Low-interest federal disaster loans are available to California residents and business owners that the Silver and Mountain fires affected, said U. S. Small Business Administration Administrator Karen G. Mills announced Monday. SBA acted under its own authority to declare a disaster in response to a request Gov. Edmund G. Brown’s designated representative, Mark Ghilarducci, director…

After the first quarter of fiscal year 2013-14, the Riverside County financial condition continues to improve very slowly. However, several very dangerous issues are on the horizon before the fiscal year ends June 30, 2014. The most egregious is the deteriorating finances of the County’s Regional Medical Center in Moreno Valley. Its current cash storage…

Citing California’s five-year drought, Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order making some of the state’s temporary water restrictions permanent. Permanently banned are wasteful practices such as hosing off driveways and washing cars with hoses that lack shut-off nozzles. The governor credited Californians with having accomplished significant water conservation, saving 1.3-million-acre-feet of water from June…

Late last month, a Riverside County grand jury report raised concerns over the how the county’s Registrar of Voters manages polling places. After observing operations at several polling places during the November 2015 election and reviewing voting material, the grand jury released its report at the end of April. The Registrar of Voters has until…