EL CHICANo Weekly
Vol 63, NO. 06
November 13, 2025
California Governor Candidates Face Off in Inland Empire on Healthcare Access, Housing, $9 Gas, Billionaire Tax Breaks, and Trump
IECN.com
Alder Square Breaks Ground, Adding 92 Affordable Homes in San Bernardino’s Arrowhead Grove Pg. 4
PHOTO MANNY SANDOVAL California Governor candidates Xavier Becerra (left) and Tony Thurmond (right) respond to a pointed question on whether they would support legislation to require billionaires to pay their fair share in taxes.
By Manny Sandoval
did the audience.
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More than 300 Inland Empire residents packed into the auditorium for Health Matters: A Conversation with Our Next Governor, a nonpartisan forum hosted by a coalition of 11 health-focused foundations and livestreamed statewide by NBC4 and Telemundo 52. The November 7 event was co-moderated by NBC4 anchor Colleen Williams and Black Voice News publisher
our candidates vying to be California’s next governor faced off at UC Riverside in a high-stakes forum that peeled back the political gloss and laid bare the urgency of a state in crisis. From health equity to housing, tax reform to homelessness, and how to navigate the Trump Administration, the 2026 contenders didn’t hold back—and neither
San Bernardino Veterans Day Salute Adds Resource Fair, Honors Hometown Heroes With Special Challenge Coins
PHOTO MANNY SANDOVAL Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa speaks as former State Controller Betty Yee listens during a segment on healthcare equity and structural poverty.
Dr. Paulette Brown-Hinds, who led a rapid-fire round of questions across five urgent topics: healthcare, taxes, the economy, homelessness, and federal-state relations. Invited based on polling, fundraising, and campaign activity, six candidates were asked to participate, but only four took the Governor’s Forum, cont. on next pg.
San Bernardino’s Inland Empire Music Awards Turn Unsung Local Artists into Headliners
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Holiday Crashes Inland Rise Empire Community — Attorney Saloni Newspapers Office: (909) 381-9898 Singh Warns IE Editorial: iecn1@mac.com Drivers: Don’t Rush Advertising: sales@iecn.com Insurance Settlements Pg. 8
HOW TO REACH US Inland Empire Community Newspapers Office: (909) 381-9898 Editorial: iecn1@mac.com Advertising: iecn1@mac.com Legals: iecnlegals@gmail.com
PHOTO MANNY SANDOVAL Kyiemaa accepts the Untapped Artist of the Year award during the Empire Now Awards at the Garcia Center for the Arts.
By Manny Sandoval
T
he Garcia Center for the Arts looked and felt like a hometown Grammys on Saturday, Nov. 8, as Only Empire Now rolled out an over-thetop red carpet for its 3rd Annual Inland Empire Music Awards, celebrating nine winners and dozens of nominees who are reshaping the region’s music scene.
PHOTO MANNY SANDOVAL From left, artists Pak Joko and Jay Kasai pose at the Inland Empire Music Awards on Nov. 8.
Artists arrived in full glam, stopping for interviews and photos on a packed red carpet before stepping into the auditorium to perform and accept awards. Riverside artist Kyiemaa was named Untapped Artist of the Year, and local viral sensation Pak Joko took home Song of the Year for his breakout track “IE IE,” underscoring the event’s mix of new voices and already buzzing acts.
ary Jay Kasai, the night was the realization of a vision he wrote in a notebook nearly a decade ago — one born from the absence of recognition for working musicians.
For co-founder and awards show vision-
Music Awards, Cont. on next pg.
“I got a trophy for film. I got a trophy for tennis and other things,” Kasai said. “I've been doing music since I was 16, and I've never gotten recognition for it. I thought, okay, we’re missing something.”