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FONTANA, CA- The City of Rialto will be hosting its 15th Annual Family Festival on Saturday, September 21 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The festival will be taking place at Rialto City Hall, 150 S. Palm Avenue. The 20th Annual Pollution Prevention Fair and its 6th Annual Fitness Day will also be held in conjunction with the Family Festival. The festival was developed by the Human Relations Commission of the City of Rialto to celebrate the diversity of the community. Throughout the day there will be free games and entertainment, which include a community garden, recycled art contest, energy saving ideas, children’s crafts, exotic animals and insects, 3-on-3 youth basketball, let’s move/champions for change, fitness activities, rock climbing, Tot Fun Spot, information/vendor booths, Home Depot Kids Workshop and Staples school supplies. For more information, please contact the Rialto City Clerk’s office at 909-820-2519.

FONTANA, CA- Ephesians New Testament Church invites you to come and join them in the celebration of their 28th church anniversary on Saturday, September 21 and Sunday, September 22. On Saturday, September 21 from 9 a.m. the church will be hosting its 19th Annual Awards Breakfast where they will be honoring 47th District Assemblymember  Cheryl Brown and Fontana Police Chief Rod Jones for their significant contribution and service to the community. The awards will take place at the Hilton Garden Inn, 10543 Sierra Avenue, Fontana, CA 92337. Tickets are $25 per person.
On Sunday, September 22 at 4 p.m., Bishop Philip Powell, The Centre at Highland,  will be speaking at the church. The highlight of the day will be the dedication and grand opening of the United Christian College West Coast Campus where several elected officials and dignitaries will be present. The church is located at 16380 Merrill Avenue in Fontana. For more information contact the church office at 909-823-2310.

POMONA, CA- The local chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Epsilon Eta Omega, will be hosting their Second Annual Health and Fitness Fair in collaboration with The City of Pomona, Pomona Unified School District, Western University and The City of Hope on Saturday, September 21. The event will begin with a walk-a-thon, followed by free health screenings, which will include screenings for diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol, stroke assessment, dental, vision, body mass index and more. In addition to the screenings, there will be health discussions led by professionals on topics ranging from Asthma Prevention and Management, Hypertension, Diabetes, Oral Health, Cataracts, Nutrition and Breast and Colon Cancers.
The objectives are to increase health awareness; motivate participants to make positive health behavior changes; teach self-care practices; and increase awareness of city, state, and national health services and resources. Other daily event activities will include a health scavenger hunt, various demonstrations; live electrifying music, displays and give-a-ways. Health care providers, sponsors, supporters, and others interested in this event should email elfarrow@earthlink.net or call 909-973-4791 for more information. For more information on Epsilon Eta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated (AKA) programs and activities go to www.Epsilon-Eta-Omega.com.

HIGHLAND, CA- The Inland Empire is full of many opportunities for your business to hit the jackpot. California is currently the number one travel destination in the country. In 2011, California saw 208.6 million domestic person trips, 164.4 million of those were leisure trips. From 2011 to 2012 there was a 1.8 percent increase in total domestic and in leisure domestic trips to the state. As a community, we can work and take advantage of the outstanding opportunity that Southern California’s Inland Empire has to capitalize on the travel industry.  Inland Empire Tourism Council will be presenting a DiscoverIE Tourism Summit on Wednesday, September 18 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. There will also be a post event from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. During the summit there will be a variety of speakers who will be discussing the status of the new Southern California Welcome Center; the Inland Empire’s five key regions and potential growth opportunities in those regions; latest details on Visit California programs and co-opportunities; tips and insiders on how to create a Tourism Marketing District in your region; and an organizational year in review. The cost to attend the summit is $20, which includes food. The summit will be held at The Event Center at San Manuel Village, 27923 Highland Avenue, Highland, CA 92346. For more information or to register visit http://discoverie.com/blog/discoverie-tourism-summit.

RIVERSIDE, CA- Leadership Riverside Alumni Class of 2012, founders of Sheltering heARTS, announced that theu will be hosting their 2nd Annual Sheltering heARTS fundraising gala benefiting Riverside County’s Path of Life Homeless and Transitional shelters. The gala will be taking place on Saturday, September 14 at The Riverside Art Museum, 3425 Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside. Registration begins at 5:30 p.m. and is $120 per person. The price includes food and beverages for the evening. The purpose of the gala is raise much-needed funds to assist Path in Life in delivering critical programs that rescue, restore an rebuild the lives of homeless individuals and families in Riverside County. Last year the gala raised over $71, 000. This year’s keynote speaker is Laura Schroff, recent New York Times best-selling author of An Invisble Thread: The True Story of an 11-year-old Panhandler. For more information, visit www.shelteringhearts.org.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA- The  San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, in partnership with Leland F. Norton Elementary School and the San Bernardino City Unified School District, Horace Mann Insurance and Kiwanis of Inland Center, will launch its inaugural STEM Reading Buddies program on Friday, September 6 at 8:45 a.m. The Reading Buddies volunteer  program calls on business, civic, community and education leaders to provide literacy support by committing  to reading to students once a month throughout the school year. The public-private partnership supported by local business, civic and service groups, community and faith-based organizations  has been created and expanded countywide to include East Valley, West End and High Desert school districts. The Norton Elementary program will kick off with an assembly, refreshments and reading at 8:45 a.m. Future Reading Buddies dates for the school are: October 11, November 15, January 24, February 21, April 4 and May 19, which culminates with a finale celebration. Leland F. Norton Elementary School is located at 741 N. Mountain View in San Bernardino. Business or community members who would like to join the voluntary reading program should contact Suzanne Wagers at (909) 388-6534 or Linda Miranda with the County Schools office at (909) 476-6165.

SAN BERNARDNO, CA— As of approximately 1:30 p.m. last Friday August 23, 2013 all recall petitions turned into the San Bernardino City Clerk’s office by Scott Beard of the pro-recall group San Bernardino Residents for Responsible Government (www.sanbernardinorecall.org), were in possession of staff from the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters (ROV) office.  This was after the court hearing held on Thursday in which the city clerk was directed to accept the petitions for a count.  ROV staff assisted city clerk Gigi Hanna’ staff in performing a rough county, and now the Registrar of Voters is charged with fine counting the petitions and checking addresses and signatures on the petitions for validation.

The recall petitions turned in Friday were against San Bernardino City Attorney James Penman, Ward 7 Councilmember Wendy McCammack and Ward 5 Councilmember Chas Kelly (Ward 5). The recall petition against Ward 3 Councilperson John Valdivia (Ward 3) was already turned in to the city clerk previously and forwarded to the Registrar of Voters.  On Monday afternoon of August 26, Michael J. Scarpello, the Registrar of Voters, had not yet released the results of the counts on the newly received petitions.

Though the recall group originally announced a recall drive against just about every city elected official, no petitions were turned in for Mayor Patrick Morris, who announced he will not be seeking a third term.  Also no petitions were turned in against three Council Members who are up for re-election in November anyway: Ward 1 Councilperson Virginia Marquez, Ward 2 Robert Jenkins, and Ward 4 Fred Shorret.   Attempts to circulate petitions to recall Sixth Ward Councilperson Rikke Van Johnson (whose council seat is not up for election this November) were unsuccessful as residents in his Ward were primarily supportive of Johnson.

Johnson along with McCammack and Kelly have announced their candidacy for Mayor the upcoming November election, along with a packed field of eight other candidates.

The number of registered voters in the city and in each of the city’s wards as recorded by the California Secretary of State as of February11, 2013, are the base numbers used to determine if the threshold has been met in the number of valid voter signatures gathered in the recall petitions.

Recalls against city-wide office holders require a 15% threshold.  Of the 77,254 registered voters in the city, 11,588 valid voter signatures are needed in the recall petitions launched against City Attorney Penman.  Attorney Tim Prince announced this Monday that he will run against Penman on the recall ballot, and is the first candidate to declare on any of the potential recall elections.

The threshold is higher – 25% – for council seat recalls. There are 14,707 registered voters in Ward 5, so 3,677 valid voter signatures are needed on the petitions against Councilperson Kelly.   There are 12, 802 registered voters in Ward 7, so 3,021 valid voter signatures are needed on the petitions against McCammack (being counted at ROV now).  Voters are waiting for the ROV’s final counts to see if the petitions were ultimately successful against Penman, McCammack, and Kelly.

Voters are already aware that Councilmember Valdivia will face a recall. There are 9,419 registered voters in Ward 3, so 2,355 signatures were needed on the petitions against Valdivia. 2,702 signatures were collected, validated, and sent to the ROV by the City Clerk.  There is some controversy over Valdivia’s response to the recall charges not being included on the actual recall petition that was circulated against him.

The rules for responses to petitions is that once a Notice to Petition (for recall or anything else to be placed on a ballot) with the City Clerk, the target (or opponents) of the recall have 7 days to no

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA- Volunteers from Organizing for Action and five Coalition Partners, which include Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Brady Campaign, MoveOn, SEIU, and Parents of Murdered Children gathered in Rancho Cucamonga for a gun violence prevention rally. According to Curt Lewis, volunteer organizer, over 200 gun similar events were held around the Nation to remind Congress that the overwhelming majority of Americans support the legislation to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.

“This was the first gathering of our coalition,” Lewis said. “We all want Rep. Gary Miller to step up and be a part of the solution by co-sponsoring H.R. 1565, the Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act, and we thought this would be a way for the Congressman to hear our collective voice.

 

RIALTO, CA- On August 24 and 25, Relay for Life Rialto will be held at Eisenhower High School, 1321 N. Lilac Avenue,  Rialto, CA 92376. The agenda will include registration at 7 a.m., survivor ceremony at 9 a.m. and a Luminaria Ceremony at 8 p.m. For more information, please contact Event Chair, Delynda Kobbe at 909-816-3364 or at relaykobbe@sbcglobal.net. If you would like to form a team contact Development Chair, Kathleen Holm at 909-644-1902 or kiholm@dslextreme.com.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA- HOPE NOW, the voluntary, private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers and non-profit counselors, is bringing several of the latest mortgage insurers and non-profit counselors to San Bernardino on Saturday, August 24. The event will take place at Santos Manuel Student Union-California State University San Bernardino, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA. This special event is being held in order to work one on one with all Service Members, civilian base employees and veterans seeking mortgage assistance or financial guidance. Face to face assistance will be available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is free of charge.