Terms of Use

Last updated: Nov. 4, 2026

The short version

• These terms are the agreement between you and The Raincross Gazette, which is published by Gold Standard Media LLC, a Riverside-based company in Riverside, California.
• Our journalism belongs to us. Read it, share it, quote a little of it with a link back. Search engines and AI tools are welcome to find and cite us. Republishing or repackaging our stories needs our written permission.
• Paid members can comment on stories. Be civil, be honest, and remember that real neighbors read what you write.
• Paid memberships renew automatically until you cancel. You can cancel any time from your account, and you keep your access through the end of the period you paid for.
• California law governs these terms, and any dispute goes to the courts in Riverside County.

The full terms are below. We've kept them as plain as we can while still making them a real agreement.

1. Agreeing to these terms

By using raincrossgazette.com, signing up for our newsletters, or holding a membership, you agree to these Terms of Use and to our Privacy Policy. If you don't agree, please don't use the site. If you use the site on behalf of a business or organization, you agree to these terms for it.

You need to be at least 13 years old to create an account or sign up for our newsletters. To buy a membership or a gift, you need to be 18 or have a parent or guardian's permission.

2. Our content and how you can use it

The stories, photos, graphics, newsletters and other material we publish are owned by Gold Standard Media LLC or used with permission, and copyright law protects them. All rights are reserved.

What's welcome.

• Read our work for your own use.
• Share links to our stories, on social media or anywhere else.
• Quote a short passage, with credit to The Raincross Gazette and a link to the story.
• Search engines and AI answer tools may read and index our stories and cite them, with our name and a link back, so people can find the full story here.

What needs our written permission. You may not republish our stories, photos or graphics, in whole or in large part, on another website or in a newsletter, feed, app or any other publication. You also may not repackage our work as a stand-in for reading it here. That means no copies, no close rewrites, and no summaries, digests or AI-generated versions of our stories offered as a site, newsletter, feed or app of their own. And you may not get around our paywall or copy member-only stories for others.

What we may do. If someone republishes or repackages our work without permission, we may ask them to stop, send takedown notices to the services that host or list it, block their access to our site, and take legal action.

To ask about republishing a story, email newsroom@raincrossgazette.com.

The Raincross Gazette name and logo are ours, so please don't use them in a way that suggests we endorse you.

Our editorial standards, including how we handle corrections, are on our Editorial Standards page.

3. Comments and how you treat each other

Paid members can comment on our stories. Comments appear publicly with the name on your account.

When you comment or send us anything, you agree not to post:

• threats, harassment, or attacks on people for who they are
• anything you know is false, or that defames someone
• other people's private information
• spam, advertising, or links meant to sell something
• material you don't have the right to share, including someone else's copyrighted work
• anything illegal

We read comments and moderate them. We may hide or remove any comment, and we may take away someone's ability to comment, at our judgment and without notice. We don't owe anyone a spot in our comments, and we don't promise to catch every comment that breaks these rules. Comments are the views of the people who wrote them, not the Gazette's.

You keep ownership of what you write. By posting a comment, you give us permission to display it on our site and in our newsletters, to keep it in our archive, and to quote it in our coverage with your name. That permission is free and non-exclusive, and it lasts as long as the comment stays published.

If you send us a tip, a letter, a photo or another submission, you're giving us permission to use it in our reporting. We protect sources as described on our Editorial Standards page.

4. Your account

Keep your login to yourself. A membership is for one person, so please don't share your account or pass along member-only stories in full. You're responsible for what happens under your account. If you think someone else is using it, email newsroom@raincrossgazette.com.

5. Membership and billing

Tiers. We offer a free membership and several paid tiers. The current tiers, prices and benefits are always listed on our Membership page and are shown again before you pay. Prices are in U.S. dollars.

Payment. Our membership platform is Ghost, and payments are processed by Stripe. We never see or store your full card number.

Automatic renewal. Paid memberships are monthly or yearly, and they renew automatically. Unless you cancel, Stripe charges the card on file at the start of each new month or year, at the price shown in your account. Your next renewal date is in your account.

Cancelling. You can cancel any time, online, from your account on our site. Choose "Cancel subscription" and confirm. Your membership stays active through the end of the period you already paid for and then doesn't renew. If you change your mind before then, you can choose "Continue subscription." If you need help cancelling, email newsroom@raincrossgazette.com and we'll do it for you.

Refunds. We don't give partial refunds for the unused part of a month or year. If you were charged for a renewal you didn't mean to keep, or charged in error, email newsroom@raincrossgazette.com within 30 days of the charge and we'll refund it.

Price changes. If we raise the price of a membership you already hold, we'll email you at least 7 days and no more than 30 days before the new price applies, and tell you how to cancel. A new price never applies to a period you've already paid for.

If a payment fails. If a renewal charge doesn't go through, Stripe may try it again over the following days. If it still can't be completed, your paid membership may end and your account will move to the free membership. We don't charge late fees.

Gift memberships. You can buy a paid membership as a gift for 1, 3 or 6 months or a year. A gift is one payment. It does not renew and nobody is charged again when it ends. The gift period starts when the person you gave it to redeems it. A gift must be redeemed within 365 days, and if it never is, email us and we'll refund it. When a gift membership ends, it simply stops, and the recipient can choose to become a paying member.

Business purchases. Advertising, sponsorships and the Gazette Business Profile in our Business Directory are sold under the terms shown when you buy them, and those terms control if they differ from these. For example, a Business Profile is a one-time purchase, and all sales are final once payment is made.

6. Copyright complaints

We respect other people's copyrights, and we expect the same from everyone who comments or submits material. If you believe something on our site infringes a copyright you own, send our designated agent a written notice that includes:

1. your physical or electronic signature
2. the copyrighted work you believe was infringed
3. the material you believe infringes it, and where it appears on our site (a link is best)
4. your name, mailing address, phone number and email
5. a statement that you believe in good faith the use isn't authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law
6. a statement that the information in your notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the owner or authorized to act for the owner

Our designated copyright agent:
Publisher, Gold Standard Media LLC
justin@raincrossgazette.com

If we remove a comment or other material because of a notice, and you believe it was removed by mistake, you can send us a counter-notice with the details the law requires (17 U.S.C. § 512(g)). We'll pass it to the person who complained and may restore the material.

We will end the accounts of people who repeatedly infringe others' copyrights. Knowingly false claims in a notice or counter-notice can make you liable for damages.

7. Links and embedded content

Our stories link to other websites and sometimes show content from other services, such as videos, maps or social media posts. We don't control those sites and aren't responsible for them. Their own terms and privacy policies apply when you use them.

8. Our work comes as it is

We work hard to get every story right, and we correct our mistakes. Still, we provide the site and everything on it "as is" and "as available." We don't promise that any content is complete or current, or that the site will always be up or free of errors. Nothing we publish is legal, financial, medical or other professional advice. Event listings and business information can change, so please check with the organizer or business before you go.

9. Limits on our liability

As far as the law allows, The Raincross Gazette and Gold Standard Media LLC are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages that come from your use of the site, our content or your membership. As far as the law allows, our total liability to you for any claim about the site or these terms is limited to the greater of what you paid us in the 12 months before the claim or $100.

These limits don't apply to anything the law doesn't allow us to limit, including liability for fraud, for harm we cause on purpose, or for gross negligence.

If something you post or do on our site breaks these terms or the law and someone makes a claim against us because of it, you agree to cover our reasonable costs of that claim, including attorneys' fees.

10. Ending access

You can stop using the site or delete your account any time. We may suspend or end an account that breaks these terms, such as one used for harassment, spam or account sharing. If we end a paid membership for a reason other than a broken rule, we'll refund the unused part of your current period.

11. Governing law and disputes

California law governs these terms, without regard to rules that would apply another state's law. If you have a problem, please write to us first at newsroom@raincrossgazette.com. Most things can be fixed with a conversation. If we can't work it out, any lawsuit about these terms or the site must be brought in the state or federal courts for Riverside County, California, and we both agree to those courts. Either of us may use small claims court if the claim qualifies.

For California residents. Under California Civil Code section 1789.3, you can reach the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs in writing at 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite N 112, Sacramento, California 95834, or by phone at (800) 952-5210.

12. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. When we do, we'll change the "Last updated" date at the top. If a change matters for paying members, such as a change to billing or cancellation, we'll also email members before it takes effect. If you keep using the site after an update, you're agreeing to the new terms. Changes never reach back to a period you've already paid for.

13. The rest

If any part of these terms can't be enforced, the rest still applies. If we don't enforce a part right away, we haven't given it up. These terms and our Privacy Policy are the whole agreement between us about using the site, apart from any separate terms you agree to when you buy advertising or a Business Profile.

14. Contact us

Questions about these terms, your membership or a charge:
newsroom@raincrossgazette.com

Copyright notices: see section 6.

The Raincross Gazette is published by Gold Standard Media LLC, Riverside, California.