Weekly News Roundup: January 27 Edition

Here is all the Yucaipa news for the week of January 21-27. I don't usually include minor crime reports here - only the big stuff. I'm happy to say there isn't much to report.

January 24, San Bernardino Sun, "Bank robber comes clean"
In the summer of 2004 Yucaipan Bryan Kilcrease robbed the Bank of America in Redlands and got away clean. Finally, his conscience got the better of him and, last week, he turned himself in.

"The fact he had held these people at gunpoint, and the fear he had caused them, he said it was eating away at him," said Carl Baker, Redlands police spokesman. "We didn't have leads on it. We weren't hot on his trail or anything. He just couldn't take it any more."

See also: Redlands Police News and Information, Bank robber has change of heart, turns himself in"

City News
January 25, Yucaipa News Mirror, "Yucaipa Council approves plans for a transit center"
Yucaipa City Council approved plans for a transit center between the library and city hall, with an entrance on 5th Street. The projected elimination of parking spaces on the south side of the library will be offset by a new expanded parking area to be built on the north side of the library. The bulk of the two million dollar cost will be borne by Omnitrans, the county of San Bernardino and funds from the Federal Transit Administration and the State of California.
Currently Omnitrans route 8 and route 9 serve Yucaipa.

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January 25, Yucaipa News Mirror, "Yucaipa City Council bargains with Chapman Heights Developer"
The City Council has agreed to considerations including $10,000 to the Crafton Hills Open Space Conservancy from developer Communities Southwest in exchange for the right to build 16 additional homes above Chapman Heights Road and northwest of Cramer road on the southwest corner of what is know as the "Smith property". This area had been consider as the site of a new elementary school in the Yucaipa-Calimesa Unified School district, but was rejected for fear of environmental contamination.

Moreover, Drusys questioned the appropriateness of building even 16 homes on a site that might be contaminated and, more to the point, the subject of lawsuits down the road. Drusys expressed a concern with respect to the city's potential liability should the council approve the current proposal.

In the end, however, Drusys went along with the deal, which will allow the 16 homes in the southwest corner of the Smith property. In exchange, Communities Southwest will dedicate most of the Smith property as open space. The developer will also build a three acre, public park to the northeast of the proposed school site.

The school district plans to build on the southeast corner of the property.

For more information, read the full city council minutes from the January 22 meeting (pdf).

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January 25, Press-Enterprise "Charter school proposal revisited"
A revised charter school petition by Mike Gordon, elementary school assistant principal, was presented to the Yucaipa-Calimesa Unified School District board on January 16.

Gordon popped back up at the board's meeting Jan. 16, announcing a revised proposal, legal counsel, a business management firm, a $405,000 grant and a handshake agreement for a lease at the Bryant Street Baptist Church, where the school would be located.

Gordon's proposed charter school, based on leadership principles, would serve about 115 kindergarten through sixth-grade students on a $500,000 budget. Its compressed schedule would get students out shortly after 1 p.m. with the same number of instructional minutes.

There will be a public hearing on February 20.

Locals in the News

January 22, Press-Enterprise, "Grace, In and Out"
This is a profile of Yucaipan Pearl Wardlow, owner and artistic directer of Dance Spectrum in Beaumont.

In October 1999, Wardlow and her husband, Chad, transformed an old bar on Beaumont Avenue into Dance Spectrum. They scrubbed the walls and built a barre, a rail used for stretching. She hired three teachers and began teaching six days a week, working to meet the needs at Beaumont's first dance studio of a growing number of clients interested in dance.

January 25, Los Angeles Times, "Woman in California conservator case that lead to legal reform dies"
This is the obituary for Helen Jones, age 88, a Yucaipa widow who was tricked into signing a conservatorship agreement with the for-profit Conservatorship and Resources for the Elderly Inc. (CARE). Her fight to regain legal control of her finances spurred legal reform.

The result was the most comprehensive changes to the state's conservatorship system in three decades. Earlier this month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger included more than $17 million in his proposed budget for the courts to increase their oversight.

January 25, Yucaipa News Mirror, "Trevor Hoyt ranks first in the nation in breaststroke"
After winning the preliminary race of the 200 yard breast stroke and the 2007 Toyota Southern California Grand Prix of swimming in Long Beach, 15-year-old Yucaipa Swim Team member Trevor Hoyt ranks first in the US. As USA Swimming put it:

Fifteen-year-old Trevor Hoyt, a relative unknown on the international swimming scene, qualified first after this morning’s prelims of the men’s 200y breast. He better get his motor running, because some pretty big dogs will be nipping at his heels in tonight’s finals, including Michael Phelps, who qualified as the second seed, and American record-holder Brendan Hansen, who qualified as the seventh seed.

Unfortunately, Hoyt's competitors put on the heat in the final, and Trevor finished in 8th place (the winner was Hansen, with Phelps in second, and Giordan Pogioli in third, all of who swam faster than Hoyt's qualifying time). Hoyt is currently ranked 9th in the U.S. in the 200 yard breaststroke and 1st for swimmers 16 and younger. If Hoyt keeps up the hard work he may qualify for the 2008 Olympic trials. Also representing Yucaipa Swim Team at the meet were Kristen Bowen, Karl Krug and Mike Perry.

A local blog with Yucaipa photo (and quilting pictures): Occasional Piece

Tags: Yucaipa, news