Arts + Culture

Inside ArtLaB, The Gallery

with Leslie A. Brown Article by Hannah Cole | Photography by Alex Tapia There is a painting in Leslie Brown’s gallery that started with a photograph of herself at twenty-two years old. She printed it on gel — a thin, translucent medium made from acrylic, almost delicate — and then added wings. Cut from the same gel print. Collaged onto a background she built herself. Two griffins flank the image, pulled from a reference she fell in love with at a gallery in New York City. The griffin, she’ll...

Arts + Culture

Under The Big Top

Circus Vargas brought its most dazzling production yet to Temecula! Article by Desiree Allen | Photography by Alex Tapia There is a moment, somewhere between the aerialist and the Globe of Death, when something shifts. The phone goes away. The to-do list evaporates. The child next to you grabs your arm. And for a few suspended seconds, everyone under the Big Top is experiencing exactly the same thing at exactly the same time. That is the particular magic of Circus Vargas — and in April 2026...

Health + Wellness

Are Sunbeds the Future of Holistic Wellness?

Give me 5 minutes and I think I might convince you that sunbeds are the future of health and wellness.By Brian De MintFor decades, sunlight has been caught in a strange cultural tug-of-war.On one side, we instinctively know we feel better after spending time in the sun. We sleep better, our mood improves, and we feel more energized. On the other side, we've been taught to avoid sunlight whenever possible.Somewhere along the way, we stopped asking an important question:What happens when humans...

Auto + Marine

The Hand That Paints History

Article by Sean Arnett Before vinyl wrap. Before digital print. Before a computer ever touched a logo — there was a man with a brush, a steady hand, and paint that smelled like a race shop. Every sign over a bar, every letter on a delivery truck, every number on a race car door was put there by hand. The spacing, the weight, the serif on a capital R — all of it was judgment, craft, and muscle memory. At places like Orange Show Speedway and 605 Speedway, Saturday nights in Southern California...

Health + Wellness

It's Amazing What Light Can Do!

There’s something quietly revolutionary happening in wellness right now.People are waking up to the idea that health isn’t found in another prescription bottle or another disconnected symptom-management strategy. Deep down, we already know this. The body was designed to heal, regulate, adapt, and thrive when given the right environment.That’s the heartbeat behind Salt & Light Wellness.We built Salt & Light around an ancient principle that modern culture forgot: the human body needs...

Local Services

Voices for Children

45 Years of Impact Article by Hannah Cole There is a nine-year-old boy in Riverside County who painted his future self as a soccer player who helps the homeless at night. There is a teenage girl who handed her CASA volunteer a chapbook of poems she'd been quietly filling with her pain, her grief, and her determination to heal. There is a 12-year-old who wouldn't make eye contact, wouldn't say a word — until the week his advocate found a shelter for his abandoned dog, and something in him...

Life + Culture

Built on Belief

Margaret Rich and the Mission That Keeps Growing Article by Hannah Cole Last year, Margaret Rich paid for the school buses herself. Not because she had to — because she refused to let the funding gap become the reason these kids didn't come. This year, the buses rolled back through the gates of Green Acres Interactive Therapy Ranch, and Margaret was there to meet them, same as before. Same dusty boots. Same open gates. Same unshakeable belief that every child in this community deserves a...

Local Services

She Threw the Party.

Then She Changed Lives. Article by Hannah Cole | Photography by Time Stood Still Photography It started with a dress and a dream. Charity Prestifilippo had always wanted to attend the Oscars — the gowns, the glamour, the electric feeling of a room full of people celebrating something bigger than themselves. When that didn't pan out, she decided to do what she does best: create it herself. Then life handed her a better reason to throw the party. When her sister's lifelong best friend and her...

Local Services

Futures for Families

SAFE Family Justice Centers Is Building a Safer Temecula — One Family at a Time Article by Desiree Allen | Photography by Monica Kirkland This spring, at the SAFE Futures Celebration Casino Night at Monteleone Meadows, SAFE Family Justice Centers presented the Temecula Valley Woman's Club with the 2026 Dan Atwood Legacy Award — the organization's highest honor, reserved for those whose commitment to survivors has gone far beyond expectation. Twenty-seven years. Through funding, advocacy, and...

Health + Wellness

Our Most Enduring Asset

Why investing in time outdoors may be the wisest decision a growing community can make. Article by Desiree Allen | Photography by Shawna Sarnowski Photography When we talk about investment in Temecula, we often begin with what is visible — new construction, expanding business districts, rising property values, the steady rhythm of a city in motion. Growth is tangible. It signals confidence. It reflects belief in what lies ahead. But the truest measure of a community’s strength is not found...