Uncontrollable increases down the road While the discussion of the Riverside County 2017-18 budget mid-year review did not create panic nor any major cutbacks last week, new and large budget demands are on the horizon. County Fiscal Officer Don Kent acknowledged that the current projections for fiscal year 2017-18, which ends June 30, have improved. While…
A Supervisor Washington-initiated effort Riverside County is developing a vision or strategic plan to guide policy and budget issues over the next decade. Vision 2030 was initially presented to the Board of Supervisors at its Feb. 6 meeting. His colleagues unanimously supported board Chair and 3rd District Supervisor Chuck Washington’s motion for “the next step…
The Riverside County sheriff’s race has tightened over the past six months. In the spring of 2017, incumbent Sheriff Stan Sniff seemed to have a clear path to re-election. But an ongoing spat or controversy with the Board of Supervisors has given hope to his two challengers — Riverside County Sheriff Lt. Chad Bianco and…
Homelessness was on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors’ Tuesday, Jan. 30 agenda and the board unanimously approved allocating money to begin to mitigate the problem. A 27-page report, prepared by a committee of county agency and cities, identified three major goals, four strategies for achieving these goals and 23 recommendations. “This will culminate the…
Are you interested in helping the environment? Do you like to compost or recycle? Become an outreach volunteer with the Riverside County Department of Waste Resources and help the Earth by helping others become better recyclers and composters. Outreach volunteers assist with classes or events by interacting with the public, answering questions on outreach programs…
Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff is up for re-election in 2018. His challengers are from within the Sheriff’s Department and another county police force. Lt. Chad Bianco works at the Hemet Sheriff’s Station. He is one of several lieutenants who have been assigned to that station in the past several years. He also is in…
Representative Dr. Raul Ruiz, Democratic incumbent for California’s 36th Congressional seat, is having little trouble raising money for his third re-election campaign. At the end of 2017, he had far more cash available than the combined total of all his challengers. The election is still 10 months away and Republicans still see the district as…
The motion to dismiss criminal charges against Joe Aklufi was denied. In a brief hearing, Friday, Jan. 26, Judge Mac Fisher ruled that Aklufi’s motion that he should have received another opportunity to waive his rights to speedy hearing is not supported. Aklufi argued that the failure to offer this second chance to waive his…
Riverside County is a high-impact community for criminal cases of sex trafficking, sextortion (black mail with a photo) and social-media exploitation cases. Most of these cases are driven by gangs and predators using social media to access, groom, recruit and exploit young people. Often, a teen will meet a new-found love on the Internet and…
On Jan. 2, 2018, attorney Joseph Sandy Aklufi, the last defendant not yet sentenced in a Beaumont city government corruption case, filed a motion with the court to dismiss all charges against him. The basis for Aklufi’s motion was his claim that he had been denied a speedy trial in violation of California Penal Code…
