Dispatch: Week of December 7
Spaghetti Western's grand opening, more election updates, and a merry film screening in Joshua Tree
Hello from California’s high desert, where we’ve been treated to a handful of great sunrises and sunsets recently! You just have to love those winter colors.
Onto this week’s news:
In local news:
Spaghetti Western, the new restaurant taking over the old Willie Boy’s Saloon in Morongo Valley, is officially opening on Friday, December 16.
The highly anticipated new space will be open for dinner from 4 p.m. until 10 p.m., it announced on its Facebook page.
Republican Greg Wallis leads Democrat Christy Holstege by 34 votes in the race for Assembly District 47 as of Friday’s vote tally.
The state must finish counting and certify votes by December 16.
Republican Tom Lackey maintains a 14,000 vote lead over fellow Republican Thurston “Smitty” Smith in the race for Assembly District 34 , which covers Twentynine Palms.
Octavious Scott expanded his lead against Karmolette O’Gilvie in the race for Twentynine Palms City Council. Scott leads the vote count 311 to 303.
The Joshua Tree Community Center is hosting free screenings Thursday and next Thursday. It is showing the Santa Claus trilogy of films starring Tim Allen, though unfortunately the first movie was last weekend.
Snacks and drinks will be available for sale. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the movie begins at 6:30 p.m.
Z107.7 confirmed that Sky High Pie, a new pizza shop in the old Pie for the People location, is officially open for carry out and dine-in.
They are open 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. every day except Tuesday.
In state news:
A few early season storms have increased the state’s snowpack, but drought concerns are still high with less snow predicted through the end of the winter.
A rock slide near Big Sur closed roughly 40 miles of Scenic Highway 1 on Tuesday.
President Biden announced his intent to establish the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in southern Nevada last week.
In other news:
The USMNT lost 1-3 against the Netherlands on Saturday, ending their bid for the World Cup.
The NCAA decided to expand the number of teams in the college football playoffs from four to 12 starting next season.
Kirstie Alley, the Emmy-winning actress best known for her role on Cheers, died Monday. She was 71.
Pupdate of the week: The dogs are off at camp while we are traveling this week. Alice is psyched to see her friends again and Oliver is not very pleased that there isn’t one person assigned to be his emotional support human while he’s there.
Trail tip of the week: If you’re hiking without service for long periods of time, switch your phone over to airplane mode to save the battery for pictures and navigation. GPS will still work in airplane mode, but I do download all the maps I need just in case the signal gets lost.
Show of the week: His Dark Materials kicked off its third season on HBO Monday. I’m pretty sure I’ve recommended this show before because it’s fantastic, but in case you’re new around here — it follows a young girl named Lyra on her journey to learn more about her very powerful parents and her own role in the world. It’s definitely more in the fantasy realm, but the acting and visual effects have been stunning the last two seasons, so I think it’s worth a watch for that alone!
That’s it for this week! I hope you have a wonderful weekend and every chance to get outside.
- Megan
Great newsletter, as always.