Twelve drivers were cited for hands-free cell phone violations, and 16 others were cited for dangerous driving behaviors. The operation ran from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

“Despite repeated efforts to warn drivers about the hands-free cell phone law, some drivers continue to use their phones while operating a vehicle,” Sergeant Matt Chavez said. “Our ultimate goal is to change behaviors that help make our roads safer.”

California has had distracted driving laws on the books since 2008. Under current law, drivers may not hold a phone or other electronic device while driving, including while talking, texting or using an app. Using a handheld cell phone while driving is punishable by a fine. A second violation of the hands-free law within 36 months of a prior conviction for the same offense adds a point to the driver’s record.

Anyone with an important phone call, or who needs to program directions, should pull over to a safe parking spot, the release said. Before driving, either silence the phone or put it somewhere you can’t reach.

A grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, funded the program.

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Coroner file No. 2026-07100 names Reese Whitney, 21, of Hemet. The release lists the date of death as Sept. 25, 2026, with time of death found at 6:39 a.m. Next of kin have been notified.

Death was recorded on McCall Park Road, about 1,531 feet north of Vista Way in Mountain Center. The injury location is listed a short distance from that mark on the same road, about 1,563 feet north of Vista Way. The time of injury is listed as unknown.

The California Highway Patrol is investigating under Log No. 9655. The coroner’s office refers all inquiries to the investigating agency. No CHP news release was located as of Monday morning.

McCall Park Road runs through the Mountain Center area on the western fringe of the Idyllwild country, above the San Jacinto Valley.

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Hemet police have not named the driver in their news release. The name and charges come from the public Riverside County jail booking that lists a Hemet PD arrest at that Palm and Commonwealth location.

Police said the crash was reported about 6:55 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22, near Palm and Commonwealth. Two pedestrians riding an electric scooter were struck. Hemet Police Communications received several 911 calls. Witnesses said the vehicle fled and gave a description and a direction of travel.

Officers found both pedestrians unresponsive in the roadway and rendered aid until medical personnel took over. Both were taken to a local hospital. One was pronounced dead. Police are still withholding the identity of the deceased pending family notification.

The driver later returned to the scene and was taken into custody, Hemet police said. The department’s Traffic Bureau assumed the investigation. Preliminary information from police is that the pedestrians were riding an electric scooter on Palm Avenue when they were struck by a vehicle also traveling on Palm Avenue. Impaired driving appears to be a factor, the department said. The investigation is ongoing.

Palm Avenue was closed from Eaton to Commonwealth for several hours.

The sheriff’s roster lists Kohler with a date of birth of Sept. 26, 1994. He was arrested at 5:58 p.m. Sept. 22 by Hemet police at Palm Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue and booked at 2:17 a.m. Sept. 23 under case number 2026-07074, booking 202647135. He is listed at the John Benoit Detention Center. Bail is listed at $1,000,000 on the booking record (raw field 01000000). His next court date is listed as Sept. 28, 2026, at 8 a.m.

Kohler was booked on a felony murder charge under Penal Code 187(a); a felony hit-and-run involving death under Vehicle Code 20001(a); and a felony DUI causing bodily injury under Vehicle Code 23153(g), described on the roster as alcohol and drugs. Those are allegations on the booking record, not a conviction.

Anyone with information can contact Officer Jake Dominiguez at (951) 765-2400. The Hemet Police Department news release is at https://hemetpd.com/30159-2. The public booking record is on the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Inmate Information System at https://jimspub.riversidesheriff.org/jimsacucgi/servlet/servlet/isCobol(IISINFO)?bkno=202647135P.

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The inspection ran from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. Permit PR0062953 lists Fox Glen as the permit holder. No live or dead cockroach activity was observed. The report says the inspector walked the facility with the facility owner and the area supervisor for Dewey Pest Control, and that the facility has taken extensive measures to eliminate any activity and will continue with pest control measures to prevent any further issues.

The visit was a full facility inspection in response to complaint investigations CO2001154 and CO2001046. Inspections associated with those complaints are dated Sept. 3, Sept. 11 and Sept. 17, 2026, and the report says to see them for further detail.

A one-week surveillance recheck will be conducted by Sept. 29 to evaluate continued pest control measures. Two $199 reinspection invoices are due and must be paid by the due date, and copies were provided with the inspection report.

Minor deductions on the report make the 92. Empty paper-towel dispensers at the back kitchen handwash sink and the front bar handwash sink were 2 points. One point each went to a few unlabeled chemical spray bottles in the back chemical storage area; to a split door gasket on the keg walk-in refrigerator together with a deteriorated shelf cover at the main cooks line prep table; to grime and residue on the interior deflector shield of the ice machine; to a water leak from the bar area handwash sink faucet; to an inoperative toilet in the large stall of the Women’s restroom together with a missing toilet tank lid on the Men’s restroom large stall toilet; and to a gap in the ceiling panels in the far corner of the pizza prep area.

The county Power BI Closure List may still show an older Shooters Sports Bar & Grill row, and that list can lag the inspection file. The Sept. 22 report: https://weblink.rivcoeh.org/LFAPI/OpenDoc/432968.

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All five members were present for the Sept. 22 regular meeting: Mayor Linda Krupa, Males, and Council Members Connie Howard-Clark, Jaculin Peterson and Tom Lodge. These outcomes are from YouTube auto-captions. CivicWeb minutes were still unposted.

A qualifying individual single-family residence stays at $250, unchanged. Agricultural land is $500 per gross acre, and all other development is $900 per gross acre. Surface mining is separate. The fees take effect 60 days after adoption, under Government Code 66017. An annual CPI adjustment begins July 1, 2027.

Item 17.A was pulled from consent and voted on its own. The electronic tally was announced as four yes and one no. Males said he had voted no previously and wanted that recorded. The count was corrected on the record after an initial miscount, to four yes and one no. Krupa, Howard-Clark, Peterson and Lodge are the yeses by elimination from that announcement. The captions did not call the yes votes by name.

*Yes by elimination from the announced 4-1. Males was the no.

Items 17.B through 17.J, the rest of consent, then passed 5-0:

• 17.B — Ordinance 2083, commercial cannabis permit term, extension and renewal.
• 17.C — Transportation Uniform Mitigation Fee (TUMF) Warren Road Amendment No. 1 with the Western Riverside Council of Governments, CIP 2421, Esplanade to Simpson.
• 17.D — Medical side letters of about 1.8 percent for HMMA, HNSPEA, HGEA and HPMA. Staff total about $63,800.
• 17.E — $20,000 from Fire Measure U for Fire Station 3, CIP 5733, reversing $20,000 in DIF Fund 332.
• 17.F — One-year HFFA memorandum of understanding for fiscal year 2026-27. About $24,300 in medical impact in the staff table.
• 17.G — OTS 2027 STEP grant, $92,000.
• 17.H — Resolution supporting Proposition 1, with local-control language in the resolution.
• 17.I — Appointment of Rebecca Teague to Library Board Seat One through June 30, 2029.
• 17.J — Biennial conflict-of-interest notice.

The closed-session report was settlement direction, 5-0, on items 6.B, 6.C and 6.D. No reportable action was announced on item 6.G, the noticed city manager appointment. Before closed session, the council voted 4-1 to add Burgos v. Bordon Excavating, CVME260834. Lodge voted no.

On item 18.A, e-bikes, the council by consensus directed staff to draft along the suggested lines. No ordinance was introduced.

Meeting video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArHxdlndK1A. CivicWeb packet: https://hemetca.civicweb.net/document/241260. Meeting page: https://hemetca.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Id=6992.

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The board met Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. The Statement of Proceedings says ALL MEMBERS PRESENT. It marks the academy agreement APPROVED AS RECOMM., the document’s notation for approved as recommended. The Statement of Proceedings does not list named Ayes or Noes and does not print a roll-call tally.

Item 3.35, ID 31342, is the initiation of an amendment to Ordinance No. 663, the Stephens’ Kangaroo Rat mitigation fee. The item covers all districts. Cost listed is $10,000, 100% department budget. That one is also marked APPROVED AS RECOMM.

Change of Zone No. 2600012 and Ordinance No. 348.5056 were approved as recommended under item 3.36, ID 31360. The ordinance amends Ordinance No. 348 for additional residential accommodations in unincorporated territory countywide. The Statement of Proceedings lists ADUs, Junior ADUs, SB 9 units, and other housing types. The listed cost is $0.

Item 3.27, legal services with Cole Huber LLP, had been continued from Sept. 1. The agreement runs through June 30, 2031, up to an aggregate $3,300,000, paid entirely from the Sheriff’s budget. The Statement of Proceedings says a 4/5 vote was required. The mark is APPROVED AS RECOMM.

Resolution No. 2026-188, Teeter Plan Funding Notes 2026 Series A, was among the items pulled for discussion. Item 3.3 lists $378,385 in Teeter Note proceeds. It was still marked APPROVED AS RECOMM.

Closed session is recorded as NO REPORTABLE ACTION.

The Statement of Proceedings is attested by Karen Spiegel, Chair, and Kimberly A. Rector, Clerk of the Board.

Source: Statement of Proceedings, Sept. 15, 2026.

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The committee meets at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22, in the City Hall Board Room on the second floor, 445 E. Florida Ave. City Clerk Rosalia A. Butler’s affidavit of posting is dated Monday, Sept. 21, at 3:15 p.m.

Item 5.A is Staff Report #26-343, from Finance. Interim City Manager Noah Rau and Administrative Services Director Tiffany Barnett submitted it. The report asks the committee to receive a presentation on Police Department positions frozen in the adopted fiscal 2026-27 budget, and to review the estimated fiscal impact and the available balance in the Police portion of Measure U. Members are also asked to consider a recommendation to the City Council on using that balance to fund the positions for fiscal 2026-27.

No committee recommendation is in the packet

If the committee recommends Measure U funding, staff estimates a City Council appropriation for about seven months at approximately $759,000. The report treats that draw on fund balance as one-time money for fiscal 2026-27. Beginning in fiscal 2027-28, the cost would be about $1.301 million ongoing if all nine positions were filled for a full year.

As of July 1, 2026, the preliminary estimated fund balance in the Police portion of Measure U was approximately $13.0 million, according to the staff report. After estimated fiscal 2026-27 revenues and expenditures, a 20% reserve and continuing appropriations, the projected amount available at the end of the fiscal year is approximately $4.9 million. The table lists $4,900,000. After the $759,000 figure, the remainder is $4,141,000, which the narrative puts at approximately $4.1 million.

The special meeting page and the posted agenda packet, including Staff Report #26-343, are on the city’s civic web portal.

. Staff Report #26-343 says there is no fiscal impact directly associated with this discussion item. Any appropriation would be subject to City Council action.

Council direction, as laid out in the report, was to present the fiscal impact of unfreezing up to nine positions. The estimate is $108,400 a month, $1,301,000 a year:

• 1 temporary part-time civilian investigator: $2,800 a month, $34,000 a year
• 1 full-time community services officer: $6,600 a month, $79,000 a year
• 1 full-time outreach and engagement specialist: $9,750 a month, $117,000 a year
• 6 full-time police officers: $89,250 a month, $1,071,000 a year

The six officer positions are listed at $1,071,000 a year. The three civilian positions come to about $230,000.

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The CAD entries start about 1:54 a.m. Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. Units reported an unknown vehicle, a possible collision into the center divide, and a vehicle on fire. A reporting party told dispatch they saw the collision and did not see anyone leave the vehicle.

By 2:21 a.m., eastbound Florida Avenue at the intersection was shut down. At 2:24 a.m., CHP asked county roads to respond for a downed traffic signal and damaged light pole on the northeast corner of Florida, listed as pole No. 044717. At 2:41 a.m., CHP requested Caltrans for a hard closure.

At 3:37 a.m., the officer in charge asked the fire department to return and help the coroner with the vehicle. Budget Towing was contacted at 3:44 a.m. All lanes were reported open at 5:19 a.m., with the log noting a solo 1144 — CHP’s code for a fatal.

As of Monday morning, Riverside County Coroner CivicAlerts did not list a matching identification for this death. CHP asked anyone with information to call Officer R. San Nicolas at (951) 846-5300.

The Chronicle is not repeating secondary descriptions of the driver’s gender or vehicle make until those details appear in a CHP or coroner primary.

Sources

• CHP CAD reprint, Fatality State Route 74 / Mountain Ave, Sept. 18, 2026
• Riverside County Coroner CivicAlerts

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The Form 11 is Item 3.21 (ID 31240) from the Sheriff-Coroner-PA. A 4/5 vote is required. The subject line frames the grant for communities in the southwest corridor of the county, including cities in Districts 3 and 5. The body of the Form 11 names the Hemet Station as the applicant and operating unit.

The recommended motion asks the board to:

1. Ratify and accept the FY 2026-27 ABC-APP grant of $75,000 for July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027;
2. Adopt Resolution No. 2026-137 authorizing the sheriff and other authorized agents to accept the APP funding, execute grant documents, and administer the grant;
3. Ratify and approve State Standard Agreement 26-APP31 and authorize the sheriff or designee to execute that agreement and related grant documents, subject to County Counsel approval as to form; and
4. Approve a Schedule A budget adjustment and direct the Auditor-Controller to post it.

Cost is listed at $75,000 this fiscal year and $0 ongoing. Net county cost is $0. Funding is 100% state. A budget adjustment is requested. The CEO recommendation is approve.

In January 2026, ABC-APP released a request for proposals to sheriffs and police chiefs, the Form 11 says. The partnership’s stated purpose is to work with law enforcement on a practical, comprehensive, and strategic approach to crime and public-nuisance problems tied to problem alcoholic beverage outlets. The Sheriff’s Office previously received a $75,000 award that the board approved Aug. 27, 2024 (Minute Order 3.71); the Form 11 dates that prior state award to May 17, 2024.

Hemet Station applied March 27, 2026. ABC-APP awarded $75,000 on June 2, 2026.

Staff says Hemet Station will use the money to prevent, educate, and enforce underage drinking laws and respond to underage alcohol-related incidents in Valle Vista, Sage, Pinyon Pines, Pine Cove, Mountain Center, Idyllwild, Anza, and Aguanga, including several unincorporated communities. The station will also patrol unincorporated areas around Hemet and San Jacinto.

Grant overtime would cover ABC meetings aimed at identifying disruptive licensed premises, plus licensee training at local stations. Enforcement tools named in the Form 11 include Minor Decoys, Shoulder Tap programs, and Informed Merchants Preventing Alcohol-Related Crime (IMPACT) inspections. Staff’s stated primary goals are reducing alcohol-related crime, reducing injuries and deaths in alcohol-related collisions, and reducing alcohol availability to minors.

The project would be staffed by a sergeant, a corporal as project coordinator, deputy sheriffs, and a community service officer.

The Sheriff’s Office did not put the project in the FY 26/27 budget, so Schedule A adds $75,000 in appropriations and matching estimated revenue under CA — Other Operating Grants. Line items: overtime salaries $65,084; other budgeted benefits $4,916; conference/registration $650; lodging $1,100; air transportation $650; rental vehicles $300; meals $300; field equipment-non assets $2,000. No additional county general funds are required, the Form 11 says.

Attachments listed are the ABC grant award letter, Standard Agreement 26-APP31, Resolution No. 2026-137, and Schedule A.

Sources

• Board of Supervisors meeting 3373, Sept. 22, 2026
• Form 11, Item 3.21 / ID 31240

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The Form 11 is Item 3.4 (ID 31422) from Board of Supervisors District 3. It needs a 4/5 vote. The recommended motion asks the board to approve the Third District UCI project and direct the Executive Office to pay $468,800 from the Unincorporated Communities Initiative Fund to TLMA/Transportation.

The financial table lists cost and net county cost at $468,800 for the current fiscal year, $0 next year, $468,800 total, and $0 ongoing. The source is listed as 100% UCI District 3 Fund 11250. No budget adjustment is requested. The fiscal year is 26/27.

The motion and cost table use $468,800. In the background narrative, the same Form 11 says "$468,000 of the remaining $2,890,000 of FY26/27 available UCI funding for the Third District" would go to Winchester Line A channel improvements from Olive Avenue to the Salt Creek Channel "to provide regional flood protection to the planned regional park and the surrounding area." County Transportation would lead the construction contract for the portion funded by the allocation, with additional funding from the Flood Control District.

Winchester Line A is identified as a regional drainage channel in the Winchester Hills Community Facilities District Master Drainage Plan, approved in March 2006, according to the Form 11. Transportation would design and build the portion that spans county right of way and county property that "will ultimately become the Winchester Hills Sports Park."

When built, the Form 11 says, the channel would provide regional flood protection to the Winchester area, serve as an outlet for future drainage improvements as development continues to the north, and drain the future sports park. Staff also says the project would provide flood protection to the regional park site and recreational opportunities for Winchester residents.

The Form 11 recounts the UCI program's start: the board directed the Executive Office to implement it on Nov. 17, 2020; a framework came Dec. 15, 2020; staff held 15 community meetings through March 31, 2021; and a needs assessment went to the board May 25, 2021. On June 13, 2026, the board adopted the FY26/27 budget with $15 million in NCC General Funds for the Unincorporated Communities Fund, split evenly among the five districts.

Sources

• Board of Supervisors meeting 3373, Sept. 22, 2026
• Form 11, Item 3.4 / ID 31422

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