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Thursday, June 25-July 01, 2026
Riverside County board OKs budget totaling $10.36B for next fiscal year
NO. 281
San Bernardino City Council adopts $329.5M budget with deficit By Joe Taglieri joet@civicnewsgroup.com
By City News Service
T
he San Bernardino City Council unanimously OK'd the 2026-27 Operating Budget and 20272031 Capital Improvement Plan totaling $329.5 million with a deficit of more than $11 million gap between expected revenue and spending. The council's 7-0 vote on June 17 for the budget that
T
he Riverside County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday formally adopted a $10.36 billion budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year, incorporating some new allocations deemed necessary during hearings on the proposed spending blueprint. The board signed off on the spending plan in a 5-0 vote without comment. "The revisions represent targeted investments in priorities identified by the board," county CEO Jeff Van Wagenen said in the final appropriations report received by the board Tuesday. "The 2026-27 budget continues to prioritize preservation of core services, avoidance of widespread layoffs, maintenance of prudent reserves and gradual reduction of the structural deficit through active fiscal management." Prior to the close of the public hearing, Moreno Valley resident and frequent board commentator Roy Bleckert told the supervisors the budget reflected their lack of "will to do what's right." "Costs are rising higher than revenues," he said. "But the county doesn't have a revenue problem. It's
VOL. VOL. 10, 12,
will direct spending during the fiscal year that begins July 1 totals $318.2 million in revenues and $328.5 million in expenditures across all funds, according to a report by Tarik Rahmani, the director of the city's Finance and Management Services Department. The budget also includes $9.9 million for infrastruc-
See SB budget Page 14
County CEO Jeff Van Wagenen reports to the Board of Supervisors prior to their vote to approve the 2026-27 budget. | Photo courtesy of Riverside County
spending." Bleckert said the board's priorities were off, such as making larger allocations to Housing First initiatives to expand affordable residential complexes that won't "make this community safer" because vagrants will still be out on the streets, committing crimes and refusing any type of mental health treatment, he said. He complained that the board should have provided funding to fully open the Benoit Detention Center
in Indio, only a quarter of which is operational. Van Wagenen indicated during the June 8-9 budget hearings that layoffs may be unavoidable in some departments. He emphasized the hiring freeze initiated last year will continue, along with targeted spending cuts and controls, to mitigate deficit spending. According to the CEO, "just-in-time" funding will be available to meet specific needs as the
Lawmaker: Bill before Senate poses 'serious First Amendment concerns' By Paul J. Young, City News Service
board engages in unending "budget management" throughout the coming fiscal year. At the end of the hearings earlier this month, the Executive Office returned to the board with $27.4 million in new allocations to at least partially satisfy agencies' needs. The augmented outlays include $8.5 million more for the county Sheriff's Department, $679,000 more
See Budget Page 14
A
bill under scrutiny in the state Senate threatens to "impede lawful journalism" by fining independent content creators who show people or places possibly misusing taxpayer money, an Inland Empire lawmaker said Friday, while the legislation's sponsor asserts the proposal is necessary to promote the "safety, privacy and continuity" of services vital to immigrants.
Assembly Bill 2624, authored by Assemblywoman Mia Bonta, D-Oakland, seeks to add "immigration support services" providers to the list of entities that qualify for protected status under the Safe at Home Program established almost 30 years ago and managed by the California Office of the Secretary of State. The bill was approved by the Assembly last month
See Lawmaker Page 27
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