Archive for August 2009
Jaycee Lee Dugard: A Riverside Connection
An incredible story began to unfold yesterday when a woman who had been missing for 18 years walked into a Contra Costa County police station and identified herself as Jaycee Lee Dugard. Dugard was abducted as a child in 1991, on her way to school in South Lake Tahoe. Her mother and step-father, Terry and Carl Probyn, are believed to live in Riverside, where her mother may work at Miller Middle School near Woodcrest. PE is asking for information from people that know the Probyns and have comments about the story. At this time, Mrs. Probyn is flying to Northern California to meet with Jaycee. More to follow.
Swine Flu Watch 2009 Continued
Just when you thought it was over, two more H1N1 related deaths were reported in San Bernardino county. The victims were a 50 year old female and a male in his 20s, both with other medical issues. This makes five H1N1 related deaths in San Bernardino County since the outbreak. Riverside has had one case so far.
Follow the Swine Flu on Twitter (seriously the CDC has a Twitter). Follow Riversideliving on Twitter too.
Local Weekend Events: 8.21 – 8.23.09
Friday, 8.21:
Ready for Vegas and burlesque by Kitten DeVille at Liam’s in Colton.
Wynonna Judd is at Soboba Friday night. Check out a recent interview with the PE.
Local music: Fur Traders (Classic Rock $6 cover) @ Lake Alice;
Saturday, 8.22:
The Ultimate Jazz Festival at Fairmount Park. This is a two day event from noon – 9pm on Saturday and noon – 7pm on Sunday. Check out the website: The Ultimate Jazz Festival for details. Get your tickets ahead of time. A two day pass is only $80 and supports “Jazz to be Green is a non-profit public benefit corporation that promotes awareness of Energy Efficiency, Green Environment, & Green Jobs, all through the art of jazz.”
For another type of music, check out the Kosmic Fest at the Hudson & Gotham in SB. 30 DJ’s. Tickets available at GrooveTickets.
JamBernardino in Highland at 7pm. Check out their site for more info: jambernardino.com
Local music: Atomic Punks – A Tribute to Van Halen @ Romanos; Roughhouse @ Lake Alice
Sunday, 8.23:
Check out day 2 of the Ultimate Jazz Festival at Fairmount. Go green and go jazz.
Gus Jr. Car Show at 18661 Van Buren. 3:00 – 6:00 pm. Prizes, discounts and cars!
Local music: Sensual Seduction club @ Incahoots
What are you and your group or band doing this weekend? Let me know!!!
links for 2009-08-18
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RIVERSIDE, Calif.—A Los Angeles man who spent 26 years in prison for his mother's murder before a judge overturned his conviction has made his first court appearance since his release on bail.
links for 2009-08-17
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According to Caltrans, the loop transition from Interstate 15 to the eastbound Pomona (60) Freeway and the connector bridge between the eastbound 60 and northbound I-15 will be closed for nightly maintenance work between today and Friday.
Old Friends & Good Tunes This Sat at The Plaza
Don’t miss renowned artists, and local cats, Ralph Torres and Mike Geoghegan, this month at the Riverside Plaza.
Stolen verbatim from Mr. Torres bio:
Ralph Torres — songwriter/vocalist/keyboardist — is the purveyor of a distinguished brand of power pop with songs suspended on irresistible hooks, kinetic grooves and meticulously memorable choruses.
A native of the Inland Empire, Torres is well-known to Southern California audiences through his history with bands including ska/reggae favorites, The Sedans, and a subsequent chain of original pop and acoustic projects. In the late Nineties he founded (actual size), a duo whose solid songwriting and energetic performances won them resounding accolades, opening slots for The Eagles and Linda Ronstadt, and a nomination for the National Academy of Songwriters Acoustic Group of the Year.
Following the group’s dissolution, Torres, a multi-disciplinary artist who includes web design and photography among his talents — retreated to write songs and reconfigure his musical future. An avid student of popular culture, his mastery of on-line media connected him to music makers worldwide. He was invited to participate in Music Bridges, a confab of international hit songwriters, in Goslar, Germany along with U.S. representatives including Motown legend, Lamont Dozier. In a 500 year-old hotel, Torres collaborated and produced songs, and was ultimately featured in a sold-out concert at the World’s Fair.
Returning stateside, he resumed work on a long-anticipated solo project and pledged his efforts to the Southern California and Inland Empire Songwriters Associations. Through these organizations, Torres met recording artist John McGill, with whom he now partners in select venues in a duo, Mostly Harmless, performing material by both artists as well as new songs the duo are writing in tandem.
Solo, in a duo, or fronting a rocking band, Ralph Torres’ calling card is his enthusiasm. Clearly not a shy guy or reticent performer, his masterful songwriting — divined from his thesaurus of influences and sung with a fiery conviction — illuminates a prime pop sensibility with joyous electricity.
Follow Ralph on Twitter. Follow Riversideliving while you’re at it.
20th Annual Stater Brothers Route 66 Rendezvous
20 years? Wow that’s a long time so they must be doing something right!
If you love cars, music and historical Route 66, make sure you mark your calendars NOW for the 20th annual Route 66 Rendezvous September 17th – 20th. There will be contests, cars and music from surf to rock to rockabilly. Something for everyone.
For more details than I can list here, check out their page at http://www.route-66.org/
Ready for Vegas AND Ms. Kitten DeVille
This Friday, 8.21, the band Ready for Vegas has a show at Liam’s in Colton. Along with the other bands Standard & Poor, Dirty Black Summer and Hypno Raygun, there will be burlesque with none other than Kitten herself (ya goin’ Morgan?).
Best of I.E. Survey – from IE Weekly
Favorite restaurant? Favorite local band or venue? Let your voice be heard and fill out the slightly long but useful IE Weekly poll called Best of I.E. by September 7th. The results will be published in the October 1st issue. Hey, they have a spot for Best Blog *hint hint*.
The survey link is http://www.ieweekly.com/cms/story/detail/best_of_ie_2009_survey/2517/
The 48 Hour Film Project: IE
What a cool idea! The 48 Hour Film Project gave local filmmakers 48 hours to record and edit a film to submit to the project. The theme for this project, which was filmed last weekend in the IE, was a Western. Filmmakers had to include certain elements and film here in the IE, then submit their entries by August 9th. Premieres were last night and tonight (August 12th & 13) at Ultra Star University.
Check Here First: What Offices Are Open on Fridays in Riverside County
Want to know what local government offices are closed on Fridays? Riverside County has put together a web page and a master list of office hours for all agencies.
Get on it! You don’t want to be left without something until Monday.
Are You Ready For Furlough Fridays?
It was announced to Riverside County employees and the public last week that most County offices will now be closed every Friday. As management and SEIU represented employees were asked to furlough about 8 – 9 hours a pay period, other labor unions, including mine which is LIUNA, asked their represented employees to move to a 4/10 schedule. To accomodate all of these changes, we will be working Monday through Thursday for 10 hours (unless management or SEIU) and have every Friday off. Closures will not affect public safety, medical and some 24 hour programs.
This begins this Friday, August 14th and will go on indefinitely. To see what offices and departments are affected, the Riverside County portal is devoid of that information for the moment. I’m sure something is forthcoming (?). Don’t let this catch you unaware. If you have County business, get it done Wednesday or Thursday.
More to come.
Local and Independent Riverside
Let me take a moment to plug a Riversidecentric podcast and web page IE with Ralph & Tim. They are two local guys who grew up here in the IE and care very much about the place and the people here. And they like beer. Please check out their ideas about supporting local businesses and making things work from the inside out. Recommended!
Broadway In Riverside
Are you ready for the Inaugural Season of The Fox Performing Arts Center? Driving past the Fox every day, from the outside it doesn’t appear as though much is going on. Inside, the original interior paint is being restored and the whole place is being restored to its 1929 grandeur. Sounds swell.
There are already several big performances planned for 2010. Annie in February; Jesus Christ Superstar in March and April, and Hairspray in April to start. If you check out the various season ticket plans, the prices are reasonable if you are expecting a great show. For example, you and a friend could see all of the above shows plus two more for about 170.00. I’d love to see Annie again. I haven’t seen it since the whole Annie/Andrea McArdle craze when I was in 5th grade. Its about time.
RiversideCALiving.com 