Friday Gazette: July 3, 2026
Hello Riverside, and Happy Friday! We've got a summer game for you, and it starts with our own name. The Raincross symbol has been tied to Riverside since 1907, when Frank Miller gave the city a design he created for the Mission Inn: a replica of the mission bell paired with a double cross Native American tribes used in prayers for rain. You'll spot it on light posts, buildings, freeway signs, and the city flag itself, and the word shows up on plenty of local business signs too.
So here's the challenge: find a sign with the word "Raincross" on it, or an actual Raincross symbol, and snap a photo of yourself next to it. Downtown landmarks count. So does the random spot you never noticed until today. Send your photo along with the location and a little about how you found it to, and we'll feature our favorites, unusual finds and neighborhood classics alike.
Consider it your excuse to wander Riverside a little differently this summer.
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HIGHER EDUCATION
Dr. Eric Bishop Trained as a Journalist. Now He's Running Riverside City College Like One.
A year after stepping in at a college that had run through presidents, RCC's new permanent leader keeps returning to one idea: that everyone deserves a fair hearing, whatever their record.
Before the questions start, Dr. Eric Bishop nods at the recorder on the table. When student reporters from Viewpoints, the campus paper at Riverside City College, call to interview him, he tells them to do something most reporters learn only on the job. Start the recording, then ask permission. "Start the recording, and then ask me if you can record me. If I say no, you stop. If I say yes, you have it on record." He learned it teaching journalism. The president of the college still thinks like a newsman.
The habit is close to the center of how Bishop, whom the board voted on June 9 to make RCC's permanent president, effective July 1, after a year in the job on an interim basis, understands the work he now does. He trained as a journalist, believed early and seriously in the press as a voice for people who do not have one, and has carried that belief into an open-access institution built on a similar promise. He arrives at that conviction by way of a college that had run through presidents, and that tapped him to steady it on an interim basis, then kept him on after he spent a year proving he intended to stay.
He did not set out to lead anything. School came easily to Bishop until it didn't, and his first year and a half of college were rough, because school had been easy enough that he never built study habits. He was flailing, by his own account, and casting around. He had thought for a while about law, which is part of what drew him to a journalism class at the University of La Verne, where he would eventually earn all three of his degrees, a bachelor's in journalism in 1988, then a master's in communications and a doctorate in organizational leadership. "There was this belief in the fourth estate, in the checks and balances on government and big business, in being the voice for the voiceless. Protecting the citizenry, being their representative voice. That really resonated with me." He stayed, and he loved it. He came back to La Verne as a journalism professor and the adviser to its student paper.
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COMMUNITY
Merrill K. Nelson 1943-2026
Riverside says goodbye to the Peanut King, whose decades on Tyler Avenue gave the city far more than peanuts.
Every man needs a mission. Merrill Nelson, the Peanut King, sold peanuts from his wheelchair in front of a procession of retail stores on Tyler Avenue, but he gave the community much more than peanuts.
Merrill K. Nelson, 83, died Friday, June 26, 2026. Born March 13, 1943, he lived his whole life with cerebral palsy. He started his peanut business in 1975. Within two years he was paying his own way.
The personality of a city is not held in its leadership alone. It lives in the familiar exceptions. Nelson was an institution, and an institution can rob a man of his personality. We can still tell his story.
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PUBLIC SAFETY
Riverside to Expand Drone Fireworks Enforcement for Fourth of July
City will add fire department ground teams and deploy upgraded drones after last year's program generated nearly $60,000 in fines.
Riverside will again send police drones after illegal fireworks users this Fourth of July, building on a program that more than doubled citations last year.
Why it matters: Illegal fireworks carry fines up to $1,500, and last year's drone footage held up so well that none of 14 appealed citations got overturned.
Driving the news: Police officials briefed the City Council on June 16, saying this year's operation will largely repeat last year's approach.
- "It was very successful last year," Police Lt. Chad Chinchilla told the council.
By the numbers: Citations jumped from 24 in 2024 to 65 in 2025 after the drone program launched, and the city collected nearly $60,000 in fines.
- 311 complaints about fireworks climbed from 160 to 431 over the past three years.
What's new: Fire department ground teams grow from two to between three and five, and newer drones with longer flight times replace equipment that arrived too late for last year's holiday.
Between the lines: Councilmember Clarissa Cervantes said Sycamore Canyon residents saw little enforcement despite repeated complaints, and Councilmember Steven Robillard pushed for spotters near high fire-risk wildland areas.
- The concern echoes the 2024 Hawarden Fire, sparked by illegal fireworks and Riverside's largest wildfire on record.
What's next: Enforcement runs June 27 through July 4, targeting neighborhoods based on complaint data and 311 reports.
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Adoptable Pet of the Week
Meet CeeCee!
Meet this week’s featured furry friend from the Mary S. Roberts Pet Adoption Center. Dedicated to eliminating pet homelessness, the center provides compassionate care and facilitates adoptions for animals in need of loving homes. Find your new companion and help support their mission of humane care and responsible pet ownership.
What's Happening in Riverside
Friday, July 3
- Riverside Sunrise Rotary Club Meeting at Zacatecas Café
- Volunteer Interest Hour at Riverside Meals on Wheels
- Reading Assistance Program (RAP) at My Learning Studio ($57)
- Multiplication Madness (MM) at My Learning Studio ($57)
- Creative Arts at My Learning Studio ($57)
- EMO PROM - WARPED TOUR at The Hideaway Cafe & Lounge ($10- $15)
- FREE ASHTANGA VINYASA YOGA at Community Yoga Center
- Painting Pets Night, a Comedy Paint and Sip at Carbon Nation Brewing ($28.52 - $55.20)
- The Cottage by Sandy Rustin at Riverside Community Players ($20- $25)
Saturday, July 4
- Donuts & Dragsters at Target Store Riverside-Arlington
- Fourth of July Water Fun and Fireworks at First United Methodist Church of Riverside (free - $5)
- Front Row Fireworks - Celebrating America 250 at Evergreen Memorial Historic Cemetery (free- $10)
- Goeske Bingo at Janet Goeske Center ($20- $100)
Sunday, July 5
- Special Tours at Riverside Heritage House
- Learn Origami at UCR Botanic Gardens
- Storytime in the Gardens at UCR Botanic Gardens
- Prayers and Public Information Meeting at Riverside Baha'i Center
- Antenna Releasing Roadshow - Film: Coroner to the Stars at Mission Grove ($12.49)
- Sunday Experiment After Dark at Downtown Experiment
Save the Date
- July 6: FREE ASHTANGA VINYASA YOGA at Community Yoga Center
- July 10: Riverside Sunrise Rotary Club Meeting at Zacatecas Café
- July 11: The Stars and Pipes Forever at First United Methodist Church of Riverside
- July 13: River Camp with IE Kids Outdoors at Martha McLean Park ($235)
- July 20: Camp Riverside with IE Kids Outdoors at California State Citrus Heritage Park ($200)
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