For three decades John Hunneman was a reporter and columnist for both The Californian and Riverside Press-Enterprise newspapers. He retired in 2020 after serving as the Communications Director for California State Senator Jeff Stone. John currently serves on the City of Murrieta Parks and Recreation Commission and is on the Board of Directors of The Nature Education Foundation at the Santa Rosa Plateau. He recently concluded two years of service on the Riverside County Civil Grand Jury. John is a proud Vietnam-Era U.S. Navy veteran and a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He and his wife Yvonne have lived in Murrieta for 35 years. Both of their sons graduated from Murrieta Valley High School.
Last year I spoke at a local Memorial Day observance, something I’ve been honored to do many times over the years. That day I asked if there were any World War II veterans attending and sadly, for the first time, there were none. This year, on Veterans Day, only one percent of the 16.4 million […]
This past summer I was invited to attend the 25th Anniversary celebration of the Temecula Valley Genealogical Society (TVGS). Current society members were honoring the charter members who founded the organization. By happy circumstance, I happened to be one of them. Members were also anxious to show off their updated Genealogy Room at the Ronald […]
If you moved, or were born, in Southwest Riverside County in the current century, Promenade Temecula, formerly The Promenade in Temecula, has always been there. Those of us who have called this region home since way back in the 20th century recall a time when sheep grazed on the open land at the corner of […]
An old bumper sticker, rarely seen anymore, used to ask, “Where the (heck) is Temecula?” These days many people know where Temecula is located. And, in four years, the entire world will know with the recent announcement that equestrian events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games are planned to take place at Galway Downs, […]
While watching a recent Murrieta Planning Commission workshop, I found the song “Déjà vu” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young playing in my head. “We have all been here before, we have all been here before.” A gentleman stood before the commission detailing the latest plans for the once “Golden Triangle” – now just the […]
Recently at a well-attended breakfast event with local officials, business leaders and residents the moderator asked how many in the audience had used AI. Only a few hands went up. Artificial Intelligence is all over the news these days. What is it? How does it work? Will it really change the world? Fear not, good […]
On occasion, most often when I have to put real pants on and leave the house, I get asked if I’m still writing. Some of you know I spent about 30 years in the Temecula Valley writing for two daily newspapers. Some of you even know what a daily newspaper is, or at least, used […]
The book’s title took me by surprise. So did the first line of the introduction: “I am the mayor of my city, I am the CEO of a billion-dollar company…and I am a bigot.” “The Old Man & the Queer” by Jeff Comerchero, 77, and E.J. Radford, 25, weaves the story of the lives of […]
Tipping seems to be much in the news these days. Some etiquette experts – something I most certainly am not – have dubbed the current situation “Tipflation.” Across the country we are tipping more, tipping folks we never used to tip, and being asked, or pressured, into tipping. According to a recent Pew Research Center […]
Happy New Year. The blank canvas of 2024 is stretched out before you, waiting for you to paint a masterpiece. What are your goals for the coming year.? A new car, a new house, more time with the family, less time with the family, travel, adventure, or maybe to lose some weight. The betting here […]
