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05/08/2008

Casinos build for future in the desert
Rooms at the Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa in Rancho Mirage are booked up and business is looking good. Rooms were sold out at the new hotel in April and May sales are through the roof, officials say.

"It's been a good couple of weeks," General Manager Scott Cooper said. "It's looking good for May and we're booking into June."

Controlling economic spin's downward spiral
Political officials, economists and the media should stick to the facts in discussing the economy. The talk since the subprime mortgage meltdown last year has been about recession. And the "R word" affects the decisions that consumers, businesses and investors make.

Home chain to close five Inland stores
Linens 'n Things, the national home furnishings retailer, will close five of its eight Inland Empire locations.

Stores at Chino Spectrum Marketplace II, Corona Hills Plaza, Montclair Plaza, Hunters Ridge Town Center in Fontana and Canyon Springs Parkway in Riverside will all close by August, said Rich Tauberman, spokesman for the Clifton, N.J.-based chain.

05/05/2008

Rate of defaults rising
One in every 38 houses in the Inland region received a foreclosure notice of some kind during the first quarter of this year, the second-highest foreclosure rate per household of any metro market nationwide during that time.

05/01/2008

Cargo center sees gains

Video: Cargo center sees gains

The developer of the Southern California Logistics Centre in Victorville is close to naming a tenant for the largest warehouse-distribution building in the project's first phase, a structure that will cover 1 million square feet.

Tailpipe dragging on car market

Video: Tailpipe dragging on car market

First quarter new-car and light-truck registrations were down almost 19% in the first quarter from the same period a year earlier, according to the California New Car Dealers Association.

Few local car dealers hawked their wares at the Inland Empire Auto Show April 24-27 in Ontario.

But not every vehicle maker is feeling the pinch of the slow market.

04/25/2008

Massive home project pends in Barstow
Waterman Junction, a SunCal Cos. proposed master-planned community to be built south of Barstow, is expected to provide about 25,000 homes in the next 20 to 30 years.

A new recreational lake, parks, trails, a golf course, local shopping and jobs are all part of the plan," said Peter Johnson, San Bernardino County Division president of Irvine-based SunCal.

04/24/2008

Tally confirms victor in fight for bank control
The deposed chief executive of Vineyard Bank (Nasdaq: VNBC) has won a round in his quest to regain control of the lender.

The Corona-based bank announced the results of the consent solicitation by the former president and chief executive officer Norman Morales and shareholder Jon Salmanson.

Doldrums spin area's theme parks
With the start of summer vacation a month away, amusement park officials are braced for a difficult season.

An overall sluggish economy is already hurting Scandia in Ontario, where several Saturdays in June remain open for corporate bookings or other large gatherings, said Connie Rojas, the park's sales and marketing director.

School prepares for upbeat times

Video: Watch the interview

The A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Riverside is on the fast track to growth.

Dean David W. Stewart plans to hire new faculty and add a doctorate program and three master's programs. He intends to increase the business school's enrollment, and reorganize the undergraduate curriculum.

Group touts homes as cure
Visitors to the Inland Empire Auto Show last weekend saw a display in front of the Ontario Convention Center that had nothing to do with automobiles.

A cluster of manufactured houses in front of the convention center - including three-bedroom structures from Fleetwood Homes in Riverside and Silvercrest/ Western Homes Corp. in Corona - greeted patrons of the auto show, which was held April 24-27.

04/28/2008

Young Riverside bank posts healthy earnings
Riverside-based Security Bank of California (OTC: SBOC) posted earnings of $289,251 for the first quarter ending March 31, more than tripling the $85,220 for the same period of 2007.

Assets totaled $202 million as of March 31, up 46% from a year ago, a news release said. Total deposits rose 61% to $166 million.

The bank was launched in June 2005.

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04/24/2008

Victory asserted in Vineyard fight
Norm Morales may have successfully stormed the castle where he was once king and appears one step closer to retaking his throne.

04/18/2008

Lakers unit eyes Ontario
Citizens Business Bank Arena, under construction and scheduled to open in October, is trying to add a professional basketball team to its tenant mix.

The arena already has a professional hockey team, the Ontario Reign of the ECHL, a Los Angeles Kings farm club that is scheduled to begin play this October.

04/17/2008

Beer upstarts hop onto scene

Video: Hangar 24 Video

Microbrewing is a niche market and Hangar 24 is looking to tap into it.

Founded by Ben Cook, the Redlands brewery recently opened its doors following a year of construction and demand is already strong.

"We've done quite a bit of sales in a very short period of time," Cook said. "We had to put restaurants on a waiting list."

Spiders weave possible products
A group of Inland scholars see spider silk as a possible material to protect soldiers in war. Soldiers may one day wear body armor made of black widow dragline spider silk.

"Black widow dragline silk is very strong material," said Cheryl Hayashi, an associate professor of biology at the University of California, Riverside. "It's in the 'A' class of silks and it outdoes Kevlar."

04/21/2008

Modtech losses double in fourth quarter
Losses continued to mount last year at Perris-based Modtech Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: MODT), which reported April 14 it lost $56.9 million -- about $2.66 per share -- in 2007. Sales at the portable-classroom builder plummeted nearly 44% last year to $87.3 million from $156 million in 2006.

04/14/2008

Edison plans rooftop solar farms
With Southern California commercial rooftop space in abundance, it was only a matter of time before someone found a better use for it than as a haven for pigeons.

With ProLogis entering into an agreement to lease roof space to Southern California Edison for photovoltaic panels, the possibilities of other companies adopting the concept is imminent.

04/10/2008

Husing: Region in 'recession'

Video: RECESSION: Part 1of 2

The two-county region has slipped into a recession, from which it is unlikely to recover for at least two years, according to a prominent local economist.

Fans pop up for baseball teams
Officials with the region's four Class-A minor league baseball teams - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, Lake Elsinore Storm, Inland Empire 66ers in San Bernardino and High Desert Mavericks in Adelanto - said they expect this year's season ticket sales and corporate sponsorships to match or surpass last year's sales.

Embattled Vineyard Bank faces delisting
Vineyard National Bancorp (Nasdaq: VNBC) has been threatened with delisting of its shares from both the Nasdaq and American Stock Exchanges, the Corona-based bank has announced. The bank's failure to file financial statements for the quarter and year ended Dec. 31 on time prompted warning letters from the exchanges dated April 2.

04/14/2008

Game maker reports 2007 sales boost
Newly public Actiga Corp. (OTC: AGAC) reported a nearly nine-fold increase in revenues from 2006 to 2007, according to a release. Actiga, which merged with video game maker Qmotions in January, posted revenues of $1.3 million in the year ended Dec. 31, compared with $150,065 the prior year.

People on the move
Accounting

Karen White has joined the Murrieta office of Swenson Advisors LLP as a tax associate. Previously White worked as an accountant for Maryanov, Madsen, Gordon, and Campbell in Palm Desert.