Sunday Gazette: March 22, 2026
Hello Riverside, and Happy Sunday! We have a winner to celebrate. Congratulations to Rosalyn Anderson, whose photo entry won two tickets to see Hadestown at the Fox Performing Arts Center on April 13. Rosalyn is a familiar presence in our community and a longtime supporter of the Gazette, and her photos have a way of capturing what makes this city beautiful: golden sunsets, sweeping views, and some of the most perfectly ripe oranges you'll ever see.
Thank you to everyone who submitted a photo. Your images are the first thing readers see each morning, and we're grateful for it. Keep them coming!
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BUSINESS
Mikey G's Finally Has a Home, and It Was Worth the Wait
Geoff Gouveia, Jake Driscoll and Steven Burgos finally open the doors on their long-awaited Midtown coffee and bagel shop.
After two years of permits, pivots and pop-ups, Mikey G's specialty coffee and bagel shop opens its first permanent home in Midtown this weekend.
Why it matters: The Elizabeth Street corridor has been drawing new energy, and Mikey G's is among the first permanent businesses to plant a flag — bringing specialty coffee, matcha and house-made NYC-style bagels to a neighborhood the city has its own revitalization plans for.
Driving the news: The shop soft-opens Monday, March 23, at 3780 Elizabeth St., with tentative hours of 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The official grand opening follows April 18.
The backstory: Co-owners Geoff Gouveia, Jake Driscoll, Steven Burgos and their team built a following through pop-ups and a residency at Harvest Church on Arlington Avenue before signing their lease in January 2024.
- The two-year road to opening ran through permitting snags Gouveia attributes entirely to himself: "The fault was my own — I learned so many ways how not to do something."
What's on the menu: Specialty espresso drinks, matcha, and bagels from Parzel's — a bagel business the team acquired and folded into their operation. Every bagel is hand-rolled, boiled and baked daily after a 48-hour fermentation.
What's next: Soft open begins March 23. Follow Mikey G's on Instagram for daily hours updates. Grand opening is April 18.
Read and share the complete story...
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NEIGHBOR OF THE WEEK
Neighbor of the Week: Erik Chen
Neighbor of the Week is a series profiling the hidden heroes of Riverside, doing incredible works of service throughout our different neighborhoods.
Erik Chen has called Riverside home since 2016, and at just high school age, he is already giving back to it in ways that would impress most adults. A student at Martin Luther King High School, Erik serves as Editor-in-Chief of the school newspaper, the King Courier, President of the Speech and Debate team, and a member of the Science Olympiad Varsity team. Outside school, he sits on the Riverside Youth Council — and he recently launched an initiative where he and a small group of friends, a vocalist, a violinist, and a pianist, perform classical and pop music at local nursing homes. Follow their performances on Instagram at @bachinmyday_.
Readers of the Raincross Gazette may already know Erik's byline. As one of our high school writers, he has covered Riverside with a range and maturity that would impress journalists twice his age — from City Hall civic tours and the city's new AI assistant, to his own school's take on the statewide cell phone ban, neighborhood wishlist for the vacant Woodcrest Rite Aid, a profile of MLK grad Joseph Or's journey to Yale, and a look at the future of driverless transportation. In every story, he finds the human thread that makes Riverside feel like a community worth paying attention to.
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CREATIVE PROMPTS
Channel Z
A prompt to encourage your practice of creativity this week from Riversider and local author Larry Burns.
This week’s creative nudge is a little less visible, a little more surprising, and just a bit shocking: static electricity.
You already know where to find it. It’s waiting in your dryer, making your socks extra friendly. It’s lurking in the moment just before your fingertip meets a doorknob. Static electricity is one of those everyday phenomena that lives just below our awareness…until it does not. Until it jumps into existence and reminds us that something unseen has been there all along.
There’s something delightful about that moment of surprise. It’s harmless but it still makes us jump. That tiny jolt reveals a deeper truth: we are wired for reaction. Our bodies don’t wait for a full explanation before responding. We flinch first, ask questions later. Static electricity exposes a hidden layer of both the world and ourselves—reminders that not everything we experience is predictable or entirely under our control.
Read and share this week's full Creative Prompt...
This Week in Riverside
Sunday, March 22
- Savvy Chic Kids Spring Consignment Sale at Mission Grove Shopping Center
- Prayers and Public Information Meeting at Riverside Baha'i Center
- Paint Party Fundraiser for The Mission Inn Foundation at Mission Inn Foundation ($33.85)
- The Black Panther Party: Then and Now at Online
- Riverside Reads Book Discussion at Packinghouse Brewing Co.
- Sunday Experiment After Dark at Downtown Experiment
Monday, March 23
- Volunteer Interest Hour at Riverside Meals on Wheels
- Gabby's Dollhouse Live! Presented by Walmart at Fox Performing Arts Center
- Sip with a Scientist at Bar Ni Modo
Tuesday, March 24
- MSRPAC's Monthly Community Cat Spay/Neuter Day at Mary S. Roberts Pet Adoption Center's Spay-Neuter Clinic ($45)
- Lunchtime Jazz Concert Series at Center for Social Justice and Civil Liberties
- Orange Terrace Library | Lego Club at Orange Terrace Library
- Karaoke Tuesday Competition at the Hideaway at The Hideaway
Wednesday, March 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
- 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
- Sealed in Spring: Letters and Memory Necklaces at Marcy Library
- SSgt Salvador J. Lara Casa Blanca Library | Riverside Reads Book Discussion at SSgt Salvador J. Lara Casa Blanca Library
Thursday, March 26
- She Built This City: Women and the Making of Riverside at Riverside Main Library
- History on the Rocks! Presented by The Mission Inn Foundation at Mission Inn Foundation Store ($60)
Friday, March 27
- Certified Farmers Market at Farm House Collective
- Orange Terrace Library | Chess Club at Orange Terrace Library
- 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture at Civil Rights Institute Inland Southern California
- Club 90's Presents Benito Bowl (18+) at Riverside Municipal Auditorium
- LA ORIGINAL BANDA EL LIMÓN - 60 ANIVERSARIO at Fox Performing Arts Center
- The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture at Civil Rights Institute Inland Southern California
Saturday, March 28
- Goeske Spring Festival at Janet Goeske Center
- The 4th Annual Citrus Festival at California Citrus State Historic Park
- 5th Anniversary Fundraiser "A Queen's Meeting" at Victoria Club ($140.56)
- Blue Zones Project Riverside Tobacco Clean Up at Cesar Chavez Community Center
- Natural Building Workshops at Land Use Learning Center
- Mt. Rubidoux Walking Tour at Mt. Rubidoux Trailhead, a short walk from Ryan Bonaminio Park. ($21.20)
- Flower Crowns at Marcy Library
- Fifth Anniversary Fundraiser "A Queen's Meeting"at Victoria Club
- The Garden at Riverside Municipal Auditorium
- History of Section 14: Memory, Justice, and Community at Civil Rights Institute Inland Southern California
- Van Halen Tribute by The Atomic Punks! at The Concert Lounge - Romano's Mission Grove ($20.23)
Save the Date
- April 2: Hays Press-Enterprise Lecture at University Theatre
- April 5: Easter Celebration at First Congregational Church of Riverside
- April 11: Olivewood Cemetery Tour at Olivewood Cemetery ($21.20)
- April 12: The Expeditions of Juan Bautista de Anza through Riverside County at Riverside Medical Clinic Basement Meeting Room
- April 17: Frozen: The Broadway Musical at Woodcrest Christian School Royals Pavilion ($15- $20)
- April 18: Fant-A-She’s at Riverside Municipal Auditorium ($37- $97)
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