The County of Riverside Commission for Women is accepting nominations for its 2013-2014 Woman of the Year awards. The awards are bestowed upon an outstanding woman in each supervisorial district who has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to her community by working to improve the status of women and their families in Riverside County.

Anyone interested in running in the March 25 special primary election for the California 23rd Senate District may file papers for candidacy until 5 p.m. Friday (Jan. 31).

Larry Ward, Riverside County's Assessor-Clerk-Recorder, announced today that he will not seek re-election to a third term. Ward has been with the office for over 35 years and was appointed to the position by the Board of Supervisors in 2005, when former Assessor Gary Orso retired. He was elected to his first term in 2006.

The Riverside County Waste Management Department will host a free backyard composting workshop in Lake Elsinore on Saturday (Feb. 1).

The County of Riverside is one of 16 cities/counties across the nation selected to do a point-in-time count of homeless veterans tomorrow (Jan. 29) in cities and communities throughout Riverside County.  Teams of volunteers from veterans’ groups, county and community-based organizations will be deployed from sites all over the county to begin canvassing at 6 a.m.

Solutions for dealing with convicted criminals who are returned to Riverside County by the state, and finding a legislative fix to replace money lost by four of the most recently incorporated cities were among key topics today (Tuesday) when Gov. Jerry Brown met in Riverside with several top county officials.

Riverside County health officials tested 1,394 students and faculty at Indio High School for tuberculosis Friday, remaining confident that the likelihood of the illness spreading is still low.

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors today voted 5-0 to “Free the Food Trucks” in the county beginning April 8.  Riverside County is possibly the only county in California that had maintained an outright prohibition on preparing hot food in a mobile food facility without a special-event permit.

Michael Stock, an assistant human resources director for Riverside County, has been named to head the county Human Resources Department. Stock succeeds Barbara Olivier, who retires Monday (Dec. 2) after three-and-a-half years as director and 14 years working for the department.

A 1.5-mile street repaving project that will make driving safer on Stanford Street in Hemet was approved today (Tuesday) by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. The project is part of a broader $7.5 million effort to improve roads in the Hemet area.