Ontario Ca

A fetus estimated to be 22 to 36 weeks old was discovered Tuesday in the sewage processing bin of the Inland Empire Utilities Agency regional plant, authorities said. A worker at the plant, at 2550 Philadelphia St., found the fetus and alerted authorities, Ontario Police Det. Diane Galindo said. The plant processes sewage from homes and buildings in Ontario, Fontana, Upland, Rancho Cucamonga and other Inland Empire cities. It is possible the fetus was flushed down a toilet, Galindo said.

Police killed a 23-year-old Whittier man Sunday night who they said pointed a gun at an officer chasing him. Police responded to a report of a possible drug transaction about 11 p.m. at the corner of 4th Street and Mountain Avenue, and Christopher Michael Garcia fit the description of a suspect, said Ontario Police Det. Robert Freire. Garcia tried to flee, then reached for a handgun in his waistband, officials said. One officer fired, striking Garcia once, Freire said.

Ontario officials have entered into exclusive negotiations with Los Angeles builder J.H. Snyder Co. to lead a $200-million redevelopment of the civic center that would add housing, stores and offices to a 12-block area. The city's redevelopment plan includes 750 lofts, apartments and condominiums; 100,000 square feet of street-level shops and 200,000 square feet of office space and classrooms built in cooperation with the University of La Verne Law School.

An Ontario man whose .22-caliber rifle was used in his stepson's March 30 suicide will not be prosecuted, the San Bernardino County district attorney has decided. Victor Corales could have been charged with the improper storage of a firearm, but prosecutors concluded that the family of Anthony Soltero, 14, had suffered enough, Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Maxwell said.

Police have arrested an Ontario man in the Tuesday abduction of a 14-year-old girl outside Ontario High School. Gonzalo Battalla Martinez, 29, was arrested Thursday night on suspicion of accessory to kidnapping. Police described him as the best friend of Elias Flores Martinez, 28, who is believed to have abducted the girl and is still at large. The girl, whose name is not being published because police said she has probably been the victim of a sexual assault, remains missing.

Ontario, the business hub of the Inland Empire, already boasts million-dollar homes and a private airport for executive jets. Now a developer is proposing what would be the first big Class A office building the region has seen in a decade. The city's Planning Commission has approved the development of a six-story, 150,000-square-foot office project with an adjacent four-level parking structure. The new building, at 888 Haven Ave., is scheduled to be completed by mid-2006.

The city of Ontario wants to buy back the international airport it sold to Los Angeles in 1967, saying the current owner has not moved fast enough to make improvements necessary to cope with the facility's explosive growth. Ontario Mayor Howard Snider, who broached the idea at a Los Angeles Airport Commission meeting Wednesday, has threatened to halt local funding for certain airport-related projects if the transfer of ownership is not approved.

Police were searching Saturday for a Mira Loma man who allegedly shot and wounded a California Highway Patrol officer during a traffic stop Friday on Interstate 15 in Ontario. Jaime Zavala Garcia, 37, is suspected of shooting the officer in the leg and pelvic area while he was writing a speeding ticket on the freeway shoulder, said a spokesman for the Ontario Police Department, which is handling the investigation.

The officer who shot a teenager in the leg after mistaking a toy gun for a real weapon was justified in using deadly force, the San Bernardino County district attorney's office said Wednesday. On July 25, Ontario police responded to a call about four teens running around with guns near an Ontario Kmart shortly before 9 p.m.

On Wednesday, Ontario Chamber of Commerce President Robert L. Traister was asked what he thought about the president's upcoming visit. His response: "Which president?" By Thursday morning, he was helping to coordinate the town hall-style meeting President Bush will hold Saturday morning at Ontario Convention Center. "I got here this morning, and everybody in the office said: 'You've got to bail us out. The phones are ringing off the hook,' " Traister said Thursday. "It has been fast and furious."