Earth Day, Packing Houses, and a Very Good Saturday Ahead

Earth Day volunteers fan out across Redlands Saturday before everyone lands at Smiley Park for live music and food trucks at noon.

FROM THE Publisher,

There are weeks when a town feels quiet, and there are weeks when it feels like everybody is outside building something.

This one is the second kind.

Up above us, the Artemis II crew is on its way home after circling the moon. The farthest humans have traveled in more than fifty years. Four astronauts, a quarter of a million miles out, and back.

Down here in Redlands, people are rolling into Earth Day weekend the way this town tends to do things. Not with a hashtag. With shovels.

Workshops. Volunteer projects. Food trucks. Family activities. Farmers markets. Taiko drums echoing off the buildings downtown.

A full weekend of Redlands reminding itself what it still knows how to do.

Show up for itself.

If you've been waiting for a weekend to leave the house, this is the on

Carlos Samaniego and RedlandsNow Team

Earth Day is Taking Over Saturday

The biggest headline of the weekend is Redlands Day of Climate Action on Saturday, April 18. Morning workshops and volunteer projects run from 9 a.m. to noon at multiple hubs including the Asistencia, Burrage Mansion, and the Sustainable University of Redlands Farm. Then the public celebration moves to Smiley Park from noon to 3 p.m. with live music, food trucks, kids' activities, informational booths, and an EV showcase. If you want one event that feels most like Redlands right now—practical, idealistic, family-friendly, and local—this is probably it.

Backyard Hens Are One Vote Closer

The City Council voted 5-0 to advance a new ordinance allowing hens in most single-family neighborhoods, with limits tied to lot size. Under the proposal, lots under 4,000 square feet would still be excluded, while larger lots could keep up to nine hens. No roosters. No slaughtering on residential property. Incidental egg sales? Allowed. It still needs a final vote, but it's one of those classic Redlands stories: practical, slightly quirky, and very likely to dominate neighborhood conversation.

Redlands Unified Layoffs Are No Longer Abstract

The district has now issued preliminary layoff notices to 60 employees—27 certificated staff, 21 classified employees, and 12 administrators. Many of the affected roles are directly student-facing. Final board action is expected in May, but for a lot of local families, this has already shifted from budget talk to real-life impact.

The Weekend Redlands Goes All In on Earth Day

Some Earth Day events ask you to show up, grab a tote bag, and feel mildly guilty about plastic straws. Redlands is aiming a little higher.

Saturday's Day of Climate Action is built around doing. Residents can spend the morning building native gardens, removing invasive species, learning composting, exploring smart irrigation, talking solar, or joining workshops on everything from vermicomposting to medicinal plants. There's also a free Repair Café at the Joslyn Senior Center, where volunteers help repair household items instead of sending them to the landfill. That's the kind of detail I love—not theory, not hashtags, just people fixing stuff and helping each other.

By noon, the whole thing shifts into celebration mode at Smiley Park. Expect live music from Pickle and Bean, food trucks, kid-friendly activities, community booths, and a solid excuse to spend a spring Saturday downtown without pretending you're "just stopping by for a minute."

☀️ The View from the Foothills

Spring has officially settled in. Weekend forecast looks picture-perfect — sunny mid-70s by day, cool 50s in the evenings, and you can still catch snow on the San Bernardinos if you look north on a clear morning. Orange blossoms are scenting the neighborhoods around Sunset Drive and Cajon Street. If you've been waiting for the right weekend to walk downtown with a coffee, this is it.

🥬 Market Watch

Three markets running this weekend — the student-led Grove School Farmers Market (Saturday 8 am–noon, 11126 Iowa St), the Downtown Redlands Farmers Market on State Street, and Sunday's Olive Ave Market (9 am, 530 W Olive). Word is the citrus stands are overflowing, and Olive Ave's spring lineup has added two new food vendors worth showing up hungry for.

🏪 Downtown Notes

La Popular on State Street still has paper on the windows but construction is moving — folks walking by say the interior is starting to look like a restaurant. Ritual Brewing is hosting the Silent Book Club anniversary Sunday (noon–4 pm) and the patio has been packed. And the Redlands Mall site — now under Dangermond ownership — is quietly moving forward. Worth watching.

🎓 Campus Corner

The University of Redlands softball team is 29–4 and ranked No. 7 in the nation heading into their home matchup against Chapman on April 23 at 3 pm. If you've never been to a U of R softball game, grab a folding chair and go — free, family-friendly, and the program is quietly one of the best in Division III.

❤️ Community Heartbeat

Earth Day volunteers are already prepping Smiley Park for Saturday. The Sakura Festival organizers have been setting up taiko drums behind the Japanese Cultural Center all week. And the Redlands Fire Department has been sharing new videos of Fae, their support dog — she's become a local celebrity (and she should be).

🚗 Getting Around

Bicycle Classic road closures are fully cleared — downtown is back to normal traffic flow. Parking behind City Hall remains the best-kept secret on busy Saturdays. And if you're heading to Smiley Park for Earth Day, give yourself an extra 10 minutes — streets around the park will be busy from noon through mid-afternoon.

See something worth sharing? A new mural, a neighborhood story, a business doing it right? Hit reply — I read every email and I'm always looking for the kind of small stories that make Redlands, Redlands.

Mortgage Rates vs. The Headlines: What's Actually Happening in the Housing Market

If you've been scrolling through news feeds lately, you'd think the housing market had packed up and gone home.

Rates are too high. Nobody's buying. Everyone's waiting.

That's the headline version. Here's what's actually happening on the ground.

The Story the Headlines Are Missing

Homes are still selling. Every week. All over the Inland Empire and beyond.

Buyers are negotiating harder than they have in years. Sellers are coming to the table with credits and concessions that didn't exist eighteen months ago. Deals are getting done, just differently than they were during the frenzy.

The market didn't stop. It shifted.

Yes, Rates Matter. But They're Not the Whole Story.

The real question isn't what the national average rate is this week.

It's how the numbers work for your situation.

That's the part the headlines can't answer. And that's where a good loan officer earns their keep.

The Tools Most Buyers Don't Know Exist

A smart mortgage strategy today might include:

• Seller credits that reduce your out-of-pocket costs at closing
• Rate buydowns that lower your payment for the first few years
• Different loan programs that fit your specific situation, from first-time buyer options to specialty products
  
  

Sometimes a small adjustment to the structure of the loan makes a meaningful difference to the monthly payment. Sometimes it's the difference between waiting another year and getting the keys now.

You won't see that math in a news article. You see it when someone sits down with your actual numbers.

Meet Ana Cervantes

Ana Cervantes with Citrus Heights Mortgage has been helping buyers cut through the noise and find the loan structure that actually fits their life. No pressure. No jargon. Just honest guidance and real numbers.

I
f you've been wondering whether buying still makes sense right now, Ana will run the options with you and show you exactly where you stand.

Ready to Run the Numbers?

Call Ana directly at (909) 206-4553

Or visit www.citrusheightsmtg.com

The headlines will keep doing what headlines do. Your situation deserves a real answer.

🎯 YOUR REDLANDS WEEKEND

GRATITUDE & COMMUNITY

Sponsorship Opportunities

Ready to connect with engaged Redlands residents? Our newsletter reaches dedicated community members who support local businesses.

Contact us at info@redlandsnow.com to learn about sponsorship opportunities and tell us about your upcoming events, or next nominee for Inland Legend!

That's all for this week! Thanks for reading, and we'll see you around the groves.

Stay connected, stay local,
Carlos Samaniego, EA

The RedlandsNow.com Team