Dispatch: Week of March 26
The final edition
Hello one last time from California’s high desert.
I am moving at the end of the month, and so The Hi-Desert Dispatch will be on break for the month of April while I figure out what comes next. I believe that local news should be told by those that are part of the communities they report on, both for much-needed context but also because of the passionate reporting that only comes from being there, in person. Because of that, this will be the final Wednesday local news post.
As I wrote a few weeks back, local news was in a dire place when I first moved to the desert. The dailies that had formerly informed the area had been bought by national conglomerates and sold for parts. We were as much a news desert as an ecological one. I wanted The Hi-Desert Dispatch to fill as much of that hole as it could, while crediting those able and willing to do the legwork of local reporting. We lift each other up through our work, and I have no doubt that will continue with the publications I’ve linked above. I trust them to steer the ship and continue breathing life into our community. You are in excellent hands, and I will be their fiercest subscriber.
Thank you, truly, to every single person who subscribed to the Dispatch. What started as a small side project has become a guiding light, a purpose. I absolutely love what I do, but it would be for naught if no one chose to read it. So thank you for your support, your readership, your regular criticism. This place is special; its community even more so. I hope you won’t cast me off just yet, as I intend to bring a good amount of desert eccentricities to Washington. If you chose to unsubscribe in the meantime, I completely understand. The Dispatch will look a little different when I return, but if you are so inclined, I’d love if you stuck around to see what we can do.
And now, onto this week’s news:
In local news:
The West Entrance to Joshua Tree National Park will be closed due to construction from Monday, April 7, until Thursday, April 10. The closure begins at 6 a.m. on April 7 and will remain closed until 6 p.m. on April 10.
The closure will allow construction crews to prepare for paving at the new entrance fee collection station further into the park.
Visitors can still enter the park via the North Entrance near Twentynine Palms or the South Entrance near Indio. The West Entrance in Joshua Tree is the most popular entrance to the park, so visitors are asked to prepare for long lines and wait times at the other entrances during the closure.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife staff reiterated that they are unable to change the fees associated with relocating Joshua trees under the state’s proposed conservation plan in a meeting with Yucca Valley town officials and residents last week.
The fees will affect Yucca Valley’s long delayed sewer system connection project, putting its future at risk. Town officials asked residents to show up and oppose the fees associated with construction projects that require removal of Joshua trees.
After locals raised concerns about high euthanasia rates at the Yucca Valley Animal Shelter, two former employees have come forward with allegations against Animal Care and Control Manager Doug Smith regarding his euthanasia protocol.
The shelter was under review by the Town of Yucca Valley when the allegations were reported by Z107.7fm on Wednesday, March 26. The employees maintained that they reported their concerns to Town Council about Smith’s procedures as early as 2021, but to their knowledge no action was taken.
The 90-day town-led review of the Shelter was implemented on March 4. Preliminary results will be presented at the Town Council meeting on Tuesday, April 1.
Companion Animal Clinic founder and veterinarian Dr. Norman Smith will be inducted into Yucca Valley High School’s hall of fame at 6 p.m. on May 21, the committee announced last week.
His sons, Camron and Taylor, will accept the award in his memory. The free event is open to the public and will be held in the school gymnasium.
The Mojave Desert Land Trust has several volunteer opportunities coming up for folks interested in helping conserve and clean up the desert.
The MDLT is hosting two Stewardship Days: Tuesday, April 1, 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and Tuesday, May 6, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Stewardship Days mainly consist of habitat restoration work such as mulching, invasive plant removal, and sign construction.
The MDLT is also hosting free first aid and CPR classes on April 24, May 22, and June 5. All sessions run from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. and require an RSVP to attend.
Together with Desert Cleanse Project and Joshua Tree Offroad, MDLT is co-hosting a clean-up event on April 4 and 5 at the Sunfair Dry Lakebed in Joshua Tree. If you are interested in volunteering, please email MacKenzie Nelson at mackenzie@mdlt.org.
The Town of Yucca Valley hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new art installation outside of the Yucca Valley Library on Monday, March 24.
The sculpture, by Chad La Fever, is titled “Where is My Mind?” It will remain on display until the town installs Christmas decorations in November.
Alejandro Vasconcelos, the former vice chair of the Yucca Valley Planning Commission, was appointed the commission’s chair at its meeting on Tuesday, March 25. Vasconcelos will serve in the role for the next year.
Tax day is around the corner! San Bernardino County currently offers free tax prep for residents who made less than $67,000 in gross income in 2024. To make an appointment, visit here.
Copper Mountain College Superintendent Daren Otten has assured students and community members that the college will not be largely affected by President Donald Trump’s recent executive order attempting to dismantle the Department of Education.
“CMC operates independently of significant federal funding, and federal dollars make up only a small portion (approximately 3%) of the California Community Colleges’ annual budget. Although the loss of any funding presents challenges, our system is well-prepared to continue serving our students and communities without major disruption,” Otten said in a statement.
In state news:
Officials are looking into a toxic algal bloom off the Ventura coast after a surfer was attacked by a sea lion acting uncharacteristically aggressively. Wildlife experts think the sea lion population in the area are infected with a neurotoxin present in the rapidly growing algal bloom.
State officials released an updated fire hazards map that may affect homeowners’ abilities to procure insurance. You can see the map and check your address’s updated risk assessment here.
In other news:
Roughly 30 Mens March Madness brackets created on ESPN did not get a single pick correct, the sports site said. The odds of that happening are nearly as low as getting every single pick correctly.
Administration members, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance, unintentionally added Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, to a Signal group chat discussing a planned bombing, raising questions about the administration’s overall security practices and intent to avoid records retention.
JuJu Watkins, the star player on USC’s Womens basketball team, is out for the remainder of the tournament with a torn ACL, ESPN reports.
Pupdate of the week: We’ve been trying to prepare Allie, our true desert dog, for the move by getting her used to some of the sights and sounds of a bigger city. She’s improved drastically since we started, and we’re hoping she won’t be too stressed out by her new (temporary) home. Oliver will, unfortunately, remember the abundance of chicken bones common on city sidewalks, and will be thrilled to be on the hunt once again.
Trail tip of the week: I will never truly know the science behind why walking around the desert is as healing as it is, but I know that that statement is true. It rewards those taking extra time, extra care, when out in the world, for you really only notice how incredible the desert and its residents are when you stop and look. So this week, I ask that you take that time. Stop and inspect a blooming Joshua tree. Watch the bees circle the early blooming shrubs. Follow the lizard from its sunbathing spot to its den (with your eyes only, please). Appreciate all that we have here, in this magical place.
Read of the week: I cannot recommend enough the journalists working on Desert Advocacy Media Network (which includes 90 Minutes from Needles, Letters from the Desert, and Desert News) as well as The Desert Trumpet and Z107.7 FM, as your trusted sources of news going forward. All are founded and run by local folks eager to inform our community on everything from environmental issues to the changing nature of our local politics to events and agendas. If you’ve at all enjoyed The Dispatch, you will surely find any one of these publications a solid, if not even better, substitute.
Watch of the week: The birds, mostly. They’ve arrived with the warmer temperatures, heralding spring with their abundant chirps and songs. One of my favorite things about the desert is its avian residents — vultures, birds of prey, families of quail, our temporary migratory friends — and I will be sad to see them go. They’ve entranced me with their aerial acrobatics, kept me company in the wee hours of the morning, and kept watch over the yard with unseen eyes each evening. They are as much of this place as the Joshua trees, and I won’t look away until I’m on the road. Even then, I’ll be searching the skies for their familiar shadows until the road climbs and we enter the mountains.
And that’s it for the Dispatch! I hope you’ve enjoyed your time here as much as I have, and my nudges to get outside haven’t gone unnoticed. Until we meet again.
- Megan
Megan, fair winds and following seas. I look forward to your take on what that flabby creamsicle has done to DC. Have fun and thank you for excellent reporting!
Good luck to you in the future! Thank you for your efforts here and they were much appreciated!