The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California • Page 9

Inside: Woman arrested in husband's slayingB2 Inside: Education secretary says don't knock schoolsB3 BUSINESS Valentine's Day going r)igh-techB8 InlandEmpbre Catharine Hamm Asst. Managing EditorMetro (909) 386-3874 Fax (909) 885-8741 The Sun Section Saturday February 12, 1994 Metro Final Pedestrians call Yucaipa crosswalk a danger zone Safety of the intersection several times," said Rash, who is blind. Sgt. Lee Watkins, who tracks statistics for Yucaipa Police, said the intersection doesn't have an excessive amount of accidents. Rash, who plans to take his complaints to the Yucaipa City Council on Monday, may not have to wait long for action.

After hearing of the complaints and accidents, City Engineer John McCarty sent out a traffic engineer Friday afternoon to evaluate the problems. In the first three quarters of 1993 the latest statistics available there were four or five accidents at the intersection, none of them involving pedestrians, he said. tersection while walking toward Jack In The Box. She was in satisfactory condition with several broken bones at Loma Linda Community Hospital on Friday evening. Residents say the intersection is dangerous to pedestrians in a number of ways.

"I've been nearly knocked over two to three times," said Hilda Martin, a community volunteer who doesn't drive. "We aren't 6- and 7-year-olds anymore. I'm nearly 84, and I don't walk as well as I used to." Part of the problem is that north and southbound pedestrians cross with the vehicles, she said. If a vehicle wants to turn, those on foot are in peril. Where to call People with complaints about street problems in Yucaipa can call the city's public works department: (909) 797-2489, Ext.

228 He knocked us both over. (Witt) got a concussion out of it; her head hit the pavement." Instead of going to Yucaipa Health Foods to pick up some vitamins on Feb. 4, they landed at Redlands Community Hospital. On Friday morning, Bertha Cody, 81, was hit at the same in Crashed pad Jose Clemente, community integration coordinator for ABLE, said the signal doesn't give walkers enough time to cross. ABLE, which stands for Adult Basic Learning Environment, provides educational programs for devel-opmentally disabled adults, who often walk slowly or are in wheelchairs.

Johnnie Sue Klein, an owner of Yucaipa Health Foods, said she walks pretty fast at the intersection, but the light usually changes on her. Tom Rash, executive director for Audio Vision Radio Reading Service for the Blind, which is in the Yucaipa Center, said the intersection's corners don't line up a problem for the blind. "I've ended up in the middle GINA FERAZZIThe Sun IHlogDD wdddgDs EdiDD dhaiiniQG fiw raliroiFailD The Santa Anawinds that WEATH ER buffeted the Southland are MVS Otho Walker of San Bernardino picks up some belongings after a car careened into his home on North Pepper Avenue on Friday afternoon. Police said the accident occurred when a car heading south on Pepper collided with a van traveling west on Etiwanda. The crash sent the car skidding across Walker's front lawn and into his house.

No one was injured. expected to continue; they should eliminate any chances for rain on Sunday or Monday. BySULIPSA LUQUE Sun Staff Writer It was business almost as usual for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's aviation deputies Friday except for the bumpy ride they got maneuvering their helicopters through winds gusting to 40 mph. "This is the time of the year when we get those Santa Ana winds blowing from the north right through the Cajon Pass," said Deputy Brian Miller. "We've been flying all day.

It's just bumpy, and that can get pretty annoying alter a while." The winds that buffeted the Southland on Friday are expected to continue today, blowing away any chances for rain on Sunday or Monday. While the strength of Friday's winds could be seen in the swaying treetops, deputies used a more precise measuring device to determine speed and direction. The gauge on the roof of their hanger at the Rialto Airport recorded steady winds of 20 to 30 mph and gusts to 40 mph. Miller said. The weak weather front that preceded the winds brought light rain to the San Bernardino Valley early Friday and dense fog and light snow to the San Bernardino Mountains.

The fog froze in the treetops as the cold winds Housing By Cindy Yinost Trie Sun's Yucaipa Bureau YUCAIPA Former Yucaipa Postmaster John Cummings and His friend, MaryAnn Witt, were walking to a store when they learned just how dangerous crossing Yucaipa Boulevard can be. "A couple of cars had gone by just as we stepped off the curb," said Cummings, 85, who is legally blind but has some peripheral vision. Witt, 56, also is blind with ljmited tunnel vision. "Here we were in the middle of the crosswalk. had the green light and two white canes.

I looked up and here's this car coming at me. He couldn't stop. I Government Council debates broker's projects By Cerise A. Valenzuela Sun Staff Writer COLTON City Council members met behind closed doors Friday night to discuss Wednesday's indictment of real estate broker Allan Steward and his involvement with at least two proposed projects in the city. After the 35-minute meeting, the council said it would ask the San Bernardino District Attorney to investigate "certain matters of concern." City Attorney Julie Biggs and council members at the meeting would not comment on whether they were concerned about Steward's ties with the city.

Council members Deirdre Bennett and Connie Cisneros did not attend. Steward, president and chief executive officer of San Bernardino-based Steward and Associates Commercial Real Estate, has accepted $380,000 from Colton for his work on the city's planned community center and outlet mall. I He and former Coachella Mayor Jesus Gonzalez were arraigned Wednesday in Riverside Municipal Court on bribery charges stemming from their involvement in a Coachella land deal. Biggs said she recommended the council meet in special session because of lawsuits the city could face or consider filing. She would not elaborate.

Colton City Manager Jerry Young denied that council members were worried about their relationship with Steward. "If there was a panic there would have been a meeting this morning," he said. Steward and his attorney were at City Hall but did not attend the closed-session. Steward declined to comment on the charges against him or on his projects with Colton. His attorney, Zo Taylor-Rees, said she was not at the meeting to discuss any of Steward's Colton dealings but to say his role in the Coachella case involved "normal land sale and negotiations." Steward landed a $4.3 million deal in December to build Col-ton's community center.

The deal included an advance payment of m'bre than $150,000. jii He also serves as a broker for (M city's planned 70-acre outlet rftall. The property owners agreed by contract to pay him a hefty commission after the sale was complete, but when the deal foil through, his $230,000 commission was paid by the Colton redevelopment agency. nu Steward also has an eight-acre retail home furnishing center planned for San Bernardino. The city gave him a $2.5 million loan for the project after several rrj'tjjpr banks denied thjt loan.

y4 the Box larl in Yucaipa Blvd. YUCAIPA Yucaipa oenter 55 Ave. The signal could be adjusted to give pedestrians more crossing time, he said. "If the pedestrian cycle is too short, that's something that's very easily adjusted." Uw flying all day. It's just bumpy, and that can get pretty annoying after a Brian Miller Sheriffs deputy moved in, and mountain residents awoke to a glittery landscape.

No major problems were reported as a result of the winds. "These winds are not strong enough to cause serious damages. They just make driving kind of hard," said National Weather Service meteorologist Debra Ro-minger. Earlier in the week, forecasters had called for a chance of rain on Sunday, extending into Monday. But that storm will pass to the north, leaving Southern California with clear skies for the weekend.

Highs in the San Bernardino Valley will be in the 60s. Mountains will be in the 30s to 40s today and Sunday, while the High Desert will be in the 40s and 50s. The fair weather is expected to continue into the early part of next week, forecasters said Friday. High cloudiness may return by Wednesday. Smog votes to approve the proposal.

With some members leaving early and others absent, the count came up short, he said. Trimming emissions of the 117 proposed chemicals over 10 years could cost 330 or so large companies and hundreds of small ones about $10 million. Many Southland businesses say the proposed regulation is not cost-effective and is based on overestimated cancer risks. Air quality officials say businesses in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties account for 51 percent of all toxic emissions from major facilities in California. Residents in the area face a cancer risk of at least 10 in 1 million.

Atwood estimates that 200 cancer cases in the Southland are linked each year to pollution. Stater Bros. REDLANDS Live Oak Cyn. Rd ui.m.,,1 Residents irked by housing notice By Steven Church The Sun's Redlands Bureau REDLANDS An official-looking notice about a low-income housing project proposed for upscale Live Oak Canyon has drawn fire from residents, who say the one-page flier is misleading. The notice, left in mailboxes of residents living near the proposed 410-unit development, claims that the project will be approved automatically in 60 days if city officials don't vote on the proposal by then.

"It's sort of like it's from the city of Redlands or the county or some agency," said Theodora Banta, who thought the flier meant the project was nearly ready to be built. "I was shocked that it had gone this far and there had been no notice or anything about it." City Attorney Dan McHugh said the notice did not come from the city. He also said the claim that the city has only 60 days to review the project is untrue. The flier cites a section of the state's development code that requires cities to consider all building projects within one year of the project's submission to the city. But in this case, officials are exempt from the time limit because the project requires changes in Redlands' general plan, the blueprint for all development in the city, McHugh said.

"I don't understand the reason for. the announcement because it is the city's position that the (state law) doesn't apply," he said. The project's developer, Stephen Selinger, did not return phone calls. Bob Roberts, a Redlands real estate broker and a friend of the developer, said Selinger thinks the city must approve his project because of an obscure state law regarding low- and moderate-income housing. Under that law any city that does not have an updated and state-approved housing element as part of its general plan cannot deny any low-income housing developments, Roberts said.

McHugh declined to comment on Roberts' claim. The current proposal is for 328 houses and 82 apartments, with 20 percent set aside for low- and moderate-income families. That has upset many nearby residents. "It's a negative project. There is absolutely no value to this project what-so-ever," said Jack Ses-sums, who owns 14 adjacent acres.

"It's a little bit of Moreno Valley right here in Redlands." Selinger has sparred with the city over how many homes he can build on the 254 acres he owns in the canyon. Smog board delays vote on emissions OKs transit center BySULIPSA LUQUE Sun Staff Writer The regional smog board couldn't come up with the votes Friday to approve toxic-emission rules that would cost Southland businesses millions of dollars, so it put off a decision until March. But before it did, the South Coast Air Quality Management District board heard from about 250 people from business, environmental and neighborhood groups. Six hours later, the public hearing was closed. "Basically they waived the vote until next month after they were not able to pass the present proposal or an alternate proposal," said Sam Atwood, a district spokesman.

"What this means is that they have closed the miblic hearing. Trffld the vote will be the first item on the agenda March 1 1." The board needajl seven of 12 Victorville A federal grant dedicated to reducing traffic and pollutants will be the main funding for a transit center serving riders who use Amtrak, Greyhound, taxis and local buses. By Chuck Mueller The Sun's High Desert Bureau VICTORVILLE Funding has been approved for a $2 million downtown transit center serving travelers using Amtrak trains, Greyhound and local buses, and taxis. The San Bernardino Association of Governme which parcels out federal grant money, last weekearmarked $1.77 million to help build the center on a 5-acre site at 6th and streets. The money will come from the federal grant to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution, Victorville spokeswoman Debbie Ream said.

The remaining $230,000 will come from a state traffic systems management grant, Ream said. Plans call for eventually enlarging the center by 1,200 square feet to accommodate growth of the city's transit system. It will include space for a park-and-ride facility for commuters sharing transportation. Construction of the center should start late this year, Ream saiCA Using a $2 million federal grant, Barstow earlier renovated its 83-year-old Harvey House depot-restaurant to house a similar transportation center. It provides a central point for travelers using Amtrak trains, buses and taxi-cabs.

Victorville's transit center is one of several projects planned to revitalize the city's old downtown area in the Mojave River lowlands. Work is under way on a $200,000 project to repave Street and construct sidewalks along the route, Ream said. The city also plans to repave Seventh Street, Green Boulevard to Street, during the summer. The work will cost about $1.3 million).