Dispatch: Week of July 17
Twentynine Palms storm cleanup, plus landmark California bill
Hello from California’s high desert, and welcome back to the Dispatch! I had a lovely few weeks exploring the mountains a few hours north of here, and donated quite a bit of blood to the local mosquito population. It was a great respite from the heat, but I’m so very glad to be back baking in the sun here in the desert.
In case you missed it: Speaking of heat, last week I wrote about how this summer’s ongoing heat waves have felt ominous in a way they haven’t before. You can read it here.
And now, onto this week’s news:
In local news:
Cleanup continues in Twentynine Palms and Wonder Valley following a one-two punch of strong monsoon storms on Sunday and Monday.
Parts of Twentynine Palms Highway and Adobe Road were closed immediately after the storms due to flooding. A section of Adobe Road between Raymond Drive and Amboy Road is still closed as of Wednesday, as is Joe Davis Road east of Utah Trail, along with Ocotillo Avenue between Southslope Drive and Sunnyvale Drive.
Homeowners and residents are still digging out flooded homes and dealing with lingering debris. Motel 6 and SureStay by Best Western are offering discounted rates to residents unable to stay in damaged homes.
Homeowners in San Bernardino County are able to request a site visit and lot assessment from San Bernardino County firefighters by calling call (909) 386-8400. The program primarily focuses on having defensible space around your home in the event of a wildfire, something that has saved multiple homes from wildfires this year, firefighters say.
David Bell, an 84-year-old Palm Desert resident, was killed after running his Toyota Tacoma head-on into a Ford F550 carrying propane tanks on Old Woman Springs Highway on Monday afternoon.
Morongo Unified School District is hosting its annual “Back to School Resource Day” this Friday, July 19, at Joshua Tree Elementary School from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m.
Students of all ages are eligible for a free backpack filled with school supplies, books, boxes of food, and dental kits.
MUSD also announced it will offer free lunches for all students again during the 2024-2025 school year.
In an update at the Landers Homestead Valley Association, Bighorn-Desert View Water Agency general manager Marina West said that the production well project near Goat Mountain is nearly 66% complete as part of a larger update on the agency’s $12 million grant for water improvement.
Big Lots is closing at least 40 stores across the state as it assesses its ability to continue “as a business.” The Yucca Valley location is thought to be among the 40 affected locations, though the business has not yet confirmed it will be closing.
Joshua Tree National Park is seeking assistance from the public in helping identify graffiti within the park boundaries.
Visitors are asked to report vandalism or graffiti to park rangers on duty and volunteer with the Graffiti Busters team to clean up if possible.
Joshua Tree National Park Ranger Anna Marini received the Director's Visitor Safety Achievement Award, NPS’ highest honor for visitor safety and employee health.
Marini is the preventative search and rescue coordinator (PSAR) for Joshua Tree, and has expanded the program significantly with a focus on reducing heat related illnesses in visitors that lead to a majority of search and rescue calls.
The Perseid Meteor shower returns in August, and is expected to peak around August 12. Last year, visitors swarmed Joshua Tree National Park to see the celestial event.
Rescue helicopters were unable to fly during this month’s heat wave in both Joshua Tree and Death Valley National Parks. Helicopters are unable to operate above 122 degrees Fahrenheit due to how thin the air is at extreme temperatures, negatively affecting helicopters’ ability to lift themselves.
A man died from heat illness in Death Valley during the heat wave partially due to the helicopters’ inability to fly.
In state news:
Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill that bans schools from making rules that would require staff to notify parents of their student’s gender identification, the first bill of its kind in the nation that responds to rising attacks on trans and nonbinary children.
Vocal critics of the legislation include Elon Musk, who threatened to move X and SpaceX headquarters from California to Texas over the ruling. One of Musk’s children is transgender.
Heat is back in the forecast for this weekend, with a preliminary heat watch in effect from Friday until Sunday. The intensity of this wave will be less that the previous one, but this time monsoon storms are possible and bring with them increased humidity.
Officials are investigating algal blooms near Lake Tahoe after a dog died in the area earlier this month.
In other news:
Emmy nominations were announced Wednesday afternoon. As expected, The Bear was nominated across a range of categories (23 nominations in total), but was only just beaten out for most nominations by Shōgun, which is at the top of my “to watch” list.
Officials are still searching for a motive behind the assassination attempt against former President Trump over the weekend. Trump was injured in the shooting, though details of his injuries and treatment have yet to be made public, at a rally in Pennsylvania over the weekend. One rally attendee was killed.
Former President Trump named investor and author JD Vance his running mate on Monday at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where he officially accepted his party’s nomination as presidential candidate.
Vance is best known for his book, Hillbilly Elegy, which focuses on his upbringing in rural western Ohio. He is currently a Senator, and was previously an investor at a venture capital firm.
The Olympics officially kick off in Paris next Friday, July 26, with the opening ceremony. The two-week-long event will air on NBC affiliated channels and streaming services.
Pupdate of the week: Alice has gone through a number of collars recently because she keeps slipping out of them to try and stay outside in the mornings when it is still cool. We finally have one that’s been working, so fingers crossed it stays that way!
Trail tip of the week: My venture into the high country inspired this week’s tip, which is to invest in a head net for bugs! They are relatively cheap, super light, and one of my most used pieces of gear during the summer in buggy areas. I cannot stand bugs swarming my eyes or nose or biting at my hat line, so my net is priceless. Highly, highly recommend.
Read of the week: Ben Goldfarb’s Crossings is an incredible look at how roads affect wildlife, and it made me even more of a conscientious driver than usual. The book begins by looking at roadkill, but evolves into a bigger thesis about how the larger world of road ecology has forced wildlife populations to change forever, sometimes irreversibly so. The solution to almost all the issues Goldfarb presents? Slowing down.
Watch of the week: I finally had time to work through HBO’s Station Eleven, which originally came out in 2021 and is based on a sci-fi novel from Emily St. John Mandel. The limited series follows a young girl leading up to and immediately following the spread of a deadly virus around the globe (sound familiar?) that ultimately leads to the full collapse of society. It’s an inarguably beautiful show, though some of it still hits a bit too close to home several years later. The acting was second-to-none, and the invisible strings that bind them all together are enough to believe good people still exist.
That’s it for this week! I hope you have a lovely weekend with plenty of chances to get outside.
- Megan