Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has designated September as National Preparedness Month to promote the importance of family and community disaster planning. As our community recovers from the El Dorado fire, there is no better time to become prepared for all types of disasters. James Joseph, spokesperson for FEMA, said having a disaster preparedness plan in place is a top priority. “Don’t be overwhelmed by the thought of building a preparedness plan,” he said. FEMA provides easy to use disaster planning guides that families can follow. Here are some tips to ..read more

San Bernardino County Interim Health Officer, Dr. Gustafson is advising county residents who live near the areas surrounding the El Dorado Fire to stay alert to changing smoke levels and be prepared to act accordingly. Smoky conditions can be hazardous for young children, the elderly, individuals with heart conditions or chronic lung disease such as asthma and bronchitis, and individuals with other respiratory ailments. Older adults and children should remain indoors, keep windows and doors closed or seek alternate shelter. Individuals with asthma, bronchitis, emphysema and other lung or heart ..read more

Professor of American Sign Language (ASL) Breanna Andrews is putting Crafton Hills College on the map by offering resources to assist other instructors across the country. Andrews, who also serves as Department Chair of Communication and Language, has been developing online ASL coursework to supplement her in-person classes for years, but when the College made the shift to the CANVAS learning management system, she redesigned her course content replete with modules, videos, and activities — making her work available to others in her field. Now, ASL instructors across the country are working wi ..read more

The City of Yucaipa is seeking young adults, ages 14 to 25 years, to recommend strategies and collaborate directly with Council Members and the City as a part of the Youth Advisory Committee (YAC). The YAC is comprised of 13 youth members and two city councilmembers (who serve as non-voting liaisons.) Meetings are held from 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at City Hall.  Committee members serve two year terms. The Youth Advisory Committee’s primary responsibilities include: Promoting community involvement by completing a minimum of ten (10) hours of comm ..read more

Last month, San Bernardino District Attorney’s office officially launched the Digital Victim Advocate Program, possibly even making the program the first of its kind. With more and more people in the community becoming accustomed to using their computers, tablets and mobile phones for everything in their day-to-day lives, the Digital Victim Advocate Program is setting the example for how to be more accessible to the community, especially victims and witnesses. District Attorney Jason Anderson recognized that victims still needed to have contact with their victim advocates and that a victim adv ..read more

This year marks 18 years of celebrating The Spirit of the Entrepreneur. The Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship (IECE) has announced the nomination period for the 2020 Spirit of the Entrepreneur Awards will close on September 25, 2020. The Spirit of the Entrepreneur exalts the entrepreneurial champions of the Inland Southern California region and will take place the evening of November 21, 2020. Due to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Spirit of the Entrepreneur will be presented in a unique, televised format this year. The 2020 awards show will focus on those compan ..read more

Recognizing that many Californians will need access to in-person voting options in spite of the public health emergency, the State of California enacted a series of executive orders (N-64-20 and N-67-20) and bills (Assembly Bill 860 and Senate Bill 423) aimed to ensure the 2020 Presidential General Election is accessible, secure and safe for voters and election workers alike. The San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters  over the past several months worked to secure polling places for the election this November. Due to COVID-19, many of the polling places used in past elections were not ..read more

With the pandemic stretching into it’s seventh month, more people are getting out and walking, cycling, or jogging this year. The San Bernardino County District Attorney is reminding people, women especially, to take care when going for a jog or walk. Here are some things you can do to remain safe while exercising outside: Change Up Your Routine: If you constantly exercise at 8:30 in the morning on the same trail, this can help an attacker plan a more successful attack. Wear Bright Clothing: Not only does this help you for traffic reasons, but on the trail this enables other people to see you ..read more

Come and be transported back in time to the 1940’s with some Big Band music at Riley’s Farm September 5. Wear your best 1940’s clothing and dance the night away with music by The Harmony Sisters. Also included in the evening is a country feast complete with desert! The menu slated for the evening includes features a spring mix salad with dressing, corn bread, lemon chicken, mac and cheese, seasonal veggies and a fresh baked cookie with ice cream. The Packing Shed doors open at 6 p.m. with dinner at 7 p.m. followed by the Harmony Sisters and their Little Big Band for Big Band dancing the night ..read more

New fire prevention legislation is working its way through the state Senate after being approved by the Assembly earlier this year. With the fire season only getting worse in California could this be too little, too late? AB 3074 (Friedman) enhances existing defensible space protections for homes in very high fire hazard areas. A companion bill also authored by Assemblymember Friedman, AB 3164, would require CAL FIRE to develop a wildland-urban interface wildfire risk model to determine the risk for a community or parcel within certain areas of the state. Existing law requires a person who own ..read more