Last week, Congressman Pete Aguilar, who represents parts of southwestern San Bernardino County, joined Meals on Wheels and the Family Service Administration to deliver meals to seniors in Fontana and San Bernardino. Aguilar says he wants to highlight how important programs like these are—especially amid the confusion surrounding President Trump’s executive order to freeze federal spending. Two judges ruled the Trump administration must pause its federal spending freeze, but uncertainty remains.

For 91.9 KVCR News, I’m Madison Aument and this is Economics IE. Today, I’m speaking with Jackie Benson, an economist with Wells Fargo, about how economic policy under the new Trump presidency could affect the Inland Empire.

For 91.9 KVCR News, I'm Madison Aument and this is Economics IE. Temecula Valley has some 50 wineries that attract locals and tourists alike, but now several winery owners are in the market to sell. Pat Maio is a reporter with the Orange County Register, who's reported on the wave of people looking to get out of the Temecula wine business.

For 91.9 KVCR News, I’m Madison Aument and this is Economics IE. I’m breaking form a bit for this holiday week and give y’all a general update on what’s going on with the Inland Empire’s economy this month.

Prop 36… which allows felony charges and increased sentences for certain drug and theft crimes… passed with broad support. Here in the Inland Empire, the San Bernardino County board of supervisors and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco were strong proponents of it. I spoke with Caitlin O’Neil with the Legislative Analyst Office… a nonpartisan fiscal and policy advisor for the state government… to help parse out the potential fiscal impact of Prop 36.

Today I’m talking with Hillary Jenks who is with the Inland Empire Labor Institute to talk about Plug In IE and their work trying to bring green jobs to the area.

Today I’m talking with Rosibel Ochoa, who is the Associate Vice Chancellor for Technology Partnerships at UC Riverside. Ochoa runs the Inland SoCal Accelerate Hub that is working to help entrepreneurs in the region.

This is Economics IE, where I speak to experts from the Inland Empire to talk about the region's economy. For today's episode, Ricardo Cisneros with the Inland Empire Labor Council joined me to talk about improving the lives of the region's labor force.

Late last week, the American Automotive Association, or AAA, released a report on gas prices. The average price for a gallon of gas in San Bernardino County is $4.48 and in Riverside County, it's $4.42. I spoke to Gianella Ghiglino, who's a spokesperson for AAA about the cost of gasoline in the region.

The Line, Airport and Bridge Fires have burned more than 100,000 acres in and around the Inland Empire this month. As firefighters continue to build containment, efforts are turning to clean up. I spoke with Bob Roper with the Western Fire Chiefs Association about how we determine the cost of wildfires.