Hello from California’s high desert. Welcome to April, and I hope you are ready for eclipse season. Here’s a quick primer about what the Basin can expect during the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8.
In case you missed it: On Sunday I wrote a bit about my journey to becoming a girls’ girl, and, contrary to what some may think, this is not an attempt at a complete Feminism History 101 course, just my experience. I hope you enjoy it.
And now, onto this week’s news:
In local news:
Local musician Dan Horn was allegedly assaulted in Twentynine Palms on Friday evening, and is thankfully recovering from the attack. His friends and coworkers at Grnd Sqrl have set up a GoFundMe to help support him and his family while he recovers.
Authorities are searching for Gabriel Loh Buerkens, a 15-year-old Yucca Valley resident, who has been reported missing by his family. Loh Buerkens was last seen on March 16 and is thought to be heading to Long Beach.
Call 1-800-843-5678 or the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department at 909-387-8313 if you have information about Loh Buerkens’ whereabouts.
USA Today named the Joshua Tree Music Festival among the top 10 music festivals in the country in a recent report.
The spring festival begins on May 16. You can purchase tickets and see the upcoming lineup here.
Yucca Valley Town Council approved $3.25 million in funding for a town beautification project that includes building a 97-car parking lot on Elk Trail between Yucca Trail and Twentynine Palms Highway.
Town officials expect to begin construction in June, with completion expected for November.
The Twentynine Palms Planning Commission approved three properties for demolition after declaring them a public nuisance. Some of the properties have complaints going back as far as 2015.
Twentynine Palms is converting one of the basketball courts in Luckie Park to tennis and pickleball courts, with completion expected by the end of April.
Copper Mountain College is holding a basketball camp for middle and high school aged girls this Saturday and Sunday. The camp costs $40 per attendee, and players can sign up here.
The Morongo Basin Cultural Arts Council is hosting a fundraiser this Saturday, April 6, featuring performances by Jesika Von Rabbit, Aydra, and aerial and fire artists.
The event begins at 6 p.m. at the Booth House, located at 75727 Baseline Road in Twentynine Palms. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased at the door.
Local sign language interpreter Celene de Miranda is teaching an Intro to Conversational ASL (American Sign Language) class through the Community Education Program at Copper Mountain College. Classes start tomorrow and are held every Thursday this month starting at 5:30 p.m.
To sign up, call the Community Education Program at 760-366-5201 ext. 5402, or register online.
The Twentynine Palms High School Interact Club is hosting a food giveaway this Saturday, April 6, from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m. at Twentynine Palms High School. Recipients must provide a valid ID and proof of residence to be eligible.
The Joshua Tree No-Kill Shelter’s 10th annual “Woof Walk” fundraiser in Pioneertown will be this Saturday, April 6. The fundraiser includes the walk at 10 a.m., plus raffles, auctions, and vendors.
Desert Bingo will benefit local snake wrangler and all-around good human Danielle Wall on Monday, April 8. Wall runs her snake relocation service entirely on donations, and is gearing up for another busy season already.
In state news:
New video has emerged showing San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies shooting Savannah Graziano, 15, while attempting to stop her father from kidnapping her in 2022.
The case has highlighted the county sheriffs’ use of force and has reignited calls for reform.
Did you see the exploding space junk? Californians up early on Tuesday saw an explosion in the sky that experts say was a rocket re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. The display followed a successful SpaceX launch, though the two events are not related.
The state’s snowpack is above average going into spring for the second year in a row, though it is not nearly as high as last year’s. Experts say an average snowpack year is “awesome” given the wide swings in precipitation associated with the changing climate.
In other news:
Seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, part of celebrity chef José Andrés’ global non-profit, were killed by an Israeli air strike while trying to deliver much-needed food to Palestinians in Gaza earlier this week.
At least nine people have been killed and 963 people have been injured following a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Taiwan, the strongest earthquake in the region in the last 25 years.
The National Weather Service was hit by a major service outage Tuesday night amid a massive storm outbreak in the central U.S. and Midwest. The outage delayed weather warnings and alerts.
Pupdate of the week: The weeds are officially taller than both dogs, but thankfully our yard crew is coming by tomorrow to help us out with the situation, which is officially out of hand. Alice will have to find a new hobby that isn’t chasing the bees from each flowering plant.
Trail tip of the week: Between travel and training for some upcoming races, I have admittedly been slacking on getting out on the trails this year. I hope to rectify that soon with a full-blown training hike with my full backpacking pack and gear set up for a quick shake-down before summer season starts. It’s always a good idea to take stock of your gear and go through the motions of prepping for a backpacking trip before the time comes.
Read of the week: If you’ve ever even thought about the tech industry and the people that have built it into the GDP-supporting behemoth that it is today, Burn Book by Kara Swisher is nothing short of a must-read. It is an incredible look at Swisher’s time spent reporting on the industry, which she luckily timed right as it was becoming the force it is today. She shares anecdotes from AOL founder Steve Case, Elon Musk pre-meltdown, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg back when he only ran Facebook, and Steve Jobs throughout her career, and ends with her own prediction for how the industry can continue to move forward responsibly. Like I said, it’s a must-read.
Watch of the week: I’ve lost interest in the Men’s NCAA Tournament, but I cannot stop watching the tour de force that is Caitlin Clark and the Iowa women’s basketball team in the women’s tournament. Clark is a generational athlete, and is just plain fun to watch. This is her last college season, and she’s playing like it. Top-ranked Iowa faces third-ranked UConn this Friday at 6:30 p.m. PT for the Final Four. The final will be held Sunday, April 7.
That’s it for this week! I hope you are able to get outside to enjoy the sunshine, even if it is a little cold later this week.
- Megan