8-year-old dead, 4 injured in head-on collision at Riverside intersection
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2023 housing affordability improves for Riverside County homebuyers By City News Service
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ower home prices and slightly lower interest rates improved the outlook for Riverside County homebuyers in the first quarter of 2023, as the state's housing affordability rose to the highest level in a year, the California Association of Realtors announced Tuesday. Twenty-two percent of Riverside County households could afford to buy the $597,000 median-priced home in the first quarter of this year, a slight improvement over the 21% during the last quarter of 2022, but down from 28% in first-quarter 2022, according to the association. A minimum annual income of $148,000 was needed to make monthly payments of $3,700, including principal, interest and taxes on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at a 6.48% interest rate, the report said. CAR also broke down the numbers for the Inland Empire. It reported that 24% of IE households could afford to buy the $550,000 median-priced home in the first quarter of this year, a slight improvement over the 23% during the last quarter of 2022, but down from 31% in first-quarter 2022. A minimum annual income of $136,400 was needed to make monthly payments of $3,410, the report said. Twenty percent of California households could afford to purchase the $760,260 medianpriced home in the first quarter of 2023, up from 17% in fourth-quarter 2022 and down from 24% in first-quarter 2022, according to the association. A minimum annual income of $188,400 was needed to make monthly payments of $4,710,
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Corona boasts 60% reduction in homeless population amid county's 2023 increase By Joe Taglieri joet@beaconmedianews.com
See Homebuyers Page 15
Mecca brush fire at 127 acres, containment grows to 75% By City News Service
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fire that has burned 127 acres of vegetation in Mecca was 75% contained Tuesday. Firefighters responded about noon Monday to the area of Avenue 66 and Highway 86 Expressway on a report of a well-established vegetation fire, according to the Riverside County Fire Department. The blaze burned between 3 and 5 acres shortly after breaking out and posed a threat to nearby power lines, a department official said. Firefighters from the Palm Springs, Hemet, Riverside and Cathedral City departments assisted in the effort and Imperial Irrigation District personnel also responded to the scene to assist. The fire had grown to 50 acres by 2:45 p.m. Monday with firefighting operations being hampered by winds, according to department officials. Additional engines were requested to the scene by 4:50 p.m. Monday as the fire grew to 110 acres. By Monday night it had grown to 127 acres and was 15% contained. "Firefighters worked overnight and were able to gain further containment," fire officials said Tuesday morning, when the fire was 30% contained. "Please continue to avoid the area as resources continue to increase containment lines." By around 1 p.m. the fire was 50% contained and fire officials said firefighters were working to fully contain and control the flames. See Mecca brush fire Page 18
Members of Corona's Homeless Solutions Team help a formerly homeless resident move into her new apartment at Vista Dorada. | Photo courtesy of the city of Corona
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hile this year's Point-In-Time census showed a 12% increase in Riverside County's homeless population, Corona officials announced recent progress toward moving unhoused residents off of the streets and into permanent housing. A 60% decrease in the number of homeless residents compared with 2019's population of 164 — and the recent placement of 50 individuals in the 52-unit Vista Dorada permanent supportive housing facility — highlighted the successful track on which the city's 2020 Homeless Strategic Plan appears to be heading. "Homelessness is not
unique to Corona, but what is unique is Corona's approach," Mayor Tony Daddario said in a statement last week. "We have strategically built public/private partnerships, allowing us to create a compassionate, complete, and wrap-around plan to address the complex issue right here in the city of Corona." The Corona Homeless Solutions Team is at the forefront of the city's plan to house its homeless residents, but a wide range of municipal, county and nonprofit agencies play integral roles, said Karen Roper, homeless solutions manager for the CoronaNorco region and chair of the Riverside County
Continuum of Care. Roper detailed the multistep process for housing the homeless: "It's been a collaborative effort between the city of Corona, the county housing department and (nonprofit) Abode Communities since the fall of 2022," Roper told the Corona News Press. "We have been meeting weekly because there's a process involved to take folks that are long-term chronically homeless from the streets or in our motel shelter program into permanent housing. It may seem like a long time but to qualify for permanent supportive See Homeless population Page 32