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Community Corner

Week in Review

Banning Police arrest a robbery suspect, and Beaumont High School girls water polo capture league title

The past week was a busy one for local high school athletes and the Banning and Beaumont Police departments.

On Monday, Jan. 31, a suspect was arrested in the Jan. 2 robbery of the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Banning. Parolee Orental James Martin, 39, was booked at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning. Delmont Crawford, general manager of the Holiday Inn Express, was pleased by the news. “We appreciate the Banning Police Department’s continuous efforts to catch this person,” he said.

A warrant was served to a home in the 37000 block of High Ridge Drive in Beaumont on Thursday morning, in an attempt to drum up leads and suspects in connection to the deadly January shooting of four teens in Redlands. Warrants were also served in Ontario and Redlands. Despite the arrests of three individuals - including Johnny Legaspi, 51, of Beaumont on suspicion of possession of stolen property - none were linked to the shooting. “The investigation into the fatal shooting is continuing,” said Redlands Police spokesman Carl Baker. 

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The Beaumont High School varsity boys soccer team played rival San Jacinto Wednesday afternoon, with neither team scoring. “I thought it was a fair result,” Beaumont coach Barry Steele said. “I thought it could have gone either way. It was a fair result for a game between number one and number two in the league.”

On Thursday, the Beaumont High School girls water polo team locked up the Mountain Pass League title, their first in the program’s four years. “We are looking to CIF,” said Beaumont defender Olivia Dusold. “We are looking towards that banner. That is our goal. That is what we want to do this year.” 

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Gusty winds swept through the pass, bringing with them an arctic chill that kept temperatures in the 40s during the day on Wednesday and Thursday. Some residents, like Sandi Colby, didn’t mind the cold. “Personally, I love the wind,” she said. “It’s always windy here, to a certain extent.”

A new Italian restaurant, Domenico’s, is coming to Beaumont, and will serve up heaping portions of lasagna, pizza and chicken marsala. “We have family priced meals, and are definitely not expensive,” said owner Tommy Bitonti. Look for it to open its doors in late February or early March.

Finally, businesses are starting to bounce back after a hard couple of years. Blade Hair Designs in Beaumont is seeing a steady increase in business, according to owner Gail Chester. It helps that he has a strong connection to his clients. “People are a lot different in Beaumont than in bigger cities,” he said. “A lot of my business is built on a feeling of family and personal relationships I’ve forged with people to get their trust.”

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