Sunday Gazette: February 22, 2026

Hello Riverside, and Happy Sunday! For many of us, Sunday is the day to fully unplug: slow mornings, a good book, maybe a long walk. For others, Sunday is the day to get ahead: meal prepping, inbox clearing, mentally mapping out the week. Wherever you fall on that spectrum, today is National Single Tasking Day — a gentle reminder that whatever you're doing, try doing just that one thing. No scrolling while watching TV. No replying to emails mid-conversation. Just one task, start to finish. It's surprisingly satisfying.

See you tomorrow!

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COMMUNITY

The Mortgage Already Branded Me

A series by Anthony Solorzano exploring Riverside through the eyes of a transplant, as the memory of a hometown slowly fades.

It was an ordinary Wednesday in the middle of February. My family went to work. The coffee maker in the kitchen was set for 6 in the morning to wake the house up with the caffeinated smell of a dark roast.

Kenny, our dog and self-appointed house guard, woke up ready for his morning ritual – play catch with me, use the restroom and report to duty ready to alert half the block there is a person entering our cul de sac.

Sometime in the middle of the day, a text went into our house thread, "Do you all want to order some food today to commemorate the day?"

A year ago, on Wednesday, February 11, we got the keys to the house. The four-bedroom with triangle windows on each end, down the street from an active, yet family-friendly park, became ours. Riverside became home, at least for the next 30 years while we pay our mortgage off.

I will raise my family here. It's comforting and I need to commemorate the moment in my life. I thought long and hard and I think I should just get a tattoo of the Raincross somewhere in my body. There is no better way to commemorate my commitment to Riverside.

Read and share the full story...

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CREATIVE PROMPTS

Open Says Me

A prompt to encourage your practice of creativity this week from Riversider and local author Larry Burns.

This week’s creative nudge is quieter. It doesn’t blare. It waits. It blinks in a little box and asks you to prove yourself. This week’s creative nudge is a password.

As a kid, my buddies and I created one to allow entrance into our tree fort. I would be denied entry today because I can’t remember it; but I bet we changed it all the time, and not because our IT department told us to. Passwords back then were less about security and more about belonging.

Now? We live in a world that does not trust enough. Or maybe it trusts us too much and needs constant reassurance. Every day we whisper secret combinations into glowing rectangles: first pet + favorite number + special character we will absolutely forget. We are told our passwords must be strong, unique, unknowable, never repeated, and easy to recall. They must include capital and lowercase letters. And numbers. Definitely requiring the shift or control key engaged on the keyboard.

Read and share this week's full Creative Prompt...

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This Week in Riverside

Sunday, February 22

• Volunteer Interest Hour at Riverside Meals on Wheels
• Prayers and Public Information Meeting at Riverside Baha'i Center
• 2026 Riverside Dickens Festival at White Park ($5- $20)
• Day Dream Brunch & Day Party at Downtown Experiment ($33.85)
• Books & Belonging: A Reading Circle for Black Children's Book Week at Civil Rights Institute Inland Southern California
• Evergreen Cemetery Tour at Evergreen Cemetery ($21.20)
• Orange Terrace Library | Paint and Sip at Orange Terrace Library

Monday, February 23

• Board of Public Utilities at Riverside City Hall
• Goeske Bingo at Janet Goeske Center ($20- $100)
• Monday Carillon Recitals at UCR Bell Tower
• Sip with a Scientist at Bar Ni Modo

Tuesday, February 24

• MSRPAC's Monthly Community Cat Spay/Neuter Day at Mary S. Roberts Pet Adoption Center's Spay-Neuter Clinic ($45)
• Orange Terrace Library | Lego Club at Orange Terrace Library
• Inland Empire Chorus Rehearsal at Temple Beth El Synagogue

Wednesday, February 25

• Riverside East Rotary Club at Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern
• Stretch & Dance Class at Janet Goeske Senior Center
• Bordwell Park Advisory Committee at Stratton Community Center
• Community Police Review Commission at Riverside City Hall
• History on the Rocks - Round Two! Presented by The Mission Inn Foundation at Mission Inn Foundation ($60)
• Reading Assistance Program at My Learning Studio
• Riverside Mission Belles at Victoria Presbyterian Church
• Riverside Open Mic Music Series at Back to the Grind

Thursday, February 26

• California Dream'n at The Old Spaghetti Factory ($49.87)
• History on the Rocks! Presented by The Mission Inn Foundation at Mission Inn Foundation ($60)
• Mix & Mist: Build Your Own Scent at Thompson Brewing Co.
• NwtM: There and Back Again: Bringing Museum Best Practices Home at Riverside Main Library
• RPG 1-shot: "Alien" at Nevermore Game Club
• Planning Commission at Riverside City Hall
• Women's Basketball vs UC Santa Barbara at SRC Arena

Friday, February 27

• Certified Farmers Market at Farm House Collective
• Black History Celebration at Janet Goeske Center (free- $10.00)
• Family Storytime at Ameal Moore Nature Center
• Orange Terrace Library | Chess Club at Orange Terrace Library
• In the Hour of Chaos: Hip Hop Art & Activism with Public Enemy’s Chuck D at Culver Center of the Arts
• Noche de Cumbia at The Hideaway Cafe & Lounge ($12.51)
• Red Store Bums at Riverside Municipal Auditorium

Saturday, February 28

• Cars and Coffee at Harvest Church at Harvest Church
• Free Heart Screenings at Poly High School - Gym
• Little Land Use Learners (Topic: Our Blue Planet) at Land Use Learning Center
• Author Iván Aguirre In-Conversation with Rocío Pichón-Riviere at Cellar Door Bookstore
• CSUN Matadors at UC Riverside Highlanders Mens Basketball at UCR Student Recreation Center
• Jazz meets Orchestra...An Intimate Evening with the Conductor at Loft 84
• Men's Basketball vs CSUN at SRC Arena
• Murder At The Club - Murder Mystery Dinner at Riverside Woman's Club ($40)
• Orange Terrace Library | Dungeons and Dragons at Orange Terrace Library
• Sam Grisman Project at Farm House Collective at Bar Ni Modo

Save the Date

• March 9: REEF's Best Event Ever! Take 9! at Fox Performing Arts Center ($10- $75)
• March 14: Riverside Sunrise Rotary 22nd Annual Black Tie Bingo at Riverside Convention Center ($130- $250)
• March 19: Empowered Leadership: Cultivating Influence and Impact at Work Well ($165)
• March 21: LiTEArature: A Fairy-Themed Afternoon Tea at Heritage House ($25)
• March 30: Sip with a Scientist at Bar Ni Modo

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