.

鈥淚t was designed to help kids be more reflective of their own behavior,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd see the need for change, and the consequences are a natural part of their own decision making. We also started working with schools.鈥�

One thing they’ve eyed: the classroom to prison pipeline.

鈥淲e do see the number of kids being exited from our K-12 system parallel with the number of kids entering into the juvenile justice system,鈥� Clay said. 鈥淲e want to reduce that number. So, if you get into a fight or an altercation with your teacher, you flip over a desk, you get a consequent behavior, but we keep you in the school.鈥�

Basically, a student would not automatically be pushed out.

鈥淥bviously you want to uphold the rules, but we need to be able to allow kids to participate in the consequences and that’s a big area of restorative work,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ftentimes, we hear a lot of our schools saying they have restorative practices, but at the end of the day, we’re still pushing kids out of the schools. We want to give kids a chance to redeem themselves. We want to give them opportunity to repair the harm that they’ve created, and see them make changes.鈥�

The Coalition for Innovative Restorative Justice Practices initial convening features a variety of gatherings/workshops to further illuminate right action, from building community and restorative justice practices and the law to other themes that touch on equity and inclusion and harm reduction.

A 鈥渓earn by doing鈥� component of the event goes further, featuring the value of tai chi, yoga, listening circles, guided meditation, and nature walks.

An introduction to restorative practices certification is also offered.

Recently, became one of the event sponsors.

鈥淪ponsorship’s been a huge benefit because they are allowing us to reduce the cost of the event,鈥� Clay said. 鈥淚f you were to look at this as an investment in our youth, it allows us to help encourage folks to come to the table with fewer barriers because cost does become a barrier.鈥�

鈥淏ecause we’re doing it in the Coachella Valley,鈥� she said, 鈥渢hese valuable sponsors have connected us to other organizations” we may not have known about, “that has been an added blessing.鈥�

To register, visit the : https://form.jotform.com/240264823642151. General registration is $169 and $199 at the door.

Learn more at .

Inland Empire Community Foundation works to strengthen Inland Southern California through philanthropy.