DA: Cabazon toddler ‘severely abused’ over time, causing death
By City News Service
A7-month-old toddler reportedmissing earlier this month in Yucaipa and whom prosecutors believe was killed by his father in Cabazon was “severely abused” to the point of death, Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said Wednesday.
“We believe he was abused over time,” Hestrin said during a news briefing Wednesday in downtown Riverside. “We believe Emmanuel was severely abused ... and because of the abuse, he succumbed to those injuries. That’s what we believe.”
Jake Mitchell Haro, 32, and Rebecca Renee Haro, 41, of Cabazon are each charged with murder and filing a false police report. They made their initial joint court appearance Tuesday before Superior Court Judge Gary Polk, who appointed both the same public defender and set their arraignment for Sept. 4 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
The victim’s body has yet to be located, but Hestrin noted that investigators “have a pretty strong indication of where the remains of the baby are.” The search is ongoing.
The couple were arrested last week following a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department investigation.
Each defendant is being held without bail — Jake Haro at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, his wife at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside.
“There were inconsistencies in Rebecca’s statements,” San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus told reporters, explaining why no statewide Amber Alert was issued when Emmanuel was first reported missing.
Dicus said detectives invested “hundreds of hours” investigating the case,
running down leads.
“There was forensic data from the crime scene,” he said. “That’s how we learned the jurisdiction where this crime occurred (Riverside County). Forensically, there were a number of things we were able to prove up.”
He did not disclose specifics, and he said that while no one can pinpoint where the tot’s remains are now, “there’s some level of cooperation from the defendants.”
Dicus emphasized that Jake Haro is an “experienced child abuser,” capable of realizing the gravity of the circumstances and how the justice system works, requiring gumshoe work by detectives to uncover clues.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said local Central Homicide Unit
investigators are working in concert with their counterparts to the north at every stage.
“Neither of us cares about jurisdiction,” he said. “This is a massive investigation. Nothing is worse than harming a baby.”
Hestrin said the tot’s death was preventable, blaming a failure in the criminal justice system that enabled Jake Haro to remain free on probation after pleading guilty in a prior child abuse case involving his ex-wife and another infant, Carolina.
Haro admitted a child cruelty charge in 2023, but made his plea directly to the court, avoiding negotiations with prosecutors.
Hestrin said the prosecution wanted prison time for the defendant’s extensive abuse of the girl, which resulted in multiple broken ribs, a fractured skull and a brain hemorrhage. The 2018 abuse left the her permanently bed-ridden, according to Hestrin.
“The judge decided in that case, he decided that Mr. Haro deserved an extra break and gave him (four years’) probation and basically 180 days of work release, which ends up being like community service,” the county’s top prosecutor said.
The judge was on assignment from San Bernardino County. He was not named in the court register available online.
“It was an outrageous error in judgment by this judge,” Hestrin said. “Mr. Haro should have been in prison at the time that this crime happened. If that judge had done his job, Emmanuel would be alive today. That’s a shame, and it’s an outrage.”
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department personnel were examining potential body dump sites along the Moreno Valley (60) Freeway in the Badlands at the end of last week, without success.
Emmanuel was reported missing in the 34000 block of Yucaipa Boulevard in Yucaipa on the evening of Aug. 14.
Rebecca Haro informed deputies she had been assaulted while standing near her vehicle, changing Emmanuel’s diaper outside a Big 5 store. The defendant suggested she was knocked out, and that the assailant fled with the tot.
On Aug. 18, San Bernardino County sheriff’s detectives
Riverside County inmate death investigated as suicide
Councilwoman holds edge in special election to fill Assembly seat
By City News Service
Lake Elsinore City Councilwoman Natasha Johnson on Wednesday maintained her seven-point margin lead over Democrat Chris Shoults in the special election for Riverside County’s 63rd Assembly District.
The latest count published Wednesday afternoon by the Riverside County Office of the Registrar of Voters indicated Johnson had received 33,672 votes to Shoults’ 28,842, netting the Republican businesswoman 53.9% of votes cast to 46.1% for her opponent.
All precincts reported results by Wednesday morning. But some vote-by- mail, provisional and other ballots had not been processed. Results must be certified by Oct. 3. Another update on the count is slated for Thursday.
Johnson has been a Lake Elsinore City Council member since 2012. She said her entire orientation is “good government” by staying focused on policies that best “protect taxpayers.”
“As an Assembly member, I will support law enforcement to keep our neighborhoods safe, fight Sacramento taxes and red tape to lower our cost of living and protect parental rights and put students and parents first,” she said.
The candidate has worked in personal finance and
ARise in ‘Valley Fever’ cases across Riverside County prompts health warning
By City News Service
n elevated number of Valley Fever infections across Riverside County prompted health officials Wednesday to urge residents to take precautions and pay attention to signs of illness so they can obtain treatment whenever necessary.
“It’s important to know about the risk of Valley Fever if you work or spend time in dusty environments and have respiratory symptoms that are not getting better after seven to 10 days,” county Public Health Officer Dr. Jennifer Chevinsky said. “Symptoms can look very similar to the flu and other respiratory illnesses.”
Infections are concentrated in the lungs, generally stemming from inhalation of fungal spores while working or engaging in other activity outdoors, particularly in dry, windy environments, according to officials.
“Spores can be carried in the air when soil is disturbed, putting outdoor workers, construction crews, farm workers, wildland firefighters and people spending time in dusty environments at risk,” according to a Riverside University Health System statement.
Emmanuel Haro. | Photo courtesy of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department
Animal-rights advocates protest at Norco rodeo
By City News Service
Asmall group of animal welfareadvocates demonstrated outside the George Ingalls Equestrian Center last month to protest the 39th Norco Mounted PosseProfessional Rodeo Cowboys’ Association rodeo.
The protest was led by Last Chance for Animals, with assistance from Orange County Animal Liberation and the Los Angeles Animal Defense League. The groups gathered from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 23 and from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Aug. 24 in front of the venue at 3737 Crestview Drive.
Activists are calling for a ban on rodeos, and hope to call attention to what
they consider the inherent cruelty of events such as bull-riding and calf-roping.
“It is important to recognize what rodeos truly are: a form of animal abuse masked as entertainment,” LCA said. “While rodeos are often seen as a celebration of tradition and `ranch life,’ it’s important to recognize that there are more compassionate ways to honor these values without subjecting animals to fear, pain, and stress for the entertainment of spectators. The violence inherent in rodeo events is undeniable.”
The PRCA issued the following statement to CNS before last year’s rodeo:
“As a sanctioning body for professional rodeo, PRCA takes animal safety and welfare seriously. We regulate and monitor rodeo competitors and stock contractors, and we expect them as well as PRCA sanctioned rodeos to adhere to more than 60 rules designed to prevent animal injuries.
“These rules include a ban on the use of electric prods and guidelines for flank strap materials that are meant to cue a horse to buck, not to cause pain. Rule violations are subject to fines or other penalties, and we require trained veterinarians to be in the arena at all sanctioned rodeo perfor-
mances.”
The statement continued, “Rodeo is an intrinsic part of Western culture. We are proud of that heritage and proud of all the steps we take to make animal welfare a top priority for PRCA.”
Cities including Irvine, Pasadena, San Francisco and Vancouver have passed so-called “rodeo bans,” either banning the events entirely or prohibiting certain practices such as electric prods, flank straps, wire tie-downs and sharpened spurs.
The Los Angeles City Council has been preparing such an ordinance since 2023, but has yet to take a final vote on the matter.
SB County team helps man overcome homelessness, substance use
By Staff
In the latest episode of the “Pathways to Shelter” video series, the San Bernardino County Office of Homeless Services features a man who overcame homelessness and a severe addiction to drugs and alcohol with support from the sheriff’s department.
Kevin Bourke found himself living in a riverbed encampment, but his previous life was much different. He had a good job and steady income working as an HVAC journeyman installing HVAC systems for sheriff stations, schools, fire departments and military bases.
Everything changed, however, after he was laid off from his last assignment installing an HVAC system at Fort Irwin near Barstow. Bourke’s employer told him to stay in a motel that they arranged for him and assured him that if he called in 30 days, he could resume working.
Prior to the layoff, Bourke was using drugs recreationally but during this time in the motel, his drinking and substance use increased to a point where he fell into addiction. When the 30-day period ended, Bourke did not call his employer back to see if work was available. He had saved some money and at first paid for the room himself after payments to the motel from his employer stopped. When money ran out, Bourke became homeless and eventually ended up in a riverbed encampment.
During that time, he faced many challenges — inclement weather, violence by other unhoused individuals and an arrest for public intoxication.
It wasn’t until he connected with the SBSD’s Homeless Outreach and Proactive Enforcement program that Bourke began to turn his life around.
“The HOPE team came out to the riverbed and they were really nice,” Bourke said in a statement. “They told me they were not there to take me to jail; they just wanted to talk to me. It was super cool because that never happened to me before. Prior to that, my experience with law enforcement was basically just getting arrested all the time, so they were kind of like my enemy.”
Bourke said the deputies asked him the amount of time he had been living in the riverbed, the location from where he came and his reason for was in the riverbed.
“I’m pretty sure that I was honest with them,” Bourke said. “Then they asked me if I wanted a second chance at life. No one has ever asked me that before. So, I thought about it for a second, and I was like, yeah, who wouldn’t.”
Bourke said deputies then explained that they were involved in a housing program to support people experiencing homelessness.
According to the sheriff’s HOPE team, the path to shelter requires several steps to acquire housing vouchers
through a permanent supportive housing program that’s federally funded and administered by the county Housing Authority.
“Before someone can be issued a voucher, they must qualify through interviews to make sure they meet the program’s requirements,” according to the county. “This can take time. In addition, the client must also provide a birth certificate, Social Security card and other pertinent documents. Many times, people experiencing homelessness do not have these documents immediately available so they must obtain them. After the client obtains these documents, they are submitted to the Housing Authority for review and approval. Once the documents have been approved by the Housing Authority, the client can begin to search for a potential landlord.”
After introducing the housing program to Bourke, HOPE team members offered him temporary shelter. When Bourke refused, they gave him a trash bag, asked him to start cleaning up his area and said they would return in a couple of months.
“Sure enough, they came back,” said Bourke. “They were super cool, and they went into a little bit of detail about the housing program. They told me they would come back again in a month, only this time, they would invite a behavioral health specialist to interview me. I was excited
for that, but at the same time, I didn’t really want to talk to a behavioral health specialist knowing that I was still using drugs. That’s when I decided to get sober because I knew that if I stopped drinking and doing drugs then maybe I’d be able to take their help.”
After the HOPE team’s follow-up, Bourke said it took four days to detoxify himself.
“I had never been sicker in my life, but after I finished detoxing, that’s when I went to my first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting,” he said. “I used the 12-step program from Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous and it changed my life.”
While recovering from his attempt at victory over addiction, a behavioral health
specialist spoke with Bourke and placed him on a waiting list. He called the sheriff’s HOPE team every day to check on his status, and after a couple of months they called him back with exciting news — they were able to get him a housing voucher, and now it was up to him to find a landlord that would accept it.
Eventually, he found an apartment where currently lives. Bourke then got a truck driving license and no longer depends on the housing voucher, and he has a family that includes a young daughter who he cherishes, officials said.
“I’m grateful to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department for the support they provided to me,” Bourke
said. “I used to think of them as my enemies, but they turned out to be people that I really love and care for. I also want to say that homeless people can change. They can come out of a terrible situation and change their lives completely.”
Not only is Bourke independent and free from drugs and alcohol, “he’s also a leader with Alcoholics Anonymous and helps others overcome their addiction,” officials said.
To notify the HOPE team about people experiencing homelessness, the county advised the public to call 909-387-0623 or email hope@sbcsd.org.
The episode featuring Bourke is on a county YouTube page.
| Photo courtesy of Last Chance for Animals/Facebook
Kevin Bourke speaks with San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies. | Photo courtesy of San Bernardino County/YouTube
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Trump’s pick to help run the FBI has a history of prosecuting influential
Democrats
n late July, Missouri state troopers walked into St. Louis County government headquarters and seized the cellphone of one of the most prominent Democratic officials in this solidly red state.
Two days later, a grand jury indicted Sam Page, the St. Louis County executive. Acting as a special prosecutor, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican, secured two felony counts of stealing by deceit and two election-law violations.
For Bailey, bringing felony charges against the leader of the state’s biggest blue stronghold added to the resume of a MAGA warrior who had already interviewed for a key position in President Donald Trump’s administration.
Less than three weeks later, Trump tapped Bailey to help run the FBI. He’ll serve as co-deputy director with Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent and conservative podcast host. Bailey said he’ll resign as Missouri’s attorney general on Sept. 8 to take the post. A spokesperson said he was not taking questions from the media.
The case against Page was the latest in a string of legal strikes against Democrats by Bailey, bringing the full weight of the state on a political adversary. It wasn’t about bribery or self-dealing. Page, the top elected official in a county with about 1 million residents, wasn’t accused of stealing a dime for himself.
Instead, the charges turned on something mundane: the printing and mailing of flyers weeks before about a measure on the ballot in April — the kind of informational material local governments often send to voters and the sort of action that experts said had never led to criminal charges in Missouri.
The election asked voters to give the County Council the power to fire the county’s department heads and its top attorney. Page spent more than $25,000 of taxpayer money to print and mail flyers to voters outlining the measure. The flyer at issue did not overtly tell voters to vote no, but it listed groups that opposed it, including the police board and NAACP, and it
By Jeremy Kohler, ProPublica
quoted a state judge’s ruling that the ballot language was misleading and unfair. It also suggested that a yes vote would allow directors to be fired for political reasons or in emergencies and that a no vote would maintain stable leadership.
Documents filed in the case against Page also showed that he did not follow a county lawyer’s advice to make some changes to the flyer. Bailey alleged that the flyer crossed the line from providing information, which is legal, to urging a no vote, which he said was an unlawful use of tax dollars — and, in his view, grounds to seek felony charges.
If convicted on the most serious count, Page could face three to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines. He could also face removal from office and sanctions against his medical license; he’s an anesthesiologist, though he doesn’t currently practice full time.
“Public officials must follow the law,” Bailey wrote in a news release, “and my Office will work to ensure that they always do.”
The playbook was familiar: Trump has talked about arresting California Gov. Gavin Newsom and New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. Federal agents just raided the home of John Bolton, the former national security adviser in the first Trump administration and a prominent Trump critic.
Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Ed Martin, who had worked as an attorney in Missouri, to head the U.S. Department of Justice’s Weaponization Working Group and to investigate two prominent Democrats, New York Attorney General Letitia James and U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff of California, on allegations of mortgage fraud.
“Bailey really was auditioning for that role, or something like it, and what better way to show loyalty than to do exactly what Trump wants on the federal level, but replicated on the state level,” said Paul Nolette, the director of the Les Aspin Center for Government at Marquette University. “It’s a template for what type of approach Bailey is going to take on the federal level. Political opponents are going to get targeted.”
Bailey has called himself a defender of the rule of law, portraying his high-profile lawsuits and investigations in Missouri as necessary to protect the state from what he has described as illegal or unconstitutional actions by the federal government and abandonment of the rule of law by the left.
Page became county executive in 2019 after a federal corruption case toppled his predecessor, Steve Stenger. Page had led a bipartisan bloc on the County Council against Stenger, who was sentenced
to nearly four years in federal prison for a pay-toplay scheme that steered county contracts to political donors. (St. Louis County wraps around — but does not include — the much smaller independent city of St. Louis.)
The cooperative spirit collapsed as Page set St. Louis County on the aggressive end of Missouri’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, issuing early emergency orders limiting gatherings and indoor dining. That stance put him at odds with state officials who were moving to curb local power.
Despite this and other political battles, Page has twice won countywide elections — first in 2020 to finish Stenger’s term, then in 2022 to a full four-year term. He has said he will decide by the end of the year whether to run again in 2026. He was scheduled to be arraigned on Friday.
“I don’t think I did anything wrong,” he said in brief remarks to local news reporters at a ribbon-cutting for a county road project.
A Page spokesperson referred questions to his lawyer, Jeff Jensen, a former U.S. attorney in Missouri during Trump’s first term. Jensen did not respond to requests for comment. Many have questioned the legitimacy of
This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey. | Photo courtesy of Missouri Attorney General’s Office
Study: Central CA major hotspot for factory farms
By Suzanne Potter, Producer, Public News Service
California’sCentral Valley has the largest concentrationof animal feeding operations in the country, and those farms have a big impact on the environment and the community, according to a new study from the University of Michigan.
Researchers mapped large cattle and pig farms around the country, finding that California hosts almost 1,400 cattle animal feeding operations, known as AFOs.
Sanaz Chamanara led the study while earning her PhD in Michigan and now works as a researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
She said that air pollution measures 28% worse in areas near cattle AFOs –specifically, researchers find
more fine particulate matter that's under 2.5 micrometers in length.
"Two-point-five is a concern," said Chamanara, "because it lingers in the air, and its association with asthma, lung cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and leukemia."
The pollution comes from dust kicked up by cattle and from massive lagoons of waste found near AFOs.
The industry trade group Western United Dairies criticizes the study, claiming it doesn't take pollution from transportation and human sources into account, something the authors deny.
Tulare County has the most feedlots in the Central Valley, with 304 facilities in the region. When
a facility has more than 1,000 animals, it is called a concentrated animal feeding operation or CAFO.
Chamanara said communities near CAFOs tend to have a lot in common, with many of them hosting a high percentage of vulnerable, low-income Latino residents.
"The poverty is higher, the uninsured people are higher," said Chamanara. "But we should mention that actually the unemployment rate is lower, because these CAFOs also offer job opportunities."
This study forms the first national database of its kind. Earlier this month, a federal judge tossed a lawsuit seeking to force AFOs to report air pollutants to local and state agencies.
| Photo by lazy fri13th CC BY 2.0
the case and whether Bailey’s successor, Catherine Hanaway, will see it through. Hanaway, also a former U.S. attorney, as well as a former speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives, did not respond to questions.
“It certainly seems, based on my reading of it, a stretch,” said Peter Joy, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis and an expert in legal ethics and trial practice. “It would be an uphill battle for the state to make this charge stick.”
Ken Warren, a political scientist and pollster at Saint Louis University, said the charges were “totally phony” but that “the more outrageous you are, the more you are going to attract the attention of Donald Trump.”
“Let’s say the same thing occurred but the county executive happened to be a Republican,” Warren said. “Would Bailey go after him? Of course not.”
Missouri has become a proving ground of sorts for Trump appointees. Martin — a longtime state GOP insider with a record of stoking controversies — was named the U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C. After it became apparent he couldn’t win Senate confirmation, he was moved to the administration’s pardon office and the Justice Department’s weaponization group.
John Sauer, a former Missouri solicitor general and anti-abortion activist who last year helped bankroll a campaign to defeat Missouri’s abortion rights ballot issue, defended Trump’s claim to presidential immunity before the Supreme Court. Now, as U.S. solicitor general, he serves as the federal government’s
top advocate before the Supreme Court.
Will Scharf, who lost a primary bid last year to unseat Bailey, pivoted straight into Trump’s legal inner circle. Then there’s Billy Long. The six-term ex-congressman was confirmed in June as IRS commissioner — despite having once pushed to abolish the agency — amid scrutiny over his ties to questionable tax-credit plans. He was recently ousted and said he will become ambassador to Iceland.
That roster of loyalists is no accident. Over the past two decades, Missouri has moved from being a competitive bellwether state to a deep-red stronghold, with a political environment that rewards the kind of hard-line conservatism and culture-war ethos that Trump prizes.
John Danforth, a Republican who served as Missouri’s attorney general from 1969 to 1976 and then as a U.S. senator until 1995, said the office has shifted dramatically from its core mission.
Under him, he said, the job was to represent state agencies, handle every felony appeal, respond to legal opinion requests and manage litigation with a small staff. Asked about a move last year in which Bailey investigated a St. Louis-area school district after a student was beaten during school hours — blaming its diversity policies and removal of resource officers for safety failures — Danforth said, “I wouldn’t have done it.”
As the state has shifted right, many races are effectively decided in the primary. Candidates don’t need to win over most voters, according to political experts and observers —
just the small, very political group that shows up for low-turnout, winner-takeall primaries. That favors hard-line candidates.
Nowhere is that change clearer than in the attorney general’s office.
Bailey is a U.S. Army veteran who served two tours in Iraq as an armored cavalry officer. He started his career as an assistant Missouri attorney general, then worked as a prosecutor. He joined the governor’s office as deputy general counsel in 2019 and later served as general counsel to then-Gov. Mike Parson.
His politicization of the attorney general’s office follows a path blazed by two predecessors, Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt, who each used relatively brief tenures as the state’s attorney general to launch themselves into the U.S. Senate. In Hawley’s case, out-of-state political consultants were embedded in the office from his first weeks on the job, directing taxpayer-funded staff, shaping his policy rollouts and boosting his national profile ahead of his Senate run. Schmitt used the office to wage headline-grabbing legal fights, from suing China over COVID-19 to challenging pandemic restrictions, elevating his profile as he prepared his own Senate campaign.
Neither Hawley nor Schmitt could be reached for comment.
After Schmitt was elected to the Senate in November 2022, Parson announced that he would appoint Bailey to fill the vacancy. That set up a highprofile Republican primary last year against Scharf, a candidate with backing from the conservative establishment. Bailey won 63% of the vote and cruised
to an easy general-election victory in November.
Within a week, Bailey was interviewing with Trump for the job of U.S. attorney general in the new administration.
With no Democrats holding statewide office and a GOP supermajority in the legislature, Bailey has turned his fire on Democratic officials in Missouri’s two largest cities. He pressured St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner to resign by filing a lawsuit to remove her from office that alleged willful neglect of duty and a failure to prosecute violent crimes, and he recently sought to remove St. Louis Sheriff Alfred Montgomery, accusing him of misconduct. Gardner repeatedly denied any wrongdoing before resigning; later she acknowledged misusing some public funds. Montgomery has denied wrongdoing and has refused to resign.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas has also been a frequent target: Bailey threatened a Missouri Human Rights Act investigation into Lucas and his staff after a city-run social media account, responding to
a speech by the Kansas City Chiefs football player Harrison Butker about women being homemakers, named the suburb where Butker lived. The city deleted the post and apologized. Bailey framed the post as discrimination against Christians.
Last year, Lucas suggested the city could benefit from asylum-seeking immigrants joining the local workforce, then clarified that he meant immigrants who were in the U.S. legally. Bailey — who had sued the Biden administration over what he called an “illegal” parole program for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela — accused Lucas of trying to involve Missouri businesses in a “fundamentally unlawful program.” He posted a letter on the social media platform X calling Lucas’ comments “wildly irresponsible” and said he was “putting him on notice that it is a Class D felony to knowingly transport an illegal alien in the State of Missouri.”
Lucas responded in a statement then that Bailey’s letter was “a political campaign press release with no legal effect.”
“It’s not effective
lawyering,” Lucas said in a recent interview. “It’s a whole new branch of lawyering that I, as a lawyer, didn’t grow up knowing, which is: If you get a story out, who cares if you drag people through the mud?”
Bailey, on the other hand, has stepped up to defend Republican allies. His office intervened to defend three GOP state senators who were sued for false light invasion of privacy after wrongly identifying a Kansas man as the shooter at a Super Bowl parade honoring Kansas City’s NFL team — and falsely calling him an undocumented immigrant.
Two of the senators called the lawsuits frivolous, while Bailey has argued the posts were protected by legislative immunity, as the senators were acting in their official capacity.
Lawsuits against two of the officials, who are represented by the Missouri deputy solicitor general, a high-ranking lawyer in the attorney general’s office, remain pending in federal court.
Republished with Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
California paint stewardship program reports growth, plans expansion
By City News Service
InCalifornia,leftover paintis one of the most common household hazardous wastes and tossing it out the wrong way can create costly environmental problems.
Nationally, most Americans said recycling has had positive effects but only about one in six feel they know what happens to their materials. California’s paint stewardship program offers one answer through PaintCare, a nonprofit created by paint manufacturers which runs more than 800 drop-off sites and a free large-volume pickup service.
Terri Marsman,
Califor-
nia program manager for PaintCare, said the group’s 2024 report showed the efforts are making a measurable difference.
"I think that demonstrates our commitment to following the waste hierarchy: Reduce, reuse, recycle," Marsman outlined. "Of the 3.5 million gallons collected in 2024, 4% of the latex paint that we collected was reused and 85% of the latex paint collected was recycled and 12% was landfilled."
She pointed out the process involves partnering with retailers, household hazardous waste facilities
and local governments to ensure leftover paint is managed responsibly. She noted the program also handled more than 1,000 large-volume pickups for businesses and community projects last year, helping conserve resources and reduce costs for local governments.
Marsman stressed the program’s value goes beyond just collecting paint. Recycled paint is turned into new products, some partner sites give good-quality paint back to the public for free and local governments save money by keeping materials out of the waste stream. She under-
scored the program is also preparing for changes under new legislation.
"SB 1143 was signed into law on Sept. 29, 2024," Marsman explained. "That will allow the inclusion of aerosol coatings, coatingrelated products, and nonindustrial coating products by Jan. 1, 2028."
She added the change will give Californians more convenient options for disposing of hazardous products and help reduce costs for local governments. More details, including how to find a nearby drop-off site or schedule a pickup, are available at PaintCare.org.
Dodgers’ preliminary 2026 schedule announced
By City News Service
The Dodgers will open their 2026 season by hosting the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 26 at Dodger Stadium, according to the preliminary schedule announced Tuesday by Major League Baseball.
ACalStateChannel Islandsprofessorwho was arrested during an immigration raid at a Camarillo cannabis farm pleaded not guilty Monday in a Los Angeles federal courtroom to interfering with an ICE takedown.
Jonathan Caravello, 37, a U.S. citizen and a lecturer in CSUCI's math department, was detained by immigration agents during a massive raid that unfolded last month at the Glass House Farms cannabis operation in Camarillo, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
In addition, the Dodgers will play interleague games at Dodger Stadium next season against the Cleveland Guardians March 30-April 1; the Texas Rangers April 10-12; the Angels June 5-7; the Tampa Bay Rays June 15-17; the Baltimore Orioles June 19-21; the Seattle Mariners July 28-30; the Boston Red Sox July 31-Aug. 2; and the Kansas City Royals Aug. 10-12.
Memorial Day, Father’s Day, Independence Day and Labor Day. As is customary, they will be at home for Jackie Robinson Day, April 15.
The Dodgers will be at home for Mother’s Day,
The traditional opening date of March 26 will be the earliest in Major League
history, excluding special season-openers and international openers. Previously, the earliest traditional Opening Day for MLB had been March 27 -- this season.
MLB will announce its games outside of North America later, an MLB spokesperson told City News Service.
The Dodgers’ 2026 preliminary schedule on a month-by-month basis is available at mlb.com/ dodgers/schedule/2026-03.
Cal State Channel Islands professor pleads not guilty to interfering with ICE
By City News Service
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli issued a statement on X in July saying Caravello was charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer. The professor was arrested on suspicion of throwing a tear-gas canister at law enforcement, Essayli said. At his arraignment Monday, a tentative trial date of Oct. 14 was set.
During a previous court hearing in downtown Los Angeles, U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria A. Audero ordered Caravello released on
a $15,000 bond.
According to some media reports, Caravello was trying to dislodge a tear gas canister that was stuck underneath someone's wheelchair when he was taken into custody. However, Essayli alleges Caravello was arrested for throwing a canister.
CSUCI previously released a statement on Caravello's arrest, saying the university was "currently gathering additional information to fully understand the circumstances of the incident."
The statement said, "At
this time, it is our understanding that Professor Caravello was peacefully participating in a protest -- an act protected under the First Amendment and a right guaranteed to all Americans. If confirmed, we stand with elected officials and community leaders calling for his immediate release.
"The California State University remains committed to the principles of free expression, academic freedom, and due process, and will continue to monitor the situation closely."
Photo by Astrid Schaffner on Unsplash
Jonathan Caravello. | Photo courtesy of UCSB
HeatherHoney,a high-profile denier of Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, has been appointed to a senior position in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in which she’ll help oversee the nation’s election infrastructure.
Honey is a protege of Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who tried to help Trump overturn the 2020 election results. In 2024, ProPublica reported that Honey had played a key role in Mitchell’s behindthe-scenes effort to change Georgia’s election rules to allow Republican officials to contest a potential Trump loss in that year’s presidential race. Honey also promoted election conspiracy theories, including one Trump cited in a speech to his followers before they stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Though states do the on-the-ground work of running elections, DHS supports them with tasks beyond their capacities, such as protecting IT infrastructure and voter databases from foreign intrusions. The agency, with bipartisan support, took on this role in the aftermath of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
Experts on voting and state election officials warned that Honey’s appointment as DHS’ deputy assistant secretary of election integrity could erode trust between state and federal officials, prompting states not to share information with the agency.
“We are witnessing a dangerous trend: the elevation of known bad-faith actors like Heather Honey,” said Adrian Fontes, Arizona’s Democratic secretary of state, in a statement, citing Honey’s “well-documented history of spreading election lies that have been debunked in court.”
Fontes called her involvement with DHS “deeply troubling” and said “when the agency gives a platform to individuals who have actively worked
She pushed to overturn Trump’s loss in the 2020 election. Now she’ll help oversee U.S. election security.
By Doug Bock Clark, ProPublica
to erode public trust, it becomes harder to view DHS as a reliable partner in election security.”
A DHS spokesperson did not answer questions from ProPublica on Honey’s appointment or the exact nature of her responsibilities. Honey didn’t respond to calls or emails. The White House also didn’t respond to a request for comment. Her name is listed on the organization’s leadership structure online, and her appointment was first reported by the website Democracy Docket.
In the first Trump administration, the federal government set up programs designed to shield U.S. elections from foreign interference, including the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, an arm of DHS. But Trump soured on this and other initiatives after the director of CISA publicly rebutted his claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
Since the start of the second Trump presidency, the administration has gutted those programs, cutting hundreds of employees at CISA. Its director, Chris Krebs, is now under
federal investigation, DHS has said; Krebs told CNN that the investigation appeared to be an act of political retribution. The Justice Department has also rolled back a program aimed at combatting foreign influence campaigns. Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote in a memorandum that the Justice Department’s program was disbanded to “free resources to address more pressing priorities, and end risks of further weaponization and abuses of prosecutorial discretion.”
David Becker, the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, a nonprofit focused on building trust in American elections, said the cuts had dismantled “nearly all” of DHS’ capacity to protect election infrastructure. He said state elections officials feared that Honey’s appointment, combined with the program cuts, signaled the Trump administration’s intent to eliminate bulwarks of fair U.S. elections.
“The hiring of an election conspiracy theorist with no election knowledge or expertise is the culmination of this reversal,” Becker
said. “DHS now appears poised to become a primary amplifier of false election conspiracies pushed by our enemies.”
Two sources familiar with Honey’s hiring at DHS said she began working for the agency last week. An organizational chart dated Aug. 18 on the department’s website identifies her as a leader in the agency’s Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans. Her position wasn’t on a version of the website archived in July, and officials in former administrations said that there’s been no such job previously.
It’s not clear yet what Honey will oversee, but former DHS officials said that deputy assistant secretaries are typically the agency’s top experts in their subject areas. They’re often involved in drafting executive orders and crafting policies. They also serve as liaisons to the White House and the National Security Council.
Since Honey started, Trump has announced “a movement to get rid of” mail-in ballots and voting machines via executive order, though a top aide subsequently said
the administration would pursue those goals through legislative action. DHS has also threatened to cut off about $28 million in grants to help states prepare for terrorism and disasters if they don’t change voting rules to conform to the administration’s priorities, NPR has reported.
Honey’s duties likely would include helping to organize the government’s policy responses if foreign actors make intrusions into the nation’s election systems, former officials said. To do this, and to assess the security of election infrastructure, someone in her position would typically have access to classified information, including the government’s electionrelated intelligence.
Experts expressed concern about Honey’s portfolio, given her history of spreading misinformation.
“Heather Honey’s past misleading claims about vote counts in Pennsylvania, among other things, have helped fuel false conspiracy theories about stolen elections,” said Larry Norden, an election expert at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, a nonpartisan
law and policy group.
Before becoming swept up in the “Stop the Steal” movement, Honey had no experience in the federal government or as an election administrator, working as a Pennsylvania-based private investigator.
After the 2020 election, she became a contractor for a Republican-backed audit seeking proof of fraud in ballots cast in Maricopa County, Arizona. According to emails between employees working on the review, which ended up reaffirming Biden’s win, Honey helped draft the final report.
Since then, Honey has led at least three organizations devoted to transforming election systems in ways championed by conservatives, such as tightening eligibility requirements for people to be on voter rolls. Members of Honey’s Pennsylvania Fair Elections, a state chapter of Mitchell’s nationwide Election Integrity Network, have challenged the eligibility of thousands of residents to be on voter rolls.
Honey has also been involved in numerous other efforts to transform elections around the country, including a successful push to get many states with Republican leadership to pull out of a bipartisan interstate partnership to share data to make voting more secure.
Do you have information you can share about Heather Honey or elections work being done in the federal government, especially at the Department of Homeland Security? Contact reporter Doug Bock Clark at doug.clark@propublica. org or on Signal at 678-2430784. If you’re concerned about confidentiality, check out ProPublica's advice on the most secure ways to share tips.
Christopher Bing and William Turton contributed reporting.
Republished with Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
Vice President JD Vance stands alongside President Donald Trump. | Photo by Phil Mistry / PHIL FOTO's CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 via Flickr
Gov. Newsom deploys CHP teams to help fight crime in major cities
By City News Service
Gov. Gavin Newsom
Thursday announced he will be deploying new California Highway Patrol teams dedicated to crime suppression in partnership with local law enforcement agencies in areas including Los Angeles, San Diego, the Inland Empire and Sacramento, among others.
The effort builds on “successful” CHP efforts already underway in Oakland, Bakersfield and San Bernardino, according to the governor’s office. CHP officers assigned to these Crime Suppression Teams are expected to saturate high-crime areas, target repeat offenders and seize illicit weapons and narcotics.
“When the state and local communities work together strategically, public safety improves,” Newsom said in a statement. “While the Trump administration undermines cities, California is partnering with them — and delivering real results. With these new deployments, we’re doubling down on these partnerships to build on progress and keep driving crime down.”
CHP teams are expected operate in the following:
-- Identify and suppress criminal activity in highcrime areas through data and intelligence-led policing;
-- Conduct proactive enforcement operations designed to deter and disrupt organized crime;
-- Provided increased CHP visibility and presence in communities most impacted by crime;
-- Support local law enforcement by sharing intelligence, coordinating enforcement, and assisting with investigations; and
-- Maintain strict accountability through structured leadership, clear reporting and operational oversight.
“These crime suppression teams will provide critical support to our local partners by focusing on crime where it happens most,” CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee said in a statement. “By combining resources, intelligence, and personnel, we can better disrupt criminal activity and strengthen the safety and security of communities across California.”
These Crime Suppression Teams in Bakersfield, San Bernardino and Oakland
resulted in more than 9,000 arrests, recovered 5,800 stolen vehicles and confiscated more than 400 firearms, according to the governor’s office.
In Bakersfield, since April 2024, the partnership resulted in 859 felony arrests, 721 misdemeanor arrests, 2,654 DUI arrests, 1,386 stolen vehicles recovered and 114 firearms
On Women’s Equality Day, experts press for equity
By Suzanne
Aug. 25 was National Women’sEquality Day, honoring the day in 1920 when women got the right to vote and this year, advocates spoke out on the quest for equity, not just equality.
Experts said American women may have equal rights but true equity would require equal outcomes on measures such as salary, leadership positions and assets.
Sonya Passi, founder and CEO of FreeFrom, a nonprofit helping survivors of domestic violence and their families thrive, stressed the focus on equity will help.
“I’m so glad that we’ve moved into an era where we talk about gender equity instead of gender equality,” Pass explained. “Because it’s not enough to just say let’s all be equal, and equity really gets at what it would take for us to get there.”
To achieve financial gender equity, advocates said policymakers need to deliver on promises of affordable
health care and child care and they encouraged companies to provide flexible work schedules so employees can balance work and caregiving responsibilities.
Nuray Ozbay, investor relations manager for SelfHelp Federal Credit Union, a community development financial institution offering free financial coaching, noted since January, more than 200,000 women have left the workforce and said a lot of it has to do with post-COVID return-to-office mandates,
the rising cost of child care and the persistent wage gap.
“Women in the U.S. earn 83 cents for every dollar a man earns,” Ozbay pointed out. “So it’s not hard to understand why women started to participate in the labor force less and less.”
Advocates for women have identified what they call the four essential pillars of equity. They include economic access and mobility, freedom from violence, access to high-quality health care and reproductive justice.
felony arrests, 1,627 misdemeanor arrests, 170 DUI arrests, 145 stolen vehicles recovered, and 82 illegal firearms recovered.
Homicide rates, among other crime categories, rose and spiked during the coronavirus pandemic, starting in 2019. However, in the following years, as a result of public safety investments those figures have steadily decreased, according to data from the California Department of Justice.
Preliminary data for the first six months of 2025 has indicated that overall violent crime is down 12.5% compared to 2024.
seized. The city’s 2024 crime rates were the lowest since 2021, with a 57% decline in homicides and 60% fewer shootings.
In Oakland, by late 2024, crime stood at an overall 34% decrease year- over-year. CHP teams were deployed to the city in February of that year. Since October 2024, the partnership with San Bernardino resulted in 357
The Major Cities Chiefs Association has reported a 20% drop in homicides and 19% decrease in robberies in the state so far in 2025.
The largest overall declines in violent crime were reported by the police departments in Oakland (30%) and San Francisco (22%). In Los Angeles County — represented by three law enforcement agencies in this dataset — taken together, overall violent crime declined by 11% in the region.
Advocates for working families are asking Congress to pass a bill to lower the cost of child care, in California and across the U.S.
The Child Care for Working Families Act is stalled in the Republican-controlled Congress. The bill would increase federal funding so child care would cost no more than $15 a day for families earning the median income, which in California is about $123,000 a year.
Casey Peeks, senior director of early childhood policy at the Center for American Progress, said the bill would also make child care free for extremely low-income families.
“It’s not just tackling the cost of child care but also the supply, so looking at facilities and the workforce,” Peeks explained. “It also has a provision around universal preschool for 3- and 4-yearolds.”
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., is a co-sponsor of the bill,
He reported homicides decreased year-to-date by 27.9%, or 57 fewer murders compared to the same period in 2024, and victims shot citywide dropped by 9%, also within that same time frame.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass in a statement thanked Gov. Newsom for being a “collaborative partner,” adding that she looked forward to working with CHP.
“The best way to address crime and other top challenges is through partnership and this is an example of that. In close collaboration with LAPD and community organizations, we will continue to hold people accountable and implement comprehensive strategies to keep Angelenos safe,” Bass said in a statement.
Earlier this week, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell announced that violent and property crimes were down nearly 11% for the four week period from July 27 through Aug. 23. The chief noted that crimes such as aggravated assaults and robberies dropped by 8% and property crimes such as burglary and motor vehicle theft decreased by 12%.
Bill on affordable child care in CA, nationwide stalls in Congress
which has public support from 10 members of California’s congressional delegation, all Democrats. Republican opposition centers around cost. The bill has not been scored yet by the Congressional Budget Office but the two biggest programs, the Child Care and Development Fund and Head Start, each got about $12 billion in funds this fiscal year. The bill would fund grants to open new child care centers and guarantee higher wages for providers, in order to stabilize and grow the workforce.
Peeks pointed out 60% of Californians live in areas
considered “child care deserts,” where the supply is insufficient to meet the need.
“About 67.9% of children under the age of 6 have all available parents in the workforce,” Peeks reported. “In California, the average cost for a 4-year-old in a child care center is over $14,000 a year.”
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has threatened to eliminate the Head Start program and tried to withhold funding earlier this year. The U.S. Senate passed a funding bill which would increase the program’s budget, but the House version is still a work in progress.
Potter, Producer, Public News Service
By Suzanne Potter, Producer, Public News Service
| Image courtesy of the California Highway Patrol
Photo by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona on Unsplash
Photo by Matiinu Ramadhan on Unsplash
San Bernardino County hosting events for National Suicide Prevention and Recovery Month
By Staff
In recognition of National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month and National Recovery Month, the San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) will hold a series of community events this September. These events aim to raise awareness, foster open conversations about mental health, and provide vital resources to support individuals on their journey to recovery.
“Each year, DBH is committed to creating spaces where healing, hope, and resilience are celebrated,” said Dr. Georgina Yoshioka, DBH director. “This September, we invite the community to join us in recognizing the strength of those in recovery and the importance of suicide prevention.”
Upcoming Events
Join the Behavioral Health Commission for its general meeting on Sept. 4 from noon to 2 p.m. where DBH staff will highlight programming and promotions in honor of Recovery
PS library foundation to host annual LGBTQ+ book fest in November
By City News Service
ThePalmSprings
Public Library Foundation will host its fourth annual Pride on the Page book festival later this year at the Cultural Center, with a fundraiser following the festival.
The free event will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 1 at 2300 E. Baristo Road.
“Each year, this festival grows in popularity,” Corey Roskin, library foundation board member, said in a statement. “Our community appreciates events like this, showcasing a wide variety of literary viewpoints, it’s part of what makes Palm Springs special.”
It will feature six panel discussions from LGBTQ+ authors and allies about their books and different topics.
Press; Journalist Will Dean; Melissa Febos, author of “Girlhood”; and poet Steven Reigns.
served search warrants at the Haro home with the help of K9 units, and “a large amount of surveillance video” was obtained from areas of interest for review, according to the agency.
Jake Haro sought an attorney’s counsel after his wife ended her cooperation with
and Suicide Prevention Month. Attendees are encouraged to wear purple (recovery) or teal (suicide prevention). The meeting will be held at 850 E. Foothill Blvd, Rialto, CA 92376. Celebrate the power of recovery with free food, games, rides and live entertainment for the whole family at Recovery Happens on Sept. 6 from 2 to 6 p.m. at Sylvan Park (601 N. University St., Redlands, CA 92374). This public event honors the resilience of individuals in recovery and the dedication of those who support them. Register at eventcreate.com/e/recoveryhappens2025.
Experience real stories of recovery brought to life through music at “The Sound of Recovery Concert” on Sept. 25 from 7 to 9 p.m. at San Bernardino Valley College (701 S. Mount Vernon Ave., San Bernardino). Local artists will perform original pieces inspired by community members’ journeys of healing and hope. Register at eventcreate.com/e/sound-of-
Baby murder
the investigation, according to reports.
Jake Haro was arrested last year in Banning and charged with illegal possession of a loaded firearm, as well as probation violations. That case has not been resolved.
Court documents also
recovery.
DBH will also offer SafeTALK, a free threehour training that equips participants to recognize and support individuals with thoughts of suicide. Attendees will become certified “safeTALK-trained suicide alert helpers.”
Training Dates and Locations:
- San Bernardinon at the Dept. of Behavioral Health (303 E. Vanderbilt Way, San Bernardino, CA 92408) on Sept. 11 from 1 to 4 p.m.
- Hesperia at Hesperia Police Department (15840 Smoke Tree St., Hesperia, CA 92345) on Sept. 15 from 9 a.m. to noon.
- Rancho Cucamonga at Central Park (11200 Baseline Road, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91701) on Sept. 18 from 9 a.m. to noon.
- Ontario at Mt. Zion Church (224 W. California St., Ontario, CA 91762) on Sept. 20 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
For more information and to view promotional flyers, visit https://wp.sbcounty. gov/dbh/events/.
Participating authors and moderators will include Tara Madison Avery, publisher at Stacked Deck
The festival aims to provide “enriching topics that communicates different viewpoints and represents various genres, attracting readers or people who may not have never experienced queer culture and others who have made it the focus of their lives,” organizers said.
A fundraiser will
commence from 7-9 p.m. the same day featuring a conversation between moderator Meredith Fine and author Chris Colfer about his new book, “Roswell Johnson Saves the Galaxy.” Colfer is a screenwriter, producer, author and acted in the television show “Glee,” officials said. All proceeds will benefit the foundation. More information can be found at prideonthepage. org.
Riverside County inmate death investigated as suicide
By City News Service
An inmate at the Robert Presley Detention Center was found dead and authorities were investigating his death Saturday, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department announced.
revealed that Isabel Rebecca Gonzalez, Haro’s former spouse, filed a domestic violence retraining order against him on Aug. 19, and the request sought to protect the couple’s son Eli.
Rebecca Haro has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
Deputies found the man, identified as 46-year-old Ray Gonzalez, unresponsive around 6:55 p.m. Friday in a housing unit cell. Corrections staff and jail medical personnel immediately began performing life-saving measures with support from paramedics, but Gonzalez died.
Investigators from the sheriff’s department and the Riverside County coroner’s bureau assumed the investigation.
Authorities said there were no signs of foul play and the death appeared to be a suicide.
Anyone with relevant information about Gonzalez or his death was encouraged to contact investigator Brett Devine at 951-922-7695.
Gonzalez was arrested in August 2024 in Riverside and was being held without bail on suspicion of first degree burglary, vandalism, prior felony conviction and violation of state parole, according to the sheriff’s website. He had a court date scheduled for Monday.
The Robert Presley Detention Center. | Photo courtesy of Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff/Facebook
| Image courtesy of the Palm Springs Public Library Foundation
Recovery Happens 2024. | Photo courtesy of County of San Bernardino
Clear the Shelters event in Riverside County marks final weekend
By City News Service
The annual Clear the Shelters event concluded last weekend at Riverside County animal shelters and private animal adoption centers throughout the region, where impounded pets were available for adoption with most fees waived.
“Please consider opening your hearts and your homes to a shelter pet, who will unconditionally pour their love and loyalty into you,” county Board of Supervisors Chairman Manuel Perez said in a statement Friday. “These animals really possess the power to change your life for the better.”
The Clear the Shelters campaign is part of a publicprivate partnership held annually every summer, inspired by the desire to see homeless dogs and cats
placed in “forever homes.”
This year’s effort began at the start of the month and concludes this weekend.
The county’s Coachella Valley Animal Campus in Thousand Palms, San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus and Western Riverside County Animal Shelter in Jurupa Valley all participated.
“Riverside County animals deserve our best, and free adoptions make it that much easier to connect people with pets,” 5th District Supervisor Yxstian Gutierrez said.
Prospective adopters can pick out a dog or cat without having to worry about paying the cost of vaccination, microchipping, spay/neuter and impoundment, or in the case of residents who have lost their pets but show up to reclaim them — no reclamation fees. Only canine licens-
Assembly seat
business for nearly three decades.
Shoults lost to thenAssemblyman Bill Essayli, R-Norco, in the November 2024 general election. The father of three is originally from Wyoming, where he farmed and taught school, before relocating with his family to Riverside County, where he has been an English teacher at the high school and college levels.
“My top priority will be to deliver resources and common sense solutions,” Shoults said in election literature. “We need to lower the cost of living, make housing affordable, create good paying jobs ... and protect our freedoms and our safety.”
The union activist has said previously he’s “fed up with Sacramento politicians” and would cross the aisle to end “partisan games (and) get results.”
The special election was necessitated by President
ing fees, which for altered dogs is generally $25 or less, are required based on where an adopter resides.
As of Thursday, roughly 1,000 canines and felines were available for adoption at county shelters. Not all of the impounded pets, however, are housed on-site. Some, especially kittens and younger cats, have been placed with “pet fosters,” who have agreed to keep them temporarily. The county is always seeking additional fosters to free up space under tight capacity constraints.
Along with the county, the Mary S. Roberts Pet Adoption Center in Riverside and other public and private shelters are taking part in the final weekend of the campaign.
More information is available at clearthesheltersfund.org and rcdas.org.
New Riverside exhibit features look back at Victorian-era doctoring
By City News Service
The Museum of Riverside will turn back the clock to showcase latter 19th century customs and medicinal practices when the museum reopens its Heritage House next week following renovations.
“Quackery & Cures in the Victorian Age” will be the post-summer exhibit, beginning Sept. 5, featuring a range of showpieces and details on what it was like to, literally, survive in the 1890s.
“The exhibition examines a period that saw an explosion of scientific and industrial progress that led to an increase in population and, perhaps not coinciden-
tally, an increase in medical maladies,” according to a museum statement. “Amid all this change, the line between cures and quackery was blurred. The struggle to find relief from incurable, painful and deadly ailments hit home.”
Catharine Bettner, owner of the property that later became Heritage House, is profiled in the exhibit. She moved into the two-story home in 1892, after suffering the loss of her husband, daughter and two of her three sons, according to the museum.
“The Bettners and other Riversiders, like so many across the nation, risked
Valley Fever
treatments that could cause unpleasant side effects, long-term damage, addiction and death,” the museum stated.
Bottles with descriptions of purported elixirs will be on display, along with 19th century “photographs, medical textbooks and a set of lancets used for bloodletting,” according to the announcement.
Quackery & Cures in the Victorian Age will run through Nov. 23.
Heritage House has been shuttered for months after undergoing various upgrades, including new fencing and a new paint job, officials said.
The agency said a total of 465 infections were documented in 2024. To date in 2025, there have been 322 confirmed infections. That is almost two-thirds above the level recorded by this time last year, RUHS stated.
Officials pointed out that among the 309 patients with Valley Fever who agreed to interviews, 59% acknowledged suffering from other conditions that made them particularly vulnerable, including diabetes. One-third of those surveyed worked outdoors.
RUHS advised taking the following precautions to prevent infection: -- stay indoors on dusty days, using air filtration systems wherever possible; -- avoid dusty environments, such as construction sites; -- use face coverings if required to work in dust-laden environments; and -- if gardening, dampen the soil ahead of time to lessen the possibility of stirring particulate matter.
Anyone with questions or concerns was encouraged to contact RUHS Disease Control at 951-358-5107.
Donald Trump’s appointment of Essayli as U.S. attorney for the Central District of California.
The 63rd Assembly District consists of Norco,
West Corona, Temescal Valley, Lake Elsinore, Menifee, Woodcrest, south and east Riverside, Mead Valley, Meadowbrook and several surrounding communities.
Lake Elsinore Councilwoman Natasha Johnson. | Photo courtesy of the city of Lake Elsinore
Photo by Bermix Studio on Unsplash
| Photo courtesy of the Clear the Shelters Fund
Medicines from years past are on display in the Heritage House bathroom. | Photo courtesy of the Museum of Riverside.