“Justice in her very essence is all strength and activity; and hath a sword put into her hand, to use against all violence and oppression on earth.” —John Milton     Mojave Desert Scene of New “Gold Rush” San Bernardino County’s Mojave Desert is the frontier in a new “gold rush,” but the minerals that folks are mining from the desert landscape aren’t used to make beautiful jewelry. They’re the key components in many consumer products such as smart phones, laptops, rechargeable batteries, as well as important aspects of our national defense. Molycorp re-opened its rare earths mining operations in Mountain Pass—that last steep grade you climb before seeing the Nevada state line on I-15—in December and last month held a ground breaking ceremony for a state-of-the-art processing facility at the site. Justice Lost in Government Budget Debate Earlier this month, U.S. Special Forces delivered a measure of justice for the victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States by killing Osama bin Laden. Nearly a decade after the terrorist attacks and cowardly murder of more than 3,000 civilians, bin Laden’s death strikes a chord because as human beings we all desire justice. We abhor murder, but there is part of us that recognizes the necessity and righteousness of killing a man intent on killing us. That sense of setting things right is what we mean by justice, and we recognize it when we see it and we keenly feel its absence in other cases. We intuitively begin teaching children the concepts of justice when they are quite young: break a rule and there are consequences. As we get older, the consequences become more serious and expand from our parents’ grasp to society’s. Hundreds Volunteer to Lend a Helping Hand Hundreds of San Bernardino County residents who volunteered to clean up and beautify local schools and parks during Mormon Helping Hands Day on April 30 deserve a big thank you for their hard work and service to our community. I had the honor of visiting members of two groups who participated in this “Day of Service” initiated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The group I visited in Upland worked at 14 different school sites in city. Their work included planting flowers, cleaning windows, and washing busses. I also joined a crew in Crestline as they cleaned up around the historic San Moritz Lodge located on the shore of Lake Gregory. Longtime Lytle Creek Resident Continues Giving at Community Center Treva Phelan moved to the hamlet of Lytle Creek in 1958 when her husband, Gordon, accepted a position as a U.S. Forest Service Fire Prevention Specialist at the community’s ranger station. At the time, Lytle Creek was even more isolated than it is today, yet the area attracted families who enjoyed the solitude of a community snuggled between canyon walls in the San Gabriel Mountains. Partnership Helping to Reduce Fire Threat in Mountains Last month, I joined Congressman Jerry Lewis, local firefighters, and others in Crestline to recognize the public agencies that have partnered for the past seven years to reduce the fire threat in our mountain communities. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Forest Service, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and San Bernardino County Fire Department have worked collectively to remove more than a million dead and dying trees from our mountains since 2004 when Congress appropriated $150 million to help local agencies reduce the fire threat in the mountains of San Bernardino, Riverside, and San Diego counties. 5/18/2011 Crestline Connect will meet from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at Billy Bears Restaurant. 5/19/2011 The Inland Empire Small Business Development Center will host a free workshop to inform business owners about various loan opportunities from 9 a.m. to noon.   5/1/1841 The first wagon train, with forty-seven emigrants, left for California from Independence, Missouri. The journey took until November 4. 5/5/1906 The City of Upland was incorporated. Last Issue’s Answer: Crestline was known as Crest City, Pine Mont, and Mormon Springs before officially being named Crestline in 1906. It was not known as Lake Gregory because the lake wasn’t built until 1937. Question: What is the meaning of the word “Cucamonga”?   5/3/2011 Additional $11.5 Million in RDA Funds Committed to Road Improvements 4/19/2011 R.C. Deputy Chief appointed County Fire Chief 4/14/2011 County firefighters make sacrifices to preserve service   Was The Rutherford Report forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe.