“The differences (from year-to-year) were subtle,” UC Riverside School of Public Policy Dean Mark Long told the board Tuesday. “Infrastructure was a little bit more emphasized this year than last. I didn’t come away with any surprise. These surveys are useful information, but I wouldn’t take them as purely what you should do as supervisors.”

Long, as well as two graduate students — Andres Gugig and Esther Mejia — were retained by the county Executive Office to conduct the 2026-27 Community Budget Priorities Survey over the winter. The online polls took place ahead of a series of community workshops held in each of the five supervisorial districts.

The surveys taken during the workshops provided only a very small sampling of opinion, while the online questionnaires received wide participation, with a total 26,543 respondents, according to documents posted to the board’s agenda Tuesday.

It was the second year the county commissioned a countywide survey. The previous one, completed in winter 2025, reflected that the highest level of interest was in public safety.

While the latter slipped into second place this year, it was a marginal difference from public works, which landed a 64% rating among all respondents, compared to 60% for public safety.

The other priorities were healthcare at 53%, human services at 49%, government finance at 23% and “internal services” — the public sector’s inter-agency operations — at 4%.

The survey team said “key words” were the determinants of how to classify respondents’ answers to the online questionnaires. For public works, terms such as “road maintenance” and “pothole repairs” were what amplified understanding of residents’ priorities, according to the team.

“People could write whatever they wanted,” Gugig told the board. “But I think if it was things that affect them on a daily basis, that’s what they wrote about.”

The team said poorly lit and damaged streets, or corridors where flooding is an issue, would push a higher number of responses into the public works category.

The Second District’s residents responded at the highest level, with just under 7,000 respondents to the survey. The district encompasses Canyon Lake, Corona, Eastvale, Jurupa Valley, Lake Elsinore, Temescal Valley and multiple other communities.

The lowest response rate was in the Fifth District, where there were 4,435 respondents. The district includes Banning, Beaumont, Calimesa, Hemet, Moreno Valley and San Jacinto. Most of the survey takers were English speakers, though 599 responses were exclusively in Spanish.

One Fifth District resident and a frequent commentator on county business, Roy Bleckert, told the board the survey results should speak less to what the supervisors should do and more of what they should refrain from doing.

“Practically everything that comes through here, as you grow the government monster bigger, makes the lives of everyone in Riverside County harder,” Bleckert said. “The more you spend, the worse everything becomes. When do you start to drop, like Sweden did, the influence of government and empower the people you serve?”

Another speaker, Veronica Langworthy of the Third District, touched on a similar topic, saying the results reflected how the board can make people’s lives better by reducing government red tape.

“If you can drop fees to adopt animals from county shelters, how about dropping fees for humans?” she said. “It’s impossible for people to house because of the fees from government on property.”

Supervisor Jose Medina said he found the results “helpful as we look at the budget decisions we make and the priorities we set.”

The entire survey can be found at rivco.gov/budget.

The post 26,543 Riverside County Residents Tell Leaders How Budget Should Be Spent appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Public opinions in 24 countries — mostly rich nations — have grown more favorable of the United States than of China, according to the latest survey by the Washington-based Pew Research Center.

The gap in favorability of the world’s two largest economies widened after views of the U.S. rebounded since President Joe Biden took office in 2021, the report found. Favorable views of both countries fell in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, but the ratings for China remained low during the latest survey, the Pew center said, “leading to some of the largest gaps in these views we have seen in our polling.”

The report, released Monday, comes as the two countries are intensely competing for global influence. President Xi Jinping wants China to be respected and trusted around the world, while Biden has made it a priority to mend relationships with U.S. allies.

“This year, overall views of the United States are much more positive than views of China in most places surveyed,” the report said. “But this has not always been the case in our nearly two decades of favorability polling, and views of the countries have fluctuated alongside views of their leaders.”

The 2019 survey recorded a median of 55% across 22 countries showing favorable views of the U.S., compared to a median of 39% of China.

In 2020, when Pew conducted surveys in a much smaller set of countries because of the pandemic, medians of 38% and 25% had favorable views of the U.S. and China, respectively. Of the same countries in 2023, medians of 58% and 21% had positive views of the U.S. and China, respectively. Medians are only of the 10 countries surveyed in both years, exclusive of the U.S. and Australia, Pew’s research analysts said.

In the latest survey, the gaps were most significant in Poland, Japan and South Korea, where more than 70% of the respondents rated the U.S. positively, compared with fewer than 30% who viewed China favorably, said Pew, which conducted nationally representative surveys in 24 countries in 2023.

Japan and South Korea, neighbors of China, have had a historically tense relationship with each other. In a diplomatic breakthrough, Biden held a trilateral summit with Japan’s prime minister and South Korea’s president at Camp David in August, hailed by supporters as forging a strong partnership countering China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

The differences in favorable public opinions of the U.S. and China narrowed in middle-income countries such as Indonesia, South Africa and Mexico, and China overtook the U.S. in favorability in Nigeria, where both countries were highly favored, the report said.

Middle-income countries accounted for about one third of the countries surveyed by Pew, and no low-income country was included in the latest study.

The center said it was unable to conduct in-person surveys in less developed countries during the pandemic but planned to gauge public opinions in those countries when travel becomes easier. “In the months ahead, we intend to continue expanding our country coverage to a more economically and geographically diverse set of countries,” said Laura Clancy, a research analyst at Pew.

In China, the leadership has touted that the country has gained more friends and that friendships have become stronger around the world, typically among developing nations. Beijing’s massive global infrastructure building scheme, known as the Belt and Road Initiative, is credited with bringing economic benefits to foreign countries and winning friends for Beijing, according to China’s state media, contrary to Western criticism that those projects could saddle host countries with debt and harm the environment.

The views of the U.S. have shifted over time alongside changes to the presidency, Clancy said.

In 2023, a median of 56% across 22 countries had confidence in Biden, compared to 19% in Xi. In 2019, medians of the same 22 countries having confidence Donald Trump, then the U.S. president, and Xi were 31% and 28%, respectively.

In the latest survey, 83% people in Poland expressed confidence in Biden, compared to 8% in Xi, registering the widest gap of 75 percentage points, the report said. The spread was at least 50 points in countries such as Germany, Japan and Sweden. The gap narrowed in middle-income countries, but still more had more confidence in Biden and Xi, the report said.

“These gaps in views of the American and Chinese leaders reflect both souring attitudes toward Xi in high-income countries and greater confidence in Biden – particularly compared with his predecessor, Donald Trump,” the report said.

In 2007, the gaps between the U.S. and China in terms of likeability were narrower under different leaders in both countries.

Then, a median of 53% across 15 countries reported favorable views of the U.S., compared to a median of 43% with favorable views of China. In 2023, medians of 59% and 27% across the same countries had favorable views of the U.S. and of China, respectively, according to Pew.

That was near the end of the George W. Bush presidency in 2007, when confidence in Bush was limited, and China’s then-President Hu Jintao received more positive ratings, the center said.

In other results, the Pew polls have found:

— The surveyed countries were more likely to see the U.S. as interfering in the affairs of other countries than China.

— Most countries said the U.S. accounted for their country’s interests more so than China. Israel led the pack with a 65-percentage-point difference.

— The U.S. got higher marks than China for contributing to global peace and stability. The difference was greatest in Japan, where 79% said the U.S. contributed at least a fair amount to international stability, compared to 14% who said the same of China.

— Most considered the U.S. to be the leading economy. In South Korean, 83% of the respondents said the U.S. was the world’s leading economic power, compared to only 8% who said China was the leading power. Italy was on the other end of the spectrum, with 55% of the respondents said China was the leading economy, compared to 31% who would give that title to the U.S.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post A new survey of wealthy nations finds favorable views rising for the US while declining for China appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

While posturing as a champion of American freedom during his tour of Southern states this past spring, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) left out that part about how his own administration is attempting to force an expensive climate agenda onto a public that really just does not want it.

In fact, news coverage of Newsom’s visits to Florida, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama suggest that he steered clear of energy policy altogether while lecturing his fellow governors about what he describes as the “authoritarian” tendencies of certain other governors who are running for president.

That might be because the average citizens whom Newsom claims to represent reject his climate schemes and the government mandates that go with them, at least when they are asked clear questions.

Two free-market advocacy organizations — the American Energy Alliance and the Maryland-based Committee to Unleash Prosperity — released a straightforward survey of 1,000 likely voters last month. It showed that, by a wide margin, respondents favored affordable energy over climate policies that raise energy costs and limit consumer choices.

When voters were asked the open-ended question of what the “most pressing issue” is facing the U.S., climate change barely registered. Most people were chiefly concerned about practical questions, such as inflation and the economy.

The survey also asked voters to indicate if they agreed or disagreed with a series of statements concerning energy policy. Sixty-five percent disagreed with the position that “the federal government should impose a tax on carbon dioxide emissions collected at the gas pump and in heating and utility bills.”

Seventy percent disagreed with the statement that they “trust the federal government to decide what kind of cars should be subsidized or mandated.”

And an astounding 82 percent disagreed with the statement that “The state of California should be able to determine what kind of cars can be sold in other states.” Newsom’s position — one long-held by liberals in Washington — is that California can and should leverage its position as the nation’s largest state market, circumventing the federal government and the other 49 states’ democratic processes to do precisely that.

Respondents appeared to be attuned to the real word ramifications of California’s energy policy. The state consistently ranks among the highest in terms of electricity costs, with the average residential electricity rate more than 70 percent higher than the national average. Recent figures from AAA, the national auto club, also show that California average gas price of $4.836 significantly outpaces the national average.

California also has a recent history of power outages that might suggest a course change is in order. Newsom has insisted, unconvincingly and with lots of ad hominem rhetoric, that his pursuit of green energy is not to blame for the blackouts.

The blackouts have already begun to interfere with the state’s aggressive electric vehicle mandate, which bans the sale of non-electric vehicles by 2035. Automakers are already preparing for the financial fallout. Chrysler’s parent outfit, Stellantis, the maker of Jeeps, plans to curtail shipments of gasoline-powered cars to states that adopt California’s emissions rules. California is also leaning on the Biden administration to impose its electric vehicle mandates across the country.

This probably won’t play well politically, as the AEA survey results show that consumers are practical. They want affordable cars and energy. They are skeptical about government climate initiatives that will affect their transportation. This message should help wavering Republican lawmakers resist the easy path of giving in to the demands of environmental extremists.

Asked “who should make decisions about what kind of cars you should be able to buy,” 80 percent of respondents in the AEA survey said that consumers should decide for themselves. Only 8 percent said the federal government should decide for them.

As a follow-up, it would be interesting to learn how the percentages might break down if voters are asked whether Newsom, as a potential presidential candidate, should be permitted to decide what sort of cars, stoves, leaf blowers, air conditioners etc. they should be permitted to buy.

Perhaps Newsom could be asked about this during his next trip to Red State America. After all, wasn’t he saying something about freedom and the dangers of authoritarianism?

DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various author’s articles on this Opinion piece or elsewhere online or in the newspaper where we have articles with the header “COLUMN/EDITORIAL & OPINION” do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints or official policies of the Publisher, Editor, Reporters or anybody else in the Staff of the Hemet and San Jacinto Chronicle Newspaper.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Survey shows that voters want affordable energy, not California climate politics appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve will make only modest progress in its fight against inflation for the rest of this year, even while keeping its benchmark interest rate at a 16-year high, a group of business economists predict in a survey released Monday.

The National Association for Business Economics’ survey of 45 economists found that the median forecast is for inflation to average 4.2% this year, up from a 3.9% forecast in the group’s previous survey in February. That is far above the Fed’s inflation target of 2%.

The findings reflect a survey of economists from businesses, trade associations and academia.

The persistence of high inflation is likely the main reason the business economists expect the Fed to keep its key rate at its current level of roughly 5.1%, its highest point in 16 years. That is a quarter-point above the estimate from the NABE’s February survey and is a sign that the economists don’t expect the Fed to cut rates later this year, in contrast to many Wall Street investors who have priced in rate cuts.

Fed officials agreed to raise their key rate to that level when they met earlier this month. On Friday, though, Chair Jerome Powell signaled that the central bank will now likely pause its rate hike campaign. The Fed’s 10 rate increases since March 2022 have led mortgage rates to nearly double, elevated the costs of auto loans, credit card borrowing and business loans and heightened the risk of a recession.

The business economists expect the U.S. economy to grow a mediocre 1.2% this year, though that would be higher than the 0.8% growth they predicted in the NABE’s February survey.

At the same time, nearly three-fifths of the survey respondents say the economy will probably fall into a recession over the next 12 months. Most of those who expect a recession expect it to begin this year.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Survey of economists: Inflation will stay high this year, and so will Fed’s key interest rate appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

U.S. News & World Report, L.P | Contributed

A new national survey from U.S. News & World Report’s 360 Reviews finds four in five Americans (81%) have adjusted their spending due to inflation, and 84% indicate they worry about the impact of inflation on this year’s holiday shopping season.

To better understand the impact of inflation on consumer money-saving and purchasing habits, U.S. News used a third-party survey platform to poll 2,000 U.S. adults. It asked U.S. respondents about their coupon habits, 2022 holiday shopping plans, and more. Survey responses were weighted in order to be representative of the U.S. population.

“Our latest survey makes it clear Americans are flocking to digital coupons and similar digital money-saving tools because of inflation’s impact to their wallets,” said Alexandra Kelly, senior editor, 360 Deals. Kelly adds, “And they seem to be helping. In fact, an overwhelming 91% of U.S. consumers who use coupon sites, apps, and/or browser extensions report having saved money because of these digital resources — and half of Americans (51%) say they definitely plan to use digital coupons and similar online money-saving tools to help with their holiday shopping this year.”

Additional survey highlights include:

• More than half of Americans (58%) look for coupons at least once a week.

• Three in four Americans (76%) have searched for digital coupons while grocery shopping.

• American consumers most prefer online shopping on Black Friday, followed by Amazon Prime Day, which trumped Cyber Monday.

• Half of Americans (51%) follow couponing blogs and social media accounts.

To access the full survey findings, visit:

https://www.usnews.com/articles/online-shopping-coupon-habits-survey

About U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report is the global leader in quality rankings that empower consumers, business leaders and policy officials to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives and communities. A multifaceted digital media company with Education, Health, Money, Travel, Cars, News and 360 Reviews platforms, U.S. News provides rankings, independent reporting, data journalism, consumer advice and U.S. News Live events. More than 40 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post U.S. News 360 Reviews Survey Reveals Americans Have Adjusted Spending Due to Inflation, Are Worried About Inflation’s Impact on Holiday Season Ahead appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

A multinational survey of healthcare providers in the Americas found high rates of depression and suicidal ideation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Less than one third of those who said they needed psychological care received it.

The COVID-19 HEalth caRe wOrkErs Study (HEROES) Regional Report from the Americas is available at the website of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), which co-led the study with Columbia University and the University of Chile. Ezra Susser, professor of epidemiology and psychiatry at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health and New York State Psychiatric Institute, Franco Mascayano, a PhD student of epidemiology at Columbia Mailman, and Ruben Alvarado, a professor at the University of Chile launched HEROES in 2020. Dozens of institutions collaborated across the globe: this report pertains to those in Latin America. 

A survey of 14,502 health care workers in 11 countries and territories (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela) found that between 15 and 22 percent of health care workers presented symptoms that led to suspicion of a depressive episode, with Chile accounting for the highest rate. The figures for suicidal ideation ranged between 5 and 15 percent of respondents, with the highest rates in Chile and Bolivia. Data data collection was done between July 2020 and May 2021.

The most important risk factors included the need for emotional and economic support, concern about infecting family members, conflicts with family members of infected persons, and changes in usual job duties. The most important protective factors were trusting that the health care institution and the government could handle the pandemic, having children under 18, having the support of coworkers, and considering oneself a spiritual or religious person.

The HEROES report finds no evidence of specific mental health policies developed by Latin American governments in the participating countries. Policy analysis was carried out by the Ibero-American Network of Health Studies and Public Policies (RESPI), formed by members of HEROES and collaborators.

The report recommends the creation of healthcare policies for the mental health, particularly for health care workers, including caregivers. The authors write that early detection of mental illness is key, and support for health teams is needed within and beyond the workplace, including reducing barriers to access, such as privacy concerns.

The International Network of Mental Health Care Practices and Experiences (RIPEC-SM), currently comprised of representatives of universities, social organizations, State institutions, and trade unions is highlighting and sharing practices, experiences, and resources for mental health care online.

The report concludes: “Protecting the mental health of health teams should be an important component of countries’ strategies for dealing with the post-pandemic period, in which health care providers will continue to play a key role in addressing delayed care and physical and psychosocial rehabilitation needs.”

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Survey Finds High Rates of Depression Among Latin American Health Care Providers appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

The survey will be online until March 31 and is also available in Spanish. The results will focus on underserved areas to prioritize projects and services for future budget cycles, starting with the next fiscal year budget that begins on July 1. “Some of our most underserved communities are those areas that fall within the jurisdiction of the county for their most basic of services,” said Supervisor Kevin Jeffries, First District.

“We have an opportunity to make changes that can greatly impact the daily lives of our residents. It’s our duty to hear from them about what the greatest needs truly are and prioritize those projects for funding.” An unincorporated area is a geographic community that is not within the jurisdictional boundaries of a city, and as a result, is governed at the county level.

The types of services and needs that will be prioritized will be those that improve quality of life for residents and could range from improved utilities and roads to social services and public protection.

For more information and to take the online survey, visit https://rivco.org/community/unincorporated-communities-initiative.

Brooke Federico • Contributed

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post County launches survey to hear from residents living in unincorporated areas on needed services, programs appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

NEW YORK (AP) — Black Americans attend church more regularly than Americans overall, and pray more often. Most attend churches that are predominantly Black, yet many would like those congregations to become racially diverse. There is broad respect for Black churches’ historical role in seeking racial equality, coupled with a widespread perception they have lost influence in recent decades.

Those are among the key findings in a comprehensive report released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center, which surveyed 8,660 Black adults across the United States about their religious experiences. It is Pew’s first large-scale survey on the topic.

Among Black adults who go to religious services, 60% attend churches where the senior clergy and most or all of the congregation are Black, Pew found. It said 25% are part of multiracial congregations, and 13% are part of congregations that are predominantly white or another ethnicity.

Pew said patterns of worship are shifting across generations: Younger Black adults, born since 1980, attend church less often than their elders, and those who attend are less likely to do so in a predominantly Black congregation.

Among 30 Black pastors and religious leaders interviewed by Pew, some predicted further shrinkage of predominantly Black churches and an increase in multiracial congregations.

“I don’t think there should be a Black Church,” said Dr. Clyde Posley Jr. of Antioch Baptist Church in Indianapolis. “There isn’t a Black heaven and a white heaven. … A proper church will one day eschew the label of Black Church and be a universal church.”

The survey found that 66% of Black Americans are Protestant, 6% are Catholic and 3% identify with other Christian faiths — mostly Jehovah’s Witnesses. Another 3% belong to Islam or other non-Christian faiths,

Some 21% are not affiliated with any religion and instead identify as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.” Black Americans born since 1980 are far more likely to be among the unaffiliated.

Survey responses were collected from November 2019 through June 2020, but most respondents completed the survey by Feb. 10, 2020, before the coronavirus outbreak and the racial-injustice protests that spread after the death of George Floyd in May at the hands of Minneapolis police.

Among the respondents, 77% said predominantly Black churches had played a role in helping Black people move toward racial equality. Yet just one third said historically Black congregations should preserve their traditional character; 61% said these congregations should become more racially diverse.

Nearly half of respondents said Black churches are less influential today than 50 years ago.

Among the clergy interviewed by Pew, some said too few Black pastors have been on the front lines of recent struggles against racism.

“When you look at Black Lives Matter, this is the first time that there has been any political uprising and the church isn’t spearheading it,” said the Rev. Harvey L. Vaughn III, senior pastor of Bethel AME Church in San Diego.

“We’re not as bold and courageous as we used to be,” said the Rev. Sandra Reed of St. Mark AME Zion Church in Newtown, Pennsylvania. “I have to say, I’m somewhat ashamed of that, because the AME Zion Church is known as the Freedom Church that was at the forefront of addressing all the ills of America, and we sort of lost that.”

The survey indicates that congregants at Black Protestant churches are more likely to hear preaching about race relations and criminal justice reform than those attending multiracial or white churches.

Black Protestants, meanwhile, are less likely than U.S. Protestants overall to hear sermons on abortion. Pew found 68% of Black adults said abortion should be allowed in most or all cases — compared with 59% of all U.S. adults.

Pew also posed some survey questions to 4,574 Americans who do not identify as Black, to provide comparisons.

Asked whether religion is very important in their lives, 59% of Black respondents said yes, next to 40% of all U.S. adults. Asked if they prayed daily, 63% of Black respondents said yes, compared with 44% overall.

According to a recent national study cited by Pew, women make up only 16% of religious leaders at Black Protestant churches. Pew’s survey found that 85% of respondents favored allowing women to serve as senior leaders of congregations, however.

Pew said the survey’s margin of error, for the full number of respondents, was plus or minus 1.5 percentage points.

Black pastors and worshippers in predominantly white or multiracial denominations, face a number of contemporary race-related issues.

Some Black pastors have left the predominantly white Southern Baptist Convention in dismay over decisions by white leaders that they view as downplaying the problem of systemic racism.

In the Episcopal Church and some other mainline Protestant denominations, there are reparations initiatives aimed at making amends for past involvement in slavery and the mistreatment of Black and Indigenous people.

And many Black Catholics have urged leaders of their church to be more forceful in combating racism. Some have asked the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to consider reparations and promote the teaching of Black Catholic history in Catholic schools.

“We still don’t have the church taking a necessary stand against systemic racism,” Tia Noelle Pratt, a sociologist who has studied racism in the U.S. Catholic church and an adviser on Pew’s survey, told The Associated Press via email. “This means acknowledging the white supremacy that exists in the church and ways white church leaders and white members of the faithful benefit from it.”

The Rev. Mario Powell, a Black priest who heads a Jesuit middle school in Brooklyn, said Catholic clergy need to preach more often against racism and speak out against some of their colleagues “who brazenly post white nationalist ideology online.”

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Survey: Black Americans attend church and pray more often appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.