Coachella Valley Independent June 2023

Mailing address: 31855 Date Palm Drive, No. 3-263

Cathedral City, CA 92234 (760) 904-4208

www.cvindependent.com

Editor/Publisher

Jimmy Boegle

staff writer

Kevin Fitzgerald

coveR and feature design

Dennis Wodzisz

Contributors

Max Cannon, Kevin Carlow, Charles Drabkin, Katie Finn, Bill Frost, Bonnie Gilgallon, Bob Grimm, Valerie-Jean (VJ)

Hume, Clay Jones, Matt Jones, Matt King, Keith Knight, Kay Kudukis, Cat Makino, Brett Newton, Greg Niemann, Dan Perkins, Theresa Sama, Maria Sestito, Jen Sorenson, Robert Victor

The Coachella Valley Independent print edition is published every month. All content is ©2023 and may not be published or reprinted in any form without the written permission of the publisher. The Independent is available free of charge throughout the Coachella Valley, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased for $5 by calling (760) 904-4208. The Independent may be distributed only by the Independent’s authorized distributors

The Independent is a proud member and/ or supporter of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, the California Newspaper Publishers Association, CalMatters, DAP Health, the Local Independent Online News Publishers, the Desert Business Association, and the LGBTQ Community Center of the Desert.

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

I spend at least the first hour of each workday going through email. Some of that time is spent answering questions from readers, communicating with our writers/contributors, looking at newsletters, handling bills and so on—the kinds of things you’d expect a newspaper editor/publisher to handle.

The bulk of that time, however, is spent dealing with press releases and requests for coverage. A lot of these requests are basically junk— announcements of new albums by musicians with no local ties or shows, info about out-of-state art exhibits, worthless statements from politicians, etc. Some of them are legitimate, and merit a response, or perhaps a forward to one of our writers.

Nearly all of these press releases and requests for coverage have one thing in common: They’re coming from, or being sent on behalf of, entities that have never done a dime in business with the Independent.

Let me make one thing clear: We don’t factor in business when it comes to determining what we cover. Compare our advertisers and our stories in print or at CVIndependent.com for proof.

But the amount of advertising and reader support we receive determines how much coverage we can do. We don’t run press releases as stories; we do journalism. With very rare exceptions, all of our stories, done by writers who are paid, include at least one interview. They all are researched, edited and fact-checked. Doing journalism properly, and distributing that journalism, costs money—a lot of money. Our monthly bill to print 15,500 or 16,000 copies of a 32- or 40-page, stitch-and-trimmed publication on hi-brite paper is quite impressive, as are our monthly digital-services bills.

Meanwhile, there are public-relations and advertising firms in town—which regularly send us press releases and requests for coverage on behalf of their clients—that have never once placed an ad with the Independent, in 10 1/2 years of business. The same can be said about countless organizations and businesses, many of which have received coverage in our pages.

I’ve said this before, and I am going to say it again: If you don’t support local media sources you value, they will die. I’ll now say it again, with a slight tweak, extra loudly, to those aforementioned PR/advertising firms, organizations and businesses: If you don’t support the local media sources that cover you and/ or your clients, they will die.

I have one more thing to say to those PR/ advertising firms, organizations and businesses: Advertising with the Independent, if it’s done right, will help your business and/or your clients—far more than it’ll cost. A lot of eyeballs read the Independent in print and in pixels, after all.

I completely understand that some organizations and businesses don’t have the resources to advertise, and others don’t have a need. But there are a lot of organizations and businesses who both have the resources and a need, yet they’re choosing not to advertise with the local media sources from which they’re requesting coverage and publicity, instead depending on “earned media”—which is fancy industry speak for editorial coverage.

If you don’t support local media sources you value, they will die If you don’t support the local media sources that cover you and/or your clients, they will die.

—Jimmy Boegle, jboegle@cvindependent.com

OPINION OPINION

THE GIRL CLUB

BY KAY KUDUKIS

Meet NBC Palm Springs’ Ceci Partridge, a badass journalist, mom and writer

Ceci Partridge (nee Cecilia Stevenson) was a college freshman in 2005 doing collegefreshman things—specifically, she says cheekily, staying “with a new friend”—in Lafayette, La. That’s when Katrina, the Category 5 hurricane that devastated the Gulf states, hit. They knew it was coming, but as the British comedy troupe Monty Python penned, “No one expects the Spanish Inquisition.”

Everything was down—phones, electricity, roads—and she searched for friends and family at homes and at shelters, lending a hand wherever she went. She tells me about the local station that never stopped broadcasting—live coverage 24/7, their lifeline. Without them, she says, their community would have been in an information blackout.

Prior to Katrina, Partridge’s biggest dilemma was whether she was going to play clarinet, oboe or French horn in whatever piece her high school band was performing, or if she’d be behind the camera or in front of it in her high school A/V club.

When it came time to choose a major, it wasn’t music or mass media; Partridge picked marketing—and instantly regretted it. What was with all the math? While music and math are often the best of friends in the brain world, in Partridge’s brain, they barely even waved.

“I mean, I can count,” she tells me with a laugh before explaining that anything more complicated ended in complete thought paralysis. She switched to mass communications, because she figured she could handle one statistics course. “It took three times,” she says, grinning.

When she was a senior in college, she took a test. When the results came back, she was unexpectedly expecting. Twins.

Being pregnant for the first time and going to school while working is on my bucket list said no one, ever. But after one conversation with Partridge, you may envision her as I did: as a heavily pregnant, wildly determined badass of a girl, trying unsuccessfully to get out of her seat post-lecture, leading to tears of laughter.

Pizza Hut put her through school, and she stayed on after earning her degree. Entrylevel jobs in her field paid nothing, but her managerial position at Pizza Hut paid the bills. She felt stuck, but then her best friend called: There’s an opening for a production assistant at my station.

The morning news shift started at 3 a.m. Partridge juggled both jobs, and the twins, until she was making a living as a producer on the morning news.

Somewhere within this time, Partridge’s parents divorced; Dad remarried, upping Partridge’s sibling count from one brother to five bonus sisters. She also realized the twins’ dad was not her life partner, and their romantic relationship ended.

Although she’d lived through Katrina, it was the Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010 that changed everything for Partridge. Many people in her community worked on or had family who worked on the oil platform, and Partridge realized the breadth of responsibility she had—just like the station that stayed on the air in 2005.

Partridge soon met the man whose last name she would take; when the twins were 6, she gave birth to a baby girl. Two years later, they moved to the Coachella Valley for his job, and Partridge took a position at NBC affiliate KMIR. She’s been there for six years and is currently an assignment editor/assistant news director. (Assignment editors identify newsworthy stories and send out teams/ people to cover them.)

This is the first time Partridge has lived away from the rich profusion of cultures that is Louisiana—meaning it’s also the first time, despite our sun-drenched valley, she’s lived in a place with a lack of melanin. I asked what it’s like to live where there are few faces like hers, because, seriously, how comfortable would I feel if I were the only white face in a non-white community?

“That’s the only issue,” Partridge says, thoughtfully adding, “and I don’t know if that’s even an issue. That’s like a personal feeling, right? It’s really great (here), really welcoming. My kids have friends. I feel accepted.”

I press a little further.

“We have family in the Perris and Moreno Valley areas. There are more black people there,” she says. “So when we go, there’s a different vibe. And you’re a little bit more—I don’t want to say comfortable, but you’re a little more relaxed. Not to say that I’ve been discriminated against here or that we’ve been treated differently; there’s nothing like that. It’s just, you don’t have that sense of community.”

Something else was new here: “There’s a deeper line between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ here,” Partridge says. “We do stories

about the situations in Thermal or Mecca— people who literally have nothing and are living in trailers without water or electricity, or they’re using one person’s generator and it’s five trailers with an extension cord. These people have problems.”

That does not negate issues experienced by those who live larger.

“The haves,” she continues, “who you believe shouldn’t have any problems, also face things that they can’t fix with their money and their influence. We’re all the same, more or less, and we all have problems and need help.”

Despite the seriousness of her job, Partridge has this mischievous twinkle in her eye that promises and delivers a delightful sense of humor, which is the reason, she says, she doesn’t want to be in front of the camera—too much temptation. Man, would

it love her.

She also has a way with words, which is something of a requirement for a writer, but we’re not always as eloquent without the writing to hide behind. But Partridge has made a meal out of both, so I’ll let her tell you what she aspires to in her job.

“I want you to know what’s happening in the community. I want you to be informed and make a decision at your next council meeting. And I want you to go to your city council meeting so you can do it. But … I don’t want to tell you how to vote.”

Hers is Sgt. Friday’s catchphrase, “Just the facts, ma’am.” And she’s good at it.

So if you happen upon this super-girl in the wild, maybe stop and tell her our little Gotham says, “Thank you. You’re doing a great job, Ceci.”

The Partridge family at Cobb Farms in Sky Valley.

HIKING WITH T

BY THERESA SAMA

The temperatures are heating up—and the snakes are out. Not only is it rattlesnake season (April to October); it’s peak rattlesnake-mating season.

One of my friends, Marnie Hesson, was recently hiking the Quail Hill Trail in Irvine with others when they came across two large, intertwined rattlers. Both rattlers had the top half of their bodies off the ground as if they were “standing up.” My guess was that they were dancing and courting each other prior to mating—but after checking with local field biologist Paisley Ramstead, I now know that wasn’t the case: It was two male southern Pacific rattlers in combat!

I learned that if two male rattlesnakes meet up while tracking a female rattlesnake, they may

engage in this type of combat to establish dominance. They will each raise their heads up and wrestle by twisting their bodies together and trying to knock each other against the ground. (See a video with this column at CVIndependent.com.)

“I’ve never seen anything like it, and it’s probably one of the coolest things I’ve seen in nature,” Hesson said. “It went on for a bit, I’d say 5 minutes or more. (It was) crazy cool to watch!”

This type of combat could last from a few seconds to many minutes; the winner will stay and attempt to mate with the female rattlesnake that’s usually somewhere nearby. During the mating process, the male will do a twitching dance with its head against the female—but this dance occurs on the ground, as opposed to the upright posturing of males in combat.

Ramstead told me that we can expect to see a lot of rattlesnakes this year.

“The abundance of wildflowers after the rains means that everything is especially active and taking advantage of the resources that haven’t been available the last few years,” Ramstead said.

She went on to say that almost every snake she has seen this year has been at a healthy weight, because there are more rodents available, too. “Everything is being well-fed and hydrated by the rains from earlier this year.”

Snakes like to hang out in the shade underneath creosote bushes and other plants that grow alongside trails—and all the overgrowth along the trails this year is making it even more difficult to spot them. Some species’ colors act as camouflage, meaning the snakes blend in with their surroundings and are nearly impossible to see from a distance. I can’t tell you how many times I have encountered rattlesnakes and didn’t see them until I heard the rattle—and was far too close. Thankfully, that rattle is there for a reason: I was warned. However, sometimes snakes don’t rattle at all when

being approached; there have been times when I passed by rattlesnakes before noticing them, because they blended into the sand or dirt so well and stayed quiet.

Rattlesnakes also hang out in the crevices of big rocks and boulders, so be cautious. Most rattlesnake bites occur on the hands, feet and ankles; these bites can be dangerous and even life-threatening. Always stay in the middle of the trail when you can; check the area before resting on a boulder—and check again before putting your hands down to push yourself up.

Here are some more safety tips and practices:

• Wear protective clothing and gear. When hiking in areas where rattlesnakes are common, wear long pants, hiking boots and thick socks to protect your legs and feet. Additionally, consider wearing gaiters to provide extra protection.

• Stay on designated trails. Rattlesnakes usually prefer to avoid humans, so sticking to designated trails will help minimize the risk of encountering them. Avoid hiking through tall grass, brush or rocky outcroppings where snakes may be hiding.

• Keep your distance. If you do encounter a rattlesnake, give it plenty of space. Rattlesnakes can strike from a distance of up to two-thirds of their body length, so stay at least 10 feet (or 10 steps) away from the snake. Do not attempt to handle or approach a rattlesnake, and never attempt to pick it up, poke it with a stick or move it out of your way.

• If you hear a rattling sound before you see a rattlesnake, freeze! Don’t jump or panic. Instead, try to locate where the sound is coming from, and back away slowly.

The most common rattlesnakes seen around the Coachella Valley are the red diamond and southwestern speckled rattlers, according to Ramstead. The red diamond rattlesnake, one of Whitewater’s reptilian species of special concern, is likely the one encountered most on their trail system, according to The Wildlands Conservancy.

They’re often confused with the western diamondback rattlesnake (seen primarily in the westernmost parts of Coachella Valley).

The biggest difference is that western diamondbacks are rarely the beautiful orange color of the red diamond rattlesnake. Both of these snakes are threatened by a significant

loss of habitat throughout their range. All snakes are an important part of the ecosystem and should be respected from a safe distance. By being mindful of their presence and taking appropriate precautions, we can minimize the risk of encounters—and safely enjoy the natural beauty of the trails.

It’s rattlesnake season—and we can expect to see a lot of them this year

Two male southern Pacific rattlers in combat. Marnie Hesson

IGNORED AND UNREPRESENTED

by Kevin Fitzgerald

In December, I spoke to Cynthia Walker, a resident of the Lake Tamarisk Desert Resort, about 50 miles east of Indio in the Chuckwalla Valley. She’d just put her home on the market, hoping to escape the tsunami of solar panels encroaching on her desert oasis. She expressed frustration about the lack of empathy displayed by the group of bureaucracies she and her neighbors were dealing with—including the U.S. Department of Interior, the Bureau of Land Management and the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, as well as the executives of several major industrial-scale solar companies.

“It’s as if we don’t exist,” Walker said.

Walker successfully sold her home. Meanwhile, Teresa Pierce and her most committed neighbors have continued to fight the expansion of solar projects immediately beyond the backyards of their homes. Pierce said Walker got lucky.

“They got out at the right time,” Pierce said via email. “They received their asking price. A guy from the (Chuckwalla Valley) race track out here bought it, and they were both happy. But it didn’t work out for other people toward the end of the season.”

In recent years, several large studies have attempted to quantify how much industrialscale solar projects are affecting the values of nearby homes. A 2020 University of Rhode Island study looked at 400,000 residential real estate transactions, occurring between 2005 and 2019, for homes in Rhode Island or Massachusetts located within 3 miles of an industrial-scale solar array. It concluded that “solar installations negatively affect nearby property values,” decreasing the values of the homes within 1 mile by an average of 1.7% when compared to others. “This helps explain local concerns and opposition, and gives pause to current practices of not including proximate residents in siting decisions or compensating them after siting has occurred.”

The study also showed the prices of homes located within a tenth of a mile of a solar array declined by a whopping 7 percent when compared to the control group. Many Lake Tamarisk homes are just 750-feet away from solar panels—roughly 0.15 miles.

In March 2023, another widely referenced study was released by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. It looked at residential property prices for homes in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina and New Jersey, and included more than 1.8 million property transactions that occurred within six years before and after a utility-scale solar installation was constructed. This study concluded that, on average, the values of properties within a quarter-mile declined 2.3%—though there were no effects on homes more than a mile away.

Mark Carrington, another long-time resident of Lake Tamarisk who serves as the senior technical adviser to their solar committee, said some people might look at these studies and think that property values being lowered by 1-2% is not a huge deal. “On the other hand, not a single one of those (homes being studied) was surrounded on two sides by solar developments—and we’ve got them on three sides. None of these really pick up our situation, because nobody else has had to go through this.”

During a recent interview with the Independent, Pierce said the solar installations are definitely making it more difficult to sell homes.

“Here in this community, we have people in their 80s and 90s, and they can’t stay here any longer,” Pierce said. “It’s too much for

them. They’ve got health issues, and they can’t sell their properties. … Owners have tried dropping their prices by $20,000 to $30,000, and people still aren’t buying.”

Pierce said she’s worried about her own financial future.

“This is the only home we have now,” she said. “If we can’t get any money out of it to move somewhere, we’re sunk. We’ll just be living in our fifth-wheel after years of working toward our golden years and our retirement.”

Carrington said a next-door neighbor on 10 acres of land hasn’t received a single offer.

“He’s already dropped his price by almost half,” Carrington said. “They’re not even coming out to look at it, because of the solar coming in here and the potential for even more— especially since (the solar companies) have little regard for our community or anybody else, which they’ve made pretty clear now.”

Seven industrial-scale solar projects, encompassing 18,700 acres, have been built or are under construction in the Chuckwalla Valley surrounding the Lake Tamarisk Desert Resort. Two more projects, Easley and Sapphire, are in the scoping phase of approval and would cover another 6,000 acres.

While the sheer density of solar panels,

inverters, substations and transmission lines has resulted in the property-sales challenges, that’s just one of the concerns being raised by members of the community. Other concerns include current and potential negative health effects (ranging from dust-caused ailments to stress), the destruction of the natural desert aesthetics, an anticipated rise in temperatures (resulting from the heat generated by the solarproject components) and the negative impacts on the area’s biological resources.

But perhaps the greatest concern involves water. The Chuckwalla Valley, like our Coachella Valley, obtains its potable water supply from the aquifer below it. According to many sources, that aquifer is already in a state of overdraft—and the situation is worsening due to the heavy water-use demands of the solar projects, particularly when under construction.

A Desert Center resident, John Beach, reports that there are 20 operational wells in the Chuckwalla Valley, including those owned by government and commercial entities (including Lake Tamarisk), those owned by handful of large farms, and a host of small private wells. He said two have failed— including his own—since the most recent

Lake Tamarisk Desert Resort residents say elected officials and government agencies are not paying attention to their plight

A view from the hills south of Lake Tamarisk and Interstate 10, looking north into the Chuckwalla Valley east of Lake Tamarisk Desert Resort. The blue/gray strip midframe is made up of industrial-scale solar projects already built in the area.

Oberon Solar Project began construction at the end of last year.

“(One well) had to go 50 feet (deeper), and another 150 feet,” Pierce said. “… We talked to David Alvarez, a development specialist at the Riverside County Planning Department, about that water, and he said if the well goes dry, then (the county) can truck water out here to us. Hello! How’s that going to work? It’s not like you can fill the aquifer up with trucks of water.”

While the residents aren’t happy about the quality of their communications with Riverside County District 4 Supervisor V. Manuel Perez’s office and the Riverside County Planning Department staff, at least there’s communication.

Since the start of the year, the six-person Lake Tamarisk solar committee has been reaching out to county, state and federal elected representatives and agency leaders, trying to inform them of the increasing threat to residents. On three separate occasions, they’ve sent emails to all five Riverside County Supervisors, to management and staff at the Palm Springs office of the Bureau of Land Management, and staff at Intersect Power, the industrial-scale solar developer which owns three of the nine projects either built or about to be built. They followed up with phone calls, too, they said. While they received a few confirmations of receipt, the emails and phone calls resulted in no conversations.

Next, the Lake Tamarisk team escalated their outreach to higher levels of management, including the state and national offices of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Department of Interior. They got no responses, they said.

Their final attempt to generate some governmental interest in their plight: the mailing of hard copies of their documents, with individual cover letters, to 10 elected officials, including their congressman, Dr. Raul Ruiz—who has a working relationship with Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland.

Those packets were sent by the Lake Tamarisk committee on March 16—and they have yet to receive any direct response from anyone, including Ruiz, they said.

When the Independent reached out to Ruiz’s office to request an interview on this subject, we received this statement from his spokesperson: “The office has received the constituent letters regarding the Lake Tamarisk community. The congressman’s top priority is his constituents’ health, safety and well-being, and we are looking into the issue in more detail.”

Meanwhile, the Lake Tamarisk residents continue their battle. They said they recently discovered through their research that Intersect Power staff had presented two scoping plans for the Easley Project—still in

the approval process—neither of which, they say, should be allowed under the National Environmental Protection Act.

They also say they’re cautiously optimistic about the BLM’s plan to update its entire Western Solar Plan of 2012. That plan has heavily impacted the BLM’s decisions on where to approve renewable-energy projects in recent years—but what would be the result of such a re-examination?

“We did see an (item in) the Federal Registry that said … the BLM wants to protect all the desert out there,” Pierce said. “So it’s like one side is saying, ‘We’re going to increase all of these areas of protected land,’ and then the other side is saying, ‘But we want to use all of this land (for solar).’ Both come from the BLM. It seems that one hand doesn’t know what the other hand is doing.”

Meanwhile, Carrington said he just received the Riverside County Planning Department’s notification to residents regarding the start of scoping and related environmental impact report processes for the pending Sapphire solar project, slated to be built by EDF Renewables Development Inc. just five miles north of Lake Tamarisk. Carrington said the document doesn’t mention his community’s existence.

“Where is true environmental justice for all citizens of every race and economic level?” he asked.

A dust devil kicks up among the solar panels in one of the industrial-scale solar projects around Lake Tamarisk Desert Resort.

CIVIC SOLUTIONS

by Maria sestito

Not having enough food to eat, or worrying about where your next meal will come from, or only having access to unhealthy food—nobody wants to be in any of these situations.

It’s called food insecurity. The United States Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as a lack of consistent access to enough food for every person in a household to live an active, healthy life.

Food insecurity can be lifelong—something we’re born into—or come on suddenly due to a job loss, an expensive medical diagnosis, the death of a breadwinner or even inflation. Rising costs without increases in pay and benefits essentially mean that money being earned isn’t

worth as much, which means dollars don’t go as far as they did before.

Anyone can end up in a position of food insecurity. I remember the embarrassment I felt as a child when I realized that not everyone at school was getting a free lunch. Because of it, sometimes I skipped lunch altogether. We usually had plenty of food at home, though, thanks to benefits previously called “food stamps.”

I’ll never forget the shame I felt when, as a college graduate working full-time at a newspaper, I found myself needing to go to the food pantry. I wasn’t even sure I was allowed to be there. Did I have to meet a certain income threshold? Was it OK that I had a hefty car payment? Should I try to get a roommate first? I didn’t want to take food away from other people who might need it more, like families with small children or older people on fixed incomes.

I was supposed to be able to feed myself— but I was making less than $35,000 and living in the San Francisco Bay Area. I swallowed my pride and went. The only person worried about what I looked like and wondering whether I deserved the help was me. It was easier the second time. By the third time, my discomfort was mostly gone.

That was in 2017. Since then, the economic situation for a lot of people has only gotten worse thanks to the pandemic.

In the Coachella Valley, food insecurity rates have increased significantly since 2019, according to community survey results recently released by Health Assessment and Research for Communities (HARC), a nonprofit based in Palm Desert. More than 14% of adults and 14% of children either skipped meals or reduced the size of their meals last year because there wasn’t enough money for food. Nearly 37,000 seniors reported spending less money on food to pay for other basic needs—and 2,625 went a whole day without eating for the same reason.

Prior to the pandemic, FIND Food Bank, a regional food bank warehoused in Indio, was serving about 90,000 people of all ages each

month. At the height of the pandemic, that number increased to 190,000.

FIND Food Bank, senior centers, community organizations, nonprofits, healthcare centers and individuals all stepped up to help fill this need. Donations come from all over, including many of the area’s major grocery stores, the agricultural community, and residents cleaning out their pantries or picking the fruit off their trees.

“Everybody thought when we went into the recovery phase, after the pandemic, that we would go back to those 90,000 numbers, but we didn’t,” Debbie Espinosa, president and CEO of FIND Food Bank, told me. “We’re still roughly serving 125,000 to 150,000 people, on average, every month.”

Despite improving unemployment rates, the cost of living remains high. As Espinosa said, and I personally experienced, just because someone has a job, that doesn’t mean they can afford everything they need to survive. Their job may not pay enough or provide benefits. Even if they have two or three part-time jobs, the instability of their schedule may mean they need to spend more on child care or transportation.

“The majority of people who we serve are actually working, and they’re not homeless,” Espinosa said. “They may be employed— over 97% of the people that we serve are actually employed—but when you have these economic factors that are absolutely skyrocketing, they’re not able to make ends meet, and that’s where the food-insecurity rates continue to stay high.

“What the food bank does is, we ensure that they have the food to plug those gaps,” she said. “Where they would have had to spend money on food, they can direct it to those other resources that they may not be able to get for free.”

In addition to distribution sites across the Coachella Valley and the Inland Empire, FIND Food Bank has 44 mobile community pantries that seek to literally serve people where they are.

“We work with and we find community partners to be able to distribute food to so

they can get the food out to clients in those areas,” Espinosa said.

For the last three years, for example, the regional food bank has run a small mobile pantry in La Quinta’s low- and fixed-income communities, she said.

Those community partners and FIND Food Bank often work to get people connected to other financial-assistance services like CalFresh.

According to HARC data, 17% of local adults received food assistance from such sources last year, and more than 15% relied on federal programs to purchase food. This includes CalFresh (also known as food stamps, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP), and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

Both eligibility and benefits under SNAP were expanded during the pandemic, which meant more Californians were getting more money to buy food, helping alleviate some food insecurity. However, those extra SNAP benefits came to a halt March 1. The U.S. Census Bureau has already found that the end of these extra benefits has resulted in increased food insecurity.

“The increased demand really means that the programs and services we have in place to serve people who are food insecure need to not only be sustained, but expanded, because this is not going away anytime soon,” said Jenna LeComte-Hinely, CEO at HARC, earlier this year.

Some providers and clinics, including DAP Health in Palm Springs, are trying to address

the problem as soon as possible by giving those who don’t meet a certain threshold a bag of food—right then and there.

“Everything is interconnected,” said Steven Henke, a DAP Health spokesperson.

Providers at DAP Health are trying to normalize the conversation about nutrition by making sure all clients have access to the food they need. These types of screenings are recommended by the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Diabetes Association; however, researchers at UC Davis found that food-insecurity screenings in health care settings had decreased.

Sometimes patients think “somebody else needs it more than they do,” Henke said, noting how difficult it can be to ask for help. The embarrassment, shame or stigma a person may feel might prevent them from answering honestly or from seeking or accepting assistance.

Said Espinosa: “I think there are a lot of people who believe they’re going to be judged if they go and get services. And that’s the stigma that they’re afraid of, even though all of our food bank partners … make it a warm and welcoming place.”

Her belief is that people who ask for help are actually brave—and I happen to agree.

“As a community, we’re getting better,” Espinosa said. “We’re destigmatizing it by showing that there is community support for people—and there should not be any embarrassment, because everybody falls on hard times sometimes.”

Local food banks and service agencies are working to decrease the stigma around food insecurity—while helping those in need

FIND Food Bank volunteer Jo Fedorchuk prepares food to give away during a mobile market outside the Palm Desert Community Center, at 43900 San Pablo Ave. The market is held there every third Monday of the month. Maria Sestito

CV HISTORY

by Greg Niemann

No Coachella Valley establishment has ever catered to the partying Hollywood crowd as well as the longstanding Chi Chi Club in downtown Palm Springs.

The list of luminaries at the tables matched those who performed live at the Chi Chi. The fabled performers included Louis Armstrong, Desi Arnaz, Pearl Bailey, Milton Berle, Ray Bolger, Nat King Cole, Vic Damone, Sammy Davis Jr., Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, Eartha Kitt, Gypsy Rose Lee, Peggy Lee, Liberace, Jerry Lewis, Tony Martin, the Mills Brothers, Patti Page, Louie Prima & Keely Smith, Lili St. Cyr, Sophie Tucker and Mae West.

The venue got its start in 1931, when Irwin S. Schuman converted his little Waffle Shop into

the Desert Grill, the first dinner house in the village outside of the three hotels—The Desert Inn, El Mirador and Oasis. It was on property leased from Zaddie Bunker just north of The Desert Inn on Palm Canyon Drive (later replaced by the Desert Fashion Plaza, which itself was torn down and replaced by newer shops). The hotels usually closed from May until October, but Schuman’s Desert Grill stayed open in the summer.

Schuman transformed the Desert Grill in 1935 into the legendary Chi Chi, a bar replete with bamboo and russet leather décor, a fine restaurant and the Blue Room for entertainment.

Schuman, along with Jack Freeman, had previously owned and operated the popular Silk Hat nightclub next door to the Chi Chi. Originally run by Lee Humbard, the old Silk Hat had become famous—but it was the Chi Chi that would survive. In 1938, Schuman tore down the wall between the two nightclubs, doubling the floor space of the Chi Chi and adding dressing rooms.

During World War II, the Chi Chi was a favorite haunt for GIs stationed at Torney General Hospital (the converted El Mirador Hotel, now the site of Desert Regional Medical Center) and the temporary Camp Young out past Indio. However, it was the Hollywood crowd who regularly showed up to party that built the Chi Chi reputation. It became the “in” place of the “in” resort destination.

Responding to a demand for bigger shows and bigger entertainment, Schuman opened the Chi Chi’s famous Starlite Room in 1950. With a raised dance floor, the Starlite Room was terraced and seated 750 people. The adjacent dining room seated an additional 250 people. The opening was a major social event for Palm Springs. On hand were actor/ Mayor Charlie Farrell and his wife, actress Virginia Valli, as well as leading actor William Powell and his wife, Mousie.

Headlining the Starlite Room opening was Desi Arnaz. He was a year away from

his big television break, and was introduced as a well-known Cuban bandleader in the accompanying flier. It was where he first performed “Babaloo” on the bongos. It was written that he “set the pace for the big-timers that followed: Carl Ravazza, The Vagabonds, Carl Brisson and Rudy Vallee.”

It was common to see celebrities at the Starlite Room’s tables. Limousines often dropped off entertainers like Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra.

Schuman hired the Bill Alexander Band for dancing and accompanying the vast variety of entertainers. They stayed at the Chi Chi for 13 years. A 1959 flier boasted “Louis Armstrong and All Star Band with Bill Alexander’s Orchestra.”

In 1961, Schuman gave up managing the Chi Chi and the Starlite Room to focus on his new enterprise, the Riviera Hotel (today’s Margaritaville Resort). The Chi Chi went through a series of managers, but in 1964, Schulman resumed operations. In 1965, he put it up for sale; the Chi Chi was closed for most of the 1965-66 season.

Entrepreneurs George Arnold, Philip Richards and Helen Stoddard acquired the Chi Chi from Schuman in a $500,000 leasepurchase deal. They remodeled the place, and on Feb. 3, 1966, reopened it for a month’s run of a nude extravaganza called “Follies de Pigalle,” featuring expensive sets and a glamorous cast of 40 showgirls.

After that run, they brought in big-name entertainment. French singer Denise Darcel started a new show—but less than a week later, it was closed by the marshal after a $10,111 contracting bill for the remodel was attached against the property. Arnold later declared bankruptcy; the doors of the famed Chi Chi were closed.

In September 1968, owner Zaddie Bunker signed a lease with Sy Weiss, a restaurant owner—and for a short while, the club flourished. Crooner Hoagy Carmichael made a two-day appearance in 1969, but the Chi Chi’s new life was short-lived. After extensive redecorating, devastating floods in 1969

kept people away, and two charity events were considered flops. Finally, in March 1969, Weiss threw in the towel, lamenting, “I tried. I tried every way I know. I’ve had it.”

In 1970, Earle Strebe, Zaddie Bunker’s son-in-law and the manager of her estate, tried to make a go of it himself. He reopened the Chi Chi as a cabaret serving cocktails and dinner. The City Council approved a dance license in exchange for improvements in the parking lot behind the club. Nevertheless, after one season awash in red ink, he discontinued the operation. Chi Chi

In 1971, Don Cone leased the Chi Chi from Earle Strebe in hopes of subletting the place to theater groups and televisionmusical productions. All that amounted to was two nights in February 1971 when the Palm Springs Playhouse presented The Unsinkable Molly Brown in the Starlite Room. Another revival attempt, a discotheque called Jilly’s-in-the-Bush, lasted but a short time in early 1972.

A group from Denver, the EMT Corporation, in February 1973 opened the center third of the Chi Chi for an Italian “singing restaurant” called Mario’s, patterned after the ones in Denver and San Diego. The president of EMT was Mario Lalli Sr.

What happened to the other two-thirds of the illustrious Chi Chi? Well, on the south side of Mario’s was the Original House of Pies, and on the north was the Wonderful World of Wax Museum.

The knockout punch came in 1977, when the entire site was transformed to house three retail shops. The renowned basketweave brickwork on the building’s face that signified the desert’s most popular nightclub came down.

The use of the name Chi Chi did not end there. In 1987, John DeBoard opened a “New” Chi Chi, a lounge in an also “new” Desert Inn Hotel and Resort at 155 S. Belardo Road. It, too, was short-lived. Today, there is a restaurant named Chi Chi in the Avalon Hotel at 415 S. Belardo Road.

The original and famous Chi Chi is more than a memory; it represents the era that put Palm Springs on the figurative map.

Sources for this article include Palm Springs Confidential by Howard Johns (Barricade Books, 2004); Desert Memories by The Desert Sun (2002); various editions of The Desert Sun; and Palm Springs: First Hundred Years by Mayor Frank Bogert (Palm Springs Heritage Associates, 1987).

The legendary Chi Chi Club drew the stars to Palm Springs

The Chi Chi Club. Courtesy of the Palm Springs Historical Society

JUNE ASTRONOMY

By Robert Victor

Venus, the brilliant evening “star” in the west at dusk in June, brightens nearly to its peak while closing in on faint Mars and Regulus. Golden Arcturus, high is south at dusk, is the brightest actual star currently visible at nighttime. The Summer Triangle in the east and Antares in the southeast announce the imminent arrival of the Milky Way. Jupiter dominates the predawn. The June 2023 Sky Calendar illustrates many of the events described in this column. It, together with a constellation map for the month’s evening sky, is available by subscription at www.abramsplanetarium.org/skycalendar.

Evenings: Venus reaches a maximum of 45° to the upper left of the setting Sun on June 3, and brightens from magnitude -4.4 to -4.7 during June. On June 1, Venus is 68 million miles

from Earth. Through a telescope, it then displays a disk 23” (arc seconds) across and half illuminated. On June 30, Venus is 46 million miles from our planet and shows a disk 34” across and one-third full. The crescent becomes large enough to detect even with binoculars, if observed in daylight or bright twilight, before the contrast of Venus against a darkening sky becomes too great. Seen from the Coachella Valley, Venus on June 1 is 39° up at sunset, and sets 3.3 hours after the sun. On June 30, though Venus is still nearly 42° from the sun, it’s only 29° up at sunset, and sets 2.4 hours after sunset.

Watch Venus close in on Mars! On June 1, Venus is 5.2° to the left of Pollux, and aligns with the Twins, Pollux and Castor, 4.5° apart. Mars is then 10.5° to the upper left of Venus. Binoculars show stars of the Beehive cluster surrounding Mars that evening and the next. Both planets are moving east against background stars throughout June—Venus by nearly 1°, slowing to about 0.6° per day, and Mars by 0.6° daily. The gap between Venus and Mars shrinks to 8° on June 8, and 7° on June 11. Use binoculars to watch Venus pass north of the Beehive June 12-14. The brilliant planet appears within 5° to the west (lower right) of Mars from June 19-July 10. Least separation of 3.6° occurs on June 30, with Venus still west of Mars.

Mornings: Jupiter, of magnitude -2.1 to -2.2 in Aries, is the standout object of dawn, starting low in the east and climbing as the month progresses. Saturn, of magnitude +0.9 to +0.7, begins June in the southeast, and climbs higher toward the south. Saturn begins retrograde on June 17, 4.8° west-southwest of fourth-magnitude Lambda in Aquarius. Around then, the rings are tipped 7.3° from edge-on, the least for this year. On June 19, 2.5 years after their very close pairing in December 2020, Jupiter and Saturn are 60° apart. Mercury has a very poor apparition for northerners, climbing only 4° above the

horizon in mid-twilight early in June in the Coachella Valley. Using binoculars June 1-19, look 13° to 37° to the lower left of Jupiter. The waning moon at dawn appears near Saturn on June 9 and 10, near Jupiter on the 14th, and near Mercury on the 16th.

Moonlight, all night: On the night of June 3-4, the full strawberry moon appears 4° to the lower left of Antares at dusk, and 7° to the upper left of the star at dawn.

The moon returns to the early evening sky on June 18 as a thin, 1 percent crescent, very low in the west-northwest, 34° to the lower right of Venus 30-40 minutes after sunset. It will provide a chance to catch the young moon only about 23 hours after new.

On following nights, the moon sets later, in a darker sky, and will be easy for unaided eye. On June 19, find the 4 percent moon 22° to the lower right of Venus, and within 3° to 4° to the lower right of Pollux. On June 20, the 9 percent crescent will appear 11° to the lower right of Venus and 9° to the upper left of Pollux.

On June 21, a four-day old, 14 percent moon closely paired within 3° to the upper right of a 39 percent Venus proves that the planet, facing a greater portion of its sunlit hemisphere toward us, must be the more distant object. Note Mars 4.5° to the upper left of Venus, and the star Regulus, heart of Leo, 11° to the upper left of Mars. Later that evening, shortly after 10 p.m., the crescent moon’s southern cusp (the lower point of the crescent) passes just 2.6° to the upper right of Venus. On the 22nd, the 22 percent crescent moon is 5° to the right of Regulus. Mars and Venus are 7° and 11° to lower right of the moon, respectively.

On June 23, the 30 percent moon has passed all three objects. Regulus, Mars and Venus appear to the moon’s lower right, by 9°, 18° and 22°, respectively.

Continuing its eastward motion through the zodiac, on the 27th at dusk, the 88 percent moon passes within 4° to the upper left of Spica, the spike of grain in the hand of Virgo.

Planets and Bright Stars in Evening Mid-Twilight For June, 2023

This sky chart is drawn for latitude 34 degrees north, but may be used in southern U.S. and northern Mexico.

Evening mid-twilight occurs when the Sun is 9° below the horizon. June 1: 46 minutes after sunset.

15: 47 " " "

30: 46 " " "

Three nights later, at dusk on June 30, the star Antares appears about 2° to the lower left of a 93 percent moon. Binoculars will be useful for seeing the star deep in the lunar glare, especially later that night, as the moon closes in. Around 2:10 a.m., the moon’s southern edge passes just more than a half of a moon’s width north of the star.

When the Summer Triangle of Vega, Deneb and Altair has completely risen by nightfall, and the Scorpion moves into the southern sky, we know that the season for evening viewing of the Milky Way is at hand. On dark, moonless nights, look for the Teapot asterism formed by eight bright stars of Sagittarius, the Archer. It follows Antares and the Scorpion across the southern sky, while the Summer Triangle climbs high in the east. The Milky Way looks like a cloud of steam rising out of the spout of the Teapot, and

passing through the Summer Triangle, along the neck of Cygnus, the Swan. As we face the “Great Sagittarius Star Cloud” above the Teapot spout, we’re looking toward the inner regions of our Milky Way, and as we look at the “Cygnus Star Cloud,” we’re looking ahead of the sun, into our own spiral arm.

The Astronomical Society of the Desert will host a star party on Saturday, June 17, at Sawmill Trailhead, a site in the Santa Rosa Mountains at elevation 4,000 feet. For dates and times of other star parties in 2023, as well as maps and directions, visit astrorx.org.

Robert C. Victor originated the Abrams Planetarium monthly Sky Calendar in October 1968 and still produces issues occasionally, including May and July 2023. He enjoys being outdoors sharing the beauty of the night sky and other wonders of nature.

Map by Robert D. Miller

Venus and Jupiter dominate the skies—and it’s a great month to view the Milky Way

are afoot at the CREATE Center for the Arts, as the nonprofit organization works to find a new home—and that’s just fine with Debra Mumm, founder and executive director of this unique community resource currently residing in Palm Desert.

“We’re a maker’s space meets community art center, and where tradition meets technology,” Mumm said when asked to describe the hub of communal activity and creativity she’s nurtured and expanded for more than a decade. “So we’re putting all of these things together. It’s a very exciting environment to be in.”

It was in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic when Mumm decided to take advantage of an opportunity to lease the impressive 20,000-plus-square-foot building at 73600 Alessandro Drive; at the time, she believed she’d found the “forever home” of the center. The building had previously been the upscale Venus de Fido day spa.

“It’s very beautiful, and it’s been an amazing stepping stone for us, because we’ve been able to expand and set up a lot more

equipment,” Mumm said. "Before, we were basically a one-room schoolhouse. Now we’re like a university, right? It gave people a real opportunity to see the work that we do. But now (the owner) is selling the building, so we’re moving, because we don’t want to buy it.”

Moving to a larger building with a more flexible and adaptable interior has become an urgent need for CREATE—and fundraising is the immediate challenge Mumm is facing.

“We had targeted a building that we really wanted in the Perez Road Arts and Design District (in Cathedral City),” Mumm said. “That’s a thriving scene and high-visibility location. … It’s a hot little neighborhood with a lot of vibes going on.”

However, the building was abruptly pulled off the market just as discussions with the owner started in earnest.

“I liked that environment, but you know what? We’ve regrouped. Recently, someone said to me, ‘It doesn’t matter where you go. People will come to you.’ So our search is on valley-wide, but I’d like to stay in the midvalley. I really love Palm Desert.”

With an end-of-May deadline for the center to vacate its current home, the pressure is on for Mumm and her board of directors to identify a new location and gather the required dollars to pay for the transition. Mumm said CREATE needs to raise $2 million.

“We need, like, $250,000 now, and the rest of the $2 million to vamp out the whole space over the next year,” Mumm said. “But the fundraising is going terribly. … We’ve done fundraising before, but mostly it has revolved around grant-writing and memberships.

We’ve never just asked people to give us money, but now we have a reason to do that.”

Raising $2 million was not a challenge Mumm imagined she’d be facing when she initially opened an artists’ outpost back in 2011. After what was then the only valley art store, where she worked for many years, laid off staff during the 2008 recession and then closed in 2011, Mumm moved to fill the void.

“I thought, ‘Well, the valley is not going to have an art store,’” Mumm said, “so I opened an art store, which is what I knew how to do. Then I took a space down the street for a gallery and education (activities). Eventually, we merged those two places together over on Corporate Way (in Palm Desert) called Venus Studios. Then the neighbors next door moved out, so we added more studios and places

for people to make art.”

Ever since, Mumm has maneuvered and expanded her artistic, creative community hub, adding varied activities she considers to be different modes of human creative expression.

“It became this whole big thing,” Mumm said, sounding a bit incredulous. “So next we came to the Palm Desert corridor, because I wanted to be in a neighborhood rather than isolated over in the industrial area. That’s when I rolled my private business into a nonprofit, so, essentially, Venus Studios became the CREATE Center in 2016.

“Obviously, I needed five more jobs,” she joked, “because running a nonprofit is like having your business—and mine was art supplies, education and running galleries— and then adding a board of directors, and fundraising, and all of those other crazy things that come with being in the nonprofit world. It was better that I didn’t know what I was getting into. … This has been a living, breathing kind of a project.”

When CREATE wound up in its current location, Mumm was at first convinced that the organization had finally had found its “forever home.” However, CREATE soon outgrew the space.

“Part of the beautiful thing that happened when we first moved into this former Venus de Fido building space was that wellness” became part CREATE’s offerings, Mumm said. “It became evident that people are hungry for that, so now we offer tai-chi and qigong, ecstatic dance,

CREATE Center founder and executive director Debra Mumm stepped in to fill a void when the only valley art store, where she worked for many years, closed in 2011.

yoga and sound baths. All those sessions are well-attended.”

Add those wellness offerings to more traditional creative outlets like painting and drawing (in a variety of mediums), cooking, ceramics, woodwork, fashion design, costuming, photography, video production, podcast production, large-format screen printing and 3-D printing, among others, and that’s the inclusivity that Mumm strives for at the CREATE Center.

“Another thing that happened (is that we began) working with other organizations that needed the arts to serve their clients or who needed a space to meet,” Mumm said. “So we’ve worked with United Cerebral Palsy of the Inland Empire afterschool program and young women leaders. We have master gardeners here, and we have like a blind gardening group. … It’s a free service that’s provided to the vision-impaired. We’ve had LEAPS Services (which serves neurodivergent people). We’ve had the Neuro Vitality Center. We hosted the Jewish Family Service’s ‘Let’s Do Lunch’ recently. So we’re really a collaborative, community-focused organization.

“You can bring your group in here. Everyone can have a nice meal and do whatever art activities they enjoy. You know we’re creative people here, so we throw fun parties. We do a lot of screen printing of tote bags and T-shirts for groups, so everyone goes home with a souvenir. We have team-building. There are a lot of things that aren’t even on our website, and custom events are a big (focus) for us.”

It’s clear when listening to Mumm—who was raised in Indio and is a self-proclaimed member of the “generator party” generation—that no one is more

surprised than she is that the CREATE Center has become so important to so many people.

“I started with retired people, so it was mostly retired women taking painting classes,” she said. “But now we really serve everyone, pretty much from age 5 and up. We don’t have a lot of stuff for really young children, but we have all kinds of people come through here. When I talk about diversity—oh my goodness. We are really (here) for everyone.

“What’s happened is people are coming here every week, and they’re relying on this service. When I talk about this, it kind of makes me teary, but this is the only socialization that some of these people get every week. We’ve done annual estimates based on all of the classes and activities we offered. In our first year, (that total number of visits) was 500. This past year, it was 20,000 (visits). So it’s very active, and we are just hitting our stride over here. I estimate that (when we occupy a larger space), we’ll be able to serve 75,000 to 100,000 people (visits) annually.”

But unless donors, small and large, step up, the future of the CREATE Center is uncertain.

“We’re just trying to get some support from our community here,” Mumm said. “This place won’t exist without community support. We’ve not done a lot of marketing or advertising. We’re sort of this grassroots thing that is experiencing quantum growth and demand. We want to position ourselves to be able to fill the needs of the Coachella Valley— so it’s going to take a village.”

Or, in this case, a valley.

For more information or to donate, visit createcentercv.org/donate.

Debra Mumm: “People are coming here every week, and they’re relying on this service. When I talk about this, it kind of makes me teary, but this is the only socialization that some of these people get every week.”

“ This place won’t exist without community support. We’ve not done a lot of marketing or advertising. We’re sort of this grassroots thing that is experiencing quantum growth and demand.”

– Debra Mumm CREATE Center founder and executive director

The Nonprofit SCENE

June 2023

DO-GOODER

INDEPENDENCE + LOVE

By CHarles drabkin

Fans of the CW TV series In the Dark may feel like they have a handle on the inner workings of guide-dog training—but Robert Maher, executive director of Guide Dogs of the Desert, says his organization does so much more than the show depicts, as it tries to meet a huge demand.

Guide Dogs of the Desert works to meet a huge need across the country

Annual On-Stage Birthday Luncheon Committee members. David A. Lee

With whimsical décor inviting guests down the most delightful rabbit hole, The Muses and Patroness Circle of McCallum Theatre hosted their 35th Annual On-Stage Birthday Luncheon recently, a tradition started at the end of the McCallum’s first season in 1989.

With the fun and playful theme of “Muses in Wonderland,” the event had an ambitious agenda. First, after a champagne reception in the theater lobby, it was time for the organization’s annual meeting where a new slate of officers was introduced, headed up by incoming President Diane Dykema.

Next was a check presentation. Outgoing Muses President June Benson was joined by this year’s fundraising chairs, Dykema and Rosalind Hack, to present a check for $802,250 to new McCallum board chairperson Garry Kief, immediate past chairperson Harold Matzner and McCallum president, CEO and artistic director Mitch Gershenfeld.

“The Muses and Patroness Circle of McCallum Theatre is without a doubt one of the most remarkable, most talented, most creative, most generous and most successful volunteer leadership groups, not only here in the valley, but I would honestly say in the country, and that is no exaggeration,” said Kief.

For more info, visit www.mccallummuses.org.

Dusty Wings of the Desert board president Carrie Coons and vice president Althea Heagy presented an $8,000 check to Tools for Tomorrow board president Judith Antonio at a luncheon at Chaparral County Club.

Antonio expressed gratitude for Dusty Wings’ support of TFT’s free after-school arts-literacy program in local elementary schools.

TFT is gearing up for the July 23 “Christmas in July” at The Roost Lounge in Cathedral City. For more on Tools for Tomorrow, visit toolsfortomorrow.org, or call 760-601-3954. Dusty Wings is a fellowship of airline flight attendants and has donated approximately $1 million to charities in the desert. For more on Dusty Wings, contact Jean Carrus at jcc42230@gmail.com.

—Submitted on behalf of the nonprofits by Jeffrey Norman and Suzanne Fromkin

“We were started in Palm Springs to serve people from across the country, and most of our students come from California, Arizona, Washington and Oregon,” he said. “There is such an

enormous need for dogs across this country that today we have an approximately two-year waiting list for our dogs.”

GDD provides mobility, companionship and independence for the blind and visually impaired with dogs whose abilities are tailored to meet the individual needs of their clients. These life-changing partnerships allow individuals to navigate the world with confidence, whether that means crossing narrow hiking trails for an avid outdoors person, or finding the nearest coffee shop for a devoted caffeine junkie.

GDD was founded 50 years ago at a time when numerous veterans were returning home with not only visual impairments, but other mobility issues that needed to be addressed; GDD was founded to train dogs to meet specific needs. For instance, dogs are traditionally trained to walk on the left side of their owner—but that would not work for someone who has lost the use of their left side.

It all begins with the breeding program. “We know each of our dogs’ parents and grandparents, and that knowledge is integral to knowing what dogs will have the traits to do well as guide dogs,” Maher said.

Once weaned, puppies move into the “Puppy Den,” immersed in an environment that nurtures their intelligence and curiosity. The organization is always looking for volunteers to play and interact with the puppies.

“Getting our dogs used to interacting with as many different people as possible is very important for them to be successful in their careers as guide dogs,” Maher said.

Trainers shape dogs’ behavior, including teaching them to guide through traffic, crowds and stairs; they learn to stop at curbs and steps, avoid low-hanging branches and navigate around pedestrians. The program includes obedience training, specialized commands and exposure to various environments and social situations.

Remember, if you see a guide dog or a guide dog in training on the street, ask before you pet the dog. Don’t be offended if the answer is no; after all, these dogs are on the job.

Once the dogs have completed their training, they are matched with an owner

based on compatibility and specific needs. It is a process that balances science and intuition, ensuring that each guide dog and recipient complement one another’s personalities and lifestyles. People receiving dogs—even those who have previously had guide dogs—spend approximately a month at the facility in Palm Springs, learning how to work with their new canine partner. As anyone who has gone through obedience school with their pet knows, it is as much about training the person as it is about teaching the dog.

Guide Dogs of the Desert provides its services free of charge to anyone who qualifies. The organization relies on donations from individuals—watch for a major fundraising event in November—as well as corporations and foundations.

For guide-dog recipients, the impact is lifechanging.

“Imagine being unable to see and trying to cross the street,” Maher said. “Our dogs become their human partner’s eyes.” Beyond their practical assistance, these loyal canines also offer emotional support, companionship and an unwavering presence.

Some dogs in the program who wind up not being suited to a guide dog’s life go through a career change and enter the Support K9 Program. They are paired with police officers and first responders to help people deal with traumas like shootings and domesticviolence situations. It is often easier for people experiencing trauma to interact with an empathetic canine than another human being.

As mentioned above, GDD is always looking for volunteers for general support—and to play with puppies!

“By promoting awareness and understanding of visual impairments and the abilities of guide dogs, GDD is challenging misconceptions and stereotypes,” Maher said. “These partnerships break down barriers and inspire us, creating a valuable tool to make the world and our community more equitable.”

For more info, visit guidedogsofthedesert.org.

A puppy in training at Guide Dogs of the Desert.

ARTS & CULTURE

LOCAL BEAUTY

By Matt KING

The beauty of our desert landscape has been captured innumerable times, by a number of different artists, in a wide variety of formats—with many of the best works by locals who share the most honest and appreciative views of the area. South of Ten is a photography/essay book with words and photos by Tony Tornay, a Coachella Valley native and co-founder of the legendary desert rock band Fatso Jetson. He’s honored the desert time and again with his drumming work—with Fatso Jetson, on The Desert Sessions’ Volumes 3 & 4, with stoner-rock outfit All Souls and, more recently, with Dry Heat, led by Sean Wheeler. Now he’s using his life-long love of photography to share both an appreciation for the

local landscape and some desert rock history. The book is $40, shipping around June 17, available at tonytornay.bigcartel.com.

“When I was younger, going to parties out in the desert and stuff, I was just having a really good time, and I figured somebody should document it in some way or another,” Tornay said during a recent phone interview. “I started carrying a camera around with me and never really thought all that much about it. As I got a little older, I realized that you could actually do more than own a point-and-shoot camera and take photos of your buddies and whatever. It just kind of went from there.”

Tornay attended ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena as a photography major, and he kept taking photos while also drumming for a number of different projects. Even though, in his words, photography was “always something I was doing,” he didn’t get the idea for South of Ten until fellow Fatso Jetson co-founder Mario Lalli suggested it.

“We were gearing up for this month-anda-half-long European tour with Fatso Jetson, and just sort of as an aside, (Lalli) was like, ‘You have all this cool stuff of the desert; you should make a book and bring that along, and we could sell it at the merchandise table,’” Tornay said. “The lightbulb went off in my head, and I just kind of ran with it. I made a book just for myself about 20 years ago—a hardcover book of a lot of the same images that I put out in this—but to actually make a book that I was selling and stuff, that came from Mario.”

Tornay said he believes a photograph is the best way to capture and share a moment.

“You’re capturing, literally, a split second in time,” Tornay said. “How that is perceived is really up to how somebody views the image. It’s one thing for somebody to write about something, or tell a story, or even visit (something) themselves and see the total environment around it—but when you just take a photograph of something, it leaves so much up to the imagination. That was part of what really drew me to photography as a kid,

just seeing these moments in time, whether it was music that I was into, or skateboarding, or whatever. You just had this one splitsecond image that was on the page, and you could make up so much in your mind about what was going on at that exact moment. Some of that could have been total bullshit; some of it could have been better than you even imagined. But I always liked how a photograph left it up to you to sort of tell the story of what was going on there.”

The desert wasn’t always a source of inspiration for Tornay. Much of his young life was spent in a state of discontent regarding where he grew up, especially involving music—or the lack thereof.

“I resented the desert, because it was always a ‘the grass is greener’ kind of a situation where, back in the ’80s, even into the ’90s, bands didn’t come to the Coachella Valley,” Tornay said. “If I wanted to go see a band play, we had to drive to San Diego or Orange County or L.A. or Tijuana. I remember sitting around with my friends, out at some party in the middle of the desert, and just lamenting, like, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if we didn’t have to drive all the way out to the middle of nowhere to a cobbled-together PA?’

“When I started actually being able to go to shows, I saw how regimented everything is, where you pay your $10, and there are probably five bands that all kind of sound the same—and if it’s a punk-rock show, they probably all had the word ‘Youth’ in their name. It kind of started dawning on me how special the desert was. You had this melting pot of genuine weirdos who weren’t necessarily all always on the same page, but everybody could co-exist. You pushed each other to be your own thing and not just be this cookie-cutter thing. … You had to work for it. You had to find a place to put on a party; you had to ask Mario to borrow his generator; you had to make sure you made fliers, because nobody else was going to do that for you. I realized how cool all of that was … that everybody and anybody was welcome

to the party, and the only price of admission was that you had to participate.”

Every photo in South of Ten is accompanied by an essay—not necessarily about the photo it accompanies.

“Each essay is more about just what the desert represents to me, in a way,” said Tornay. “At one point, in the second or third image, I mention that every photograph was kind of a love letter to the desert. … Everybody else in the world, wherever they grew up, had their own experience, and this was uniquely mine, at this uniquely odd place at a particularly strange time in the world. It represents a bit of what everybody was doing, but also just the beauty of what’s sitting out there.”

While some may see Tornay’s collection of older photos as a chronicle of dated beauty

and desert-rock memories, he said he hopes that South of Ten reminds locals that we are all able to get lost in a beautiful landscape right outside our door.

“It’s really easy to get caught up in the dayto-day bullshit of your life—but it’s really easy to remove yourself from that by just driving a couple of minutes and a few miles outside of town,” Tornay said. “There’s so much sitting out there in the desert that’s just waiting to be found, and really, all you need to do is go looking for it. It can be whatever you want it to be, and it can represent whatever you want it to represent. … In today’s day and age, it’s so easy to just get caught up in the 24-hour news cycle and social media and stuff like that, but if you just drive a little bit outside of town, everything can slow way down.”

Desert rock legend Tony Tornay publishes ‘South of Ten,’ a book of photos and essays

An image (cropped) from Tony Tornay’s South of Ten

ARTS & CULTURE

HISTORY, FASHIONABLY

The Palm Springs Cultural Center hosts designer Aneka Brown’s third annual Juneteenth event

by Cat Makino

In 2021, June 19—a day known as Juneteenth—became a federal holiday. It commemorates the proclamation freeing slaves in the United States following the Civil War, but until recently, many Americans had never heard of it.

This year, the Palm Springs Cultural Center is celebrating Juneteenth a little early: The Third Annual Juneteenth Celebration will take place from 2 to 8:30 p.m., Sunday, June 11. The festivities will include food, fashion, local vendors, artists, music, a youth learning-activities station and much more. Richard Pryor Jr., the son of comedian Richard Pryor, is slated to be at the event, signing copies of his book, In a Pryor Life.

This Juneteenth celebration came to Palm Springs through the efforts of fashion designer Aneka Brown, owner of Aneka Brown Designs.

“People such as myself have been very vocal about the significance of Juneteenth and what it means for all Americans,” she said. “I produced the event because often, the mainstream media presents African Americans in a negative light. We are always the bad guys, so in order to combat it, I focus on the positive imagery that can be found in my people.”

Aneka said her fashion sense has its roots in her childhood.

“I used to cut my clothes to make outfits for my dolls,” she said. “I applied to the Fashion Institute of Designing and Merchandising (FIDM) out of high school, and was accepted, but couldn’t afford it.”

Aneka was undeterred—even after she was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma when she was 30; she’s had coughing fits so severe they caused her to lose consciousness. To make matters worse, the prednisone she took to control her condition when it flared up caused her weight to fluctuate—but she turned this curse into a blessing.

“One month, I was a size 6, and then I’d blow up to a size 16,” she said. “ The lack of chic, vibrant, exciting fashion led me to design garments to fill that void.”

She designed her own clothes and then found a factory to make them. Her first piece was a loose-fitting jumpsuit designed to cover weight fluctuation. When her friends saw it and praised it, her fashion brand was born.

“I didn’t have any formal training and only $250,” she said—but now her clothes are available online and at a pop-up store inside Hotel Paseo in Palm Desert

Coachella Valley,” she said.

At the Juneteenth event, one of Palm Springs’ most beloved singers, Keisha D, will close out the day with a special “Soulful Sundays” event, with songs and storytelling. She started singing in her church choir and then sang with Hilltop Faith, a gospel group that has toured the United States. She is an outspoken champion of the underdog and an advocate for music and arts education. She has worked with various recording artists and, in 2020, was honored with a star on the Walk of Stars in downtown Palm Springs.

Brown said she’s looking forward to the celebration.

“I educate people on the wonderful contributions that African Americans have made to society that many Americans don’t know about,” Brown said. “My grandmother always said, ‘When we know better, we do better.’”

The Third Annual Juneteenth Celebration will take place from 2 to 8:30 p.m., Sunday, June 11, at the Palm Springs Cultural Center, 2300 E. Baristo Road, in Palm Springs. For more information, visit psculturalcenter.org, or view the event’s Facebook page.

Her fashion designs for all sizes often include bold prints and colors, blending richtoned traditional and modern African print fabrics with Californian, calm earth tones. Palm Springs, where she was raised, serves as an inspiration with “its melting pot of different colors like beautiful mosaics. Whatever colors you need, you can find throughout the Aneka Brown.

VINE SOCIAL

JASON DAVID HAIR STUDIO

By Katie finn

LOVE YOUR HAIR

“Hmm … that depends. Is it organic, gluten-free, vegan, soy-free, sustainably farmed and wild-

Back in the heyday of Starbucks coffee culture, we saw a new lingo emerge: People would stand venti cup of double ristretto with an iced vanilla double shot, nonfat half-

760-340-5959

www.jasondavidhairstudio.net

• Wheat paste is used to seal the tops of the barrels, where it isn’t in contact with wine

paragraph-sized coffee order.

Over the years, the term “organically farmed” has become a mainstay in our culture, and I think it’s safe to say that most people now recognize what that entails. Restaurants across the country have created special vegan and gluten-free dishes to satisfy their customers’ growing lists of dietary restrictions, recognizing that people are choosing to monitor more closely what they ingest. I get it. It makes sense to me. If you’re a vegan, you don’t want to eat anything that came from an animal. If gluten is a deal-breaker for you, zoodles and rice crackers are your jam.

But things get confusing when something like—oh, I dunno, say, wine, for example—is labeled vegan and gluten-free.

Yes, wine is made from grapes. No, grapes are not animals. No, grapes are not wheat.

So, what gives? Is this just pandering to the followers of the trends du jour? Are companies simply marketing the latest buzzwords? Sort of, but not exactly.

Admittedly, I was stumped by the concept of gluten-free wine. Before I turned to the all-mighty Google for an answer, I couldn’t figure out how a wine could contain gluten. I thought: Maybe it was an additive in composite corks? Maybe it was a new form of an organic pesticide? Nope. Turns out, the gluten culprit is a wheat paste, which is sometimes used as a sealant for oak barrels. Who knew?

The more I read up on this wheat paste, I discovered that it’s not commonly used anymore, and even when it is used, the PPM, or parts per million, is only about 5-10, well below the Food and Drug Administration threshold for something to be labeled glutenfree, which is 20 parts per million.

As I continued to fall down the rabbit hole of my internet wheat-paste education, I

• Barrels are tested for leaks prior to leaving the cooperage, which means they are filled with water and rolled around, thus rinsing the inside of the barrel.

• If wheat paste was a dissolvable substance, it would fail to be an effective sealant.

• Many wines are fined and filtered before being bottled, which eliminates solid particles from the wines including trace amounts of wheat paste.

Given there’s no way to know if a winery is using barrels from a cooperage that uses wheat paste to seal the oak, the only real way to know if a wine is completely gluten free is to drink wine fermented in something other than oak. Problem solved.

So what about vegan wine?

As I mentioned above, an optional part of the winemaking process is the act of filtering and

fining out the particulate matter—or floaties, as I like to call them. In a wine that hasn’t been filtered, you might see what almost looks like powdered sand floating in the bottle. In the glass, it can look gritty, hazy and even a little dull. This does not mean the wine is flawed or “gone bad.” Quite the opposite, actually: Just like in cooking, when you leave the little bits of cooked fats and protein in the pan (called fond), they add flavor and depth to whatever goes into the pan next. The floaties, or hazy matter, in the wine act much in the same way. If a winemaker chooses to remove those particles and create a wine that is brilliantly clear, shiny and radiant, they must strip away those particles. This is where the vegan part comes in.

Some of the more common agents used to get rid of floaties are egg whites, isinglass (which sounds much prettier than “dried fish swim bladder”) or gelatin. They can act like a magnet, attracting the hazy, sand-like sediment to the point where it can be filtered out. While none of these ingredients stay in the wine, vegans want nothing to do with them. Fair enough.

There are now alternatives to using animal products to clarify wine, like bentonite clay and carbon, which would make the wine vegan. Or would it?

I had a great conversation with a fellow somm (who happens to be a vegetarian) about this topic. When you think about how grapes

become wine, and the journey they take from the vineyard to the winery, one could argue that it’s impossible for a wine to be vegan. When grapes are harvested, they’re tossed into open-top bins, then transported via tractor or lift to a crush pad at the winery—which is almost always outdoors. When I worked at a winery, I learned that bugs and bees love fermenting liquid. I mean L-O-V-E. I couldn’t give you a casualty list or a death count, but a lot of little bugs and critters lose their life in those bins. (It’s a pretty good way to go, if you ask me.) So if we remove the element of egg whites, fish swim bladders or gelatin from the winemaking process, but accept the fact that insects and other creatures are always going to be a factor in agriculture and viticulture, can anything natural be truly vegan?

The most important aspect of this new wine lingo is that winemakers are doing all they can to create transparency with a product that doesn’t require an ingredient list. Just how committed the consumer is to their diet is up to them. While I’m all for getting nerdy and cerebral about wine, at the end of the day, it’s nice to sit back, pour a glass of wine—and just enjoy the drink.

Katie Finn is a certified sommelier and certified specialist of wine with two decades in the wine industry. She can be reached at katiefinnwine@ gmail.com.

Vegan wine. Gluten-free wine. What do these terms even mean?

FOOD & DRINK

by Michael moberly

All alcohol has a complex history and a ton of preconceived notions. From the myth that all bourbon has to be made in Bourbon County, Ky. (not true; it just has to be made in America) to the idea that absinthe will make you hallucinate (also untrue, but most absinthe is really high proof and will therefore get you goofy faster), there often is more disinformation than truth out there about spirits. It can be tough to differentiate between fact and fiction when choosing the best tipple to imbibe.

When it comes to tequila, people have a lot of feelings. Generally, you either love it, or you hate it. Most people hate it because of the deep trauma experienced from garbage tequila,

while most people learn to love it once they have tasted real quality tequila. This month, I wanted to clear up some of the myths and misunderstandings around one of my favorite spirits on the planet.

Tequila is roasted, crushed, fermented and distilled blue agave, usually made in Jalisco, Mexico. Tequila has four age classifications: blanco (or unaged, sometimes called silver); reposado, aged for a minimum of two months and a maximum one year; anejo, aged for one to three years; and extra anejo, aged for longer than three years. There is also joven or gold, which is unaged tequila with color added, and curados, tequila that is up to 75% flavored non-agave distillate.

Well-made tequila is romantic and driven by tradition as well as agriculture. Agave grows to at least 5 years old; it’s then harvested, roasted in a stone oven, and crushed with a large stone wheel called a tahona. That sap is fermented naturally for three to five days. After the agave ferments, that product is distilled, and water is added to bring it to proof.

That is the traditional way to make tequila; unfortunately, only some tequilas are made this way.

The industrial methods of making tequila vary, but the goal remains the same: to make tequila faster. Agave is often harvested young, and a machine called a diffuser strips the agave and extracts the sap. Artificial yeasts aid in fermentation, and column stills distill the product to the highest possible proof for a larger yield. Then artificial flavors and fillers are added to help the tequila taste as it should. Around 70% of all tequilas have the allowed 1% of additives; however, the best tequilas embrace the traditional methods, which is apparent in the flavor.

So, how do you find the best tequila? Every tequila has a four-digit NOM, or Norma Oficial Mexicana, associated with it. A NOM is like a tequila address and is required by Mexican law so we can know which distilleries make which tequilas. Luckily for us, resources like

Tequilamatchmaker.com exist for us to find some transparency in knowing which tequila distilleries use diffuser tech, and which choose traditional methods; simply search the NOM, and find out.

When the information on the internet becomes too overwhelming, it’s best to talk to learned local bartenders and retail geniuses. The best way to help them find the right bottle for you is to tell them how you like it. Bright and light? Rich and velvety? Maybe even peppery and weird?

There is a ton to know about tequila, and here, we are just the scratching surface. Take a little time to look into your favorite agave spirit; there is much more there than meets the eye.

This piece originally ran in the Reno News & Review.

CAESAR CERVISIA

JASON DAVID HAIR STUDIO

By brett newton

LOVE YOUR HAIR

n Belgium, near the French border at the source of the Oise River, lies a town called Chimay. In 1850, it saw the founding of a priory for Trappist monks by a priest and the Prince of Chimay. In 1862, the monastery founded a brewery that they would use to fund the abbey

In 1988, they updated their brewery to increase production, and they began exporting their —literally “father’s beer,” a light ale that has only recently been shipped in limited quantities as Chimay Doreé. There’s

760-340-5959

on the palate, while being higher in alcohol

www.jasondavidhairstudio.net

beer can now be found nearly everywhere, but that does not mean these beers should be taken for granted.

I first came across bottles of Chimay beer at the Vons in La Quinta. At the time— somewhere around 1993—the store had an excellent “Beers of the World” section, and it did much to introduce me to different beer styles, helping shape my tastes. I don’t recall which Chimay beer I had first, but I eventually cycled my way through the three that were available, and have done so many times since, including a magnum of Chimay Blue on one New Year’s Eve with friends. What struck me was how light the beer was

8-10% alcohol-by-volume mark was routinely topped). The Belgian abbey tradition is to make incredibly flavorful ales that can deceive you into thinking they are session beers, but they are meant for celebration—at least to the monks that brew them, anyway.

I’ll begin with the beer that motivated this column, Chimay Grande Réserve, aka Chimay Blue. It had apparently been long enough since my last one to take me aback a bit and get me to recall just how wonderful of an experience it is. It took several sips for me to grasp everything that I was experiencing, and I probably still missed some things that are going on in the beer. Rich, luxurious malt flavors abound, with notes of caramel, prune, chocolate and even marzipan. The finish sees flavors of baking spice with fruit. All of this is rounded out by the crispness and dryness

of the 9% ABV ale that adds the period to the end of the sentence—or should I say comma, because your brain will likely be saying, “Again!” not long afterward. Beers like this are a favorite of mine with Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, because they complement so many of those flavors, and brilliantly contrast with others, all while cleansing the palate before the next bite. Try it at your next feast, and thank me later.

Let’s move down the line to Chimay Cinq Cents, or Chimay White/Triple. “Cinq Cents” (literally “500” in French) refers to being brewed to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the principality of Chimay and is a Belgian tripel. A thick white head with tight bubbles tops this golden-colored ale. The White is the hoppiest of the whole lineup—but don’t think of American beers when I say hoppy. The hops here, usually German “Noble” hops, add a floral, almostminty character. What really gets to shine here is the yeast character, with citrus and pome fruit esters. It’s dry as a bone at 8% alcohol. The monks accomplish this by adding candy sugar and even white sugar to add fuel (and some flavor, in the former case) for yeast to convert into alcohol without adding proteins that contribute to the body of a beer. This allows for high alcohol levels and, with refermentation in the bottle similar to champagne, light bodies. If asked for a food recommendation, I’d direct you to rich, aged cheeses. You can do this at home right now with a simple visit to a nicer grocery store.

Last but certainly not least is Chimay Première, or Chimay Red. It was the first beer brewed by the abbey 161 years ago. Its style is referred to as a dubbel, and it sees the return of malt as the centerpiece of the beer. At a relatively light 7%, the malt character jumps out with dried fruits like peach and apricot, before rounding into a rich, biscuity flavor and a slight floral hop finish. Again, despite all of this depth of flavor, the finish is dry. Part of the finish is almost wine-like. (I would probably be able to pinpoint which kind of red wine I was getting if I drank wine at all; I probably should have asked Katie Finn, my fellow columnist.) Try this with a slice of peach pie, and see what that does for you.

I could go on and on—about the history of the beers and of their styles, about more food pairings, about how they are brewed, Trappist beers in general, etc.—but I wanted to simply share my love of Chimay and its products. Even though the brewery has ramped up production to the point where the beer can be found almost everywhere, the product remains true to its heritage and is just as good as it ever was to me and my muchyounger self.

Buy a bottle of each; buy some Chimay cheese if you can find it; sit down with some friends; and enjoy these absolute classics.

Brett Newton is a certified cicerone (like a sommelier for beer) and homebrewer who has mostly lived in the Coachella Valley since 1988. He can be reached at caesarcervisia@gmail.com.

Chimay’s beers may be mass-produced—but they remain delicious and true to their heritage

Call 760-779-5000

Open Thursday through Tuesday

71680 Highway 111 #F, Rancho Mirage

(Next to Hilton Garden Inn)

FOOD & DRINK INDY ENDORSEMENT

This month, we enjoy sandwiches in Palm Desert, and then drinks in Palm Springs

By Jimmy Boegle

WHAT The Michael’s sandwich

WHERE Mr. B’s Subs, 74600 Highway 111, Suite F, Palm Desert HOW MUCH $13.99 CONTACT 760-341-3553; mrbssubs.com

WHY The jalapeno cilantro pesto.

In recent years, Suite F in the Palm Desert shopping center at Highway 111 and Deep Canyon Road has been home to three different sandwich shops. First it was Togo’s; then it was Duke’s Deli; now it’s Mr. B’s Subs (even though the large Duke’s Deli sign remained up as of this writing).

Does Mr. B’s have what it takes to succeed? I’d say the jury’s still out on that one.

On the concerning side: When we were dining there during the noon hour on a recent Saturday, we were among a mere handful of customers. On the encouraging side: My sandwich was pretty darned fantastic.

Mr. B’s offers a variety of sandwiches (as well as breakfasts, burritos and tacos), and I asked the woman behind the counter about her favorite; she recommended “Michael’s” sandwich, with turkey breast, provolone, crispy bacon, lettuce, tomato, red onion and jalapeno cilantro pesto, all on toasted sourdough. Except for one ingredient, it all sounds pretty typical—and it’s that one atypical ingredient that makes this sandwich great.

The jalapeno cilantro pesto adds freshness and brightness that complements the saltiness of the bacon. The subtle heat makes the turkey somehow taste better. Thanks to the pesto, each bite offers a delightful variety of flavors and textures.

All of Mr. B’s “customer favorite” and “signature” sandwiches are $13.99, and they come in just one size; if you want to design your own sandwich (with up to three proteins and two cheeses), you’ll pay a buck more. Each sandwich comes with a choice of potato salad, pasta salad, coleslaw or baked potato wedges; I got the potato salad, and it was satisfactory. Because of that one sandwich ingredient, I’ll be back. Hooray for jalapeno cilantro pesto!

WHAT The Corn in the Valley cocktail WHERE Maleza at the Drift Hotel, 284 S. Indian Canyon Drive, Palm Springs HOW MUCH $14

CONTACT 888-976-4487; www.drifthotels.co/ palmsprings/eat-drink

WHY The delightful subtlety.

A lot of Palm Springs residents these days joke about the seeming inability of hotel projects to ever be finished in the city.

These jokes aren’t necessarily funny—but we know these jokes are, in fact, jokes, because the Drift Hotel’s opening earlier this year proved that it is possible for a hotel to be built rather efficiently in Palm Springs.

Not only has the Drift brought more hotel rooms to Palm Springs; it also brought a delightful new restaurant.

It’s called Maleza, and the self-proclaimed “Baja eatery” serves brunch, poolside fare, dinner and craft cocktails seven days a week. I haven’t had a chance yet to have a full meal at Maleza—but I have stopped in for a drink, and I’ve liked what I’ve had and seen so far.

What I’ve liked the most is the Corn in the Valley cocktail. Looking at the ingredients, I expected a rather strong-flavored drink: There’s Mexican whiskey, lemon, corn, cinnamon and Nixta, a corn-based liqueur made in Mexico.

What I received, however, was not at all strong—and I mean that in a good way. The cocktail was full of different and complementary flavors, but all of them were subtle. The whiskey was certainly there, but it wasn’t overwhelming; the lemon offered just a hint of brightness and citrus; and the cinnamon—an ingredient that can so easily dominate—made its presence known, and that’s all.

What about the corn and the Nixta? Well, the drink certainly had a corn vibe—but as with the other flavors, it didn’t stand out. It was just there, in harmony with the whiskey, lemon and cinnamon. The result was mellow, refreshing and satisfying.

After enjoying this wonderfully balanced cocktail, I can’t wait to try more of Maleza’s offerings.

Restaurant NEWS BITES

By charles drabkin

RIO AZUL CLOSES DUE TO AN ELECTRICAL ISSUE—AND INSURANCE DENIALS

In early February, Rooster and the Pig and Rio Azul Mexican Bar and Grill were forced to close— during the busiest time of year—due to electrical issues in their building.

At the time, the restaurant owners said on social media that it would take at least three weeks for power to be restored. It took more than two months.

As a result, Rio Azul, at 350 S. Indian Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs, has closed for good. In a heartbreaking social media video on May 16, owner Daniela Saenz said she and her father, chef Ernesto Gastelum, couldn’t afford to re-open, even though Rio Azul was properly insured. She explained that the insurance company would only consider income in recent years to determine the business’ loss—which included times during the pandemic when the restaurant was closed.

The news is a little better two doors down at Rooster and the Pig, at 356 S. Indian Canyon Drive: Owner Tai Spendley said in an Instagram comment that he was trying to rehire staff, with hopes of reopening in June.

We’re heartbroken about the fate of Rio Azul—but are relieved that Rooster and the Pig will apparently reopen. Watch www.roosterandthepig.com for updates on the latter.

IT’S RESTAURANT WEEK TIME!

Greater Palm Springs Restaurant Week will return June 2-11 for its 15th year. More than 80 restaurants will offer special lunch and dinner prix-fixe menus.

Restaurant Week is a fantastic opportunity to finally visit some of those restaurants you have been meaning to try—or revisit old favorites that, for whatever reason, you haven’t been to in a while. Find a complete list of participating restaurants at dinegps.com. For every reservation booked through the site, $1 will be donated to FIND Food Bank—so you can do good while eating well!

The Summer Eats Pass will launch right after Restaurant Week; this free mobile app features more ways for locals and visitors to enjoy restaurants during the summer—because who wants to turn on the stove when it is 105 degrees outside? From June 12-Sept. 4, restaurants feature exclusive summer deals—and every time you dine out, you are entered in a weekly prize drawing. Visit dinegps.com for details.

IN BRIEF

Roly China Fusion, at 1107 N. Palm Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs, has closed—temporarily, hopefully: The staff says they’re looking for both investors and a new home. Watch www.rolychinafusion.com for updates. … Related: The PS Drag Brunch, formerly at Roly, has moved to the Saguaro Hotel, at 1800 E. Palm Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs; psdragbrunch.com. … T’s on the Green, at 36200 Date Palm Drive, in Cathedral City, has closed its doors and is up for sale, as announced by the owner on social media. … Congratulations to the Del Rey, located in the Villa Royale at 1620 S. Indian Trail, in Palm Springs, for being named one of the Top 10 Hotel Bars in the nation by the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation! Details at delreypalmsprings.com. … Chef Alen Badzak, formally of the Purple Room, has taken over Haus of Pizza, at 72795 Highway 111, in Palm Desert. Good luck to former owner Iryna Pyle! Learn more at hausofpizzapd.com. … Uncle Chai Thailand Street Food, in the Atrium at 69930 Highway 111, in Rancho Mirage, is expanding its footprint and adding a new all-you-can-eat Thai-style hot pot (jim jum). I can’t wait to try it! The website is unclecthailandstreetfood.com. … Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs, at 401 E Amado Drive, has launched a new dining experience featuring a cigar menu with 10 different types, allowing guests to smoke cigars while dining on the patio. They have suggested cocktail parings and introduced smoked ice cubes to the cocktail menu, too. The site is aguacalientecasinos.com. … Every Friday through June 9, Desert Hot Springs is hosting Friday Nights on Pierson, in an effort to bring people downtown. The event, at 11940 Palm Drive, features Coachella Valley food trucks including Uncle D’s Smokehouse, Birrieria Doña Emma and Papa Headz, as well as music and other activities. … Get your tickets for the inaugural Equality Wine Fest, happening June 30-July 2, featuring wines made by companies owned or managed by LGBTQ+ and BIPOC individuals, as well as women; equalitywinefest.com. … Chef Justin, from the gone-but-not-forgotten Justin Eat and Drink, has added wine and tapas offerings (from 2 to 8 p.m., Thursday through Sunday) at Beautiful Day, his breakfast and lunch restaurant at 50949 Washington St., in La Quinta. Get the details at itsabeautifulday.love. Chick Next Door, Glendale, Calif.’s “undisputed chicken slider expert,” has opened a second location at 46156 Dillon Road, in Coachella. Chef Steven Velichnian creates sliders and tenders at six different heat levels from “Country” to “Don’t Chicken Out.” Get the menu at chicknextdoor.com. … New to Palm Desert: Restaurante Los Primos, at 73030 El Paseo, serving an eclectic mix of food for breakfast and lunch; call 442-282-1148 with queries. Got a hot tip? Let me know: foodnews@cvindependent.com.

Kudaa’s debut EP deals with mental health and artistic capability

Cove TV uses quality equipment and know-how to showcase local artists in a live session setting

THE Venue Report: lizzo, barenaked ladies, dionne warwick, Mama Tits—and More!

The Lucky 13: Get to better know Tourists’ frontman and Lazuli Bones’ bassist

DELIGHTING DIFFERENT DEMOGRAPHICS

Saxophonist Chase Huna blends jazz and pop both in his new single and at his regular gigs 25

Events 2023

DATE EVENT

June 2–4

Outloud Festival / West Hollywood Pride

June 2–11 Greater Palm Springs Restaurant Week

June 3 Ross Mathews - I Gotchu Gurl @ Hotel Zoso

June 9–11 Splash House June

June 9–11 LA Pride

June 20–26

Palm Springs International ShortFest

June 24 Big Gay BBQ on Arenas

June 24–25

San Francisco Pride

July 13–23 Outfest LA LGBTQ+ Film Fest

July 14–16 Out in the Vineyard - Gay Wine Weekend

July 15–16

San Diego Pride & Parade

Aug 18 Out on the Mountain @ Magic Mountain

Sept 20–24 Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend

Oct 19–22

Oct 26–29

Oct 29

Nov 3–5

Modernism Week - October

PS Leather Pride

Palm Springs Halloween on Arenas Road

Palm Springs Pride

MUSIC

EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER

By matt king

When a musician embarks on a solo endeavor after performing only in groups, it can be daunting, and Kudaa—aka Juan Rodriguez, from hip-hop duo BluVarity—is doing exactly that with his debut solo release, together we wonder what’s next The EP is both emotional and versatile. There are moments of somber lyrics and depressing instrumentals (“Summer”), lively and loud rap (“DEVILWEARSPRADA”) and even funky,

chill vibes (“Sit there and breathe”). Rodriguez works through a cycle of emotions, feelings, themes and more throughout the six-song effort. His debut single, “DEVILWEARSPRADA,” featuring $LADEGEEKIN, is set for a June 1 release; the whole EP will be out June 29.

During a recent phone interview, Rodriguez explained how “Summer,” the first track, stems all the way back to his introduction to creating music.

“What started me making music, and BluVarity in general, was this car accident I had back in 2018, and just some crazy shit happened,” Rodriguez said. “I was going through a lot. I had a lot of friends who saw me as this music guy, because I love all this music, but I didn’t make (music). I made this whole project in my head, and one of the first things I ever wrote was this song. I’ve had three of these songs since the start of my career. For some reason, it felt perfect to have it as the starter, even though it’s kind of dark. It’s the calm before chaos.”

Rodriguez started the Kudaa project because Rodriguez wanted to improve his music.

“About a year ago, I realized I had to put myself in check, because I was almost faking a life with BluVarity,” said Rodriguez. “I just rapped, and Sebas (Sebastian Flores) mixed everything, mastered everything, made every beat. I almost lived this facade where I would say I’m a creative director of this band, but I’m really not. I told myself to switch everything around, so I made everything on my own.” BluVarity’s vibe has moments of emotion, but Kudaa’s EP is darker. Rodriguez felt comfortable unloading more of his personal life into a solo setting.

“I don’t want to be too dark on the stage with Sebas,” he said. “I think our purpose is just to make fun music, and whatever comes out just comes out. … I don’t want to put all this emotional baggage in BluVarity when Sebas just wants to rap.”

“Summer” features moments of Rodriguez having a conversation with someone with a deeper voice.

“When I was writing, I was already having conversations with myself,” Rodriguez said.

Kudaa’s debut EP deals with mental health and artistic capability

“All I do is overthink, and then in my head, I was like, ‘This is a perfect conversation to have.’ … I got really emotional lyrically, because I keep to myself a lot, so this was my way of talking to my therapist, I guess.”

“MURDERMECUTE!” is the third track, and it showcases the producer side of Kudaa, chopping up a soul sample into a funky rap beat.

“I really wanted to show myself in this project that I can just switch it up,” he said. “I can make a slower rap song like ‘Summer’; I can make a banger like, ‘DEVILWEARSPRADA,’ but I could also chop samples, and that’s how I got this one. I wanted to do different things when it came to genres of rap, and just different sounds in general. I didn’t want to put myself in this bubble. If you make a different sound that you usually don’t feel comfortable with, that’s where you’re going to take the biggest step forward. This was my therapy, just making random beats and seeing where it goes.”

“GMFU” features punk-rock drumming while still maintaining the hip-hop formula and booming bass. It features local rapper Nico Satí.

“I’ve been trying to make a song with this guy for, like, three years, and all the ones we’ve thrown at the walls just never stuck,” Rodriguez said. “I met Nico my freshman year of high school; he was, like, a junior back then. He was my inspiration. I was like, ‘This guy makes music, and he goes to high school; that’s tight as fuck.’ … This guy wants to make the same thing I do; he just wants to hit every genre as many times as he can. He just really gets me in terms of the idea of just doing whatever comes naturally.”

Half of the songs on the EP have a featured artist. Rodriguez said he had to overcome some mental hurdles when inviting collaborators into his solo music.

“I really had to put my ego down for it,” he said. “With BluVarity, it was so easy. I’ve known Sebas since I was 12, so we just talk like that; we play games together, and we give each other that criticism anyways. With Nico, we don’t game together; we’re just homies, and in that creative process, I catch myself getting defensive of my ideas, but I had to be open to

it. He’s nothing but knowledge for me; he’s not trying to hurt me or my mindset of things. He just wants to welcome his thought process into my head, too.”

On “YDOUH8ME,” Kudaa takes a laidback approach to the vocals—while the instrumentals’ many layers of audio texture create tension.

“I wanted to feel comfortable being uncomfortable, both with music and on a day-to-day basis,” Rodriguez said. “I’m just not going to have good days, and I just have to work with what I can do. I’d had a shitty day. It’s so weird, because that day (when I recorded the song), I didn’t feel like the song was uncomfortable, and then the next day, I’m like, ‘Holy shit; what were you on?’”

Final track “Sit there and breathe” is a mellow instrumental with some happy, groovy guitar, featuring Aoster, aka Chris Ramont. Rodriguez took inspiration from artist Kenny Beats when deciding to have a closing track with no lyrics.

“I was watching an interview with Kenny Beats, and he said, ‘I just had to figure out that I had to speak through my sound,’ and that really stuck with me,” Rodriguez said. “This

kick drum, as stupid as it sounds, could mean more than what I wanted to say in this song. … The whole point of it was for me to gather my thoughts. I wrote this when I lost someone close to me, and this was almost me pushing my boat to the ocean and just accepting what happened. Without saying my pain, I wanted to make it sound as beautiful as I could, and just speak literally through sound.”

The EP goes through the cycle of emotions most of us go through every day. There are highs and lows—but there are also friends along the way to help. Rodriguez saw creating the music as therapeutic, and collaborating with his buddies offered a mental boost.

“I’ve been friends with Chris and Nico for years, and they knew what I was trying to express, and they would enhance that,” Rodriguez said. “They helped me push me from 6 to 10. My other friends I worked with, they’ve been making music for years. … For me, it was this crazy thing of, like, ‘Whoa, they genuinely like my music enough to work with me.’”

For more information, visit www.instagram.com/ayookudaa.

Kudaa, aka Juan Rodriguez.

MUSIC

DELIGHTING DIFFERENT DEMOS

By matt king

The saxophone is most often associated with jazz, but it has a rightful place in modern pop, too; just ask Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. The Coachella Valley is a melting pot for older jazz crowds and younger pop crowds—and one local musician finds himself right in the middle of this mix.

Chase Huna is a local saxophonist who channels jazz and pop in both his original music and

his cover selections. He has released three studio albums of instrumental tunes, and he frequently performs throughout the valley, including Tuesdays at Vicky’s of Santa Fe with the Slim Man Band, and Wednesdays at Larkspur Grill as part of the Rat Pack Duo with Slim Man. He’s also played his sax in some unconventional places, like the Southwest Community Church; he’s even performed the National Anthem at a few Coachella Valley Firebirds games.

“When I was small, I didn’t want to listen to Beethoven or anything a 2-year-old (normally) wants to listen to; I wanted to listen to jazz,” Huna said during a recent phone interview. “Some of the artists were Mindi Abair, Peter White and Rick Braun. My uncle burned a CD for me of, like, 25 different jazz artists that I just wanted to put on repeat. … When I was 7 years old, I saw a guy play saxophone onstage. It was actually my brother’s friend’s dad, and he was playing down at the El Paseo Gardens. I was like, ‘Man, this kind of this seems cool,’ and I just gravitated toward the sax and thought it was a cool deal. For my 10th birthday, my dad ended up getting me my first saxophone—and I’ve been playing ever since.” He said he knew “sax was going to be my deal for my life.”

“I didn’t start writing my own stuff until I was maybe 13 or 14, but since I was 10, I was playing out at different venues, different clubs and stuff,” Huna said. “… I remember the first day I started working on a song. It was Feb. 14, 2014, with a good friend of mine, Steve Oliver. He’s a multi-Billboard No. 1 smooth-jazz guitar guy. He helped me write my first song, which eventually went to radio when I was 15, and then we kept working on new music all the way up until an album which came when I was 17, called On the Chase. That was kind of my introduction to songwriting, and it was cool watching Steve, because it was a new thing for me. It was a really big stepping stone for me, because nowadays, I’m able to produce my own stuff and write my own music.”

Since Huna’s tracks are all instrumental, the sax takes the spotlight.

“I want the sax in my music to be the lead instrument, instead of it being like any classic

Saxophonist Chase Huna blends jazz and pop both in his new single and at his regular gigs

song with a sax solo in the middle, and the main feature is the vocal,” he said. “Because there are no vocals in my music, there’s got to be a lead. I figured, we’re writing the songs, and they’re going to be my songs that I play live, so I should be the lead guy on this and just kind of take the vocal part. … You see a bunch of sax players do this all the time, even if you go all the way back to 1920s, ‘30s big band erastyle jazz.”

While Huna loves jazz, there’s no denying that Huna also loves pop music, whether it’s through Huna’s cover selections (Dua Lipa, for example) or through specific tracks in his own discography.

“As much as I love smooth jazz and playing it live, I don’t think there’s anyone my age that is

listening to that voluntarily over more hip hop, rap and pop,” Huna said. “Jazz doesn’t really catch their ear, so in my music, what I try to do is write stuff that not only can relate to jazz, but can also relate to pop. I write music that my friends want to listen to, and yes, some of them are band guys who were friends in high school, but they still have an understanding of what cool jazz sounds like, and they also have an understanding of what they like in the pop/hip-hop world. … I try to put those two influences together in my songwriting, and really just try to relate to more than one audience.”

Huna’s new single, “East Coast Swing,” is a prime example of this genre collision. While jazz progressions appear when Huna and the piano player trade off, the overall drive and bouncy feel of the track exhibits pop vibes. The track is set for a June 9 release.

“I’d say (‘East Coast Swing’) is the most jazz song I’ve written, but I can also hear it in a pop/hip-hop setting,” Huna said. “My girlfriend always says it’s ‘Hannah Montana,

the best of both worlds.’ It really does feel like I contain those two different sides, those two different audiences. It can be listened to by people who love jazz, but I believe people who love hip hop and R&B and those different styles can also have it relate to them. … I feel like they can really groove to it.”

The jazz and pop meld of Huna’s music is right at home in the Coachella Valley, where Huna can entertain an older crowd with jazz favorites, and impress a younger crowd with pop-sensible sax skills.

“There’s no place like Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley, because you do have those different audience demographics, and especially nowadays, you’ve got younger families moving into the desert all the time,” Huna said. “People are saying the desert is getting younger, and you do see it, especially when I go out to these hockey games. … It’s getting younger all the time, and I think right now, it’s a perfect time for me living out here.”

For more information, visit www.chasehuna.com.

Chase Huna.

MUSIC

LIVE ONLINE

By matt king

YouTube efforts like Live on KEXP and NPR Music’s Tiny Desk series have mastered the art of featuring music recorded in a live setting—supporting artists with top-notch video gear and audio equipment. In many cases, these videos wind up being the best way to hear what a band actually sounds like, better than a polished single or album—and many music fans, myself included, have found a new favorite band thanks to a recorded live session.

In the Coachella Valley, quality live recordings are few and far between. The Hermano Flower Shop in Palm Springs has done great work, yet the last upload, as of this writing, was seven months ago. Thankfully, a local musician and longtime music supporter is stepping up to fulfill this need.

Cove TV is a new studio with recording and broadcast capabilities that’s recently started putting together and recording live sessions for local bands. The first was a full set from the ferocious Fever Dog, complete with lights to shine off of their shiny matching outfits. Next came songs by new band Caña, a mix of Latin and prog rock.

Timothy Burr is one of the people behind Cove TV.

“I first learned about this opportunity when I went up to my uncle’s property, and he told me that he was having a studio built,” Burr said during a recent interview. “I thought it was going to be, like, another room in addition to what’s already there—and I was just really surprised at the capabilities of what we’re going to be able to do. Me and my uncle, Mitch Haberman, worked together and put in all of the electrical and all of the audio cables. Our max capability is 36 microphones, and if we get a couple of Toslink upgrades, we can do 48. We can also record simultaneously through our analog-to-digital recorder. For the video side of things, we have 10 SDI connections, and everything that’s connected in between the two rooms can be matrixed, so ins can be outs, and outs can be ins. It just really depends on what we need to do for a show.”

Burr ran sound at the former Hard Rock Hotel in Palm Springs, and he’s recently assisted with photo design work for Lazuli Bones.

“My uncle said to me that he wanted to broadcast bands live, and that’s all that he wanted to do. He was building the space so that he could have as much fun as he wanted at 3 o’clock in the morning, and no one would really bother him, neighborhood-wise,” Burr said. “All of the equipment is from my uncle, and he has been collecting gear for his 30-year career in television and show business. He’s all in with the idea that we just want to broadcast bands, and to be able

Cove TV uses quality equipment and know-how to showcase local artists in a live session setting

to show bands online for an audience—and whoever wants to join can join in. We want to make it as big as possible, and have as topquality bands as possible. Our goal is really that there is no goal except to have bands come and perform a great show. We get to capture it and give the footage back to the bands, because they performed it themselves.”

Cove TV’s first episode with Fever Dog streamed live on Twitch in February before being uploaded onto YouTube the following week. Burr was blown away by the initial reaction—which showed how desperately the valley craved a live session experience like this.

“The reception from our live stream was exceptional,” Burr said. “I can’t believe, for our first live stream, we had the audience and the support immediately. I powered on the stream, and people were just so excited for the first show. It was unbelievable.”

The channel is already getting attention beyond the valley as well.

“Fever Dog has since performed in a number of locations, and when they performed in Vegas, they were approached by fans who said that they heard of Fever Dog through Cove TV,” Burr said. “They’re locals out in Vegas who saw Fever Dog’s video and decided to come see their show in person— and that’s literally the goal. We definitely want people to be aware of really, really good talent that we can find and bring in and promote.”

Burr also has a home recording studio. He’s currently working on a live album with Caña, and doing some engineering work for local rock duo Analog Lab.

“I have my own home studio with professional preamps and microphones and all that industry jazz, working in FL Studio and Pro Tools,” Burr said. “I do a lot of postproduction at my house as well for Cove TV. … I’ve built some posters and stuff like that for other bands and shows over the years. I’m still open to doing that, and we’re currently making fliers and eventually merch or T-shirts or stickers for Cove TV. I am currently producing, mixing and mastering different artists. I have my own beats and production coming with an artist called Ckeelay; that is some of the stuff that I’m

most excited about, other than working on Cove TV and having more incredible bands come perform with us.”

That’s not all; Burr is also continuing to lend his talents to local theaters and schools.

“I’ve helped out at the Coachella Valley Repertory over in Cathedral City on … Dirty Blonde and Once the musical,” said Burr. “… I’m currently helping out John Glenn Middle School’s production of You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, and I’m helping the school put on the best show they possibly can. I’m teaching kids about pitches and keeping time with each other and all that stuff.”

Burr said he’s set on providing tools for artists.

“I’m willing to explore creative endeavors, and I really understand artists’ visions,” Burr said. “Everyone has something to say, and my job is to just bring out the absolute best performance that any musician comes over to do, and make that performance as elevated as possible, either through mixing techniques or idea-sharing. It’s always nice to say it’s professional, studio-quality gear as well, working with industry-standard microphones, preamps and EQs. It’s the quality we bring and the unwillingness to settle for less than what the artist’s vision truly is.”

The Cove TV studio.

The Venue REPORT

June 2023

By matt king

SAVE 15% Water your yard during non-daylight hours

We’re in a drought. We all need to reduce our water use by 15 percent. That’s about 12 gallons per person per day.

It’s easier than you think. Water your yard during non-daylight hours. More water will reach the roots, less water will evaporate, and you’ll save water.

For more ways to save, visit CVWaterCounts.com

EVERY

Happy June! Summer officially arrives this month (although it’s unofficially been here for a while now)—and what better way to celebrate than with live entertainment? Here’s some of what our local nightlife has to offer this month.

Acrisure Arena has two special shows. At 8 p.m., Friday, June 2, flute-playing superstar Lizzo returns to the valley after an explosive Coachella performance in 2019. Tickets start at $99.50. Top regional Mexican act Banda MS is celebrating the group’s 20th anniversary with a night in Palm Desert at 8 p.m., Friday, June 16. Tickets start at $60. Acrisure Arena, 75702 Varner Road, Palm Desert; 888-695-8778; www.acrisurearena.com

Fantasy Springs has a diverse entertainment slate. At 7:30 p.m., Saturday, June 3, Filipino singers Martin and Morissette head to Indio. Tickets start at $68. Latin boy band CNCO makes a local stop on their farewell tour at 8 p.m., Friday, June 9. Tickets start at $29. At 7 p.m., Saturday, June 10, Trot (Korean pop) singer Nam Jim will perform. Tickets start at $39. If you’re craving some country, check out Grammy Award-nominated artist Lee Brice, coming to town at 8 p.m., Friday, June 16. Tickets start at $39. At 7:30 p.m., Saturday, June 24, Barenaked Ladies (it’s a rock band!) will perform their hits from the ’90s; Semisonic and Del Amitri will also perform.

Tickets start at $59. Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84245 Indio Springs Parkway, Indio; 760-342-5000; www.fantasyspringsresort.com.

Spotlight 29 is welcoming Mexican rock band Maldita Vecindad as the group brings 30 years of rock en Español to the city of Coachella, at 8 p.m., Saturday, June 10. Tickets start at $45, and you must be 21+ to attend. Spotlight 29 Casino, 46200 Harrison

Place, Coachella; 760-775-5566; www. spotlight29.com.

Morongo will host, among other things, a music legend, a country artist, a comedian and a Latin act! At 6 p.m., Sunday, June 4, country man Michael Ray will start an early evening of music. Tickets are $20. Legendary soul and gospel singer Dionne Warwick will appear at 8 p.m., Friday, June 9. Remaining tickets as of this writing start at $123. Iconic comic Mike Epps will bring the laughs at 8 p.m., Friday, June 16. Tickets start at $59. At 9 p.m., Saturday, June 17, Latin sensations Los Nuevos Rebeldes are set to perform. Tickets start at $39. Morongo Casino Resort Spa, 49500 Seminole Drive, Cabazon; 800-2524499; www.morongocasinoresort.com.

Agua Caliente in Rancho Mirage is filling up with great events. At 8 p.m., Friday, June 16, former Vine star Trey Kennedy will perform a night of standup comedy. Tickets are $35 to $90. Premier Mexican pop-rock band Camila will visit The Show at 8 p.m., Saturday, June 24. Tickets range from $75 to $200. At 8 p.m., Saturday, June 24, inside the Cahuilla Ballroom, NBA legend and “The Logo” Jerry West will give a talk. Tickets are $35 to $75.

Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa Rancho Mirage, 32250 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage; 888-999-1995; www.aguacalientecasinos.com.

Agua Caliente in Cathedral City is hosting two free shows. At 8 p.m., Saturday, June 3, R&B legends the Delfonics will perform as a part of the Jammin 99.5 Listener Appreciation Party. At 8 p.m., Saturday, June 17, enjoy an Agua After Dark Father’s Day Celebration with the band Yellow Brick Road. Both events are free, but you must RSVP to attend; visit the website for details.

continued on page 29

Lee Brice

The Venue REPORT

continued from page 27

Agua Caliente Cathedral City, 68960 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Cathedral City; 888-999-1995; www.aguacalientecasinos.com/cc.

The month of June sees the Agua Caliente Palm Springs residencies continue. Desert Blues Revival Wednesdays offer local sax legend Deanna Bogart (June 7) and the full blues-band experience from Jerrell Ballard Blues Band (June 14). Shows are at 7 p.m., and tickets start at $10, available at eventspalmsprings.com/blues. Jazzville Thursdays have the hard-swinging SoCal Jazz Collective (June 1), the nuevo Django ensemble Hot Club of Los Angeles (June 8), a tribute to the 1962 jazz album Love Is a Drag (June 15), the jazz-drummingvirtuoso-led Dave Tull Quartet (June 22) and a Stéphane Grappelli tribute show by the Benny Brydern Quartet (June 29). Shows take place at 7 p.m., and tickets start at $15, available at jazzvillepalmsprings.com. Caliente Comedy Fridays serve up laughs with Michael Turner (June 2), an LGBTQ Showcase (June 9), Nicole Becannon (June 16), Greg Behrendt (June 23) and Ralph Porter (June 30). Shows are at 8 p.m., and tickets start at $7.99, available at www. eventspalmsprings.com/caliente-comedy.

Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs, 401 E. Amado Road, Palm Springs; 888-999-1995; www.sparesortcasino.com.

Pappy and Harriet’s has a busy start to the summer! At 8 p.m., Tuesday, June 6, indie/ emo band Turnover will perform an intimate

set under the desert night sky. Tickets are $50. Alternative rockers Metric bring 20-plus years of indie jams at 8 p.m., Thursday, June 8. Tickets are $48.50. Modern funka-teers Polyrhythmics will get the indoor stage groovin’ at 9 p.m., Thursday, June 22 Tickets are $20. At 9:30 p.m., Friday, June 23, guitar man Delicate Steve will perform his psychedelic jams. Tickets are $20. Southern California punk-pioneers Agent Orange will burn the Pioneertown Palace with their fiery-fast tunes at 9:30 p.m., Saturday, June 24. Tickets are $20. Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, 53688 Pioneertown Road, Pioneertown; 760-228-2222; www. pappyandharriets.com.

Oscar’s in Palm Springs is hosting some interesting shows in addition to the residencies. At 7 p.m., Wednesday, June 7, enjoy a special evening from drag performer Mama Tits. Tickets start at $40. Recording artist Colton Ford is hosting a release show for his new album, Permission, at 7 p.m., Thursday, June 8. Tickets are $35. Tickets are moving fast for the Dallas Reunion, featuring six cast members from the original TV series, happening at 7 p.m., Tuesday, June 13 Remaining tickets start at $99.95. At 7 p.m., Wednesday, June 14, singer Linda Purl will explore the American Songbook during a special evening of music. Tickets start at $59.95. Oscar’s Palm Springs, 125 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs; 760-325-1188; oscarspalmsprings.com/events.

Delicate Steve

ELEANOR PETRY

MUSIC

LUCKY 13 the

Get to better know Tourists’ frontman and Lazuli Bones’ bassist

by matt king

What song should everyone listen to right now? “Pace Yourself” by Tourists.

NAME Erik Ebersole

GROUP Lazuli Bones

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

My guilty pleasure right now is country and bumping Taylor Swift with my girlfriend. There’s always a couple of pop songs on the radio I can get down to.

MORE INFO Palm Desert-based band Tourists is fairly new to the local music scene—but the group has already won over fans with their live show and mix of pop and rock. Debut single “Pace Yourself,” released late 2022, features heavy yet melodic guitars rolling over complex backbeats, with frontman Nick Galvan’s vocals providing power and popinfluence at the same time. Their debut selftitled EP was released May 19. Find out more at touristscv.bandcamp.com.

What was the first concert you attended? I grew up pretty sheltered, but there was a band onstage at church every Sunday. My first official concert might have been Switchfoot.

What was the first album you owned? Linkin Park, Hybrid Theory

What bands are you listening to right now?

Cafuné, Arctic Monkeys, Deftones … I’m all over the place.

What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get?

Those songs at weddings where everyone dances the exact same moves. So cringe.

What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live? I’d love to see a band from overseas, like The Pillows or Asian Kung-Fu Generation.

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

J-rock. Not a lot of people know about it, and associate it with anime, but the music has a lot of Western roots that make it feel like a response to music I’ve heard throughout my life.

What’s your favorite music venue?

I haven’t been to a lot of music venues, but here in the desert, I love the Four Twenty Bank, and Pappy and Harriet’s.

What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head?

“Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream ...”

What band or artist changed your life? Gorillaz. The hybrid of music to animation, from music videos to stories. There was something for everyone, and all my friends would unite over this band.

You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking?

Flea: Can you give my bass player some lessons?

What song would you like played at your funeral? Wind, “Akeboshi.”

Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time? This question genuinely stressed me out. Young the Giant, their self-titled first album.

MORE INFO You may remember Blue Sun, a band that captured hearts thanks to hardworking DIY efforts and a compelling mix of reggae, punk, ska and more. The band recently changed its name to Lazuli Bones and released two new singles, “Love pt. 2” and “44,” both of which show the band’s diversity and consistent groove-centered approach. The songs are perfect for the upcoming SoCal summer.

What was the first concert you attended?

A Rebelution concert at the Orange County Fair. Iration and The Green were the openers. It was a great first one.

What was the first album you owned?

I remember playing the Beatles’ greatest-hits CD a lot as a kid. I even downloaded it on my Xbox back in the day and listened to it while playing Gears of War

What bands are you listening to right now?

Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Flume and Skrillex, even though they aren’t bands. I can always go back to Built to Spill or The Strokes. Dehd and Wet Leg are some cool new bands.

What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get?

Honestly, I get all of it. Catch me at a rave, rock show, honky tonk, hip-hop show, punk show, metal show, etc. Even if there’s someone I don’t listen to or don’t go see, I get why people like it. It makes them feel a certain way, and they can relate.

What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live?

If there’s one act I can see, it’s definitely Kanye West. Daft Punk is another one.

What’s your favorite music venue?

My favorite venue so far is the Rady Shell in San Diego, or even Coachella fest. I’ve been to a lot of venues and festivals, and those two, by far, take the cake.

What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head?

“I know y’all love it when the drugs talkin’ but shut the f*** up when you hear love talkin’. If God be the source, then I am the plug talkin’, yeah baby, yeah baby, yeah baby, yeah baby,” Kendrick Lamar, “Purple Hearts.”

What band or artist changed your life?

Pink Floyd. When you hear Dark Side for the first time, it just sonically hits differently, and the lyrics really get you thinking. David Gilmour solos give you goosebumps when you first hear them.

You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking?

I’m asking Mac DeMarco about his recording process and work ethic. I love how he does everything himself, and he’s just himself, and he seems super chill.

What song would you like played at your funeral?

“Champion” by Kanye West, please.

Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time? Built to Spill, There’s Nothing Wrong With Love

What song should everyone listen to right now?

“Devil in a New Dress” by Kanye West, or “Love pt. 2” by Lazuli Bones!

NAME Nick Galvan GROUP Tourists

OPINION COMICS & JONESIN’ CROSSWORD

“Home Row Truths”—a little typing test, and pinkies out!

By Matt Jones

Across

1. “C’mon, ___ it out!”

5. Graph starter

10. Otherworldly glow

14. Southern cornbread

15. Hard-hit baseball

16. Minute or milligram, e.g.

17. Home clearance event (“Here’s where your ring fingers go …”)

19. Bring down, as a building

20. Came to an end

21. Skiing surface

23. Country singer Musgraves

24. 2006 Nintendo release

25. Egg-shaped

29. Some retired boomers, for short

30. Digital gambling game (“Position your middle fingers right there ...”)

32. All dried out (and anagram of 28-Down)

33. Electrician’s tool

34. Turkey

38. “Oh, golly ...”

39. Comic book artists

40. Sound of contentment

41. Steak and peppers dish (“Let’s get the index fingers back to home position ...”)

43. Obama-era policy, briefly

47. Chihuahua, for one

48. Acne medication brand

49. Hall of Hall and Oates

50. “No question”

52. “___ borealis?! At this time of year ...”

53. Protein building block?

56. 1994 Robin Williams/ John Turturro movie (“Now move those index fingers inward ...”)

58. Rank emanation

59. Come after 60. “___ California” (Red Hot Chili Peppers song)

61. “Push th’ Little Daisies” duo

62. Stashed in a new place

63. Those, in San Jose

Down

1. Dots of dust

2. Pretend to be

3. Complete

4. Hints at, like a movie trailer

5. Answered a court charge

6. ___ Majesty the King (title official since May 6)

7. Per team

8. Singer-songwriter McKay

9. Pie crust flavor

10. “So long,” at the Sorbonne

11. Sherlock actress Stubbs

12. Sound of Metal actor Ahmed

13. Had some grub

18. Miss Pym Disposes author Josephine 22. Cottonwood, for one

24. Telegraph

26. “Just pick ___!” (complaint to the tineared)

27. Presidential span

28. Scots Gaelic 30. Vice ___

31. Nearly 300-year-old unfinished JeanPhilippe Rameau work, completed and premiering in 2023, e.g.

32. Wave rider

34. Small prevarications

35. Working without ___ (taking risks)

36. Acronymic store name

37. What a flashing yellow arrow may allow (watching for crossing traffic)

38. Jury ___ (2023 Amazon Freevee series)

40. Playfully mischievous

42. Song that Dolly Parton temporarily reworded as “Vaccine” in 2021

43. Finnish DJ behind the ubiquitous hit “Sandstorm”

44. Candle store features

45. 1993 Broadway flop musical based on a bignosed Rostand hero

46. “Jagged Little Pill” singer Morissette

49. “No ___” (No Doubt tribute band)

51. Rival of Lyft

52. Like most fine wines

53. Pull behind

Praiseworthy poem

55. Opponent

57. Rapa ___ (Easter Island, to locals)

© 2023 Matt Jones

Find the answers in the “About” section at CVIndependent.com!