Category: Inland Empire

Working in a warehouse for 10 hours is bound to make you sweat. But Anna Ortega said she’s also gotten headaches and nosebleeds and become nauseated and dizzy from laboring in the heat at Amazon’s air freight facility in San Bernardino. She and other warehouse workers recently urged a state panel to protect them through stronger workplace temperature standards, ones required by a 2016 law but that have yet to be finalized. “It’s heartbreaking to come into work to hear that another coworker, a potential friend, has fainted or needed medical attention from heat exhaustion,” Daniel Rivera, an Amazon worker, told the California Occupational Safety & Health Standards Board during its Thursday, May 18 hearing. Employees’ health and safety “is incredibly important to us, and that’s why we have robust heat-related safety protocols that often exceed both industry standards and federal OSHA guidance,” Maureen Lynch Vogel, an Amazon spokesperson, said via email. Amazon “is one of only a few companies in the industry to have installed climate control systems in our fulfillment centers and at every air hub, including (San Bernardino), and those systems constantly

A bell rang out on Memorial Day for each Redlands veteran who has died in the past year at a solemn gathering Monday at Hillside Memorial Park. The ceremony was one of many held across the Inland Empire over the Memorial Day weekend — from La Verne to Temecula to Riverside to Redlands. Civic leaders and community members joined veterans and their families to honor military members who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to the U.S. “Obviously, we wouldn’t be a free country without the people who fought, and some of them died for it,” former Redlands City Councilmember and veteran Mick Gallagher said ahead of Monday’s ceremony. “People are there to give thanks and remember,” he added. Stacey Newcomer and Lisa Long place a wreath during the “Celebrate, Honor, Remember” Memorial Day program at Hillside Memorial Park in Redlands on Monday, May 29, 2023. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG) Redlands resident Jim Pierini pauses after placing a flag on the grave of a veteran following the “Celebrate, Honor, Remember” Memorial Day program at Hillside Memorial Park in Redlands on

Shelby Anderson’s classroom at Laguna Beach High School is like walking into a living museum of sorts. Across the back wall of Room 27, Anderson displays military uniforms from World War I through the Korean War and artifacts such as World War II ration books, a field communication kit with a typewriter, meal boxes and carefully preserved newspapers with headlines announcing important 20th Century world events. The items are conversation starters, but more importantly, they are critical to her teaching of U.S. history to 11th graders by taking stories found in textbooks and turning them into real life. It is one of the way she helps her students recognize the difficulties of military service and how that service and, in so many cases, a person’s ultimate sacrifice, are still relevant today. Women with the Historical Unit of Southern California dress as WWII-era military, as they place flags on graves at Los Angeles National Cemetery for Memorial Day weekend on Saturday, May 27, 2023. Michaela Negrete, from left, Carli Holland and Shelby Anderson carry flags. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG) Marine Lance Cpl. Cody

Shelby Anderson’s classroom at Laguna Beach High School is like walking into a living museum of sorts. Across the back wall of Room 27, Anderson displays military uniforms from World War I through the Korean War and artifacts such as World War II ration books, a field communication kit with a typewriter, meal boxes and carefully preserved newspapers with headlines announcing important 20th Century world events. The items are conversation starters, but more importantly, they are critical to her teaching of U.S. history to 11th graders by taking stories found in textbooks and turning them into real life. It is one of the way she helps her students recognize the difficulties of military service and how that service and, in so many cases, a person’s ultimate sacrifice, are still relevant today. Women with the Historical Unit of Southern California dress as WWII-era military, as they place flags on graves at Los Angeles National Cemetery for Memorial Day weekend on Saturday, May 27, 2023. Michaela Negrete, from left, Carli Holland and Shelby Anderson carry flags. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG) Marine Lance Cpl. Cody

For this Memorial Day weekend, it’s intriguing to look at newspapers of the past to read how World War II affected the Inland Empire’s soldiers and the homefront. Here are a few of those stories from long ago: – It was indeed a unique experience in downtown San Bernardino one day in 1944 when a pair of Nazi soldiers strolled through local businesses. After the pair in German military clothing dropped into the Harris Co. department store, they were soon surrounded by a number of shoppers, reported the Sun newspaper a day later on Jan. 5, 1944. It was just a test. And the city’s shoppers passed with flying colors. “The stunt was arranged by Col. James B. Edmunds, commanding officer of the communications base, to determine the alertness of San Bernardino’s citizens,” reported the Sun. The pair – Bernhard Bonwitt, 30, a U.S. Army sergeant who was actually born in Berlin, and W. H. Shepherd, 26, an Army corporal – wore the captured Nazi uniforms on their walk through town. A Sun reporter and photographer were apparently invited to trail them. It only took

From new picnic areas and barbecues to shade covers and new playgrounds, Moreno Valley parks will be seeing some upgrades. The $6 million Park Rehabilitation and Refurbishment Program Plan started in winter 2022 and is expected to wrap up in summer 2024, a city news release said. The program is the largest parks and community services program in city history, the release states. Steve Oviatt, a Moreno Valley resident and president of Canyon Springs Little League, is among those grateful for the program. “I’m very happy that we’re getting this,” said Oviatt, whose teams play in several city parks. “Especially the shade covers, the bathrooms. It’s very much needed.” Painters add a vibrant blue color to the ground of a splash pad at Celebration Park in Moreno Valley on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, as the park undergoes improvements. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Children enjoy playtime at Celebration Park in Moreno Valley on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, while the park undergoes improvements. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Workers paint the ground of a splash pad Tuesday, May 23, 2023, at Celebration Park in Moreno

Their mission is to remember service members who died for Memorial Day. So, as they do every year, a group of volunteers gathered Saturday, May 27, at Riverside National Cemetery to place flags on thousands of graves. A volunteer places American flags on graves at Riverside National Cemetery as he takes part in the A Flag For Every Hero project Saturday, May 27, 2023. In just over two hours, more than 400 people placed flags on about 250,000 graves in honor of Memorial Day. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG) Boy Scout A.J. Valdez, 13, from Riverside, grabs a handful of flags to place on graves at Riverside National Cemetery as he takes part in the A Flag For Every Hero project Saturday, May 27, 2023. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG) Riverside resident David Forbes places flags on graves at Riverside National Cemetery as he takes part in the A Flag For Every Hero project Saturday, May 27, 2023. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG) Aiden Cartwright, right, a 6-year-old Ontario resident, and his sister Laila, 3, prepare

By Fernando Antonio Lozano | Inland Empire Economic Partnership Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Executive Order N-8-23 to streamline investments in clean energy infrastructure and development in California. If these efforts succeed, California will lead the clean energy market for many years. One should not ignore the government’s ability to fund, organize and coalesce the research, infrastructure and development of emerging industries needed to transform our current economy. One historical example is the Tennessee Valley Authority Act. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed in 1933 the Tennessee Valley Authority Act to promote economic development in the southeastern United States. The TVA promoted a wide range of investments in states as far west as Missouri, north as Kentucky, east as North Carolina, and south as Mississippi. While the TVA nowadays might be recognized for its electricity-generating industry, the project was ambitious at its inception. Besides generating electricity, the TVA intended to modernize the region through technological agricultural improvements and expanding the region’s infrastructure and manufacturing capacity. What are the long-run effects of these investments? Patrick Kline and Enrico Moretti answer this question by comparing TVA regions with

ALTADENA – There has to be a Sam-I-am in your orbit too, right? Somebody insistent: Do you like pickleball? Do you? You’ve got to to know at least one evangelist pushing America’s Fastest Growing Sport like it was green eggs and ham: You may. You may like it. Try it! Try it! Someone like Adam Do: You will see. My personal pickleball liaison: A 24-year-old communications intern for the Clippers, who didn’t have to be especially pushy pitching a column about his new favorite pastime. I’d been curious anyway: What’s the deal with this pickleball phenomenon? Isn’t it a sort of ping pong-tennis hybrid meant for retirees? Sure. Retirees like Andre Agassi and John McEnroe. And Tom Brady. But also LeBron James (who hasn’t retired yet). And NBA referees. And WNBA players. And non-athletic not-so-regular people too, like A-listers Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney. And, as of February, some 8.9 million people in the United States, by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association’s count. Harry Nickelson, left, dinks a shot back to the opponents with Alex Kanner during a pickleball game at Farnsworth Park in

In a 1930s shopping plaza in downtown Palm Springs, restaurants with bustling outdoor patios flank a walkway leading to the quiet Plaza Theatre, which is tidy but devoid of life. It didn’t used to be that way. The theater’s first incarnation, from 1936 to 1989, was as a movie house with occasional live entertainment. Then came “The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies,” a Broadway-style show with semi-retired performers that ran from 1991 to 2014. For nearly a decade, the 800-seat theater at 128 S. Palm Canyon Drive has sat largely dormant, awaiting its third act. That dream is nearer to reality. The nonprofit Plaza Theatre Foundation has raised $14.5 million of the needed $16.2 million to renovate the city-owned theater. Bids may go out as early as June, with construction starting this fall for a reopening by the end of 2024. A former councilman, J.R. Roberts, is leading the campaign. “It’s the only project I’ve ever worked on,” Roberts marvels, “that has 100% support. There aren’t even any internet trolls. It’s like a Sara Lee cheesecake. Nobody doesn’t like the Plaza.” Two visitors eye the 1936

The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa Festival of Lights in downtown Riverside will start dazzling crowds a little earlier this year. The event — anchored by a massive light display — will break from tradition in its 31st year. The festival, which has always begun the day after Thanksgiving, according to the Mission Inn website, will kick off with a switch-on ceremony Saturday, Nov. 18. That’s the weekend before Thanksgiving, which will fall on Thursday, Nov. 23. Two main reasons are driving the earlier start date. Officials say it will better accommodate families’ availability because many students are on vacation before Thanksgiving. Also, the earlier launch is expected to help spread out the crowds. During the Riverside City Council meeting Tuesday, May 23, Arts and Cultural Affairs Manager Margie Haupt said that, starting in July, the city will be working with the Mission Inn to market the date change. The festival is still expected to end at the normal time, around the end of the year. After the 2020 and 2021 festivities were significantly scaled back because of the coronavirus pandemic, the full event returned

A class-action lawsuit that alleges overworked case workers are putting San Bernardino County foster children in danger is rooted in a misunderstanding of the system, according to the county. On Thursday, May 25, the nonprofit A Better Childhood filed a 68-page class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Riverside, on behalf of more than 5,800 children who are or will likely end up in foster care. In a statement Friday, county spokesperson Martha Guzman-Hurtado connected the lawsuit to an earlier grand jury report that was highly critical of the Department of Children and Family Services. According to the county, many of the allegations in the December 2022 grand jury report are based on faulty or incomplete information and many of the changes recommended in the report and lawsuit aren’t legally possible. “Recent attention including from the San Bernardino County grand jury brings to light the struggles faced by every child welfare agency in this state,” Guzman-Hurtado wrote Friday. “While we appreciate the diligent work of the grand jury, many of their findings are not legally obtainable. We believe that much of the San Bernardino County

Restaurants and other food vendors ordered to close and allowed to reopen by Riverside County health inspectors from May 18 to May 25. Concessions at Big League Dreams Jurupa Valley Sports Park, 10550 Cantu Galleano Ranch Road, Jurupa Valley Closed: May 23 Reason: Insufficient hot water Reopened: May 25 Wingstop, 31855 Date Palm Drive, Suite 6, Cathedral City Closed: May 18 Reason: Sewage overflow Reopened: May 19 Domino’s, 31855 Date Palm Drive, Suite 7, Cathedral City Closed: May 18 Reason: Sewage overflow Reopened: May 19 China 8 Cuisine, 31855 Date Palm Drive, Suite 8, Cathedral City Closed: May 18 Reason: Sewage overflow Reopened: May 19 Hamachi Sushi, 31855 Date Palm Drive, Suite 11, Cathedral City Closed: May 18 Reason: Sewage overflow Reopened: May 19 Panda Express, 68900 Ramon Ave., Cathedral City Closed: May 18 Reason: Sewage overflow Reopened: May 19 Updates since last week’s list: Wienerschnitzel at 10207 San Sevaine Way, Jurupa Valley, which was ordered closed May 15 because of insufficient refrigeration, was allowed to reopen May 17. Related Articles Local News | Riverside County restaurants reopen after closures by health inspectors, May 11-18 Local News |

Sunscreen has only been around a century but pharmacy shelves are now lined with an assortment of sunscreens with a variety of active ingredients aimed to please everyone from the outdoorsman to the beauty-conscious shopper. The timeline below from the National Library of Medicine tells a brief story of sunscreen. 1798: Robert Willan, the father of modern dermatology, describes a skin condition called eczema solare, or skin sensitivity to light. 1820: English physician Sir Everard Home first proposes that skin pigmentation has protective effects against the sun and that a component of sunlight other than heat affects the skin. 1878: Otto Veiel of Austria describes tannins as a form of sun protection. However, the darkening effect of tannins on the skin prevents them from being commercialized as a sunscreen. 1889: Erik Johan Widmark of Stockholm publishes a landmark study that experimentally proves UV radiation can cause skin erythema and burns. 1891: Dr. Hammer of Stuttgart, Germany, is the first to specifically recommend the use of chemical sunscreens to prevent UV radiation from causing erythema solare of the skin; he uses quinine prepared in an ointment

Restaurants and other food vendors ordered to close and allowed to reopen by San Bernardino County health inspectors from May 18 to May 25. Paradise Buffet, 9059 Central Ave., Montclair Closed: May 23 Reason: Cockroach and rodent infestation Updates since last week’s list: New China Express at 1211 N. Waterman Ave., San Bernardino, which was ordered closed May 16 because of a rodent infestation, was allowed to reopen May 18. This list is published weekly with closures since the previous week’s list. Status updates are published in the following week’s list. Source: San Bernardino County Department of Public Health Ian Wheeler | Reporter Ian Wheeler has been reporter for The Orange County Register since 2013. He covers Buena Park and Yorba Linda, and is involved in research projects for the Southern California News Group. Ian graduated from Cal State Fullerton in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. In his spare time, Ian and his cousin run a rental cabin in the local mountains.

The 2023 season for the Inland Empire HornFrogs youth football and cheer program begins in June. The nonprofit program, based in Perris, was established in 2015 and accepts players ages 5 to 14 with no weight limits, according to the program’s website. The organization, which recently changed its name from the Inland Empire Hornets to the Inland Empire HornFrogs, is a member of the Supreme Youth Football Conference. Last fall, the program’s 8-and-under team won the state Super Bowl championship in their division in the Supreme Youth Football Conference, defeating the High Desert Rams with a score of 42-0, according to a news release. With their Super Bowl win, the 8-and-under team finished a perfect season, with nine wins and no losses. Jesse Mendoza of Perris is president and founder of the Inland Empire HornFrogs. For information about the Inland Empire HornFrogs’ youth football and cheer programs, and to register, go to iehornfrogs.com. For information about the Supreme Youth Football Conference, go to supremeyfc.com.

The San Bernardino County Fair welcomes all Saturday through Monday, May 27-29, for the first of two weekends of guilty pleasure foods, live shows, friendly competitions and new attractions. Gates at the Victorville fairground open at 2 p.m. daily. This year’s theme is “A Place Where Everyone Comes Together.” “This is our time to provide entertainment and showcase the future farmers and talents of our community,” SBC Fair CEO Jennifer Morgan said in a news release. “We’ve worked very hard to bring new and exciting things this year.” In addition to traditional fair entertainment, there will be monster trucks and demolition derbies, concerts, exhibitions and a carnival. Longtime partner Helm and Sons Amusements will debut a new ride this year, Medusa, and, for the first time at the SBC Fair, set up the Grand Prix Roller Coaster. Sunday, the U.S. Marine Cops is sponsoring a Pro Open Bull Riding event brought to the fair by Western Heritage Rodeo. General admission at the gate is $10. Children 2 and younger are free. Parking is $5. After Memorial Day weekend, the 76th annual SBC Fair returns June

Five southwest Riverside County cities are moving forward with creating a regional plan to confront homelessness by working together. The Regional Homeless Alliance began in 2016 and is a collaboration between Lake Elsinore, Menifee, Murrieta, Temecula and Wildomar that’s aimed at solving homelessness in the cities. The alliance was not official when it first launched, but now the lead city, Murrieta, has hired a consultant to help the group craft a plan. The Chicago-based Baker Tilly, will be paid $199,200 to help solve the growing homeless problem. In September 2022, the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded $500,000 to Murrieta to hire a consultant to create an action plan, formalize the alliance and provide street outreach to homeless people. Based on findings from the federally mandated homeless count across Riverside County in January, the five cities have a total of 419 unsheltered and sheltered homeless people. Riverside County has 3,725 homeless people, an increase of 12% from 2022. “Our goal is to remove an emphasis on city-specific homeless numbers and look at it as a regional issue,” Brian Ambrose, director of community service

Name: Saumya Kumar — Age: 17 — High school: Centennial High School — GPA: 4.95 — High School Activities or Groups: Clubs: Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), Centennial Amnesty International, South Asian Student Association (SASA) — Sports: Varsity Girls Golf & yoga — Outside Activities: Kumon Instructor, Certified Yoga Instructor, International/ local Volunteer — After Graduation/College Plans: Attending UCLA as a B.S. Physiology Major on the Pre-Med Track — Career Goal: Orthopedic Surgeon — Parents: Sanjiwani Meharda Name: Violette Valencia — Age: 17 — High school: Norte Vista High School — GPA: 4.5 — High School Activities or Groups: For the past four years, I was a part of cross country, becoming captain my senior year, track and field and AVID. I also participated in Best Buddies, Global and was secretary for the National Art Honors Society and Fine Woodworking Club. — After Graduation/College Plans: I plan on attending Northern Arizona University this upcoming fall. — Career Goal: Diplomat or Teacher/Professor — Parents: Imelda and Jose Valencia Name: Izaya Montejano — Age: 18 — High school: San Jacinto High School — GPA: 4.8 —

A voter-backed measure to limit San Bernardino County supervisors to a single four-year term is constitutional, a state appellate court ruled this week. But Measure K, approved by a 2-1 majority of voters in 2020, is currently moot. Nearly 60% of voters in 2022 voted in favor Measure D, which set a limit of three four-year terms for supervisors, overriding voters’ decision two years earlier. In its ruling, the state’s 4th District Court of Appeal was sympathetic with Measure K backers. “When the problem is personal empire-building by entrenched incumbents, the only solution is term limits,” Judges Manuel A. Ramirez and Douglas P. Miller wrote in a 2-1 decision filed Thursday, May 25. “It was important to the electorate, then, to ensure that supervisors could not be either distracted or compromised by the prospect of a future term. A three-term limit could never accomplish this goal. A one-term limit was the only alternative.” Sign up for The Localist, our daily email newsletter with handpicked stories relevant to where you live. Subscribe here. In 2020, more than 66% of voters approved Measure K, which limited supervisors