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The Inland Empire job market recovered faster than anywhere in Southern California, with payrolls and a labor force climbing above pre-pandemic levels, according to a new economic report.

The report released Thursday by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) as part of its 13thAnnual Southern California Economic Summit, documents San Bernardino and Riverside Counties’ growth as a global supply chain hub, adding 63,700 jobs in transportation, warehousing, and wholesale trade since shortly before the pandemic. Other major employment gains have been reported in leisure and hospitality, which has fully recovered from its early pandemic losses and is up 17,600 jobs year-over-year, and the government sector, up 9,400 jobs year-over-year.

“Barring a recession, the Inland Empire labor markets will continue to perform well,” said Dr. Manfred Keil, Chief Economist for the Inland Empire Economic Partnership. “Clearly, the two-county region’s role in the supply chain is driving much of this, though sustaining growth in the long-term would benefit from prioritizing a diverse range of industries.”

Keil is part of a new Economic Roundtable convened by the SCAG – which hosted the Summit in downtown Los Angeles – to provide both a snapshot of the region now as well as a preview of economic opportunities and challenges ahead. Their research was compiled in a report that offered caution on turbulence ahead from global forces, but also promise that Southern California is better positioned than other regions to withstand it.

Among the factors that could moderate the impacts of a possible recession across the six-county SCAG region:

• Continued growth in core industries, such as information, logistics and tourism
• Measurable increases in labor productivity in 2022
• New development and construction in infrastructure and housing, both public and private
• Household debt and real estate values that are less likely to decline than elsewhere

“With improvements in the global inflation picture, combined with continuing 2022’s positive momentum, the region’s economy raises hopes that the much-anticipated global recession of 2023 will not severely impact Southern California,” said Dr. Gigi Moreno, Senior Economist at SCAG.

However, threats do remain. In the Inland Empire, housing affordability and rising interest rates are among the biggest challenges. Even as home sales have fallen for the past 15 months, higher prices and mortgage rates have reduced affordability by one-third, Keil said.

“Housing affordability becomes an even bigger issue as more and more people move to the IE, forcing prices up even higher,” Keil said, noting studies that have shown the Inland Empire among the fastest-growing population centers in the country.

Click here for the complete Southern California Economic Update.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA— Supervisor Joe Baca, Jr. successfully hosts his second annual Open House Holiday Toy Drive. This year’s open house had an incredible turnout and an overflow of toys that will be gifted to underserved children in the Fifth District, including Crestmore Elementary School in Bloomington, California. Not only were children’s toys donated, but toys for animals will donated to San Bernardino County’s Animal Care Centers as well. The event was to celebrate Supervisor Baca. Jr.’s second year in office and invite the public to see the current accomplishments and future growth in the years to come.

“Over the past two years in office, I have provided residents of my district with the revitalization of several parks, infrastructure improvements, a brand-new animal care center in Bloomington currently in the works and keeping our community safe by introducing three new deputies specifically assigned to be in Rosena Ranch. These are just a few of the many accomplishments we were able to achieve together this year and yesterday at our Open House we were able to come together and celebrate these positive changes in our Fifth District. Last night was truly so special and I appreciate all the groups and members of our County who came out to support the aspirations we have for our community. We couldn’t do it without all your love and support. Thank you all.” -Supervisor Joe Baca, Jr.

The San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra will return to the California Theatre on December 17, 2022, for “Cirque de la Noel,” a holiday concert featuring the internationally acclaimed Cirque de la Symphonie performing group.

Shared Music Director and Conductor Anthony Parnther, “We decided to bring Cirque de la Symphonie back this season due to extraordinary popular demand,” adding “We cannot be more grateful to our exceedingly generous presenting sponsors, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.”

The Symphony’s artistic leader has recently been the recipient of significant notoriety for his role as conductor of the scores of several 2022 box office smashes, including the top-grossing movie in the world, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the new Disney+ fantasy-adventure series Willow, and the Holiday Action-comedy Violent Night, and epic war drama Devotion, all of which opened this past weekend.

Cirque de la Symphonie will add an additional level of festive artistry through awe
inspiring performances by their renowned aerialists, jugglers, hula hoop and cyr wheel
experts and quick-change artists all choreographed to a variety of music mindfully spanning the holiday orchestral repertoire. Established by ballet and circus veteran Alexander Streltsov in 1998 for a special PBS production with the Cincinnati Pops, Cirque, troupe members originate from across the globe.

“We are so pleased to once again collaborate with Cirque as they brought such joy to everyone in attendance when they last performed with us in February of 2020,” said Symphony Executive Director Dr. Anne Viricel, adding, “I am certain this festive concert will inspire many happy family memories.”

The evening’s offerings will include traditional American holiday fare like Leroy
Anderson’s “A Christmas Festival” (1950) and “Sleigh Ride” (1948), and Leon Jessell’s
“Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” (1933), to new arrangements of old favorites like
Carmen Dragon’s 2012 reimagining of “Deck the Halls,” to contemporary compositions
like Jeff Tyzik’s 1994 Chanukah Suite.

Beloved cinematic scores will also find their way into this celebratory evening, including
John Williams’ “Flight to Neverland” from Hook, Alan Silvestri’s “The Suite from Polar
Express,” and Howard Blake’s “Walking in the Air” from the 1982 animated film, The
Snowman based on Raymond Briggs’ 1978 children’s book of the same name.
Classical masterpieces including “Waltz of the Flowers” and “Trepak” (Russian Dance)
from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker will be performed, along with “Dance of the
Buffoons” from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Snow Maiden and Georges Bizet’s
L”Arlesienne Suite No.2 from Alphonse Daudet’s drama of the same name.

“Along with our Summer Patriotic and our Movies with the Maestro Series, SBSO fans can expect an Annual Christmas Festival each year replete with all your holiday favorites and a few classical staples alongside them,” added Parnther. In keeping with the festive theme, audience members are encouraged to attend dressed in their favorite holiday attire.

“Everyone loves this magical season,” said Symphony Board President and former City
of San Bernardino Mayor Judith Valles. “On December 17th, no matter what this past
year has brought us, we can forget our troubles for a while and gather together as a
community in the spirit of the holidays.”

Ticket Availability

Single tickets for all SBSO concerts are available online at
www.sanbernardinosymphony.org or by calling the box office at (909) 381-5388. Box
Office hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday. Tickets are $30 – $100 with
students and active military always just $15. The availability of tickets cannot be
guaranteed on concert night.

The California Theatre is located at 562 W. Fourth Street in downtown San Bernardino.
Free, lighted parking is available directly across from the venue.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- Grand Marshals for the 2023 San Bernardino MLK Parade and Extravaganza are James Ramos, California State Assemblymember; Joe Baca, Jr., San Bernardino County Supervisor, Fifth District; Helen Tran, San Bernardino City Mayor-Elect; and our new African American Chief of Police for the City of San Bernardino Darren L Goodman.

The parade celebrates the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“We are honored to have these illustrious leaders of our community be the Grand Marshalls for the MLK DAY Parade and Extravaganza,” said Rich Wallace, president of the Southern California Black Chamber of Commerce.

The MLK Day Parade & Extravaganza will be held January 16th on San Bernardino’s Westside along Baseline Street, from Mt Vernon Ave. to California St.

“Come rejoice with vendors, music, community booths, a First 5 children’s zone, fun, and entertainment at the parade and at the Extravaganza at Ann Shirelles Park, between California Street and North Pennsylvania Ave., between West Baseline Street and West 15th Street,” said Lue Dowdy, Parade Chair.

Dowdy added, “We are still accepting applications for entertainers, vendors, food vendors, classic and custom cars, and motorcycles.”

The event starts at 11 a.m. at the Graciano Gomez Elementary School at Mt. Vernon and Baseline, with the Parade starting at 1 p.m. and continuing west on Baseline, ending at Anne Shirelles Park on California Street.

Participating organizations for The San Bernardino MLK Day Parade include The Southern California Black Chamber of Commerce, Lue Productions Community Umbrella Services, Dameron Communications, YouthBuild Inland Empire, Chords Youth Enrichment Program, San Bernardino Valley College, San Bernardino Airport, Off the Chain Alliance, Westside Story newspaper, Empire Talks Back and the Black Health Coalition.

For more information or to sign up to be in the MLK Day Parade go to BlackChamberofCommerce.org and follow the link for information and registration or call (888) 466-7408.

By Edward Henderson and Antonio? ?Ray? ?Harvey? ?|? ?California? ?Black? ?Media?

Starting Jan. 1, 2023, California joins Georgia, Colorado, Michigan, and Arizona as states that have approved digital license plates for use statewide, after completing a four-year pilot program that evaluated a replacement for metal plates.

Reviver, a tech company founded by Black entrepreneur Neville Boston, is the creator of the world’s first digital license plate. About 10,000 California drivers bought digital plates during the pilot program.

Based Granite Bay, 24 miles east of Sacramento, Reviver expects the number of digital plate users to increase exponentially as all 40 million vehicles registered with the state are now eligible to adopt the new high-tech tags.

Thanks to Assembly Bill (AB) 984 signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September, trips to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) – which many Californians would like to avoid because of the long lines and waits they expect — might become a thing of the past.

Assemblymember Lori Wilson (D-Suisun City), Chair of the California Black Legislative Caucus for the 2023-24 legislative session, sponsored the legislation.

“I am honored and humbled to see AB 984 signed into law,” said Wilson. “AB 984 strikes a necessary balance between innovation and privacy while digitizing the only thing on our cars today that remain antiquated, license plates.”

The new digital plates will appear as wireless tablets about the same size as traditional plates on the front and back of vehicles. The digital plate will include a processing unit, wireless connectivity, and storage media all built into an electronic display.

Drivers will be able to update their titles, registrations and other vehicle records remotely. Other advantages of the technology include a flashing message if a vehicle is reported stolen or if there is an Amber Alert. The wired or battery powered plates can be purchased with monthly rates starting at $19.95 and yearly rates at $215.40 for a four-year agreement.

Boston, who majored in political science and business, applied his academic training to create a compelling vision that attracted high-level investors, software and hardware engineers, and financial consultants to the concept.

It was just one meeting that discussed how to get people to have a “better customer experience” at the DMV. That discussion led to a meeting with then-Senior Vice President Avery Brown of the Automobile Club of Southern California and about a dozen officials from the California Highway Patrol.

To avoid asking “for forgiveness later” in case the idea ran into obstacles years later, Boston said he first asked all parties what their thoughts and ideas were to avoid implementing a prototype without their input.

“Our first meeting was in 2008,” Boston said. “We met with Dennis Claire at (California) DMV about a crazy idea of a digital license plate. What I thought would be a five-minute meeting ended up being an hour-and-a-half meeting. What I got from those meetings was the impetus for us to move forward.”

Boston raised seed money domestically and internationally to fund the venture. He enlisted the support of technology industry veterans Nicholas Brathwaite and Michael Marx, co-founders of Celesta Capital. Celesta assists partners with “deep tech” –the technological engine the venture capitalist states “powers” the modern world.

John W. Thompson, a board member of Microsoft since 2012, is also an investor in Reviver. He is an active investor and advisor in early-stage technology companies in California’s Silicon Valley.

Allen Wayne Warren, president of New Faze Development, is anotherReviver investor, Boston told California Black Media.

Reviver included the California Black Chamber of Commerce, California New Car Dealers Association, Silicon Valley Leadership Group, and the California Police Chiefs Association as supporters.

The pilot program was first approved by the DMV under provisions provided in Senate Bill (SB) 806. The program tested the operational capability and functionality of three products to determine the cost-effectiveness and feasibility of statewide implementation.

The pilot program gave Reviver access to 160,000 vehicles to evaluate in the trial program.

“We were able to sell the digital plate in the pilot program,” Boston said. “It didn’t give us access to the entire state, but it gave us access to over 100,000 people. See that’s the big thing: sometimes people are afraid to work with governments. But we took it as, ‘Hey, we’re going to partner with you (and) how can we make the experience for the customer better.’ That was always our focus, making a truly private-public partnership.”

There has been concern that the new technology could be a target for hacking and remote tracking of vehicles by employers, creditors, and the state. To quell some of these concerns, AB 984 contains language that prohibits digital license plates from being equipped with GPS or other vehicle tracking capabilities. The only exception would be for fleet and commercial vehicles. Those employees will have the ability to disable the technology during non-working hours.

Aside from a few traffic stops by police who believed the digital license plates were illegal during the pilot program, no other significant concerns were reported by drivers, according to a 2019 review by the DMV.

The bill requires the DMV to recall all devices that were equipped with GPS or other tracking technology as part of the pilot program by no later than Jan. 1, 2024.

Other states are following suit with similar legislation. Texas recently approved digital license plates for commercial fleets of twenty-five or more vehicles.

“California now has 40 million vehicles, one-seventh of the driving population comes from California. This market is huge,” Boston said. “This is the fourth largest economy in the world, passing Germany. When you look at it from that perspective getting it down in California is a huge deal. All this was about taking something old and making it new.”

By Jim King

The new year brings with it great things.  The Black Culture Foundation is excited to announce the “30th annual Black Rose, Humanitarian of the Year and Community Service Awards” which will be held Saturday, February 4, 2023, and the SoCalGas is continuing to sponsor this incredible community event, with Kristine Scott from SoCalGas serving as Co-Chair.

In remembrance of Dr. Margaret Hill, the Black Culture Foundation has renamed the “Margaret Hill Community Support Award” to the “Dr. Margaret Hill Black Rose Youth Inspiration Award”. This award will present scholarships to two inspirational and outstanding San Bernardino Black American students graduating grade 12 or in their 1st or 2nd year of college. This award will be presented with the Dr. Juanita H. Scott Humanitarian of the Year, Black Rose, and Corporate/Founders awards.  Winners will be announced soon.

World-renowned Charles Bibbs will have an amazing Art Show and Exhibit.  Buy your next art piece at this event and support our scholarships.

Please join us as “We Still Rise”. Ring in the new year with the optimism of a bright and hopeful future with the gifts given to us by our ancestors.

By Manny Otiko

Former San Bernardino police officer Sherri Adams was recently honored for being the first African American woman on the force. She was honored by the San Bernardino Police Historical Society, which presented her with a plaque. The plaque now hangs in the police department headquarters below a plaque honoring Johnnie Epps, the city’s first Black officer.

Adams, a graduate of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Academy, joined the police department in 1985. She was highly recruited because of her youthful appearance, which enabled her to work undercover in narcotics in San Bernardino schools, much like in the movie “21 Jump Street.”

“Being the first African American woman at the department was a significant accomplishment,” said Assistant Police Chief Francisco Hernandez during the ceremony that honored Adams.

Adams admitted that being the first African American woman on the force was a tough job. And she had to work hard to prove herself. She recalls she fought hard to be as tough as the men on the force and once fainted when she was on bike duty.

During her years on the force, Adams received several citations, was nominated for Office of Year, and worked in various departments of the police force.

She retired in 2001 and now works with at-risk youth for the county. She’s a mother of three and is married to a retired police officer.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA— Every year Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County (CAPSBC) strives to brighten the holiday season for thousands of low-income families throughout San Bernardino County, and this year was no exception. CAPSBC purchased over 4,100 turkeys, 2,000 holiday food boxes, and 15,000 hams to distribute to families in need of food with the total value exceeding $453,000.

To meet the demand for food assistance from families struggling to put food on their tables, CAPSBC hosted two large scale Annual Turkey Giveaway events in San Bernardino and Joshua Tree. The San Bernardino event was held on November 19th in the CAPSBC parking lot where approximately 1,000 low-income families received turkeys and holiday food boxes. The Joshua Tree event was held on November 21st at the Joshua Tree Community Center where 500 families received turkeys and holiday food boxes. Additionally, CAPSBC provided turkeys and holiday food boxes to the following organizations to support their community distribution events: (view site locations online).

“In the richest country in the world, we believe that no one should go without a meal. As a result, CAPSBC has partnered with over 250 organizations throughout San Bernardino County to distribute food. This holiday season, CAPSBC’s Food Bank Program will distribute over $500,000 worth of food,” stated Patricia Nickols-Butler, CAPSBC President and CEO. “Last year, our agency’s Food Bank Program distributed over 16 million pounds of food. The work that we do in this community could not be done without the partnerships that we hold dear to our heart. We are proud to serve our communities and the positive impact we have each year in our fight against hunger. We are grateful that so many families will enjoy a special meal with their loved ones and wish everyone a blessed Thanksgiving holiday!”

CAPSBC has been serving the communities for over 57 years, and it is the largest provider of food throughout San Bernardino County.

Join San Bernardino Public Libraries for songs, stories and pictures with Mr. and Mrs. Claus. There are four chances to see Santa this year – one at each city library location:

• Monday, December 5 at 4 p.m. – Villasen?or Branch Library – 525 N. Mt. Vernon Ave.
• Monday, December 5 at 5 p.m. – Feldheym Central Library – 555 W. Sixth St.
• Tuesday, December 6 at 5 p.m. – Inghram Branch Library – 1505 W. Highland Ave.
• Monday, December 12 at 5 p.m. – Rowe Branch Library – 108 E. Marshall Blvd.

For more information call (909) 381-8201.

SAN BERNARDINO — Rafael Trujillo was elected the chair of the San Bernardino County Committee on School District Organization during its annual meeting on Nov. 16. Trujillo is from Rialto and represents the Fifth Supervisorial District.

Resa Barillas of Adelanto, who represents the First Supervisorial District, was elected as vice chairman.

Prior to the meeting, incumbent members Trujillo and Patty Holohan joined newly appointed member Robert Bennett in taking the oath of office for four-year terms. Holohan, of Redlands, represents the Third Supervisorial District; Bennett, of Upland, represents the Second District.

The 11-member County Committee deals with proposed changes to school district organization issues, including number of trustees, trustee and school district boundary areas, and unification.

The committee has two representatives for each of the five supervisorial districts in the county, plus one member-at-large.

County Committee members cannot be employed by a school district in any county, community college district or county superintendent office. Monthly meetings of the committee are typically held on the third Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. Meetings are conducted in accordance with the Brown Act or open meeting law. While a state declared emergency exists for health and safety concerns, the County Committee conducts its meetings virtually as allowed by law.