Symbolizing good fortune, pomelos play a key role in Lunar New Year celebrations. Riverside’s 13th Annual Lunar Festival highlights this auspicious fruit and its cultural significance.
Santa enjoying the holiday spirit at the Festival of Lights while dining at Bella Trattoria. (Bob Sirotnik)
Wednesday Gazette: December 18, 2024
Hello Riverside, and Happy Wednesday!
We are three days into our year-end giving campaign and are at 3% of our goal! We've raised $1,499 of our $40,000 target to help us hire a full-time City Hall reporter with extensive local government journalism experience as early in 2025 as possible.
In the November election, Riverside residents overwhelmingly approved Measure L, amending the City Charter to establish a new Office of Inspector General as an auditor of the City's spending and operations. This decisive vote reflects widespread skepticism toward our City's leadership, and our newsroom is committed to holding officials accountable and addressing these concerns.
Here are just a handful of the stories I wanted to report on this year but didn't have the journalistic capacity for:
Riverside is suing UCR. How will this impact the city's future relationship with the university system as it prepares to install a new chancellor?
When and where will the City's first retail cannabis locations open? What kind of tax revenue will they generate, and how will they impact the communities where they set up shop?
Our City Attorney's office sued a sitting Councilmember, and now City Attorney Phaedra Norton is no longer active in her role. What lessons can we learn from this debacle?
Recent California laws and federal Supreme Court rulings have shaped how the City addresses the challenges of homelessness. What are the actual numbers showing the progress being made across town?
I think these questions deserve answers; here's how you can help:
Become a Member: Support us monthly starting at $5; if everyone reading this email was a member we could afford at least 5 full-time reporters covering the City.
Make a One-Time Gift: Give to our year-end campaign and help us bring the kind of local news coverage our City deserves
The Raincross Gazette Launches Limited Edition 'Happy Side' Merch
The Raincross Gazette is introducing a limited edition "Happy Side" merchandise collection just in time for last-minute holiday shopping.
Just in time for your last-minute holiday shopping, The Raincross Gazette is launching a limited edition “Happy Side” merch collection.
Driven by our commitment to increasing the spirit of neighborliness in Riverside, RG greets its readers each morning with a “Happy Day” message. This standard inspired our resident historian, Glenn Wenzel, to tell the story of Riverside’s 1974 The Happy Side Is Riverside marketing campaign designed to showcase the city’s charm, boost community pride, and attract visitors despite some local controversy (a Riverside tradition).
This truly limited collection, with only 24 pieces available, features a recreation of the original Happy Side illustration on a green crewneck with RG’s signature raincross embroidered in yellow and a heavyweight white tee printed in forest green.
Riverside Ballet Academy Moves The Nutcracker to a New Venue
The new Moreno Valley Center for Performing Arts is a new stage for a Riverside-based troupe.
Riverside Ballet’s 2019 performance of The Nutcracker at Riverside City College’s Landis Performing Arts Center. (Marissa Menezes)
Riverside Ballet Arts will perform David Allan's version of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker at the Moreno Valley Performing Arts Center on December 21st and 22nd. This is a new venue for the community and the sixty-year-old troupe. Traditionally, they have performed the popular Christmas ballet at the Landis Performing Arts Center at RCC.
The Nutcracker was first performed in 1892 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The two-part Ballet gained popularity in the United States in the middle of the 20th Century. It has been performed thousands of times, in total and in part, by the best dancers on the biggest stages as well as local troupes in tiny theaters. The Nutcracker is part of our holiday lexicon, and the images and sounds of the Ballet are deeply entrenched in our Christmas traditions.
The coffee and brunch spot has become popular both within the neighborhood and across the city.
The Pure Caffeine mural perfectly captures the vibrant spirit of Buenos Dias Cafe. (Ken Crawford)
A couple of months ago, Buenos Días Cafe opened on the corner of 14th and Grove, between Park and Victoria. I watched it evolve over several weeks. It started with fresh paint. White cinder blocks are typical of the austere marketing of other local coffee shops. Then splashes of color, a concha, then "el que madruga, Dios lo ayuda" (God helps those who wake up early) painted on the side, then a portrait of Frida Kahlo. This wasn't another minimalist coffee shop looking for cheap rent. I was curious, but I didn't stop.
Then I saw Mark from Riverside post a couple of reviews and learned that the owners, Suzy and Xochitl, are local. The food looked great, so the next time I was on 14th Street, I decided to stop.
See something? Say something. Your tips and ideas are what fuel The Raincross Gazette. If you know of something newsworthy happening in our city, please share it with us.
