Inland Empire

Just when you think you’ve seen and heard everything, something pops up out of nowhere to prove you wrong. That happened to me when I talked to a young man Monday afternoon, a senior graduating from Tahquitz High School in Hemet. His name is Adrien Hanes, an eighteen-year-old from Hemet.

With the Westcoast Wrestling Company bringing the sport to The Wheelhouse, the Florida/Sanderson area is beginning to look like the entertainment center of Hemet and the San Jacinto Valley. The AMF Bowling Lanes and Derby Wheelhouse seem to provide the most of it. Upscale restaurants abound from Appleby’s to Steer and Stein and those in between. I will always go where the action is, east, west, north or south.

Today, Governor Gavin Newsom announced a series of initiatives building on the state’s work to vaccinate California’s hard-to-reach communities against COVID-19, address vaccine hesitancy and drive innovative efforts in the communities hardest hit by the pandemic. New efforts focus on direct appointment assistance; community outreach including neighborhood canvassing, phone banking and text banking; at-home vaccinations and transportation services; and an additional $33 million in funding, bringing the total to $85.7 million, to support community-based organizations.

Music blares from a boom box, as Dan Melendez works in the lobby of Historic Hemet Theater (HHT) to finish the work that consumed his last year. Finding himself a man alone with his art through the Covid-19 lockdowns, his art deco details and large murals speak of his talent.

A convicted child rapist who killed two 6-year-old boys in Southern California in the 1980s was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.