The ” returned to the Ontario Convention Center Saturday, May 18, bringing cast reunions, voice actors, animators, comic creators and more to area fans, .

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The goal is to create an “unforgettable experience” for fans in the Inland Empire, the website says.

Cosplay competitions and a kids’ costume parade along with Star Wars and X-Men events are all part of the two-day event, which continues from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 19.

The weekend event also brought back cosplay corner, star cars, kids’ story time and artist alley.

The Humane Society of San Bernardino Valley will use part of that gift to honor Barker and to help fund the spaying and neutering of pets with its new Spay it Forward in Memory of Bob Barker fund, which will help pet owners with the costs of spaying and neutering at the Humane Society.

To help grow the fund, the Humane Society invites people to 鈥渟pay it forward鈥� and make donations in memory Barker. The fund will be open in perpetuity, but the Humane Society’s goal is to reach $15,000 by the end of May, according to a news release.

People may give one-time donations or may sign up for automatic monthly donations to the fund.

鈥淲e are so grateful for Mr. Barker鈥檚 support over the years and that he included the HSSBV in his charitable giving,” Teri Seymour, executive director of the Humane Society of San Bernardino Valley, said in the news release. “It is an honor to carry on his legacy through the Spay It Forward fund and continue to help fight pet overpopulation in his memory. We hope the community will join as we continue to celebrate him.鈥�

To contribute to the Spay It Forward in Memory of Bob Barker Fund, mail a donation to the Humane Society office at 374 W. Orange Show Road, San Bernardino, CA 92408; visit the office; or call 909-386-1400, ext. 224.

For information about the Humane Society of San Bernardino Valley, go to .

The 3.5 million acres located north of Los Angeles and the Inland Empire received the distinction this week in an announcement from the Sentinel Landscape Partnership, a collaboration between the departments of Defense, Agriculture and Interior that was formed in 2013. The area includes multi-use public lands, farmlands, recreational lands and military training areas and lies in the desert between Ridgecrest and the Morongo Basin.

The new designation is a “force-multiplier” for Marine Air Ground Combat Center 29 Palms聽and the other Mojave Desert military installations supporting conservation efforts in range resilience and sustainability, Marine officials said.

Other bases in the Mojave Desert include the National Training Center Fort Irwin, Edwards Air Force Base, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake and Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow.

“As an example, it amplifies the combat center鈥檚 commitment to the tortoise (repopulation), habitat restoration and other recovery efforts on and off the installation,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2聽 Brandon Owen, a 29 Palms base spokesperson.

The tortoise population has declined 50% to 90% in the Mojave Desert due to a wide range of threats, including ravens, coyotes, habitation degradation, disease, being run over by vehicles and invasive plants.

A major component of the base’s program to restore the tortoise population is to have pregnant females brought in to nest in captivity so the babies hatch in a protected environment. This allows them to grow larger with predator-resistant shells before being released into the wilderness as juveniles. The base has released more than 100 babies into the wild in the last few years.

Base ecologists at 29 Palms said the tortoise program has resulted in a 96% survival rate of turtles inside the facility each year. In the wild, the survival rate is less than 50%, base officials said.

The tortoises are tagged and tracked over several years to monitor their growth, movements and survival rates. The research shows scientists which methods work best for raising baby tortoises, and this information benefits other installations, too, Marine officials said.

The new designation encourages the involved federal agencies to work more closely together and remove bureaucratic roadblocks, helping to bring together coalitions that include multiple nonprofits in the area and federal, state, county and local organizations who can now work together more easily in restoring habitat and ecosystem function by creating species corridors and improving soil health, and managing watersheds to build resilience to a warmer, more arid climate.

Some of the groups will include California State Parks, Death Valley National Park, Desert Tortoise Council, Joshua Tree National Park and the University of California Riverside.

In addition to better collaboration it also prevents development around military installations with the aim of protecting those areas, but not interfering with training. The federal designation lets local government agencies and nonprofits pay farmers to keep farms and wildlife habitats as thy presently are.

“The program provides DOD with the unique opportunity to expand and diversify our partnerships to enhance the resilience of military installations and the local communities that support them,” Brendan Owens, assistant secretary of defense for energy, installations, and environment, said in a statement. “This year, the department is excited to support the five newly designated landscapes in achieving their dual priorities of safeguarding national defense and enhancing installation and community resilience, particularly in the Pacific and Western regions.鈥�

There are now 17 Sentinel Landscapes, the other newly designated areas are in Hawaii, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Utah.

Among the goals centered around the new designation in the desert are reducing vehicle strikes that kill threatened, endangered, or sensitive species and reclaiming and protecting 50,000 acres of priority habitats through restoration, officials said.

The groups will also work through community outreach to promote conservation through education, including preventing illegal off-highway vehicle use and illegal cannabis growth. There will also be efforts to work with growing cooperatives to develop climate-resilient seeds.

appearing in Superior Court in Rancho Cucamonga, received the bulk of the term, 10 years, for his conviction on a county of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. Five years was added to that term as a sentencing enhancement for fleeing the collision. Charges related to DUI and causing injury accounted for the other five years.

Wicks, in which was dropped, did not receive any credit for time served. He has been held without bail since his arrest in June of 2022. Wicks had a previous DUI conviction in San Bernardino County.

The collision happened just before 1 a.m. on March 31, 2022, on the northbound 15 Freeway near Jurupa Avenue, the California Highway Patrol said. Gary Boeldt II was driving in the left lane when Wicks struck the Oceanside resident’s car from behind 鈥渋n excess of 100 mph,鈥� a CHP news release said. Boeldt鈥檚 car plunged down an embankment and overturned. He was killed and his wife, Christine Lynn Carroll, was injured.

The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office said Wicks was co-owner of Wicks Brewery, a statement that operators of the brewery disputed after his arrest. He was, however, involved in the creation of the brewery’s beer. .

The giveaway is to celebrate Parton’s creation of a signature Krispy Kreme line called the Dolly Southern Sweets Doughnut Collection. This includes doughnuts dipped in strawberry icing with glitter sprinkles, peach filling and brown sugar icing, banana pudding and wafers and a chocolate cream pie with whipped topping. Sweet tooths rejoice. And can anyone say “diabetes?”

To get the free original glazed doughnut (amusingly, you can’t get a free Dolly-inspired doughnut with this promotion), “anyone ‘Dolly鈥檇 Up,’ 鈥� from being decked out in Dolly merch to singing their favorite Dolly song” is eligible.

This deal is not available online or at the drive-thru, and at participating locations only. Locations include Irvine, Long Beach, Gardena, South Pasadena, Industry and Ontario.

Learn more and find participating locations: .

The 24-acre development, anchored by a Stater Bros. market, is on Pine Avenue west of Eastvale. The project by Lewis Retail Centers broke ground in October 2022 and held a . A string of tenants have opened since then.

One of the newest is Kenwood’s Kitchen & Tap, which opened on May 3 at 16287 Main St., Suite 110.

It’s a full-service family restaurant founded in 2020 in Costa Mesa by Ken Kenwood, formerly a longtime executive at In-N-Out Burger. This is its second location.

The menu includes burgers, sliders, sandwiches, flatbreads and small plates such as Buffalo Shrimp and Beer Can Tacos. Weekend brunch includes avocado toast, breakfast burritos and loco moco.

Among quick service chains, Panda Express will open a restaurant with a new store design on Monday, May 20, according to a news release.

Design elements include a mural portraying a street celebration with fireworks and a green neon dragon. Seating is at long tables or booths.

To celebrate the opening, there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 9:30 a.m. Monday, and the first 88 guests will receive a free Panda Express T-shirt.

The address is 8329 Pine Ave.

This is the second Panda Express in Chino. The first is in the Chino Spectrum Town Center at 4021 Grand Ave.

Eateries that have already opened at the shopping center include Chipotle Mexican Grill, Jersey Mike’s and Starbucks.

Those in the works include 7 Miles Tea Lab, the Great Greek Mediterranean Grill, Panera Bread, Wingstop, Poki Bowl and Cold Stone Creamery.

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Those are just a handful of the proposed budget cuts across 260 state programs in California Gov. Gavin 色情论坛om鈥檚 latest , commonly referred to as the 鈥淢ay Revise,鈥� which he announced May 10 as part of a plan to close a projected deficit.

But what do those numbers mean for Inland Empire programs that rely on state funding? Here are several ways the governor鈥檚 proposed budget cuts could affect the region.

Transportation

While transportation agencies dodged direct cuts in the revised budget, delayed $1 billion in grant funding for transit and intercity rail projects.

That freeze held up $138 million ticketed for the , Aaron Hake, the commission鈥檚 executive director, said via email. Among other priorities, that money would have helped public transit companies shift to zero-emission vehicles.

鈥淭he freeze leaves funds vulnerable to potential cuts, local projects stalled, and uncertainty in future project funding,鈥� Hake said.聽 The May Revise also would cut funding for projects helping pedestrians and bicyclists and separate rail crossings from roads so cars don鈥檛 have to wait for trains to cross, he said.

Any funding cuts 鈥渞esult in more challenges in meeting the needs of our residents and commuters,鈥� Tim Watkins, chief of legislative and public affairs for the , said via email.

鈥淐urrently, the transportation dollars, looking through our lens, appear to be only frozen rather than cut or redirected, so we remain optimistic until final outcomes are enacted.鈥�

Social Services

A range of social services overseen by Riverside and San Bernardino counties would face cuts under the May Revise.

Cuts to CalWORKs, the state鈥檚 welfare program, could make it harder for the county to determine if people are eligible for benefits, San Bernardino County spokesperson David Wert said via email.

Other cuts would slash $6.8 million from housing programs, which 鈥渨ould result in the reduction of supportive services for children and families that are experiencing homelessness,鈥� Wert said.

A proposed $11 million cut to the Future of Public Health program would take away money that could hire more public health workers, while a $6 million cut to child welfare services 鈥渨ould result in the reduction of administrative support and supportive services for children and families in need,鈥� Wert said.

The May Revise cuts 鈥渉ave the potential for a significant impact on Riverside County’s ability to provide essential social services,鈥� County Executive Officer Jeff Van Wagenen said via email.

Those services, according to Van Wagenen, include food stamps, emergency child care services, a program to build affordable housing, Medi-Cal — California鈥檚 health insurance program for the poor — adult protective services and In-Home Supportive Services, a program providing in-home care to elderly and disabled indigent adults.

Crime Victims

The May Revise cuts 鈥減ose a dire threat to our services for victims of crime,鈥� Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin, a Republican who has criticized the Democratic governor before, said in an emailed statement.

Hestrin said his office could lose $2 million in 鈥渧ital crime victim assistance grants serving child victims and human trafficking victims 鈥� The additional loss of Victims of Crime Act funding creates significant concern 鈥� potentially depriving more than 6,000 victims of essential services.鈥�

The cuts 鈥渘ot only neglect victims鈥� rights but also disregard the economic and societal costs, including job loss, program destabilization, and increased strain on already burdened systems,鈥� Melissa Donaldson, director of victim services in Hestrin鈥檚 office, said in the emailed statement.

鈥淚t鈥檚 imperative that we prioritize funding for victim services to prevent further harm to those already suffering. The priorities of a government are measured by where they direct their funding and, clearly, crime victims are not a priority for this administration.鈥�

Restaurants and other food establishments ordered to close and allowed to reopen by San Bernardino County health inspectors from May 9 to May 16.

The Seafood Place, 16339 Arrow Blvd., Suite B, Fontana

• Closed: May 10
• Reason: Expired health permit

Whiskey Barrel, 12055 Mariposa Road, Suite A-E, Hesperia

• Closed: May 9
• Reason: Expired health permit
• Reopened: May 9

This list is published weekly with closures since the previous week’s list. Status updates are published the following week.

Source: San Bernardino County Department of Public Health

— Ian Wheeler

The Rancho Cucamonga-based roaster is partnering with the Phoenix-based supermarket chain to open cafes within five of its more than 60 grocery stores in Southern California.

The first cafe, in Fontana, will celebrate its grand opening Friday, May 24 through Memorial Day, Monday, May 27. The store is at 16964 S. Highland Ave. in the Highland Village shopping center.

Cafes in Redlands, Rancho Cucamonga, Eastvale and Fullerton stores are expected to follow in coming months.

“We鈥檝e always had the philosophy of meeting our customers where they are. The idea of putting a Klatch where you鈥檙e grocery shopping, making your life a little bit easier, makes a lot of sense for what we do,鈥� Heather Perry, chief executive officer of the coffee company, said in a phone interview. It was , Mike Perry and Cindy Perry, in 1993.

Klatch already has seven cafes in San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties. The Sprouts partnership will nearly double the list and add a presence in Orange and Riverside counties as well.

To make room for the coffee shops, Klatch is repurposing public seating areas that were available to customers to relax or eat their grab-and-go purchases.

Those rooms tend to be underutilized, according to Steve Lamontagne, vice president of portfolio optimization.

“We want our stores to be as productive as they can,” he said in a separate phone interview.

The cafes are a pilot program that began a year ago in Arizona with a partnership with Press Coffee, also based in Phoenix.

Sprouts set up five Press coffee shops in its home state and went looking for a local partner for five additional coffee shops in Southern California. Lamontagne said that Sprouts was impressed by Klatch’s commitment to direct trade with coffee growers.

Sprouts reached out to Klatch about a year ago, according to Perry, and began stocking its whole bean blends in March.

She said the Sprouts cafes would be staffed by Klatch employees and provide the same experience as its own cafes, with about 90% of the menu.

But Klatch cafes will also have Klatch exclusives, Perry said. During the opening weekend celebration in Fontana, it will be serving a dalgona coffee created for Klatch’s 30th anniversary celebration last fall.

Dalgona, or whipped, coffee is a trendy, Instagram-friendly beverage that comes from Macau or South Korea and is made with coffee, sugar and a hand mixer. The Klatch version is named Smudgepot after heaters once used to avoid frost damage in citrus orchards.

“Oranges and orange groves are a huge part of Southern California culture,” said Perry. “What we did for this drink, we took off on the dalgona trend. We take espresso and cold brew and orange blossom water and orange extract and syrup and put in a nitrous canister and whip it so its super-light and serve it on a base of oat milk. It’s light and refreshing and orangey.”

The first 25 customers to purchase a Smudgepot each day during Memorial Day weekend will get a free Klatch Coffee glass can, and the first 50 customers on Saturday will get a Sprouts reusable shopping bag, the news release said.

Another exclusive will be Berry Ricotta Toast, made with seasonal berries and local honey on artisan bread, according to a news release.

“Sprouts is very local within the communities they operate,” said Lamontagne. “Klatch has been rooted in the communities where they operate for the last 30 years. They take their business very seriously and really, really focus on their customers. It’s really that blend. I can’t stress enough how the partnership comes together and how we make sure that works. We could partner with any of the big coffee companies out there, but that’s not the way Sprouts goes to market.”

Perry had a similar thought.

鈥淲e鈥檙e treating these just like Klatch cafes. There鈥檚 no difference in our minds.鈥�

Information: ,

Southern California’s unemployment rate hit an 11-month low in April.

My trusty spreadsheet, , found Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties had a 4.3% unemployment rate compared with 4.8% in the previous month. It’s likely a seasonal dip, as the rate decreased by 0.3 percentage points in April in the pre-pandemic 2015-19 period.

Consider that April’s rate was the lowest since May 2023, but it’s still higher than the 3.9% joblessness seen in April 2023. Unemployment for the region averaged 4.7% in 2015-19.

The four-county tally of unemployed workers was 386,000 鈥� down 50,700 in a month but up 36,600 in a year. The jobless count is 9% above the 424,700 average in pre-pandemic 2015-19.

Increased employment helped to lower regional joblessness.

Local bosses had聽7.97 million at work in April 鈥� up 23,000 in a month, and up 74,600 in 12 months. Local hiring averaged 22,600 in April in 2015-19. March 2024 saw 23,100 employees added.

The past year’s job growth of 0.9% topped the previous 12 months’ 0.6% increase, but it’s slower than the 2.2% hiring pace throughout 2015-19.

Industry swings

Job changes in key Southern California business sectors, ranked by one-month change …

Health/social services: 1,321,400 workers 鈥� up 6,600 in a month and up 67,400 in a year.

Restaurants: 694,500 workers 鈥� up 6,000 in a month and up 7,600 in a year.

Government: 1,040,100 workers 鈥� up 5,200 in a month and up 28,500 in a year.

Hotels/entertainment/recreation: 264,300 workers 鈥� up 2,800 in a month and up 2,500 in a year.

Private education: 218,700 workers 鈥� up 2,500 in a month and up 14,200 in a year.

Personal services: 267,500 workers 鈥� up 1,800 in a month and up 6,800 in a year.

Logistics/utilities: 799,800 workers 鈥� up 1,000 in a month but down 2,600 in a year.

Financial: 356,000 workers 鈥� up 900 in a month but down 4,200 in a year.

Information: 219,900 workers 鈥� up 700 in a month but down 16,200 in a year.

Retailing: 725,100 workers 鈥� up 100 in a month but down 1,400 in a year.

Manufacturing: 565,000 workers 鈥� down 1,200 in a month and down 9,800 in a year.

Professional-business services: 1,123,300 workers 鈥� down 1,400 in a month and down 19,600 in a year.

Regional differences

Here’s how the job market performed in the region’s key metropolitan areas …

Los Angeles County: 4.58 million workers, after adding 18,100 in a month and growing by 32,600 in a year. Hiring averaged 8,900 for the month in 2015-19. Unemployment? 4.5% vs. 5.2% a month earlier; 4.7% a year ago; and 5.2% average in 2015-19.

Orange County: 1.7 million workers, after adding 2,400 in a month and growing by 21,000 in a year. Hiring averaged 6,920 for the month in 2015-19. Unemployment? 3.7% vs. 3.9% a month earlier; 3.1% a year ago; and 3.6% average in 2015-19.

Inland Empire: 1.69 million workers, after adding 2,500 in a month and growing by 21,000 in a year. Hiring averaged 6,820 for the month in 2015-19. Unemployment? 4.8% vs. 5.1% a month earlier; 4.1% a year ago; and 5.2% average in 2015-19.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California 色情论坛 Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com