From sewage to snow: A look at 2008 in Barstow

Barstow saw a mixed year in 2008. Along with the rest of the nation, it suffered from a flagging economy, record-high fuel prices in the summer and a slumping housing market that put planned developments like SunCal Company’s planned 25,000-unit development on hold. Other projects were stalled for reasons unrelated to the economy. Plans to build a casino were put on hold after the federal government denied requests by three Indian tribes to plan for off-reservation casinos in Barstow. A planned Wal-Mart distribution center was unable to begin construction due to a lawsuit by an advocacy group.

In other respects, the city moved forward, hiring a new city manager and going ahead with plans to update the city’s wastewater treatment plant. The November elections brought new faces to the City Council and the mayor’s office.

And Barstow’s own Miss California USA Raquel Beezley took the stage with the top 15 contestants in the Miss USA pageant.

The year wound up with a record snowstorm that excited Barstow residents even as it incovenienced them, giving the area an early white Christmas.

January:

• The bunker homicides
Bodhisattva “Bodhi” Sherzer-Potter, 16, of Helendale, and Christopher Cody Thompson, 18, of Apple Valley, were killed in an execution-style shooting Jan. 5 in an abandoned military bunker near Helendale. Collin Lee McGlaughlin, 18, of West Covina, and David Brian Smith, 19, of Covina, were arrested in January on suspicion of murder. A third suspect, 16-year-old Cameron James Thomson of Covina, was arrested in March and charged as an adult. All three suspects are awaiting trial.

• Feds reject casino plan
Three tribes that had hoped to build off-reservation casinos in Barstow were rejected by the federal government, putting the casino plans on hold indefinitely. The Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno, Big Lagoon Rancheria and Chemehuevi tribes received letters from the Department of the Interior, dated Jan. 4, telling them that their applications to put land near Barstow into a federal trust, a step necessary to build casinos, had been rejected. Plans for a casino in Barstow had been in the works since 2003.

February:

• City settles in sewer spill
The city of Barstow agreed Feb. 13 to pay a $300,000 fine for spilling 1.5 million gallons of untreated sewage into the Mojave River in May 2006. The Lahontan Regional Water Control Quality Board briefly considered raising the fine but voted unanimously to approve the settlement. The water board charged that the city’s failure to properly maintain the wastewater facility led to the 2006 spill.

• Cut cable takes out communications
A public works crew from the city of Barstow accidentally cuts a fiber optic cable buried along National Trails Highway while fixing damage to a storm drain on Feb. 19. Phone service, Internet connections, credit cards transfers and 911 emergency services were downed throughout the High Desert, affecting about 12,000 Verizon customers. Full service was restored several hours later.

March:

• SunCal project stalls
Representatives of the SunCal Companies, which had planned to build a 25,000 home development south of Barstow acknowledged that financial troubles and a poor housing market could delay the project. There was no action on the development in 2008. As of March 5, SunCal owed the city $59,000 in unpaid invoices.

• New hospital CEO
Barstow Community Hospital named former Air Force captain and experienced health care administrator Michael Stewart as its new CEO on March 18.

April:

• Fort Irwin tortoise relocation begins
Fort Irwin begins moving desert tortoises, a threatened species, from land slated for inclusion in a 118,674-acre expansion of the training area to nearby public lands. The project, which has been challenged by environmental groups, involves moving an estimated 770 tortoises.

The Center for Biological Diversity and Desert Survivors filed a lawsuit against the Department of the Army and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management July 2, alleging that not enough environmental review was conducted before transferring the tortoises. According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife desert tortoise recovery coordinator Roy Averill-Murray, 80 to 90 moved tortoises died out of the 411 tortoises that were being tracked using transmitters. The Army announced in October that no more tortoises would be moved until researchers could determine more accurate population numbers and determine how many of the deaths stemmed from the translocation.

• City changes course on wastewater fix
The Barstow City Council voted unanimously April 7 to repair the existing wastewater facility on Riverside Drive rather than attempting to build a new plant, as previously planned. The Lahontan Regional Water Board ordered the city to prevent the plant from discharging nitrates into the groundwater by July 1, 2009, or face fines of $1,000 to $10,000 a day for violations.

• Jaskas found guilty in Barstow Truck Parts embezzlement case
A Barstow jury found Apple Valley couple Joyce and Wesley Jaska guilty April 9 on multiple charges relating to allegations that Joyce embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from Barstow Truck Parts and that the couple failed to report the income on their taxes.
Joyce was sentenced May 16 to 12 years in prison. Wesley received a three-year sentence for his part in the case on May 19.

• Judge orders further review of Hinkley compost facility
Barstow Superior Court Judge John Vander Feer ruled April 11 that portions of the environmental review for a controversial proposed composting facility near Hinkley must be redone before the project can go forward. Opponents of the site, which would ferment waste, including human waste, to make compost, challenged the validity of San Bernardino County’s environmental review of the site. Vander Feer ruled that the environmental review needed to assess whether enclosing the facility would be feasible and needed to identify a water source for the project.
On Oct. 27, the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District passed a new rule governing air pollution from composting facilities. On Dec. 8, the group HelpHinkley.org, which had criticized the rule as not being stringent enough, filed a lawsuit against the MDAQMD in the Barstow Superior Court in an attempt to force a rewrite.

• Barstow’s Miss California USA competes for national title
Many Barstonians sat in the audience as Barstow’s Raquel Beezley, who won the 2008 Miss California USA title, competed in the Miss USA pageant in Las Vegas April 11. She passed the first round of cuts, making the top 15, but did not make it to the top 10. Miss Texas USA Crystle Stewart, a 26-year-old entrepreneur, won the title.

May:

• Barstow’s BNSF yard emits most pollution in the state
The California Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board released results of a risk assessment that studied 17 railyards in California, showing that Barstow’s yard emitted more diesel pollution than any other yard. However, the study found that people living near the Barstow yard did not face the highest cancer risk, because Barstow’s underlying air quality is better than that in other areas of the state. People living near the BNSF San Bernardino railyard were shown to be at the highest risk.

June:

• BUSD superintendent resigns
Barstow Unified School District superintendent Jerry Bergmans resigns after five years as superintendent and 15 years with the district. Board president Julie Clemmer said the split was friendly, but Bergmans and several board members said the board wanted a change in leadership.

•School board cuts more than $1 million from budget
The Barstow Unified School District school board approved more than $1 million in budget cuts at a June 10 meeting. Among the largest cuts, the plan slashed the district office budget by 10 percent, reduced administrative salaries by 5 percent, cut two vacant teaching positions, and cut clerical salaries by 5 percent.

• Slain San Bernardino hip hop artist dumped in Barstow
A jogger found the body of Robert Raymond Mastrangelo, 24, of San Bernardino, in a drainage ditch near Outlet Center Drive and Interstate 15 June 14. Mastrangelo had been shot multiple times and his feet were tied. Police named Jeffrey Berrouet of San Bernardino as a suspect, but he has evaded capture. They arrested Dudzai Pswatai of Riverside July 3 on suspicion of murder. He is currently facing trial in Barstow. A third suspect, Celina Sanchez of Pedley, was arrested Dec. 18.

July:

• Fatal shooting of Camp Pendleton Marine in Barstow

Pfc. Michael Firkins, a 20-year-old Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, died July 6 after being shot, allegedly by Barstow resident Issa Wajeel, on July 3. Wajeel, who was standing in the yard of his Barcelona Court house when police arrived, told officers that he had confronted a man who was trying to break into his house. Firkins was slumped in his truck in front of the house with a gunshot wound to the head. He was transported to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, where he died.

Wajeel, a retired Army sergeant first class, worked as a contractor at Fort Irwin and taught administration of justice classes part time at Barstow Community College. He was arrested on suspicion of murder July 18, but the District Attorney’s Office declined to file charges, concluding that the shooting was in self-defense.

The investigation continued, and Wajeel was arrested a second time on Dec. 5, on suspicion of voluntary manslaughter. He was released on bail and awaits arraignment in January.

August

• Group sues to stop Wal-Mart plans

The city’s plans to bring in a more-than-1-million-square-foot Wal-Mart distribution center were put on hold after the Barstow Build Smart advocacy group filed a lawsuit against the city and Wal-Mart Aug. 8 in the Barstow Superior Court. The suit alleges that the city did not properly prepare an environmental impact report for the project.

The Barstow City Council unanimously approved the environmental impact report and the distribution center project at its July 21 meeting. The center, projected to bring about 500 jobs to the area in its first year, was slated to begin construction in fall of 2008, but it is currently on hold due to the ongoing litigation.

September

• Owners of Pit Bulls in mauling case arrested
Jeffrey Dwayne King, Jr., and John Allan Peterson of Yermo were arrested Sept. 17 on suspicion of felony failure to control a mischievous animal, resulting in death. Investigators found that Pit Bulls belonging to the men were responsible for the death of Kelly Caldwell, 45, who died after being attacked by dogs while walking near the intersection of Second Street and Yermo Road on Dec. 25, 2007.

October

• Parents brawl at youth football game
Four people, including a Barstow Youth Football coach, were cited after a brawl broke out at a football game between 8-, 9-. and 10-year-olds from Barstow and San Bernardino Oct. 18. Coach Jerry Pinkney was suspended from coaching following the incident, in which he was cited on suspicion of disturbing the peace. The fight between spectators started after Pinkney attempted to break up a dispute between players on the opposing teams, one of whom was his son, and knocked down the player from the opposing team. In the course of the fight, which witnesses said involved dozens of people, one Barstow man was knocked unconscious.

November:

• Elections bring change on Council, but no sales tax increase
Election results, which were not finalized until Nov. 25, showed Joe Gomez defeating Lawrence Dale to become the new mayor of Barstow. Willie Hailey, Sr, and Tim Saenz took the two open City Council seats, after a close race with Carmen Hernandez, in which the winners changed several times. In the final results, Hailey edged Hernandez out by just 11 votes. Measure D, a proposed .75-cent sales tax increase that would have gone to fund personnel and equipment for Barstow Police Department and Barstow Fire Protection District, failed to get the two-thirds majority it needed to pass.

• Interstate 40 crash kills four
Four people, including a family of three on their way to a clowning convention, died after a crash involving as many as 13 vehicles, including seven semi trucks, on Interstate 40 in Newberry Springs Nov. 9. Wendy and Jose Ramirez and their 15-year-old son Robert Ramirez of Canyon Lake were headed to the Western Region Clown Association conference in Nevada when their car was crushed under the rear of a semi truck. The fourth fatality, Faith Wilson, 66, of Fullerton, was the passenger in another car that was pushed off the roadway. Officials believed the series of collisions were related to winds of up to 49 miles per hour.

December:

• Interim City Manager hired in permanent role
At the Dec. 1 City Council meeting, the Council unanimously approved a three-year City Manager contract with Richard Rowe, who had been serving as interim city manager for the past nine months. Rowe’s contract runs from Jan. 1, 2009 to Dec. 31, 2011, at an initial salary of $210,000 a year plus benefits.

• Rare snowstorm hits the High Desert
Barstow was hit by snow twice in one week, on Dec. 15 and 17, leaving the heaviest snow accumulation on record since 1967. Snow and ice closed Fort Irwin Road and shut down portions of Interstate 15 both days. However, the second round of snow was more severe, closing the interstate both north and south of Barstow, leaving many travelers stuck in town. The conditions on Fort Irwin Road left about 2,000 civilian workers stranded on post that night. Officials reported many minor accidents, but the week saw only one fatal crash, which occurred early in the morning of Dec. 16 on State Route 127 near Baker.