Monthly Archives: November, 2021

Fulfilling its mission to “support public education in our communities,” the State California Retired Teachers Association awarded 40 $100 teacher grants to California public school teachers – including two local educators – randomly selected from over 40,000 applicants in their recent October drawing. Amanda Weden, a fifth-grade teacher at Taawila Elementary School in Menifee, and Tahquitz High School Special Education teacher, Odalmy Cecala, were announced as grant recipients. As an added bonus, both teachers also received a matching $100 from CalRTA Division 33, for a total of $200 each to use in their classrooms. Weden plans to use the $200 to buy supplemental materials to help her students with hands-on classroom experiences. Ms. Cecala says the $200 will go a long way in purchasing sensory equipment for her many Special Education students. The next CalRTA statewide teacher grant drawing will be held in March, with online entry forms available between February 16, 2022 and March 9, 2022. To access the entry form, go to www.calrta.org/teacher-grants or check out CalRTA’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/CalRTA.

What is California doing about its sky-high housing prices? Just ask the state’s housing chiefs. In this special edition of the California Housing Crisis Podcast, The Los Angeles Times’ Liam Dillon and CalMatters’ Manuela Tobias interview Lourdes Castro Ramírez, secretary of the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency; Gustavo Velasquez, director of the California Department of Housing & Community Development; and Tiena Johnson Hall, executive director of California’s Housing Finance Agency.

On Saturday November 13th at 7pm, the Historic Hemet Theatre will host a screening of the film “Remembering When: The Story of Mr. Whittier’s Hemet,” followed by a Q&A by Director Daniel Maggio and members of the cast and crew.

Five years ago to this day, leaders of the City of Ontario and San Bernardino County thankfully accepted ownership of Ontario International Airport and proclaimed that ONT would become a vital economic engine for the region and a safe and secure aviation gateway for millions of air travelers.

More than 20 vendors welcomed visitors to the Soboba Sports Complex on Oct. 25 for a Body, Mind and Spirit Wellness Fair sponsored by Let’s Get Moving Mondays and its founder, Kelli Hurtado. She began planning the event a while ago but for the past three weeks really focused on the logistics.