WEB SITE WAGES WAR ON THE 909.Byline: - Jason Newell It has been bashed on the radio. It has been mocked on TV. But until recently, the Inland Empire In·land Empire A region of the northwest United States between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains, comprising eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, northern Idaho, and western Montana. Farming, lumbering, and mining are important to the area. and its 909 area code, which covers western San Bernardino San Bernardino, city, United States San Bernardino (săn bûr'nədē`nō), city (1990 pop. 164,164), seat of San Bernardino co., S Calif., at the foot of the San Bernardino Mts.; inc. 1854. , parts of Riverside and eastern Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. counties, were relatively safe from attack on the Internet. ``There were a couple of rants and raves out there, but there wasn't really a site devoted to the quasi-battle between Riverside and Orange County,'' said Bill Stephens Bill Stephen (born April 1, 1928) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. Fitzroy career Recruited from Thornbury CYMS and making his debut with the Fitzroy Football Club in the VFL in 1947, Stephen was one of the best defenders in the league. , a North Orange County resident with little love for his neighbors to the east. Not anymore. Last month, Stephens created ``Valley of the Dirt People'' - a Web site with the sole purpose of making fun of the Inland Empire. Borrowing its title from a phrase coined by local radio morning-show hosts, the site has message boards where visitors can share stories, poll questions such as ``Why does Norco smell so bad?'' and lots of anti-909 merchandise. Members can debate which city is the worst, create off-color slogans for the area - ``Welcome to the 909. Bless this Meth'' - and post pictures of things like trailer parks and monster trucks A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A
Stephens, who lives in Yorba Linda Yorba Linda (yôr`bə lĭn`də), city (1990 pop. 52,422), Orange co., S Calif., in a region of citrus fruit; inc. 1967. The city has grown tremendously along with the southern California area; its population increased fivefold between , a city that borders San Bernardino and Riverside counties, got the inspiration for the site from friends and co-workers who live in Riverside. He hates where they live, he said, mostly because of the ever-crowded 91 Freeway. ``The thing that really just set it off was sitting in traffic,'' he said. The response to the site so far, Stephens said, has been overwhelming. Since www.valleyofthedirtpeople.com launched on Aug. 5, it has come to average 20,000 hits per day, and close to 300 people have become registered users. The site does have its share of Inland Empire supporters; about 20 percent of the site's members stick up for the 909, Stephens said, but he's got plenty of stickers, shirts and hats to please both sides. The most popular are ``I love the 909'' stickers. |
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