Monday Gazette: February 23, 2026
Hello Riverside, and Happy Monday! After last week's cold, rainy stretch, the sun is finally making its comeback — today's high is expected to reach the mid-to-high 70s. Not bad for February! Southern California has a way of reminding us why we live here.
We hope you're heading into the week refreshed.
See you tomorrow!
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GOVERNMENT
This Week in City Hall: Feb. 23, 2026
City Council meets Tuesday with $1.8 million in spending approvals and a Fire Department defensible space discussion. The Planning Commission will consider revoking a Downtown bar's permits after repeated code violations and emergency calls.
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 Tuesday, Feb. 24 in afternoon sessions at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. and an evening session at 6:15 p.m. (agenda). The agenda includes:
- Reviewing a report of the 2025-26 fiscal year’s first quarter and approving various projects totaling $1.8 million – including $400,000 to repair flood damage to City Hall’s 50-year-old basement, and a review of a Measure Z spending plan.
- Conducting a state-mandated public hearing on the number of job vacancies and recruitment efforts in the citywide workforce, where roughly 12 percent of authorized city positions were unfilled as of December 2025.
- Discussing Riverside Fire Department’s 2026 Defensible Space
- Inspection Program and plan to inspect and prepare properties located in high-risk fire hazard areas.
- Awarding $1.5 million to builders to construct a median on Mission Inn Avenue between Redwood Drive and Scout Lane.
Board of Public Utilities
The Board of Public Utilities meets on Monday, Feb. 23, at 6:30 p.m. (agenda) to discuss Riverside’s participation in a water pipeline research project by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and to consider approval of a $2 million work order to update electrical poles and infrastructure throughout the city.
Community Police Review Commission
The Community Police Review Commission meets on Wednesday, Feb. 25, at 5:30 p.m. (agenda) to discuss the extension until May of an ad hoc committee investigating the CPRC’s bylaws, policies and procedures, and to review the results of the 2025 CPRC Workplan and develop the 2026 Workplan.
Planning Commission
The Planning Commission meets on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 9 a.m. (agenda) for a public hearing to consider revoking Downtown Experiment’s bar and nightclub permit and alcohol sale permit due to multiple code violations and a high volume of emergency calls.
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MUSEUM MONDAYS
Incomplete Chapters: Gaps in the Museum of Riverside's Collections
How decades of bias shaped what was — and wasn't — preserved.
A presence in the community, but an absence or lack in the Museum of Riverside's collections, reveals biases in how items were acquired over the decades. The African American community, for example, was pivotal to the growth of the City, but the Museum's collections do not yet reflect this reality fully.
One key figure in Riverside's African American history was early resident Frank Johnson, owner of Johnson Carriage Company. He unsuccessfully fought to desegregate The Plunge, a pool at Riverside's Fairmount Park in the 1920s. He also initiated a census campaign that took a count of registered voters in the area and led to Black people finally being included on Riverside's juries. Opening in 1912, the Plunge was part of the original John Olmstead plan for Fairmount Park but by 1959 had deteriorated to the point that it had to be closed.
Read and share the complete story...
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Noteworthy
Notre Dame High School claimed the Riverside County Mock Trial Championship for the second time, defeating MLK High in the final round at the Historic Courthouse, and will now represent the county at the state competition March 20-22 in Oakland.
The Riverside Fire and Police Departments are urging drivers to pull to the right when they see flashing lights or hear sirens, warning that blocked lanes and hesitant drivers can dangerously delay emergency response times.
This Week in Riverside
Today
- 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
Tomorrow
- 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
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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