Beaumont Ca

Historically, the Riverside County city of Beaumont has been just a place that you passed through on your way to somewhere else. But nowadays, many new homeowners are making Beaumont a destination -- and saying it's a great place to raise a family. * Beginnings The Pacific Railroad started passing through Beaumont on its route through the San Gorgonio Pass to the coast in 1876. It wasn't until 1907 that a few hundred settlers began farming and raising poultry here.

A 12-year-old Beaumont girl died Sunday in a blaze, started by an unattended candle, that engulfed the double-wide mobile home where she and family members were sleeping, authorities said. Five people, including the yet-unidentified girl's parents, relatives and family friends, escaped the 3:30 a.m. fire through windows and doors, according to the Riverside County Fire Department and Beaumont Police Department.

A van carrying developmentally disabled adults slammed into a Honda Accord on the Moreno Valley Freeway in Beaumont on Thursday morning, killing one of the van's passengers and the Honda's driver. Eric Bernard, 39, a passenger in the van, was airlifted to Riverside County Regional Medical Center in Moreno Valley with major head injuries; he remains in grave condition, officials said. According to the California Highway Patrol, the accident happened at 8:39 a.m.

A motorist accused of causing an accident that left three dead on the Moreno Valley Freeway in Beaumont last month was arrested Thursday at her home in Upland on one count of felony hit and run and three counts of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. Sofia Glentis, 58, will be arraigned Tuesday in Riverside County Superior Court and, if convicted, could be sentenced to six years in prison.

Police responding to a homeowner alarm entered the wrong yard and shot to death a threatening Rottweiler. The dog was shot five times by the officers, who were responding to a silent alarm. A child in the Hendrick Court house next door accidentally set off the alarm in his mother's purse. Homeowner Peter Vanderford was away at the time. Lt. John Acosta said one of the officers went to Vanderford's house, thinking he heard that address over the radio.

Human error was blamed for a train derailment in San Timoteo Canyon earlier this month that scattered 22 rail cars and three locomotives from two trains along the tracks. An engineer's handling of the brakes as the first train came down a grade triggered the Sept. 7 accident, Union Pacific Railroad spokesman John Bromley said. Speed wasn't a factor, investigators said. Bromley declined to discuss specifics about how the brakes had been applied.

A small town's resolve, born of hope, to bring one of its children home alive shifted Sunday to a newer, fierce resolve, born of anger, to bring home his killer. "A bright star was taken from this community," said Mayor Jan Leja, moments after visiting the parents of Anthony Michael Martinez, bringing what consolation she could on behalf of her town. "They realize now that Anthony is with God now, the bright shining star he was with us.

The memory of kidnapping victim Anthony Michael Martinez was raised on the wings of 75 white doves Saturday during services based on faith--that the 10-year-old boy is saved in heaven and that his uncaught killer will ultimately be judged by God.

In this small town of wilted shops and modest homes, no one is saying the word "or." Hundreds of determinedly cheerful volunteers are pinning yellow ribbons, faxing fliers and tacking "Missing Child" posters on every window in sight. They will keep doing it, they vow, until 10-year-old Anthony Martinez--abducted last week from outside his home--is returned to his mother safe and sound. Residents will not speak of any other possible outcome to this crisis.