Dispatch: Week of June 7
Hello from California’s high desert, where the summer heat is taking its sweet time settling in.
A quick programming note: The Dispatch will be off for the rest of June. I’ll be back in your inboxes July 5.
And now, onto this week’s news:
In local news:
The Morongo Unified School District’s Nutritional Services will continue to serve free breakfast and lunch all summer while school is out.
Meals will distributed Monday through Friday starting June 15, at various locations and times throughout the Morongo Basin. Z107.7 has the full list of locations here.
The Yucca Valley Soroptomists, a non-profit that focuses on women’s access to education, is hosting a plant sale on Friday, June 9, and Saturday, June 10, starting at 8 a.m.
The sale will include plant and yard items and all proceeds will go to the organization. The group is hosting the sale at 58377 Sunnyslope Drive in Yucca Valley.
The Center for Healthy Generations is also hosting a fundraising event featuring a Chuckwagon Spread on Sunday, June 11.
Tickets are $15 and doors open at 2 p.m. The Center is located at 57121 Sunnyslope Drive in Yucca Valley.
Speaking of fundraisers, the event benefiting local event space Furstworld raised roughly $50,000, which was matched by an unnamed donor for a total of $100,000 raised.
Funds from the fundraiser will go to the non-profit organization that oversees the venue and art space, and will be used to secure appropriate county permitting and other options for the continued operation of the space.
Our local library branches have officially kicked off their summer reading programs for kids through July 30.
For every 30 items checked out between June 5 and July 30, readers will be entered into a drawing for prizes. Each branch is adding programming for the summer, including magic, mobile zoos, wildlife demonstrations, juggling, and puppet shows.
The Desert Institute at Joshua Tree National Park and the Twentynine Palms Historical Society are sponsoring “Amboy Crater: Geology, Ecology and Historical Perspectives,” a presentation about the local extinct cinder cone on Friday, June 9.
The lecture will be held at the Old Schoolhouse Museum in Twentynine Palms at 6760 National Park Drive, at 7 p.m.
No, it’s not a Super Bowl commercial. The recent Cheez-It sponsored takeover of The Station in Joshua Tree is a fully immersive experience for any commuter or tourist passing through town. It will be open through June 11.
In state news:
The San Francisco Chronicle has a full breakdown of reservoir capacity across the state as spring melt continues after a record snow year.
Representative Adam Schiff spoke out against an anti-LGBTQ+ protest at a Glendale school that turned violent earlier this week.
Disneyland is offering a limited time deal for California state residents.
Residents can purchase a three-day, one-park-per-day weekday ticket for $249 or a $299 three-day ticket that can be redeemed any day, including weekends, the theme park announced.
In other news:
New York and much of the northern East Coast are dealing with an apocalyptic scene familiar to many Californians. Cities across New England and as far south of Washington, D.C., have hazardous air quality and eerie orange skies due to smoke from wildfires burning in Canada.
Apple debuted a new VR headset on Tuesday, dubbed the Vision Pro, amid other software updates for its existing devices. The VR headset will go on sale early next year for a whopping $3,499.
Pupdate of the week: Alice has become very skeptical of the trees in our yard, especially at night when she can’t see as well. Oliver is very content with the current situation with the lack of intense heat because that means a lot of time sleeping in the sun.
Trail tip of the week: A reminder for folks that are traveling this summer (and for Joshua Tree peak seasons) that dogs are not able to access a vast majority of trails in all National Park sites, including Joshua Tree. They can walk on-leash in paved areas, campgrounds, and within 100 feet of those areas. So if you were planning to bring furry friends on a trip this summer, maybe also look into boarding or petsitting nearby so you can both make the most of it.
Read of the week: I thoroughly enjoyed It Happened Like This by Adrienne Lindholm. Lindholm’s initial memoir explores her decision to move to Alaska, begin working with the National Park Service, and start finding a place for herself in the world. It was an incredibly moving account of how people can fit into the wilderness instead of the other way around, and how healing nature can be regardless of what part of life you’re in. Equal parts adventure narrative and introspective memoir, it was a great read.
Watch of the week: If you are looking for a heart-warming replacement for Ted Lasso, Apple TV has delivered with Shrinking, a drama-comedy starting Jason Segel. It follows Segel’s character as he deals with the death of this wife while still managing to see patients as a therapist. It’s a cast of characters that are easy to love and root for all the way through, from the overly nosy empty-nester neighbor to the older therapist that runs the practice to Segel’s daughter. I already can’t wait for another season, if Apple TV decides to move forward, which it better.
That’s it for this week (and this month)! I hope you have a great start to your summer and get plenty of time outside while the weather is cooperating.
- Megan