Monday Gazette: August 24, 2026
Hello Riverside, and Happy Monday! Time for the big reveal. That daredevil pilot was Roman Warren, better known around town as the Cowboy Aviator. On June 13, 1926, he flew his plane through the Mission Bridge opening near Mount Rubidoux, just 16 feet high, in front of thousands of onlookers who showed up expecting the worst. He pulled it off clean, and the stunt made him a local legend. Read the full story here.
Nice work to everyone who guessed right!
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GOVERNMENT
This Week in City Hall: August 24, 2026
City Council weighs veteran tech training, Scout land deal and street repaving as utilities and museum boards also convene.
Welcome to our weekly digest of public meetings and agenda items worth your Welcome to our weekly digest of public meetings and agenda items worth your attention for this coming week. This guide is part of our mission to provide everyday Riversiders like you with the information to speak up on the issues you care about.
City Council
City Council will meet in closed and open sessions on Tuesday, August 24, in an afternoon session 3 p.m. (agenda). The agenda includes:
- Considering an agreement with the Institute for Veterans & Emerging Technology Skills and StemWorx, Inc. (item 13) to explore establishing a technology workforce training program for veterans and underserved populations in Riverside. This item returns to council after it was pulled from the Aug. 11 agenda and the agreement was amended to remove phase two of the plan, which involved the development of a data center.
- Reviewing an agreement with California Inland Empire Council, Scouting America (item 24), that reserves land at Fairmount Park for a potential new scout headquarters, giving the organization up to six years to secure funding and permits before any lease is finalized.
- Reviewing two-year agreement with Alvord Unified and Riverside Unified school districts (items 29, 30) to continue the School Resource Officer program at a combined cost of about $4.83 million split evenly between the City and each district, maintaining police officers stationed at eight high schools.
- Reviewing an ordinance amendment to the Water Conservation Code (item 34) required by state law that would ban irrigating purely decorative grass with drinking water, starting with City properties in 2027 and phasing in for businesses and homeowner associations by 2029.
- Reviewing nearly $5 million in construction oversight contracts and a $4.29 million funding increase for the Third Street Grade Separation project (item 36), which will lower Third Street beneath BNSF railroad tracks near Vine Street and Park Avenue, with construction expected to begin in January 2027 and last about two years.
- Considering a $7.68 million construction contract with Onyx Paving Company (item 38) to repave 6.4 miles of streets citywide and install 132 pedestrian safety bollards downtown, funded through state gas tax revenue and a local sales tax increase.
Board of Public Utilities
The Board of Public Utilities meets on Monday, August 24, at 6:30 p.m. (agenda) to review a public hearing on closing Schedule EV to new customers (item 2); considering a $3.4 million capital expenditure for the Hunter Substation 4kV-to-12kV conversion project to support electric system load growth and improve reliability (item 9); and considering a $148,800 services agreement with NewGen Strategies and Solutions for an electric cost of service analysis and rate design study through 2028 (item 10).
Museum of Riverside Board
The Museum of Riverside Board meets on Wednesday, August 26, at 3 p.m. (agenda) to consider the deaccession of one mounted moose antler rack (item 5) and the accession of five lots of archival and historic items (item 7) to and from the Museum of Riverside's permanent collection.
Community Police Review Commission
The Community Police Review Commission meets on Wednesday, August 26, at 5:30 p.m. (agenda) to consider approval of the 2026 second-quarter Workplan (item 5) and reinstatement of the Bylaws and Policies and Procedures Ad Hoc Committee (item 6) for the Community Police Review Commission.
Human Relations Commission
The Human Relations Commission meets on Thursday, August 27, at 6 p.m. (agenda) to discuss updates from the Riverside Police Department, Human Resources Department, and Housing and Human Services Department (items 2, 3, 4).
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MUSEUM MONDAYS
A Gilded Age Comes Home to Heritage House
New exhibit explores how Victorians filled their homes with art and meaning.
On September 11, 2026, Heritage House will reopen its doors for tours, programs, and events. Each season, the Museum of Riverside highlights an aspect of the Victorian age, connecting the past to the present through a different lens each time. In September, the focus will be on the wealth of art in this grand Victorian home. The Victorians are known for, well, “Victorian excess,” and the exhibition Gilded: The Art of Heritage House will examine how there came to be such a preference for a rich array of fine and decorative arts in the home.
Gilded: The Art of Heritage House will be on exhibit through November 29, 2026. Throughout the exhibition, the Museum will offer special programs ranging from “Dying for Art,” which will focus on the alarming results of using some Victorian and pre-Victorian artists’ materials. Another will be “Write Like a Victorian,” which will encourage anyone to try their hand at writing an ornate “purple prose” style of opening line for a novel and recite it for all to enjoy. Visit the Museum of Riverside’s website for dates and details.
The backdrop of these programs will be the gilded, inlaid, tiled, flounced, carved, painted, and otherwise adorned furnishings that fill every corner of Heritage House, in the manner of most Victorian homes. The exhibition examines the moment in history that led to this explosion of décor, from the Industrial Revolution’s advances in manufacturing methods to the rise of a middle class with means to the colonial expansion of Queen Victoria’s Great Britain, which brought imports to Europe and the U.S. like never before.
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This Week in Riverside
Today
- Volunteer Interest Hour at Riverside Meals on Wheels
- Board of Public Utilities at Riverside City Hall
- Goeske Bingo at Janet Goeske Center ($20- $100)
- FREE YOGA - Moody Mondays with Cherie Amour at Community Yoga Center
- Sip with a Scientist at Killer Queens Social House
Tomorrow
- MSRPAC's Monthly Community Cat Spay/Neuter Day at Mary S. Roberts Pet Adoption Center's Spay-Neuter Clinic ($45)
- City Council at Riverside City Hall
- Karaoke Tuesday Competition at the Hideaway at The Hideaway
Save the Date
- Aug 26: FREE YOGA - Seated Yoga with Kristin Varner at All Saints Episcopal Church
- Aug 28: FREE YOGA - The Evolution of Ashtanga with Kristin Varner at Community Yoga Center
- Aug 28: Riverside Sunrise Rotary Club Meeting at Zacatecas Café
- Aug 29: FREE YOGA - The Art of Vinyasa with Catherine Murray at Community Yoga Center
- Aug 29: FREE YOGA - Yin Yoga with Kristin Varner at Community Yoga Center
- Aug 31: FREE YOGA - Moody Mondays with Cherie Amour at Community Yoga Center
- Sep 3: Orange Street Mural Unveiling at Main Museum Pedestrian Walkway (Orange Street)
- Sep 9: FREE Beginning Square Dance Lessons with Line Dancing at Cowtown Square Dance Center
- Sep 18: Open Mic Night at Riverside Baha'i Center
- Oct 3: Aquamotion Aquathon at Shamel Pool
- Oct 7: Fifty & Better Health Fair at Janet Goeske Center
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