Last week, Gov. Jerry Brown released his “May Revision” for the 2017-18 state budget. Changes from the January budget proposal were modest. As a result of a slight higher revenue forecast, Brown’s May budget proposal totals $124 billion of state funds, which is $1.5 billion more than the January submission.
As reported previously, the Hemet Unified School District and its teachers are trying to negotiate a new salary schedule. However, the private negotiations reached an impasse. Both HUSD and the Hemet Teachers Association agreed to the next step — mediation — which will occur in May. The differences in the salary proposals have not been…
On Wednesday, April 5, the Hemet Valley Medical Center dedicated its new cardiac catheterization lab. The cath lab is a room to examine how well your heart is functioning. With the new equipment, the hospital’s doctors will be able to perform angioplasty, balloon septostomy electrophysiology studies and several other heart procedures. “By the end of…
Last week, the Riverside County Department of Public Health released its first-ever report on the transgender community in the county. The report is a follow-up from the 2014 report from the Riverside University Health System on the health and wellness of the county’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. This report highlighted the deficit of…
On Wednesday, March 29, Gov. Jerry Brown, along with Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, jointly announced a legislative proposal to repair and maintain California’s extensive road system. Vehicle user-related taxes would generate about $52 million annually, earmarked for fixing roads, highways and bridges throughout the state. Brown has…
On March 29, the Hemet Unified School District announced that the district and the Hemet Teachers Association had reached an impasse in their negotiations of staff salaries. The next step, which the district said may occur in early May, is mediation. The difference between the HTA request and the HUSD proposal has not been released….
This winter’s heavy rains have left many asphalt roads and driveways crumbling or covered with potholes. That’s made the state fertile ground for a long-standing construction scam: families of unlicensed paving and seal coating contractors sweeping in from out-of-state and taking advantage of unsuspecting homeowners. Friday, March 3, investigators from the Contractors State License Board’s…
Executive wants agency to absorb new costs Another local fire department is encountering a lack of sufficient revenue to fund its full costs and now faces the undesirable option of trimming its workforce. “This calls for a discussion by the board of fire resources and how we provide fire service. These costs simply need to…
The budget problems hanging over Riverside County are not disconcerting the board. County Executive Officer Jay Orr told the supervisors in his presentation last week, “This is not the time to panic.”
Last Week, Rep. Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-36) introduced legislation to ensure public servants do not use their position to make a profit off the people they serve. The Ruiz Ethics Package includes three separate bills — the Campaign Spending Integrity Act, the Public Service Spending Integrity Act and the Public Service Transparency Act. “People…
