COLTON COURIER Weekly
May 21, 2026
Vol 154, NO. 26
San Bernardino County Voters Can Use Any Polling Place in June Primary
IECN.com
San Bernardino Ward 2 Candidates Debate Homelessness, Tenant Protections and Surveillance Cameras Pg. 3
PHOTO MANNY SANDOVAL San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters staff speak with residents during a voter education roadshow stop at the Gonzales Community Center in Colton, where attendees received information on June primary voting options.
By Manny Sandoval
S
an Bernardino County voters can cast a ballot at any polling place in the county for the June 2 Statewide Direct Primary Election, a major change election officials highlighted during a voter education roadshow stop at the Gonzales Community Center in Colton.
PHOTO MANNY SANDOVAL A San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters staff member displays a voter registration application during the Colton roadshow, where residents received information on registration, mail ballots and June primary voting options.
The San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters held the outreach event to help residents understand new voting options, key registration deadlines, early voting locations, language access and how ballot marking devices will be used at polling places. “Today we are teaching voters or poten-
tial voters about elections, what they can do, the different ways they can vote, what they need to know about prior to going in to vote,” said Melissa Eickman, public information and government compliance officer for the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters. “Everything is nonpolitical, and just about the mechanics of Registrar of Voters, cont. next pg.
From Classroom Teacher to Experienced Superintendent, Cali Binks Makes Countywide Bid By Manny Sandoval
SBVC Celebrates 100 Years of Opportunity as 1,500 Graduates Mark Largest Class in College History
B
efore Cali Binks became a longtime superintendent, before she helped lead two San Bernardino County school districts, and before she began campaigning to become the County’s next Superintendent of Schools, she was a little girl sitting at a school desk her mother brought home from a garage sale.
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She had a lunch pail, a bell and a backyard classroom. She still has them. “I had a desk, a lunch pail, and a bell, and those are the three things I still have that remind me of those times,” Binks said.
Memorial Day is May 25: Honoring the Heroes Who Served and Sacrificed
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PHOTO MANNY SANDOVAL Cali Binks, a candidate for San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, sits with her notes as she discusses her campaign centered on listening to families, supporting educators and strengthening partnerships across the county’s 33 school districts.
For Binks, now Superintendent of the YucaipaCalimesa Joint Unified School District and a candidate for San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, those childhood memories are more than sentimental. They are the beginning of a life shaped by education, service and a deep understanding that every child enters a classroom with different needs. Binks was born in Missouri
after her parents temporarily left California to seek specialized medical care for her older brother, who was born prematurely, had cerebral palsy and could not see, talk or walk. Her family missed California so much that they named her Cali. “My brother didn’t look like what people would consider “normal,” Binks said. “He couldn’t really open his eyes. His hands and legs were bent. And so when friends would come over, they were shocked at what he looked like.” Those moments, she said, taught her compassion early. “It would really hurt my heart because I didn’t see it that way,” Binks said. “I saw the things that he gave to our family.” Her mother helped her learn how to explain her brother’s condition with kindness. Looking back, Binks said those experiences shaped the way she sees students, particularly those with disabilities. “Everybody brings themselves in their perfect way,” County Superintendent, cont. next pg.