Dispatch: Week of November 8
Pioneertown Ceremonial Mayor nominations are now open, plus upcoming holiday events
Hello from California’s high desert! My neighbors have started winterizing their swamp coolers, our other neighbor has started his firewood deliveries, and the Airbnbs on the block are full of tourists. It must really be fall.
Editor’s note: The Dispatch will be off next week and the following week as we head into the end-of-year festivities. I’m hoping to get in a short backpacking trip next week before the rain (and all my friends and family) arrive in town the second half of the week, so consider this your free pass to take some time for yourself before we’re all consumed by end-of-year madness.
Onto this week’s news:
In local news:
The California Fish and Game Commission added the San Bernardino Kangaroo Rat to its list of recognized endangered species.
The sub-species resides just west of the Morongo Basin, from the San Bernardino Valley to Menifee Valley in Riverside County.
Though both families have been notified of their loved ones’s deaths, the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office is refusing to publicly release identifications for two sets of remains found in the Anza-Borrego Desert.
The remains are expected to belong to missing Morongo Basin resident John Fitzpatrick and Chinese national Fang Jin, who was reported missing shortly after meeting up with Fitzpatrick for a tour of the area while on vacation.
The Town of Yucca Valley is now offering “toddler and me” classes at the Yucca Valley Community Center.
The 5-week course began on Monday and runs through December 13. A new session will begin starting January 8. Classes are twice a week on Monday and Wednesday, and features activities for children 5 years old or younger with their guardians.
The 5-week rate is $120, and drop-in classes are $15. Siblings are an additional $20 per session. More information can be found here (found under Enrichment Classes).
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department is investigating a set of "historical" skeletal remains found on the northwest side of Twentynine Palms on Saturday.
The Twentynine Palms Community Center is hosting a Veteran’s Day event this Saturday, November 11, starting at 2 p.m.
The free event is sponsored by Navy Federal Credit Union and will feature guest speakers from the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, City of Twentynine Palms, and local veterans, and food is provided by veteran-owned Grnd Sqrl.
Indian Cove residents pushed back against Yonder, a proposed development to their east, in a community meeting last week.
Yonder is proposing a “base camp” of 130 320-square-foot cabins spread out over 152 acres bordered by Highway 62, Lear Avenue, Sullivan Road, and Shoshone Valley Road.
Speaking of public comment, two commercial developments being considered for unincorporated areas of Joshua Tree are currently in San Bernardino County’s public comment phase.
“Joshua Tree Camp” plans to build four geo-dome structures on a 2.4 acre parcel at 2082 Stonehill St. in Joshua Tree. Each unit will have hot tubs, fire pits, and parking. The developers of this project are seeking a conditional use permit from the county, and the public is invited to offer comment to the county’s Planner until November 23. You can provide comment by emailing reuben.arceo@lus.sbcounty.gov.
A Self-Storage facility is also planned for 62735 Twentynine Palms Highway, a 2.3 acre site just east of Joshua Tree. The developers are seeking a minor-use permit from the county, and the public is invited to offer comment on this project until December 6. You can provide comment by emailing elena.barragan@lus.sbcounty.gov.
Nominations are now open for Pioneertown’s 2024 Ceremonial Mayor, a “prestigious position” that comes with “no power, no paycheck — just good ol’ fun.”
Nominations are open now through December 15. Voting opens on November 22 and runs through December 31. Results will be announced on January 3.
The Morongo Unified School District Board of Trustees appointed John Cole to fill a vacant board seat in a meeting last week.
Though they no longer operate out of a brick-and-mortar shop, Boo’s Organic Oven is still taking pie orders for Thanksgiving as long as space remains.
You can call (760) 974-9777 to place an order. Orders will be available for pick-up beginning Tuesday, November 21.
Joshua Tree Vegan has also opened Thanksgiving pre-orders now through November 11. You can complete your pre-order a vegan roast turkey, several types of vegan chèvre, or brie en croute by sending a Venmo request.
All items can be picked up at the November 18 Joshua Tree Farmer’s Market. Full menu with prices can be found here.
The 21st Annual Art and Craft Fair, featuring local artisans and holiday specials, is Saturday, November 11, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at 61283 Prescott Trail in Joshua Tree.
Brewja Elixir is hosting a stress management workshop with Western Aromatherapy on Sunday, November 19, just in time for Thanksgiving week.
The event is $40 to attend and includes a take-home aromatherapy scent. Text (760) 821-5328 to sign up.
Joshua Tree Distilling Company is hosting an open house on November 15 for folks interested in investing in the company. You can RSVP or ask for more information by emailing contact@joshuatreedistillingco.com.
Joshua Tree Distilling Company is located at 58945 Business Center Drive, Suite G, in Yucca Valley.
In state news:
A fire destroyed a historic World War II-era hangar in Tustin on Tuesday. The structure was critical during World War II and was one of the largest remaining all-wooden structures in the country.
Governor Gavin Newsom approved the creation of a new reservoir in northern California. The Sites Reservoir will be constructed in Glenn and Colusa Counties, and will be the state’s first new reservoir in decades.
The first of this winter’s storms is expected to hit California beginning on Tuesday. Northern California will be targeted first before the storm hits the Central and South Sierra. Rain and windy conditions are expected to land in our area late next week.
The projected El Niño weather pattern was all but confirmed this month. The pattern typically results in a warmer, wetter winter for Southern California.
In other news:
Voters rejected GOP-led efforts to enact reproductive care bans in Ohio, Kentucky, and Virginia on Tuesday. The off-year elections saw increased voter turnout, a trend that has continued since the Supreme Court dismantled Roe v. Wade last June.
Hellen Obiri won the women’s race last weekend at the New York City Marathon, and Tamirat Tola won the men’s race with a new NYC course record of 2 hours, 4 minutes, and 58 seconds.
If you are looking for a reasonable Twitter replacement for real-time news, I have to say I’ve been impressed with Threads these last few weeks. Worth a shot!
Pupdate of the week: Oliver attended the Dia de los Muertos concert at Mon Petit Mojave last Thursday, his first concert! He was a good boy and was transfixed by the mariachi band. We followed that up with a literal walk in the park for Alice, so she got her alone time in this weekend as well.
Trail tip of the week: In planning my backpacking trip for next week, I realized Joshua Tree National Park now requires permits for any backcountry camping. The change was implemented last spring and is still a bit confusing, even for someone pretty familiar with Recreation.gov and other permit systems. Consider this your reminder that picking up the phone and calling permitting stations remains the best way to plan backcountry excursions, and the rangers are always happy to help!
Read of the week: Consider this your reading assignment for the next few weeks while I am away! You must pick up The Deserts of California: A California Field Atlas by Obi Kaufmann. It is an incredibly beautiful guide to our home and beyond, and reads like a love letter to the special places we get to live.
Watch of the week: If you know any current or former theater kids, may I recommend the faux-documentary style comedy on Hulu called Theater Camp. It’s a perfect parody of a summer theater camp for kids, run by the blogger son of the former director and featuring a perfectly cast set of characters that are equally at home on stage as on screen. It’s a quick hour-and-a-half, the perfect weeknight viewing.
That’s it for this week! You’ve got two more weeks until Thanksgiving (November 23). I hope you get a chance to get outside and enjoy the fall weather amid the festivities. I’ll see you back here on November 29.
- Megan