RIVERSIDE, CA— Tamara Marquez didn’t know much about the U.S. census before last year, when she applied for a job as a canvasser with the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, a nonprofit organization based in Jurupa Valley.

Marquez, a senior at the University of California, Riverside, is forthcoming about why she wanted the job. Originally from Mexico City, she immigrated to the U.S. as a child and remains undocumented, which limits her employment opportunities.

She also admits she didn’t know much about canvassing, going door to door to talk to people about why, exactly, they should care enough about the census to fill it out. 

Between November and March, Marquez spent as many as six days per week canvassing in Riverside, later alternating door-to-door sessions with phone banking. At first, she said, talking to strangers was intimidating — especially when they didn’t want to hear what she had to say. 

“But you learn pretty quickly to change your script depending on who you’re talking to,” Marquez said. “If you’re talking to a Spanish-speaking household, a family with kids, you might tell them about how the census can affect schools. You’re trying to convince people, so you start by feeling out the environment to figure out which strategies to implement.”

Accurate census representation is critical for UCR students like Marquez because it informs funding for things like Pell Grants, the Federal Work-Study Program, and research activities, said Marlenee Blas.  

Blas is the associate director of UCR’s Center for Social Innovation, and since October has served as director of UCR Counts, the university’s official Complete Count Committee. 

UCR Counts is situated within a regional network that also incorporates two county governments and about 80 nonprofits, Blas said — all of which have united in an unprecedented effort to ensure the Inland Empire is accurately counted.

The two-county region’s more than 4.6 million people are at dangerous risk of being undercounted, a trend reflected in the 2010 census. That year, nearly one in four Inland Empire households didn’t mail back their census questionnaire; another 40,000 people didn’t receive one at all. 

A substantial portion of the region’s residents are part of “hard-to-count” communities, which include undocumented immigrants, non-English speakers and households, and racial and ethnic minorities, among other groups.

Marquez said undocumented communities, in particular, are still likely to view participating in the census as a risk, namely because they fear public data about their communities being weaponized by law-enforcement agencies such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

“Taking the census is a risk for undocumented people, but many just have to be informed about the benefits,” she said. “In my experience, the Hispanic households we’ve spoken with are the ones who are most ready to learn and be active. Immigrants already do so much for our communities, and the lack of a citizenship question allows immigrants not only to participate but to continue to help by making sure we all get the resources we need.” 

Blas said Inland Empire census activities have had a collateral benefit of bringing together people from different nonprofits and other organizations, allowing many to begin interacting with each other for the first time. 

The nonprofit Inland Empire Community Foundation is largely leading the efforts. The foundation was designated an administrative community-based organization, or ACBO, by the state, and thus given funding to drive outreach in hard-to-count communities within the region. 

In 2019, the foundation launched Census IE, a coalition of nonprofit and community-based organizations within Riverside and San Bernardino counties, and began to distribute funding to those organizations. It’s divided the Inland Empire into seven subregions, with a regional coordinator assigned to each. 

The Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, which Marquez works with as a canvasser, is the regional coordinator for the Riverside metropolitan area, where more than a quarter of the total population — nearly 696,000 people — lives in hard-to-count tracts. 

The patchwork of initiatives has made major gains in the region since ramping up efforts last year. As of March, Census IE canvassers had knocked on more than 130,000 doors in the region. According to Blas, the efforts have paved the way for a new generation of civic leadership in the Inland Empire.

“At the regional level, most of these efforts are being led by young women, many of them Latina,” she said. “They’re truly at the forefront, and because many of them were born and grew up here, the census is a personal project. And because so much is at stake, they’re able to call other people out and hold them accountable. They’re asking questions that matter: ‘Why is money being allocated here and not here?'”

To learn more about census organizing in the Inland Empire — and the young women who are largely leading the charge — click here: https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2020/04/20/movement-census-awareness-swells-inland-empire 

SACRAMENTO, CA—- Governor Gavin Newsom today unveiled six key indicators that will guide California’s thinking for when and how to modify the stay-at-home and other orders during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Governor noted that the progress in flattening the curve, increased preparedness of our health care delivery system and the effects of other COVID-19 interventions have yielded positive results. However, these actions have also impacted the economy, poverty and overall health care in California. Any consideration of modifying the stay-at-home order must be done using a gradual, science-based and data-driven framework.

“While Californians have stepped up in a big way to flatten the curve and buy us time to prepare to fight the virus, at some point in the future we will need to modify our stay-at-home order,” said Governor Newsom. “As we contemplate reopening parts of our state, we must be guided by science and data, and we must understand that things will look different than before.” 

Until we build immunity, our actions will be aligned to achieve the following: 

• Ensure our ability to care for the sick within our hospitals; 
• Prevent infection in people who are at high risk for severe disease; 
• Build the capacity to protect the health and well-being of the public; and 
• Reduce social, emotional and economic disruptions

California’s six indicators for modifying the stay-at-home order are: 

• The ability to monitor and protect our communities through testing, contact tracing, isolating, and supporting those who are positive or exposed; 
• The ability to prevent infection in people who are at risk for more severe COVID-19; 
• The ability of the hospital and health systems to handle surges; 
• The ability to develop therapeutics to meet the demand; 
• The ability for businesses, schools, and child care facilities to support physical distancing; and 
• The ability to determine when to reinstitute certain measures, such as the stay-at-home orders, if necessary.

The Governor said there is not a precise timeline for modifying the stay-at-home order, but that these six indicators will serve as the framework for making that decision.

He also noted that things will look different as California makes modifications. For example, restaurants will have fewer tables and classrooms will be reconfigured.

For more information on California’s response, visit covid19.ca.gov.

White people, historically speaking, have been very comfortable building their economies on top of Black, Brown, and Indigenous bodies. This nation was born of genocide and slavery. It was raised on exploitation and exclusion. And in the face of death, Whiteness will feed Black, Brown, and Indigenous bodies to the beast long before it protects us as Brothers and Sisters from a common enemy.

And that is what’s happening now. White people have figured out how to protect themselves from the Coronavirus — for the most part.

There’s a saying: “You don’t have to be faster than the bear. You just have to be faster than the slowest person running from the bear.” White people think they have this race figured out.

White communities make enough money or have enough money to stay home if they need to. They can pay for their groceries. They can pay for their utilities, Internet, and phone service. They have access to information, entertainment, and each other.

Social distancing isn’t really a problem for them. They are more likely to own property and live in less crowded environments and households. They can have their groceries delivered to them — by people who aren’t White. They can work from home. They can drive (or take an Uber) instead of relying on public transportation. If they visit family members, they aren’t going into over-stuffed and under-maintained buildings. They aren’t going to jails, prisons, and homeless shelters at the same rates, either. That’s for other families.

White neighborhoods aren’t riddled with pollution and neglect. They didn’t catch asthma from the gas refinery next door. They haven’t suffered from the cancers triggered by the chemical plants in their back yards. They don’t have the hypertension and diabetes that comes with an abundance of racism and a lack of grocery stores and hospitals. White communities aren’t immune from these pre-existing conditions, but their communities aren’t characterized by them either.

They can also protect themselves more effectively from the virus if they do have contact with the public. They can and do hoard sanitizers, cleaning supplies, and masks. They have water. They have gloves and sewing machines and an endless string of Pinterest links for how-to-make your own PPE.

White folks, for the most part, don’t have to rely on public facilities at the same rates that Black and Brown and Indigenous communities do. They don’t have to make as many stops to make their ends meet. And most of the time, they can pay a person that isn’t White to take the risk for them.

According to a study reported in the New York Times

… 75 percent of front-line workers in the city — grocery clerks, bus and train operators, janitors and child care staff — are minorities. More than 60 percent of people who work as cleaners are Latino, and more than 40 percent of transit employees are Black.

And so Black, Brown, and Indigenous people are being fed to the bear.

White folks have it figured out. Or at least they think they have figured it out well enough to play the odds on sending America back to work. They think they can outrun the bear. They aren’t immune from the coronavirus, but White folks can reasonably buffer themselves from the virus by placing Black, Brown, and Indigenous bodies between themselves and COVID-19.

According to the New York Times …

The preliminary death rate for Hispanic people in [New York City] is about 22 people per 100,000; the rate for Black people is 20 per 100,000; the rate for White people is 10 per 100,000; and the rate for Asian people is 8 per 100,000 …. In New York City, Latinos represent 34 percent of the people who have died of the coronavirus but make up 29 percent of the city’s population, according to preliminary data from the city’s Health Department. Black people represent 28 percent of deaths, but make up 22 percent of the population.

According to EcoWatch …

In Chicago, where African Americans make up 32 percent of the population, they have accounted for 72 percent of virus-related deaths and more than half of all positive test results. Similarly, in Milwaukee, Blacks make up 28 percent of the population but have been 73 percent of all COVID-19 related deaths.

And this is just a sample of the findings from the very limited statistics that are being collected from communities of color. There are gaps in what we know – and Black and Brown bodies are falling through them.

The statistics we are seeing are coming from people that have been tested. They do not count people who have been denied testing, those who are turned away from hospitals and testing centers, those who don’t have access to testing, those who don’t seek testing, or those who die at home.

In other words, we aren’t seeing what is happening to Black, Brown and Indigenous people. These communities are often located in health care deserts and don’t have access to care. If they have care, it is often substandard. These communities often lack health insurance. And those that have had experience with the health care system have been tormented and traumatized by the racism within it. They often won’t seek care as a result.

Communities of Color Likely Have Their Own Coronavirus Curve To Deal With

The coronavirus infection curve may or may not be flattening for Black, Brown and Indigenous communities. We just don’t have the data to know.

New York is pointing to a dramatic increase in deaths from the same time last year. It is very likely that many of these deaths are coronavirus victims that never went to the hospital or that were turned away once they got there. We can reasonably assume that nationwide, the Black, Brown and Indigenous communities hit hardest are still being hit hard — or they are about to be. But we just don’t know where the curve is or how to respond to it without aggressive data collection. And that is literally killing us.

White nationalists and the people that support them are fighting to put Black, Brown and Indigenous bodies in the path of the virus. In the name of their economic success, they are pushing forward a plan to re-open the economy without knowing the impact this will have on the communities of color that are already being hit hardest.

Or maybe they do know — and they are OK with it. In either case, communities of color cannot allow this to happen.

We need to demand that no re-opening plan be accepted without a complete understanding of the impact of the coronavirus on communities of color at the local, state, and national levels. That means testing, data … and a lot of both. And more importantly, no opening can occur without the permission of these Black, Brown and Indigenous communities. That means an organized and loudly articulated plan for re-opening designed by and for leaders of color.

Communities of color have an unprecedented advantage right now. Local, state, and federal government can try to force open places of businesses, but these businesses cannot function without the labor of bodies of color. And that leverage carries power.

If this power is organized and leveraged, it can be used to ensure that there is no re-opening of America until there are plans put in place to address every single issue that makes communities of color more vulnerable to exposure and mortality from COVID-19 than other communities. We have a window of opportunity to end the overcrowding, the dilapidation, the pollution, and the neglect.

Hopefully this kind of dark opportunity never happens again, but at this moment target non-White communities are in a position to take control of the economy and how it moves forward. We need to grab it.

According to a recent report published by The Nation …

Amazon warehouse workers walked off the job in Detroit, Chicago, and New York City; in the latter, they’ve now staged two strikes in as many weeks over safety and pay concerns. Workers at fast-food restaurants such as McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Checkers, Domino’s, and Waffle House have gone on strike in California, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee. They’ve been joined by workers at companies where workers have never gone on strike before, such as Family Dollar, Food Lion, and Shell gas stations. Instacart shoppers held a national strike on March 30, refusing to accept orders. Workers for Shipt, Target’s same-day delivery service, organized a walkout on April 7. The unrest has even spread to bus drivers, poultry workers, and painters and construction workers.

Rent strikes have also been organized in efforts to force relief for households that just can’t pay the rent. Whether it is large scale rent strikes, work strike, or a combination of these and many other creative acts of resistance, we need to put our bodies in the way of the federal plan to re-open the economy before they are put in body bags because of the coronavirus. And we need to have some very specific goals.

We need an accurate account of the coronavirus’s impact on Black, Brown, Indigenous and Intersected communities. That can’t happen without a completely new paradigm for testing and data collection. Once we know the curves of color, we can articulate a phased plan for re-starting the economy. This plan will address every single issue that makes us vulnerable to exposure, contraction, and death. And we need leadership to step up and organize the coordinated nationwide effort needed to make this a reality.

Never have the stakes been higher. And never have the potential rewards been more expansive. Communities of color need to decide when America re-opens. If we don’t, White communities will decide when we die.

If we don’t organize to stop and redirect the re-opening of the American economy, we will be little more than bear food.

California reports the state’s first COVID-19 prisoner death; officials remain slow to act as the coronavirus threatens to ravage California’s incarcerated population

CALIFORNIA, U.S.—- Families of incarcerated people and criminal justice advocates condemned the failure of state officials to act urgently in order to protect people in prisons, one of the populations most vulnerable to severe illness and death caused by the coronavirus. On Sunday, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) reported its first COVID-19 related death of an incarcerated person in custody. 

“We know what’s going to happen,” said Cyrus Dunham, an organizer with California Coalition for Women Prisoners. “In Michigan, someone weeks away from being released from prison contracted the virus and died. One day ago, 73% of people incarcerated in an Ohio state prison tested positive for COVID-19. We only have to look at the news reports from other states. This is not a surprise. This is an emergency. Gov. Newsom has two options: prevent more tragedy now, or regret it later.”

Community members and families of incarcerated people across the country have been demanding mass clemencies for more than three weeks in response to the pandemic. The media campaigns––#ClemencyCoast2Coast and #LetThemGo––trended on Twitter with tens of thousands of posts and shares, all demanding that state Governors use their vast executive power to release people from prisons, returning older and medically vulnerable people who carry the greatest risk of death from COVID-19 back to their communities.

Taking the lead from community members and advocates, recognizable names from the entertainment industries quickly embraced the movement on social media, including Orange Is the New Black author Piper Kerman, Academy Award Winner Joaqin Phoenix, musicians Kim Gordon, The Tune-Yards and actor Vella Lovell. 

As of April 21st, at 5:40pm, 122 incarcerated people in CDCR custody and 89 staff members had tested positive for COVID-19. The number of reported positive cases of coronavirus is rising daily. Multiple sources report at least two COVID-19 prisoner deaths at California Federal Prisons, and that COVID-19 safety precautions are being inconsistently applied at all institutions. 

State prisons remain overcrowded, operating at approximately 129% capacity. Gov. Newsom recently expedited the release of 3,500 people charged with non-violent offenses who were already found suitable for parole. Advocates say the biggest obstacle to mass clemency efforts, which have historical precedent, has been Gov. Newsom’s reluctance to consider people for release who have been convicted of violent offenses as a direct response to the coronavirus. Academics, criminal justice experts and community organizers maintain that if Gov. Newsom fails to consider people convicted of serious offenses for release, enough lives will not be saved.  

“There was already a crisis of care in California prisons,” said Brian Kaneda, Los Angeles Coordinator for Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), a coalition of more than 80 organizations dedicated to reducing the number of people in prisons and jails across the state. CURB has co-led demands that Governor Newsom release at least 50,000 aging and medically vulnerable people from prison––or around 40% of the total CDCR prison population––during the first stage of mass clemencies.

“Mass clemencies are a critical public health intervention that will save the lives of incarcerated people, prison staff, and their communities. Our recommendations are evidence-based. More deaths are coming,” said Mr. Kaneda. “The state has a legal and moral responsibility to protect people in its custody. Gov. Newsom has the power to save a lot of lives and show that he intends to be the Governor for all Californians during this unprecedented time.”

Tom Kulinski is far too humble a man to see himself as a hero. He just loves his job – a job that’s never been quite as important as it is during this time of crisis.

As a maintenance supervisor for National Community Renaissance (National CORE), Kulinski is a key member of the National CORE team helping to meet the housing needs of thousands of senior citizens, working families and individuals with special needs. For many of them, the world has never been a scarier place than during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

It is times like these when heroes step up in a big way. Especially, it seems, even reluctant heroes like Kulinski, who throughout this crisis has been a lifeline for the communities and residents whose buildings and living units he helps maintain. Whether it’s loading up his truck and delivering food to seniors on a Saturday or dropping off activity books for hundreds of children isolated at home, or simply being a friend to a resident who is frightened and alone, Kulinski works tirelessly to provide comfort to those who need him.

“It is that human connection and the ability to provide stability and security. I tell my kids, not everyone comes home to food on the table. Not everyone comes home to a home,” he says. “We serve so many residents, and whatever I can do to help, I’ll do it – knowing that I’m making a difference.”

Kulinski, 46, has worked at National CORE pretty much all of his adult life. He started as a security guard more than 26 years ago, but was quickly able to put his handyman skills to good use as a resident service technician (RST). 

“National CORE was my third job, and once I found it, I was here to stay,” he says.

Working for a nonprofit organization, and to do so for as many years as Kulinski has, requires a special kind of world view and commitment to mission – in the case of National CORE and the Hope through Housing Foundation, to transform lives and communities through affordable housing and life-enhancing social services.

“National CORE and Hope through Housing have always done amazing things for residents. Helping senior citizens. Helping kids. When this epidemic hit, we knew we had to do even more,” Kulinski said.

One recent Saturday morning, he got a phone call that a shipment of free food was available and needed to be picked up that day. Kulinski got in his truck, picked up the food and delivered it to residents. For many of the seniors, seeing his friendly face at the door – albeit at the appropriate six feet of social distancing – was more important than the food itself.

“A lot of seniors don’t have families nearby, and they’re looking for someone to talk to,” Kulinski said.

They’re also eager to share the generosity shown them – turning down extra food, such as bread, in order to give it to someone else.

Kulinski’s compassion and ability to connect with the residents he services is part of who he is. The father of four is happy to serve as a male role model to a young resident in need, and to make sure the seniors and families he has come to know as family can call on him at any time.

Heroes, it seems, don’t work on the clock.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- The Westside Story Newspaper has been featured and selected by the Feedspot panelist as one of the Top 3 San Bernardino News Websites on the web.  

According to Feedspot, this is one of the most comprehensive lists on the internet and we are honored to be a part of it.

Check out the list below:

Top 3 San Bernardino News Websites To Follow in 2020 (California)

POMONA, CA— Congresswoman Norma J. Torres (CA-35) recently announced more than $184.5 million in Department of Education funding that will benefit residents of California’s 35^th Congressional District as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. This includes more than $43.5 million going to institutions of higher learning within the district, and more than $140 million for the surrounding region that will benefit constituents who attend commuting schools.

Each institution is allowed to keep a portion of the money it receives to help cover financial losses suffered in the economic downturn, but at least half of all funds must be distributed to students in the form of emergency cash grants to help students pay for housing, food, and other basic essentials.

Rep. Torres is a leading voice in addressing student hunger and homelessness. In November 2019, she introduced the Basic Assistance for Students in College (BASIC) Act, which would provide $500 million in grants to ensure institutions of higher learning have the resources they need to support students’ day-to-day needs, and direct the federal government to streamline data sharing across agencies to help students who qualify for aid access it.

Rep. Torres released the following statement:

“The funding I’m announcing today will help Inland Empire students keep a roof over their head and food on the table throughout the economic downturn – it will also ensure they have a school to return to when the pandemic is over,” Rep. Torres said. “This is urgently needed relief for our young people, and stabilizing support for our region as a whole. As Congress continues to negotiate the next round of COVID-19 emergency relief, Inland Empire residents can rest assured that my singular focus is to bring as many of these vital dollars to our community as possible.”

Funding distribution within California’s 35^th Congressional District:

School	Total Allocation	Minimum Allocation to be Awarded for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona	$30,904,089	$15,452,045
Pomona Adult School	$245,993	$122,997
Chaffey Community College	$11,446,484	$5,723,242
Western University Of Health Sciences	$1,105,699	$552,850
Total:	$43,702,265	$21,851,134

Funding distribution in surrounding region:

School	Total Allocation	Minimum Allocation to be Awarded for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students
Mount San Antonio College	$17,457,959	$8,728,980
San Bernardino Valley College	$6,732,563	$3,366,282
California State University, San Bernardino	$26,243,781	$13,121,891
University Of La Verne	$5,658,977	$2,829,489
University Of California, Riverside	$29,734,626	$14,867,313
Fullerton College	$9,700,734	$4,850,367
California State University, Fullerton	$41,021,512	$20,510,756
Harvey Mudd College	$516,332	$258,166
Pomona College	$1,285,644	$642,822
Claremont Graduate University	$295,107	$147,554
Claremont Mckenna College	$855,579	$427,790
Pitzer College	$625,861	$312,931
Scripps College	$546,083	$273,042
Keck Graduate Institute Of Applied Life Sciences	$189,117	$94,559
Total:	$140,863,875	$70,431,942

Approximately 493,833 vote-by-mail ballots will be mailed to voters starting today, April 13, for the special general election in the 28th Senate District on May 12. To be counted, completed ballots must be received at the Registrar of Voters office no later than 8 p.m. on Election Day, or be postmarked on or before Election Day and received no later than three days after Election Day.

Vote-by-mail ballots can be returned through the postal service or deposited in vote-by-mail drop-off boxes located at the Blythe City Clerk’s office or the Registrar of Voters office.

Early voting at the Registrar of Voters office begins today, April 13 and continues Monday through Friday (excluding county holidays), from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.  Please call (951) 486-7200 if you need to schedule an appointment to vote in person.

The May 12 election encompasses only the 28th Senate District and is not a countywide election.  It is also an all-mail ballot election, so there will be no established polling places. If you have any questions about your eligibility to vote, please contact the registrar’s office at (951) 486-7200.

EMS reports on the race to the August 14 finish line

Less than a month after the first invitations to participate in the 2020 census were mailed out, 44.8% of California’s known households have completed the questionnaire, putting the Golden State just slightly behind the country’s 45.1% rate. This despite the fact that California has 11 million people considered “hard to count” — the most of any state.

California budgeted $187.3 million for census outreach efforts to get everyone counted. It’s ahead of New York, which also dedicated tens of millions to outreach efforts. Texas, by comparison, made no statewide expenditures.

With counting set to continue into August, California at 41.8% ranks 20^th in how many households have filed by Internet. The national rate (2020census.gov/en/response-rates.html#) for Internet responses  — the Census Bureau’s preferred response methodology — currently is 39.9%.

But the San Francisco Bay Area leads the way in California’s overall response. Santa Clara, San Mateo, Alameda and Contra Costa counties all have responded above 50% so far. In 2010, those four counties all outdid the state’s 68.2%overall response rate.

San Francisco, both a county and a city, has a 41.9% response rate that’s slightly higher than the city of Fresno’s 41.5% and tops Los Angeles’ 34.4%, but trails Sacramento (45.7%), San Diego (48.8%) and San Jose (51.1%).

Nationwide, most major urban areas are responding below their states’ rates. New York City comes in at 33.9% in a state reporting at 38.3%. Houston’s 37.1% trails Texas’ 39%, Chicago’s 38.6% trails Illinois’ 48.5%, Atlanta’s 39.6% trails Georgia’s 41.5%, and St. Louis, at 36.8%, similarly trails Missouri’s 43.6%.

Major cities also typically are more challenging to enumerate. In California, that’s holding true for San Francisco and Los Angeles, but besides San Diego and San Jose , Oakland and Berkeley, too, both at 49.2% are also doing better than the state as a whole.

East Palo Alto is out-reporting Beverly Hills, 36.35% to 34.2%, but neither is as strong as San Bernardino, 40.3% or Riverside, 45.5%. All four cities hit above 60% in 2010.

As in 2010, California’s lowest response rates are coming from the counties along the Nevada border. In Sierra County, just west of Reno, only 4.9% have responded so far. In 2010, when only 44.1% of that county’s households responded, it ranked as the state’s second-most underpopulated county. Alpine County had the state’s lowest record 10 years ago, with just a 20.2% response rate. So far this year, it’s at 9.8%.

Trinity, another trouble spot, shows 5% responding, nearly all using the Internet. In Lake County, it’s the reverse — a 27.2% response rate with only 18.5% using the Internet. Within

Mendocino’s 31.7% response rate, 25.7% is by Internet.

The Central Valley is another story. In 2010, every county from Sacramento to Riverside reported at rates of at least 63%. So far in 2020, Madera County’s 36.8% is bringing up the rear. Kern County is at 39.3%, King’s at 39.4%, Tulare’s at 39.5%, Merced’s at 39.8%, and San Bernardino, Fresno and Riverside are at 40.4%, 41.6% and 42.2% respectively. Sacramento County is at 48.7%.

But some counties are much more populous than others. Even if Riverside County, the fourth-most populous in the state, ultimately reports at 80%, the number of people still not counted will exceed the entire population of Alpine County to the north.

When it comes to the census’ first-ever use of the Internet as a way to be counted, the Central Valley has so far trended more toward using mail and telephone methods than have other regions of the state. The Internet is still the primary way people respond, but in Sacramento County, 2.1% of households have used other ways. In Riverside and San Bernardino counties, it’s 4.1% and 4.7%, respectively, and 8% or more in Fresno, Kern and Merced counties and 10.7% in Tulare.

The census is not yet reporting on response rates based on ethnicity, but Indian Country, with 100 state-recognized reservations or rancherias in California alone, shows there is much to be done — rates are neither strong nor consistent.

The Table Bluff Rancheria boasts a 31.5% response rate, after totaling 38.2% in 2010, and Trinidad Rancheria, at 17.4%, has almost matched its 2010 tally of 19%. But the Tule River

Reservation’s 9.4% response, all Internet, is far below its 48.6% in 2010.

Hoopa Valley is at 3.1%, also all Internet, but the Census Bureau doesn’t report numbers for 2010. Hopland Reservation, at 25.3%, 8.9% via the Internet, hit 37.5% in 2010. Pala’s 3.6% is all Internet, with no data available for 2010.

If yours is a household not yet counted, you can change that by going to: my2020Census.gov or calling (844) 330-2020. Starting in May and continuing through Aug. 14, the Census Bureau will send out enumerators to knock on the doors of households that haven’t responded. The enumerators will visit to get the data that determines, among other things, political representation and up to $1.5 trillion in annual federal spending for more than 300 programs.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA—  The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) continues improvements on the southbound off-ramp at Soquel Canyon Parkway on State Route 71 (SR-71) in Chino Hills. Caltrans is widening the Soquel Canyon Parkway off-ramp and adding a right turn lane. 

 Crews will continue asphalt concrete paving operations and landscape work. 

A full closure of the southbound SR-71 Soquel Canyon Parkway exit will be in place from April 13 through April 17 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. daily. Please follow the posted alternate route. 

Remember to reduce your speed in the work zone. Be advised, weather conditions may affect this operation. 

Know before you go! To stay on top of roadwork in the Inland Empire go to Caltrans District 8 and sign up for commuter alerts. Follow us for the latest information on Facebook and Twitter. To assist in planning your commute, view live traffic conditions using QuickMap and planned lane closures. 

For those with sensory disabilities requiring alternate formats (i.e. Braille, large print, sign language interpreter, etc.) and those needing information in a language other than English, please contact Kimberly Cherry at 909-383-6290 or TTY 711 by April 15, 2020.