Applicants up to the age of 21 must be a resident of San Bernardino County and a senior in high school or out of school. The program is designed for at-risk, low-income youth. The youth programs may have additional qualifications and may be contacted for further details.

The WIA youth program is funded by the San Bernardino County Workforce Investment Board. The deadline to apply is September 30, 2012. More than 500 positions are currently open; applicants should visit www.SBCountyJobOps.com to find the local youth program in their community.

An annual tradition, Y4 provides WIA youth participants with high-energy presentations, career building workshops and opportunities to meet with local employers. More than 600 San Bernardino County youth gathered at Citizens Bank Arena to celebrate the completion of program year 2011-2012.

“A year ago, half of my students needed GEDs and only a few had jobs,” said Kristi Evans, youth employment specialist with the Mental Health Systems Needles Center for Change. “Now 90% of them have earned their GEDs and have received certifications. They couldn’t have done it without the support of the San Bernardino County Workforce Investment Board’s youth job training program.”

Evans left for Ontario at 5:00 a.m. to drive 22 youth to the celebration. She was determined that after all of their hard work and dedication to the WIA youth program, they take part in the celebration.

“This year’s Y4 event was an awesome opportunity to celebrate the year-long commitment made by 665 courageous young men and women, who chose to take charge of their future,” said Josie Gonzales, San Bernardino County Chair and Fifth District Supervisor. “I was honored to speak to them and share a little bit about my life and my challenges. I wanted them to know that if I can make it, they can too!”

“These young people should be proud of their accomplishments, but the journey has only begun,” added Gonzales. “Hopefully, the resources and motivational speakers at Y4 will help them as they work towards their own personal and professional success.”

The Roadtrip Nation Experience RV was also part of the Y4 celebration. This year, the San Bernardino County Workforce Investment Board partnered with the Roadtrip Nation Experience to provide an intensive curriculum. By giving students the tools to interview and film someone in their career of interest, the Roadtrip Nation Experience empowers students to define their own roads in life; to relate what they study to their real-world experiences; and open doors to different pathways and possibilities.

“Our success is due to the dedication of staff and the youth service providers who implement the Workforce Investment Act program across the county,” said Sandy Harmsen, executive director of the San Bernardino County Workforce Investment Board. “They work with our youth participants daily and devote themselves to help each individual achieve his or her goals.”

Y4 was hosted by County of San Bernardino Board of Supervisors, in partnership with the Workforce Investment Board of San Bernardino County.

About the Workforce Investment Board of San Bernardino County:

The Workforce Investment Board of San Bernardino County (WIB) is comprised of private business representatives and public partners appointed by the County of San Bernardino Board of Supervisors. The WIB strives to strengthen the skills of the County’s workforce through partnerships with business, education and community-based organizations. The County of San Bernardino Board of Supervisors is committed to providing county resources, which generate jobs and investment.

The WIB, through the County of San Bernardino’s Economic Development Agency and Workforce Development Department, operates the County of San Bernardino’s Employment Resource Centers (ERCs) and Business Resource Centers (BRCs). The ERCs provide individuals with job training, placement and the tools to strengthen their skills to achieve a higher quality of life. The BRCs support and provide services to the County’s businesses including employee recruitment.

Copyright © 2012 Neotrope® News Network – all rights reserved.

Quik Pod Inventor Wayne Fromm says “I first invented this for myself, for when I travel with my family. Since then it’s been on Oprah’s O List, The Today Show and the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. I’m proud to keep all dads in their family photos!”

Fits smartphones, all compact cameras, DSLR and GOPRO cameras.

Prices for the Quik Pod start at $19.95. Available online at www.quikpod.com – and at Amazon, B&H Photo, J&R Computer World, Adorama, Henrys Camera and Kaiser Fototechnik (Europe).

U.S. Patent No.: 7,684,694.

Fromm Works, Inc. is an invention and design company that has marketed nearly fifty successful commercial products including Quik Pod, Disney’s Snow White Magic Talking Mirror and Nesquik’s Magic Milkshake Maker. A supporter of Starlight Children’s Foundation. Member of DEMA and PMA.

Learn more at: http://www.quikpod.com or follow on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/quikpod .

Copyright © 2012 Neotrope® News Network – all rights reserved.

If you have deleted a partition, formatted a partition, or changed the file system on a drive and want to recover data from the previous installation or have accidentally reinstalled Windows OS over an existing installation, you will need Yodot’s Hard Drive Recovery tool to get your lost data back in its entire originality. This software can be used to recover data from a formatted hard drive or from deleted or missing partitions.

“We have tried to keep things simple here – if someone wants to recover files the can use the Yodot file recovery software; someone interested in photo recovery can use the photo recovery tool. But in complex data loss situations you can rely on Yodot’s Hard Drive Recovery Software,” said Ken Miller, Spokesperson of Yodot Software.

5 Important Features of This Software:
* Recover partition or entire drive data.
* Works on every complex to simple data loss cases.
* Smart Scan to get files that don’t have any reference due to severe corruption.
* Advanced scan mechanism to identify and recover files based on their signatures with exact size.
* Option to create disk images from dying drive and recover from these disk images.

Pricing and Availability:

Download the free trial version of this Hard Drive Recovery tool from Yodot Software’s official website. The free demo allows you to recover the data, to save the recovered data you will need to register the software. This tool is currently available on a discounted launch price of $69 only. For product details and free demo visit the company website Yodot.com.

About Yodot Software:

Yodot Software is committed towards providing best in its class, result oriented and low cost software products to its customers. Yodot specializes in data recovery tools, file repair utilities and the applications that help in overcoming slow PC problems.

An experienced team of tweak geeks, research pros, expert coders who research and develop these excellent applications and customer support team who works 24×7 to provide answers to all support questions, forms Yodot Software. More info: www.yodot.com

Copyright © 2012 Neotrope® News Network – all rights reserved.

Dr. Spitz started the Shoe Drive program after hearing from his patients – especially from women – they often had a closet full of shoes in excellent condition that were no longer being worn.

“I thought that these shoes could be put to good use at homeless shelters. Many residents of these shelters suffer from a wide variety of foot problems from wearing improper shoes – conditions like bunions, corns, calluses and heel pain. Some have diabetes and peripheral neuropathy which is particularly dangerous if the wrong shoe style or size is worn,” says Dr. Spitz.

Following the Shoe Drive, Dr. Spitz resumes his regular duties as the director of the Foot Pain Center and CEO of Footpaincenter.com – a company that provides information on foot pain, foot conditions, and comfort and performance footwear; and foot health for diabetes.

“The Shoe Drive has been an incredibly rewarding experience. Since its inception we have donated over 30,000 shoes to homeless shelters. The donated shoes provide comfort and protection and in some cases the dressier shoes are worn for job interviews.”

Information about the Shoe Drive: June 11-15, 2012 – shoes in good condition should be dropped off at the Foot Pain Center: 1920 St. Andrews Drive, Seal Beach, CA 90740

About Dr. Marc Spitz:

Dr. Spitz is a well known author and lecturer and a leading podiatrist in Southern California. He graduated from The California College of Podiatric Medicine in 1973 and was the chief podiatry resident at Magnolia Hospital in Long Beach California. He is the co-author of “The Numb Foot Book” (ISBN: 978-0978182052), a guide to the diagnosis and treatment of peripheral neuropathy. His recently published article, alternative treatment options for the management of diabetic neuropathy, appeared in the Pain Practitioner – the Journal for the American Academy of Pain Management.

For more information, visit: www.footpaincenter.com or www.DrMarcSpitz.com .

Copyright © 2012 Neotrope® News Network – all rights reserved.

“We’ve had such a public outpouring of food donations,” Kelly Russum, president, KC’s 23 1/2 Hour Plumbing Inc., says. “We donate all of the food to Martha’s Village & Kitchen and they help to distribute to those people in need. However, we always need more. The more the public gets involved, the more food we have to help those people right in our own backyard.”

Jimmica Guess, Community Relations Manager for the Mission Advancement Team at Martha’s Village & Kitchen, explains that the food boxes are used for distribution through the emergency services department.

“There are many people at the poverty level in the community who will need assistance with food from time to time. We provide them with enough food for three to four days for whatever number of people they have in their family,” Guess says. “They can receive one box every 60 days.”

Products in the food boxes include items such as canned meats, soups, grains, cereal and peanut butter.

KC’s makes it easy for people to donate. They can stop into their office, or even give food to a driver who is in their area. Additionally, monetary donations are also accepted and KC’s will purchase food with the money.

“I’ve been lucky enough to build and sustain a successful business in this community,” Russum says. “Now, it’s time to give back to the community that has made it possible. Everyone needs helps every now and again and it’s our goal to see that they get it.”

Food drives take place year round and after each ton is collected, it is boxed and donated.

About KC’s 23 1/2 Hour Plumbing, Inc.:

In business for 30 years, KC’s 23 1/2 Hour Plumbing, Inc. is a full-service Palm Springs plumbing contractor that services and installs complete plumbing systems. The company provides 24-hour emergency service, seven days per week.

Its motto says it all: “We’re the good guys your friends told you about.”

For more information, visit: www.Kcs23.com .

About Martha’s Village & Kitchen:

Martha’s Village & Kitchen, a partner of Father Joe’s Villages, was founded in 1990 and is the largest provider of comprehensive homeless services in Riverside County. In addition to continuum of care services, it also provides services to the community through emergency services such as food boxes, clothing vouchers, infant supplies, utility, transportation and rent assistance and a daily public meal.

For more information, visit: www.mvk.org .

Copyright © 2012 Neotrope® News Network – all rights reserved.

The donated items, which include pinball machines, jukeboxes, vintage soda machines and much more, are worth an estimated $85,000 in total value making it one of the largest donations PPM has received, according to Michael Schiess, museum founder and co-director. “Richard Foos’s generous donation is extremely important for us as it fills a gap in our collection with some very rare William’s wood rails like Country Club, 4 Roses and 3D,” said Schiess.

PPM is excited about the donation because it allows them to further their goal of keeping the history and culture of pinball in the public’s eye. “What our museum is trying to do is make these items available to the public and encourage other people to do the same,” said Schiess. “Too many times items are getting bought and held by a single owner without the public getting a chance to appreciate the machines. This is an important donation in keeping the American heritage of pinball public.”

More than half of the items donated to PPM are pinball machines. These machines include: Apollo, Be Bop, 4 Horsemen, Blue Skies, Daisy May, Harbor Lites, Lovely Lucy, Magic Clock and San Francisco. “We’re going to restore some of the items and hopefully have them on display in time for our Pacific Pinball Exposition 6 in September,” said Schiess.

Foos, a Los Angeles native, co-founded Rhino Records, a record label that sold greatest hits collections of previously released recordings, in 1973. The company was later sold to Time Warner. Foos, a limitless philanthropist has always made it a point to donate his time, wealth and possessions to better the community. At Rhino, Foos gave employees paid time off to perform community service, encouraged employees to mentor disadvantaged youth and at one point donated two percent of Rhino’s pretax profits to combat AIDS, homelessness and other problems. From 1991 to 2001, the company gave an estimated $2 million to various community-based charities. In the years since, Foos has donated a substantial amount to charities that address poverty and education issues. Today, Foos sits on the board of Rock the Classroom, which offers music programs in Los Angeles inner-city elementary schools.

Pacific Pinball Museum, 1510 Webster St., Alameda, CA.

Learn more about PPM at: http://www.pacificpinball.org .

Copyright © 2012 Neotrope® News Network – all rights reserved.

“We’ve seen a very healthy growth of clients located in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties,” said Donny Disbro, Chief Executive Officer at PCM. “Our Inland Empire Management team now has the space and location to meet the needs of the growing number of communities we serve in the region.”

PCM recently added to its client list, Tuscany Hills, a master-planned community of 1,148 single-family homes located in Lake Elsinore, California. In February, PCM was selected by Brookfield Residential to manage the Audie Murphy Ranch Community Association, a new master-planned community located in Menifee, California with 2,300 homes projected at build-out.

Vice President Alisa Toalson will continue to lead the Inland Empire Region for PCM.

“This is an exciting time for our company,” Toalson said. “Our commitment to providing excellent customer service has put us in a very good position to ride the wave of recovery as the market picks up.”

PCM celebrated its 40th anniversary this year.

About Professional Community Management of California:

Professional Community Management of California, Inc. (PCM), an Associa company, specializes in the management of Common Interest Developments of homeowner associations for family oriented master-planned developments, resort-style master-planned communities, active-adult master-planned communities, condominium associations and boutique communities throughout Southern California and Southern Nevada.

With headquarters in Lake Forest, Calif., PCM and its companies employ a staff of more than 1,500 people. PCM has offices in serving all of Southern California and Southern Nevada and is recognized by the Multi Housing Council as one of the county’s largest managers of common interest developments. Management services by PCM are backed by state-of-the art Internet technology and comprehensive financial and management systems. For additional information, please contact PCM at 800.369.7260 or at www.pcminternet.com.

About Associa:

Building successful communities for more than 30 years, Associa is North America’s largest community association management firm and serves its clients with local knowledge, national resources and comprehensive expertise. Based in Dallas, Associa and its 8,000 employees operate more than 150 branch offices in the United States, Mexico and Canada. To learn more about Associa and its charitable organization, Associa Cares, go to www.associaonline.com and www.associacares.com.

Copyright © 2012 Neotrope® News Network – all rights reserved.

“Entrepreneurship is a viable career alternative for dislocated workers,” said Sandy Harmsen, Executive Director of the San Bernardino County Workforce Investment Board. “According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, small businesses produced the largest amount of employment in 2010, generating 72.1 percent of net new positions.”

The Workforce Investment Board is partnering with Empact (www.iempact.com) to provide the training necessary to start a business with little start-up capital. Attendees will learn how to develop their business inexpensively while creating enough profit to earn a living wage.

The training requires a one-year commitment. Each participant will receive a full-day of training followed by weekly trainings for the first month, and monthly virtual trainings for the remainder of the year. Each participant will be assigned a mentor to support them throughout the program.

“Entrepreneurship is vital to San Bernardino County’s economic growth and prosperity,” said Josie Gonzales, San Bernardino County Chair and Fifth District Supervisor. “I encourage residents who are thinking of starting their own businesses to take advantage of this unique opportunity to learn proven, real life tools shared by successful entrepreneurs.”

To apply, San Bernardino County residents may visit one of the three Employment Resource Centers to take the assessment. To find the nearest location, please visit www.sbcstartup.com or call (800) 451-JOBS.

About the Workforce Investment Board of San Bernardino County:

The Workforce Investment Board of San Bernardino County is comprised of private business representatives and public partners appointed by the County Board of Supervisors. The Board strives to strengthen the skills of the County’s workforce through partnerships with business, education and community-based organizations.

The Workforce Investment Board, through the County’s Economic Development Agency and Department of Workforce Development, operates the County’s Employment Resource Centers (ERCs) and Business Resource Centers (BRCs). The ERCs provide individuals with job training, placement and the tools to strengthen their skills to achieve a higher quality of life. The BRCs support and provide services to the County’s businesses including employee recruitment.

Copyright © 2012 Neotrope® News Network – all rights reserved.

The recent technological advances made in the field of computing have brought all electronic devices closer to each other. A digital camera is a value addition to a gaming device, mobile phone, tablet and notebook. Digital images captured with these devices can be stored in an electronic format – i.e., as a file. With the increasing usage of media files the number of data loss incidents related to loss of photos and other media files from storage devices has also increased.

Yodot’s photo recovery software helps users recover lost and deleted media files. It uses the most advanced algorithms designed for not only recovering deleted photos, but the software can also recover deleted and lost songs, video and other types of camera specific RAW image files.

“Yodot Photo Recovery Software for Windows provides the state-of-the-art photo recovery abilities to any professional photographer, photography enthusiasts or to anyone who has lost their important photo, audio or video file,” said Ken Miller, spokesperson for Yodot Software.

4 important features of this software:
* Can find a photo even when the file system of a drive is completely damaged and can calculate the exact file size to recover;
* Can differentiate a file as an actual photo or a thumbnail of a photo, this helps in recovering the file with exact resolution and size;
* Preview feature of the software helps in previewing all the recovered files before registering the software;
* Provides two different recovered files viewing option – Data Tree View and Sorted File Type View.

Pricing and availability:

You can download Yodot Photo Recovery Software from Yodot’s website. To save the recovered your data, software must be registered. For registration a “license key” is sent through email to unlock the trial version after purchasing the software. The application can be purchased with a limited time launch discount for a MSRP of $39 from the official website.

More Info http://www.yodot.com/photo-recovery/ .

About Yodot Software:

Yodot Software (www.yodot.com) is committed towards providing best in class, result oriented and low cost software products to its customers. Yodot specializes in data recovery tools, file repair utilities and the applications that help in overcoming slow PC problems.

An experienced team of tweak geeks, research pros, and expert coders who research and develop these excellent applications – plus the customer support team who works 24×7 to provide answers to all support questions – forms Yodot Software.

Copyright © 2012 Neotrope® News Network – all rights reserved.

“Based on 2010 census data, states are redistricting jurisdiction boundaries,” says Mitchell Pearce, CEO of Online Image. “Redistricting has reshaped the U.S. political landscape. Districts are gaining and losing addresses. As the 2012 elections approach, our redistricted congressional and state legislative district products and services ensure accurate district-to-address matching that is mission critical for political and advocacy campaigns.”

The new district data products and services are generated by www.USgeocoder.com – the flagship product of Online Image. USgeocoder is a Geographic Information System (GIS) that uses proprietary algorithms to cross-walk various databases and generate the most accurate jurisdictions. USgeocoder is the only service that achieves greater than 99 percent accuracy even when no publicly available map exists for an address.

Online Image has been closely monitoring the redistricting process in each state. USgeocoder integrates the state’s new district definitions with precise GIS data and the latest postal data to produce new district information. It updates its data files as often as the states and USPS update their files.

Online Image makes the new congressional and state legislative district data available by 9 digit zip code, address range, shape file, and Census Block Assignment File. USgeocoder can use this data to match existing large address files to new districts and show new districts with custom address data on maps. Voter registration data can be appended to addresses and the maps to create precinct canvassing routes, call lists, and email lists.

Online Image can also convert phone lists to address lists and then batch process them to match to any representative district all the way down to municipal and school board districts.

For more about the new district data products and services, visit http://usgeocoder.com/datafiles_overview .

About Online Image:

Based in San Jose, California, Online Image specializes in GIS data processing and mapping, advocacy management, custom web programming, and business management. Learn more at: http://www.OnlineImage.biz .

USgeocoder (www.USgeocoder.com), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Online Image, provides best-in-class affordable geocoding solutions for political district, mailing delivery; and census statistics data and mapping needs. It is a customized GIS application that serves political campaigns, lobbying and advocacy, government, sales tax compliance, and marketing organizations.

Copyright © 2012 Neotrope® News Network – all rights reserved.