Is the truth really being told when commercials claim they can make a 71 year old look like a 17 year old? Perhaps they just got those numbers accidentally reversed. Not! I don’t believe for a minute all those claims about being younger, stronger, live to a 100 or get rich quick schemes actually work. If they did – where are all these amazing old, healthy, beautiful, rich, marathon running hundred year old people? Truth is – nowhere in my neighborhood, unfortunately, or I’d be signing up for all this stuff.

Truth in the Bible is portrayed as an unchanging reality that initially flows from God Himself. God embodies truth. Denying truths lead to all kinds of messes in every area of peoples’ lives. That’s why it’s imperative to get truth. Pr 23:23 advises us to “Buy truth – don’t sell it for love or money; buy (instead) wisdom, buy education, buy insight.”

As I have mentioned before – truth is dying. So it’s imperative that we ask the hard question of “what is truth?” This is truly life’s most important question. Determining what is true is no doubt the most essential and necessary quest of our human existence.

Bottom line here is that we have a huge decision to make during our brief but fun-packed lives. If it’s true that God is who He claims to be, then follow Him. And if you personally decide that God is just not your gig, then follow one of the other hundreds of religions in the world today. But before you decide be sure and ask yourself – but is this true?

If God is true then in the beginning before time started ticking, God spoke words no one could hear because there was none present to hear them and the world spun into existence at the creative word of His power.

If it’s not true then everything is here from an accident. A crash created something beautiful. A wreck caused order and life to come from nothingness.

If God is true He created man in His image. We are breathing in God’s breath. If it’s not true then man is a well-shaven monkey who is his own sovereign. Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.

If God is true there is a righteous judge. There is a law-giver to whom we are accountable.

If it’s not true every moral law should be abolished. There is no right or wrong and we should do what is right in our own eyes.

If God is true there is a heaven. There is a hell. There are angels. There are demons.

Jesus Christ was born of a virgin. He lived a sinless life. He lived the life we couldn’t live to be die the death we should have died. He rose from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father.

If it’s not true literally centuries of people have wasted their lives believing in and serving an illusion. Martyrs have lost their lives in vain. The 500 witnesses recorded in

the New Testament who saw the resurrected Son of God were all men suffering from great depths of delusion!

So now…where’s ‘the dare?’ You may not believe anything about God, but I dare you to spend just one hour looking into these amazing claims about Him. I’m sure you have spent time house hunting, or looking for a new car, or shopping for new clothes. But how much time have you spent checking out God and your eternity?!

The Duke of Wellington once haughtily drew himself up to his full height and thundered to one of his staff officers, “God knows I have many faults, bur being wrong is not one of them!” We may feel like the Duke a times when it comes to believing in God – “I’m not wrong.” But, just in case…what if you are?! Selah!

Bob and Susan Beckett pastor The Dwelling Place City Church at 27100 Girard Street in Hemet, CA. For more information, you may contact them at DPCitychurch.org

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California, once the engine of that future, is now demonstrating how to drive into a ditch.

Consider what happened in Sacramento this quarter. Assembly Bill 1383, a bill to roll back core pieces of the 2012 Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act (PEPRA), sailed through the Assembly 70 to 2. Seventy to two. The bill lowers the retirement age for public safety workers from 57 back to 55, sweetens the formula used to calculate their pensions, and — by the Legislature’s own estimate — adds more than $300 million a year to a system that is already roughly $168 billion underwater at CalPERS, $39 billion underwater at CalSTRS, and another $91.5 billion in the hole on retiree health benefits. Add it up: roughly three hundred billion dollars in promises the state has not funded.

That number is not an accounting curiosity. It is your tax bill. Because California’s constitution treats pension promises to government employees as untouchable, every dollar of “unfunded liability” is a dollar that voters — and their children — will ultimately pay. Some smaller cities are already writing pension checks worth more than 15% of their entire general fund revenue. That is money that could have paved roads, hired firefighters, fixed parks, or — and this is the part that should make every Hemet resident furious — simply stayed in your pocket.

Look at what we get for it. CalPERS just walked away from a seven-year legal fight to claw back overpayments from four retired annuitants who allegedly broke the rules about double-dipping after retirement. After seven years and untold legal fees, the agency settled. That is the level of competence currently being entrusted with three hundred billion dollars of your money — and the same agency now wants the Legislature to pour more in.

Let me say what should not have to be said: I am not anti-firefighter. I am not anti-cop. The men and women who run into burning buildings and confront violent criminals deserve dignified retirements, and the deal we made with them in 2012 — PEPRA — provided exactly that. PEPRA was not a betrayal of public servants. It was the bare minimum required to keep the system solvent so that today’s hires would actually receive the pensions they are being promised. AB 1383 does not help those workers. It hands a short-term political favor to union leadership while quietly raiding the retirement security of the very people it claims to protect.

And it does so at the precise moment when California should be moving in the opposite direction.

Hemet is not Atherton. We do not have venture capital fortunes to tax. What we have is a community of working families, retirees on fixed incomes, small business owners, and builders — people who actually make things and serve their neighbors. When Sacramento lards another $300 million a year onto the pension system, it is not the wealthy enclaves of the Bay Area that pay first. It is cities like ours, where every percentage point of CalPERS contribution comes out of services we can already barely afford. Every dollar that goes to retroactive benefit sweeteners is a dollar that does not go to a paramedic on shift, a pothole on Florida Avenue, or a small business owner whose sales tax already props up the general fund.

Banks’s Culture did not get to abundance through bigger bureaucracies. It got there because the rules made building rational. Capital flowed to people who created value. Regulation existed to prevent harm, not to protect incumbents. Government did the things only government can do, and stopped doing the things it does badly. That formula is not a fantasy. It is, more or less, exactly what built California in the first place — the freeways, the aqueducts, the universities, the aerospace industry, Silicon Valley itself. None of that was built under a regime where one in six dollars of city revenue was funneled into retroactive pension sweeteners and where the agency managing the money spent seven years failing to recover a few hundred thousand dollars from four retirees.

The path back is not complicated. It starts with refusing to make a bad problem worse. Every state senator who represents the Inland Empire should be on record opposing AB 1383, and every voter who plans to still be living in California in ten years should make sure they know where their senator stands. It continues with electing local officials who will negotiate hard at the bargaining table instead of nodding along to whatever Sacramento sends down. And it ends — eventually, painfully, but necessarily — with a serious conversation about constitutional reform that lets future taxpayers say no to deals today’s politicians cannot keep.

The future Banks imagined is on the table. So is the future Detroit got. California gets to choose. Hemet gets to choose. Vote like you understand the difference.

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The mass-casualty accident involved a boat loaded with 19 people that left Mexico on May 4, 2025, then capsized off the coast of Del Mar the following day.

Emergency crews responding to the vessel found the bodies of 18-year- old Marcos Lozada-Juarez, 55-year-old Gorgonio Placido-Diaz and 14-year-old Prince Patel. Prince’s 10-year-old sister, Mahi, also died, but her remains were not discovered until a few weeks later.

Several other occupants of the boat — including the children’s parents — were hospitalized for injuries ranging in severity from minor to critical.

Two defendants were arrested on the beach, while three others were arrested in vehicles that had picked up some of the migrants who arrived on the vessel, prosecutors said.

The two accused of piloting the boat — Jesus Ivan Rodriguez-Leyva and Julio Cesar Zuniga-Luna — await trial, while the other three defendants have pleaded guilty and been sentenced.

Gustavo Lara was sentenced on Monday. According to his plea agreement, Lara was arrested after four migrants who had been transported from the beach got into his car.

Lara’s co-defendants were sentenced last year.

Melissa Cota was sentenced to 21 months in prison. She also picked up a group of migrants who had been driven from the beach and was responsible for providing them food at a “load house,” according to prosecutors.

Sergio Rojas-Fregoso was sentenced to 16 months in prison. He admitted in a plea agreement to guiding some of the migrants who arrived on shore to vehicles, while also transporting some migrants from the scene in his own car.

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The Indio jury weighing the fate of Riley Jacob Hagar, 28, of Cathedral City acquitted him Tuesday of murder but then informed Riverside County Superior Court Judge Anthony Villalobos that deliberations had hit an impasse on whether to find Hagar guilty of the lesser and included count of manslaughter.

The judge declared jurors hopelessly deadlocked and dismissed them, after which the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office confirmed plans to move ahead with a retrial on the manslaughter allegation. A retrial status conference is set for April 28 at the Larson Justice Center.

The defendant is being held in lieu of $30,000 at the Benoit Detention Center.

He is accused in the death of Travis O’Brien on New Year’s Day 2022.

“Mr. Hagar is the connect. He is the plug,” Deputy District Attorney Steve Sorensen told jurors earlier this month. “Hagar told Travis the date, the location and other information for how to acquire the (fentanyl- packed) pills.”

The prosecutor said O’Brien “went to the person he knew could facilitate (the sale of the drugs)” — Hagar.

Arrangements were made for O’Brien to procure the fentanyl pills so that he could sell them to someone else at a profit, according to the prosecution. But in addition to selling the hundreds of M30 “blues,” O’Brien consumed several of the synthetic opioids, investigators alleged.

The young man checked into Room 149 at the Motel 6 in the 69000 block of Highway 111 in Rancho Mirage, where he intended to stay on Jan. 1, 2022, according to trial testimony. He was found dead there that afternoon.

“(Hagar) deliberately acted with conscious disregard to human life. He didn’t care,” Sorensen said.

The prosecutor asserted that the defendant was the conduit for the fentanyl acquisition, and hence bears responsibility for O’Brien’s death from “acute fentanyl intoxication.”

But defense attorney Ryan Markson rejected the prosecution’s interpretation of what happened, insisting Hagar wasn’t the one who directly provided the fentanyl and had no idea of the lethality of the particular pills that the victim ingested.

“This is the real thing. It’s as real as it gets,” Markson told the jury. “Accountability is at the essence of the justice system. O’Brien caused his own death.”

He asked jurors whether there was anything fair about trying to make his client “accountable for Travis’ death?”

The attorney reminded jurors that O’Brien contacted Hagar, and that the latter “wasn’t in the business of selling fentanyl,” but didn’t want to ignore the request for help setting up a transaction.

“My client is guilty of poor judgment, not murder,” Markson said.

Hagar was arrested in August 2022, following a months-long investigation by the sheriff’s Overdose Death Investigations Unit. He has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

Since February 2021, prosecutors have charged more than three dozen people in connection with fentanyl poisonings. Two prosecutions have resulted in murder convictions.

Preliminary health statistics indicated there were 229 suspected fentanyl-related fatalities countywide in 2025, compared to 351 confirmed poisonings in 2024, a roughly 40 percent decline.

Fentanyl is manufactured in overseas labs, principally in China, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which says the opioid is smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border by cartels.

It’s 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine and can be mixed into any number of street narcotics and prescription drugs, without a recipient knowing what he or she is consuming. Ingestion of only two milligrams can be fatal.

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The non-injury blaze was reported at 2:45 p.m. Wednesday in the area of Fruitvale and Sanderson avenues, according to the Hemet Fire Department.

The agency said multiple engine crews from the city and Riverside County Fire Department were sent to the location and encountered flames moving at a slow rate through a field bounded by roads.

No homes or other structures were threatened.

At 3:20 p.m., firefighters were making steady progress encircling the blaze, according to reports from the scene.

No Cal Fire aircraft from nearby Hemet-Ryan Airport were requested.

Full containment was expected by 4 p.m.

There was no word on what might have triggered the blaze.

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Since its start in 1999, the BARR model has grown into a nationally recognized approach used in 24 states and more than 375 schools, supporting the success of over 360,000 students.

Now in its ninth year of implementation, SJHS continues to excel in the BARR program. With a school-wide focus on positivity, collaboration, and student success, SJHS is leading the way in supporting the whole student. From strength-based Block Meetings to engaging I-Times and Community Connect sessions, staff consistently work together to meet student needs. The 9th grade BARR team continues to implement program fidelity. The team has recognized over 200 ‘student of the week’, written over 250 ‘encouraging postcards’, delivered over 600 I-Time lessons, and continues to focus on decreasing failure as they strive to reach every student. Site administrators are actively involved in BARR meetings, which ensures seamless communication and aligned leadership.

BARR Coordinator, and now Assistant Principal, Fidel Salcedo and the Ninth Grade BARR team have played a key role in strengthening each element of the program. Their dedication has earned SJHS national recognition. Recently, during the 2024-2025 school year, their efforts were recognized on the national stage, as they earned the BARR Center Accreditation of Schools. SJHS was the only high school in California and one of just eight schools nationwide honored at last year’s BARR Conference in Rancho Mirage.

Congratulations to Mr. Salcedo, who will join the High School Panel at this year’s BARR National Conference in Rancho Mirage, where once again he will have the opportunity to showcase San Jacinto High School’s impactful journey.

SJHS exemplifies how a consistent, compassionate, and collaborative approach to BARR can transform school culture and outcomes. “We are proud to celebrate this significant milestone with you. Your school serves as a model for others across the country, demonstrating what is possible when a whole school community comes together around a shared vision of growth and excellence,” shared BARR Center Founder and Executive Director Angela Jerabek.

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“How can you do this, be a repeat offender, kill somebody and serve two and a half years of a nine-year sentence?” said Kellie Montalvo, referencing the offender’s time in custody after being sentenced. “It’s completely outrageous to us.”

Montalvo recently received a letter from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, reviewed by The Times, informing her that Neomi Velado, the now-28-year-old woman who killed her son Benjamin, is scheduled to be released Saturday.

The CDCR said in a statement that Velado’s earliest possible release date is the month of February. They said this date was determined based on credits for good conduct and for 124 days served in custody prior to entering CDCR.

“She gets to be released on Valentine’s Day, which is another stab in the gut,” Montalvo said.

Velado was texting her boyfriend when she ran into Benjamin Montalvo with her car on June 11, 2020, while he was biking in Corona. She had already been in four at-fault crashes, three of which involved her being distracted by her phone, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety.

In June 2023, she was convicted of felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and felony hit and run causing death.

During the July 2023 sentencing hearing, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Matthew C. Perantoni remarked on the “demonstrated callousness of leaving a boy in the street to die,” according to reporting from the Press Enterprise.

The judge also noted that she attempted to cover up her crime by fixing her windshield before heading into work the following day, and although she did turn herself in that night at the behest of her mother, she was then photographed partying with her boyfriend in Las Vegas.

Prosecutors said that she was drinking and smoking marijuana before the crash, but because of the delay before she turned herself in, there was no evidence to charge her with a DUI.

Velado is eligible for early release because of credits that she accumulated during her time in prison and the time she spent in custody before she was sentenced, according to the CDCR. Credits can be earned for things such as completing rehabilitative or educational programs, abiding by the rules or completing wildfire firefighting work.

Most nonviolent offenders can earn credits for up to 50% of their sentence, but Velado’s release after serving just under a third of her sentence is less common. The CDCR did not provide further details on how Velado had accumulated enough credits to qualify for a February early release date.

“Quite frankly, we don’t give a darn about her good merit credits,” said Montalvo. “Where are Benjamin’s credits? Where are his milestones? She took every milestone that he could have ever achieved when she killed him.”

Montalvo is hoping that there was an error made in calculating the credits and has appealed to the governor’s office for help.

“It’s our last, very thin thread of hope to have somebody take a look at this, because the numbers just did not add up for us,” she said.

Montalvo said she met with a representative from the governor’s legal affairs team in Sacramento on Wednesday who advised that although Gov. Gavin Newsom cannot overturn the prisoner’s early release, his office can look into whether the credits were calculated correctly. The governor’s office referred comments to CDCR.

Montalvo plans to remain in Sacramento on Thursday, when she will be speaking at a news conference to support a new bipartisan legislative package intended to strengthen DUI and safety laws. She has become an advocate for traffic safety and, alongside her husband, Eddie Montalvo, founded the Inland Empire chapter of the nonprofit organization Streets Are for Everyone.

One of the newly proposed laws, SB 907, is especially close to Montalvo’s heart because it would limit the early release of offenders such as Velado.

That law, proposed by State Sen. Bob Archuleta (D-Pico Rivera), would add gross vehicular manslaughter and vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated to the list of violent felonies. In California, offenders convicted of a violent felony can only earn credits for up to 15% of their sentence length.

SB 907 also aims to close a loophole for repeat DUI offenders. It would require Watson warnings to be read in court to all offenders who are charged with a DUI and accept a plea deal for the charge of hit and run. This warning — which describes the dangers and consequences of driving under the influence — gives prosecutors the ability to charge offenders with second degree murder if they later kill someone while drunk.

This section of the law was inspired by 18-year-old Braun Levi, who was killed by a suspected drunk driver in Manhattan Beach in May 2025. That driver had previously been arrested on suspicion of DUI but later pleaded to a hit and run.

“Our son was killed by a repeat DUI offender that the system failed to stop,” his mother, Jennifer Levi, said in a statement on SB 907. “No family should ever have to experience that kind of loss and pain.”

In addition, Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris (D–Irvine) is pushing for AB 1830, a law that would require everyone convicted of a DUI to install a breathalyzer that prevents their car from turning on if the driver has consumed alcohol.

“The system has let us down and we don’t want that,” said Montalvo. “There are going to be more future victims, and if we don’t speak up and use our story for the greater good, then who’s going to do it?”

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Marvin Alberto Ulloa was arrested in January following a weeks-long Murrieta Police Department investigation.

At the end of a preliminary hearing Tuesday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Johnnetta Anderson found there was sufficient evidence to bound Ulloa over for trial on nine counts of lewd acts on a minor, two counts of forced oral copulation of a child under 10 years old and sentence-enhancing allegations of targeting more than one victim in a sex crime.

The judge scheduled a post-preliminary hearing arraignment for Jan. 16 at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta. The defendant is being held in lieu of $11 million at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.

According to the police department, investigators were contacted on Jan. 7 regarding possible molestation perpetrated by the defendant on a girl identified in court documents only as “C.F.”

The alleged acts occurred at Ulloa Family Daycare, operated out of a residence in the 27700 block of Hackberry Street, near Clinton Keith Road, police said.

Court papers alleged that the girl was targeted between July 2020 and July 2023.

“C.F. was particularly vulnerable,” according to the criminal complaint. “It is alleged (the defendant) took advantage of a position of trust and confidence to commit the crimes.”

Detectives spent several weeks investigating the matter before gathering sufficient details to obtain and serve an arrest warrant at Ulloa’s home on Jan. 28.

After his arrest, evidence surfaced regarding other acts of molestation involving an unidentified child in 2024, resulting in additional charges being filed in March, court documents showed.

There was no record of registration for the daycare with the California Department of Social Services.

The defendant has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

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