Tuesday Gazette: August 11, 2026
Hello Riverside, and Happy Tuesday! We're putting together a comprehensive Civic Engagement Guide to help make sense of how local government actually works, and we want your help shaping it.
Is there a part of how the city operates that never quite made sense, no matter how many meetings you've sat through? A process you've wondered about but never found a clear answer to? A question you've been holding onto, waiting for the right moment to ask?
Send it our way at newsroom@raincrossgazette.com. We'll use what you share to shape the guide around the questions Riverside actually has.
Here's what else is happening around town...
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CITY HALL
Land Use Committee Eyes Crackdown on Pallet Yards Following Fire, Code Violations
Staff outlined three options, from no changes to a citywide ban, as officials weigh fire safety and enforcement concerns.
Riverside could ban or tightly regulate pallet storage yards after a fire sent three firefighters to the hospital.
Why it matters: If you own or operate a pallet yard, new rules could require conditional permits, fire suppression standards and screening — or ban the use in your area entirely.
Driving the news: The Land Use Committee directed city staff Monday to draft detailed regulations for pallet storage yards, citing repeated fire and code violations.
- A March fire at a Northside pallet yard damaged multiple businesses and sent three firefighters to the hospital.
By the numbers: Pallet yards have triggered 29 emergency responses since January 2025, according to the Riverside Fire Department.
- Code enforcement has issued 36 violation notices to 11 pallet businesses since 2023, with nine cases still open.
What they're saying: Councilmember Philip Falcone questioned whether the city can actually enforce tougher rules.
- "Enforcement processes are so weak and so lackluster," Falcone said.
What's next: Staff will return with more detailed options. The moratorium on new pallet yards continues through May 1, 2027.
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COMMUNITY
NORA to Celebrate Jane Block's 97th Birthday and Decades of Advocacy
The nonprofit will honor Jane Block, a founding member of the Riverside Area Rape Crisis Center, with an event Aug. 12.
NORA will celebrate the 97th birthday of founding member Jane Block with a community event 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 12, marking more than five decades since she helped establish the organization, then known as the Riverside Area Rape Crisis Center, on the belief that survivors deserved to be heard, believed, supported and treated with dignity.
That vision is still at the heart of NORA today, the organization said. What began as a response to a need in the community has grown into an organization that provides free advocacy, counseling, crisis intervention, prevention education and supportive services to survivors and families throughout Western Riverside County, according to NORA.
Block's advocacy extended beyond the crisis center. She helped organize efforts around the Riverside County Commission on the Status of Women and pushed for shelters and resources for women experiencing abuse throughout the county.
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SPONSORED STORY
Tour de Arcade: Three Cafes, One Coffee Quest
This summer, a rewards quest walks Arcade Coffee regulars from the Chicago Avenue roastery to a Canyon Crest patio to a Main Street brunch counter — with a food stop at each, and a different Riverside at every turn.
For a long time, the move for a good cup of coffee in Riverside was to leave town.
Stevie Hasemeyer, co-founder and owner of Arcade Coffee Roasters, remembers making the drive himself. As a student, he'd point the car toward Los Angeles or Orange County, because that's where the good coffee and the good food were. It bugged him. "I was tired of LA and Orange County having all the good coffee and food and felt like we deserved to have good things too," he said. What began about 13 years ago as a tiny roastery — a pop-up Hasemeyer ran out of a roasting warehouse with co-founder Shane Levario — grew out of a plain desire to serve the community he was tired of driving away from. Hasemeyer said he knew it might actually become something the day strangers started showing up. "The test," he said, "was whether I could get people other than my friends and family to believe in what we were doing."
Today, Arcade is three cafes, and this summer it's making the opposite case: that there's more than enough reason to stay. The pitch is called Tour de Arcade, and it's built to walk regulars through all three rooms.
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Noteworthy
A reminder that antifreeze, batteries, motor and cooking oil, and paint should never go in curbside trash or recycling bins, but instead be dropped off at authorized household hazardous waste collection sites to prevent safety hazards.
For Breastfeeding Awareness Month, UCR Health's Dr. Brenda Ross-Shelton is debunking common breastfeeding myths, from colostrum misconceptions to concerns about medication and diet compatibility.
This Week in Riverside
Today
- Cleveland Wedge Clinic and Fitting at Canyon Crest Country Club ($250)
- Mayor's Nominating and Screening Committee at Riverside City Hall
- Karaoke Tuesday Competition at The Hideaway
Tomorrow
- Riverside East Rotary Club at Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern
- Stretch & Dance Class at Janet Goeske Senior Center
- Finance Committee at Riverside City Hall
- Riverside Mission Belles at Victoria Presbyterian Church
- FREE YOGA - Seated Yoga with Kristin Varner at All Saints Episcopal Church
- History on the Rocks - Round Two! Presented by The Mission Inn Foundation at Mission Inn Foundation ($71.21)
Save the Date
- August 14: FREE YOGA - The Evolution of Ashtanga with Kristin Varner at Community Yoga Center
- August 14: Riverside Sunrise Rotary Club Meeting at Zacatecas Café
- August 15: FREE YOGA - The Art of Vinyasa with Catherine Murray at Community Yoga Center
- August 15: FREE YOGA - Yin Yoga with Kristin Varner at Community Yoga Center
- August 17: FREE YOGA - Moody Mondays with Cherie Amour at Community Yoga Center
- August 19: FREE YOGA - Seated Yoga with Kristin Varner at All Saints Episcopal Church
- September 9: Beginning Square Dance Lessons with Line Dancing at Cowtown Square Dance Center
- September 18: Open Mic Night at Riverside Baha'i Center
- October 7: Fifty & Better Health Fair at Janet Goeske Center
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