Good morning, San Bernardino.

Bethune Park covers six acres next to Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary at 16745 Kitching Street.

The park offers a playground, picnic shelters, baseball and softball fields, and a soccer field—its water features in the summer provide a refreshing spot for local residents.

Retail theft in San Bernardino’s Southern District decreased by 13% year-to-date, as Lieutenant Nick Oldendorf explained during the Coffee With a Cop event on July 15 at the DoubleTree by Hilton—targeted felony enforcement, undercover operations, and upcoming surveillance tools contributed to the drop.

In Rialto Unified, 17 graduates earned $1,411.76 checks at the June 25 board meeting after earning a B or higher and finishing 100 work-based learning hours in their CTE program—supported by Kaiser Permanente and a new partnership with CSU San Bernardino—setting up a path to careers in education.

Michelle Vazquez, a teacher at Live Oak Elementary School with over 16 years of experience, was named 2024-25 Teacher of the Year by Fontana Unified School District and is a finalist for the 2026 California Department of Education Teacher of the Year award – she works hard to support students with learning differences and runs a podcast to share tips with fellow special educators.

Governor Newsom appointed CSUSB graduate Carson Fajardo as a student trustee to the CSU Board of Trustees for a term of two years starting at the July meeting.

He represents 450,000 CSU students and his previous leadership at CSUSB prepared him to guide board decisions—an appointment that underlines his commitment to higher education.

On July 1, Josie Gonzales delivered the 2025 Assessment Roll showing a 6% increase in property values to $361 billion from $340 billion in 2024.

ATC launched a new cloud-based tax system—TaxSys—on July 14 to improve security, efficiency, and access to property tax services.