Longtime Inland Empire journalist and KVCR contributor Cassie MacDuff and KVCR's Alfredo Cruz review some of the big Inland Empire news stories from the past week, including: 1. Riverside County’s budget deficit has fallen to $40 million, in the latest projected figures. 2. A judge has ruled that Riverside’s utility rate increase was an unconstitutional tax. 3. Families who were charged when their children were in juvenile detention are suing Riverside County over what they say are illegal fees.

Inland Empire Congressman Pete Aguilar, a Democrat from Redlands, was elected vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus by his fellow representatives today. That puts him in the No. 6 leadership spot in the House of Representatives. KVCR's Benjamin Purper spoke with Aguilar about his priorities in the coming legislative session and his thoughts on being the only Latino elected to Democratic leadership so far this session.

Monday through Thursday at lunchtime, KVCR News has your daily news rundown. Stories highlighted today include:

A SpaceX rocket carrying an astronaut who grew up in the Inland Empire has arrived at the International Space Station. NASA held a press conference early Thursday featuring four astronauts who travelled via a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station. One of those astronauts was Victor Glover, who was raised in Pomona and went to Ontario High School. Glover says he hopes his participation in the launch will inspire others in the Inland Empire and beyond. “I hope that this

Today on Inland Edition, Lillian Vasquez talks with Ryan Shaw, Director of Water Resources for the Western Municipal Water District. Ryan shares some new ideas for STEM-focused water education. One component is the development of a new video game that teaches students as they work their way through the levels. The game should be available to implement into virtual and classroom learning in the spring. Also on the show is Ava DeGrave, a 13-year-old from Murrieta who recently had the chance to

The Riverside City Council voted unanimously to adopt unique new guidelines to minimize the impact of bringing warehouses into the community on November 10. Revisions to the 2008 Good Neighbor Guidelines and city zoning codes were five years in the making, but now the city has the strictest requirements for new warehouse developments in the region. Critics have said both the original city guidelines and a county version passed last year lacked the teeth needed to give communities the power to

The news of two promising COVID-19 vaccines, had both the Riverside and San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors discussing preliminary plans for distribution at their meetings Tuesday. San Bernardino County Director of Public Health Corwin Porter says it is not yet clear how many doses the state is set to receive, but the latest vaccine news provides some mid-term hope. “So that is good news for us because that is one way that we can help combat obviously the virus which has taken a major

It has been an active start to the week for San Bernardino County fault lines. The region was hit with two 3.5 magnitude earthquakes within a 10-hour period according to the U.S. Geological Survey. On Tuesday morning one quake was centered in the Mojave Desert, 40 miles east of Barstow, and on Monday evening another was recorded 60 miles to the southwest near Morongo Valley. It was felt in Big Bear Lake and Palm Springs. These are some of the largest seismic events since a 3.9 earthquake was

Monday through Thursday at lunchtime, KVCR News has your daily news rundown. Stories highlighted today include:

San Bernardino National Forest officials announced yesterday that three major Inland Empire fires are now 100% contained. The Apple, El Dorado, and Snow fires were previously at 95% containment because the last remaining portion of uncontained perimeter was located in inaccessible terrain. However, they’ve now reached “natural features void of vegetation” which allowed firefighters to fully contain the fire, according to San Bernardino National Forest officials. But just because they’re