Enjoy the Chino Valley’s finest cuisine, wine, and spirits as local establishments dish up their very best at the impressive Chaffey College Chino Community Center.

By Zeb Welborn

CHINO– It’s a food lover’s dream!  Enjoy great food from some of the area’s new restaurants as well as some long-standing favorites at the 19th Annual Taste of the Chino Valley.  We’ve put together a great team who is working hard to bring local restaurants together to give our community a taste of what Chino Valley restaurants have to offer.

The Taste of the Chino Valley will be from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, April 4, at the Chaffey College Community Center, located at 5890 College Park Ave.

Spots for the Taste of the Chino Valley are filling up fast.  We’ve already signed up Cannataro’s, The Pub, Oke Poke, Wara Bistro, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Pacifica Senior Living, Los Portales, Riverside Grill and Award Winning Wines by Fairplex.  We have verbal commitments from numerous others, and we’ll be sharing those through our website and Facebook page as they come in.

We’ve also secured sponsorships from Waste Management, the City of Chino, the City of Chino Hills, Champion Newspapers, Chaffey College, Insurance & Surety Services, Oke Poke, and Welborn Media.

Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to put this together, we have a great team of people securing restaurants, sponsors and donations for the event.

You can sign up online at www.eventbrite.com/e/taste-of-chino-valley-tickets-22749102177.  Hope to see you there.  Tell your friends!

Photo courtesy: Chino Police Department

Courtesy of the City of Chino

CHINO– Nearly two and a-half years after the cold-blooded murder of a Check ‘n Go employee, the shooter, Jorge Cisneros, was found guilty of first-degree murder and second-degree robbery.

On November 15, 2013 at approximately 1:24 p.m., two suspects entered the Check ‘n Go located at 12083 Central Avenue and shot and killed 24-year-old Vanessa Martinez of Riverside. Within 24 hours, Chino Police Investigators and SWAT team members located and arrested two suspects in the cities of Ontario and Pomona.

Jorge Esteban Cisneros, a 43 year-old resident of Ontario, was identified as the shooter during the commission of the crime. He was found guilty Thursday, March 17, 2016 in a San Bernardino Court.

David Mendez, a 29-year-old Pomona resident was convicted in 2015 of first-degree murder and second-degree robbery. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Cisneros’ sentencing hearing is pending.

If you have information regarding this case please contact Detective Acuna at 909-334-3016 or facuna@chinopd.org.

Staff Reports

CHINO– Join us for the Chino Valley Chamber March Mixer hosted by ABC Public Relations and Armijo Newspapers. Don’t miss out on this fun business mixer on March 24.

We will have FREE food, drinks, and giveaways. One of the prizes that will be raffled off will be a tablet, in addition to other prizes donated by located businesses. The mixer will also be a great opportunity to market your business with other Chino Valley Chamber Members and community members.

If you would like to sponsor one of our raffle prizes, your business will be featured in our newspaper, along with a picture of you and the winner. Please contact us at (909) 464-1200 if you are interested in being a sponsor.

The Business Mixer will be held from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at ABC Public Relation’s office, located at 14144 Central Ave. Ste. H, Chino CA 91710. The office is right across the street from Ayala Park and our building is behind the 14122 Central Avenue building.

Please RSVP by calling (909) 464-1200 or emailing RSVP@anapr.com. We hope to see you there!

Courtesy of the City of Chino

CHINO– The City of Chino is seeking teens interested in volunteer service.  The Teen Opportunity Program (TOP) is a new volunteer program geared toward teens in the 7^th-12^th grades.

The TOP program requires teens to attend monthly meetings where they are trained in customer service, problem solving, decision making, conflict resolution, teamwork and leadership.  Through the training, the youth are equipped with life skills that help them succeed with volunteer assignments in city programs or special events.

“The Teen Opportunity Program is a great way for teens to earn volunteer hours required for graduation,” says Noemi Luna, Community Services Coordinator in charge of the program.  “They also gain valuable leadership skills and experience for future employment opportunities,” she added.

The first two meetings were well attended.  Youth learned about the enrollment process and the requirements of volunteering through TOP.  They were also introduced to the types of assignments available and upcoming events.

To get more information or to enroll in the program, youth can call the Neighborhood Activity Center at 909-334-3260.  The upcoming meeting dates are March 17, April 14, May 12 and June 9, 2016.

Courtesy of San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Dept.
Chino– On Monday, February 8, 2016, deputies from the Chino Hills Sheriff’s Station arrested Richard Steven Silva, 22, of Chino, after being called to investigate vehicle break-ins in the 15000 block of Hanover Way in Chino Hills.

After an investigation, Silva was found to be in possession of approximately $1,023 dollars worth of stolen property.

Detectives later learned of a second subject, a 17 year old male juvenile from Chino.  Silva and the juvenile walked around the neighborhood, pulled on vehicle door handles, and stole miscellaneous items from three different vehicles.
The juvenile was cited and released to his guardian at the scene.

Anyone with information regarding this incident (DR#221600464) is urged to contact Deputy Timothy Quick at the Chino Hills Police/Sheriff’s Station (909) 364-2000. Callers wishing to remain anonymous are urged to call the We-Tip Hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME (27463) or you may leave information on the We-Tip Hotline at www.wetip.com.

Courtesy of Facebook
After drainage, Prado Lake is being refilled with reclaimed/recycled water at the rate of 10 million gallons per day.

By Carol Heyen

CHINO– The lake at Prado Regional Park has been looking a little different these days.  The San Bernardino County Regional Park Department began a maintenance and enhancement project around the lake on January 31, and the lake was drained.

According to a park employee, one of the lake drains was severely damaged, and the lake needed to be emptied to investigate the problem.  Workers were able to clean out three drainage basins in the process, which will help prevent mosquito breeding in the summer.  Workers also removed hundreds of pounds of trash from the lake and, interestingly, a green mid-1990s Chevy truck, which was sitting about 40 feet from the nearest shoreline. The truck had been reported stolen at the beginning of 2009.  When park rangers went to get the VIN number for the truck to identify it, there was water in the cab and trout swimming in the truck.

The lake is being refilled with reclaimed/recycled water at the rate of 10 million gallons per day, and fishing will resume on February 13.  There are still many fish in the lake, because there was a pond left in the center to keep them alive until the refill began.  The lake will be double-stocked with trout before re-opening, and there may be a possible one-time stocking of bass in the coming month.

Prado Regional Park is located in the Chino Valley basin where San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange and Los Angeles Counties connect.  The name Prado is derived from California’s early Spanish days when the countryside was known as a “prado” or meadow.

Park entrance fees are: $8 per car Monday – Fridays (excluding holidays and special events) and $10 per car on weekends and holidays (excluding special events.)  Daily Fishing Permits are $8.00/person, all ages. For more information call (909) 387-2757.

By Monique Valadez

CHINO – Residents and businesses alike are focusing on safety like never before following the tragic shooting last month at a San Bernardino county facility.
Last week, the city of Rancho Cucamonga, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and the League of California Cities hosted a countywide active shooter training workshop, where nearly 200 law enforcement members, city officials, and businesspeople received training about how to handle such a crisis.  Also discussed was how well prepared we are as a community.

Chino PD was one of the agencies represented at the countywide training, and they say it’s critical to join forces and train collaboratively with other organizations.

“One of Chino PD’s main focuses when it comes to dealing with homeland security is education,” Chino Police Officer Ted Olgden said about the training last Wednesday. “It is equally as important to educate our personnel on active shooter situations and dealing with terrorism as it is the public.”

Chino officials said they plan to continue the training until all officers and personnel have completed the instruction. Preparing for any incident is a long-term endeavor.

“By consistently evaluating and updating our training content and methods, we can ensure that we are providing the public and personnel with relevant and useful information,” Olgden said.

For law enforcement, the recent heightened alert is just part of the job. Officers regularly train to prepare for worst case scenarios. The task at hand is to also educate the public for these situations.

“The other component of preparedness is again, education; providing the public with the knowledge and resources to respond and recover from an active shooter incident. Part of our training involves working with the school district and fire department to conduct drills/scenario based training, which is essential to ensure a unified response,” he added.

Olgden said that Chino PD has already initiated a Homeland Security workgroup to evaluate the department’s efforts related to terrorism activity, including focusing on education, prevention, detection and response.  He advises the public to be vigilant and aware of any potential threat or suspicious activity and report it to law enforcement personnel immediately.

“If you see something, say something!”