When school resumes in Banning on Aug. 12, there will be students in dire need of school supplies. Many folks were economically set back because of the pandemic, particularly the families

Last Saturday Banning Mayor Colleen Wallace held a Town Hall meeting at Roosevelt Williams Park, with a host of speakers that would provide updates on their respective fields.

On a deceptively expansive fenced in property in Cherry Valley, Gloria McManus and several volunteers humbly unload food destined to help those in need.

On May 22, Banning High School held a special event to honor its seniors: a drive-thru senior prom.

The Morongo Casino Resort & Spa and Casino Morongo are looking to hire dozens of new team members at two job fairs set for Monday, May 10 and Tuesday, May 18 from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. in the Morongo Grand Ballroom.

BY DAVID JAMES HEISS

Ahead of their Wednesday deadline for a short-range transit plan draft expected by the Riverside County Transportation Commission, Beaumont’s Community Services Director Elizabeth Gibbs gave a presentation on her department’s transit efforts to the city council at its April 20 meeting.

Developer fees related to preserving endangered species and providing the conservation of nearly half of a million acres is going up among 18 members of the Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority (RCA), a joint powers authority that oversees the Western Riverside County Mul…

On April 9 detectives of the Banning Police Department, assisted by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Gang Impact Team, arrested 24 year-old Jerry Valdepena for the crime of murder.

For some people who have hearing disabilities, the budding genius of Alex Ivanov may be off interest.

BY DAVID JAMES HEISS

Shannon Hansen is taking classes at Crafton Hills College (CHC) to prepare for a career in cybersecurity.

The Beaumont-Cherry Valley Recreation and Park District will hold the Annual Fishing Derby on Saturday, April 24, and Sunday, April 25 starting at 7 a.m. The children’s Derby will begin at 7 a.m. Saturday, April 24 with lunch and awards following the competition.

BY SUSAN MARTINEZ

Riverside County health officials are relocating several of the COVID-19 vaccine clinic sites to new locations. The changes will take effect at the end of business today (March 19) and the new locations are scheduled to open Monday.

The Morongo Casino Resort & Spa presented a $128,643 check to the Boys and Girls Clubs of the San Gorgonio Pass to support the organization’s vital community youth programs.

On Feb.25 shortly before 4:30 p.m., Banning Police Officers were

Beaumont High School’s academic decathlon team took fourth place during the first fully virtual Riverside County Academic Decathlon, which was won for the fourth year in a row by Elsinore High School.

Nate Fakes has always been a fan of game shows, gleefully watching them as he grew up.

Banning took a step to cement a working relationship with the Riverside County Regional Park and Open-Space District in reference to programs at the historic Gilman Ranch and Wagon Museum on Wilson Street.

A year ago, the county threatened to increase Banning’s fees for animal control services.

With quarantine orders relaxed, Fox Cineplex in Banning has reopened, showing current films and offering sentimentalists and romantics a chance to go back in time with limited showings of vintage films such as 1953’s “Roman Holiday” with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck (7 p.m. on Friday, 4:3…

The Morongo, Casino Resort & Spa is looking to hire dozens of new team members to food and beverage positions at a job fair set for Thursday, Feb. 11 from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. in the Morongo Grand Ballroom.

The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians has announced plans to fill more than 500 jobs across all areas of their enterprise in preparation for phase one of their ambitious casino and resort expansion.

BY DAVID JAMES HEISS

The reincarnation of what was formerly Pass Area Transit had an unveiling Monday morning, as administrators from the transportation departments of Banning and Beaumont gathered for a brief celebration of their new designs.

COVID-19 contributed to the deaths of two individuals who quietly made a difference in keeping the less fortunate fed and provided for in the Pass area.

The owners of Skydive West Coast, which operates a parachute jumping business out of the Banning Municipal Airport, spurned the optics of what could be seen as a “hand out” and requested not to have three months’-worth of lease be dismissed by the city.

In the last few weeks Beaumont lost a couple of community volunteer heavyweights with the passing of former Beaumont Chamber of Commerce President Jim Lester, and past Beaumont Kiwanis President Fred Magenheim.

As the 1.8 million square-foot San Gorgonio Crossing logistics center was being planned, former county supervisor Marion Ashley had advocated an open space buffer between the facility and the community of Cherry Valley.

BY DAVID JAMES HEISS

BY RACHAEL GARCIA

BY TREVOR CADDELL

Banning congratulated longtime councilman Art Welch and outgoing mayor Daniela Andrade Tuesday evening as they retired as public officials.

As Todd Parton recalls, working with then-incoming Mayor Rey Santos, a lot of discussion took place as to what to anticipate for the coming year: business events, round table discussions, capital projects.

BY ANITA LAWRENCE

The Morongo Health Clinic will be closed Tuesday, Dec. 8 for one day as SoCal Edison replaces a power pole supplying electricity to the building.

Beaumont has approved $163,900 in community development block grants, with $20,000 being given to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the San Gorgonio Pass, and the remaining $143,900 will be designated for street and sidewalk rehabilitation projects, and ADA ramp improvements in downtown Beaumont.

This past week Coldwell Banker Kivett-Teeters in Beaumont hosted their second annual food drive and celebrated a huge success!

Usually while most people in the Pass area are celebrating Thanksgiving, on Thanksgiving Day the Hmong population celebrates their new year with guest speakers from other Hmong communities, songs and dances — and lots of food.

Banning moved forward in approving funding for nearly $350,000 in community development block grants applicable to the 2020-21 year, and approved recommendations for $194,000-worth of projects for the 2021-22 program year.

After Banning and Beaumont agreed to go their separate ways when it comes to providing public transportation, “Pass Transit” as society knows it effectively began to fade away as of July 2019, and city buses will only cross connecting cities’ routes at the Walmart stop in Beaumont.