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Politics: More than a half million Americans gain coverage under Biden | Page B1
Weather: 82o/46o | Volume III | Issue XIV
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REAL ESTATE | Page C2
Thursday, April 8 - 14, 2021
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Sex trafficking crimes brought against Epstein ex-girlfriend
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HEALTH | Page D1
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Soboba Celebrates Easter and Spring Break
Biden makes all adults eligible for a vaccine on April 19
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HEMET, CA.
Destination Smokehouse Eatery Rolls Into The Hemet Depot RUSTY STRAIT | SENIOR REPORTER
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hen the new City Council took over in Hemet last December, we were told that things were going to change. Same old same old and that's what was expected. If you haven't noticed, things downtown are taking on a new look, and the change is starting at what has previously been known as The Destination Coffee House and Bistro. Whoa, Nelly! Something is happening and the City of Hemet is cooperating to the max. Let's go back a little. The Yepremian family (better known in the sports world as you shall soon learn) started Destination Coffee Bar and Bistro in 2016, but let the man who is more responsible tell the story for himself. His name is Nick Yepremian. As I mentioned, the name is most associated with sports, not food. His Uncle Garo Yepremian was for many years an NFL Football Super Bowl kicker with the Miami Dolphins and was among the top NFL Hall of Fame kickers of all time. His father was also involved soccer management. So there you have it if you were wondering where you heard the name. Having to that out of the way, let Nick tell his own story of his Destination and how he got there. "My family started Destination Coffee Bar and Bistro in 2016 and at that time, I wasn't involved. Around 2019 after my father passed away and my mom wanted to move on to other things, I took it over and for the first year we stayed with the same menu and just made minor improvements here and there but I was learning the business so I just made small improvements where I saw improvements needed to be made. In March of 2020, when the Pandemic hit us, we decided to close and stayed closed for two months." "A friend, Walter Johnson, who was here with me almost every day,
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Nick Yepremian, owner of the new Destination Smokehouse Eatery, Adriana Joseph, Marketing Manager and Walter Johnson, Smoker operator. | Photo by Rusty Strait. kept telling me, 'Nick, we need to do barbecue. No place is open right now that does barbecue. I make great ribs and I know there is a hunger out there for barbecue.'" "I finally gave in and we started, but it was not a smooth flight the first couple of times but we finally got it right. Two things hooked me. One, we could reopen and not have to do our full menu, which meant I would have to carry a full inventory and two, I wouldn't have to go buy groceries every day and stuff that it took to run the place the way we used to. That appealed to me." "We decided to only do ribs and chicken in the beginning. We hadn't started brisket yet. That came maybe a month later. Ribs and chicken brought us back to business and we sold about ten slabs of ribs the first day. That was a lot. It was a nice day and we made money. I thought,
okay, this might be okay." "As we kept doing it, people came in and were asking for other things and we reopened our menu and it worked. That's basically what got us to where we are now which caused us to rename the place Destination Smokehouse Eatery. The barbecue was very popular. We've perfected our brisket and it has also become popular. People are beginning to come from outside the area because they've heard about our menu and the quality of our food and service. We decided with our new brand it rated a new name." They have also expanded on the outside, but back to Nick. "When we began this journey, I knew nothing about cooking barbecue until August of last year. Walter did all of the cooking on two small char-grills from Lowe's. Little $160 grills that anybody could buy. Wal-
ter made use of them. I was buying the meat and he was doing the barbecue. One day he brought up a good point. He said, "We're using these grills in a week more than most people would in a year. They're going to run out of steam before we know it. They are going to eventually break down." "A couple of months later, a guy named Bobby Titus came by. He found us on the internet. He was a welder and owned a company called Titus Smokers. He built smokers and would like to build one for us. There was a bit of back and forth, mostly on my part because it was like a $2,000 investment. I finally gave in and told him to go ahead and build me one. When it first came off the truck, both Walter and I thought, hey, this thing looks cool, but it is not that much larger than what we were already using. However, it was
a good start so we had him build another one 4 or 5 times the capacity of the first one he built. It cooks efficiently well but we could see that was only the beginning. We had him build us another one made out of a thousand-gallon propane tank. We're not ready to let the cat out of the bag just yet but our customers will be surprised at how much we will represent what this place used to be when it was Hemet's railroad depot. Mixing modern with the familiar brings something totally new to the downtown center of Hemet. We're going to eventually be set up to have more of an outdoor kitchen, too. "We've done a lot to make our kitchen more efficient. Things are working well and everybody is happy - us and our customers. The City has given us permission to use all the property where the railroad tracks are now, for parking. They've also given us permission to expand our outdoor dining area. We certainly appreciate that the City has been so cooperative and helpful. They've also begun additional landscaping around the outside of our facility from State Street, along Florida Avenue, down to Inez Street to our west side. Hemet beautiful is arriving to the center of town." All eyes are on the City's cooperation because that's what they promised before the last election. Their promises were not just political hot air. "The west side of town has had so much going on that downtown sort of got lost in the dust. This building is a special one. The Depot where we are located is the two major ways of getting in and out of Hemet: EastWest and North-South. All roads lead from us to the freeways." What they seem to be trying to accomplish is a continuation of the success they've had by giving their patrons what they want, prepared the way they like it. They have man
See DESTINATION on page C4
Riverside County to advance into state’s orange reopening tier Wednesday RIVCO.ORG | CONTRIBUTED
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he State of California announced that Riverside County will move into the orange tier of the state’s reopening framework Wednesday (April 7). The move is based on meeting a statewide goal to administer 4 million vaccines
in disadvantaged communities, and the subsequent loosening of the case rate threshold to move into the orange tier. Tomorrow, more residents and patrons may be indoors at businesses and places of worship. Bars will also reopen outdoors for the first time since June 2020.
On April 8, 1990
MOMENTS IN TIME
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RIVERSIDE COUNTY
"Who killed Laura Palmer?" was the question on everyone's mind when David Lynch's surreal TV drama "Twin Peaks" premiered on ABC. The body of the blonde homecoming queen was found washed up on shore wrapped in plastic in the show's opening episode.
On April 9, 1865
Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his 28,000 troops to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the American Civil War. The two generals met in the parlor of the Wilmer McLean home at 1 p.m. Grant arrived in his muddy field uniform, while Lee turned out in full dress attire, complete with sash and sword.
On April 10, 1906
O. Henry's second short story collection,
“We continue to make real progress with combating COVID-19 and the impacts on our businesses and communities,” said Board Chair Karen Spiegel, Second District Supervisor. “Cases have been steadily declining, vaccine supply is improved, and today the state announced ending the tier sys-
tem June 15. These are extremely positive signs that Riverside County continues to move forward and recover.” Retail businesses may increase capacity to 100 percent indoors. Places of worship, movie theaters, restaurants, as
See REOPENING on page C4
"The Four Million," is published. It includes one of his most beloved stories, "The Gift of the Magi," about a poor but devoted couple who each sacrifice their most valuable possession to buy a gift for the other.
Four years later, the Confederacy was defeated at a cost of 620,000 Union and Confederate soldiers dead.
On April 11, 1988
Tiger Woods wins the prestigious Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, by a record 12 strokes. It was Woods' first victory in one of golf's four major championships. He was 21 years old.
On April 12, 1861
The U.S. airlift of Vietnamese orphans ends after 2,600 children are transported to America for adoption. Operation Baby Lift lasted 10 days and was carried out during the final, desperate phase of the war, only 16 days before the fall of Saigon.
Actress and singer Cher collects the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in "Moonstruck" (1988). Cherilyn Sarkasian first became famous as the taller, female half of the 1960s singing duo Sonny and Cher.
The bloodiest four years in American history begin when Confederate shore batteries under Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard open fire on Union-held Fort Sumter in South Carolina's Charleston Bay.
BUILD MORE WEALTH WITH YOUR HOME
On April 13, 1997
On April 14, 1975
Denise Paszkiewicz
Realtor Find me on page C2