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RIVERSIDE, CA- With the Halloween season fast approaching, Castle Park is getting ready to offer Halloween fun during two different events. Castle Park transforms into its heart-racing, exhilarating Castle Dark in the evening. When darkness falls, the nightmare calls and guests can experience the sheer terror of Castle Dark’s haunted attractions. During the daytime hours, kids of all ages are welcome to join in the Halloween festivities with family friendly fun at Happy Hauntings.

From October 7 to the 30, every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday the gate will creek open at 7 p.m. for Castle Dark. Venture inside four haunted house maze attractions set throughout the park. Experience the impending doom of a demonic spirit that consumed the mine and its workers, at the all NEW Demented Doom Mine maze. Experience the NEW Shiverton Manor maze, a mansion full of distorted realities and horrible nightmares. Don’t miss the Ghost Blasters ride, a creature, zombie, and ghost inhabited ride in 3-D.

For guests looking for more cheer than fear, Castle Park’s Happy Hauntings is the perfect place for little ghouls 12 and under. From 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday, October 8-30, kids can enjoy pumpkin carving contests, costume contests, and a Trick-or-Treat Street at Happy Hauntings.

Tickets start at $9.99 online for Happy Hauntings daytime fun. Castle Park’s Happy Hauntings activities are included in all park tickets every Saturday and Sunday, October 8-30. Tickets including Castle Dark start at $19.99. Castle Dark opens at 7 pm, Friday through Sunday, from October 7-30. Hours of operation vary. Visit castlepark.com for more details.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA-The San Bernardino Public Library is joining hundreds of libraries across North America to host an Indie Author Day event on October 8th, 2016. This event is designed to bring the local writing communities together to participate in book readings, signings, and workshops.

Authors from throughout the Inland Empire have been invited to discuss their works and sell and sign books at the Norman F. Feldheym Central Library, 555 w. 6^TH St. in San Bernardino on Saturday, October 8, 2016 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 

This is a good opportunity to meet local authors who represent many genres, including fiction, non-fiction, science fiction, fantasy, poetry, children’s books, young adult books, local history, and mystery. Over 30 authors, poets and cartoonists have confirmed their participation including Al Ward, Beth Winokur, Dr. Dawn Menge, Dr. Frank Stern, Gary & Isabel Walbourne, George L. Gurney, Gina Rider, Greg McWhorter, Herb Williams, James Rhozon, John Weeks, June Durr, Krista Wagner, Lara Rios, Larry Burns, Madeline Gornell, Mary Ruth Hughes, Michael Palmer, Michael Raff, Mike Kennedy, Mike Walters, Nick Cataldo, Paulina Jaramillo, Phil Yeh, Richard Levesque, Roberta Smith, Suzanne Saunders, T’ana Thompson, Terri Elders, Victoria Taylor, and authors from PoetrIE.

Two workshops will be held during the event: Theresa Elders will present a workshop called ‘How to Write True Stories for Anthologies such as Chicken Soup for the Soul’ at 2:00 PM in the Bing Wong Auditorium. She will talk about the elements of writing a true narrative essay and how to mine your life for story ideas.  Elders’ stories have been featured in over 100 books, including such series as Chicken Soup for the Soul, A Cup of Comfort, Thin Threads, and HCI Ultimate.

Larry Burns will present a workshop called ‘How to Transition From a “Regular” Career to an “Art-Based” Career’ at 3:00 PM in the Bing Wong Auditorium. The topics he will cover are:  Creating your artist’s life support system, what you need and what you can cannibalize from your previous career; making financial sense of your new normal; learning to accept payment for your art…you are worth it; finding your way in social media promotion; how to get more comfortable sharing your success; and setting goals and tracking your progress. In 2015, Larry Burns ended a decade -long administration career to focus on teaching and writing full time, and a year later had his first book contract. He has an MFA in Creative Writing and teaches in the College of Humanities and Sciences at University of Phoenix. He is a founding member of Inlandia Institute, a non-profit literary advocacy group.

Authors from PoetrIE will be doing readings beginning at 4:00 in the Bing Wong Auditorium. PoetrIE started with a handful of writers who were interested in creating a space for other aspiring writers in this area to practice their craft. It has since grown to numerous workshops across the region, monthly reading series, and is now a nonprofit organization.

This event is free and open to the  public, and is sponsored by the Friends of the San Bernardino Library. For more information, call 909. 381.8238 or visit www.sbpl.org or www.facebook.com/SBPLfriends

ONTARIO, CA-Route 66 Cruisin’ Reunion®, powered by the Greater Ontario Convention & Visitors Bureau, has announced the impact to our local economy during the three day event! Route 66 Cruisin’ Reunion®, a 501-(c3) organization, created by the Greater Ontario Visitors & Convention Bureau, is a Southern California ultimate weekend celebration of America’s love affair with the automobile and its world-famous highway, Route 66. Three days of cruising, contests, live entertainment, fabulous food and comradery make it one of the best events of its kind. Route 66 Cruisin’ Reunion is where classic cruisers, convertibles, hot rods, and wicked Woodies fuel a jam-packed jamboree.

Starting on Friday, September 16 at 5:00pm and continuing thru the weekend until Sunday, September 18 at 4:00pm the following numbers have been reported:

• Attendance totaled more than 150,000 people participating in this three (3) day weekend family event.
• Over 1,000 cars registered to participate in Route 66 Cruisin Reunion
• Total economic impact to the area was more than $17,000,000.00
• Total vendors, included : 29 retail vendors and 23 food vendors
• Eight (8) live concerts were performed on the Ontario Town Square Stage
• The Mother Road Revisited exhibit at the Ontario Museum of History and Art was brought in specifically to be apart of this event. A good example of synergy between destinations working together to encourage visitors to explore and discover the Greater Ontario region
• The People’s Choice awards gave the attendees the opportunity to vote. Six categories included: Best of Show, Best Convertible, Cool Paint Job, Best Pick Up, Best Staging, and Best Muscle Car
• Additional contests included the Neon light contest and the Model Car Contest
• Southern California media brought attention to the event with over 572,000 people learning more about the event thru television and print articles

We are proud to announce the success of Route 66 Cruisin Reunion” said Michael Krouse, President and CEO of the Greater Ontario Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Our mission is to bring visitors to our cities, increase overnight stays in our hotels, and boost the local economy” said Krouse. “Our team takes pride in creating family friendly events that lure visitors to our area and has the added benefit of providing a wonderful way for our local community to spend the

weekend – to appreciate our beautiful historic tree lined Euclid Avenue in Ontario, check out the cars, listen to some great music and enjoy all the free family fun!”

If you missed this annual event be sure to mark your 2017 calendars now for the third weekend in September! The timer has already been set to count down the days, hours, minutes, and seconds to the next Route 66 Cruisin’ Reunion. Visit www.Route66CruisinReunion.com.

LOMA LINDA, CA- Arrowhead Regional Medical Center Clinical Social Worker, Kendra Flores?Carter, was recognized this week for her work assisting women who are experiencing postpartum depression (PPD). Following an examination of evidence?based research, Carter developed and implemented a highly successful therapeutic support group for women experiencing symptoms of PPD.

“I am honored to receive this award,” said Carte r, who has been working at ARMC since 2007. “I learned through my research that one in seven women will experience PPD after giving birth, and women who experience PPD are often stigmatized and can feel shame and embarrassment.

“When I started this program about a year ago, it was just me providing the maternal depression educational materials to my patients, but now our whole team provides this education to our patients.”

Carter’s innovative efforts to educate and raise awareness also extend to collaborating with the San Bernardino County Maternal Mental Health (MMH) Work Group and Children’s Network as a means to build and strengthen relationships with community partners.

“Kendra truly embodies and carries out the mission of ARMC, and the Countywide Vision, on a daily basis, as she conducts assessments, provides counseling, and offers valuable education and resources for our patients, their families, and our community,” said ARMC Director, William Gilbert. “We believe that ARMC can serve as a model hospital for this type of education.”

Carter, who has a bachelor’s degree in psychology, obtained her master’s in Social Work (MSW) from California State University, Long Beach in 2007. She is currently working toward her Doctor of Social Work (DSW) through the University of Tennessee, and is expected to earn her doctorate in 2017.

Photo credit Freddie Washington

By Naomi K. Bonman

After a two year process of grinding it out, The Diamond Monologues finally came to life on Saturday, October 1 in Ontario, California. The Diamond Monologues has been in the works by author and now playwright, T’ana Phelice. In order for the play to be a success like it was, Phelice had to ensure that she had the right team in place and the right girls to bring the monologues to life, and it was well worth the wait!

Jacquene Richardson. Photo credit Freddie Washington

The evening began with an empowerment series with speakers Nakea Brown, Rebuild Your Laugh; and Karla Quebec, Mrs. Latina Global (Guatemala) contestant. Brown prophesied on being ‘The Message’. We each have a message that we have been called to give out to the people through our passions, gifts, and purpose. Quebec followed by giving her personal and very deep testimony of what her childhood and teenage years were like and how they formed her into becoming the strong woman that she is today. To compliment the speakers, Jacquene Richardson also gave her testimony through spoken word.

Photo credit Freddie Washington

The pieces of the puzzle would not be complete without the diamond of the show. These five ladies did an excellent job in bringing the characters of the book to life and tapping into what their character went through to relate to it and make the issue their own. The cast included: Asia Smith (Tia), T’ana Phelice (Monqiue, writer), Precious Chapman (Sheena, Director), Karina “KJ” Johns (Bernice), and Ericka Marmolej (Veronica).

For those that missed, you definitely missed a phenomenal show! But you will have another chance to see it in Los Angeles, California in January 2017. To keep updated on the exact show date and time or to purchase a book, please visit www.tanaphelice.com.

Karla Quebec. Photo credit Freddie Washington

Photo credit Freddie Washington

Photo credit Freddie Washington

Photo credit Freddie Washington

RIVERSIDE, CA- Effective October 3, Metrolink’s Pedley station on the Riverside Line will be renamed to the Jurupa Valley/Pedley station.          

The station’s name is being updated to reflect the city’s incorporation as Jurupa Valley.

When the Pedley station was created in 1993, it was located in an unincorporated area of Riverside County. In 2011, this 44-square mile region was incorporated as the City of Jurupa Valley, which encompasses the Metrolink Pedley station.

Due to the renaming of the station, ticket vending machines will require passengers to select “J” for Jurupa Valley/Pedley instead of “P” for fare media to and from the station formerly known as Pedley. 

Pedley station information seen in the Metrolink timetable, station signage, online, and other sources will be listed as Jurupa Valley/Pedley information as of October 3.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA- United Nations of Consciousness is now accepting enrollment in their Youth Afterschool Enrichment Program. Program begins in October 2016. Pre-Register by visiting www.uncyouth.org

Registration is on a first come, first serve basis, with priority given to San Bernardino City Unified School District students. They are currently accepting children ages 8 to18 years old.

Stay up to date by subscribing to UNC’s text messages by texting UNCYOUTH to 31996. (Standard messaging rates apply, see carrier for details.) 

Water is essential to our everyday lives so it’s important to conserve our water supplies. Cutting water use outside is really important. If each of us changed our water-use habits even a little, we could save billions of gallons of water. Here’s a few ways you can help:

• Use a broom instead of a hose to clean driveways and sidewalks and save up to 150 gallons each time.
• Check and repair promptly your sprinkler system for leaks, oversprays and broken sprinkler heads to save up to 500 gallons per month.
• Water your plants in the evening or early in the morning to reduce evaporation and to save up to 25 gallons each time.
• Install a smart sprinkler controller that adjusts watering based on weather, soil type, amount of shade and plant type to save up to 40 gallons per day.

Be a team player. Follow your local water agency’s suggested watering days to save up to 840 gallons per week.

Metropolitan Water District’s conservation website, bewaterwise.com, offers additional tips on how to reduce indoor and outdoor water use. Love Water. Save Water.

Jon Eady

SANTA MONICA, CA- Santa Monica College (SMC) is pleased to announce that SMC grad and Santa Monica native Jonathan Eady has been awarded a Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship for Service by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The scholarship supports students who are pursuing a degree in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields.

Upon graduation, all SMART scholars are placed in civilian jobs in a DoD lab or facility. The DoD developed its SMART program to increase the number of civilian scientists and engineers working at DoD laboratories. In addition to covering tuition and other educational expenses, SMART recipients receive a generous cash award and health insurance allowance, as well as a monthly stipend. Summer internships are also included.

Eady is an Army National Guard veteran who completed six years of service at the end of July. He was a fire finding radar operator, “which is basically using a radar to track artillery firing around the area,” said Eady. He also served as a liaison with the National Guard’s efforts to help the homeless in the Santa Monica and Los Angelesarea. During his time in the National Guard, Eady said he often struggled to juggle his studies with his military duties, and even had to drop classes at times to meet his military obligations.

Despite the delays in his educational pursuits, Eady earned an Associate degree at SMC in General Science-Mechanical Engineering preparation this June. He transferred to California State University-Northridge (CSUN), where he is majoring in Mechanical Engineering with a specialization in Mechatronics and Robotics, and minoring in Automation and Computer Design. Eady says he chose CSUN because it has a “more robust robotics program than they have at UC,” adding that he is “proud to be CSUN’s first SMART scholarship participant.”

For Eady, who grew up with the struggles and wants of poverty, one of the many benefits of the SMART scholarship is that it includes a paid internship, with a direct path to a career. He called the scholarship “liberating, just knowing that I can take care of my mom now.” Eady recently learned that his mother had been diagnosed with bipolar schizophrenia.

The internship also gives him the opportunity to become familiar with working at a DoD facility. “It’s basically like a trial period to see how things feel,” he said. For his internship site, Eady selected the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Port Hueneme. He will be working with the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program. The LCS is a fairly new type of small, but very agile, high-tech surface vessels designed to operate in coastal waters close to shore.

Eady is a former President’s Ambassador of Santa Monica College and participant in the college’s STEM Science Research Initiative. He is also the founder of the STEM Club at SMC, and was elected by the student body to serve as student trustee on the SMC board for 2015-16.

Eady credits several of his SMC instructors for his success, especially Professor Muriel Walker-Waugh, who “got me into the STEM program and got me started on this path of success that I didn’t know was there.” SMC Academic Computing Instructional Specialist Lee Peterson, who runs the student computer lab in Cayton Center, has been “instrumental in everything,” said Eady. “His mentorship is a huge reason why I was successful.” Eady added that SMC’s trustees were all very supportive and he benefited especially from being “actively mentored” by board member Dr. Susan Aminoff.

Gaining the engineering knowledge to go into robotics is one of Eady’s dreams. “I want to understand how all this technology works, so I can have that little bit of information and the scientific literacy that’s necessary for the future,” he said. “I want to use technology to help people in some way. I’m going to try to be that person who says, ‘Let’s make our priorities our people, education, and making sure we advance ourselves technologically.’” In the end, added Eady, “It’s all public service. That’s where I’ve been my entire life.”

For more information on the SMART scholarship, visit smart.asee.org.

Karla Quebec

ONTARIO, CA- San Bernardino Author T’ana Phelice has accomplished a lot in the past two years with three book releases, and now is she gearing up to expand her brand by bringing her books to the stage. “The Diamond Monologues” will debut on Saturday, October 1 at 2455 E. Riverside Drive in Ontario, California 91761 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

“A Woman is something precious to this world, but you have to decide if you’re a pig or a pearl,” T’ana Phelice quotes.

This heart-wrenching, dramatic, and touching stage production will go into the lives of five dynamic young women. Veronica, Precious, Nicki, Tia, and Samantha are used to beauty and scandalous behavior in a means to get them ahead, but God has other plans in mind. Twisted affairs leave a few of the ladies praying for redemption, while true love leaves one facing tragedy and another with what she has finally become worthy of. Each of these ladies are at a crossroad that will either test their faith or restore the strength that they didn’t know they had. Some will make reality of their dreams, while others refuse to face reality all together.

To compliment the message of the stage production, there will be a special keynote speech from Karla Quebec of the Inland Empire Black Chamber of Commerce, in addition to other young, dynamic women speakers. The evening will also consist of spoken word, photo op opportunities on the red carpet, and light refreshments will be served for a small fee.

Early bird tickets are on sale on for $20 and after Saturday, September 24 they will be $25. Grab you tickets and your seat now at www.tanaphelice.com. Seating is limited.