Writer Rachel Stark talked about her debut novel, “Perris, California,” at Riverside’s Culver Center for the Arts on Wednesday with fellow writers Susan Straight and Alex Espinoza. All three talked about setting fiction in the IE, a long way from the consciousness of New York publishing houses. Stark grew up in Perris and incorporates real places into her novel. Also: the Mission Inn gets (more) recognition. That’s my Friday column.

People turned out to the library in droves for a recent talk about Zacatecas Cafe, an icon of Riverside’s eastside, in business for six decades. Also: a Riverside man’s 90th birthday was marked in a nationally syndicated jumble puzzle. And a notable Ontario native returns for an estate sale at his childhood home. Read all about it in my Sunday column.

I attend a Riverside City Council meeting, during which outgoing council members popped off at the public, new members were sworn in (and immediately undid the previous council’s last action), and Councilmember Chuck Conder participated remotely while using a “Muppet Show” background. Also: an IE-wide history festival takes place Saturday in San Bernardino, I personally vouch for a problem detailed in our On the Road traffic column and Claremont shows up as a “Jeopardy” clue. All this is in my Friday column.