Randon Lane, mayor pro-tem of Murrieta, has announced that he will challenge incumbent Supervisor Chuck Washington for the 3rd District seat on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. In 2016, Lane finished third in the June primary to Washington. Shelly Milne was second. Washington won the general election in November. In his announcement, Lane said,…
Riverside County Executive Officer George Johnson advised, perhaps warned, the Board of Supervisors about growing demands on the county’s fiscal resources. At the Feb. 5 board meeting, Johnson and Chief Financial Officer Don Kent presented the mid-year review for fiscal year 2018-19. First, they described several added costs that were already expended and, therefore, had…
In August 2018, former Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 10, which would have eliminated California’s cash bail system and replaced it with a pre-trial assessment program. It effectively eliminated the use of cash to secure release from jail prior to trial. Less than five months later, on Wednesday, Jan. 16, California Secretary of State…
Riverside County begins 2019 with a sanctioned cannabis industry. As of Dec. 26, 2018, the county began accepting applications for distribution, manufacturing, testing and wholesale nursery facilities within the unincorporated areas. The first step in obtaining a county permit is the submission of conditional use permit. Also, each enterprise must have an appropriate state license….
After less than one week in office, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his proposed budget for fiscal year 2019-20, which begins July 1. The total budget recommendation is $209.1 billion. Newsom’s budget proposal, benefiting from unexpectedly large revenue, addresses many issues, which he raised during the campaign and continues Gov. Jerry Brown’s concern about preserving the…
On Thursday, Jan. 10, Seema Verma, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, held a telephone conference to discuss CMS efforts to build greater transparency of medical costs. The purpose is to offer patients more information about the cost of prospective procedures and surgery, thus allowing them to include the cost of the…
Influenza season began and is active in Riverside County. Last week, county officials announced that a 4-year-old girl died and had tested positive for influenza. This is the second pediatric flu-associated death in California this flu season. This is the third flu-related death in Riverside County since the 2018-19 flu season began. According to Jose…
Caltrans is alerting the public that the National Weather Service is predicting rain and snow in Southern California this weekend. Snow elevations will possibly drop to the 4,000-foot level, which will affect all mountain regions in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Road conditions will be icy in areas affected by snow. Caltrans maintenance crews are…
During 2018, the state Legislature passed and Gov. Jerry Brown signed 1,016 new laws. While some were effective immediately, some will not go into effect until 2020 or 2021. Most were effective Jan. 1, 2019. Below is a sampling of some of the more important or more interesting laws the state Legislature and governor felt…
The Internet has wrought many changes in the world. Obviously, communication with people around the globe is much easier and more common. Expressing opinions has become facile as well as finding an audience to listen. One of the ways in which people used the Internet to save money was to make purchases of clothes, supplies…
