2007 year in review

A look back on the stories that made news in 2007 Both good and bad, these are some of the stories that made news in 2007. Barstow got a new skate park, a new police chief and a $300,000 fine for a sewage spill. The Tanger Outlets expanded, new tenants moved into the Barstow Mall and hopes for a casino in Barstow all but vanished in the halls of Sacramento. Hinkley continued to fight a proposed composting facility and residents of Soap Mine Road received bottled water courtesy of the city and an order from Lahontan. Sure, there were some disagreements, some concessions, but doesn't Raquel Beezley look great with her Miss California tiara?

January

New Year's Eve shootings leave one dead, two wounded, Jan. 1 Shortly after midnight on Jan. 1, 2007, shots rang out in Sawtooth Canyon. Paul Joseph Dubay, 20, was killed and two other young Barstow men, Richmond Wagner, 20, and James Eichler, 24, were wounded, both recovered. Later that day, deputies with the sheriff’s department arrested a 24-year-old Apple Valley man, Dennis Carpenter, in connection with the shooting. It is believed that a fight broke out between several people at the party in a desert area off of Highway 247. Carpenter pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and is scheduled to stand trial in February of 2008. Governor budgets for vet wing reopening, Jan. 12 The Veterans Home of California in Barstow got a late Christmas gift at the beginning of 2007 when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger set aside $2.3 million in the 2007-2008 budget to reopen the skilled nursing wing that would provide around-the-clock medical care for residents. The state closed the wing in 2003 after the death of two patients due to negligence. It is scheduled to reopen early in 2008.

February

Dual-casino project restarted in state legislature, Feb. 1 Leaders from Barstow were in Sacramento to announce a second effort at pushing compacts through the state legislature that would bring a casino to Barstow. The compacts, approved by the governor in 2005, would allow The Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cuperno Indians and the Big Lagoon Rancheria tribes to build a dual casino in the Lenwood area. The compacts stalled in the legislature in 2006, but area law-makers started the year confident they would pass through this year. The casinos would create approximately 4,000 jobs in the area and bring in several million dollars to the city each year. Cortez sentenced to 100 years, Feb. 23 A tearful Paul Cortez said he did not know why he took part in the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the murder of her family after testimony ended in his trial at Fort Campbell, Ky. The Barstow soldier received 100 years in prison the crimes committed while serving in Iraq in March 2006. Cortez pleaded guilty to four counts of felony murder, rape and conspiracy to rape in order to avoid the death penalty. Supervisors approve composting facility, Feb. 28 After hours of testimony, a petition with more than 1,500 signatures and more than 1,000 letters in opposition, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a permit allowing Nursery Products to build a composting facility near Hinkley. The motion to approve, made by First District Supervisor Brad Mitzerfelt, further regulated the operation of the facility, but that gesture fell on the deaf ears of the two charter bus loads of residents who made the trip down to San Bernardino to protest the facility. "We feel like it's a death sentence," said Hinkley resident Judy Miller. Following the decision, plans for a lawsuit against the facility were announced. (Full story)