Nonprofits, businesses, partner to feed needy on Thanksgiving

Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer Posted: 11/14/2009 06:11:00 AM PST 
 

Last November, more than nearly 500 people showed up for the free Thanksgiving feast provided by Catholic Charities at a San Bernardino nightclub.

This Thanksgiving, at the end of yet another tough year for countless families, the number could easily grow.

So to ensure there is enough turkey, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie to go around, the nonprofit is partnering with other organizations and businesses.

"It takes many entities working together. For example, it's not just Catholic Charities making this happen, it's the community that makes it work," said Beverly Earl, director of the San Bernardino County Family and Community Services Department for the nonprofit.

The organization, that reaches out to the needy in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, is one of many partnering with others to make sure they can provide food and other services during the holiday season.

In the case of Catholic Charities, it is working with nonprofits, including Young Visionaries and Time for Change Foundation. to provide a meal for the needy from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., on Thanksgiving at the Brandin Iron Saloon in San Bernardino.

Bill Thomas, owner of the saloon, said it is a big enough facility to provide the service and he is happy to do it.

"One of our philosophies is to be part of the community, and I couldn't think of anything better to do on Thanksgiving than feed the needy," he said. "It also offers our guests the opportunity to participate in serving the less fortunate."

To ensure everything works out for a Thanksgiving dinner and coat giveaway slated for 4 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 24, at San Bernardino's Family Focus Center, the center has partnered with a nearby high school and a Redlands-based radio station.

"We operate from the perspective that when you bring to gether a number of people who have a passion for the poor and the underserved, you can definitely make a difference," said Linda McDonald, vice president of mission services for St. Bernardine Medical Center, which operates the center.

Athletes from San Bernardino High School will serve food and clean up at the center.

And Redlands-based radio station KSGN, is helping out with the drive to collect gently-used coats, jackets and sweaters, which will be donated to families after the dinner.

People are invited to drop off items at valet parking at the main entrance of St. Bernardine Medical Center, in the week ahead.

"We all have a different role we play, and in our case we use the airwaves to get the message out to the people," said Peggy Stapleton, account executive for the radio station.

Another long existing partnership is between Inland Empire Job Corps culinary students and the Salvation Army's Hospitality House shelter on Fifth Street in San Bernardino.

The culinary students typically bake hundreds of pies for the annual Thanksgiving feast, which has brought as many as 800 people to the Salvation Army.

This time around they will donate, 300 cherry, apple and pumpkin pies to the shelter for the dinner at 11 a.m. on Thanksgiving.

The students then stick around to volunteer.

"They are a joy to work with," said Roosevelt Carroll, director of the Hospitality House shelter. "And by doing this together, we touch everyone not just one or two people."

San Bernardino Community Police Academy aims to improve communication, trust between police, residents

"We need to get some sensitivity in there, put together small events so we can both better understand each other," said Stone, who is president of the Young Visionaries Youth Leadership Academy. "Then regular folk might have a different idea when there's a police shooting or other incident."

The Police Department's first Community Police Academy concluded last week and about 30 residents who varied in age, ethnicity and neighborhood graduated from the six-week class.

Out on patrol Friday, San Bernardino police Officer Jose Loera, left, updates Westside Food & Liquor employee Bassem Hassanieh about a recent burglary. (Al Cuizon / Staff Photographer)

They got crash courses in crime analysis, SWAT training, graffiti investigations, traffic laws and how Internal Affairs processes complaints of police misconduct.

Karla Miles, a teacher at Riley Elementary, brought a dozen sets of parents to class with her to ease their uncertainty about police. She was delighted that the department provided a Spanish translator so the parents could fully understand.

Thomas McCaa, 65, is a former taxi cab driver and said he joined the academy to enhance "situational awareness" in his neighborhood and better learn how to lower crime in San Bernardino.

"There's a lot more people than there are police. We can't leave it all to them," he said. "I think most of the problem is the fear of the unknown. A little understanding on both sides can do a lot of good."

Police instructors said they also learned and appreciated the questions asked by attendees because it gave them insight into community concerns.

Homicide Sgt. Dave Dillon knows people are afraid of being labeled a snitch. He is no longer surprised when a witness refuses to identify a killer or even give a statement.

"People are afraid. They're scared to death to come forward," Dillon said. "But if they're not willing to cooperate, there's not much we can do."

"It's a shame. We have hundreds of unsolved cases that we can't solve because people won't talk to us."

stacia.glenn@inlandnewspapers.com, (909) 386-3887

Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer Posted: 11/08/2009 06:02:38 AM PST

To ensure students at San Bernardino High School do not experience gang violence or other negative influences as they walk to and from school, an area nonprofit is working with the school on a new safety program.

Young Visionaries, a nonprofit that helps youth stay on the right path, the mayor's office and high school staff are behind an effort to get Operation Safe Passage up and running.

"We know we live in a city that has its challenges, so this is a way to be proactive, to put eyes and ears in the community to keep students safe," said principal Sandra Rodriguez.

There have not been specific problems at the high school, but it is on the border of one of the city's most crime-ridden areas, where there were 65 felony arrests in October.

And incidents near the school have included a jogger targeting young women and students getting their pockets checked for cash, iPods and cell phones, said Roberto Martinez, program coordinator for Young Visionaries.

To make students feel safe the program will entail placing easily identifiable volunteers, wearing orange vests with the Operate Safe Passage logo, at locations near the school as students walk to and from school.

If the monitors see any signs of trouble they will use two-way radios to contact school police.

The high school and Young Visionaries had hoped to get the program under way in October.

But it needs volunteers, preferably people who live near the high school, to get off the ground.

The volunteers will need to go through background checks to ensure they do not have a history of violence or a criminal background.

So far, steps taken to start up Operation Safe Passage include creating a logo for the program.

The artwork, a large hand clasping a small hand in front of a backdrop of buildings, a city street and mountains, was created by San Bernardino High School student Fernando Sosa, before he recently graduated.

In addition to appearing on vests worn by monitors, the logo will be posted on some business and nonprofit windows in San Bernardino to let students know they can enter the offices, if they run into trouble.

Safe passage programs have meet with success in the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Moreno Valley Unified School District, said Martinez.

Khalid Shah, board member of the Regional Violence Prevention Coalition in Moreno Valley, said Safe Passage was created in the school district there after a fight at a middle school in 2007, that led to a parent being pulled from a car and knocked unconscious.

It has proven to be successful, with teachers reporting no major outbursts since, he said.

Eventually, organizers hope to see Operation Safe Passage implemented at other San Bernardino district schools.

"A safe community is a community where residents are actively engaged in keeping it safe," said San Bernardino City Unified School District Police Chief Gary Underwood. "So we hope to get this running by the end of this month."

Program urges youth to become advocates for social change

Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer Posted: 10/25/2009 07:02:32 AM PDT 

 Young Visionaries  a program that gives kids and parents more individualized attention in areas like anger and stress management and building potential that has had an impact on youth in the community," she said. "So we felt how can we get youth to be empowered to make changes in their own community."

Around 30 teens and their parents showed up at Friday night's orientation at the Young Visionaries office.

Parent Pete Hernandez, who was there with his son Sammy Hernandez, 12, said he came because it sounded like a good project for teens.

"I used to be involved with gangs and drugs myself, when I was around his age," he said. "So I want to see my son take the right path."

Teens who attended the orientation and enrolled in the project will attend an annual youth violence prevention/intervention leaders training retreat, help establish a youth and parent violence prevention council and attend community organizing and advocacy training with Congregrations Organized for Prophet Engagement, C.O.P.E.

In addition, they will attend creative writing workshops through The Let's Write Out Loud Program and develop a Pistols 2 Pencils online newsletter and a public television talk show, as well as participate in showcases, radio shows and concerts.

"I want my son to get involved in writing and other activities to utilize his hands in a better way," said Delita Woods, who attended with her son Chris Campbell, 15. "I really hope it is a life changing experience for him."

deborah.pfeiffer@inlandnewspapers.com

(909) 386-3879

YOUNG VISONARIES AWARDED $79,755 FROM CALIFORNIA ENDOWMENT FOR YOUTH ACTION CORE AGAINST VIOLENCE

  Young Visionaries Youth Leadership Academy has received an award from the California Endowment in the amount of $79,755 to target issues of gun violence. The award provides funding for the Youth Action Core Against Violence advocacy group, which is a youth led project that will advocate against issues of gun violence. The project will train local youth leaders on how make social changes in their local community. They will learn how to conduct community organizing activities, implement local advocacy strategies, and how to garner community support. Ultimately they want to impact political power bases to promote an awareness of and education centering on the issues of gun violence, illegal access to weapons, community risk factors, and resulting impacts. The group will use four key strategies:

·         Hosting an annual Youth Violence Prevention/Intervention Leaders training retreat

·         Establishing a Youth and Parent Violence Prevention Council that will work in conjunction with a project youth organizer to identify and develop outreach and education activities

·         Provide community organizing and advocacy training through a partnership with Congregations Organized for Prophet Engagement (COPE), Minister Sam Casey

·         Provide stipends to youth team leaders that assume leadership roles and make a significant contribution to the project

Young Visionaries Youth Organizer, Monette Miles will recruit youth and coordinate youth services with the support of a project advisory team. The grant proposal was inspired by the California 13 Cities Gang Prevention Network, which the City of San Bernardino is involved with. Young Visionaries CEO Terrance Stone and the San Bernardino Countywide Gangs and Drugs Task Force Coordinator Kimberly Epps are members of the City of San Bernardino network panel, and both wanted to initiate a project that empowered youth through skill building and training to be local leaders.  Terrance Stone noted, “This is an important issue that needs to be on the minds of everyone-youth, parents, politicians, you name it.”  His sentiments were echoed by Kimberly Epps who added, “Gun violence is a very real issue. As a Probation Officer I taught court ordered Weapons Diversion classes for ten years. Probation recognized this issue early on, and we were the first to offer local classes that informed youth and parents about the civil, social, and legal consequences of youth possessing guns, accessing guns within the home, and safe storage laws. This project will take the issue to a different level that will hopefully garner local system changes through youth action.”

###

Press release

Terrance Stone CEO

Young Visionaries Youth Leadership Academy

(909) 881-3382

April 24, 2009

Young Visionaries is the $7,500 recipient of a 2009 Community Impact Fund grant from The Community Foundation Serving Riverside & San Bernardino Counties. The From Corners to College (FCTC) Program will focus on youth who reside in the County of San Bernardino , who are between the ages of 14-18, are gang associated, and desire to participate in the program. The project goal is to assist high risk gang associated youth to find a way to receive the support that they and their families need to refrain from gang involvement and graduate from high school. This program will utilize several strategies to support the youth in the community. Each youth will be assessed for unmet needs, they will be assigned a volunteer mentor who will commit their time to each youth, each youth will be scheduled to meet and design an educational plan that reviews strategies to assist the youth in getting to the goal of graduation from high school, each youth will meet weekly for gang intervention and tutoring services, each youth will be required to complete 20 hours of community service yearly, and each family will be engaged in the process. The assumption is that if youth are engaged and supported in their environment the likelihood of graduation from high school increases and the likelihood of repeated criminal (gang) activity decreases.

These services also include access to a therapist, crisis intervention as a means of support for the family, and case management. Once the youth has been able to achieve positive outcomes they will be assigned a summer internship in the community. This program is unique in that its focus is on high risk gang associated youth who are often overlooked and underserved. There are a few programs that attempt to complete the same goals, but none that exist in the County of San Bernardino at this time. This program also utilizes summer internships in the community and emphasizes community service as a means towards pro-social ideology.

For more information Contact,

Terrance L. Stone
President/CEO
Young Visionaries Youth Leadership Academy
office (909) 881-3382

Actor Inspires Murphy Students With Real Story

Students at Bob Murphy County Community Day School could relate to Jason Finn as an actor watching the movie "Freedom Writers" on March 4. They embraced his message personally when he showed up to their campus following the screening.

"I went to a school like this," Finn told about 150 Murphy students in their packed multipurpose room. "I was 18 and basically had my last chance to get it right before I went off the deep end.

"I actually do care about you, because I've been in the same position you are right now."

Finn was brought to Murphy by Terrance Stone, president of the Young Visionairies Youth Leadership Academy in San Bernardino.

Stone said he felt that Finn's message and story, not to mention his role in the "Freedom Writers," would resonate with the Murphy students.

He was right. Following the movie, the students gave the movie rousing applause. The movie portrayed the true story of high school students in Long Beach who overcame tough circumstances to flourish academically because of a teacher and graduate from high school.

After Finn spoke to the students, most stayed after the presentation to have him sign autographs and meet him. "He gets paid a lot of money and yet he wanted to come and share his story with you," Principal George Bowser told his students. "Give him a round of applause."

The students did.

What turned Finn's life around, ironically, was getting shot, he said. He had been kicked out of his L.A. high school and had attended a continuation school. Finn said he realized he needed to stop living for himself and started living for his family, his little sister, his nephew, his mom.

It was soon after being shot that Finn was able to land a role in the movie, "Freedom Writers," in 2006. It was a video where his comments about being shot were seen that landed him an audition to play in the movie.

Finn told the Murphy students that they needed to have a vision of what they could become, develop a plan to make that vision possible and foster hope to make sure it happened.

"Don't be stupid," he said. "Y'all know the right way. Do it the right way."

Steve Lambert: Sharing 7 years of memories

Posted: 02/12/2009 10:19:41 PM PST

That incredible responsibility - and the even more incredible people I encountered along the way - made these past seven years the richest of my career. I won't try to name them all; I don't have the space and you don't have the time.

But there are a noteworthy few whose words and leadership will continue to inspire me moving forward - people such as retired Rabbi Hillel Cohn, Black Voice News co-publishers Hardy and Cheryl Brown, and retired county Schools Superintendent Herb Fischer.

I saw the way Stater Bros.' Jack Brown and Arrowhead Credit Union's Larry Sharp continually invested in their community - balancing their business responsibilities with an equally strong desire to make this a better place to live.

I admired the way Terrance Stone, Kent Paxton and Tom Dolan put the children of this community first - not always in harmony or with the support of those in power, but simply because it was the right thing to do.

I delighted in giving credit to those who sought none - Nora Taylor, a neighbor of mine and a tireless volunteer for the American Red Cross; Ed Keller and Oscar Gonzales, who for five years served on this newspaper's editorial board; and Stephanie Congdon, who quietly put her stamp on what only seems like every community outreach effort in the county.

There was "Danita," a mom who a week ago allowed me to share with you the story of a son lost to tragedy, reminding us all that life does, and must, move on.

It's an often painful reminder. When our paper decided to go beyond the bounds of traditional news coverage after Mynisha's death in November 2005, we were criticized by some for pushing the story too aggressively. It's a decision I'll stand by to this day, for it shined a necessary light on the problem of gang violence and encouraged the community to come together in a way it hadn't before.

Mynisha's life was short, but it will not be forgotten.

Nor, to me, will the countless community partners who made Mynisha's Circle a success. Again, there are far too many to name them all, but I'd be remiss if I didn't single out Reggie Beamon - pastor, activist, and, now, my friend.

I gained no shortage of those in my time here. No editor, no person, could ask for more.

Budget cuts hurt group

San Bernardino would cut $35,000 in funding to Young Visionaries Youth Leadership Academy if the City Council approves the current budget-cut proposal.

Young Visionaries is a gang-prevention program based in San Bernardino. It's led by former gang member Terrance Stone. Councilwoman Wendy McCammack and City Attorney James F. Penman sit on the organization's board of directors. Young Visionaries has also participated in youth-oriented events with the Police Officers Association.

Stone said the funding cutback will require Young Visionaries to rely on other funding sources, such as the U.S. Department of Justice, and will delay implementation of "The Firm," a program that would employ a group of mediators in an effort to defuse street disputes before gunshots ring out.

Study shows national increase in homicides involving black teens

Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer Posted: 01/14/2009 05:31:14 PM PST 
a former gang member who is now president of San Bernardino-based Young Visionaries Youth Leadership Academy, agreed that the stigma of gang membership has faded.

"One thing I've seen with gangs ... now it's more acceptable," Stone said, "It's not so much (that) you're an outcast anymore looking like a gang member."

Young Visionaries' mission is keeping youths out of gangs. The U.S. Department of Justice recently awarded Stone's group a $200,000 grant that is be used for efforts including employment training.

In terms of statistics, the Northeastern study finds that nationwide, the number of black male juvenile homicide victims increased by 31 percent from 2002 to 2007.

The number of homicide perpetrators within the same demographic group increased by 43 percent during the same time period.

In San Bernardino County, coroner's statistics show that homicides in which black male teens died as a result of homicide increased from 2003 to 2007.

In 2002, three black male teens were killed in homicides across the county. In 2007, that number had jumped to 13, the highest figure during that time span.

Within the county, San Bernardino may be the city that has seen the most severe youth violence in recent years, although City Hall officials issued a media release in November that trumpeted a decline in youth homicides.

According to that announcement, which was sent from Mayor Pat Morris' office, there were 18 juvenile homicide victims who were killed by gunfire from March 1, 2004 through June 30, 2006.

That figure declined to six such victims from July 1, 2006 through Oct. 31, 2008. Morris' office attributed the progress to the Operation Phoenix program, which includes a trio of new youth centers as well as heightened police patrols and partnerships with outside agencies like the ATF.

Seventh Ward City Councilwoman Wendy McCammack wasn't terribly impressed with the Northeastern study. She has questioned her city's ability to fund ambitious crime prevention programs and proposed that school districts are better positioned to lead youths away from violence.

"City governments' efforts can only pale in comparison to the money school districts have to fight and win over the youth crime issue," she wrote in an e-mail. "But I have always said that along with retraining and redirecting the very young, there must be money and training for the caregivers of those kids so that they see buy-in from both inside and outside the home."

Crime statistics aren't the only numbers that matter to policymakers, however. San Bernardino officials are looking at a current-year budget shortfall in the order of $12 million or so, and any program - no matter how promising - could be trimmed.

Sixth Ward Councilman Rikke Van Johnson said he wasn't surprised to hear the Northeastern Study called for increased prevention and intervention efforts and thinks the Phoenix approach is on the right track. Nevertheless, he has no illusions that he and others will have to make tough choices this year.

"It's going to be tough all around and we're going to have to evaluate anything," Johnson said. "There is going to be no sacred animal."

Mynisha: In death, she brought change to a beleaguered city that resonates still

Stacia Glenn, Andrew Edwards and Mike Cruz, Staff Writers Posted: 12/27/2008 07:09:28 AM PST
SAN BERNARDINO - She could have just been another dead child, slain far too young in a city overrun by gangs and their guns.

There have been so many. Too many, like Anthony Michael Ramirez and Traveil Williams and Jarred Mitchell.

But Mynisha Crenshaw's name has lived on since vengeful gangbangers opened fire on a run-down apartment as a family sat down to dinner.

At the time, when Mynisha drew her final breaths of life on the kitchen floor of an apartment complex where parents were afraid to let their children outside to play, few knew the name of the 11-year-old girl.

That would change.

Before long, Mynisha and the circumstances of her death became a focal point for the mayoral election. Outraged

Tonesha Williams, 32, right, sits on a stairwell at the Cedarwood Apartments in San Bernardino on Wednesday. The San Bernardino Police Department has closed the Mynisha Crenshaw case. The 11-year-old girl was shot and killed at the apartments by gang members on Nov. 13, 2005. (Gabriel Luis Acosta/Staff Photographer) marchers took to the street to rally against violence. The Sun pulled together a collection of the best and the brightest minds in the forging of Mynisha's Circle. Police rounded up a dozen gangbangers, any and all they could find who played even the tiniest role in the girl's death. And within five months, a U.S. senator uttered her name before Congress as part of an anti-crime bill.

Each time, the message was the same: Enough.

Of course, there have been more murders since Mynisha. There have been stumbles and missteps and political errors. The streets of San Bernardino remain tough and hard, and children continue to pledge allegiance to gangs and fall victim to them.

Yet, three years and one month since Mynisha died, the homicide rate has dropped, there are more programs available for kids and new policing strategies have pushed San Bernardino out of the top rankings of the nation's most dangerous cities.

The loss of innocence stayed on the city's collective consciousness for a while, but has since faded. Mynisha's killers have all been convicted on some level, ending the final chapter of this little girl's legacy.

But many remember. Some will never forget.

"We saw so many kids being killed. Those are the true innocent victims through senseless gang violence," said San Bernardino police Officer Travis Walker, a 14-year gang expert who testified at the Mynisha trials.

"Hopefully, the community doesn't lose sight of the fact that we need to still be vigilant in not letting gang crime continue to put fear into the city."

Revenge-minded killers

The shotcallers of a notorious gang - Pimps, Players, Hustlers and Gangsters - first hatched a retaliation plot in the fall of 2005 as low-level gangbangers washed cars feet away to raise money for funeral expenses of one of their own who had just been gunned down.

Then came Nov. 13, 2005.

Ten of the gangbangers swaggered toward the courtyard of the Cedarwood apartments, a dilapidated complex that offered tenuous shelter for those who couldn't afford more.

Shawn Davis fired at a man who dove for cover, believing it was a rival gang member. It turned out to be his cousin, Lucky Kelley.

Spooked by the gunshots that could have alarmed families cooking dinner inside roach-infested apartments, the PPHG crew turned to leave. That is, until Marquis Deshawn Taylor, a young hanger-on, pointed the gangbangers to Unit 22, insisting that's where the rival gang was hiding out.

Davis and a few others continued their retreat. One gangbanger was ordered to the corner in case cops cruised by. Then four pulled guns from their waistbands and sprayed the apartment just as Mynisha stood up to get her stepfather a taco.

Sixteen bullets from a 9 mm handgun, a 45-caliber handgun, a .22-caliber rifle and a 7.62 assault-style weapon drilled through the walls. One pierced Mynisha's chest, dropping her to the ground.

A little girl who worshipped Spongebob Squarepants and munched sunflower seeds paid the price for the carelessness and callousness of a street gang.

In the end, her death had another outcome: Who might have guessed that the shots sounded the eventual end of the gang's reign?

"I never thought this would snowball into actually arresting 12 people and basically crippling a street gang," said lead investigator Sgt. Gary Robertson. "This case just leapfrogged from one person to the next."

Authorities arrested the first PPHG member within a week. Judith Valles, then the mayor, announced that the city was in "full deployment." Police heavily patrolled the neighborhood and Robertson made the rounds, interrogating every gang member he could find.

A year later, a dozen PPHG members were in custody and many faced life sentences in prison.

This was a new benchmark for police and prosecutors alike. It's usually just the shooter and maybe an accomplice or two who take the heat in a homicide.

Deputy District Attorney Ron Webster said the number of suspects was "extraordinary" and Robertson believes it made department history for being the largest number of suspects arrested for the same murder.

"It went far beyond who pulled the trigger," Walker explained. "This wrapped up people who were involved in the planning process and acted as lookouts.

"It should be a model for conducting future investigations."

The investigation into PPHG sent many of its members scurrying into surrounding towns and the High Desert, seeking relief from police who asked too many questions.

Today, it's unknown how many of the 100 or so members remain in San Bernardino.

"The mere nature of the crime is not well-received in the gang community," Walker said. "There was so much that was put into this, so much pressure, that it really drove this gang out of the city."

Evidence in the thousands

The investigation generated thousands of pages of police reports, witness interviews, jail calls and crime scene documentation. At court hearings leading up to the trials, Webster often gave the bevy of defense lawyers stacks of new discovery and dozens of recorded discs.

Although Webster can list from memory details of the case, it wasn't always his burden to push through courtroom after courtroom in search of justice for Mynisha.

It started with then-lead prosecutor Cheryl Kersey, who received death threats over the case before handing the case to Webster and moving to a judge's seat.

Webster had 2,500 pages of reports and court transcripts to plow through. Then he had to scan 1,000 photographs to piece together the crime scene.

"You've got to go through quite a lot just to get a sense of what you have to work with," Webster said.

The three trials are now over and 11 of the 12 defendants were sentenced this month.

Four of the defendants - reputed street gang godfather Sidikiba Greenwood, high-ranking leader Sinque Morrison, Michael Barnett Jr. and Harold Phillips - have all been convicted in jury trials and sentenced to state prison. Three others, Davis, Patrick Lair and Alonzo Monk, took plea bargains that required them to cooperate with prosecutors and testify at trials.

Five other defendants, Tyshon Harris, Baybra Edwards, Khaalis Atkins, Marquis Taylor and Royal Small, took plea bargains with prison sentences.

The case is effectively over in Superior Court.

Small has yet to be sentenced but is in custody in Riverside County, where he awaits trial on three felony charges of possessing a firearm with a juvenile conviction, possessing stolen property and possessing a firearm within 10 years of a conviction, according to Superior Court records.

The four defendants who went to trial may now take their cases to the Appellate Court where they will attempt to appeal their convictions.

Webster has already received notice from one of the men, Phillips, requesting an extension of time.

It could be years before any of the cases are sent back to Superior Court, if Appellate Court judges find the cause to do so. So for him, the case remains in the back of his mind.

"I'm just keenly aware that it's not over," Webster said.

Politics of tragedy

Death was no stranger in San Bernardino when Mynisha fell. The city suffered 58 homicides in 2005, and the child could have been but one more name added to the list.

But Mynisha's killing was different. Rather than occassioning mere lip service to the "tough on crime" mantra that looks good on political mailers, the tragedy served as a catalyst for actual debates on what the city leaders needed to do to stem the violence.

"I'm not so sure it had an effect on the politics so much as it had on city officials to sit up and pay attention," said 7th Ward Councilwoman Wendy McCammack.

The violent death of a child was something that could not be ignored in the midst of San Bernardino's mayoral campaign.

The two men competing for the Mayor's Office, Pat Morris and James F. Penman, both seized upon the city's crime problem during the campaign's home stretch.

Penman, the city attorney, argued soon after Mynisha's shooting that the city needed to declare a state of emergency. He spoke in the language of counterforce. Get tough. Get tough now.

He still feels that way.

"We need 100 more police officers than we have," Penman said.

But it was Morris who won. Still a San Bernardino Superior Court judge during the campaign, Morris pitched "Operation Phoenix." The three-pronged proposal had something for everybody, blending suppression (more police), intervention (heightened code enforcement) and prevention (recreation programs for children).

Although Morris and Penman agree that Mynisha's death crystalized San Bernardino's crime problem as the key issue in their 2005 campaign, the men have distinctly differing worldviews.

Both agree that San Bernardino needs robust law enforcement, but Morris sees the city's current crime problems largely as a failure that stems from officials' past unwillingness or inability to reduce factors that contribute to crime.

He sees Phoenix as a policy framework that respects the role of police while also relying upon such work as youth-focused programs to educate children against drugs and gangs.

"We need to continue with that strong effort. They (police) are the first responders. The tragedy is, we've been using suppression literally as our only response over the past several decades," Morris said.

Penman, by contrast, doesn't dismiss the goals of Phoenix, although he has questioned whether crime prevention programs have been effectively managed. He also maintains that the kinds of social programs promoted by Morris can't produce results in the short term and that previous and current city leaders have not done enough to reduce crime by targeting illegal parolee housing or providing even more resources to the Police Department.

Crime "goes up and down and it doesn't go up and down as a function of any programs. It's more a function of whose on the streets," Penman said.

Although Police Department statistics for 2008 show substantial declines in crime, including murders, Penman said many people living in the city do not feel safe.

"The anecdotal evidence is so strong," he said.

Fearful city awakens

Morris took office in March, two days after a riot at the National Orange Show Events Center reinforced the idea that San Bernardino was spinning out of control.

But the city was also anxious for new leadership and 2006 was in many ways, Morris' year.

Operation Phoenix launched to initial acclaim when city leaders established a new youth recreation center and the mayor appeared at a series of block parties in some of San Bernardino's more crime-afflicted neighborhoods.

At the same time, beginning in December 2005, leaders from the community, both elected and some considered influential in their neighborhoods, gathered routinely to work on a grassroots effort that became known as Mynisha's Circle.

The idea was first pitched by The Sun, and many quickly signed on for the evening gatherings at the newspaper's office. Many ideas came out of the sessions, some of which took a strong hold.

In early 2006, Sen. Barbara Boxer, the influential California Democrat, hatched the idea of Mynisha's Law from the roundtable discussions of how to combat crime against San Bernardino children.

Clutching a picture of Mynisha, Boxer introduced the bill in April 2006, which would create a federal task force to work toward reducing gang violence in the most at-risk communities. After some struggles of its own, Boxer got the bill passed by the Senate in the fall of 2007. The House followed suit.

While the city's political agenda seemed to rest in Morris' hands, 2006 was far from an era of good feelings. Critics of the mayor's approach argued that Morris was not tough enough - the block parties were derided as hot dogs and Cokes for criminals.

More serious was the city's growing death toll. The optimism that suffused Morris' first weeks in office was soon countered by the bloody reality that youths were dying in San Bernardino.

There was Anthony Michael Ramirez, shot by a teenager while playing basketball at Martin Luther King Middle School.

Traveil Williams, 16, was slain over a cell phone.

Jarred Mitchell, 14, was practicing dance moves with his friends in the street when a hail of bullets from a passing car took his life.

The crimes added impetus to the drive to stop crime. Morris and the City Council asked residents to contribute to the cause by agreeing to a new tax.

Measure Z added one-fourth cent to the city's sales tax to fund new police officers. Officials promised 40 new cops to the city's voters and the public accepted the deal, passing Measure Z during the November 2006 election.

Voters also passed Measure YY, which seemed to affirm their confidence in the mayor's anti-crime strategy by advising elected officials to use some of the new money for crime prevention programs.

Politics is never that simple though. An advisory measure has all the force of a light breeze and when it came time to divvy up the new tax revenues, the first batch of money was allocated to hire new cops and give current police officers better equipment.

Stumbles follow successes

Youth programs got lost in the shuffle, and the decision to deny Measure Z funds to Phoenix-related endeavors was Morris' biggest political defeat in 2006.

Morris said that this year's double-digit declines in major crimes (including a 46 percent drop in homicides) testify to the success of Phoenix. But when asked if he could have done anything different during his time as mayor, Morris said he would have asked the voters to require city officials to spend Measure Z dollars on crime prevention programs.

"When I wrote Measure Z and it went out for a vote, I didn't expect it would get a 70 percent thumbs up," Morris said.

Morris pledged an expanded Operation Phoenix and the City Council last year gave a fraction of Measure Z revenues to the program, establishing new Phoenix centers on the Westside and in the eastern part of the San Bernardino.

As 2008 took shape, crime appeared to be on a gradual decline, but that bit of good news has been met with the sobering fact that the economy is declining.

City officials spent months debating the budget, coming close to axing the police helicopter patrols that were inaugurated in 2006. Although the council remained committed to using Measure Z funds to hire new police officers, the tax revenues were used to backfill lost monies and preserve support positions within the Police Department, diminishing the tax's capacity to enhance law enforcement.

Making things even more complicated, a recreation official who supervised the flagship Operation Phoenix youth center was arrested in July on suspicion of child molestation.

Mike Miller, a recreation supervisor, was brought on as part of the Phoenix program soon after the initiative was put into action. During Phoenix's first two years, Miller was a popular figure who had a civic reputation that was bolstered by his experience as a youth baseball umpire and Police Department volunteer.

To say his arrest July 3 caught the city by surprise would be an understatement.

Miller's arrest triggered criticism of Phoenix as news reports made it clear that Phoenix had a split chain of command and placed heavy demands on a long cash-starved parks department. The youth centers were not the be-all and end-all of Phoenix, but were the most prominent part of the program.

Phoenix continues, and its proponents say the program's emphasis on collaboration between city, county and nonprofit service providers as vast improvement over the kinds of interactions that occurred before Phoenix's launch.

For the forseeable future, San Bernardino's crime fighting efforts will be hampered by a recession that threatens to starve City Hall of tax revenues. Still, Morris said that he believes reducing crime is what San Bernardino residents demand most from their politicians.

"We've got miles to go on this issue, to quote Robert Frost, `We've got miles to go before we sleep."'

Reality vs. hope

Surely, Mynisha's childhood dream wasn't to sacrifice her life to galvanize a community desperately in need of a face of hope in violent times.

Sometimes though, the facts of despair and loss can drive change.

Today, the case is closed, her killers sit in prison and city officials have made headway in cutting down crime. But Mynisha is dead, and her family mourns the loss.

It was worth far more to them than the $17,313.35 a judge ordered the defendants to pay Mynisha's mother.

The family, who was so frightened by the gang killing that they rarely showed up in court, long ago moved out of the Cedarwood apartment they'd lived in for six days before Mynisha was shot. They remain in hiding.

"I wish you could put things back the way they were," Webster said. "Nothing will bring her back."

Most would agree that much has changed since Mynisha's slaying - some for the better, some for the worse.

"When it happened, it had a great impact because a lot of people rallied to it," Terrence Stone, president of Young Visionaries Youth Leadership Academy, said referring specifically to Mynisha's Circle.

But Stone also remembers the violence that hit San Bernardino in the months after Mynisha's shooting when other youths were murdered. And now, the immediacy of what happened at a Del Rosa area apartment in November 2005 has faded from the city's consciousness.

"A lot of people just kind of fell off and went to do their own thing," Stone said.

And now, 37 months after Mynisha's death, the city remains forever altered by her tale.

Authorities hope her story will be a deterrent for youngsters toying with the idea of joining a gang.

After all, it is an epitome of hopelessness, the very thing community members and city officials have been fighting against. Faces and places of the Mynisha case

The apartment complex

Mynisha Crenshaw's memory was not on the minds of tenants and others interviewed the afternoon of Christmas Eve at the Cedarwood apartments.

Mynisha lived in Apartment 22, a unit that looks out on a vacant lot and a water utility's yard. But three years after her murderers opened fire into the apartment, the crime was less than a distant memory to those who moved in to Cedarwood well after the the girl's death.

"It's cool right here," said Freddy Robles, 24. "There's no significant thing going on here."

Robles said he has lived at the complex for about two months and doesn't worry about his safety. Police are often nearby, but life isn't hectic.

"They're (cops) are always out here, but they just sit out here and wait for something to happen," he said.

On the same afternoon, a young man wearing a bright red T-shirt stood outside the complex in an atmosphere scented by the unmistakable smell of marijuana smoke.

He declined to reveal his name but registered his satisfaction that Mynisha's killers were convicted in a court of law.

"Justice was served," he said before adding, "People get what they deserve."

Another resident, Tonesha Williams, said she has only lived at the Cedarwood Apartments for about nine months. She wasn't familiar with the November 2005 shooting but said she has felt the pain of homicide - her 21-year-old cousin died after being shot eight times in Los Angeles.

"Their mothers are truly hurt from that," she said regarding juvenile victims.

"I hate violence," she added.

The mayor

Mayor Pat Morris was still a candidate and a Superior Court judge when Mynisha Crenshaw was slain.

"That tragedy really did document or highlight the tragedy of juvenile violence in our city," Morris said.

"She was the epitome of innocence," he went on. "She wasn't a gang member. She wasn't involved in any of the gang sets in our city."

The child's death led to Morris and his opponent, City Attorney James F. Penman, to focus on crime during the last months of the 2005-06 mayoral campaign.

Crime remains a central issue in San Bernardino politics.

Voices like Morris' contend that a reinforced Police Department assigned to patrolling streets and solving crimes also needs a robust offering of youth services that can help steer young people away from drugs and gangs before they wind up as a suspect or a victim.

Penman and others reply that although social services may reap long-term benefits, San Bernardino still faces an immediate need to invest more resources into fighting crime.

Policy debates aside, Morris said San Bernardino still has a lot of work to do before the city can escape its reputation as a place of violence.

"We still have a long ways to go before we can brag about the day when we have no children gunned down," the mayor said.

The activists

Terrance Stone, president of Young Visionaries Youth Leadership Academy, thinks Mynisha Crenshaw's death shocked San Bernardino into taking stock of the city's crime problem.

"When it happened, it had a great impact because a lot of people rallied to it," he said, referring to Mynisha's Circle, a group of community figures that The Sun convened to address gang violence.

Stone said his involvement with Mynisha's Circle led to a Westside community figure, the Rev. Reggie Beamon, who is now chairman of Young Visionaries' board. Beamon and Stone are both ex-gang members involved in anti-violence efforts around San Bernardino.

Beamon said that although San Bernardino's crime statistics show a drop in violence in 2008, he's concerned that a new generation of youths needs to be taught that gang membership is a destructive lifestyle.

"We have to do more because there's a whole new wave of kids," Beamon said.

The prosecutor

Several months had passed in the deadly shooting of 11-year-old Mynisha Crenshaw before prosecutor Ron Webster was assigned to the case.

Previously, Webster was just one of the many other people countywide who heard about the young girl's death.

Days after Mynisha died, residents and community leaders held a vigil and marched in the streets around the apartment complex where the shooting took place, near Mountain Avenue and Citrus Street.

Webster recalled walking with the group, seeing the apartment building where the girl and her family lived.

There was a sense that "this has gone too far. We need to do something to take our neighborhood back," Webster said.

The bullet holes in the stucco had been patched up and painted over.

He remembered standing on the sidewalk, in front of the building, and thinking about what had happened there.

There was no anger or hostility from the other walkers about the shooting. Community members simply wanted a safe environment where they could raise their children, free from the violence and street gangs in the area, the prosecutor recalled.

The investigator

He's a homicide detective turned patrol supervisor, but he couldn't mentally swap duties until he had his own "Dirty Dozen" behind bars.

Police Sgt. Gary Robertson kept peppering members of Pimps, Players, Hustlers and Gangsters with questions about the November 2005 shooting of an 11-year-old girl until he rounded up everyone thought to play a role.

The largest suspect case in the Police Department's history includes the shooter, the lookout and everyone who helped plan the shooting targeted at a rival gang member.

"It didn't 100 percent consume me but it never went away. There was always more digging and researching and people to find," Robertson said. "I had 11 people in custody but I wanted 12 so I could call them a `dirty dozen."'

After more than three years of interviews, Robertson arrested the 12 gang members considered responsible for the death of Mynisha Crenshaw.

He interviewed seven in the circle of suspects before then but couldn't hold them because of a lack of evidence.

That all changed when Robertson took that first phone call from jail. He rode the case out of the homicide division he spent 14 years in and a year into his new patrol assignment.

"There is no doubt in my mind that this was the case of my lifetime," Robertson said. Defendants in the Mynisha case

Name: Sidikiba Greenwood
Age: 37
Involvement: Founder of PPHG gang, mastermind behind shooting, distributed weapons.
Status: Serving 95 years to life with two consecutive life sentences in prison.

Name: Sinque Beiama Morrison
Age: 33
Involvement: Planned shooting, distributed weapons, shot at Mynisha's apartment with .45-caliber handgun (five casings found).
Status: Serving 109 years to life in prison.

Name: Patrick Henry Lair
Age: 30
Involvement: Acted as lookout. Testified for prosecution.
Status: Released after spending 1,277 days in jail.

Name: Michael Barnett Jr.
Age: 22
Involvement: Shot at Mynisha's apartment with .22-caliber rifle (one casing found).
Status: Serving 101 years to life in prison.

Name: Harold Lee Phillips
Age: 26
Involvement: Shot at Mynisha's apartment with 7.62 assault-style weapon (one casing found).
Status: Serving 94 years and four months to life in prison.

Name: Shawn Lamont Davis
Age: 21
Involvement: Shot man in apartment complex before Mynisha was killed. Testified for prosecution.
Status: Released after serving 1,277 days in jail.

Name: Tyshon Karrien Harris
Age: 23
Involvement: Shot at Mynisha's apartment with a 9 mm handgun (nine casings found).
Status: Serving 15 years in prison.

Name: Alonzo Jeffrey Monk
Age: 26
Involvement: Went to Mynisha's apartment but left before the shooting. Testified for prosecution.
Status: Released after spending 1,277 days in jail.

Name: Marquis DeShawn Taylor
Age: 20
Involvement: Pointed PPHG members to Mynisha's apartment.
Status: Serving 10 years in prison.

Name: Baybra Edwards
Age: 35
Involvement: May have been present during planning stage of shooting.
Status: Serving three years and four months in prison.

Name: Khaalis Atkins
Age: 31
Involvement: May have been present during planning stage of shooting.
Status: Serving three years in prison.

Name: Royal Small
Age: 30
Involvement: May have been present during planning stage of shooting.
Status: Awaiting sentencing. In Riverside County jail on unrelated charge. TIMELINE

PURPOSE

Assist the Lead Teacher in planning and implementing lesson plans, incorporating all component Plans, and leading large and small groups of children; as well as assist in coordinating and conducting developmental screenings, health services, and may involve family services, depending on the number of scheduled hours for the position, including family visits and participate in planning, training, and parent meetings.

REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS

Reports To: Program Supervisor

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Be familiar with the component work plans, the YVYLA Performance Standards, YVYLA Personnel Rules, and the YVYLA Policy and Procedures Manual.

• Provide support in all areas of the recreation center maintaining a clean, safe, and cheerful environment; as well as assist conducting developmental screenings, observations of children's behavior, and in developing Individual Learning Plans (ILPs) for each child, including evaluations.

• Prepare materials as needed to carry out the weekly lesson plans.

• Develop and maintain a positive relationship with the children, their families, and volunteers; ensure that all feel welcome, and receive on-the-job training and communicate with parents on a regular basis.

• Attend staff meetings; assist in developing the weekly lesson plans, and overall program activities (e.g., arts and crafts, dramatic play, story time, cooking, music, fine and gross motor, etc.).

• Manage small groups of children, and evaluate activities regarding appropriateness and effectiveness and interest of the children.

• Provide support in implementing the component work plans including education, health, handicap services, and family and community partnership.

• Be prepared to assume the duties of the Program Supervisor in her/his absence.

• Assist Program Supervisor in completing all required reports and distributing them to the appropriate people at the appropriate time; and assist in maintaining up-to-date files for all children, safeguarding privacy of records and confidential information.

• Assist in recruiting and enrolling eligible children and collecting all needed.

• May participate in on-site and out-of-town training sessions (may include evenings and weekends).

• Responsible for obtaining a substitute aide whenever possible when unable to report to work, first checking for parents as volunteers.

• May assist in completing janitorial duties.

• Perform other duties as assigned.

NECESSARY SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

• Ability to work with families from all socio-economic levels.

• Ability to work as a team with co-workers.

• Knowledge of applicable state and federal laws and requirements.

• Ability to work effectively with executives, managers, supervisors, employees, and employee representatives.

• Knowledge of program rules and requirements.

Program Supervisor

JOB SUMMARY

Under supervision, incumbents supervise direct service delivery to clients and families. Coordinates and supervises the daily operation of a program, implements treatment plans, supervises and trains staff, maintains regulatory and/or licensing standards, program manager as needed, and maintains program budget and financial records (i.e., special funds, petty cash, etc.).

RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES

1. Works closely with staff providing training, coaching, support and evaluation.

2. Implement treatment plans under supervision and program manager.

3. Applies sensitivity to cultural differences in managing situations and interacting with clients and families.

4. Completes client evaluations and incident reports as required with a view to providing clinical staff with thorough information.

5. Maintains and monitors site budget.

6. Ensures licensing and regulatory standards, as appropriate, are met.

7. Interfaces with outside agencies (e.g., Juvenile Probation, DFCS, schools, etc.) about the status of clients; may act as an advocate for client.

8. Completes reporting as required, including use of agency information systems.

9. Other related responsibilities, as assigned, to support specific department/business needs.

CORE KNOWLEDGE COMPETENCIES

„h Exhibits understanding of emergency response techniques appropriate to the position.

„h Adheres to YVYLA mandates, policies and procedures.

CORE SKILL COMPETENCIES

„h Demonstrates safe work practices and exercise discrete judgment.

„h Actively works toward organizational improvement and professional growth.

„h Focuses on understanding and meeting customer needs.

CORE ABILITIES

Ability to:

„h Maintain standards of confidentiality.

„h Maintain positive work relationships in a respectful and collaborative manner.

„h Maintain good communication to ensure others have necessary information.

„h Maintain self-initiative, reliability, and resolve problems in a timely manner.

„h Sensitivity to working with culturally diverse populations.

QUALIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge,

skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions.

Minimum Education and/or Experience

A combination of education and experience equivalent to a Bachelor of Arts or Science in behavioral science Current First Aid/CPR Certification

 LCSW or MSW

EXAMPLES OF DUTIES:

Keeping children safe

Juvenile justice officials honor those helping kids Jason Pesick, Staff Writer Article Launched: 10/08/2008 09:51:52 PM PDT
counseling for victims.

Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties, which offers educational programs about reproductive health, body image, nutrition and domestic violence.

Youth Alternative Solutions Program, which aids teenagers arrested on drug and alcohol-related offenses.

Individual award recipients were:

Karen Bell, chief deputy district attorney for the juvenile division, who has worked to stop truancy.

Martin Chavez, who distributes food at Adelanto-based Community Tool Box, runs the Adelanto Youth Connection and Adelanto Youth Leadership programs.

Malcolm Driggs of the County Schools Alliance for Education, who works with business, labor and other community leaders so students can learn about various professions.

G. Christopher Gardner, chief deputy public defender, who has worked on various juvenile delinquency issues and other youth-related ventures.

Rich Randolph, a Colton police officer, who started the Cops `N' Jocks program, which works to bring high school students together with police officers.

Terrance Stone, founder of the nonprofit Young Visionaries, which runs anti-gang programs.

Awards fete service to youth

By Jason Pesick, Staff Writer Article Launched: 10/08/2008 08:54:45 PM PDT
counseling for victims.

Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties, which offers educational programs about reproductive health, body image, nutrition and domestic violence.

Youth Alternative Solutions Program, which aids teenagers arrested on drug and alcohol-related offenses.

Individual award recipients were:

Karen Bell, chief deputy district attorney for the juvenile division, who has worked to stop truancy.

Martin Chavez, who distributes food at Adelanto-based Community Tool Box, runs the Adelanto Youth Connection and Adelanto Youth Leadership programs.

Malcolm Driggs of the County Schools Alliance for Education, who works with business, labor and other community leaders so students can learn about various professions.

G. Christopher Gardner, chief deputy public defender, who has worked on various juvenile delinquency issues and other youth-related ventures.

Rich Randolph, a Colton police officer, who started the Cops `N' Jocks program, which works to bring high school students together with police officers.

Terrance Stone, founder of the nonprofit Young Visionaries, which runs anti-gang programs.

jason.pesick@inlandnewspapers.com

(909) 386-3861.

August 12, 2008

Rest in Peace Bo Taylor

The late "Bo" Taylor (left) with Terrance Stone

Among those mourning Monday's death of Darren "Bo" Taylor is Terrance Stone of Young Visionaries Youth Ministries in San Bernardino.
"Man, that was a good dude," Stone told me this afternoon. "He was my mentor. He was the one I called for advice whenever I needed it."
Taylor gained fame as a former Los Angeles gang member turned interventionist. He crusaded against gang violence, working the streets, hosting a radio show and helping to organize, with USC's Pete Carroll, UNITY One, which focuses on intervention and prevention.
He died of cancer.
"I remember when I was still in gang, and he had this intervention thing going, and it helped convince me to turn things around," Stone said.
Today, Young Visionaries is among the most respected gang intervention efforts in the San Bernardino area. When Stone and his group held the first Mynisha's Circle awards ceremony at Cal State San Bernardino in May 2007, Taylor made sure he attended. He also paid Stone's tuition at Cal State LA.
"His personal honesty, his opinion, meant so much to me and others."

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