Around Yucaipa: Weekly News Roundup: June 2 Edition

Not too much news this week. That's probably a good thing . . .

City News

In January, Valley Breeze Mobilehome Park won their litigation against the city to allow rent increases under the Yucaipa rent control ordinances. The city is appealing the decision, and Len Tyler, chairman of the Yucaipa Mobilehome Residents Association told members at their most recent meeting that the YMRA will be filing an amicus brief on behalf of the Mobilehome owners. He was quoted in the News Mirror:

“While the residents are not directly involved in this court case, their interests are at stake,” Tyler stated.

“We must build up our legal fund if we want to continue looking out for the interests of the residents.”

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The U.S. Forest Service is beefing up its staff in anticipation of a bad wildfire season this year, the San Bernardino County Sun reports. There is some concern that the Sheriff's deputy assigned to the mountain community of Forest Falls, Shannon Kovich, hasn't been around much. Kovich would be in charge of getting the community to evacuate in the case of wildfire.

Capt. Bart Gray of the sheriff's Yucaipa station, which has jurisdiction over Forest Falls, said Kovich remains the resident deputy there and of the lower mountain communities of Angelus Oaks, Mountain Home Village and Barton Flats, but in the past couple of months has been assigned to patrol primarily in Yucaipa.
Kovich is on vacation now, and other deputies are assigned to patrol those communities. But they also must patrol the surrounding cities of Yucaipa, Oak Glen and Mentone. It's a territory spanning 225 square miles, Gray said.
Yet response times should not be a concern for residents. The average response time for deputies from Yucaipa to Forest Falls is about six minutes, sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Beavers said.

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According to the San Bernardino County Sun, the Yucaipa City Council has put into place a 45 day renewable ban on medical marijuana dispensaries. No one has actually applied to set up such a dispensary.

Riddell said Yucaipa's moratorium is needed because cities are stuck with having to craft a medical cannabis policy while in the middle of a serious conflict between state and federal law.
Yucaipa officials want to wait until Sacramento and Washington "get their act together" and resolve the conflict before the city adopts a permanent policy, Riddell said.
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According to the News Mirror, our man in Sacramento, State Assemblyman Paul Cook, has sponsored several bills that are up for vote:

AB456 : "enable the Contractor's Licensing Board to dispense funds from the Construction Management Education Account continuously during the year without direct oversight by the legislature," rather than annually.
AB1069: "add mobile homes to the list of vehicles covered by the Abandoned Vehicle Abatement Program"
AB1661: allow young men to register for selective service at the DMV, in addition to the post office.
AB1662: "enable servicemen who are California residents stationed outside California to prioritize an absenteee ballot in case there is a subsequent, run-off election."

News Bits:

The News Mirror asks "Where's Chili's?" The construction of a Chili's restaurant near the intersection of Yucaipa Blvd. and 7th Street was approved last year, and they've even applied for a liquor license. No construction, yet though. The word is that it will begin "this summer."
The Orange County Register reports that the Fullerton School District welcomed former Yucaipa-Calimesa School District Superintendent Mitch Hovey with a reception.
The story of "landlocked" Mesa View Middle School was picked up by the San Jose Mercury News.