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livinginlandmarketing · 3 years

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These columns have been appearing in The Press-Enterprise since July 2020, but with the pandemic, opportunities to meet Riverside County readers, or anyone else for that matter, have been scarce. That’s why an event last Sunday, Oct. 3, was meaningful for me.

A Local History Book Fair was put on by the Riverside Historical Society, and yours truly was among the baker’s dozen of writers in attendance hawking their published works. In my case that’s three books of my past columns.

It was my first author event since early 2020, and with low pressure, since I wasn’t the focus and didn’t have to give a talk. Like everyone else, I set up at a table in Crown of Life Lutheran Church’s social hall and wished for the best. For the occasion, I wore my T-shirt with the motto “Save a Journalist, Buy a Newspaper.”

This local history-themed book fair went over well enough that the Historical Society is already mulling a repeat next year. We authors all sold books, met people and made connections.

Three familiar faces from your newspaper: columnists Kim Jarrell Johnson, Steve Lech and David Allen, photographed at the Local History Book Fair, which Lech organized on behalf of the Riverside Historical Society. (Courtesy of Nancy Cox)

For me, after all these months of throwing my columns into the void, it was affirming to meet people face to face and hear your comments. True, what with masks, it was a little hard to understand some of those comments. But what I could make out was generally positive.

For instance, while I was still setting up, a woman came over to say: “I’m so glad you’re writing for the Press. It’s so fun, so positive. I hope you stay for a long time.”

“I hope so too,” I replied, a little awed.

Dan Bernstein, the retired P-E columnist who was also at the book fair, said hello. I extended a lunch invitation and he agreed to meet after virus numbers come down to an acceptable level. “So, 2023?” I asked. He wondered if 2038 might be more realistic. We newspapermen are mordant types.

Some of you have become faithful readers, bless your hearts. Someone said he was glad to see me beyond the tiny head shot in the newspaper. A man boasted that he had appeared in my column twice. A woman overheard and said lightly, “I’ve been in it three times — but who’s counting?” (I’d use both their names again but don’t want to affect the score.)

I got to meet true-blue Riversiders Lorna Jenkins and Glenn Wenzel, whose names have also appeared in my columns and will certainly do so again. Glenn has a new book about Mount Rubidoux that I’m looking forward to reading.

Kevin Bash, the mayor of Norco and a chronicler of history, ambled over for a friendly chat. He’s someone else I’ve known only virtually. I was pleased to see him smiling in front of me.

One reason I’m writing about all this, besides to thank everyone who took time out on a Sunday afternoon to attend, is that I can segue into a matter I’ve meant to get to in this space since July.

That’s to take a breath, reflect on my first anniversary in The P-E and explain the newspaper situation again to old and new readers alike.

I’ve been writing for the Ontario-based Inland Valley Daily Bulletin since 1997, covering an area basically between the 57 and 15 freeways, which encompasses a few Los Angeles County cities and the west end of San Bernardino County.

The past two years, that status quo has changed dramatically. As our Southern California News Group papers began sharing more staff and content, my columns started appearing in The Sun in July 2019, giving me all of San Bernardino County. Then they expanded to The P-E in July 2020, handing me all of Riverside County as well.

Thankfully, July 2021 passed with no further changes. I mean, I’m still in the awkward stage of figuring out where Menifee is.

To reiterate, each of these columns appears in three papers, The P-E, Sun and Daily Bulletin, three times per week. Sometimes one will also appear in the Redlands Daily Facts or in some of our L.A. County papers if it’s deemed relevant.

So, these columns serve the entire Inland Empire, and occasionally beyond. From my perspective, it’s challenging and thrilling, but also a little overwhelming. It’s a good thing I don’t take life too seriously or I’d be in the corner whimpering.

At the book fair, some of you looked at the bright side of this state of affairs. You said you enjoy reading in my column about other cities.

A husband and wife told me they appreciate that I’m writing about Riverside County as a newcomer because I’m helping them see the area through fresh eyes. I liked that. Several longtime Riversiders, in a high compliment, said they’ve learned things about their city from reading me. (Although I worry that rather than presenting new information, I’m simply wrong.)

That said, not everyone is on board or willing to make the best of it.

A Riversider, in being introduced to me, said tartly, “You’re the one who writes about Pomona.”

That hung in the air a couple of seconds.

“…and Riverside!” I replied, both exasperated and defensive.

But I get it. If I lived in Riverside, I’d want an all-Riverside column too. I’d feel the same if I lived in San Bernardino or Ontario or Moreno Valley or (fill in your own city). All I can do is to try to serve everyone as best I can.

As it is, the next time I’m in Pomona someone may say disdainfully, “You’re the one who writes about Riverside.”

Let me add that with The P-E being by far the largest of the three newspapers by readership, and Riverside by far the largest city by population, my efforts have to lean in that direction. But my goal is to not leave anyone out and to try to appeal to everyone, from La Verne to Blythe.

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Anyway, I don’t know that anyone has ever had to write an Inland Empire newspaper column before. And thus, I don’t know what a successful Inland Empire newspaper column looks like. If you read me regularly, you might not know either.

But I’m trying. Join me, if you will, in this ongoing experiment.

And maybe I’ll see you around.

David Allen hangs out Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Email [email protected], phone 909-483-9339, like davidallencolumnist on Facebook and follow @davidallen909 on Twitter.

-on October 10, 2021 at 01:00AM by David Allen

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livinginlandmarketing · 3 years

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RIVERSIDE — A 37-year-old man who fatally shot an ex-friend in a Jurupa Valley canal because the victim criticized him was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A Riverside jury in July convicted Shaun Daniel Tara of Jurupa Valley of first-degree murder for the slaying last year of 32-year-old Jeremy Amerson.

Along with the murder count, jurors found Tara guilty of attempted murder and a special circumstance allegation of killing a witness to a crime.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Matthew Perantoni imposed the sentence required by law during a hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

According to the District Attorney’s Office, the defendant and Amerson had been on good terms and regularly associated until two weeks before the deadly shooting.

On July 29, 2020, Tara got into a drug-related dispute with a man at an am/pm near the intersection of Bellegrave Avenue and Van Buren Boulevard in Jurupa Valley, culminating in him shooting the other man with a .22-caliber rifle, according to a trial brief filed by the prosecution.

The victim survived, and Tara was able to elude capture.

Amerson witnessed the attack and denounced Tara for perpetrating it, mainly because it drew unwanted attention to the nearby homeless encampment in the storm channel beneath the Van Buren Boulevard bridge, where Amerson stayed with his girlfriend.

In the ensuing days, the victim and Tara had several exchanges via social media regarding the shooting, with Amerson expressing his displeasure and Tara making threats. Amerson told him that they should settle their differences with fists, but Tara would not agree.

In the predawn hours of Aug. 17, 2020, Amerson parked his motorcycle in the canal under the Van Buren bridge and began tinkering with it when Tara suddenly appeared out of the shadows armed with a handgun, according to sheriff’s investigators.

The victim’s girlfriend, who was asleep in a tunnel, awoke and heard Amerson beg for his life, telling Tara, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” to which the defendant replied, “You ruined my life,” according to the prosecution’s brief.

Tara then fired two shots into the victim’s chest, killing him on the spot, prosecutors said.

The defendant fled the scene as the woman, whose identity was not released, and other transients called 911.

None of the witnesses were initially forthcoming about what had happened, fearing for their lives. However, after several weeks of interviews, detectives finally persuaded Amerson’s girlfriend and others to provide the necessary details, leading to the identification of Tara as the shooter, according to court papers.

He was taken into custody without a struggle on Aug. 27, 2020, and charged with both the canal killing and the other attack weeks earlier.

Tara has prior convictions for assault with a gun, being under the influence of a controlled substance, being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and carrying a concealed weapon.

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Riverside man found dead in Jurupa Valley parking lot, homicide investigation launched

-on October 09, 2021 at 01:55PM by City News Service

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livinginlandmarketing · 3 years

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I coyote-hungry-for-wisdom I say:

we are only a little while here

not forever on earth…

Who will know my name?

at least my songs?

at least my flowers?

Are we here on earth for nothing?

— Ancient Nahuatl poem translated by Toni de Gerez

One’s name is connected with personal identity and signifies who we are culturally and associated with personality. Disregarding someone’s name is akin to denying their identity.

Frances J. Vasquez serves on the Inlandia Institute board of directors and coordinates Tesoros de Cuentos bilingual writing workshops in Riverside. (Courtesy of Lily Rivera)

In this column for Mother’s Day 2017, I wrote about two unnamed Mexicanas from Casa Blanca who presented a petition in 1911 to the Riverside City School District Board of Education. They requested a school be built in their neighborhood. Sadly, the women’s names were not recorded in the board minutes, nor identified in the newspaper report. Still, they made an indelible mark in the history of education equity in Riverside.

I described the women as “Adelitas de Casa Blanca” for their brave, unprecedented public stance for their children’s education.

Eventually, we learned that Ysabel Solorio Olvera led the effort to gather the signatures of Casa Blanca heads-of-households. To present the petition, they walked several miles to downtown Riverside on a hot July day.

Kimberly Olvera DuBry fondly remembers her great-grandmother: “Ysabel was a woman ahead of her time. She demanded to be treated with respect. As a Mexican immigrant woman of that era, she faced lots of barriers. At some point, it was too much to keep shouldering it, so she and her comadre took a stand. Ysabel had a lot of dignity and felt indignant about the way they were treated. Ysabel was outraged that Casa Blanca students had to walk over a mile to school while the other kids had their own neighborhood schools. ‘Didn’t we all work like the others?’ To Ysabel this was an injustice.”

Why Adelitas? During the Mexican Revolution (1910 to 1920), hundreds of women joined the troops. Some served as nurses and many fought bravely alongside men as soldaderas — armed soldiers. They were called Adelitas (representative of revolutionary women) who inspired legends, ballads, books, and movies. Like Monarch butterflies, many migrated north — some settled in California.

During a voyage to México, I purchased several books — two favorites featured soldaderas: “Emiliano Zapata: Como lo Vieron los Zapatistas,” by Fernando Robles, Laura Espejel, Francisco Pineda. And, “Mujeres en la Colección de Museo Soumaya,” Marzo 2019.

The take-away — without women, there was no revolution.

The real Adelita, Adela Velarde Perez, was born in 1900 in Chihuahua and died in Texas in 1971. Adelita joined the White Cross as a nurse against her wealthy father’s wishes. At age 15, she joined General Pancho Villa’s troops. Antonio Aguilar, archives director of México Secretary of Defense posits, “Her name has crossed the geographical and temporal borders of history and myth, with her name countless fantasies have arisen.” In addition to her gallantry, Adela was beloved for her expertise in treating the wounded.

Antonio del Río Armenta, a grateful sergeant, composed a corrido in her name:

“If Adelita wanted to be my girlfriend, / if Adelita were my wife, / I would buy her a silk dress to take her to dance at the barracks. / If Adelita went with another, / I would follow her by land and sea, …”

Adela was recognized as a veteran of the revolution in 1941, but was not awarded a pension until 1961.

María Valentina de Jesús Ramírez Avitia from Sinaloa was born in 1893 on St. Valentine’s day and died in 1996 in Brawley, California, at the age of 103. She is called the “Mulan of México” because she shared her father’s ideals and took his place in the army when he died in 1910 — dressed as a man — using the pseudonym of Juan Ramírez. She fought valiantly in over 20 battles, attaining the rank of Coronela. A corrido, “La Valentina” was attributed to her. When her female identity was discovered, Valentina was discharged.

Amelia Robles from Guerrero was born in 1889 to a landed family and died in 1984 at the age of 95. She changed the last letter of her name, cut her hair, donned men’s clothes, recruited workers from her hacienda, and joined the revolution. Amelio served General Emiliano Zapata’s troops from 1911 to 1924. Posing as a man, she attained the rank of colonel, and fought in more than 70 battles. In 1970, Amelio was officially recognized as a veteran and was presented a Revolutionary Merit Award. In 1979, she finally admitted her true gender.

Adelitas did not let sexism define them. Petra Herrera, Rosa Bobadilla, Ángela Jimenez and others served gallantly in the revolution. Countless female veterans were denied military pensions.

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Inlandia Institute to honor late UC Riverside professor Eliud Martínez’s legacy

In 1970, Hilda Reyes co-founded Las Adelitas de Aztlán, an all female Brown Berets chapter in Los Angeles. A photo of her wearing bandoleros across her chest became symbolic of militant Chicanas’ struggle for social justice. The cover of Jesús Salvador Treviño’s book, “Eyewitness: A Filmmaker’s Memoir of the Chicano Movement,” features a collage of photographs from that era. Hilda’s iconic image is prominent, but not credited. She contacted the author to request that he identify her by name. Treviño complied.

Professor Eliud Martínez wrote in “Güero-Güero: The White Mexican and Other Published and Unpublished Stories,” “As a writer… as artists, we are born to be witnesses and to remember, to snatch from the wind the spoken stories that were never set down in writing, to rescue from oblivion the stories that history has silenced.”

Tesoros de Cuentos writing workshops in Casa Blanca aim to rescue stories that exist within our hearts and in our ancestral memories — and give literary voice in remembrance. As Tesoros’ motto cautions, “Las palabras vuelan; los escritos quedan. Words fly, writings endure.”

Frances J. Vasquez facilitates Tesoros de Cuentos and serves as director emerita of Inlandia Institute. Tesoros de Cuentos begins its fall session on Friday, Oct. 8, and will meet every other Friday. Interested parties should email [email protected] for details.

-on October 09, 2021 at 04:00AM by Frances J. Vasquez

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livinginlandmarketing · 3 years

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SAN JACINTO, Calif., — Authorities say an elderly driver was killed in a two-vehicle traffic collision with entrapment in San Jacinto Thursday morning, Oct. 7. The deadly crash happened at the intersection of State Street and Community College Drive. LEADING THE RCNS HEADLINES: Teens arrested after trio of violent Hemet & Perris home invasion robberies Removing groceries from car outside his […]

-on October 08, 2021 at 09:47AM by Trevor Montgomery

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livinginlandmarketing · 3 years

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La Verne McCoy-Byers and Robert Byers Jr. of Menifee, shown at a Halloween-themed event, were married in 1971. (Courtesy of La Verne McCoy-Byers)

LaVerne McCoy-Byers and Robert Byers Jr. of Menifee, retired teachers and school administrators, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this year.

Plans for an anniversary party are pending, because of the pandemic.

They were married April 30, 1971, in Lebanon, Ill., and lived in Moreno Valley for 33 years before moving to Menifee three years ago.

Robert Byers attended school at a number of U.S. Army bases in California because his father was in the Army. He moved to Oklahoma his senior year and graduated from Lawton High School.

After high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and served 20 years.

While he was in the Air Force, he received a bachelor’s degree in health care administration from Southern Illinois University, and he later received a master’s degree in educational administration from Cal State San Bernardino.

During Robert’s years in the Air Force, he and LaVerne lived in various places including Taipei, Taiwan; Omaha, Neb.; and Scott Air Force Base in Illinois.

After retiring from the Air Force, Robert was a physical education teacher at Moreno Valley High School for seven years. He was also defensive coordinator for the Moreno Valley High School football team and coached the track team for several years. When his sons were young, he coached for the Riverside Junior Tackle Football League.

He also served 11 years as principal of Bayside Community Day School in the Moreno Valley Unified School District.

LaVerne McCoy-Byers graduated from Sumner High School in St. Louis, Mo., and received her bachelor’s degree from McKendree College (now McKendree University) in Lebanon, Ill. She later received a master’s degree from Cal State San Bernardino and her doctorate in educational leadership from the University of La Verne.

Her career in education included teaching social studies in the Lake Elsinore, Moreno Valley and Riverside unified school districts and in the Perris Union High School District. She has served as a dean of students in the Moreno Valley district and as an assistant principal in the Moreno Valley and Fontana unified school districts.

She has also taught for the University of Maryland in Taipei, Taiwan, and at Cal State San Bernardino, among others.

She is the author of “The McCoy Family: Escape From Poverty to Prosperity, Sumner High School, St. Louis, Mo., 1951-1972,” an independently published book available on Amazon.

LaVerne and Robert are both working as substitute administrators for the Moreno Valley Unified School District and are real estate agents for Better Homes and Gardens in Riverside.

They have two sons, both teachers — Bradley Byers of Menifee and Christopher Byers, and wife Carla, of Murrieta. They also have five grandchildren.

They enjoy traveling, dancing, playing cards with friends and spending time with family.

-on October 08, 2021 at 02:03AM by Staff report

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livinginlandmarketing · 3 years

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Riverside education leaders have decided to nearly double their budget for renovating the aging John W. North High School while increasing allocations for the construction of new neighborhood elementary schools in the Casa Blanca and Eastside communities.

Riverside Unified School District trustees voted 5-0 late Thursday, Oct. 7, to set aside at least $50 million for upgrades at North High. The district had previously committed $26.2 million in Measure O money for the school, where there have been complaints about dilapidated science labs, bathrooms that don’t work and other facilities described as being in desperate need of repair.

The school board also set aside $53 million for the Casa Blanca school, $62 million for an Eastside school, $10 million for a Project Team School, $10 million to cover potential cost increases for other Measure O projects underway, and $2 million to cover preliminary studies for a Highgrove school and the proposed STEM Education Center on the UC Riverside campus.

The board committed $187 million of the $190 million district officials said they have left from Measure O and complementary state funding.

Passed by Riverside-area voters in 2016, Measure O is a $392-million bond measure that provides money for upgrading and renovating aging campuses, and for building new school facilities, district officials said. It made the district eligible to receive an additional $200 million in state dollars.

Board members emphasized that $50 million will serve as a minimum base of funding for North, and that they will meet again to work out details for which buildings and facilities at the high school will be upgraded.

The exterior of the John W. North High School gymnasium is seen. The Riverside Unified School District board has committed to upgrading facilities at the aging campus. (Courtesy of Riverside Unified School District)

John W. North High School alumni and community leaders have been calling for a major renovation of the aging campus in Riverside, including the school gymnasium. (Courtesy of Riverside Unified School District)

From left are former North High School graduates Mark Mathews and Sammie Luna, along with Eastside community leaders Anthony Noriega, vice president of the League of United Latin American Citizens; and Dell Roberts, a former Riverside Unified School District administrator. The group, seen Thursday, July 29, 2021, is concerned about conditions at the campus on Riverside’s Eastside. (File photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

North High School graduates Mark Mathews, left, and Sammie Luna, seen Thursday, July 29, 2021, are concerned about conditions at the aging Riverside campus. (File photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

The gymnasium at John W. North High School is one of several buildings on the 57-year-old Riverside campus that a panel concluded are in need of renovation or replacement. (Courtesy of Riverside Unified School District)

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The allocations followed the recent call of community leaders and North High School alumni in recent months for the district to accelerate plans for renovating the school on Third Street, which was built in 1964 and operates today with 31 portable classroom buildings, according to a district report.

Community leaders also have been pushing for accelerating the timeframe for building an elementary school to serve the predominantly minority Eastside neighborhood.

In May, a district design committee identified $157.1 million in needs at the 43-acre campus, including substantial upgrades to the library, theater, gym, cafeteria and classrooms. The panel ranked the gym and lockers as the highest priority on campus. School trustee Dale Kinnear, a former North principal, noted earlier that students must walk outside the gym to reach locker rooms and restrooms.

Fixes at North High are in the planning phase, the report states, and the district’s budget for improvements there called for $26.2 million in Measure O money.

The design panel explored four options for North High improvements:

Option 1: Modernize the existing 12,000 square-foot gymnasium, reconfigure lobby and restrooms, renovate locker rooms, build new security office, paint buildings across the entire campus, upgrade landscaping. Cost: $25.2 million.

Option 2: Modernize the gym, reconfigure lobby and restrooms, renovate locker rooms, build new security office, build new 9,116 square-foot auxiliary gym. Cost: $31.9 million.

Option 3: Construct new 12,000 square-foot gymnasium with a 900-person seating capacity and two team rooms, renovate locker rooms. Cost: $36.3 million. This was the committee’s preferred option.

Option 4: Construct new two-story, eight-classroom building, paint the entire campus, upgrade irrigation and landscaping, lighting, and seating, renovate locker rooms. Cost: $26.4 million.

The board intends to decide later which strategy should be pursued, and what other fixes should be added.

“North needs a ton of attention,” Kinnear said Thursday.

The district also has planned to use $11.5 million in federal dollars to renovate the school’s heating and air conditioning system, the report said.

Rich Davis, a long-time Eastside resident and North High alumnus who worked 35 years for the district and 20 years as a North administrator, told the board he was disappointed with the Measure O report to the board.

Related links

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“As a community member and taxpayer who voted yes on Measure O, I had fully expected a thorough reporting on Measure O expenditures,” Davis said. “What we got is a report lacking in critical financial accountability, a report that is misleading, deceiving and lacks transparency.”

Anthony Noriega, vice president of the League of United Latin American Citizens chapter in Riverside, spoke out for more funding for North.

“The critical question is how much will North high School be allotted after 40 years of neglect,” he told the board.

Noriega also lobbied for moving the Eastside school up in priority.

“Will our children, after five generations of being bused, will they be able to attend a local neighborhood elementary school in the near future within their lifetime?” he asked.

-on October 07, 2021 at 04:25PM by David Downey

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livinginlandmarketing · 3 years

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U.S. Navy Seaman Marcus Davenport (Courtesy of the U.S. Navy)

U.S. Navy Seaman Marcus Davenport, a Riverside native, recently participated in the Large-Scale Exercise (LSE 2021) aboard USS Whidbey Island (LSD 41), a U.S. Navy warship that transports and launches Marines from sea to shore as part of amphibious assault operations.

LSE 2021 demonstrates the Navy’s ability to employ precise, lethal and overwhelming force globally across three naval component commands, five numbered fleets and 17 time zones, according to a news release.

Davenport graduated in 2017 from Martin Luther King High School in Riverside and joined the Navy two years ago.

“I joined the Navy for security and to see who I could be outside of my family,” Davenport said in the news release. “I knew the Navy would provide me with an amazing opportunity.”

The USS Whidbey Island, homeported in Little Creek, Va., is longer than two football fields at 610 feet. The ship is 84 feet wide and weighs more than 16,000 tons.

Have your own military accomplishments to share? Send items for possible inclusion in the column to [email protected].

-on October 07, 2021 at 06:24AM by Staff report

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livinginlandmarketing · 3 years

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In 1872, just two years after its founding, Riverside was visited by a very influential person.

The man was Charles Nordhoff, and for the previous 10 years, he had been managing editor of the New York Evening Post. Throughout 1872 and 1873, he traveled around California and Hawaii, returning to the east coast to become the New York Herald’s Washington correspondent. In 1874, he chronicled his western travels, and the opinions he had formed from them, into a book titled “California: For Health, Pleasure, and Residence.” Over the next few decades, this book underwent many revisions and would ultimately influence thousands of people to come west to settle in California.

The title page from New York journalist Charles Nordhoff’s “California for Health, Pleasure, and Residence” book, which enticed many people to California. His first visit to Riverside did not impress, but he changed his mind after a second trip. (Photo by Steve Lech, Contributing Photographer)

Nordhoff’s initial thoughts on Riverside were not too flattering: “Near San Bernardino lies the land of the Riverside Colony … it is a large, open, treeless plain, with but a few small houses scattered over it. It does not look very inviting.”

Furthermore, Nordhoff lamented that, “the company proposes no restrictions about liquor selling, nor conditions for the planting of shade trees, or the style of improvements.”

Nordhoff disagreed with the agent at Riverside, who told him 10 acres of land would be sufficient to support a family, instead warning his readers that 20 or 40 would have to be purchased.

Of course, this was in the few years prior to when the navel orange industry was discovered and found to be extremely well-suited for the area, the climate and the time.

Luckily for Riverside and its backers, Nordhoff returned about 1881 and was instantly amazed.

In his 1882 edition of the book, he states that, “at Riverside, on what seemed to me ten years ago the most hopeless tract I saw in California devoted to small farms, a number of families have attained a degree of prosperity which is amazing even to Californians, to whom Riverside has become a synonyme for comfort and well-doing.” He noted the many more substantial homes that he saw, and how the budding citrus industry was already having its effects on the still-new town.

In keeping with his previous editions, Nordhoff also spoke widely about the climate in California, especially the south. He noted in Riverside that the town “has a pleasant little inn, the Glenwood Cottage, also frequented by invalids, because the air of this whole region included between Riverside, San Bernardino, and the San Gorgonio Pass, is found especially kind to some of the many various forms of lung and throat disease.”

Although Nordhoff was not a medical practitioner, he and others were keen to tout the region’s climate as a cure-all for lung ailments. This focus on climate as a curative led many easterners to come west to be cured, and many towns opened sanitariums just for that purpose. Riverside itself would play host to only a very few of these, but other towns, especially in the San Gorgonio Pass and desert areas, would host dozens of places offering a place to stay in the Southern California climate.

In all, Nordhoff’s publication had its intended effect – namely, to bring more and more easterners to California to settle. In some small way, Riverside was helped by Charles Nordhoff.

If you have an idea for a future Back in the Day column about a local historic person, place or event, contact Steve Lech and Kim Jarrell Johnson at [email protected].

-on October 07, 2021 at 03:00AM by Steve Lech

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The Eat Index: IE is a weekly newsletter that lands in your inbox on Wednesdays. Subscribe here.

There are some very busy kitchens in the Inland Empire.

In Riverside’s Canyon Crest neighborhood, space once occupied by Jammin’ Bread, a local hangout for a quarter of a century, has been filled by Arcade Coffee Roasters.

Over in Highland, Yaamava’ Resort & Casino, formerly known as San Manuel, is preparing to open a new version of the Pines Modern Steakhouse. The staff recently began training in new, larger space.

With Oktoberfest celebrations winding down, restaurants are offering beer drinkers the chance to try Halloween-themed pumpkin brews, including BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse.

And Farmer Boys has come up with a contest to reward a lucky potato lover.

Arcade Coffee Roasters opens The Bakehouse in former Jammin’ Bread site in Riverside

A tri-tip biscuit is on the menu at The Bakehouse by Arcade Coffee Roasters in the Canyon Crest Towne Center in Riverside. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Arcade Coffee Roasters has transformed the longtime Canyon Crest Towne Centre hangout into a new brunch spot. Read more.

Original Pines Steakhouse closes at Yaamava’ Resort & Casino; a new version is on the way

A sign marks the new site of the Pines Modern Steakhouse during an August press tour of San Manuel Casino, which has recently been renamed Yaamava’ Resort & Casino. (Photo by Fielding Buck, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

The steakhouse was the fine dining option for many years at the Highland area casino formerly known as San Manuel. Read more.

Dine 909: This Farmer Boys contest gives customers a chance to sleep in a giant potato

Farmer Boys is giving away a two-night stay in the Big Idaho Potato Hotel near Boise, Idaho. (Image via Google Maps)

Plus, a Rancho Cucamonga brewery is raising funds for a fallen Marine, and BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse is hosting its latest beer dinner next week. Read more.

Recipe: This five-ingredient dish with chicken sausage and broccoli is ideal for work nights

Sheet-Pan Chicken Sausages with Broccoli and Barley is among the easy-to-make meals in included in the cookbook “Five Ingredient Dinners” by America’s Test Kitchen. (Courtesy of America’s Test Kitchen)

The easy-to-make recipe is included in the cookbook “Five Recipe Dinners” by America’s Test Kitchen. Read more.

Got company? Get ‘Everyday Entertaining’ by Elizabeth Van Lierde

An author who also created the popular food blog, ‘The College Housewife,’ Elizabeth Van Lierde’s ‘Everyday Entertaining’ is packed with tips and tricks for making cooking for company easier. Read more.

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-on October 07, 2021 at 02:26AM by Fielding Buck

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