Apple Valley

Tudor, Dutch and Western Contemporary exteriors are offered in the 78-unit Applewood Estates II single-family development opening today in Apple Valley. The first phase of the tract by Roy J. Vance Construction Inc. has 13 three- and four-bedroom houses in five one-story floor plans ranging from 1,360 to 2,118 square feet, priced from $105,900 to $145,900. The houses are on half-acre lots; first move-ins are scheduled for August.

Re "Sheriff defends tactics used on Dorner," Feb. 16 As a former sheriff's sergeant with 41 years of experience in the criminal justice system, and who carefully followed the Christopher Dorner case, I can say that San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon and his department did an outstanding and heroic job of ending the deadly rampage against law enforcement. Indeed, Dorner, an ex-Los Angeles Police Department officer, was apparently waging war against the first line of defense for the American people, an act of domestic terrorism that is tantamount to treason.

Construction has begun on the Apple Valley Commerce Center, a $1.7-million mixed-use project in Apple Valley. The 25,000-square-foot building, scheduled for completion next January, is a project of RGC Development Corp. About 17,500 square feet of the building will be leased as office space and the remainder will be used by small retailers. The anchor tenant will be George Frey Real Estate Inc., the project's leasing agent, who will occupy about 3,000 square feet of office space.

Standing in front of TV cameras at a Hesperia gas station Monday, the distraught mother of a missing teenager made an urgent plea. "If you are holding my daughter, please let her go," Melissa Bender said. "Please, I beg you to let my daughter go. She's just 13 years old. " Jessie Marie Bender had been missing a week. Her mother told authorities she feared the girl had run away with a Chicago man she met on Facebook. Following the family's initial report, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department launched a massive search in the High Desert town for the girl, bringing in agents from the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Chicago police.

Anticipating the incorporation of Apple Valley as a city, Robert Baird and George Frey of Baird-Frey Development Co., Apple Valley, have announced development of the 181-acre Rancho Verde Commerce Center at the northeast corner of California 18 and Central Road in the San Bernardino County community. A 1988 construction start is anticipated for the $7.5-million, 13-acre shopping center that will be the first phase of the mixed-use development, according to Frey.

More than 500 homes are planned on half-acre sites in Apple Valley in the 260-acre master-planned community of High Country Estates, a project of Victorville-based High Country Development Co.

A teen actress who disappeared from her parents' home in Apple Valley was found Thursday by a school district police officer at the home of a high school friend, authorities said. Scout Taylor-Compton, who had a recurring role in the television series "Gilmore Girls" and appeared in last year's teen comedy film "Sleepover," had been reported missing since Aug. 12.

Allie Kueny scored twice in overtime for Brea Olinda and helped the second-seeded Wildcats to a 3-1 victory over Apple Valley in the first round of the Southern Section Division III girls' soccer playoffs Friday. Kristin Kline scored Brea Olinda's first goal in the first half. Apple Valley's Missy Longly tied the score early in the second half and the game went into overtime. Brea Olinda (20-4-3) will play Temecula Chaparral in a second-round game.

Travis Regnolds had 10 strikeouts and allowed only four hits, but Apple Valley used three errors to score four unearned runs and defeat Canyon, 5-1, in a Southern Section 2-A wild-card game at Apple Valley on Wednesday. Apple Valley took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but Canyon (14-10) tied the score in the third when Regnolds singled home Gary Morgan, who also had singled. A two-run homer in the fourth and a solo homer in the fifth gave Apple Valley an insurmountable lead.

The City Council may go against Southern California Joint Powers Insurance Authority directors on Monday over the proposed membership of the newly incorporated city of Apple Valley. Although the insurance group's executive board of directors voted Dec. 20 to admit Apple Valley to the pool of self-insured municipalities, Mission Viejo city staff has recommended against letting the San Bernardino County city join.

The latest health scare for Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs is raising sobering concerns for a company basking in a string of hit products that have helped make it the world's most valuable technology enterprise. FOR THE RECORD: Steve Jobs: In the Jan. 18 Section A, a graphic with an article about the latest health scare for Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs said he missed his customary speech at Macworld in December 2008. Macworld was held in January 2009. ? Apple rattled Silicon Valley and its own employees by disclosing Monday that Jobs is taking his second medical leave in two years to attend to unspecified health problems.

Readers' questions for our Lakers beat reporter Broderick Turner. Question: After a big hullabaloo was made about the Lakers/Grizzlies trade of Pau Gasol, why isn't there a huge outcry over the trend now where players are traded from teams and then bought out of their contract only to return to their former team? Aren't these types of prearranged deals with the player waiting out the 30-day waiver period and returning to his former team a form of corruption? Rodney Hazel Trinidad and Tobago Answer: Wow!

A bright idea for a park Re "DWP pitches solar farm, state park at Owens Lake," Dec. 18 The possible creation of an Owens Lake state park or reserve for this region's enormously rich wildlife populations as part of a plan to save water, control dust and generate solar power deserves praise. This creative solution, at this time only a concept, would help Los Angeles and help protect the tens of thousands of migrating shorebirds and waterfowl that have returned to Owens Lake.

Investigators with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department have arrested a 40-year-old man on suspicion of knowingly transmitting the AIDS virus to several women, officials said Thursday. Two women allege that they were infected by Dennis "Dog" Rios of Apple Valley, whom deputies have identified as a gang member who was diagnosed with AIDS a decade ago. Detectives said they are looking for other victims. Rios was booked at the Victor Valley jail, said Arden Wiltshire, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Department.

Jason La's article ["With the Grand Canyon Fresh in His Mind, He Sets Off to Uncover Arizona's Lesser-Known Wonders," Aug. 9] left me, well, wanting more. Perhaps it was his interminable recaps at the end of each stage, where he denigrated each point for not being Disneyland. Maybe it's because I have visited every one of his stops hundreds of times over the last 50 years, but I certainly found far more to engage my mind than he did. All in all, this corner of Arizona is fascinating and far more deserving of interest than he gave it. I had to ask myself, why did he bother?

Re "Franken win alters power equation," July 1 Al Franken is now senator-elect Al Franken, which tips the power in the Senate to the Democrats. Franken may be a political hero in his own mind; I think he is a rancorous partisan. But like the power of overwhelming government being wrought upon the country, the joke will be on those who will undoubtedly suffer from it -- most of us. Daniel B. Jeffs Apple Valley -- Minnesota's Supreme Court essentially ruled that disputed absentee ballots needn't be counted.

Investigators with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department have arrested a 40-year-old man on suspicion of knowingly transmitting the AIDS virus to several women, officials said Thursday. Two women allege that they were infected by Dennis "Dog" Rios of Apple Valley, whom deputies have identified as a gang member who was diagnosed with AIDS a decade ago. Detectives said they are looking for other victims. Rios was booked at the Victor Valley jail, said Arden Wiltshire, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Department.

A 46-year-old Apple Valley man was killed Monday in a police pursuit that ended when his car stuck a light pole and burst into flames in Highland, authorities said. The crash occurred at 5:14 a.m., just a few minutes after a San Bernardino County sheriff's sergeant questioned the man after finding him inside a car in a grocery-store parking lot at Highland and Victoria avenues, Sheriff's Department spokesman Chip Patterson said.

Will anyone be as happy as I when NASCAR moves away from Fox? That network is too cute by half, what with their Digger cartoon and "Boogety, boogety, boogety." Besides that, there is "Turn up your volume" when the cars pass. Let's be rid of that garbage and put it on ESPN, where they at least have commentators who can call a race and quit trying to be cute. Dave Turner Apple Valley