Aliens have landed at 4069 Elmwood Court! This interstellar Halloween display features a glowing UFO, towering extraterrestrial visitors, and enough neon green to make Area 51 jealous. (Bob Sirotnik) Have a photo that captures the spirit of Riverside? Share it with us and help celebrate the beauty of our community!
Thursday Gazette: October 30, 2025
Hello Riverside, and Happy Thursday! Today is National Candy Corn Day, celebrating those waxy triangles that divide our community each October. We know you're either racing to Target for the first bags or wondering why anyone eats sweetened candle wax. Since the 1880s, this tri-color treat has signaled autumn's arrival. Whether you love them or leave them, these 35-million-pound-a-year candies remain an undeniable symbol of the season.
Today's edition features a story about RUSD Board Vice President Dr. Noemi Hernandez Alexander. Because the Gazette doesn't yet have an established independent editorial board, I want to disclose that Noemi is a personal friend. We've attended church together for over a decade, and I was in business with her husband when I launched the Gazette. Riverside is a big city and a small town at the same time.
I almost didn't run this story because I didn't want to create any appearance of impropriety. I ultimately concluded it was too important to ignore—not simply because of the subject matter, but because it highlights a common and recurring problem I see in Riverside.
When this city lost the consistent coverage of our local legacy newspaper, many Riversiders felt that void and started filling the gap by sharing what they see or know on social media. That's a beautiful thing and a testament to this community.
Unfortunately, social media isn't a great platform for delivering reliable and accurate news. As I learned as a mass media student my freshman year at RCC, "the medium is the message." This concept, coined by Marshall McLuhan in 1964, reminds us that the medium delivering information affects perception more profoundly than the content itself.
Now think about how we use social media: swipe, swipe, swipe. We've been trained by these platforms to keep moving until we see something we like, even then we rarely slow down enough to fully engage with what we're seeing—and that habit carries over when news appears in our feeds. Social media rewards speed and emotion, not accuracy and context. A single post can reach thousands in minutes, but corrections rarely travel as far or as fast.
That's exactly what happened here—incorrect information spread far and wide across social media. I attempted to write a story using only the public video that sparked the controversy—the full context was already there, waiting for anyone who took the time to watch it completely.
This is exactly why I'm building this newsroom. I fundamentally believe that Riverside and even this country are not as divided as we are made to believe, but the manner in which we now primarily engage with our neighbors is simply at war against us. Riverside deserves us all taking the time to get the full story, even when it's complicated, even when it involves people I know personally, even when it would be easier to just move on.
I love you, Riverside. Hopefully this extra detail matters to you.
Two Riverside women are sharing their breast cancer journeys to drive home a critical message: routine mammograms and self-examination save lives and can mean the difference between minimal treatment and major surgery.
Driving the news: Reverend Canon Kelli Grace Kurtz of All Saints' Episcopal Church and Lindy Pardee, wife of The Gazette's founder, both credit early detection and body awareness with improving their treatment outcomes and survival chances.
Kurtz's routine mammogram at 59½ detected cancer early enough to avoid a total mastectomy. Pardee discovered a lump through self-examination at 40, leading to a diagnosis that had metastasized to her liver.
By the numbers: One in eight women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. Last year, approximately 310,720 women were affected and more than 42,250 died from the disease, according to the American Cancer Society.
What to watch for: Warning signs include any change in breast size or shape, nipple discharge other than breast milk, and new lumps in the breast or underarm. About 10% of new cases occur in women younger than 45.
The bottom line: Kaiser Permanente recommends women with average risk begin mammograms every one to two years starting at age 40. Both survivors stress that combining professional screening with regular self-examination provides the strongest defense against breast cancer.
"I recommend getting scanned early, often, when you feel good and when you don't," Pardee says.
PFAS Settlement Buys RPU Ratepayers One-Year Reprieve on Water Treatment Surcharge
First payment from $39 million settlement will help offset $97 million in treatment costs required by 2031 federal PFAS regulations.
The Linden-Evans Reservoir Complex serves as the central blending point where water from RPU's 72 groundwater wells is mixed before distribution to customers. (Justin Pardee)
Riverside Public Utilities postpones a water treatment surcharge by one year after receiving the first payment from a settlement with PFAS manufacturers, providing relief to ratepayers who would have faced rate increases.
Driving the news: RPU expects to receive approximately $39 million over eight years from settlements with companies that manufactured "forever chemicals," helping offset costs for three new treatment plants needed to meet federal drinking water standards by 2031.
More than 60% of RPU's groundwater sources contain PFAS above federal standards, requiring advanced treatment.
The big picture: The three treatment plants carry an estimated price tag of $97 million, with annual operations and maintenance costs projected at $19 million. Settlement proceeds will fully fund the first treatment plant at Palmyrita, but ratepayers will face surcharges for two additional facilities.
Using settlement proceeds combined with bond financing reduces financing costs by more than $32 million, bringing them down to $58 million.
By the numbers: The settlements stem from nationwide litigation against PFAS manufacturers. 3M agreed to pay up to $12.5 billion over 13 years to more than 11,000 water systems, while DuPont and related companies settled for $1.185 billion.
What's next: The surcharge structure would increase water rates by approximately 20% phasing in over seven years beginning in 2026. RPU staff will return within one year for review of the water treatment surcharge for facilities not covered by settlement proceeds.
The first treatment plant is scheduled to begin operations in July 2027, with subsequent facilities coming online in 2028 and 2029.
RUSD Board Member Warned Against Judging Religious Sincerity; Social Media Claims Otherwise
Dr. Hernandez Alexander raised concerns about evaluating faith; posts mischaracterize her comments as advocating for such scrutiny.
Dr. Noemi Hernandez Alexander, RUSD Board Vice President (Courtesy Riverside Unified School District) inset over the Riverside Unified School District headquarters. (File photo)
Social media posts have mischaracterized statements made by Riverside Unified School District Board Vice President Dr. Noemi Hernandez Alexander during an October 16 board meeting about religious curriculum opt-outs. The posts falsely claim she wants to test parents' faith depth using "Chapter and Verse" requirements.
Driving the news: Multiple social media accounts have spread claims that Dr. Alexander wants a rubric to determine how "deep" a parent's faith is before granting curriculum opt-outs, asking followers whether schools should judge religious beliefs.
What actually happened: During the meeting, Dr. Alexander questioned whether the district needed an objective rubric to evaluate opt-out requests to avoid subjective judgments. She was asking administrators to create a standardized process so parents would NOT be expected to quote scripture.
Board Member Amanda Vickers immediately questioned whether creating such a rubric would be "dangerous," and district attorney Christopher Fernandes confirmed it would be "difficult" to implement.
The context: The district is implementing the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor, which affirms parents' rights to opt their children out of curriculum conflicting with religious beliefs.
The bottom line: Dr. Alexander clarified on social media that she was advocating for an objective review method so administrators don't have to judge parents' religious sincerity. She concluded the meeting discussion by suggesting the district would likely approve most opt-out requests: "It's almost like if you're requesting one, you can get."
'We Cannot Make Up the Difference': Food Banks Prepare for Federal Aid Crisis
California Wellness Foundation poll finds deep economic anxiety as November 1 deadline looms for CalFresh benefits.
Volunteers and staff load food boxes into vehicles during a Feeding America Riverside San Bernardino distribution event at the organization's Riverside warehouse. (Courtesy of FARSB)
Tens of thousands of Riverside residents don't know if their CalFresh benefits will arrive November 1 as the federal government shutdown enters its fourth week. The U.S. Department of Agriculture warns "the well has run dry" for food assistance.
Driving the news: Over 180,000 Riverside County households receive CalFresh benefits throughout the year, and the USDA announces no food assistance will be issued November 1 despite Congress appropriating $6 billion in contingency funds through September 2026.
For Riverside, where 12.52% of the city's 321,000 residents live in poverty, the impact could be severe.
The reality check: Food banks cannot fill the gap left by federal aid. Feeding America Riverside San Bernardino notes that the entire Feeding America network of 200 food banks nationwide does only one-ninth what SNAP does nationally.
Governor Newsom deploys the National Guard to help food banks and allocates $80 million in emergency funding, but officials acknowledge this is "a devastating blow to families."
The bigger picture: A new poll from The California Wellness Foundation finds 72% of Californians love their state but fear they cannot afford to stay long-term. In the Inland Empire, 50% have already relocated or downsized in the past five years.
What's available: Riverside residents can call 2-1-1 or visit 211.ca.org for food resources, check BenefitsCal.com for CalFresh updates, or visit UC Riverside's Basic Needs Center in Costo Hall 110.
What's next: The November 7 Health Matters gubernatorial forum at UC Riverside addresses these concerns, beginning at 1:30 PM with livestreaming on NBC4 and Telemundo 52.
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