The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle - December 1st, 2022

Three homicide victims found after house fire

RIVERSIDECA.GOV

On Friday, November 25, 2022 at approximate ly 11:08 a.m., Riverside Police Officers were dispatched to check the welfare of a young female who appeared distressed while getting into a Red Kia Soul with a man along the 11200 block of Price Court, located in the La Sierra South neighborhood of Riverside. While officers were re sponding, our Public Safety Com munications Center began receiv ing calls of a structure fire just a few houses away from where the check the welfare call originated.  The Riverside Fire Department arrived first and reported a work ing fire on the first floor of the res idence. They initiated a fire attack, made entry, then discovered three adult victims laying on the ground in the front entry way. Their bod ies were pulled outside where it was determined they were victims of an apparent homicide. Fire fighters continued their efforts un til the fire was placed under con

the young female described in the initial check the welfare call was a teenager who lived where the house fire and homicides oc curred. The man she accompa nied was eventually identified as 28-year-old Austin Lee Edwards of North Chesterfield, Virginia.

Information was relayed to al lied law enforcement agencies re garding this triple homicide and Edwards’ vehicle description while detectives sought warrants for his arrest and attempted to determine his current whereabouts. Sever al hours later, he was discovered driving with the teen through San Bernardino County when he was located by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department in the unincorporated area of Kelso. Edwards fired gunshots at depu ties and a deputy-involved shoot ing occurred where he was subse quently pronounced deceased at the scene.

The teen was unharmed and later placed into protective custo

San Jacinto Valley students honored in November

The Hemet/San Jacinto Stu dent of the Month pro gram held its most recent recognition breakfast at the new ly refurbished Maze Stone at So boba Springs Golf Course, Nov. 17. Six local high school seniors were recognized and honored for their character, love of learning and commitment to academics in addition to their involvement in school and community activi ties and their ability to overcome difficult life challenges. And they do this all in a setting that honors God, America, family, communi ty and free enterprise. Students are nominated by teachers or oth er school personnel for making a difference in their homes, schools and communities.

Program founder and event facilitator Karena Zermeno also represents one of the sponsors, Altura Credit Union. Backpacks

filled with gifts, a Student of the Month award, certificates of rec ognition and much more were donated by the program’s spon sors to the award recipients. Each student was invited to the podi um to share their personal story, past challenges and future goals with a room full of supporters that included principals, teach ers, peers and family members, as well as community and school district dignitaries.

November’s students of the month from Hemet Unified School District schools are Bran don Evans, Sierra Evans Hamil ton, Janis Ignacio, Enrique Mar tinez and Alexander Nahsohn. San Jacinto Unified’s honoree for November is Litzy Morales.

Hemet Unified School District Brandon Evans, who has been a Western Center Academy stu dent since sixth grade, was de scribed as insightful, thoughtful and driven. He completes at least three college courses each semes

ter in addition to his high school work. He expects to be only one semester away from completing his associate degree in computer science when he graduates from high school. He offers tech sup port for others, which was es pecially needed and appreciated during the period of online learn ing. Brandon did not always like mathematics and credits a tutor with helping him escape his prej udice against the subject.

“The most important life lesson I learned is that something you despise can one day be turned into something you love with the right approach,” he said.

Tahquitz High School’s Sierra Evans Hamilton was nominat ed for being a great role model. She was introduced by Princi pal Kari McGowan who said she was reminded of a quote when she thought of the senior who is full of passion and compassion for others. She said, “In a world where you can be anything, be

Twitter will no longer en force its policy against COVID-19 misinforma tion, raising concerns among public health experts and social media researchers that the change could have serious consequenc es if it discourages vaccination and other efforts to combat the still-spreading virus.

Eagle-eyed users spotted the change Monday night, noting that a one-sentence update had been made to Twitter’s online rules: “Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter is no longer enforcing the COVID-19 misleading informa tion policy.”

By Tuesday, some Twitter ac counts were testing the new boundaries and celebrating the platform’s hands-off approach, which comes after Twitter was purchased by Elon Musk.

“This policy was used to silence people across the world who questioned the media narrative surrounding the virus and treat ment options,” tweeted Dr. Sim one Gold, a physician and leading purveyor of COVID-19 misin formation. “A win for free speech and medical freedom!”

Twitter’s decision to no longer remove false claims about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines dis appointed public health officials, however, who said it could lead to more false claims about the virus, or the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.

“Bad news,” tweeted epidemiol ogist Eric Feigl-Ding, who urged people not to flee Twitter but to keep up the fight against bad in formation about the virus. “Stay folks — do NOT cede the town square to them!”

While Twitter’s efforts to stop false claims about COVID weren’t

perfect, the company’s decision to reverse course is an abdication of its duty to its users, said Paul Rus so, a social media researcher and

dean of the Katz School of Science and Health at Yeshiva University

trol and eventually extinguished.  Detectives with the Robbery –Homicide Unit, along with Spe cialists from the Forensics Unit, responded and assumed the inves tigation. They have been assisted by the Riverside County Sher iff-Coroner’s Office, the Riverside

County District Attorney’s Office, and Arson Investigators with the Riverside Fire Department.

The victims have been identi fied as 69-year-old Mark Winek, his wife 65-year-old Sharie Winek, and their daughter 38-year-old Brooke Winek. The exact cause

and manner of their deaths are still pending. The cause of the house fire continues to be under investi gation although it appears at this point to have been intentionally ignited.

During the preliminary in vestigation, it was determined

kind. That is Sierra.” Sierra is a member of the Ti tans’ award-winning co-ed cheer squad, was homecoming princess and is her school’s NAMI Club president, taking the club to new heights. Sierra plans to pursue

studies in psychology, criminal justice and paralegal while con tinuing cheerleading at the col lege level. Her dream job is to be come a forensic psychologist.

DIANE

RECIPIENTS: Recipients of the Hemet/San Jacinto Student of the Month award for November are, from left, Janis Ignacio, Enrique Martinez, Sierra Evans Hamilton, Alexander Nahsohn, Brandon Evans and Litzy Morales. | Courtesy Photo of Carrie Best.

Brooke Winek.

| Courtesy Photos of Riverside Police Department Mark and Sharie Winek

COVID MISINFORMATION: Between January 2020 and September 2022, Twitter said suspended more than 11,000 accounts for violating its COVID misinformation policy and re moved more than 100,000 pieces of content that did so. | Courtesy Photo of Getty Images

ELECTION RESULTS

WALLIS TAKES 12-VOTE LEAD OVER HOLSTEGE WITH FEW BALLOTS LEFT

With nearly all ballots counted, Republican Greg Wallis took a 12-vote lead Tuesday night against Democrat Christy Hol stege in a tight race for a seat in the California State Assembly.

Holstege, a member of the Palm Springs City Council, was leading in initial results on Election Day, but she and Wallis have been separated by razor-thin margins in re cent weeks as more ballots have been counted.

The latest vote count updates Tuesday showed Wallis with 84,420 votes to Holstege’s 84,408. Roughly 1,000 ballots in Riverside County were still being processed Tues day, with another update expected Thursday upon the certification of elec tion results by the regis trar.

The San Bernardino County Registrar of Vot ers said it plans to have another vote count update Wednesday afternoon,

though it’s unclear how many additional ballots still must be processed.

The newly constitut ed 47th District includes parts of the western and central Coachella Valley. It includes much of what was inside the previous 42nd District and also portions of San Jacinto and Hemet, plus Desert Hot Springs, Cathedral City, La Quinta, Idyllwild and an area extending east nearly to Desert Center.

Much of the area has been represented by Chad Mayes, a Republi can turned independent, since 2014. Wallis has served as the district di rector in Mayes’ office for several years.

While California does not have an automatic trigger for a recount in its elections, any voter who's willing to pay may request one, though it's unclear if that will be the case in the Assembly District 47 race.

Tom Coulter

ALGAE STOP FISHING AND KAYAKING AT LAKE HEMET

In Lake Hemet Munici pal Water District (LHM WD) General Manager Mike Gow’s report to the board last Thursday, he reported that the lake level is still low at 120.5 feet. 135 feet is full and 118 feet is half full.

But the Nov. 8 storm resulted in valley farm ers not taking irrigation water and he hopes that with more storms and stream flows, LHMWD will not need Easter Mu nicipal Water District water until spring.

He also reported that al fishing and kayak ing have been halted at Lake Hemet because of a state-issued high al gae-level warning. Test ing results are expected to come back positive over

the next few weeks allow ing trout to be stocked again and the bans lifted.

At the Fern Valley Water District board meeting Friday, General Manager Victor Jimenez reported 14.9% in un accounted-for water. He said a leak on Darryll and Hemstreet “was pretty substantial.”

The board approved up to $50,000 for a new fil ter plant control software upgrade with five iPads for staff. Coastal Instru mentation and Teleme try received the contract for $24,435 for materi als to build and install a new control system and $9,500 for the iPads in cluding their set up.

Contributed

Hemet teen pushed into traffic finally wakes from coma

Hemet police say his injuries were the result of a strong armed robbery involving four teens who took his skateboard. One of them pushed him into oncoming traffic at the intersection of Stetson Avenue and Kirby Street, where he was struck by a car.

TONY SHIN | NBCLA

After months in the ICU, a 16-year-old from Hemet is fi nally waking from a coma after he was pushed into oncoming traffic during a robbery over a skateboard. After the unthinkable crime in February, his family is still struggling both emotionally and fi nancially.

There are simple move ments, like lifting his leg, or opening his eyes.

But to the family of Angel Figueroa, these are promising signs that he is slowly making progress.

"Not quite responding or communicating with

RIVERSIDE, CA

us but just moving little movements give us a sign of hope you know," said Belki Brizuela, the vic tim's aunt. "There's hope that he's going to come out of this."

Brizuela says only in re cent weeks has her neph ew started coming out of a coma, nearly nine months after he suffered a trau matic brain injury.

"I couldn't recognize him he was so swollen. His head was really big. He had so many scars," Brizuela said. "And bruis es everywhere, and cuts."

Hemet police say his injuries were the result of a strong armed robbery involving four teens who

took his skateboard. One of them pushed him into oncoming traffic at the intersection of Stetson Avenue and Kirby Street, where he was struck by a car.

"I can't wrap my mind around it. Why? You know, what was the reason to do that you know?" his aunt said.

She says the teen who pushed Angel was sen tenced to six months in juvenile hall. The other three teenagers got house arrest.

Brizuela says her family is getting closer and clos er to financial ruin. That's why she has now created a GoFundMe. She says the

medical bills are skyrock eting and soon they'll have to provide rehabilitation care for Angel at home.

"We're trying to save up money for a van and get all the equipment that he needs," she said.

The GoFundMe titled "Angel Figueroa" has raised just over $2,600 of a $20,000 goal.

As Angel continues to make progress, Brizuela says her family won't be celebrating Thanksgiving or Christmas. Instead they will be at the hospital hop ing Angel will someday make a full recovery.

"I just wish no family to ever go through this," Brizuela said.

Noe Navar's Disappearance In Riverside County: Search Efforts Continue

CNS | CONTRIBUTED

Noe Navar's fami ly is desperate for clues about his mysterious disappearance two months ago. The only thing his loved ones say they know for certain is that his prized 2018 silver Nissan Maxima was found burned on a trail in the San Jacinto Mountains. An active search con tinues for the 31-year-old man, and while foul play is not suspected, it hasn't been ruled out either, Riv erside County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Wenndy Brito-Gonzalez confirmed Thursday.

"We just want to know where he is," said Maria Navar, Noe's aunt and godmother. "We are look ing for peace."

The last time Maria heard from her nephew was Sept. 21. She was va cationing in Mexico when he called asking for help with gas money. Another family member stepped up with a few bucks, and on Sept. 23 he stopped by to say thank you. There's been no correspondence since.

Noe is someone to keep tabs on — he suffers from schizophrenia, Maria said.

At the time of his disap pearance, Noe, a Brawley resident, was staying with various extended family

members in the San Gor gonio Pass Area while he worked temp jobs in the region, according to Ma ria.

"He has a lot of cous ins around Banning and Beaumont," she said.

It wasn't until Sept. 28 that the family learned something was really wrong, Maria explained. Noe's mother, who also lives in Brawley, received a letter from the Riverside County Sheriff's Depart ment, Hemet Station. The envelope was addressed to her son, but she opened it anyway.

"Notice of Stored or Impounded Vehicle," the Sept. 26 letter began.

Noe's Maxima was towed because on Sept. 23 it was found abandoned and "blocking traffic," ac cording to the correspon dence. A $92 impound fee was due in return for the car.

No one could get a hold of Noe to find out what happened, so family mem bers went to the impound yard to get the vehicle back for him, Maria con tinued.

That's when alarm bells really went off. Parked in the yard was Noe's prized ride — totaled by fire.

"That car was a trophy to him," Maria said. "If it overheated, he would have flagged someone down.

He would have called me. He would have called someone."

The burned-out car was found on Rouse Hill Truck Trail, near Idyllwild, ac cording to Maria, who lives in Riverside County.

The rural mountain trail is a fire road that twists and turns, and ruts after rains.

"It didn't make sense," Maria said. "Only trucks can get up that trail. How did his car get there?"

Back in Brawley, Noe's mother filed a missing person report with the lo cal police department. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department eventually became involved once the two agencies connected the dots.

"Noe Navar was report ed missing on 9/28/22. His vehicle was found abandoned in the San Ja cinto Mountains," a flyer from the Riverside Coun ty Sheriff's Department reads. "Although Navar is from Brawley, California, information received in dicates he was recently in the Cabazon and Hemet areas. Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit, along with search dogs, are actively searching the area for Na var."

Thousands of handmade missing person flyers were posted and shared by the family across Anza, Ban

ning, Beaumont, Cabazon, Colton, Hemet, Idyllwild, Jurupa Valley, Riverside, Perris and San Jacinto in the hope that someone knows where Noe is. Gi ant 6-foot-square vinyl banners were hung in several communities. The family is also using social media platforms to get the word out. A $2,500 reward is being offered for infor mation that leads to his whereabouts.

Because of his schizo phrenia, the family fears Noe may not know who he is.

"We just hope someone might recognize him and call," Maria said.

EFFORTS CONTINUE: Noe Navar.

| Courtesy Photo from the family of Noe Navar

Lake Hemet| Courtesy Photo of Lake Hemet Campground via Facebook

Soboba opens Legacy Bank to serve the community

After several years of careful planning, the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians recent ly held a formal grand opening celebration of its Legacy Bank in Murrie ta. Soboba Tribal Council Chairman Isaiah Vivanco said it was great to see so much community support at the ribbon cutting cere mony.

“In an effort to expand our economic enterpris es we are excited to bring Legacy Bank to the Murri eta Valley,” he said. “Mayor Jonathan Ingram has com pletely supported Soboba opening our business lo cally, and we appreciate the hospitality. We know we can bring the same part nership we share in our valley to that of Murrieta.”

So many questions need ed to be answered as to why this would be good for the Tribe and the community and it was determined that one of the greatest longterm benefits would be the fact that banking is made up of many diversified jobs such as operations, sales, human resources, account ing, credit, training, and so much more that would afford Tribal members job opportunities to consider in the future.

“Banking is sort of a melting pot of all the jobs across many types of busi nesses in one place,” EVP and Chief Banking Officer Kathryn “Kathy” Gonza les said. “Since the Tribe is already recognized as a strong leader in employ ment in the county, having a bank to add to the diver sity in opportunities was a natural fit.”

The decision to open the

first branch in Murrieta did not come lightly. Be cause Southwestern River side County, but especially the Temecula Valley area, is ripe with small and midsized business owners that have been without a true community-oriented bank partnership for loans and cash management services it made sense to give them something that was needed and would be appreciated.

By hiring a team of sea soned professionals with significant experience, this new bank could do for small businesses what oth er banks were not doing.

“We could step into the space that was being va cated and create a thriv ing bank with a long-term relationship of local lead ers to support our efforts and sustain this consistent model long into the fu ture…hence the name Leg acy was arrived at,” Gonza les said.

The name was coined at the grand opening celebra tion of the new Soboba Ca sino Resort in the spring of 2019 where Gonzales said she and bank president/ CEO Jim Hicken witnessed a people that honored their past, stuck to their knitting in the present and were driving toward a future that would be up to them.

“As it had been in the past, so it would be into the future, but now even better,” Gonzales said.

“Legacy was not about the immediate but more about a patience that the Tribe possessed to persevere re gardless of the obstacles to ensure they not only sur vived but that they thrived.

Legacy meant doing some thing bigger than each person, bigger than they all were collectively and was intended for the future generations to always re

member how it all started and tell this story.”

Formally proposed in 2018 after a couple of years of due diligence, James “Jim” Hicken was engaged as President & CEO in December 2018, EVP and Chief Banking Officer Kathy Gonzales came on in April 2019, EVP and Chief Financial Officer Ricardo “Rick” Huerta in Septem ber 2019, and EVP and Chief Credit Officer Din na Pamintuan in March of 2022. These are the orig inal builders of the bank that set out on the journey with the Tribe to create the new bank and serve as members of its executive team.

Hicken has 40 years’ banking experience with a strong background in cred it, and bank start-up expe rience. Gonzales has 30 years’ financial services ex perience, a strong commer cial banking background and experience build ing banking operations throughout the Inland Empire, Los Angeles and Orange County. Huerta’s 20 years of banking experi ence throughout Southern California includes being the former CFO at two San Diego-based banks. Pa mintuan has 30-plus years of broad banking experi ence with several South ern California Banks. Also part of the team are trusted advisors Jim Olson and Jim Jones.

Olson, of Joseph & Co hen, the bank’s legal coun sel who started working with SEDC in 2017 on planning the venture and moving through the bank formation process, said that, while such an under taking can be a challeng ing and arduous journey, SEDC and the Tribe were up to the task.

“The Tribe’s vision for the bank is grounded in its history and its affirming view of the future, wonder fully reflected in its people. These foundations are why Legacy Bank is here today,” he said. “I have been hon ored to be a part of it.”

Jones, of Carpenter & Company, the bank’s reg ulatory consultant, met members of the SEDC board of directors in early 2018 to discuss the Tribe’s vision for Legacy Bank. Ed Carpenter and Jim Jones, principles of Carpenter & Company, were honored to work with the SEDC and the Tribe to make their vi sion a reality.

“The commitment of the SEDC and Tribal members to plan for their future was impressive, and working with all the individuals that made Legacy Bank a reality was a great experi ence,” he said.

Along with providing Tribal members numerous career opportunities, the bank will offer focused fi nancial literacy education for both adult and youth citizens and customized loan and deposit programs to address the needs of all people, regardless of loca tion or age.

Members of the Soboba Economic Development Corporation worked di rectly with Tribal Council and banking professionals to bring the project to fru ition. This new business venture is owned by the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians and not by the So boba Economic Develop ment Corporation. This is to allow the Tribe to pros per from the benefits of the Legacy Bank, all while allowing SEDC to fulfill its purpose of diversification, job creation and self-suffi ciency.

The Legacy Bank Board of Directors who will provide leadership and guidance for Legacy Bank are Michael Vanderpool, Becky Flores, Geneva Mo jado, Lakshman Koka, Jim Hicken and Jim Jones.

SEDC board member Koka said another im portant aspect of opening Legacy Bank was to help the Soboba Band of Lu iseño Indians create an as set that will help the next seven generations be more self-sustaining.

“Moreover, banking can be a stable and lucra tive business if planned and managed properly,” he said, adding that the group also felt this busi

ness would put Soboba in a better position to utilize its finances and have a better say in how its funds are invested.

Plans are already being made to open additional branches, including the next one in San Jacinto. Legacy Bank is an FDIC insured full-service bank that can serve personal and business banking needs. It had a soft opening in June and a formal ribbon cut ting and grand opening celebration in October.

Located at 41391 Kalmia Street, Suite 100 in Murri eta, more information can be found at www.legacy bankca.com or by calling 951-579-3177.

dy of the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services.

Detectives determined Edwards had met the female teenager through the com mon form of online decep tion known as “catfishing,” where someone pretends to be a different person than they actually are. It is be lieved Edwards had devel oped an online relationship

with the teen and obtained her personal information.

He traveled from Virginia to Riverside where he parked his vehicle in a neighbor’s driveway and walked to the teen’s home. At some point, he murdered the teen’s grandfather, grand mother, and mother before walking back to his vehicle with the teen and leaving.

Detectives learned Edwards had worked for the Virgin ia State Police until recently employed at the Washing

of Virginia.

“Our hearts go out to the Winek family and their loved ones during this time of tremendous grief, as this is a tragedy for all River siders,” stated Riverside Po lice Chief Larry Gonzalez. “This is yet another horrific reminder of the predators existing online who prey on our children. If you’ve already had a conversation with your kids on how to

be safe online and on social media, have it again. If not, start it now to better protect them.”

This investigation is still ongoing and there are no other details to release at this time. Anyone with ad ditional and relevant infor mation should contact De tective Josh Ontko at (951) 353-7135 or JOntko@Riv ersideCA.gov, or Detective Bryan Galbreath at (951) 353-7105 or BGalbreath@ RiversideCA.gov.

The Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians has opened Legacy Bank in Murrieta.

| Courtesy Photos of the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians

Many guests attend the recent formal grand opening of Soboba’s Legacy Bank in Murrieta.

The interior of Legacy Bank blends comfort with functionality to provide a welcoming experience for clients.

A ribbon cutting marks the beginning of the formal grand opening celebra tion of Soboba’s Legacy Bank in Murrieta. From left, Geneva Mojado, Jim Jones, Becky Flores, Lakshman Koka, Isaiah Vivanco, Jim Olson, Michael Vanderpool and Kelli Hurtado.

Celebrating the opening of Soboba’s Legacy Bank are, from left, Kathy Gon zales, Jim Jones, Lakshman Koka, Dinna Pamintuan, Becky Flores, Geneva Mojado, Jim Hicken, Jim Olson, Mike Vanderpool and Rick Huerta.

A red carpet greets guests to the formal grand opening of Soboba’s Legacy Bank.

Legacy Bank President/CEO Jim Hicken with Soboba Tribal Council Vice-Chairwoman Geneva Mojado and Chairman Isaiah Vivanco.

ton County Sheriff’s Office in the state

Austin Lee Edwards, 28, of North Chesterfield, Virginia.

CHURCH BRIEFS

FELLOWSHIP CHRISTMAS

FESTIVAL

This a free event with fun for the whole family. Join us for a giant Christmas tree lighting with free food, drink, and vari ous activities! The Fellowship Christmas Festival is designed to serve the people of Beaumont and the surrounding areas by providing an evening of fun for the whole family free of any costs!

We will be providing free food & drink, all sorts of carnival games, a train ride, obstacle courses, music, face painting and more!

The main event of the evening will be our Giant Christmas Tree Lighting at 7:00 PM, which will be preceded by a short time of singing Christmas Carols togeth er. Fellowship Church 650 East Oak Val ley Parkway Beaumont, CA 92223. Sun., 4 December 2022, 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm.

NATIVITY & FESTIVITY

CHRISTMAS FREE PUBLIC EVENT

PETTING ZOO PLAY 12/17 SAT

Invite Kids, Families to our Nativity & Festivity Free Public Event-Hemet, San Jacinto. Animal Petting Zoo, Drama Play, Raffle Prizes, Gifts. FREE ADMISSION !! FUN FUN FUN! Date & Time: Decem ber 17th, 2022 Saturday 1-5PM Loca tion: Hope in the Valley Baptist Church / Esperanza en el Valle IB Court Yard (Outdoor Event) Address: 1480 N Kirby St, Hemet, CA 92545 (Esplanade Ave &

NOE

from A2

According to his fami ly, Noe is Hispanic with brown eyes, stands about 5-feet-5-inches tall, weighs approximately 165

RECIPIENTS

from A1

“Growing up, things were not always perfect,” she said, adding that her grand parents were her constant rock. “My mom taught me to always take the upper road. In every moment in life, you can choose to run away or face it and become stronger. When things get difficult and you feel like giving up, always take the upper road.”

Janis Ignacio is West Val ley High’s choice for No vember. One of her teachers said Janis is the best exam ple of what teachers want students to understand and that is “no matter where you start, your continued effort and practice over time will produce academic success. Mastery does not come but through effort, practice or grit. Janis has these quali ties in greater quantity than most students I’ve met.”

She excels at cross coun try and academically while remaining very soft-spo ken. She enjoys giving back to the community by vol unteering at T.H.E. Cen ter in Hemet. She plans to complete her general edu cation classes at Riverside Community College while working part time and then transfer to UC, Riverside to major in business market ing.

“An obstacle I learned to overcome was reading and writing comprehension,” Janis said. “I never asked for help from teachers for fear of being judged, which resulted in me not perform ing to my full potential. I fi nally found the courage to ask for help and learned an important lesson which is how to communicate with others.”

Hemet High School sin gled out Enrique Martinez for having many talents and rising above harsh cir cumstances. As a child he witnessed his father’s mur der by cartel violence while living in Mexico. After this tragedy, the family migrat ed to the United States in search of a better life.

“As a kid, I had to nav igate an impoverished, drug-ridden environment all the while trying to learn English and put my best foot forward in school,”

Kirby St.) Tel. (951) 487-8830 / Español (951) 314-3733. Please visit website www. hvbchurch.com

HEMET SPIRIT

CATHOLIC CHURCH

Mass Schedule Masses will be celebrat ed. Daily Masses Tuesday through Friday 8:30 AM English. Vigil Mass, Saturday 5:00 PM English, Sunday Mass: 7:30 AM English Mass, 9:00 AM Spanish Mass, 11:00 AM English Mass, Confessions Sat urday 4:00 PM.

BUILDING A TEAM FOR THE MOVE OF GOD - DEC EDITION

Guest Speaker: Apostle Vanisia Tapia Founder/ Sustaining Fire Ministries. By Prophetic Glory Ministries. Sun, Dec 18, 2022, 2:30 PM. 1026 S State St 1026 South State Street San Jacinto, CA 92583.

THE LIVING NATIVITY 2022

Experience the joy & hope of Christmas with live animals! Enjoy our outdoor walk through celebration of the first Christ mas. It's Christmas at Magnolia Church! The holidays won't be the same without you, come and join in the fun. Bring the entire family, or a group of friends, and experience the Christmas story. Get close to the action and live animals as you walk through our Living Nativity. Magnolia Church 8351 Magnolia Avenue Riverside, CA 92504. 951.689.5700.

pounds, always wears a baseball cap, has an Az tec symbol tattooed on his right eyebrow and Roman numerals on both hands. He is bald and lacks facial hair due to alopecia the family said.

Enrique said. “Your expe riences make you who you are and something that drives me everyday is my experience living in Mexi co.”

He said that with the help of his mother and teachers, he has been able to over come the disparities in his life. He said his childhood has made him grateful for everything he has and it taught him that life isn’t promised to anyone.

He plans to pursue his passion for computer sci ence at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and hopefully se cure a career at a top tech company.

Hamilton High’s Alexan der Nahsohn is ranked No. 3 in his class with a 4.4. GPA and has the ability to perse vere while constantly chal lenging himself and others. The student-athlete has been on the football team since his freshman year and is a National Honor Society member. His nominating teacher, Preston Brimhall, described Alexander as a “brilliant student and com plex individual” and said he is constantly in awe of his mature insights in class.

“You would never know he suffers from crippling migraines and emotional struggles,” Brimhall said.

Alexander has been a member of the Boy Scouts of America for 10 years and said it has been the greatest contribution he has given to his community. He said he learned life skills such as patience, persistence and confidence and has been able to teach those skills to younger Scouts.

“Nine years, five months and 13 days from today, my brother Zachary passed away, leaving a ripple effect throughout my family and those who were part of his life. His absence created a void that I felt necessary to fill so I took it upon myself to become a beacon of hope and happiness,” Alexander said. “Yet, despite my vows, I began to experience se vere depression, anxiety and even blamed myself for his death.”

He plans to pursue a ca reer in psychology or as a therapist to help others get past a traumatic experi ence.

He said his younger brother Jacob was born at

Anyone with informa tion about Noe's disap pearance is asked to call Investigator Negrete at the Riverside County Sher iff's Department, Hemet Station: 951-791-3400 or 800-950-2444.

27 weeks gestation and was not expected to live for very long. “But over 30 brain surgeries, two hip surgeries and dozens of other opera tions he is a living example to all of us. He continues to defy the odds day by day and reminds us that no matter the conditions, it is possible to push through and endure.”

San Jacinto Unified School District

Litzy Morales was cho sen to be the senior hon ored from San Jacinto High School this month. New principal Kristi Coulter was introduced by outgoing principal Courtney Hall, who was happy to be able to attend the inspiring break fast once again.

Nominating teacher Mat thew Corun said Litzy is a student-athlete who excels in the classroom and on the volleyball court. He de scribed her as a fighter who plows through obstacles all the time, adding that she is very insightful and a deep thinker.

“Life was never perfect for me growing up,” she said. Recently, her twin sister was diagnosed with cancer again and Litzy found it difficult to contin ue juggling work, school and sports but she is doing her best.

She plans to enroll at California State University, San Bernardino to major in criminal justice to become a lawyer or social worker. Her friend Kyra said Litzy is a hard worker who al ways strives for greatness. “She’s a rock star who ex ceeds everybody’s expecta tions no matter the assign ment. She has changed my life for the better and she has inspired me to live my life to the fullest and keep a smile on my face.”

Closing remarks

Hemet Education Foun dation Co-President Sue Breyer, said, “Our minds are boggled by some of the stories these students shared but the consistent theme is that they had a strong support system, a network of people much like a safety net, to help them overcome challenges.”

For more information, www.studentofthemonth. net.

And Hereeeee’s Xmas!

SUSAN BECKETT | DWELLING PLACE CITY CHURCH

Years ago, my hus band was asked to conduct an after noon wedding to be held at a huge outside amphithe ater. It was built on the side of a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean and seated hundreds of people. Need less to say, it was a gorgeous site for any event.

As time for the wedding approached, everyone in volved in the ceremony began to take their plac es. Finally, the last of the guests had been seated, the candles were lit, the wedding party and pastor were positioned — than an amazing thing happened. A little girl, dressed like Cin derella herself, appeared at the back of the amphi theater. As she slowly be gan to work her way down the stairs and towards the front, she rang a bell and loudly declared: “The bride is coming! The bride is coming!”

The crowd stood to their feet as we all felt the excite ment of the occasion as the event began to unfold. It was a wondrous way for the bride to make her entrance. And make an entrance she did; much to the delight of the guests and her husband to be!

The Christmas season is a lot like that wedding. The announcement of its com ing starts early - it’s like ev eryone is shouting, “Christ mas is coming! Christmas is coming!” By September, the stores and online sites are already pushing the holiday, “made for TV” movies are running Christ mas specials and people are

A1

in New York.

Russo added that it’s the latest of several recent moves by Twitter that could ultimately scare away some users and even advertisers. Some big names in business have already paused their ads on Twitter over ques tions about its direction under Musk.

“It is 100% the responsi bility of the platform to pro tect its users from harmful content,” Russo said. “This is absolutely unacceptable.”

The virus, meanwhile, continues to spread. Na tionally, new COVID cases averaged nearly 38,800 a day as of Monday, accord ing to data from Johns Hopkins University — far lower than last winter but a vast undercount because of reduced testing and report ing. About 28,100 people with COVID were hospi talized daily and about 313 died, according to the most recent federal daily averag es.

Cases and deaths were up from two weeks earlier. Yet a fifth of the U.S. popu lation hasn’t been vaccinat ed, most Americans haven’t gotten the latest boosters, and many have stopped wearing masks.

Musk, who has himself spread COVID misinfor mation on Twitter, has sig naled an interest in rolling back many of the platform’s previous rules meant to combat misinformation.

Last week, Musk said he

already out shopping for gifts and decorations.

Some think this is a bad thing - but is it? Consid ering whose birthday we are celebrating, I think the long introduction to the holiday is totally appropri ate and warranted. It may frustrate many to see this holiday so commercialized, but I personally believe Jesus Himself would abso lutely love it.

Think about this: Christ mas lights shining through the dark nights - fun, joy ful songs filling the stores along with all the amaz ing decorations - beautiful cards coming in the mail and carolers showing up to sing in malls We have colorful decorations inside our homes along with fun Christmas events. During this time, people seem happier and more giving than at any other time of the year. What’s not to love about all that??

The few who believe we start celebrating too early may be forgetting all the hundreds of Bible proph ecies and foreshadowings that predicted the coming of Jesus. The Old Testa ment was completed in 450 B.C., hundreds of years be fore His birth.

So hundreds of years be fore Jesus was born, it was predicted that He would be born of a virgin. He would be born in Bethlehem. He would be called a Nazarene and be a descendant of Da vid. He would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver by a friend. Jesus would die for mankind…even His resur rection was predicted. The list of fulfilled prophecies totals more than 300.

Think about it - that every single one of these

would grant “amnesty” to account holders who had been kicked off Twitter. He’s also reinstated the ac counts for several people who spread COVID mis information, including that of Rep. Marjorie Tay lor Greene, whose person al account was suspended this year for repeatedly violating Twitter’s COVID rules.

Greene’s most recent tweets include ones ques tioning the effectiveness of masks and making baseless claims about the safety of COVID vaccines.

Since the pandemic be gan, platforms like Twitter and Facebook have strug gled to respond to a torrent of misinformation about the virus, its origins and the response to it.

Under the policy enact ed in January 2020, Twit ter prohibited false claims about COVID-19 that the platform determined could lead to real-world harms. More than 11,000 accounts were suspended for violating the rules, and nearly 100,000 pieces of content were removed from the platform, according to Twitter’s latest numbers.

Despite its rules prohib iting COVID misinforma tion, Twitter has struggled with enforcement. Posts making bogus claims about home remedies or vaccines could still be found, and it was difficult on Tuesday to identify exactly how the platform’s rules may have changed.

Messages left with San

more than 300 prophecies would be fulfilled by one man is not only improba ble but impossible - except for the historical fact that one man did fulfill them all. And that’s why Jesus is called the greatest gift of all - that’s why Christmas is the most amazing holiday of the year!

It’s been said that “Jesus is the light of Christmas, the joy of our hearts, and the hope of our world.” People can criticize Christ mas all they want, but the one thing they can’t do is ignore it.

So go ahead and sing your heart out, listen to Christ mas carols, visit Santa, eat too many sweets and put some silly reindeer antlers on your dog. Make cookies with tons of icing, give in credibly fun gifts, decorate your Christmas tree, put up lights and be sure to attend a church service - because we’ve got good reason to party-hardy!

Bob and Susan Beckett pas tor The Dwelling Place City Church at 27100 Girard Street in Hemet, CA. For more infor mation, you may contact them at DPCitychurch.org

Francisco-based Twitter seeking more informa tion about its policy on COVID-19 misinformation were not immediately re turned Tuesday. A search for common terms associated with COVID misinformation on Tuesday yielded lots of mis leading content, but also automatic links to helpful resources about the virus as well as authoritative sources like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 coor dinator, said Tuesday that the problem of COVID-19 misinformation is far larg er than one platform, and that policies prohibiting COVID misinformation weren’t the best solution anyway.

Speaking at a Knight Foundation forum Tuesday, Jha said misinformation about the virus spread for a number of reasons, includ ing legitimate uncertain ty about a deadly illness. Simply prohibiting certain kinds of content isn’t going to help people find good information, or make them feel more confident about what they’re hearing from their medical providers, he said.

“I think we all have a col lective responsibility,” Jha said of combating misinfor mation about COVID. “The consequences of not getting this right — of spreading that misinformation — is literally tens of thousands of people dying unneces sarily.”

SUSAN BECKETT | Courtesy Photo.

Governor Newsom Announces $47 Million in Homeless Housing Funding to California Tribes

On November, 22nd 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom announced $47 million in new funding for California tribal nations to support their efforts to prevent and end homelessness and meet the housing and ser vices needs of their com munities.

The awards include $20 million in tribal homeless assistance grants from the Business, Consumer Ser vices and Housing Agency (BCSH) to fund projects in 16 tribal communities across the state, and four Homekey awards from the Department of Housing and Community Develop ment (HCD) totaling $27 million to fund 75 homes for members of four tribes, including homeless youth.

“California is invest

ing in getting people off the streets and into safe housing throughout the state with a particular fo cus on Native Americans and populations dispro portionately impacted by homelessness,” said Gov ernor Newsom.

The tribal grants pro gram was created by Gov ernor Newsom and the Legislature to provide flexible funding to sup port the efforts of Cali fornia tribes to address homelessness in their communities. An addi tional $20 million in tribal grants will be awarded in 2023.

“Tribal nations in Cali fornia have been actively working to address hous ing insecurity, overcrowd ing and homelessness, but funding for housing and homelessness has often been an obstacle,” said BCSH Secretary Lourdes

Castro Ramírez. “We heard that loud and clear through consultation and listening sessions held by our teams. We believe that these new direct resourc es will lead tribal leaders to move more quickly in meeting the unique chal lenges faced by members of their communities. We are committed to support ing the priorities laid out by tribal leaders and these grants will help address specific needs identified by the Tribal leadership. We look forward to ex panding this partnership in the future.”

California’s nation-lead ing Homekey program has been one of the state’s most successful innova tions to rapidly house peo ple experiencing home lessness, by public and tribal entities purchasing existing buildings or man ufactured homes. Since

its inception, Homekey has funded more than 200 projects that when com plete will provide more than 12,500 temporary and permanent homes for Californians experiencing or at risk of homelessness. More than 140 homes have been funded in part nership with tribes.

“HCD’s California In dian Assistance Program’s mission is to provide technical assistance to tribal partners to ensure access to housing funds and programs, including Homekey,” said HCD Di rector Gustavo Velasquez. “These four Homekey projects announced are just the beginning–HCD will continue to collab orate directly with tribal communities and partners to meet their unique hous ing needs.”

House votes to avert rail strike, impose deal on unions

KEVIN FREKING AND JOSH FUNK | AP NEWS

The U.S. House moved urgently to head off the loom ing nationwide rail strike on Wednesday, passing a bill that would bind com panies and workers to a proposed settlement that was reached in September but rejected by some of the 12 unions involved.

The measure passed by a vote of 290-137 and now heads to the Senate. If approved there, it will be signed by President Joe Biden, who urged the Sen ate to act swiftly.

“Without the certainty of a final vote to avoid a shutdown this week, rail roads will begin to halt the movement of critical materials like chemicals to clean our drinking water as soon as this weekend,” Biden said. “Let me say that again: without action

this week, disruptions to our auto supply chains, our ability to move food to tables, and our ability to remove hazardous waste from gasoline refineries will begin.”

Business groups includ ing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Amer ican Farm Bureau Fed eration have warned that halting rail service would cause a $2 billion per day hit to the economy.

The bill would impose a compromise labor agree ment brokered by the Biden administration that was ultimately voted down by four of the 12 unions representing more than 100,000 employees at large freight rail carriers. The unions have threatened to strike if an agreement can’t be reached before a Dec. 9 deadline.

Lawmakers from both parties expressed reser vations about overriding

the negotiations. And the intervention was partic ularly difficult for Dem ocratic lawmakers who have traditionally sought to align themselves with the politically powerful la bor unions that criticized Biden’s move to intervene in the contract dispute and block a strike.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded to that concern by adding a sec ond vote Wednesday that would add seven days of paid sick leave per year for rail workers covered un der the agreement. How ever, it will take effect only if the Senate goes along and passes both measures.

The House passed the sick leave measure as well, but by a much narrower mar gin, 221-207, as Republi cans overwhelmingly op posed it, indicating that prospects for passage of that add-on are slim in the evenly divided Senate.

The call for more paid sick leave was a ma jor sticking point in the talks. The railroads say the unions have agreed in negotiations over the decades to forgo paid sick time in favor of higher wages and strong shortterm disability benefits.

The head of the Asso ciation of American Rail roads trade group said Tuesday that railroads would consider adding paid sick time in the fu ture, but said that change should wait for a new round of negotiations in stead of being added now, near the end of three years of contract talks.

The unions maintain that railroads can easi ly afford to add paid sick time at a time when they are recording record prof its. Several of the big rail roads involved in these

POLITICS Is Newsom’s Presidential Boomlet A Bust?

POLITICAL BRIEFS

Vet’s lawsuit blaming antimalarial drug for psychosis tossed

BRIAN MELLEY | AP NEWS

A federal judge threw out a lawsuit against the mak er of an anti-malarial drug blamed for causing psy chotic behavior and neuro logical damage to U.S. ser vicemembers, ruling that the case had no right to be filed in California.

The proposed class-ac tion case brought last year by an Army veteran ac cused Roche Laboratories Inc. and Genentech Inc. of intentionally misleading the Department of Defense and the Food and Drug Admin istration about the dangers of mefloquine, the generic version of the drug Lariam.

Similar cases had been brought in Canada and Australia, but the lawsuit in federal court in North ern California was the first large-scale case of its kind in the U.S., attorneys said. The U.S. military, which developed the drug during

the Vietnam War, was once its largest user to combat malaria. It was given to hundreds of thousands of troops sent to Afghanistan and Somalia.

Roche, which was grant ed the intellectual property rights and won FDA ap proval for Lariam in 1989, said it manufactured its last lots for U.S. distribution in 2005. Those drugs expired in 2008 — a year before the company’s 2009 merger with Genentech.

The Pentagon continued to distribute generic ver sions of the drug, though elite Army units were or dered to stop using meflo quine in 2013 after the FDA put a black box warning on it after it was found to cause permanent brain damage in rare cases. The warning said it caused side effects such as

Prop 30: Crypto and the next pandemic

JEREMY B. WHITE, LARA KORTE, SAKURA CANNES TRA AND OWEN TUCKER-SMITH | POLITICO.ORG

Californians almost voted on two statewide tax hikes this month. A measure to fund pandem ic detection by raising af fluent residents’ income taxes had the signatures to qualify for a spot on the ballot but instead got kicked to 2024. That was after Gov. Gavin Newsom conveyed his resistance (the governor strenu ously opposed the other proposal, Proposition 30, which made it to the bal lot and then failed). That theoretically set things up for the next cycle. The campaign had already sunk $19 million into the mission.

But a principal funder detonated after writing checks to qualify the mea sure. The woes besetting Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire directly affect the likelihood Cal ifornians will get a viral

early warning system. Al ameda Research,the trad ing firm linked to the now bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, spent $12 million to get that measure on the ballot with Sam’s brother Gabriel serving as trea surer. It was part of Bank man-Fried’s larger polit ical project of lobbying and funding politicians who backed his pandemic prevention agenda.

That funding stream may evaporate, along with money people in vested with FTX. Bank man-Fried and his com panies are now facing enormous scrutiny. The Senate is set to hold a hearing on the matter Thursday, with the House expected to follow next month. FTX faces mount ing regulatory and law enforcement investiga

Ramona Courtyard Christmas Set

DEAR ABBY ADVICE

A DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW

Another Pandemic

MUHAMMAD NAEEM | CONTRIBUTED

DEAR ABBY: I took a job and relocated to another state. My wife chose to stay behind so our kids could finish school in the hometown they grew up in. For the last 20 months, we have gone back and forth from the state I work in to our hometown. I suspect she’s unhap py with the idea of relocating, even though it’s a place worth investing in and offers a quality of life to our fam ily that doesn’t exist in many other places.

Much of my time is spent appeasing her, especial ly when there is conflict between our teenage kids at home. We have been actively looking at schools in my new city, but there is never any resolution to our reloca tion issue. Advice?

- LONG-DISTANCE HUSBAND/DAD

DEAR LONG-DISTANCE: I wish you had men tioned whether your wife works outside the home. Does she have a career she doesn’t want to leave? If the answer is no, continue looking for schools in the new commu nity. Then contact a real estate agent to help you find a suitable place for your family to live. Once you have narrowed it down to a few, invite your wife to look at them with you and choose what she thinks would be most suitable.

At that point, if she doesn’t want to make the move, she should say so, which will free you to decide whether to sacrifice what you envision for your family’s future, continue having a long-distance marriage or return to the town you left so you can all be together.

DEAR ABBY: Fifteen years ago, I “ran away from home” to get away from my adult children, and I final ly made a life for myself. They were able to stay in the house because I continued to pay the mortgage. Their dad -- my ex -- and his family all lived nearby.

Now, none of my children wants anything to do with me or my family, and they don’t want any communica tion from me. I suspect they feel abandoned, since I was the parent they could always count on. Is there anything I can do to repair our relationship?

- RUNAWAY MOM IN PENNSYLVANIA

DEAR MOM: Yes, tell your children you are selling the house, which, I assume, you now own outright. I’m quite sure they’ll begin “communicating” with you as soon as word reaches them. You were more than generous by keeping up those house payments so they would have a roof over their heads. If you had to “run away” from their bottomless pit of need, you did the right thing. Please don’t allow yourself to be used any further. You saved yourself, and you shouldn’t feel sad or guilty for having done it.

DEAR ABBY: Recently, a friend came to my home. I offered coffee and cake, which I had already sliced and placed on plates. She responded that she wasn’t hungry right then and would take it home for later, and asked me for wrapping or a container to put it in. Of course, I complied, but I have never heard of such a thing, al though diners often take home uneaten food from a restaurant. Am I out of step here, or have I got a right to be as shocked as I was?

- SURPRISED HOSTESS

DEAR SURPRISED: If you were “shocked” by what she did, you must be sensitive indeed. Your friend was honest with you. Give her credit for it. She may love the cake you offered, but is watching her weight and thought she’d pop it in the freezer to enjoy another time. I know of no rule of etiquette that dictates a person must eat a pastry in the presence of the hostess.

Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

We are just com ing out of that dreadful pan demic that made us hide our faces, lock ourselves indoors, and avoid any contact with fellow hu mans. There was a sec ond pandemic at the same time that went unnoticed for a while, and it seems that we are also coming out of that as well, albeit, more slowly. There are no vaccines, no tests, and no stimulus checks for it, but there are plenty of fever, fatigue, headaches, nau sea, and even diarrhea of the verbal kind.

First pandemic is known as COVID-19. I suggest that the second pandem ic should be known as COVFEFE, because it is caused by a virus known as Trump. Generally, the symptoms are mild, but older adults and people with severe underlying conditions like racism, xenophobia, and bigotry seem to be at a higher risk for developing more seri ous complications from this illness. It usually af fects the White people, but the total cumulative data shows that Blacks, His panics, and other minori ties have also experienced COVFEFE infections.

Just as millions of peo ple have experienced a loss of their sense of smell and taste due to COVID-19, similarly, millions of peo ple have experienced a loss of their sense of right and wrong, and their abil ity to separate truth from lying due to COVFEFE. Severe cases lead to a high fever caused by misguid ed understanding of what patriotism really means, blindness towards what our Constitution truly stands for, and delusions where a fair and secure

election is seen as rigged and patients start seeing voter fraud where none exists. Some extreme cas es lead to insurrection at the Capital and attempts to commit high crimes against elected officials while attempting to sub vert constitutionally man dated transfer of power.

Some people contin ue to experience prob lems long after having COVFEFE. These ongo ing problems are called post-COVFEFE syn drome. In most cases, the delusion of rigged elec tions continues and man ifests itself into a very un healthy obsession, where a narcissist can then take advantage of these pa tients to enrich himself by turning the whole process into a huge grift. Patients even become vulnerable to Trump-variants, who also try to milk them for as much money as possible, in the form of fund-raising to fight the non-existent election ir regularities.

Some politicians lose their ability to accept de feat when clearly the ma jority of the people DID NOT vote for them. Foul language starts to fill the airwaves towards the cur rent and legitimate Pres

ident, and democracy as a whole starts to suffer from the constant deni al of the final outcome. Courts start to fill with frivolous lawsuits and the country as a whole starts to look like a joke to the rest of the world. Some people even go as far as to hoard classified and top-secret docu ments, even though that is a criminal offense. Peo ple who call themselves patriots, and who pro claim their love for the nation, become blind to the person doing extreme harm to that very nation and maybe even selling our national secrets to the enemies and thus com mitting treason.

I remember when Trump ran for the first time, people admired his mean and cruel remarks as if he was “telling it as is.” Instead, he was con stantly lying and in the four years of his presi dency, he told as many as 30,573 lies. That’s almost 21 lies a day, which makes it more like “telling it as IT IS NOT.” His actions and words were mostly embarrassing, but some of our fellow citizens did not see anything wrong with it. Even the Evangel icals and many preachers

did not see the wrongs in Trump, which any serious religious person would have found truly offen sive. Now, with all the criminal and treasonous acts that he has commit ted, his followers should feel truly ashamed for supporting him. I know I do, and I voted for him twice. Forgive me father, for I have truly sinned. It seems that we, as a nation, have finally de veloped natural immuni ty to COVFEFE. Trump influence is waning, as it has been made obvious from the midterm elec tions. Candidates who spew Trump election lies and try to kiss his behind seem to have fallen from grace. People have started to tune out his rhetoric and most GOP bigwigs are coming out strong against his hold on the republican party. We are finally shaking this vi rus off and regaining our strength. Soon we’ll be rid of this other pandem ic, just like the first one, even though some health officials are hanging on to it, as if their lives depend on it. For God’s sake, peo ple, move on. We can’t live the rest of our lives playing host to these dis eases.

Well Qualified But No Job

RUSTY STRAIT | SENIOR REPORTER

Jobs, jobs, jobs. Signs are up in stores and other business windows all over the country. Go online and there are thousands of jobs in every category un der the sun. So why is it that when you submit dozens of requests for applications (and you submit them), you aren’t getting hired, despite the fact that you are more than just qualified? Your resume would make any employer delighted to bring you aboard. The past cou ple of weeks, I’ve spoken to dozens of men who find themselves in that situation. Qualified but no thanks. Over-qualification is a red light of age discrimination. The resume is great except for one flaw. You are too old. Oh, they don’t tell you that because they would be admitting that they are in violation of the law.

Age discrimination is a rapidly growing crime problem in the State of California. You ask if it is a crime. You bet it is and em ployers are practicing that crime every day. Remember the last time you applied for employment and thought you were a shoe-in? They never called back. Know what happened? You were a victim of age discrimina

tion in the workplace.

You say, “I’m only 53 and my doctor says I’m in per fect health.” All true, but you have a disease that is common to millions. You are too old. You can argue your case all day but you contacted the age disease the day you turned 41. For ty is the cut-off age is 40; employers are not looking for middle-aged help even though they are the most dependable and are not allnight party animals. They are usually settled in with families and not likely to be fly-by-night employees who will walk away without notice.

That is the least notice able age discrimination. It

is even worse for a longtime employee looking forward to retirement in a few years, who suffers from employers who continue to find fault with you as near retirement. Some are getting cut off from their pensions because of age discrimination. It is often coupled with elder abuse. Maybe you thought that to be something happening in the family. It is common in the workplace.

Most times, when a company or business seems to be concentrating on younger employees, they are either unknow ingly or intentionally prac ticing age discrimination.

In California, it is unlawful

to lay off staff based on age, yet it is a common practice to do so. The Older Work ers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA) is a federal law that explicitly prevents age discrimination in staff reductions, corporate re structurings, and in the offering of employee ben efits.

So, the next time you see a healthy man, well-quali fied for work, not em ployed, don’t be so quick to call him a bum. He may be the victim of age discrim ination in the workplace. Pillars of the community practice such discrimina tion in their businesses ev ery day. Just sayin’ rusty strait@gmail.com

DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various author’s articles on this Opinion Section or elsewhere in the Newspaper where we have articles with the header “COLUMN” do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints or official policies of the Publisher, Editor, Reporters or anybody else in the Staff of the Hemet and San Jacinto Chronicle Newspaper.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips.

Courtesy Photo of freepik

Federal and state laws both protect employees from being discri minated against due to their age. However, even when individuals feel as though they are the victim of thi s type of discrimination, they often do not know what to do about it. | Courtesy Photo of AdobeStock

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Is Newsom’s Presidential Boomlet A Bust?

DAN WALTERS | CONTRIBUTED

So is the Gavin New som boomlet for president — or what ever it was — really over?

Over the weekend, Po litico columnist Jonathan Martin reported that on election night, he over heard Newsom personally telling President Joe Biden — who had called to con gratulate the governor on his re-election — that he wouldn’t run for president even if Biden bowed out.

“I’m all in; put me in coach,” Martin said New som told Biden. “We have your back.”

Newsom was essen tially repeating what he said he had told others in the White House earli er — and to be fair, what he had often said public ly, once declaring that he had “subzero” interest in mounting a presidential campaign in 2024.

Newsom told Martin, who had spent election evening with the governor in the old governor’s man sion in downtown Sacra mento, watching election returns, that he’s eager to hit the campaign trail for Biden or any other Dem ocratic candidate in 2024, particularly in red states such as Florida or Texas.

LAWSUIT

from B1

dizziness, loss of balance and ringing in the ears that could become permanent.

It replaced it with safer drugs.

John Nelson of Florida brought the suit after he said he became permanently dis abled from taking the drug during his Army service from 2005 to 2015. Nelson said he never experienced any neu ropsychiatric symptoms until he began taking mefloquine just before being stationed in Afghanistan.

U.S. District Court Judge Trina Thompson ruled in San Francisco on Monday that Nelson had sufficiently alleged that the manufactur er knew about dangers of the drug and did not warn the U.S. military.

But the judge said it was a stretch to apply a California law that holds name brand manufacturers responsible

CRYPTO

from B1

tions amid allegations that it misused customer funds.

Back in California, ini tiative proponents say they weren’t relying on FTX fi nancing. Tech-philanthro pist power couple Cari Tuna and Dustin Moskovitz had nearly matched Alameda Research with about $10 million in contributions to date. Initiative proponent Max Henderson told us he

HOMELESS

from B1

This announcement in cludes the following HHAP grants:

• The Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians, Lake port , will receive $5.2 million to create 65 hous ing units along with class rooms and support spaces for youth experiencing homelessness in Lake and Mendocino Counties.

• The Cahto Tribe of Laytonville Rancheria will receive $2.6 million to create a wellness and re source center in Mendoci no County.

• The Round Valley In dian Tribes, Covelo , will receive $2.5 million to expand infrastructure to support new permanent housing for tribal mem bers in need.

“I’m willing to take risks, I’m willing to get out and I’m telling you with certainty that I look forward to getting out more not with any grand ambition except to push back on this narrative and try to reframe this debate and get back on offense on freedom,” Newsom said.

Political media specu lation that Newsom was laying the groundwork for a presidential campaign erupted because he largely eschewed campaigning for re-election this year and devoted much of his time to long-distance rhetorical duels with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, both of whom have been tagged as potential White House candidates in 2024.

His feuds with DeSan tis and Abbott garnered national media attention and speculation intensi fied when, in one inter view, Newsom seemed to be saying that Biden, who turned 80 this month, was out of touch with current political reality.

Newsom insisted that he was just trying to light a fire under his Democrat ic Party to become more confrontational with Re publicans but there were reports that Newsom’s campaign-like maneuvers

for warnings on the generic version of their drugs. Nelson never lived in California and Roche and Genentech were only headquartered in the state for two months while he took the drug overseas in 2009.

“It would be unfair for plaintiff to be able to bring his claims in California and, by virtue of the state’s innovator liability doctrine, he would be extended greater rights than he would be granted in his own state of residence, Flori da,” Thompson wrote.

The judge noted that other possible venues — New Jer sey, where Roche had been based, and Florida, where Nelson lives — do not have the same law in place that would extend liability the original manufacturer of a ge neric drug.

Roche issued a one sen tence statement asserting that lawyers were “forum shop ping” and said it was pleased the court found the case didn’t belong in a California

was confident there’s plen ty of money available, with other funders prepared to step in.

But resources aren’t the same thing as political vi ability. Henderson said the scandal engulfing FTX may extend beyond the com pany to the campaign: “If the brand is substantially tarnished, then just having FTX as a funder may be damaging to us.” He argued that proponents have a fi nite window, with Covid-19 still pervasive and memo

• The Pit River Tribe, Burney , will receive $2.4 million to support rapid rehousing, services coor dination and homeless ness prevention efforts.

• The Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians, Santa Rosa , will receive $1.2 million to improve data collection efforts and systems that serve tribal members ex periencing homelessness statewide with designated service areas in Sonoma, Mendocino, Contra Costa and Lake Counties.

• The Tolowa Di Nee’ Nation, Smith River will receive $1 million to support rapid rehousing and case management for tribal members along the North Coast of California and South Coast of Ore gon.

• The San Pascual Band of Mission Indians, Val ley Center , will receive

were irritating Biden’s po litical advisors.

Newsom told Martin that he had delivered as surances to the White House that he was not mounting a presidential campaign and then on election night delivered the message to Biden per sonally.

So where does that leave Newsom, who has spent nearly half of his life pa tiently climbing the polit ical ladder one rung at a time?

court.

Nelson said his symptoms went from vivid stimulating dreams that disrupted his sleep and made him anx ious to having panic attacks, paranoia, insomnia and twice tried to take his own life, the lawsuit said. He was diag nosed as depressed and later as bipolar, though medica tions, including antipsychot ics, did not help.

After attending a confer ence in 2020 about effects of anti-malarial drugs, Nelson suspected he may have expe rienced mefloquine toxicity and pursued testing that con firmed the diagnosis.

The lawsuit sought unspec ified damages for negligence, failure to warn users, and fraudulent misrepresentation, among other claims. It also sought to have the companies pay for medical monitoring of those who took the drug to understand the impacts.

Attorneys for Nelson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

ries of it still potent, to erect a system that can prevent or minimize the next pan demic.

Backers are still com municating with Newsom’s office. Henderson said they aren’t married to the ballot initiative route. But with a projected $25 billion deficit threatening to end Califor nia’s era of fiscal abundance, a major new budget outlay could be a hard sell. What does that mean for 2024? The answer is unknown at this point.

$790,000 to assist tribal members experiencing homelessness.

• The Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me Wuk In dians, Jamestown , will re ceive $630,000 to support interim shelter and street outreach in Tuolumne County.

• The Pala Band of Mis sion Indians will receive $610,000 to support hous ing efforts on the reserva tion.

• The Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of the Stewarts Point Rancheria will receive $610,000 to support their transitional shelter.

• The Yurok Tribe, Klamath , will receive $570,000 to assist with rapid rehousing, case management, outreach and youth engagement.

• The Torres Martinez Desert Band of Cahuil la, Thermal , will receive

He insists that he in tends to fully serve out his second and last term as governor, which would seem to preclude running for Dianne Feinstein’s Senate seat in 2024 should she, as many expect, retire. Maybe Newsom does simply intend to spend four more years in the governorship and then return to private life. He has not closed the door on running for president in 2028, but would have to do so as a private citizen,

STRIKE

from B1

contract talks reported more than $1 billion profit in the third quarter.

“Quite frankly, the fact that paid leave is not part of the final agreement between railroads and labor is, in my opinion, obscene,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. “It should be there and I hope it will be there at the end of this process.”

Most rail workers don’t receive any paid sick time but they do have shortterm disability benefits that kick in after as little as four days and can re place some of their in come for a year or more. Rail workers do receive vacation and personal leave days, but workers say it’s difficult to use those for illnesses be cause they must typically be approved far ahead of time.

Republicans also voiced support for the measure to block the strike, but criticized the Biden ad ministration for turning to Congress to “step in to fix the mess.”

“They’ve retreated in failure and they kicked this problem to Congress for us to decide,” said Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo.

Republicans criticized Pelosi’s decision to add the sick leave bill to the mix. They said the Biden administration’s own spe cial board of arbitrators

$540,000 to support housing, shelter and ser vices for members experi encing or at risk of home lessness.

• The Wilton Ranche ria, Elk Grove , will re ceive $460,000 to support efforts to assist tribal members experiencing homelessness.

• The Bear River Band of Rohnerville Ranche ria, Loleta , will receive $340,000 to aid with rapid rehousing and other ser vices for members experi encing homelessness.

• The Guideville Rancheria, Talmage , will receive $250,000 to lever age Homekey funding in the construction of 16 units for youth experienc ing homelessness.

• The Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake will receive $250,000 to sup port housing efforts with in the community.

without the megaphone of holding office, and such a bid would depend on who occupies the White House at that time.

If Newsom does stick around for four more years, he’d best do some thing about his tattered relationship with Cali fornia’s political media, which he has stiffed while promoting himself in the national media.

One example: On election night, he deliv ered only a brief state

ment acknowledging his re-election, brushed off reporters’ questions and then spent the rest of the evening with national po litical columnist Martin “to prove his disinterest in national politics,” as CalMatters political writ er Alexei Koseff tweeted wryly.

Newsom should re member that the Califor nia journalists he’s been rudely ignoring will have the last word on his gu bernatorial legacy.

recommended higher wages to compensate the unions for not including sick time in its recom mendations.

“Why do we even have the system set up the way it is if Congress is going to come in and make chang es to all of the recommen dations?” Graves said.

Pelosi sought to posi tion Democrats and the Biden administration as defenders of unions and slammed the rail com panies, saying they’ve slashed jobs, increased worker hours and cut corners on safety. But she said Congress needed to intervene.

“Families wouldn’t be able to buy groceries or life-saving medications because it would be even more expensive and per ishable goods would spoil before reaching shelves,” Pelosi said.

The Homekey awards an nounced include:

• The Wiyot Tribe will receive more than $14 mil lion to purchase, convert and operate an office build ing and two single-family Victorian-style homes into 39 interim and permanent units serving homeless youth and one manager unit, to create the Jaroujiji Youth Housing Project in Eureka. This project was fully funded through the Homekey youth set-aside.

• Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians will receive nearly $6.6 million for the acquisition of a 15-apart ment complex, its rehabil itation and operations in Lakeport.

• Guidiville Indian Rancheria in partnership with Northern Circle Indi an Housing Authority will receive nearly $4.6 million for the construction and

The compromise agree ment that was support ed by the railroads and a majority of the unions provides for 24% raises and $5,000 in bonuses retroactive to 2020 along with one additional paid leave day. The raises would be the biggest rail workers have received in more than four decades. Workers would have to pay a larger share of their health insurance costs, but their premiums would be capped at 15% of the total cost of the insur ance plan. The agreement did not resolve workers’ concerns about schedules that make it hard to take a day off and the lack of more paid sick time.

On several past occa sions, Congress has inter vened in labor disputes by enacting legislation to delay or prohibit railway and airline strikes.

operations of 16 new units in Ukiah. The site will in clude a community garden and electric trike sharing.

• Northern Circle Indian Housing Authority will receive $1.9 million for the new construction and oper ation of four permanent af fordable homes for chron ically homeless individuals in Hopland.

Cal ICH staff will continue to listen to and support the tribes as they implement their funded projects, and technical assistance will be provided as needed. Grant recipients will provide Cal ICH with quarterly and an nual progress reports.

The Department of Hous ing and Community De velopment (HCD) will release a third round of Homekey funds in early 2023 after receiving stake holder feedback for poten tial revisions.

Gov. Gavin Newsom at the California Democratic Party headquarters in Sacramento on Sept. 14, 2021. | Courtesy Photo of REUTERS/Fred Greaves

Activists in support of unionized rail workers protest outside the U.S. Capitol Building on November 29, 2022 in Washington, DC. Pres ident Joe Biden has called on Congress to pass legislation averting a railroad shutdown ahead of the December 9 coordinated strike date. |

Courtesy photo of Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

VALLEY BEAT

SAN

It Is Time to Jingle & Mingle for a Worthy Cause

DIANE A. RHODES | CONTRIBUTER

Members of So roptimist In ternational San Jacinto-Hemet Valley are preparing to host their 13th annual Jingle & Min gle charitable fundraiser Saturday, Dec. 3 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in person at the San Jacinto Uni fied School District Board Room, 2045 S. San Jacinto Ave. and virtually.

Participants will have an opportunity to win oneof-a-kind holiday décor items donated by local businesses and individuals. Table-top size Christmas trees, centerpieces, wreaths and other festive items can be viewed amid holiday

tunes. Winners will be drawn at 4:30 p.m. with re sults posted via livestream on Facebook @Soropti mist.hemetsanjacinto. Ad mission is $25 per person which includes five raffle tickets for decorated items; additional tickets may be purchased for $5 each.

Another component to the fundraiser is an on line auction. Bidding for those items will span sev eral days, from Nov. 30 at 8 a.m. through Dec. 4 at 5 p.m. Auction items will be previewed at the in-person raffle event.

The Hemet-San Jacin to chapter participates in Soroptimist Internation al of the Americas’ ma jor service project, Live Your Dream Awards, by

providing cash grants to women seeking to improve their economic situation through additional train ing and/or education. The nonprofit also hosts a Girl Power Conference for local sixth- and seventh-grade girls and provides schol arships to area high school senior girls.

Aside from raising funds for its philanthropic pro grams, the annual Jingle & Mingle gives members an opportunity to raise aware ness of the club’s mission to improve the lives of wom en and girls through edu cational programs, leading to social and economic empowerment.

“We’ve managed to keep the tradition going by piv oting with the times and

adjusting the side activ ities,” Soroptimist Dawn Lawrence said.

For those who want to donate to the creative and entertaining holiday fundraiser with a décor item for the raffle, an item or service for the online auction and/or cash or in-kind donations, spon sorship opportunities are available until Nov. 28 at 3 p.m.

For more information on the Jingle & Mingle event, email Dawn Lawrence at sisanjacinto.hemetvalley@ soroptimist.net.

For more information on the organization, please visit www.sisjhv.org.

The Bellrays

Fall

Top 8 Events in the Valley

THE CONCERT LOUNGE

Friday, December 2, 8pm 3557 University Ave, Riverside, CA Visit: www.eventbrite.com

Winter Kids' Fun

SHOPS AT DOS LAGOS Saturday, December, 3, 6pm 2780 Cabot Dr, Corona, CA Visit: DLpolarExpress.com

Santa Cares Day

GALLERIA AT TYLER Sunday, December 4, 9am 1299 Galleria at Tyler, Riverside, CA Phone: 951-351-3112

Amy Schumer

FOX PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Sunday, December 4, 7pm 3801 Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside, CA Phone: 951-779-9800

Inspector

THE CONCERT LOUNGE Sunday, December 4, 7pm 3557 University Ave, Riverside, CA Visit: Eventbrite.com

Buckcherry

THE CONCERT LOUNGE Friday, December 9, 8pm 3557 University Ave, Riverside, CA. Phone: 951-780-6000

Nuestra Navidad Breakfast

MARRIOTT RIVERSIDE Wednesday, December 14, 7:30am 3400 Market Street, Riverside, CA Phone: 951-784-8000

The Nutcracker

FOX PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Sunday, December 18, 1pm 3801 Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside, CA Phone: 951-779-9800

More events in the Valley

Friday, December 2

9:15: Homeschool Ad ventures - Riverside, CA 2022, Bourns Family Youth Innovation Center, 9595 Miller St, Riverside, CA. Phone: 951-826-8782

4:45pm: Introductory Ballet - Riverside, CA 2022 Orange Terrace Community Park, 20010 Orange Terrace Pkwy, Riverside, CA. Phone: 951-826-5858

11am: FoodServes Vir tual Job Fair / Career Expo

Event, Riverside Virtual School, 3380 14th St, River side, CA. Phone: 951-7785300

4:30pm: Tae Kwon Do - Riverside, CA 2022, Ys mael Villegas Community Center, Villegas Park, 3091 Esperanza St, Riverside, CA. Phone: 951-351-6142

4pm: Parent & Me Pre Ballet - Riverside, CA 2022, Arlanza Community

Soroptimist International San Jacinto-Hemet Valley members Brenda Scott, Linda Burke and Julie Harrison prepare for ticket holders to arrive for at a past

& Mingle fundraiser. | Photos courtesy of Soroptimist International San Jacinto-Hemet Valley

Photo

Jacinto-Hemet Valley

Ramona Courtyard Christmas Set to Celebrate Community

pany at the Diamond Val ley Arts Center in 2019.

TOP 7 movies of the

The second annual Ramona Courtyard Christmas will be held Dec. 9 and 10 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Ramo na Bowl in Hemet. Along with some favorite activ ities and performances from last year, there will be several exciting new ones. Visitors can look forward to vendors selling all sorts of items, including lots of Christmas gift ideas. There will be live entertain ment and music, as well as Christmas carolers, Santa Claus, the Grinch, crafts for kids, a Christmas tree lighting, holiday treats, beer/wine and holiday san gria and more.

Debradawn Shockey is chairing the Centennial Celebration Committee working to promote the upcoming 100th season of “Ramona,” California’s official outdoor play and is excited to be part of the holiday celebration.

“This year we have in

cluded mingling live Dick ens characters, Christmas trees available to decorate and donate to needy fam ilies with a further oppor tunity to support the com munity by offering one free admission ticket for that evening’s event to anyone donating an unwrapped gift for My City Youth,” she said. “We have licensed concessions professionals serving up yummy good ies. They are led by Ramo na’s own very skilled Kelli Carter, whose years of de

votion to the Ramona Bowl have been unwavering.”

The idea for the event was proposed last holiday season by board members Kami Martin and Norm Kyriss, who offered to head up a Christmas event to utilize the recently reno vated courtyard at the Ra mona Bowl. Shockey had recently joined the Ramo na advisory board and was excited to assist her best friend Kami Martin. The pair had formed the Har vard Street Theatre Com

“Part of the mission of the Ramona Bowl Amphi theatre is to ‘contribute to tourism and continu ing educational programs through quality outdoor theater entertainment,’” Shockey explained. “Kami and I are two of the few volunteers on the boards at Ramona with a back ground in the theater, and as we have our own com pany of performers, the idea of giving them the chance to shine at Ramo na during the holidays was thrilling.”

Preparations for the Christmas festivities be gan as soon as the Boo at the Bowl Halloween event ended. All involved in the decorating, organizing and directing, as well as cleaning up are volunteers, which number about 50. The board of directors are also involved. They are president Norm Kyriss, vice president Elena Kern,

Center, 7950 Philbin Ave, Riverside, CA. Phone: 951351-6135

9am: Practice @ Harvest Riverside, Harvest Chris tian Fellowship, 6115 Ar lington Ave, Riverside, CA. Phone: 951-687-6902

2:15pm: Tours of Her itage House w/ It's Your Move Exhibition, Riverside Heritage House, 8193 Mag nolia Ave, Riverside, CA. Phone: 951-826-5273

9am: Riverside Car Deal er License School, 3560 Riverside Plaza Dr, River side, CA, Phone: 209-9850426

7pm: Paint & Sip Paint ing Event in Downtown Riverside, CA – “Family Snow Globe”, El Patron Downtown Riverside, 3204 Mission Inn Avenue, River side, CA. TEXT (562) 7623420

7pm: Christmas Girl's Night Out, Elevate Life Church, 11754 Warm Springs Rd, Riverside, CA. https://allevents.in/

6:30pm: The Rarest of the Rare: Hunting Califor nia's Unknown Wildlife with Camera, Back To The Grind, 3575 University Ave, Riverside, CA. Phone: 951784-0800

6pm: 2023 Installation Gala for John ValdezBack to the 80's, The In land Gateway Association of REALTORS®, 321 E 6th St, Corona, CA. Phone: 951735-5121

Saturday, December 3

9pm: Other Voices River side, The Concert Lounge, 3557 University Ave, River side, CA. Visit: https://www. eventbrite.com/

3pm: Paint and Sip in Riverside, CA – “Snowy Night” at Wicks Brew ing Co., Wicks Brewing, 11620 Sterling Ave Ste C, Riverside, CA. TEXT (562) 762-3420

CHRISTMAS

1. A Boy Called Christmas

In this origin story of Father Christmas, an ordinary boy (with a loyal pet mouse and a reindeer at his side) sets out on an extraordinary adventure to find his father who is on a quest to discover the fabled village of Elfhelm.

2. Klaus

A simple act of kindness always sparks another, even in a frozen, faraway place. When Smeerensburg's new postman, Jes per, befriends toymaker Klaus, their gifts melt an age-old feud and deliver a sleigh full of holiday traditions.

3. The Christmas Chronicles The story of sister and brother, Kate and Teddy Pierce, whose Christmas Eve plan to catch Santa Claus on camera turns into an unexpected journey that most kids could only dream about.

4. Jingle All the Way

A father vows to get his son a Turbo Man action figure for Christmas. However, every store is sold out, and he must travel all over town and compete with everybody else in order to find one.

5. A Castle for Christmas

To escape a scandal, a bestselling author journeys to Scotland, where she falls in love with a castle - and faces off with the grumpy duke who owns it.

6. 8-Bit Christmas

In 1980s Chicago, a 10-year-old sets out on a quest to get the Christmas gift of his generation: the latest and greatest video-game system.

7. Holidate

Fed up with being single on holidays, two strangers agree to be each other's platonic plus-ones all year long, only to catch real feelings along the way.

7:30pm: Kathleen Madi gan, Fox Performing Arts Center, 3801 Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside, CA. Phone: 951-779-9800

2pm: Paint Party @ Back To The Grind, Back To The Grind, 3575 University Ave, Riverside, CA. Phone: 951784-0800

9am: Holiday Market, 17501 Van Buren Boule vard, Riverside, CA. Phone: 951-367-6767

7pm: Sant A She's - Is Coming to Town: A Drag tastic Holiday Spectacular, Fox Performing Arts Center, 3801 Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside, CA. Phone: 951779-9800

9am: Canasta Hand & Foot Card Game, Janet Goeske Foundation & Se nior Center, 5257 Sierra St, Riverside, CA. Phone: 951351-8800

9am: End of Year Well ness Workshop, Beach Sports Grill & Bar, 8022 Li monite Ave Suite 113, Riv erside, CA. Phone: 123-4567890

10am: It's a Scavenger Hunt! Riverside, 3639 Riv erside Plaza Dr, Riverside, CA. https://itsascavenger hunt.com

7:30pm: Joyful Noise, Wallace Theatre, Riverside, CA. Phone: 951-343-4319

7pm: CBU Christmas, California Baptist Univer sity, 8432 Magnolia Ave, Riverside, CA. Phone: 951343-4251

8:30pm: Paranormal In vestigation, March Field Air Museum, 22550 Van Buren Boulevard, Riverside, CA. Phone: 951-902-5949 Sunday, December 4

2pm: Paint and Sip in Riverside, CA –“Beachside Holidays” at Brooks Bar, Brooks Bar, Van Buren, 6720 Van Bu ren Boulevard, Riverside, CA. TEXT (562) 762-3420

9am: Street Clean Up –Merrill Ave, VIP Nightclub & Restaurant, 3673 Merrill Ave, Riverside, CA. Phone: 951-784-2370

10am: Holiday Market Day Event, 4922 Arlington Ave, Riverside, CA. Phone: 909-314-6623

7pm: Amy Schumer: Whore Tour, Fox Perform ing Arts Center, 3801 Mis sion Inn Avenue, Riverside, CA. Phone: 951-779-9800

7pm: Jazz Junkies SUN DAY NIGHT, ProAbition Whiskey Lounge & Kitch en, 3597 Main St, Riverside, CA. Phone: 951-212-0045

8am: Mammal Skulls Workshop, Riverside Met ropolitan Museum, 3580 Mission Inn Avenue, River side, CA, Phone: 951-8265273

11am: Alternative Gift Fair 2022, First United Methodist Church Of Riv erside, 4845 Brockton Ave, Riverside, CA. Phone: 951683-7831

7pm: Hanson-Koobs Chamber Music Series, Hole Memorial Auditorium, 4500 Riverwalk Pkwy, Riv erside, CA. http://lasierra. edu/music

10am: Holiday Festival, 4922 Arlington Ave, Riv erside, CA. https://www. eventbrite.com/e/holi day-market-day-event-tick ets-449547668177

7am: Hot Wheels Show and Meet The Grinch, House of Cars Riverside, 7000 Indiana Ave Suite 116, Riverside, CA. Phone: 951224-9621

10am: It's a Scavenger Hunt! Riverside, 3639 Riv erside Plaza Dr, Riverside, CA. https://itsascavenger hunt.com

12pm: Tours of Heri tage House w/ It's Your Move Exhibition, River side Heritage House, 8193 Magnolia Ave, Riverside, CA. Phone: 951-826-5273

The gates leading to the Ramona Bowl Amphitheater are decked out for the holidays at last year’s Ramona Courtyard Christmas | All Photos Courtesy of Cindy Boeing.

DIANE A. RHODES | CONTRIBUTED

Wintery scenes are depicted all around the Ramona Bowl courtyard for the annual Christmas celebration.

California Realtors apologize for role in racist housing

SOPHIE AUSTIN | AP NEWS

The California Asso

ciation of Realtors is apologizing for its role in pushing policies that drove racial segrega tion in the state, decades after the group put its money behind a proposi tion that overturned the state’s first fair housing law.

During a press confer ence Friday, leaders of multiple real estate or ganizations spoke about their next steps, following the association’s apology last week. The realtors’ group is now backing a bill that would overturn a law that makes it hard er for the state to build affordable housing. The group is partnering with nonprofits focused on ex panding homeownership among communities of color. It also pushed for a law requiring implicit

bias training for real estate agents.

“This has been a very long time coming,” said Derrick Luckett, chairman of the National Associa tion of Real Estate Bro kers. The association has expressed a commitment to expanding intergenera tional wealth among Black households.

The California Associ ation of Realtors was one of many real estate groups that supported redlin ing, barriers to affordable housing projects, and oth er practices of the 20th century that led to more segregated cities across the United States.

During the 1930s, the Home Owners’ Loan Cor poration, backed by the federal government, creat ed maps that categorized parts of cities into grades based on their purport ed creditworthiness. The practice, now known as redlining, drove racial

segregation and income inequality by preventing residents living in certain neighborhoods from re ceiving loans.

The California Asso ciation of Realtors, then known as the California Real Estate Association, paid for a campaign to add an amendment to the state constitution in 1950 forcing the government to get voter approval before spending public money on affordable housing. In more recent decades, the group has supported re pealing the amendment.

In 1964, the association put its money behind a proposition to invalidate the Rumford Act, a law aimed at protecting peo ple of color from discrim ination while they were searching for a home.

In 2020, following the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ah

Christina Animashaun | Courtesy Photo of Vox

treasurer Vince Record, secretary Kami Martin and members Linda Krupa, Joe Grindstaff and Larry Salas.

“Their dedication to all things Ramona is remark able and inspiring,” Shock ey said. “Many volunteers have started the task of laying out the hundreds of strands of Christmas lights and placing every piece of decor, including, crazy enough, three and a half foot, white peacocks!”

Longtime “Ramona” supporter and board mem ber Lori VanArsdale said all of the incredible Christ mas decorations were do nated by Rick Crimeni’s daughters after he passed away when he was on the Bowl’s board. Rick owned the Arrangement Gallery for years and VanArsdale said he used to decorate Hoag Hospital in Orange County for Christmas and also did a lot at Pechanga.

“Rick had always wanted to do something for Christ mas at the Bowl and I know he would be very pleased with what is going on with the Ramona Courtyard Christmas event,” she said. “When his daughters, Ma

from C3

maud Arbery, which led to global demonstrations against racism and po lice violence, the Nation al Association of Realtors apologized for its role in housing discrimination. Real estate groups in cit ies including St. Louis and Minneapolis have recently followed suit.

Otto Catrina, presi dent of the California Association of Realtors, said Friday that its apol ogy follows one by the group’s former president

rissa and Brianna, asked me if the Bowl would like to have the decorations I was blown away when they opened the door to a 15ft. x 30-ft. storage facility filled to the brim with all of the amazing decorations you will see in the Court yard.”

Any event at the Ramona Bowl wouldn’t be complete without an appearance from some of the play’s key characters. Visitors to the Christmas celebration can expect to see Señora (Kathi Anderson) as well as Ra mona (Kayla Contreras) and Alessandro (Eli Santa na). Aunt Ry, who is being played by Shockey in the upcoming centennial sea son, will also be there.

Shockey began audition ing for Ramona in 2006, the year she played Mar garita, Ramona’s flirtatious rival. The following year, she was the understudy for the title role. In 2008, she played Ramona and in 2010, she was cast as Mar garita once again.

“That was back before the play got a facelift and rewrite by Stephen Savage in 2015 in an effort to re word some of the archaic language,” she said. “That was also the year they hired my husband, Steve

in its magazine last year. But this apology is more formal, since it’s gone through the approval of the association’s board.

“For many of our mem bers, this apology reflects the organization that we are today and are con tinuing to work to foster inclusion and belonging for all our members and our communities,” Ca trina said.

The National Associ ation of Realtors reports that the homeownership rate for Black Americans is 43% compared to 72% for white Americans. Black homeowners have

Shockey, and his Civil War reenactment unit, the Washington Artillery, to bring their giant cannon as part of a brief war scene to kick off the show with a serious boom!”

Shockey’s favorite part of last year’s event, that she looks forward to being recreated this season, was when artistic director Den nis Anderson spoke of the magnificence of both Ra mona, the longest-running outdoor play in America, and the tradition of stead fast devotion to its pres ervation by generations of people.

“Then, as the giant Christmas tree in the cen ter of the courtyard over looking the spectacular view of the valley was lit, Madeline Marlene began to play her flute, filling the Bowl with a seemingly sa cred song of the people represented in our timeless play,” she said. “It’s truly a magical moment.”

Tickets are $4 each or free with an unwrapped gift donation for My City Youth. Children 5 and younger are free. Parking is $5.

For more information, 951-658-3111 or www.Ra monaBowl.com.

also reported that the val ue of their home apprais als increases when they strip away any sign of a Black family living there.

Eli Knaap, associate di rector of San Diego State University’s Center for Open Geographical Sci ence, said the apology comes when there’s over whelming evidence that the legacy of discrimina tory housing policies hin ders families’ ability to build wealth.

“The greatest source of wealth for most families is in their home,” he said.

Knaap, who’s studied the lasting impacts of

Carolers add to the festive atmosphere at the first Ramona Courtyard Christmas in 2021.

BINGO

practices like redlining that drove racial segre gation, said some local governments now imple ment what’s known as in clusionary zoning where a portion of units in a residential development need to be affordable for low-income residents.

In June, California’s first-in-the-nation repa rations task force released an exhaustive report that listed housing segrega tion as one of the many harms Black Californians faced long after the abo lition of slavery. As the task force deliberates on what form reparations

could take, economists are working to put dollar figures on the lasting im pacts of these harms.

The California Asso ciation of Realtors hasn’t taken an official stance on reparations but will review policy recommen dations made by the task force, Catrina said Friday.

Matt Lewis, spokesper son for housing advocacy group California YIMBY, said it’s important for the realtors’ association to be clear about what steps it will take to address the lingering effects of dis criminatory policies it supported.

“An apology is always backward-looking, so it’s important to try to cor rect the damage you did,” Lewis said. “But the next step is, so what are you going to do about it?”

Sophie Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initia tive. Report for America is a nonprofit national ser vice program that places journalists in local news rooms to report on under covered issues. Follow her on Twitter at: twitter.com/ sophieadanna

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Drying California lake to get $250M in US drought funding

KATHLEEN RONAYNE | AP NEWS

The federal govern ment said Monday it will spend $250 million over four years on environmental cleanup and restoration work around a drying Southern California lake that’s fed by the deplet ed Colorado River.

The future of the Salton Sea, and who is financially responsible for it, has been a key issue in discussions over how to prevent a crisis in the Colorado River. The lake was formed in 1905 when the river overflowed, creating a resort destina tion that slowly morphed into an environmental di saster as water levels reced ed, exposing residents to harmful dust and reducing wildlife habitat.

The lake is largely fed by runoff from farms in Cal ifornia’s Imperial Valley, who use Colorado River water to grow many of the nation’s winter vegetables as well as feed crops like al falfa. As the farmers reduce their water use, less flows into the lake. California said it would only reduce its

reliance on the over-tapped river if the federal govern ment put up money to miti gate the effects of less water flowing into the sea.

“It’s kind of a linchpin for the action we need to see on the Colorado River,” said Wade Crowfoot, Cal ifornia’s natural resources secretary. “Finally we are all in agreement that we can’t leave the Salton Sea on the cutting room floor, we can’t take these conser vation actions — these ex traordinary measures — at the expense of these resi dents.”

The deal announced Monday needs approval from the Imperial Irriga tion District, the largest user of Colorado River wa ter. The water entity’s board will take it up on Tuesday.

Both the district’s general manager and board mem ber JB Hamby applauded the deal Monday.

“The collaboration hap pening at the Salton Sea be tween water agencies and state, federal, and tribal governments is a blueprint for effective cooperation that the Colorado River Basin sorely needs,” Hamby

said in a statement.

The $250 million will come out of the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, which set aside $4 bil lion to stave off the worst effects of drought across the U.S. West.

Most of the money is contingent on the Imperi al Irrigation District and Coachella Valley Water District making good on their commitments to re duce their own use of river water. Both submitted pro posals to cut back their us age for payment as part of a new federal program.

The quarter-billion dol lars will largely go to bolster and speed up existing state projects designed to lower the negative environmental impact of the drying lake bed. The state has commit ted nearly $583 million to projects at the sea, includ ing dust suppression and habitat restoration. One project underway aims to create wetlands and ponds that will limit dust from blowing into the air while creating safe spaces for fish and birds, according to the state.

The deal comes as the

U.S. Interior Department and the seven states that rely on the river — Califor nia, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming — scram ble to prevent the worst impacts of the ongoing drought and historic over use of the river. Lakes Pow ell and Mead, the key reser voirs that store river water and provide hydropower across the West, are only about a quarter full.

After months of failed negotiations over a deal to drastically cut water use, the federal government in October said it would pay farmers and cities to cut back through activities like leaving fields unplant ed or lining canals to pre vent water from seeping into the ground. Propos als were due earlier this month. Meanwhile, the Interior Department has taken steps to unilaterally revise guidelines that gov ern when water shortages are declared, a move that could force states to further cut back.

The Salton Sea, mean while, became its own political flashpoint in Oc

tober when Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, then up for re election, urged the federal government to withhold any environmental clean up money unless Califor nia agreed to give up more water. That prompted criti cism he was using commu nities who already suffer from poor air quality as a bargaining chip.

The agreement marks a good step forward but key details still need to be fleshed out, said Frank Ruiz, Salton Sea program

director for Audubon Cal ifornia. He worries that $250 million is not enough to mitigate all of the dam age already done at the sea.

“This is a great step but I think we need a lot more,” he said. “We need to con tinue discussing water sus tainability in the region.”

Broadly, he wants to see a more equitable distribution of the region’s water sup plies and hopes the Salton Sea gets a guaranteed mini mum amount of water even as overall use declines.

This climate solution saves water and creates solar energy

CALEIGH WELLS

| KCRW.COM

California’s newest in frastructure project will hit two prover bial climate birds with one stone. And Los Angeles city officials just decided last week to try one of its own. The plan is to cover some of California’s exposed wa ter canals with solar panels. It will prevent evaporation amidst the state’s historic drought. It will also create renewable energy as the state attempts to meet lofty decarbonization goals.

Piloting a win-win

The idea gained trac tion in California after re searchers at UC Merced studied the possibility on the state’s canals last year.

“If we put solar panels over all 4000 miles of Cal ifornia’s open canals, we estimated we could save 65 billion gallons of wa ter annually,” says Brandi McKuin, who led the study. “That’s enough for the res idential water needs of 2 million people – enough to irrigate 50,000 acres of farmland.”

Researchers found the panels could also generate 13 gigawatts of renewable

power. That’s about half of the capacity needed by 2030 to meet the state’s goals. “The political wind is at our back right now and that’s another reason this is gaining traction,” she says.

It’s gained so much trac tion that the Turlock Irri gation District in North ern California is breaking ground on its first solar canal installation as soon as the equipment arrives early next year. They will try it out on a couple miles of their canals first.

“We thought we were the absolute perfect agency to pilot it, since we’re both the water agency and the electric utility,” says Josh Weimer, external affairs manager with the Turlock Irrigation District.

Besides the water and power benefits, Weiner says they’re hoping the solar panels will stop weeds from growing in their aqueduct. “We spend over $1 million a year to clean our canal system to make sure that those weeds are not block ing drops or side gates that really would jeopardize the reliable delivery of irriga tion water,” he says.

It also skirts around one of the biggest problems with solar energy: land use.

Large solar farms can dis rupt the habitat of plants and animals that live there.

Where there are canals, there’s already ecological disruption, so there’s no added ecological harm to add panels on those acres.

Plus, covering state-owned aqueducts with solar panels means no one has to buy or rent a new piece of land.

Lessons from the other side of the world

A similar project in India is more than a decade old.

The first project only cov ered 750 meters and pro duced about a megawatt of power, but they’ve added several more projects since then. It’s an idea that makes a lot of sense for California:

We’ve got the largest state water project in the coun try. Most of the state’s water comes from the northern half of California, and most of it gets used in the south ern half.

Like any new idea, it’s not without its hurdles. The project with India came with lessons on what not to do: Don’t use expensive, cumbersome steel to hold up the panels, which cor rodes over time. And don’t install panels that are diffi cult to move, which makes

cleaning it pretty difficult.

“It inspired us to look for a design that would be lightweight, less material and allow access, and so our designs are cabled steel suspension, and they’re at least 50% less material, 50% less weight,” says Jor dan Harris, co-founder of Solar Aquagrid, the com pany in charge of figuring out how to install Califor nia’s first project.

Bringing solar canals south

Last week, the Los An geles City Council voted to investigate funding a simi lar project over the LA Aq ueduct, which is hundreds of miles of canals snaking their way from the Owens Valley down to LA, supply ing our dry climate with the water it needs to sup port the millions of people who live here.

Councilmember O’Far rell, who chairs the City of LA’s committee on en ergy, climate change and environment justice, intro duced a motion to essen tially copy what’s happen ing up north.

“We thought, ‘Well, wait a second, we’ve got 370 miles of an aqueduct. How about we do it here

too?’” he says. “How come no one thought of this be fore? I chuckle because it is so obviously a path that we should head down and

O’Farrell says about 10%

of LA’s water gets lost to evaporation. Covering the LA Aqueduct could save enough water to satisfy the needs of roughly 4,000

LAKEBED: The federal government said Monday it will spend $250 million over four years on environmental cleanup and restoration work around a drying Southern California lake that’s fed by the depleted Colorado River. shua Thurman, of Colorado Springs, reacts the morning after a mass shooting at Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub. Thurman was in the club at the time of the shooting.

| Courtesy Photo of Erik Anderson/KPBS

PROJECT: California’s

early next year. | Courtesy Photos of Solar Aquagrid 2022.

Courtesy Photos of Solar Aquagrid 2022.

homes. The solar panels could generate up to 100 megawatts of solar power, which is enough to pow er tens of thousands of homes, he says.

“We’re looking at the cli che of the lowest hanging fruit – and this is certain ly one of them – because it could bring power from the rights of way that we already control right into the urban core of the city of Los Angeles,” he says.

Plus, solar panels float

ing over water are actually about five percent more efficient than solar panels floating over land. It keeps the panels cooler so they work better.

But solar over canals also comes with its downsides.

“Installation costs are high. And when I mean high, I’m talking about an order of magnitude five to six times higher than if you were to install ground mount,” says LADWP Power Engineering Manag er Arash Saidi. That added cost would normally get passed onto

the ratepayers, but O’Far rell says for now, federal money set aside by the Biden administration for infrastructure projects can fund this one.

The other problem: Transmitting electricity generated from a set of so lar panels in the middle of nowhere isn’t an easy task.

“This is 62 miles, if we run 62 miles of cable, you’re going to have im mense losses, especially at lower voltages.” Saidi says.

The possible solution to that is providing the pow er from the solar panels to

homes near the canals, so the electricity is not travel ing as far.

There isn’t a great time line yet for when the pan els will cover the LA Aq ueduct. But O’Farrell is optimistic. For now, LA is on track to meet its goal of having 100% renewable en ergy by 2045. And solar ca nals will bring the city one step closer.

I’ve always thought of this as a spiritual quest. And I’m excited about it,” he says. “The roadmap is there, it’s very clear. And we know we can do it.”

PROPOSAL: