Coachella Valley Independent September 2024

Mailing address: 31855 Date Palm Drive, No. 3-263 Cathedral City, CA 92234 (760) 904-4208 www.cvindependent.com

Editor/Publisher

Jimmy Boegle

staff writerS

Haleemon Anderson

Kevin Fitzgerald

coveR and feature design

Dennis Wodzisz

Contributors

Melissa Daniels, Charles Drabkin, Katie Finn, Bill Frost, Bonnie Gilgallon, Bob Grimm, Valerie-Jean (VJ) Hume, Clay Jones, Matt Jones, Matt King, Keith Knight, Cat Makino, Brett Newton, Greg Niemann, Dan Perkins, Theresa Sama, Jen Sorenson, Robert Victor

The Coachella Valley Independent print edition is published every month. All content is ©2024 and may not be published or reprinted in any form without the written permission of the publisher.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

At the end of this month’s cover story, about the battle over the proposed Prescott Preserve in Palm Springs, there’s a quote from Shaun Murphy, the attorney representing Mesquite Country Club residents, regarding a possible compromise with the Oswit Land Trust.

“A good settlement is one where nobody’s happy, right?” Murphy said.

If the key to a good settlement is nobody being happy, the agreement between Google and the state of California regarding journalism funding is indeed a good settlement—because a whole lot of people are unhappy with it.

Here’s how the Los Angeles Times described the agreement between Google and the state of California: “The plan lays out a commitment of nearly $250 million over the next five years, with just over one-fourth of the money coming from state taxpayers and the remainder coming from Google and possibly other private donors. The money will go toward two new initiatives administered by UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism: a fund to distribute millions of dollars to California news outlets, and an ‘AI accelerator’ to develop ways for journalists to use the powerful technology. … As part of the agreement, the state will put $30 million from next year’s budget into the fund, and contribute $10 million in each of the next four years. Google will put $15 million into the fund next year, and pay another $15 million next year to support other journalism initiatives: $5 million for the AI accelerator and $10 million in direct donations to digital news outlets. In each of the next four years, Google commitments include putting $10 million into the new fund and continuing $10 million in direct donations to news outlets.”

Many legislators, newsroom unions and publishers are expressing disappointment and even anger over this deal, saying Google and other tech companies are getting off way too easy. Others, like the California News Publishers Association, are offering tepid endorsements of the deal. A few parties seem genuinely satisfied with it—such as Google and Gov. Gavin Newsom (whose involvement hints that he may not have signed Assembly Bill 886, the so-called California Journalism Preservation Act, or Senate Bill 1327, a bill that would have taxed Amazon, Meta and Google to fund journalism, had they been set to his desk). The Local Independent Online News Publishers encouraged California members—including the Independent—to write Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, the sponsor of AB 886, expressing support for the framework of the deal. I did indeed write such a letter.

Why did I express support for the framework? Three reasons.

• The things in this agreement will almost certainly come to be. AB 886 or SB 1327 could have been vetoed or delayed for years in court.

• AB 886, while undeniably well-intentioned, would have been a big giveaway to truly terrible companies like Gannett (the parent company of The Desert Sun), the Alden Global Capital hedge fund (owner of the dailies in San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange County, San Jose and others) and the Chatham Asset Management hedge fund (owner of the dailies in Sacramento, Fresno, Modesto and others). While AB 886 had a requirement that 70 percent of the funds be spent on journalists and support staff, I have no doubt these companies—which have proven time and again that they’re concerned about maximizing short-term profits, not journalism—would have found ways to NOT spend much of that money on journalism.

• Big tech does not deserve much of the blame for newspapers’ woes. How is linking to news stories and selling ads around those search results “theft”? While Google and Facebook were creating innovative products around which to sell advertising (albeit in apparent violation of antitrust laws, in Google’s case), the aforementioned terrible newspaper companies and their precursors were worried more about maintaining huge profit margins than investing in their products.

Will this agreement save journalism in California? No. Will it help a lot of news publishers, particularly smaller ones like the Independent? Yes. Is this a huge giveaway to terrible, awful hedge funds? Thank goodness, no. So I am happy with this deal … kinda.

Is this battle over? Definitely not.

Welcome to the September 2024 print edition of the Coachella Valley Independent Thanks, as always, for reading.

—Jimmy Boegle

jboegle@cvindependent.com

Cover photo by Chris Wheeler

Presented by

Voting is now under way in the Coachella Valley Independent’s 11th annual Best of Coachella Valley readers’ poll!

Voting in this readers’ poll, to determine the best of the valley’s best, will take place in two rounds:

• The First Round (nomination round) of voting takes place online at CVIndependent.com through Friday, Aug. 30. This round consists of fill-in-theblank voting. The voting is up to our readers, and our readers alone—there are no pre-determined “finalists” or candidates.

• The top vote-getters in each category will move on to the Final Round of voting, which will take place at CVIndependent.com from Monday, Sept. 16, through Sunday, Oct. 20.

• The winners and other results will be announced at CVIndependent.com on Monday, Nov. 25; on News Channel 3 the week of Dec. 2; and in the special Best of Coachella Valley section in the Independent’s December 2024 print edition.

Arts

Best Art Gallery

Best Indoor Venue

Best Local Arts Group

Best Local Band

Best Local DJ

Best Local Musician (Individual)

Best Local Visual Artist

Best Movie Theater

Best Museum

Best Open Mic

Best Outdoor Venue

Best Producing Theater Company

Life in the Valley

Best Annual Charity Event

Best Bank

Best Bowling Alley

Best Car Wash

Best Comics/Games Shop

Best Credit Union

Best Gym (Specifc Location)

Best Hotel Pool

Best Indoor Fun/Activity

Best Local Activist/Advocacy Group/Charity

Best Local Radio Personality

Best Local Specialty Retail Shop

Best Marijuana Dispensary

Best Pet Daycare

Best Pet Supplies

Best Place to Gamble

Best Plant Nursery

Best Print Shop

Best Radio Station

Best Retail Music Store

Best Retirement Community/ Independent Living

Best Sex Toy Shop

Best Staycation Hotel

Best Yoga

Valley Professionals

Best Accountant/Bookkeeper

Best Air Conditioner Repair

Best Attorney

Best Auto Dealership

Best Auto Repair

Best Carpet/Floor Cleaning Service

Best Chiropractor

Best Dentist/Orthodontist

Best Doctor

Best Eye Doctor

Best Flooring/Carpet Company

Best Local Home Improvement Company

Best Mortgage Company

Best Orthodontist

Best Personal Trainer

Best Pest Control Company

Best Plastic Surgeon

Best Plumber

Best Public Servant

Best Real Estate Agent

Best Solar Company

Best Veterinarian

Fashion and Style

Best Antiques/Collectibles Store

Best Bridal Store/Salon

Best Clothing Store (Locally Owned)

Best Day Spa (Non-Resort/ Hotel)

Best Eyeglass/Optical Retailer

Best Florist

Best Furniture Store

Best Hair Salon

Best Jeweler/Jewelry Store

Best Nail Salon

Best Resale/Vintage Clothing

Best Spa in a Resort/Hotel

Best Tattoo Parlor

Outside!

Best Bike Shop

Best Hike

Best Outdoor/Camping Gear Store

Best Park

Best Place for Bicycling

Best Public Garden

Best Public Golf Course

Best Recreation Area

Best Sporting Goods

For the Kids

Best Indoor Activity for Kids

Best Kids' Clothing Store

Best Place for a Birthday Party

Best Place for Family Fun

Best Playground

Best Restaurant for Kids

Food and Restaurants

Best Bagels

Best Bakery

Best Barbecue

Best Breakfast

Best Brunch

Best Buffet

Best Burger

Best Burrito

Best California Cuisine

Best Casual Eats

Best Caterer

Best Chinese

Best Coffee Shop

Best Custom Cakes

Best Date Shake

Best Delicatessen

Best Desserts

Best Diner

Best Doughnuts/Pastries

Best Food Truck

Best French

Best French Fries

Best Frozen Yogurt

Best Gluten-Free Dining

Best Greek

Best Ice Cream/Shakes

Best Indian

Best Italian

Best Japanese

Best Juice/Juice Bar

Best Korean

Best Late-Night Restaurant

Best Local Coffee Roaster

Best Mexican

Best Organic Food Store

Best Outdoor Seating

Best Pizza

Best Salsa

Best Sandwich

Best Seafood

Best Smoothies

Best Steaks/Steakhouse

Best Sushi

Best Thai

Best Upscale Restaurant

Best Vegetarian/Vegan

Best Veggie Burger

Best Vietnamese

Best Wings

Spirits and Nightlife

Best Bar Ambiance

Best Beer Selection

Best Bloody Mary

Best Cocktail Menu

Best Craft Cocktails

Best Dive Bar

Best Gay/Lesbian Bar/Club

Best Happy Hour

Best Local Brewery

Best Margarita

Best Martini

Best Nightclub

Best Sports Bar

Best Whiskey/Bourbon/Scotch Selection

Best Wine Bar

Best Wine/Liquor Store

Rules:

• Only one vote per person, per round, please! We’re watching IP addresses, so be honest.

• Ballots without a full name AND a working email address will be thrown out

• If you do not have an opinion in a certain category, leave it blank!

• You must vote in at least 15 categories, and for at least FIVE different nominees.

• Stuffing the ballot box is a no-no. Interested parties can engage in simple campaigning— like putting up signs, linking to the ballot or using social media to encourage fans/customers to vote—but anything beyond simple campaigning is a no-no. Any businesses, groups or individuals suspected of stuffing the ballot box may be disqualified, at the discretion of the Independent publisher.

• If you have questions, call 760904-4208, or email jboegle@ cvindependent.com

VOTE AT vote.CVINDEPENDENT.COM

HIKING WITH T

ACool events and cooler trails can be found less than two hours away at Big Bear Lake

s temperatures start to cool, this is the perfect time of year to visit beautiful Big Bear, located in the San Bernardino National Forest, where hiking, mountain biking, boating, fishing and other outdoor activities are endless.

The trails are plentiful with incredible scenic views. You can experience the season’s changing colors of the leaves as you enjoy the great outdoors, whether it’s a stroll on the trails or a drive around the mountain lake—at an elevation of nearly 7,000 feet. It’s magical!

Here are a few of the best hiking trails to experience in Big Bear:

• Cougar Crest Trail is a moderate trail, almost five miles out and back, with part-sun, partshade and an elevation gain of less than 820 feet. It should take between two and 2 1/2 hours to Bear has to offer. It is truly one of my favorite quick hikes; you get the feeling that you’re hiking deep in the forest, yet the lake and the city of Big Bear Lake are so close.

complete. This trail is an uphill climb to the Pacific Crest Trail junction, which can be your turnaround point for the five miles, or you may continue further along the PCT. The crisp air and beautiful views of the mountains and the lake get better as you climb higher. You can mountain-bike on this trail as well, but bicycles are not permitted on the PCT. The Cougar Crest Trail is located along North Shore Drive/Highway 38, north of the lake. The trail is six-tenths of a mile west of the Big Bear Dis covery Center, where you may park and take the paved path to the trailhead. The best times to visit this trail are March through November. Leashed dogs are welcome.

• Bear Lake Woodland Trail is a short, easy loop of only 1.5 miles with an elevation gain of approximately 330 feet and a maximum elevation of about 7,000 feet. It can be completed in around 45 minutes and is possibly the easiest hike in Big Bear—but don’t let the shortness and ease of this well-groomed family- and dog-friendly trail fool you. It does have some slight inclines, especially if you go counterclockwise (my favorite route). Either way, this trail loop has plenty of shade and offers markers along the path with descriptions listed in an interpretive guide (available at the trailhead) that is full of fun facts about the area. It also includes information about the trees, such as the ancient western juniper, and plant life indigenous to Big Bear Lake.

Speaking of the lake: You can get some spectacular views of the lake between the trees along a section of this trail. Located a bit off the beaten path and not as crowded as many other easier trails in the area, you’ll find the Woodland Trail just off North Shore Drive/Highway 38, north of the lake, and toward the eastern side of the lake. It’s about one mile east of the Big Bear Discovery Center and just across from the east boat ramp. Restrooms are available near the parking lot at the trailhead. I like to make this trail my first stop. It’s a perfect warmup to stretch your legs and get a quick hike in before taking in the many events and activities that Big

• Big Bear Lake Town Trail is an easy outand-back that’s just less than three miles and takes just more than an hour to complete, with an elevation gain of 364 feet. You’ll most likely find parking along Knickerbocker Road, just off Highway 18. This trail begins on Forest Road 2N08 east of Knickerbocker, between Snow Summit and Big Bear Lake Village. It goes along the base of the mountains and is a shared trail with mountain bikers. It can be very busy at times, so be beware of your surroundings. Peace and solitude can be experienced at times along this trail during weekdays when it’s not so busy. Also, there’s private property surrounding this area, so be mindful, and stay on the path. The best times to visit this trail are March through November, and leashed dogs are welcome.

Don’t forget to display your National Forest Adventure Pass in the windshield of your vehicle, as it is required when hiking in the forest areas. If you don’t already have an Adventure Pass, you can purchase it at myscenicdrives.com, or in person at the Big Bear Discovery Center. Daily passes are also available at local gas stations and convenience stores.

To get to Big Bear from the Coachella Valley, you have several options. You can take Highway 38 through Redlands; take Interstate 10 east and exit at Orange Street. From Orange Street, turn right on Highway 38/ Lugonia Avenue, and that will take you to the mountains. An alternative is to take Interstate 10 east to Interstate 210 east; continue on to Highway 330 and then Highway 18 to Big Bear Lake.

Another alternative (and my preferred route) is to take Highway 62 to Yucca Valley, and turn left onto Highway 247 (Old Woman Springs Road). Continue for about 40 miles; then turn left onto Camp Rock Road. When you get to Highway 18, turn left and proceed

about 14.5 miles.

After your mountain workout, you may want to check out Oktoberfest in Big Bear. On weekends from Sept. 7 through Nov. 2, you can relax and enjoy good German food and beer, traditional live music, and other entertainment. Learn more and buy tickets in advance at bigbearevents.com.

Keep in mind that during this time of year, bears may be out searching for food prior to hibernation, so try to avoid areas of food sources such as berry patches. Should you encounter a bear, don’t run; keep a safe distance, and avoid disturbing them, if possible. Black bears are generally shy and will often avoid humans—but they are wild animals

with unpredictable behavior. Making noise while hiking can alert them and reduce the chances of surprising them. Should a black bear charge you, make yourself as large and intimidating as possible, and shout and make other noises to scare the bear away.

As always when hiking: Take more water than you should need—at least a half-liter to a liter or more per hour, depending on the difficulty of the hike, even in cooler climates. Be prepared for the unexpected. Never hike alone, and always tell someone where you are going. Stay safe on the trails, and always practice pack in/pack out. In other words, treat the environment with respect, and dispose of your waste properly.

A view of the sun setting over Big Bear Lake from the Woodland Trail. Theresa Sama

OPINION KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS

BY BONNIE GILGALLON

You might not know Tysen Knight’s name, but chances are you’ve seen his distinctive work—like the colorful benches located on Palm Canyon Drive and Museum Way in downtown Palm Springs.

Born in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Knight moved with his family to New Jersey when he was just 5 years old. His interest in art began early, and his work was quickly recognized—with him winning the NAACP ACT-SO Achievement Program Award of Merit at the age of 15. Knight’s winning art piece? A painting of an African queen.

While many families at the time were pushing kids to attend college, Knight decided that was not his path. His high school offered cosmetology as an elective, and upon graduation, he became

a licensed barber. He enjoyed the artistic aspects of cutting hair, and it gave him a successful career for 20 years; he even went to the Super Bowl and cut hair for the Philadelphia Eagles. He also used his barber skills on movie sets and music videos, and was occasionally tapped to be on camera as well. It kept him on what he calls the “fringes of creativity”—but his paint brush was never far away.

In 2011, Knight was working at a hip Los Angeles spot called Legends, on Fairfax Avenue near Melrose Avenue, when a friend suggested he move to Palm Springs. He did—but he soon discovered that barber jobs were in short supply, so he dove into his art. His savings covered the rent of a small apartment. Every day, he’d wake up and sketch on a pad he bought at Walmart. Knight purchased old, inexpensive paintings people had donated to Goodwill and Angel View, refurbished the frames, and replaced the art with his own sketches. He then approached local consignment shops with this work. Things began selling, which kept him afloat (along with savings) for about four years. Then in 2015, Knight landed a lucrative job at a barbershop.

In 2016, he had the idea to create a documentary short film about street artists in Palm Springs; the result was The Art of Hustle: Street Art Documentary. A last-minute addition to the film, Skratch, introduced Knight to the world of homeless artists, which led to his second documentary, The Art of Hustle: Homeless Street Artist Documentary. Both films have won multiple awards.

Though homeless folks can be very guarded and suspicious of strangers, Knight approached them as one creative person to another. He found his Sacramento-based film editor online on Thumbtack; all their work and communication has been virtual, and despite never having met in person, the two have become very good friends. Knight said there were a lot of synchronicities once he had a “crazy idea” to make films: Everything just seemed to fall into place.

Teddy

Grouya, head of the AmDocs Film

Festival at the Palm Springs Cultural Center each spring, included Knight’s film on street art in 2018, and his documentary on homeless artists in 2019. Russell Pritchard, then the chair of the Palm Springs Public Arts Commission, saw the films and reached out to Knight on Facebook. That led to the colorful benches and murals Knight has created throughout the city.

A third documentary film, called The Tysen Knight Experience—The Art of Manifestation and Purpose, is now in the works. This time, it’s a family affair: Knight’s parents are featured in the film, and his 28-year-old son, a filmmaker, is handling the editing duties.

The film recounts the story of when Knight’s folks first took him to an art show, at the age of 10. It featured pieces by a wellknown African-American artist named Ernie Barnes, whose work was seen on the television show Good Times. Young Tysen was transfixed by a particular painting, and was insistent that his parents purchase it. Though his folks were at first put off by the $300-plus price tag, they saw how obsessed their son was with it, and somehow knew it was going to be a key to his future. They broke down and bought it—and the rest is history.

I asked him about the obstacles he’s faced.

“The biggest obstacle I’ve faced in my career is just getting people to recognize my work,” he said. “There weren’t many successful African Americans in the art world when I started, so race was occasionally an issue. I’ve also found that people like their artists to be ‘home-grown,’ and since I’m from the East Coast, that was a problem. I just put blinders on and forged ahead.”

Knight loves to host live paint-by-number art events in the community. Each participant is given paper with the outline of the picture—say, a vase of flowers; they then paint in the picture with the colors of their choosing. He’s done these for many events, for Variety Children’s Charity of the Desert, Taste of Tennis in Indian Wells, and public schools. An art-collector friend of Knight’s has arranged

Meet Tysen Knight—‘pop urban artist,’ father, filmmaker and humanitarian

for him to soon travel to Belize to paint with children there.

Knight is a life-long Buddhist. His philosophy is simple: “When a project falls through, or negative thoughts pop into my head, I take a moment to figure out how I can put it all into a positive space. One of my favorite quotes is: ‘Energy is never lost; it’s only transferred.’”

Now 48, Knight said he sometimes thinks it would have been fun to have been born about 10 years earlier, so that he could have experienced the New York art scene in the days of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat. In those days, there were no social-media platforms; artists had to really be “out there” to get noticed by the main-stream community.

Knight describes his style as a mixture of pop art, fine art and street art—or, as he calls

it, “pop urban art.” With his career thriving, he said his main goal now is to help others, especially young people, discover the artist in themselves. He’s started the Tysen Knight Scholarship Fund, which awards $500 to $1,000 toward college or art school.

As a pop urban artist, a documentary filmmaker, a father of two, a teacher and a humanitarian, Knight is definitely someone to know. His mantra is simple: “Be inspired.”

For more information about Tysen Knight, visit www.tysenknight.com.

Bonnie Gilgallon hosts a weekly podcast called The Desert Scene, available at radio111.com/ the-desert-scene.html. She also writes theater reviews for the Independent. Email her at bonniegnews@gmail.com.

Tysen Knight: “The biggest obstacle I’ve faced in my career is just getting people to recognize my work. There weren’t many successful African Americans in the art world when started, so race was occasionally an issue.”

LEGAL BUT UNETHICAL

by Jimmy Boegle

Back in February, tens of thousands of constituents in California’s 41st Congressional District received large color postcards in the mail from Rep. Ken Calvert.

One of these mailings, sent to the home of an Independent employee, featured two photos of Calvert on the front—touring the Fender guitar factory in Corona, and receiving an honor from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The back had a message from Calvert, headlined “Making Washington Work for You,” regarding a vote he made in the wake of “troubling reports of foreign companies, especially those with ties to the Chinese Community Party (CCP), Russia, North Korea, and Iran, purchasing controlling interests in large swaths of agricultural land in

the United States.”

It’s not unusual for members of Congress to send taxpayer-funded mailings and other communications to constituents; according to the House of Representatives’ mass-communications disclosure website, Calvert sent 78 mailers, emails, handouts and other messages in 2023, while District 25 Rep. Raul Ruiz sent 11. All members of Congress have “franking privileges”—the ability to send mail without paying for postage, as long as the mail deals with matters of public concern or service.

The timing, however, was curious: It’s against House of Representatives rules to send unsolicited mass communications in the 60 days “immediately before the date of any primary or general election (whether regular, special or runoff) in which the member is a candidate for public office.” Since California’s primary was on March 5, the blackout period started Jan. 5.

But there’s a way to get around the rule— specifically, a loophole Calvert, who has been in Congress since 1993, has used in a big way before previous elections. It’s often called the “499 loophole,” because House rules define “mass mailings/communications” as 500 or more pieces of substantially identical content. Members of Congress can use the loophole to send as many mailings as they want, as long as they’re “substantially dissimilar” (as determined by the House Communications Standards Commission) and sent in batches of 499 pieces or less.

When the Independent asked Jason Gagnon, a spokesman for Rep. Calvert’s office, about the aforementioned mailer, he said via email that the mailer “was sent (to) fewer than 500 constituents and therefore is not considered a mass communication by the House Communications Standards Commission.” When asked in a follow-up email if multiple batches of mailers were sent around the same time, Gangon confirmed there were—and volunteered that in 2014, Calvert’s opponent at the time, Tim Sheridan, “filed a complaint with the House Administration Committee about similar mailings during the blackout period. However,

the committee looked into the matter and in a bipartisan 6-0 decision … found that no violation of the House Communications Standards had occurred.”

We then asked for details on the mailings Calvert’s office had sent; Gagnon referred us to the House of Representatives’ mass-communications disclosure website. However, the mailings were not listed there, because they aren’t considered mass communications, since they were sent in batches of 499 or less. So we asked Gagnon again for details—specifically, “a list of all of the mailings Rep. Calvert has sent (in the pre-primary blackout period), including dates sent, and the number of each mailing.” Gagnon responded: “We sent out postcards on approximately 120 various topics (during the blackout period)—each to fewer than 500 recipients in accordance with House of Representatives communications rules.”

If Calvert’s office sent out 120 mailings during the pre-primary blackout period, each in batches of 499, that’s 59,880 pieces of mail.

We asked Gagnon for copies of these mailings, and he responded: “Your request is one of the first we’ve received to disclose communications that are not considered mass communications under the House Communications Standards Manual. We have and will continue to disclose required communications disclosures with the House of Representatives. Like most congressional offices, our office sends out hundreds of thousands of communications via postal mail, email and text messages every year and for every communication we follow the rules set by the House of Representatives.”

In other words, even though these mailings were all taxpayer-funded, Calvert’s office would not share them with the Independent. The Independent asked the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives for these mailings, and we were referred back to Calvert’s office. We would have filed a Freedom of Information Act request, but Congress exempts itself from the law.

Calvert’s office admits that the congressman has a history of using the “499 loophole” to send taxpayer-funded mailings during pre-elec-

Rep. Ken Calvert has a history of sending taxpayerfunded campaign pieces in the days leading up to elections, using a congressional-rules loophole

tion blackout periods. While the practice is not against the rules, is it ethical?

“No, it’s not ethical,” said John Pelissero, the director of government ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, and a professor emeritus of political science at Loyola University Chicago. “The real ethical problem is one of the optics of this. He’s clearly following the letter of the law, but in a way that says he’s going to find a way around the intent of the law.”

The 60-day blackout on mass communications before elections is in place to keep members of Congress from unfairly using taxpayer-funded mailings for what would effectively be campaigning.

“Anyone who’s looking and sees this is being done intentionally can see it injects a level of unfairness,” Pelissero said. “Fairness is an important criterion in ethics, and this is clearly unfair, because he is using the tools of his office (which are paid for by) the taxpayers.”

A Google News search of “499 loophole” brings up a small handful of articles regarding Calvert and other members of Congress using the loophole. I asked Pelissero if the use of the loophole by members of Congress is common.

“This is actually very uncommon,” he said. “It’s clearly an attempt to ignore the law by using legal means to get around the law. The intent of the law is to create a level playing

field. Most (members of Congress) are attentive to the law, and try to be good stewards. The thing about being in Congress is you get a lot more attention from media for the things you do. For the most part, Congress would like to avoid that (bad press).”

Ariana Orne, the communications director for Rep. Raul Ruiz, said his office didn’t send any mailers in batches of 499 or less during the pre-primary blackout period.

The Independent asked Coby Eiss, the campaign manager for Will Rollins, Calvert’s Democratic opponent this year, if Rollins would commit to not using the “499 loophole” if elected. In response, Rollins’ campaign issued a statement: “Taxpayer dollars should never be exploited by career politicians like Ken Calvert to boost their own campaigns. … When I have the honor of serving the 41st District in Congress, I’ll support reforms to franked communications to ensure that they can’t be used for campaign purposes. We need to prioritize public service over personal gain.”

Pelissero said actions like the use of the “499 loophole” erode confidence in the system as a whole.

“Both you and I know the public has a low confidence level and low trust levels in Congress, according to multiple polls,” he said.

For the upcoming general election, the 60-day blackout period will begin on Sept. 6.

This postcard was part of one of approximately 120 batches of mailings the Calvert campaign sent in the days leading up to the primary election earlier this year.

CANDIDATE Q&A

by Kevin Fitzgerald

In 2022, Greg Wallis became the assemblymember in California’s Assembly District 47, which includes most of the Coachella Valley west of Indio and Coachella, along with much of the rest of Riverside County to the west, and some areas of San Bernardino County. He won the seat over Palm Springs City Councilmember Christy Holstege by just 85 votes—out of a total of 169,419 votes cast.

A third-generation Californian, Greg Wallis, a Republican, studied political science at California Lutheran University before settling in the Coachella Valley to live with his wife, Desiree, and their two dogs, Gunner and Harley.

During his first term as the district’s representative, Wallis has served as a member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, and as vice chair of the Arts, Entertainment, Sports & Tourism Committee; he also serves on six other committees.

The Wallis campaign website lists seven endorsements as of this writing, from a variety of public-safety workers’ associations, and the Southwest Mountain States Regional Council of Carpenters.

Holstege, a Democrat, has served since 2017 as a member of the Palm Springs City Council. She earned her bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara before obtaining a law degree from Stanford University. She self-describes on her campaign website as a “civil rights attorney, businesswoman (and) mom” as well as “the founder of a legal aid clinic for domestic violence survivors and their children.” A third-generation Californian, Holstege lives in Palm Springs with her husband, Adam Gilbert; their son, Aden; and their two dogs, Ollie and Layla.

As for endorsements, her campaign website breaks out 32 commitments of support from a variety of what her team characterizes as “working families, organizations and public safety” sources, which include the United Farm Workers, the National Union of Healthcare Workers, the California Federation of Teachers and the California School Employees Association, among others. Dozens more endorsements are also listed.

The Independent reached out to both candidates to obtain their responses to a set of eight questions. In a repeat of what happened in 2022, Holstege complied with the Independent’s policy of conducting candidate interviews in person or over the phone, while Wallis’ campaign said he only had time to answer questions via email.

Here, in their entirety, are their responses to the first three questions, which have been edited only for clarity and editorial style. To read the entire eight-question Q&A, visit CVIndependent.com.

Christy Holstege (via telephone)

What are the two most pressing issues currently facing AD-47 constituents?

The top two issues that I’m hearing from constituents are, first, the cost-of-living crisis—how expensive it is to live in this district, the cost of housing, the cost of groceries, and just all the increasing costs. I’ve always focused on economic development. I served as mayor for the city of Palm Springs during the pandemic, and we supported workers. We supported businesses, and I’m really proud how we’ve grown our economy significantly over the last seven years that I’ve served on the Palm Springs City Council. I know I can do that regional economic-development work as the next state assemblymember for AD-47 by bringing in good-paying jobs with benefits, bringing in a four-year university that creates the pipeline to middle class and high earning jobs, and so much more.

I’d say the second issue is homelessness and housing. We’re seeing the impact of the homelessness crisis on California, and we’re seeing it more and more in Assembly District 47. When I’m knocking on doors every single weekend, talking to voters from Yucaipa to La Quinta, and everywhere in between, voters are talking to me about homelessness and housing. I’m really proud that I’ve led on these issues. In the city of Palm Springs, we were able to get $10 million from the state of California in a direct allocation to a small city, just for homelessness. And we’ve turned that into a $40 million homeless navigation center, the first of its kind in the region. We were able to deliver over $20 million in state and county funding for that project, and more. That’s the type of leadership and action it takes to address the homelessness crisis in California and in AD-47.

This year’s AD-47 faceoff is a repeat of the 2022 election, which ended with Wallis winning by a narrow margin. Two years later, how have the dynamics of the election changed? Why do you believe you will win this year?

Yes, our election in November 2022 was one

Greg Wallis and Christy Holstege vie a second time to represent Assembly District 47

of the closest elections in California’s history. We were up 5,000 votes or so on election night. There were lead changes, and we didn’t get the final results until Dec. 10 or 11, so it was incredibly close. We lost by 85 votes out of 170,000 total votes. That’s a tenth of 1%. So, 86 votes might be, like, 30 households just not voting. And what we saw in the last election was historically low turnout. Only 56% of registered voters across this district voted. You can imagine that not everyone votes all the way down the ballot; only about half of voters picked our current assemblymember. You know, that’s not good for democracy. We want everyone to participate. We want everyone’s vote to be counted, and go toward deciding who represents us in Sacramento. The assemblymember office is one of the most important roles of this region. They could deliver tens of millions of dollars to our region. They could deliver economic development. They could deliver real results, and we haven’t seen that yet from our current assemblymember, but I know I could do that if elected.

What’s different this time is that more people will vote. Usually in presidential elections, some 70% to 80% of people vote, so we’re just going to have a lot more people participating in democracy and selecting our assemblymember.

That’s good for our region. So, we are working incredibly hard. We’ve been knocking on doors and talking to voters every single weekend. We’ve been in multiple places throughout the district every weekend, and we’re really trying to hit the ground running and talk to voters about why this assembly district matters— how it will change our lives on the ground to have a Democrat represent us, someone who’s in the majority in California, someone with the endorsement of the governor and state elected officials who will actually be able to pick up the phone and call them when crises hit. That’s exactly what I did when we had Tropical Storm Hilary, and our 911 phone system went down. I immediately called state officials to get that addressed immediately. When residents in Cathedral City were dealing with the impacts of the storm and insurance problems, I called the state insurance commissioner to get relief to those residents. So, there are very many things that are different about this election compared to that of 2022, and I hope that we’ll be able to earn the votes of the majority of voters in Assembly District 47.

Parts of AD-47 (including around Cathedral City in Riverside County and Oak Glen and Forest Falls in San Bernardino

Christy Holstege and Greg Wallis.

County) were badly damaged by Tropical Storm Hilary in August 2023. What actions would you support the state government taking to mitigate and respond effectively to the impacts of the unusually strong storms, heat waves and high wind conditions resulting from climate change? Yes, we’re in a climate crisis. Our district is on the very front lines of climate change. We’re seeing more and more days over 120 degrees. We’re seeing more extreme weather. We’re seeing flooding. We’re seeing wildfires in areas of this district, and blow sands impacting our freeways and our roads and so much more. Absolutely, as a City Council member and as a future state assemblymember, my focus is on emergency preparedness and emergency response. We need to plan around these issues, so that we’re protected from tropical storms that we never quite expected to hit the Coachella Valley. We need to plan for a future where we have more extreme weather, and we’re already seeing that on the ground.

I’m really proud that in Tropical Storm Hillary, I immediately reached out to Cathedral City residents who were most impacted. I went and deployed my team to that neighborhood. I personally scooped mud out of those houses, and talked to residents at a community meeting. I’m a lawyer by training, so I talked to them about their legal rights, and what resources would be available to them through the California state government. I talked to them about insurance, and I was really proud to work with Congressman (Raul) Ruiz’s office to deliver resources to that community and others. Then I worked closely with the city of Cathedral City to make sure that the necessary resources were present at a resource fair there, and that they had access to health care organizations, the state insurance commissioner’s office and more.

That’s what voters are going to see from me as an assemblymember, and that’s what hopefully they’ve seen from me in the seven years I’ve been serving Palm Springs. I get stuff done. I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty. I care about this community, and I care about its people. I did not see our current state assemblymember delivering resources or being personally present and looking at sites that were impacted. But, that’s exactly the leadership we need—someone who’s present in this community, who knows the neighbors and knows the communities.

The last thing I’ll say is we have experience on this in Palm Springs: Right after Tropical Storm Hilary, we had the governor in that moment in our (Office of Emergency Services) office where we had all of our police and fire and first responders. We brought the governor down. He engaged with us in the city as we were responding to the emergencies, and then we saw how it impacted Indian Canyon (Drive), which was closed with four feet of mud

or more on top of it. So, we worked incredibly hard to bring down the governor’s emergency office team. We showed them the damage, and we showed them the impact to the Coachella Valley. We made the case about why Indian Canyon is so important for access to the hospital, especially for Desert Hot Springs residents, and we just delivered $50 million from the state of California to build a bridge over Indian Canyon, something our region has been attempting to do for over 10 years. That’s the type of leadership that we need to get things done in this region.

Greg Wallis (via email)

What are the two most pressing issues currently facing AD-47 constituents? Californians shouldn’t have to choose between paying for food, gas or rent. My top priority is lowering the cost of living to make life more affordable for people.

Families also deserve to feel safe. I support laws that hold criminals accountable, and ensuring our police officers have the resources they need to do their jobs. It’s essential that we restore a sense of security in our community and ensure that every citizen feels safe.

This year’s AD-47 faceoff is a repeat of the 2022 election, which ended with you winning by a narrow margin. Two years later, how have the dynamics of the election changed? Why do you believe you will win this year?

As an assemblymember, I’ve built a record of working with Republicans, Democrats and anyone ready to get things done. California is on the wrong track, and working people are struggling to pay the bills. I’ll keep putting politics aside to pass policies that improve the quality of life for everyone.

Parts of AD-47 (including around Cathedral City in Riverside County and Oak Glen and Forest Falls in San Bernardino County) were badly damaged by Tropical Storm Hilary in August 2023. What actions would you support the state government taking to mitigate and respond effectively to the impacts of the unusually strong storms, heat waves and high wind conditions resulting from climate change?

I want to thank our first responders for their service during Tropical Storm Hilary. Their efforts helped our community rebound quickly and stronger than ever. Quick recovery from natural disasters depends on everyone working together. It’s important that state, local and federal agencies work together seamlessly— like state fire services coordinating with local police—to provide the response our communities need. I’m working to bring more resources into the district to build and maintain more resilient infrastructure.

Sunday, October 20, 2024 10AM - 5:30 PM

Local Authors Pride Poets

Community Organizations Free Parking

CANDIDATE Q&A

by Haleemon Anderson

Come November, a trailblazing female candidate will be elected to represent Senate District 19—one way or another.

Democrat Lisa Middleton, a member of the Palm Springs City Council, would become the first transgender person in the California Legislature. Incumbent Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh is the first Republican Latina elected to the state Senate. A longtime real estate agent, she won her first state Senate election in 2020.

Senate District 23, Ochoa Bogh’s current district, partially overlaps with the new District 19, which incorporates large parts of the Coachella Valley, the high desert and the San Bernardino

Mountains. Due to a quirk of California’s redistricting process, Senate District 19 has not had an actual representative over the last two years; District 32 Sen. Kelly Seyarto, from Murietta, has been acting as the “caretaker” representative.

On her website, Middleton lists many dozens of endorsements, including numerous labor unions, the Sierra Club California, and myriad Democratic elected officials. Ochoa Bogh similarly lists endorsements from numerous Republican elected officials, and public-safety organizations like the Riverside Sheriffs’ Association.

The Independent recently spoke with both candidates and asked each of them the same slate of six questions. Here are their responses to one question; they have been edited only for clarity, editorial style and, in the case of Ochoa Bogh’s answer, slightly for space. To read the six-question Q&A in its entirety—all 8,000plus words of it—visit CVIndependent.com.

Lisa Middleton

What are the most pressing needs of district residents? How will you tackle those issues, if elected?

Infrastructure and building our roadways. One of the most important infrastructure projects I want to work on is bringing daily rail service to Coachella Valley. Anyone who’s taken that drive, particularly into Los Angeles on a Sunday afternoon when everybody’s coming home, knows how crowded we are. The kind of resort community that we are in the Coachella Valley is one that would be extremely amenable to rail transit from Los Angeles and Orange County. That’s a project I’m going to work on every single day.

I’ve told people that when I get to Sacramento, there will be a small train on the front of my desk, and nobody is going to get to talk about anything until I tell them how important it is that we bring rail service into the Coachella Valley. We are the fastest-growing region in terms of population growth and industry in California, but we’ve not kept pace

in building out the roadways. You talk to so many of our residents, particularly those who are commuting to Los Angeles and Orange County for work, and it is a two- and threehour drudge getting to where they need to go. We also need to ensure that people have a cost of living they can afford, and that begins with people receiving a living wage for the work they do. My opponent has opposed the right of representation at every turn, and it is the unions, as President Biden said, who built the middle class. So, I’m going to be standing up very strongly in supporting individuals having someone who can represent them, so that the balance of power between the employer and the employee is something closer to a responsible balance of power. What we know is when employees are represented, they have far greater job security. Their incomes go up, (and) they feel safer at work. Standing up for representation is a part of making sure that folks have a living wage. When California recently increased the minimum wage for fast-food workers, my opponent voted no. I’m going to support making sure that everyone in California is paid a living wage.

There is this idea that, if we pay people a living wage, then products and services are going to become unaffordable. I think that’s bogus. What it really is, is an effort to hold down individuals so they are not able to work one job and care for their families. What we find is, those employers who work with their employees and have the best working conditions also tend to be the most profitable organizations and the most longstanding. Look at the automobile industry. There have been ups and downs, but it was Henry Ford, the industrialist, who recognized over 100 years ago, “If my workforce can’t afford the product I’m producing, I’m not going to be able to sell it.”

Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh

What are the most pressing needs of district residents? How will you tackle those issues, if elected?

As you probably already know, my current

State Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh and Palm Springs City Councilmember Lisa Middleton compete to represent Senate District 19

(District 23) expands all the way from Rancho Cucamonga on my west end to Colton, a little bit of Rialto, and then Loma Linda. It goes all the way down to Menifee, Redlands, Hemet, San Jacinto. I have all of San Bernardino, all of Highland, all of Redlands, all of the mountain communities, as well as the (San Gorgonio) Pass area. So, Yucaipa, Cherry Valley, Mentone, Beaumont, Banning and Cabazon. It’s a pretty diverse area, economically as well. The mountain communities, of Hemet and San Jacinto—those are probably my most rural communities, and there’s still a lot of development happening in the pass area, in which they have a lot of land. So, we have a lot of growth going on in those communities.

The new district, which encompasses Barstow, Apple Valley, Joshua Tree, Twentynine Palms, Yucca Valley, Desert Hot Springs and, of course, the Coachella Valley, which is all of the desert—it’s very diverse. Common themes amongst all of them are how costly it is to live in California. Some can mitigate it a little better than others, and that depends on economic opportunity within those areas, and this is why businesses are so important to help ensure that those community members have access to employment opportunities.

For me, it is ensuring and continuing my efficacy in limiting the regulatory environment for businesses so that it doesn’t cost so much

to do business, and it makes it a little easier for businesses to start up, for those who would rather not commute, but stay within their communities and work remotely. That’s something that we need to understand and ensure that the environment is healthy for that type of commerce. We need to focus on the regulatory environment for California businesses as a whole, which is very cumbersome, especially for small businesses.

In conjunction with that, all of them have concerns when it comes to addressing homelessness, whether it’s expanding mental-health bed capacity within those areas, which I’ve done. I introduced bills on that before the governor came with his plan on expanding mental-health bed capacity. I was the very first to introduce that legislation twice, including last year, when I introduced it in February. (Newsom) came out in March, saying, “Now is the time to expand mental-health bed capacity,” but I had proposed to the Legislature that we do it within our budget, understanding that we had spent over $20 billion with regards to addressing homelessness, but really had not been very effective in combating it, because the numbers showed that we had increased our homelessness numbers, rather than decrease. … (My bill) died in committees, per se, because the governor came back with his plan, but in the form of a bond, which voters barely passed

Lisa Middleton and Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh.

this March. I also submitted a letter to request a legislative audit, with regards to, “OK, we’ve spent all of this money with regards to homelessness. How have we spent it, and what did we learn as far as what programs were the most effective in addressing the homelessness issue, right?” Because we knew, when it comes to homelessness, it’s multifaceted. There’re various issues that impact homelessness, so we have to break down all the different components of homelessness and study each one and see how we’re addressing each of those issues. I’m grateful for all of my committees, because they have given me a different perspective on each of the issues, on various spaces that address homelessness.

I brought forth some of the concerns I’ve observed with regards to what we’re missing (in) addressing homelessness, but legislatively, we submitted a letter in a bipartisan and bicameral way. … We had two Republican members in the Senate. We had a Democrat, a senator, a colleague of mine from up north; we had an assemblymember who was Republican, and we all came on board writing a letter requesting an audit as to how some of these cities had invested the funding for homelessness, and what programs were effective. Well, the report came back. … Some of the key findings, and we knew this going in, are that there were not many accountability measures required when the funding was given.

When you don’t have that level of accountability within these measures or within that funding, then data is not able to be acquired. And when you don’t have any data, then you can’t assess how that funding was spent, and whether or not it was effectively spent. … My biggest thing, and the question that I continuously asked was, “OK, you folks are asking for funding at different levels, all addressing children who are … English-language learners within the spectrum of the definition of impoverished or special needs (or) foster youth, right?” And as the funding was being requested, whether it’s elementary school, junior high, high school, college and in other areas in our society, my No. 1 question was, “Well, have we assessed whether or not these programs and these funding requests, in which we’re investing, are we assessing how effective they’ve been and whether or not we should continue funding them? Or should we redesign and look at what we’re doing, so we are effective because at some point, when do we catch up? Or are we just expected all the way through to have the same outcomes, just meeting and meeting, right?” At some point, these kids should be able to catch up. My follow up question was, “Well, how long should programs be in place before we evaluate them?” And at that time, they didn’t have a requirement, or, like, a time expectation as to how long a program should be in place before they were evaluated. So, I posed that question, you

know, and I’m glad I did, because they had not considered the effectiveness of a program or when to evaluate those programs. I’m happy to say that this past year, when we were looking at the educational funding for some of these programs for the first time—and this is my fourth year here—for the first time, the governor’s office came back into committee, and said, “You know, we’re allocating this funding for these programs, and we are asking that the programs be evaluated after three years.” So, the feedback is great.

I’ve been very effective in communicating with my fellow colleagues, with the governor’s office, the legislative analyst’s office, the finance office, and just communicating as to what we can do better to improve the system so that as we’re spending a lot of money in various programs, we’re actually looking for physical outcomes. So, that’s been my No. 1 priority when it comes to spending money in different areas, (like) education, homelessness. We just had an oversight hearing on grant funding for nonprofits. My No. 1 thing is, make sure that we have accountability measures within the allocation of funding. No. 2, the reporting process: We have to get that from all the different entities and agencies throughout the state, so we can effectively account for the money that we’re spending, ensuring that we’re getting what we’re expecting from the programs we’re implementing in our state, especially now that we are facing a very huge deficit. So those are the things that we’re looking into and will continue to do within my communities, getting to know all of them.

I’m a very hands-on legislator. I’ve held 45, 46 town halls in the course of almost two years, since being given the green light. (Given the opportunity), I would have begun the town halls (even sooner), going throughout all the different cities, because I know people are in survival mode. They’re very busy, working two, three, four jobs many times, having families that they have to raise. So, I try to be as readily available to my constituents, so they know what the state senator does for you. What can our state office do for you? And, (I’m) ensuring that my team, we’ve been very careful in hiring people who have a heart of service for community members, that they want to help people, and that their heart, humility, heart of service and compassion and empathy are there. I have an amazing current team that embraces the values that I want to see implemented within our community, and accountability. Every year, I’ve been reporting how many meetings I’ve attended, how many tours I’ve done, pieces of legislation—I’m all about accountability. If I’m going to expect that from our state agencies and our entities, you know, from anyone who we’re granting funding for, then, lo and behold, you should also expect to have that level of accountability from your fellow legislator, your senator, and I do that on an annual basis.

Sunday, October 13, 2024

Garden Party

A benefit for AAP – Food Samaritans Presented by Eisenhower Health Featuring

tickets are $200 per person and include hosted bar, abundant hors d’oeuvres by Eight4Nine, and valet parking

THE NEED FOR SEEDS

by Melissa Daniels

Millions of future desert plants are drying out inside of paper grocery bags and cardboard boxes in a courtyard-facing office at the Mojave Desert Land Trust.

They’re stacked on metal shelves across the room from four humming refrigerators. Inside the fridges are jars and jars of seeds—some long, some round, some soft, some sharp—all of which could one day bloom under the sun.

This is the MDLT Seed Bank, and it’s becoming an essential piece of preservation and restoration in the fragile desert ecosystem.

More than 2,000 species of native plants are spread across the California desert, which covers

around 25% of the state’s geography. Since it started its efforts in 2017, the MLDT Seed Bank has stocked about 940 collections of seeds representing around 250 species. Last year, it added 52 new collections, including its first-ever collection of Indiana tobacco.

Patrick G. Emblidge, the seed program manager, calls it an insurance policy against fire and other disasters. The York Fire in 2023 burned more than 90,000 acres of desert, damaging more than 1 million Joshua trees and charring around 500 acres of the MDLT’s own property. Many of the plants on those lands may never return. But having seeds available means species that are wiped out could be quickly repopulated before invasive grasses and weeds take over.

“A lot of times, those weeds are the first things to come back,” said Emblidge, a wildlife ecologist. “So if we’re not there to help restore and get the native plants that we want back in there, then they’ll just be smothered out by

those weeds. If something burns, you want to have seed ready to go, and you want to distribute it straight away.”

Locals will have a chance to learn more about the seed bank this month. On Friday, Sept. 13, Emblidge is giving a free talk to discuss the operations and explain the purpose and ethics behind seed-banking.

As the threat of wildfire worsens, the seed bank is receiving more attention—and more funding. Earlier this year, the seed bank was the subject of a feature-length report on CNN as part of the news network’s Call to Earth series on environmental challenges. In May 2023, the seed bank received a $3.19 million grant from the California Wildlife Conservation Board to begin a four-year expansion project, which includes opening a new seed-focused facility.

Other plans for the foreseeable future include creating an inventory for seed use, expanding public education, ensuring tribal

Why the Mojave Desert Land Trust is developing a critical safeguard for the desert’s future

engagement in collection methods, and developing protocols that other conservationists can replicate. The seed bank also aims to up its collection with more than 2,000 pounds of seed.

“We’re hoping to have much larger collections that are useful for larger-scale restoration,” Emblidge said.

One goal for the MDLT is to support other agencies that are doing restoration work. It has distributed seeds to other agencies that are working on restoration. It’s currently engaged in a project with the California Botanic Garden and the California Department of Water Resources to grow salt-loving halophytes to be transported to the Salton Sea. It’s also working with The Wildlands Conservancy on a restoration project in Pioneertown.

The seed collections also help protect biodiversity, since some species live in small corners of the desert. “If that burns, the whole species could go extinct if we didn’t have genetic material from the plants stored,” Emblidge said. The seed bank is also available for research purposes, whether that’s examining seeds at a molecular level, or the MDLT’s own germination testing to determine how to best preserve its seeds.

While it appears low-tech, the MDLT’s seed-bank operations are based on detailed and strict conservation protocol. It operates collection outings almost every day to obtain seeds from different areas of the desert. If not on MDLT-owned land, the team obtains requisite approvals, including permits to collect on federal land.

Once on the ground, the seeds are typically shaken or pulled from the plant to avoid any ground contaminants. Teams refrain from col-

lecting more than 10% of the seeds from any species within a population. That’s to ensure the plants continue to grow in their native habitat—and feed native creatures, like kangaroo rats.

“We’re getting enough seeds to represent the population’s genetic diversity. But we’re not taking too much because of annual plants; the next generation in the next season is reliant on the seeds that are proposed,” Emblidge said. “We’re really careful about the physical impact we have on the land.”

Once collected, the seeds are dried out in bags or boxes. Then they’re cleaned and sorted—including being painstakingly counted out and weighted by volunteers. They’ll pull out about 200 seeds from a collection, weigh them, and use that number to determine how many are in a jar. From there, the seeds are stored in sauce, baby food and pickle jars that have been donated, and put in the fridge. They’ll stay there for a year until they’re tested to see if they’re still viable. If the seeds aren’t faring well in storage for whatever reason, they may be planted or used elsewhere. But ultimately, the goal is to keep them in storage until they’re needed elsewhere—whenever that day comes.

“There are tons of threats to desert ecosystems,” Emblidge said, “and seeds are the foundational components for restoration.”

“Supporting a Diverse Ecosystem in the Future” will take place at 6 p.m., Friday, Sept. 13, at Mojave Desert Land Trust headquarters, 60124 Twentynine Palms Highway, in Joshua Tree. Admission is free, but reservations are requested. For more information, find the event on Eventbrite, or visit MDLT.org.

Staffers at the Mojave Desert Land Trust, here on their lands in the Morongo Basin, collect seeds almost daily. Courtesy of the Mojave Desert Land Trust

Patrick Emblidge, the Mojave Desert Land Trust seed program manager, examines seeds through a microscope. Courtesy of the Mojave Desert Land Trust

NEWS

CIVIC SOLUTIONS

by Melissa Daniels

In 2018, the Desert Sands Unified School District was part of a federal pilot program to test out free lunches for all students. Six schools in areas with high rates of poverty were selected.

The results were so successful, director of student nutrition Daniel Cappello said, that it expanded to at least 10 other schools the following year. Then came the school closures amid the spread of COVID-19, which brought universal-meal policies to the masses thanks to federal relief programs.

In 2022, California became the first state in the nation to offer a Universal Meals Program for all school children. It requires public schools to offer a free and nutritionally adequate breakfast

and lunch every day, regardless of the student’s household income.

From where Cappello is sitting, the switch couldn’t have come too soon, given how grocery prices have risen, and how many families are struggling financially.

“We give kids books; we give them pencils. Why not give them a meal?” he said. “Universal free meals is a win for everybody.”

Other states are catching on. The Food Research & Action Center, an advocacy organization that aims to end poverty-related hunger and food insecurity, counts at least seven other states that have passed universal free-meal programs: Maine, Colorado, Minnesota, New Mexico, Vermont, Michigan and Massachusetts. This fall, it’s posited to become a campaign issue in the presidential race, given Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, signed universal meals legislation in Minnesota last year.

At Desert Sands, Cappello said one of the biggest benefits to free meals is that there’s no more stigma around who has to pay, and who doesn’t. As much as 70% of the student population across Palm Desert, La Quinta and Indio would have qualified before free meals became universal. While the district’s system for meals aimed to keep students’ status private, some kids may have felt embarrassment or shame.

“It was uncomfortable for the kids at times,” he said. “There should be no shame if you apply for and receive a free meal. But unfortunately, sometimes, there was.”

Meanwhile, kids who had to pay might also sometimes experience discomfort—like having to tell the staff they forgot their lunch money or don’t have enough that day. “If you’re not in the free-lunch program, you have to have cash and make sure your parents don’t forget,” Cappello said.

Dealing with lunch money—in an increasingly cashless era—also frustrated parents, Cappello said. While the district did have a system that allowed parents to pre-load their child’s account with money, it would charge extra processing fees.

All these issues piled up debt for the school

district. Cappello said the district before COVID-19 saw lunch debt go from $30,000 one year to as high as $130,000.

“We feed every kid. We never turned anyone away for not having any money or not filling out the application,” he said. But that money would ultimately have to come out of the school’s district budget to make the operations whole. Now, he said, the department no longer operates at a deficit.

The funding system for school districts can be complex. The federal government, via the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will reimburse districts for meals for students who qualify for reduced lunch. But in California, the Universal Meal Program essentially reimburses a district for all of the other students’ meals.

There’s evidence that more kids will get school lunch when it’s free. Statewide, the number of meals served increased dramatically after the state introduced the program. Data from the USDA shows schools served more than 849.3 million lunches and breakfasts served in the 2022-2023 school year. That’s about 25 million more meals than were served in the 2018-2019 school year.

Monica Saucedo, a senior policy fellow with the California Budget and Policy Center, told the Independent that the policy has had tangible benefits for families across the state.

“Access has definitely increased,” she said. It’s also become an important safety net for families that hit hard times unexpectedly. Getting a student who is suddenly eligible for free lunch can be a multi-step process. But the Universal Meal Program means that a parent who loses a job won’t have to worry about feeding their kids at least two healthy meals a day. “We know food insecurity can happen at any income level, and circumstances can shift so quickly,” she said. “It’s huge for kids who don’t have a steady source of food.”

At this point, Saucedo said, it’s critical to ensure that the program is continually prioritized, even as more students are taking part, and the state deals with a budget deficit. The base funding for the program is $1.6 billion. But this year’s state budget added an additional

California led the way in free school-lunch legislation; here’s why it’s catching on elsewhere

$179.4 million on an ongoing basis from Proposition 98 general funding, which comes from a combination of state general fund revenue and local property taxes. This budget also includes a one-time allocation of $120.8 billion.

“This investment highlights the importance of this program in the lives of children, particularly given the state’s budget deficit,” Saucedo said.

Behind the scenes, making school lunches free also adds operational efficiency. Before, families facing economic hardships had to qualify for free or reduced lunch, which meant a burdensome bundle of paperwork for families and for the districts to manage. Cappello said the district—which serves about 26,800 kids a day—would receive thousands of applications that had to be processed by hand, but now the district no longer has to process those applications. Many schools across the country are in the same boat, thanks to a federal Community Eligibility Provision for districts in low-income areas.

To Cappello, this is a policy that allows his team to put their attention elsewhere.

“When everybody is free, we can focus on the food,”

Capelllo said.

Jessica Vega and Alex Cook serve free meals to Desert Sands Unified School District students. Photo courtesy of Desert Sands Unified School District

CV HISTORY

CAccording to legend, revered Cahuilla shaman Pedro Chino lived to be 126 years old

It is named for Pedro Chino, one of the most revered Cahuilla shamans, who was born in the canyon. He lived near the top of the alluvial fan, amid a tangle of mesquite and wild by greg niemann

hino Canyon, now the home of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, has a history that is rich in local Cahuilla lore.

grapevines near the canyon’s stream. He had irrigated the area and planted fruit trees. A noted cowboy, he also ran cattle and made highly prized saddle blankets.

In 1880, two land speculators, W.E. Van Slyke and M. Byrne, both of San Bernardino, offered Chino $150 for his 10 acres of land. It is believed to be the Palm Springs area’s first real estate transaction—and the fact that Pedro Chino didn’t own the land didn’t deter anyone. (It technically belonged to the railroad.) He’d lived there for years and figured he had the right; he also guessed that sooner or later, the lands would be taken away from the Indigenous residents. Van Slyke and Byrne continued to buy more land from the railroad before selling to other early settlers, including developer Judge John McCallum.

As a youth, Chino became a highly skilled cowpuncher and worked for Pauline Weaver, who ran 4,000 head of cattle on his San Gorgonio Pass ranch. Chino went on to become one of the most revered Cahuilla leaders and reputedly was 126 years old when he died in 1939.

Chino became friends with many white settlers, including a young man, Jim Maynard, who accompanied Chino to help him see as his eyesight deteriorated with age. Jim learned much of the Cahuilla way, and old Pedro Chino learned more about the white man. Maynard recalled that Pedro Chino didn’t say much— but what he said had meaning.

The role of shaman in Cahuilla culture varied, usually covering both practical and religious matters. Pedro Chino was a pavuul, the highest-ranking shaman. Pavuuls were reputed to have extraordinary powers gained from spiritual beings, including the power to heal people, and to transform oneself into a crow, mountain lion, coyote or any other animal. According to legend, a pavuul was also capable of predicting future events, making rain, stopping catastrophes and performing other miracles.

Chino was said to have sometimes traveled under Mount San Jacinto via a waterway that only shamans had ever seen. In 1934, as miners were digging the San Jacinto Tunnel under the mountain for the Colorado River Aqueduct, they hit a subterranean stream, which added fuel to the legends.

Tribe member Alice Lopez said that as a

young woman, Lopez treated her twice; she claimed that she was cured of her ills when no other treatment had succeeded. In one instance, she was suffering from head pains, bleeding from the nose, and an inability to retain food, so she went to Chino’s residence for aid. She related that he “sucked” the ills from various places on her body and gave her a potion of herbs to drink. The day after this treatment, Lopez said, she began to improve and quickly fully recovered.

Lopez remarked that Chino was not only a powerful healer, but could perform many other remarkable feats. She said that when he was out hunting deer, he would stay awake all night singing “deer songs” to ensure a successful hunt. The next day, he would don a deerskin disguise, complete with a deer’s head, and mimic a deer’s movements while moving closer to the wary animals. According to Lopez, he was so successful that he would often kill two and sometimes three deer.

Chino was also practical. It was noted that as he grew older, he sometimes took a medical doctor along with him when going to treat a patient, explaining that there are certain things like setting broken bones and performing operations that required the services of a physician.

Chino was also an effective Cahuilla chief, serving from the 1890s well into the 20th century. According to Cahuilla Chief Francisco Patencio in his book Stories and Legends of the Palm Springs Indians, there was a convention of the Society of American Indians in Minneapolis in 1919. Only a couple of California members were slated to go. Chief Patencio, figuring it would just be “more of the same,” did not want to go, but Chino wanted representation. According to Patencio, “But Pedro Chino, he forced me to go.” It turned out to be a beneficial journey, and Patencio ended up making speeches for four days.

It’s quite possible Pedro Chino did not really live to be 126 years old, but there is no doubt he lived a long time. When then-future Palm Springs Mayor Frank Bogert took his photo in 1934, some records indicated that he was around 95 years old. When he died in 1939, five years later, that would have made him about 100. However, other stories indicate he may have been older. He was believed

to have married for the first time a year before the California gold rush of 1849. His age was also based on him remembering the “fall of the stars,” the Great Leonid Meteor Shower of November 1833, as an 18-to-20year-old.

Pedro Chino died in 1939 following a severe attack of pneumonia, which he contracted after going out in the rain to treat a member of the Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians. At the time of his death, he was both shaman and ceremonial chief of the Cahuilla Indians.

A huge gathering of 400-500 Indigenous people from all over Southern California came to Palm Springs for Pedro Chino’s last rites. They chanted over Pedro’s body at the local ceremonial house night and day, from early Saturday evening until after noon on Monday. Funeral services, which included numerous white people, were conducted at Our Lady of

Solitude Church in Palm Springs.

Many descendants of Pedro Chino still reside in the Palm Springs area. The Agua Caliente Cultural Museum in Palm Springs features a large display highlighting Pedro Chino’s contributions to the culture.

Sources for this story include Stories and Legends of the Palm Springs Indians by Chief Francisco Patencio (Times Mirror Co., 1943); People of Magic Waters by John R. Brumgardt and Larry L. Bowles (ETC Publications, 1981); Palm Springs: First Hundred Years by Frank M. Bogert (Palm Springs Heritage Associates, 1987); The Cahuilla by Lowell John Bean and Lisa Bourgeault (Chelsea House Publications, 1989); Me Yah Whae: The Magazine of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, Spring 2022 and Spring/Summer 2023; and The Desert Sun, Dec. 1, 1939.

A 1934 photo of Pedro Chino by Frank Bogert in 1934. Courtesy of the Palm Springs Historical Society

SEPTEMBER ASTRONOMY

Planets and Bright Stars in Evening Mid-Twilight

For September, 2024

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

The month brings a Harvest Moon eclipse, an approaching comet and many close encounters

FBy Robert Victor

ollow the moon at dusk from Sept. 4-5 through Sept. 18. Catch a slender 4 percent young crescent moon within 4° to the lower right of Venus on Sept. 4, and an 8 percent moon within 8° to the left of Venus and 8° to the lower right of Spica on Sept. 5. Venus is very low, so start looking early, about a half-hour after sunset, from a place with an unobstructed view between the west and west-southwest. Binoculars will help you spot Spica as the sky darkens. The star will be 4° to the lower right of the 14 percent crescent moon on Sept. 6. On Sept. 9, the nearly 40 percent fat crescent moon will appear 6° to the lower right of Antares, heart of the Scorpion. On the next evening, the nearly first quarter (half-full) moon will appear 7° to that star’s upper left. On Sept. 11, this month’s southernmost moon passes due south 20

minutes after sunset, only 27° up as seen from the Coachella Valley. As the sky darkens, you’ll find the moon near the tip of the spout of the Teapot of Sagittarius.

A partial eclipse of the Harvest Moon on the evening of Sept. 17 is shallow. At best, not quite 9 percent of the moon’s diameter will be immersed in the umbra, or dark central core of Earth’s shadow, at maximum eclipse at 7:44 p.m. The moon’s encounter with the umbra lasts for just more than an hour, from 7:13 p.m. until 8:16 p.m. This full moon, the fourth one of this summer season, occurs 58 hours before the start of autumn, marked by the sun’s passage from north to south across the equator, on Sept. 22 at 5:44 a.m. Observe the sunrises and sunset this month, and note how the places along the horizon where they occur are progressing farther south. Along with these shifts of the sunrise and sunset points, the midday sun of Sept. 30 is 11° lower than on Sept. 1—and the days are getting shorter.

Saturn is at opposition on the night of Sept. 7. Find Saturn appearing as a bright 0.6-magnitude “star” low in the east-southeast at dusk, high in the south in middle of night, and low in the west-southwest at dawn. As our faster-moving Earth overtakes Saturn, telescopic viewers will get an improving view of the rings, which appear 4° from edgewise on Sept. 15, resembling a needle piercing a ball of yarn.

The best lunar occultations of stars and planets in the Western U.S. in September are morning events, requiring a telescope for viewing, because the moon is bright: Saturn on Sept. 17; and stars in the Pleiades cluster on Sept. 22. From Palm Springs on the morning of Sept. 17, Saturn disappears behind the moon’s narrow dark side at 4:12 a.m. and reappears along the bright sunlit edge at 5:06 a.m. On the morning of Sept. 22, the 2.9-magnitude star Alcyone, the brightest member of the Pleiades cluster and mother of the Seven Sisters, is covered by the moon’s leading sunlit edge at 3:08 a.m. and uncovered at the dark edge at 4:29 a.m.

After its encounter with the Pleiades, the waning moon passes widely north of Aldebaran, brilliant Jupiter, and Mars on the mornings of Sept. 23-25; on Sept. 24, the northernmost moon of this month reaches its highest point only 5° south of overhead nine minutes before sunrise in Palm Springs. It’s no coincidence that the moon is at last quarter phase, half full, that morning. That’s because the last quarter moon—90°, or one quarter-circle west of the sun in the zodiac—reviews the sun’s position three months ago, near the beginning of summer, when the midday sun was high. Similarly, the first quarter moon of Sept. 11 previews the sun’s position in the zodiac three months hence, near the start of winter, when the midday sun will be low.

After passing the high point of the zodiac, the moon passes closely south of Pollux, the brighter of the Twin stars of Gemini, on Sept. 26; 3° to the north of the Beehive star cluster on Sept. 27; and 3° to the lower left of Regulus, heart of Leo, on Sept. 29.

Watch for other morning encounters, especially worth following in days before and after. Use binoculars to see Mercury-Regulus 0.5° apart, very low in the east to east-northeast in twilight on Sept. 9. Mars, creeping eastward in Gemini on Sept. 11 and 14, passes 1° north of the third-magnitude stars Eta and Mu in the foot of Castor. On Sept. 22, Mars passes 1.7° south of third-magnitude Epsilon Gem. On Sept. 27, Mars forms an isosceles triangle with the “Twin” stars Pollux and Castor, 12° from each.

Jupiter is currently the brightest morning “star.” Next in brilliance is the “Dog Star” Sirius, crossing due south in mid-twilight by early in October. Note the three-star belt of Orion, extended southeastward, points toward Sirius. Extended in the opposite direction, the line of the belt stars points past Aldebaran toward the Pleiades.

While Jupiter slows in Taurus, the Mars-Jupiter gap increases from 9° on Sept. 1 to 23° on Sept. 30. In Saturn’s constellation

Evening mid-twilight occurs when the Sun is 9° below the horizon. Sept.1: 41 minutes after sunset. 15: 40 " " " 30: 40 " " "

of Aquarius, locate 3.8-magnitude Lambda nearly 10° southeast of 3.7-magnitude Zeta, the central star in the asterism of the Water Jar. Next, locate 4.2-magnitude Phi Aqr, 5.6° east-northeast of Lambda. On the night of Sept. 27, Saturn is equidistant from Phi and Lambda, 3.2° from each and just south of a line joining them. As Saturn continues retrograde for another seven weeks, watch for changes. Saturn will end retrograde in mid-November, 1.9° from Lambda and 4.9° from Phi.

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS), whether or not it performs up to early expectations, is almost here! On Sept. 27, it reaches perihelion, 0.3914 a.u. (36.4 million miles) from the sun, and will pass closest to Earth on Oct. 12, at a distance of 0.472 a.u. (43.9 million miles). It may be visible Sept. 22-Oct. 4, rising in morning twilight, 7°-8° south of east. Try with binoculars! The comet will be 14° to the lower right of the 5 percent waning crescent

moon on Sept. 30, and 12° to the upper right of a very low 1 percent crescent on Oct. 1. Watch for updates on the Sky Calendar Extra Content Page, www. abramsplanetarium.org/msta.

The Astronomical Society of the Desert will host a star party on Saturday, Sept. 7, at Sawmill Trailhead, a site in the Santa Rosa Mountains at elevation 4,000 feet. For dates and times of other star parties, and maps and directions, visit astrorx.org.

The Abrams Planetarium Sky Calendar is available by subscription from www. abramsplanetarium.org/skycalendar. For $12 per year, subscribers receive quarterly mailings, each containing three monthly issues.

Robert Victor originated the Abrams Planetarium monthly Sky Calendar in October 1968 and still helps produce an occasional issue. He enjoys being outdoors sharing the beauty of the night sky and other wonders of nature.

Stereographic Projection Map by Robert D. Miller

On July 25, 2022, Jane Garrison, the founder and executive director of the Oswit Land Trust, emailed local media representatives, Palm Springs officials and environmentally concerned citizens to invite them to a press conference the next day.

“This is THE one that everyone will talk about for years to come!” Garrison wrote. “This is THE one that other communities will look (at) as an example! This is THE one that exemplifies being proactive versus reactive! This is THE one that restores your faith in humans!”

At the press conference, Garrison celebrated a generous donation of much of the former Mesquite Golf and Country Club, worth roughly $9 million at the time. The caveat set by the donor, Brad Prescott, was that the land be used in perpetuity as a natural desert preserve or park. Garrison honored Prescott by announcing that the 120 or so acres would be called the Prescott Preserve, after Prescott bought the land from Ramin Saghian of Palms Partners.

More than two years later, the preserve Garrison and other OLT members anticipated has not come to be. Instead, the land and the OLT itself have become the targets of numerous complaints to the city of Palm Springs about failures to maintain those land parcels. Leading the opposition is the Mesquite Country Club Condominium Homeowners Association, which, just weeks after the land donation was finalized, filed a lawsuit and sought an injunction against OLT to prevent any landscape alterations. The OLT and the Mesquite HOA have since been dueling in a variety of legal maneuvers, seeking to jumpstart the preserve’s creation, to delay it or to outright halt it. The latter option could be the outcome of the Mesquite HOA lawsuit, which contends that the land in

question can never be used for any purpose other than golf.

Meanwhile, a group of residents from three other HOA communities surrounding the former golf course have become increasingly aggressive in their opposition to the vision of a well-designed and well-maintained natural space in the heart of the city.

Why? Shaun Murphy, of the Palm Springs law firm Slovak Baron Empey Murphy & Pinkney LLP, was recently was appointed the Mesquite HOA’s lead attorney in the ongoing suit. In a recent interview, he shed light on the legal activity around this case over the past two years.

“This is a suit against (OLT),” Murphy said, “because, after acquiring the property, they have intended to use it in a way that is in violation of the (homeowners’) lease, and to a lesser extent, the CCRs (the HOA’s covenants, conditions and restrictions) that they are obligated to honor as purchasers of the property.”

“ (Mesquite HOA residents are) downto-earth, everyday people with families who do not deserve being vilified for being concerned about the life/safety issues we now face . ”

Partners (now called the New Palm Group) retained a smaller segment of the development where the clubhouse, racquetball, tennis courts and those types of amenities are located,” Murphy said. “They still own that land; Oswit does not. But those amenities also have certain requirements under the lease and the CCRs, so a part of the suit is against the Palms Partners based on their failure to properly maintain those amenities.”

Murphy said the case has been moving slowly through the legal processes due to “trips up to the Court of Appeals.”

Court of Appeals, Murphy said.

— Yolanda Sandor resident

“Mesquite also got a preliminary injunction against Oswit at one point,” Murphy said, “but the court required a pretty significant bond ($5 million) to secure the injunction.

… The (HOA) was not able to afford that, so the injunction was dissolved for failure to post the bond. Then the association appealed the trial court’s refusal to lower the bond. The Court of Appeals just heard that and issued an opinion … denying the association’s appeal.

This recital of legal skirmishes doesn’t even include the latest controversy: Ramin Saghian recently delivered to Palm Springs city officials a proposal to build 15 two-story multi-unit apartment buildings (a total of about 130plus units) with a variety of amenities on the one remaining parcel he still owns, at the northeast corner of Mesquite Avenue and Farrell Drive, next to the Mesquite Country Club’s Phase 5 community.

Yolanda Sandor lives in Phase 5. “In my humble opinion, (Saghian’s) end goal was always to build apartments or condos, and he has submitted a project to the city of Palm Springs. I hope it’s years away from being approved,” Sandor told the Independent Sandor and her neighbors have raised objections to the negative impacts the proposed housing development could have on them, including a reduction in their property values, the elimination of their scenic views

Specifically, the lawsuit hinges on language in the HOA’s lease that states the club is prohibited from changing or redeveloping the course without the association’s prior written approval, and that if the property is sold, the buyer assumes the obligation to maintain the course.

“And then there was a third-party complaint filed by one of the individual homeowners in the association trying to intervene in the case. That party claimed that the association filed suit without getting member approval.” That matter was eventually dismissed after a decision by the

“Palms

Photo by Chris Delage

Photo by Chris Wheeler

to the north and west, and increased traffic on surrounding streets.

While this development proposal further complicates the picture as to how the former Mesquite Golf and Country Club grounds will be utilized, it is separate from the tug-ofwar over the proposed Prescott Preserve’s future.

“My question to them always is the same: ‘What do you want? What is your end game?’” Garrison told the Independent “They can’t answer. ‘If you want it to be a golf course, why didn’t you buy the property?’ It was for sale … and they can’t answer it. So, what do they want? That’s the million-dollar question.”

In this case, it’s become at least a $7.2 million question, since the Mesquite HOA lawsuit has prohibited OLT from obtaining a grant in that amount from the California Wildlife Conservation Board, which OLT would use to transform the Prescott Preserve from its previous golf course design into a “first-of-its-kind” natural desert preserve right in the heart of Palm Springs.

“When we first received this land, I consulted with a professor from (the University of California, Santa Barbara) who did a similar restoration project up in Santa Barbara,” Garrison said. “She took the Ocean Meadows golf course, and converted it back to a nature preserve. The very first piece of advice she gave us was, ‘Put a fence around it, and close it until it’s restored, and then you can allow the public to come out on the land.’ But we did not want to do that, because we felt it’s a great opportunity for people to enjoy this really beautiful property, whether it’s restored or not. It has incredible views; it’s easy to walk, regardless of your age or fitness ability. So we didn’t want to do that.

“But if we can’t get the funds to restore the land to native vegetation, and if we can’t get the funds to do the improvements to the irrigation that we need, and if we can’t get the funds to keep the trails open, safe and clean for the community, then we’re going to have some hard decisions on what happens to this property. Do we create a private preserve

that we don’t have open to the public all the time? Do we sell the property? Do we give the property away? I mean, what do we do? Because if we don’t have the funds to do what we need to do, everything changes.”

In an email exchange, Sandor responded that Mesquite residents are “down-to-earth, everyday people with families who do not deserve being vilified for being concerned about the life/safety issues we now face.

Concern about the blighted condition (of the golf course property), concern about property values already lost, concern the preserve could financially fail … concern that the preserve could fail because it is an experiment never undertaken before in an urban area, (and) concern about (Saghian’s) apartment plans.”

How long can the two parties afford to persist in this legal standoff? The Independent asked Angie Knapp, another member of the Mesquite HOA, how the HOA was financing their legal expenses.

“Legal fees for our MCCCHOA are being

paid out of operating funds. No special assessment has been made, nor is planned at this time,” she said via email. “MCCCHOA has been able to offset about 50% of legal expenses incurred through ceased lease payments. Every year, we save over $250,000 in lease payments, (and that) should lead to not only covering the legal expenses, but substantially reducing (overall) operating expenses.”

While Knapp’s accounting does not include a potential lawsuit against the new Saghian development proposal, the HOA’s good financial standing is not good news for Garrison and the OLT, who are up against a seemingly inflexible deadline to convince the Mesquite HOA to drop their lawsuit and allow the grant process with the Wildlife Conservation Board to move ahead.

“Unfortunately, us receiving that grant is 100% in the hands of the HOA,” Garrison said. “Without the lawsuit, we would have had the grant by now. And in fact, without the lawsuit, we would have been halfway through our restoration. … So the grant is still completely dictated by the HOA. They had a chance to allow us to get the grant on May 23. All they had to do was provide a short statement to the Wildlife Conservation Board, and they refused to do that. So we have been told that, with a pending lawsuit, we will not

be able to get the grant funds, and we also have been told that grant money is only going to be available to the end of the year.”

Garrison said the final Wildlife Conservation Board meeting is in November. “And after that, we’re done. Actually, because the WCB is a state agency, they have to publish their agenda for their meetings 30 days before, so for a November approval of the grant, they’ll have to put us on the agenda in October. We’re getting very close.”

The next court date for the Mesquite HOA lawsuit is scheduled for Sept. 25, and it’s possible a trial start date could be set then. Still, both sides expressed a ray of hope that the impasse could be settled.

“In an interesting turn of events … what we have heard through the grapevine is that this new HOA lawyer is encouraging them to try to settle,” Garrison said.

We asked Murphy, that new lawyer, about Garrison’s statement.

“I can’t really comment on what prior negotiations took place,” he said, “but I think I can safely say that in any case … the issue of settlement is always a topic of discussion. So, undoubtedly, there will be discussions in that regard to see if something can be worked out that resolves the issue to everybody’s ‘mostly satisfaction,’ I should say. A good settlement is one where nobody’s happy, right?”

Palm Springs philanthropist Brad Prescott and OLT president Jane Garrison announce Prescott’s purchase of the Mesquite Golf and Country Club land in July 2022. Screenshot courtesy of the Oswit Land Trust

Photo by Chris Delage

DO-GOODER

THIS EXTREME PLACE

By Haleemon Anderson

Preserving the past is the mission of the Coachella Valley History Museum. The facility showcases more than 100 years of desert history, and a visit to the six-acre campus in Indio feels like stepping back in time.

A collection of buildings, gardens and exhibit spaces replicate early life in the valley—before air conditioning or widespread refrigeration. A 1926 adobe home, a schoolhouse from 1909 and an authentic blacksmith’s shop are just some of the highlights.

The world’s only Date History Museum is here; you can learn how to propagate a date palm tree and hear how the museum won an award from an Arab sheikh. Or peek inside the Desert Submarine—a place engineered to allow sweltering farm workers could cool off. At the CVHM, it’s a challenge to take it all in; stepping back in time here takes time.

The museum grounds include a rose garden, a date palm grove and a recently refurbished and re-dedicated Japanese Memorial Garden, with more in the works.

Rebecca Rizzo is the immediate past president of the Coachella Valley Historical Society, the volunteer board responsible for steering the museum’s operations. She said the gardens are often used for special events, or just moments of solitude.

“One of the prettiest places in the Coachella Valley is the garden in the middle of the season,” Rizzo said. “When it’s the morning, in the rose garden, and the sun’s coming over the mountains, and you’re sitting there on that bench, it just feels wonderful.”

Rizzo and Gloria Franz, the second vice president, spoke with the Independent about the museum’s ongoing mission to promote the history of the region. Franz said the Coachella Valley’s history is an important link to the future.

“People who move (here) don’t really understand our origins, right?” Franz said. “I mean, our pioneers definitely had a heck of a challenge when they first got here to make this a livable space for those of us who are here now. So that’s our biggest thing—to preserve, share and interpret the history of the Coachella Valley.

“For me, the adobe house is pretty cool, because you think about how people lived before the invention of air conditioning. You think about how it was built, how it was designed. They had a basement specifically, because in the summer, you would sleep downstairs (where) it’s cooler.”

Inside the well-appointed adobe house— once home to the families of Smiley and Tyler, two of the valley’s first medical doctors—you can forget that outside the temperature is climbing into the triple digits. The foot-thick walls keep the heat out even today. Some of

the rooms are essentially as they were in the 1920s. You can walk through the original full-service kitchen, replete with a dumb waiter (an elevator-like platform on pulleys that allowed food service to be delivered to the downstairs dining room) and other artifacts of turn-of-the-century food preparation.

The doctor’s office features tools of the optometry trade, including examination equipment seemingly awaiting the next patient. Some artifacts were imported; there is a replica of a country store, a fire station and an early telephone switchboard, as well as basketry and artwork from the native Cahuilla people.

The CVHM isn’t just resting on its antique laurels. This fall, it will begin the installation of a new permanent exhibit, the Garden and Railway Project. Tracks are being laid for this “final piece,” said Franz; it’s an elaborate undertaking that will bring an authentic train car onto the museum campus.

“That came from an idea that (this region was) a rail stop, and that’s how the Coachella Valley actually began,” Franz said. “Southern Pacific Railroad had us as one of their main stops. They had a train that ran from Los Angeles, to (here), to Phoenix, to New Orleans and back. A lot of people used that railway to travel right from one big city to another. So, we thought, how cool would it be?”

The dining and lounge car will be outfitted to invoke the bygone era of elegant train travel. “We’re looking at rebuilding what was considered the New Orleans look,” Franz said. “There were four styles; (this one) reminds me a little bit of Palm Springs, the modernism thing.”

Once the tracks are laid, the train car will be transported here from Indiana. It’s a slow-moving process involving oversized vehicles on the freeway and cranes. Next, the gardens will be laid, and then the museum will begin fundraising to refurbish the interior of the car. Portions of the project will roll out over the next 12 months, with costs estimated to exceed $1 million. Franz said initial support for the project has come from the Indio Water Authority and the city of Indio, along with donations from contractors and the train-restorer. Private donors have also stepped up.

The Coachella Valley

History

Museum looks to expand as it tells the story of our unique locale

“Since we are doing it in phases, it’s hard to have a number,” Franz said about the total cost. “The price keeps going up. We’ve applied for grants, but they are very difficult, and so far, we have not been successful.”

The Garden and Railway Project will include a demonstration garden with drought-tolerant plants, an exhibit space dedicated to the story of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and two specialty gardens designed to attract monarch butterflies and hummingbirds.

Additionally, there are plans to build a fullscale replica of the Desert Submarine. “We want people to be able to step inside and go, ‘Oh my god, this does work.’ Too cool, right?” Franz said.

Rizzo said it takes a particular type of spirit to be a part of this mission. She applauded the all-volunteer cadre of docents, tour guides and board trustees who dedicate their time to learning the rich history of the valley and sharing it with their neighbors.

“You realize that you really are a part of something extreme, being here in the Coachella Valley and being a part of this weather and this climate,” Rizzo said. “Going to the museum allows you to see that you are a part of that resilience. You are a part of that unique group of people who can find beauty in the areas where others may not see that. … You have to be an extreme individual to love living in the valley.”

The Coachella Valley History Museum is located at 82616 Miles Ave., in Indio. The museum is open from Friday through Monday from September through May; hours vary during extreme summer heat. Admission is $10, with discounts; children are admitted for free, and admission is free for all during the first full weekend of each month. Learn more at cvhm.org.

Haleemon Anderson is a California Local News Fellow. She can be reached at handerson@ cvindependent.com.

A “worker” cools off in the Desert Submarine. Haleemon Anderson

The Nonprofit SCENE

September 2024

The Inland Empire Ronald McDonald House has announced the 2024 honorees for its eighth annual A Few Good Men and Women gala. The eight distinguished Coachella Valley residents are being honored for the positive impact they have made in their local communities. Alicia and Herman Lopez: As longtime employees of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, the Lopez family understands the importance of public service and giving back. When their son, Hunter, was killed in action in August 2021 while serving as a member of the United States Marine Corps, they created the Hunter Lopez Memorial Foundation. Money donated is used to help those who protect and serve our country.

John Page: An experienced operations professional, John Page is the senior vice president of Acrisure Arena, the Coachella Valley Firebirds and OVG360 Facilities, where he oversees management and oversight of the three entities. Before joining OVG, Page served as president of Spectra, where he supported 10,000 employees across the company’s portfolio of venues and stadiums. Page holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in public administration from the University of Southern California.

Dr. Robert E. Piecuch is a neonatal-perinatal pediatrician affiliated with the Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital. He received his medical degree from the Georgetown University School of Medicine and has been in practice for more than 30 years. “Dr. Bob” is an expert in treating infants born extremely prematurely. He is director of the Infant Follow-Up Program, which assesses the growth and development of infants born prematurely, and director of neonatal outreach and community programs. He serves as chair of the House Staff Curriculum Committee and directs the residents’ education program for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for the Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital.

Doug Vance serves the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation as executive vice president, with a focus in its real estate division. During his two-decade tenure. Vance has a proven track record of increasing sales, growth and profitability. Vance initially began with the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation as a member of its board of directors. For more than 20 years before joining the Berger Foundation, Vance served as a California licensed contractor and president of J&D Excavating, Inc. Vance proudly served his country as a United States Navy Seabee from 1970-1972. While serving in the construction-based branch of the military, he completed tours of Vietnam and Guam. Sean Webb is the executive director of Read With Me Volunteers, a local nonprofit founded in 2004 to help children from low-income, lim-

ited-English-speaking environments improve their English reading, comprehension and speaking skills. Webb grew up in western New York and graduated from the University of Buffalo, earning master’s degrees from D’Youville College and California State University, San Bernardino. He has 20 years of experience as a teacher and assistant principal. Most recently, he served as director of the Desert Sands Unified School District’s Community Engagement and Education Foundation.

Brandon Weimer: In 2006, young toffee-maker Brandon Weimer and his childhood friend had the opportunity to go on a high school class trip to Italy. Challenged by their parents to earn half the cost of their trip, they accepted, and Brandini Toffee was born. With overwhelming support from their community, the two surpassed their funding goals within a few months and made it to Italy. Brandini Toffee has since grown into a full-time family business with a passionate dedication to making the best toffee products matched with a commitment to giving back to the Coachella Valley community. Weimer thrives on real human connections. While he hopes that Brandini will be a favorite sweet indulgence, it is about much more than just creating a superior product. It is a reflection of how to treat people, how to operate a business, and how to make a positive impact.

Josh N. Zahid: As a leader of the Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital Foundation Big Hearts for Little Hearts Guilds, Zahid oversees and manages 32-plus fundraising events per year and more than 16 additional patient diversionary events. Annually, his efforts raise more than $500,000 to benefit children’s services. From 2017 to 2019, he successfully secured $5.3 million to support the building of a new pediatric outpatient clinic located in Coachella Valley, to provide medical and dental services to underserved children of the region.

The A Few Good Men and Women gala benefits the Inland Empire Ronald McDonald House, located in Loma Linda. The house is located within walking distance of the Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital and offers a place of care, comfort and support for families with a critically ill or injured child.

This year’s ceremony and gala will be held at the Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort and Spa on Friday, Sept. 27. The evening will include a red-carpet entrance, cocktails, dinner, a live auction, a silent auction and the award presentation. Tickets, which start at $195, and full gala information are available at one.bidpal.net/ afgmw8/welcome.

Serving the Inland Empire (and the Coachella Valley), the Inland Empire Ronald McDonald House’s mission is “to provide comfort, care and support to children and families in Southern California.” The vision is “a community where children and their families embrace life and healing with a sense of hope, enthusiasm, courage and joy.” For more information, visit rmhcsc.org/inlandempire.

—Submitted on behalf of the nonprofit by Richard O’Connell and Karen Hooper

“As a Not-for-profit Hospital, Our Only Care Is Caring for You.”

~Marty Massiello, CEO/President Our Patients Are Our Priority.

Eisenhower Health is proud to be a community health system in every sense of the word. Not only do we serve our community, but we are actually owned by the community. That means we answer to you. So we carefully assess local health care needs, look ahead at trends and statistics, and plan services accordingly. We consider it our responsibility and our honor to care for the residents of the Coachella Valley. Over the last 20 years, Eisenhower Health has reinvested $1.2 billion to expand and enhance our continuum of care. Examples include:

• Establishing a network of Health Centers across the valley for primary and specialty care

• Investing in state-of-the-art technology in robotic surgery, imaging, and more

• Developing a Graduate Medical Education program to train expert physicians for the future

• Continually expanding services in key areas like cardiovascular, cancer, orthopedics, and behavioral health

When it comes to caring for the Coachella Valley, we’re all in. And we’re all yours.

ARTS & CULTURE

OBACK HOME; BACK TO ART

By Haleemon Anderson

nnissia Harries left the desert right after graduating from Palm Desert High School in search of new experiences.

She spent 10 years living “all over the place,” including New York, Missouri, Texas and Arkansas; she made myriad new friends and “found her community.” She also started painting again, igniting a passion she’s had since she was 5 years old. But two years ago, the self-taught artist came back for the one thing she couldn’t get outside of the Coachella Valley—her family. With her sister about to have her first child, being an “estranged auntie” wouldn’t cut it for Harries.

“We’re a small family—just me, my mom and my younger sister. When she started having

(kids), I was like, ‘I gotta be there,’” Harries said. “We have a very close relationship. I have that with her kids now, and that’s really important to me. My biggest values in my personal life are my art and my family.”

Although Harries has known she wanted to be an artist since she was 5, her journey would take several turns before coming back to that first love.

London’s Tower Bridge district for a group exhibition.

Harries recently launched her own independent online gallery, Onnissia Harries Art Studio, at www.onnissia.com. She said online marketplaces have emerged as critical mediums for artists seeking gallery representation or space to exhibit their work.

“As a young person, I was moved away from (art), because people find it very scary,” Harries said. “People were like, ‘Doctor, lawyer, astronaut—these are things that you can do.’ I was intent on having a career in politics for a long time, but after working for a law firm for about three years, (I realized) this is not what I wanted.”

At the University of Arkansas, Harries was student body president for two years and earned a bachelor’s degree in communications. She committed to making art again around the age of 25, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that she started thinking of it as a viable career.

“I had been picked up by an art gallery in Kansas City and was selling my art in partnership with the gallery,” Harries said. “I was working as a bartender at two different places and at a coffee shop, in addition to making art. When I lost all three jobs and things started shutting down, art looked really good.”

The pandemic forced Harries to move her first solo show to an online platform. She was pleasantly surprised when opening night of the show was a big success.

“I sold almost all my pieces. I realized this is something that I can really do,” Harries said. “Once I started, I was doing pop-ups at art stores or craft shops around town and doing commissions on my own and supporting myself. The journey has not been linear, to say the least. I’ve definitely picked up jobs here and there in between, when business was slow, but I’ve always come back to art.”

Since that first show in March 2020, Harries’ paintings have been exhibited in Los Angeles, New York and Long Beach. In 2021, she shipped paintings to Boomer Gallery in

“With the pandemic, a lot of artists could not show their work in person anymore, and so the next best thing was to show it online,” Harries said. “Gallery spaces are still No. 1, but the online marketplace is second, and art fairs are the third place to meet people.”

A 2024 study by Artsy, a New York-based online art brokerage, indicates that online sites have passed art fairs as the preferred means for galleries to interact with clients, whether potential buyers or artists.

In her work—large canvas paintings in bright acrylics and oil pastels—Harries centers women’s bodies in sensual, relaxed poses. She said Black femmes are often underrepresented in art and culture, and she draws inspiration from music, Black women’s literature, and feminist/Black feminist texts to depict themes of liberation and leisure.

“The art that I love to make the most is about black womanhood, and that work is really centered in liberation and what the process of liberation looks like,” Harries said. “I’ve found through personal experience, through lots of reading, that the tools of liberation that I love the most come in the form of play, in joy and imagination and in rest.

“At the core, it’s about creating something that allows people who look like me to experience leisure, and what leisure can do for them. Leisure is great for your body. Leisure is great for imagining things when you have problems. It’s just a really powerful tool to get to where you need to be.”

Harries has an active social-media presence. She does fun poses mimicking her paintings and will offer encouraging words. In one humorous post, she insists she is not an influencer.

Since moving back to Palm Springs, Harries

Artist Onnissia Harries celebrates Black womanhood with her large canvas paintings

has been getting reacquainted with the vibrant Southern California arts scene. She exhibited at three shows in the spring and is working on a custom art piece for a client she met while painting live at the ART x SOUND pop-up show in Long Beach.

On Father’s Day, she taught a children’s class on making kites from scratch at the Palm Springs Art Museum. “I was honored to lead another Family+ art workshop,” she said. “It brought back cherished memories of flying kites with my uncle. It was beautiful … to see families creating and playing together, and it reminded me of the power of art to bring joy and connection.”

looking forward to reconnecting with old friends and forging new bonds.

“I’m basically starting all over,” Harries said. “I already have a vast network, like I have connections with the (Palm Springs Art) museum and the industry where I worked previously, but my goal is to meet people again, to start building those relationships again, to develop roots, because I’m going to be here for a while.

“I have people here, but a lot of my friends have moved who I knew in high school. When I can start making relationships again with my community, that’s when I know I’m going to be OK.”

Learn more at www.onnissia.com.

Harries makes it a priority to hang out with her sister and baby-sit the kids several times a month. When the weather cools down, she hopes to start exhibiting at VillageFest. She’s

Haleemon Anderson is a California Local News Fellow. She can be reached at handerson@ cvindependent.com.

Onnissia Harries chats with attendees of the “ART x SOUND” event in Long Beach in May.

ARTS & CULTURE

CULTURAL COMEDY

By Matt king

There’s no denying that laughter can unite even the most different humans. Comedian Felipe Esparza has been experiencing this firsthand throughout his career as a comic. He began his comedy career in 1994—and has selling out shows since winning Last Comic Standing in 2010. He’s performed in front of everyone from drug addicts and ex-cons to families and children, and his focus on the struggle of Mexicans in America has led to a successful career as a one-of-a-kind jokester and a voice for la cultura Esparza is set to perform at Fantasy Springs at 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 27.

“I wanted to be a standup comedian since I was a kid,” Esparza said during a recent phone

interview. “I used to watch Spanish television at my mom’s house, because they would control the television. Mexican-American kids who grew up with parents speaking English, at the same time they were watching the cool shows like Dukes of Hazzard, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man or Superman, we were watching Spanish shows. We’re watching El Chapulín (Colorado), Los Polivoces—anything Spanish that my mom and dad were watching. It was kind of sad, because I had friends talking about that Bruce Lee movie that was on at 8 o’clock on Channel 5, and I had nothing. I had to talk to the lunch lady and ask her, ‘Did you see what happened to Maria? She got pregnant by Jose.’”

Standup comedy was crucial to a young Esparza—even if it was hard to come by.

“I loved comedy from that time, but where I grew up, there was no cable yet. There was no HBO,” Esparza said. “Nobody had it in the housing projects, so if you wanted to get cable, the whole project had to get cable. One day, somebody loaned me a VHS tape, and it was a three-hour tape, but … we knew how to break the tape to make it six hours, so on my tape, there was six hours of standup comedy.

I saw a Paul Rodriguez one-hour special, a Robin Williams one-hour special, Howie Mandel, Richard Pryor. I saw a lot of comedy on that tape, and I said, ‘If I can memorize this, I can do standup comedy.”

Dialing in on a career of making people laugh didn’t immediately solve all of Esparza’s problems.

“When I decided to be a standup comic, at that early age of 12, that’s where my life got darker,” Esparza said. “A lot of bad stuff started happening. I didn’t know that all the bad stuff that was happening in my life was going to lead me to be a standup comedian anyway, so I guess it was meant to be.”

To hear more about Esparza’s multiple border-crossing attempts, check out a clip from an interview on Joe Rogan’s podcast. During our conversation, Esparza explained how he recently realized why his weight fluctuated as

a kid.

“I was thinking about when I was a chubby kid, and then I wasn’t a chubby kid, and then I was a chubby kid again,” Esparza said. “I didn’t realize that it had to do with my dad not having a good job and having a better job. When he had a bad job, or no job, I was hella thin, but when he had a good job, I was fat.”

Comedy has served a therapeutic purpose for Esparza. His brand of Mexican-American-focused humor has gained support from thousands of others, even in the most unusual of places.

“I meet people, like, in Toledo, Ohio, for example, and people always say, ‘Do you change your standup comedy because you’re in Toledo or the Midwest?’ And I say, ‘No, because no matter where I go in America, even if I go to a place where there’s no Mexicans or Latinos or Puerto Ricans, somehow, I find Latinos who drove seven hours from their hometown to come to that show,’” he said. “There might be a big bunch of white people who know me from being a guest on a podcast, so they show up, but usually the loudest people in the show is la raza. They clap; they understand everything, and they love to laugh.”

Esparza finds that a wide variety of people relate to his jokes about growing up poor.

“My wife, she’s from Dayton, Ohio, and they grew up real poor in the trailer park,” Esparza said. “I was thinking, ‘Wow, that’s like a housing project for white people,’ except when we go somewhere, we just lock our doors, and they set a car alarm.”

After almost every show, Esparza stays behind and meets fans until the venue kicks him out. Through this dedication to his supporters, he’s learned that his comedy has been helpful to people who have been struggling in life.

“I had a guy one time in Pittsburgh, and he said he found my comedy when he was a crackhead and when he was going to rehab, and my standup comedy on YouTube really made him happy,” Esparza said. “I can relate to that myself, being a drug addict.”

Felipe Esparza, performing at Fantasy Springs, talks about how comedy heals—both himself and others

Drugs were another struggle Esparza dealt with in his youth. He stated in an interview with Vulture, “I didn’t have any goals, structure, anyone to lead me or tell me how to live my life when I was a teenager. I went into a gang. They jumped me in. I was a gang member. I sold drugs to people. I sold drugs to myself. I was an addict. The drugs they gave me to sell, I took.” Comedy helped lift Esparza from the struggle, he said.

“I told another drug addict this,” Esparza said. “He said, ‘When I’m sober 30 days, somehow I always go back,’ and then I asked what kind of music he listened to when he was fucked up, and I said, ‘Don’t listen to that music; listen to different music. Find another type of music you like.’ I remember when I sobered up, I started listening to old country music, and that’s something I would never listen to before. I have no memories when I listen to that. Sometimes you have a song, and you think about it, and it takes you to a time where you had a girlfriend, or when your dad was alive, or it triggers something else about the past. So I started listening to Hank Williams, because I’ve never listened to him, and I have no memories with the music. That

guy stumbled upon my standup, and it was something he’d never heard, and it started moving him.”

Esparza ended our conversation by mentioning another way in which his jokes have changed lives.

“I met a woman who said that her son brought the family together for the first time, and they were all watching me on Last Comic Standing together as a family, and then they all went together to a show, but then the son passed away,” said Esparza. “They were telling me the story about how he’s the one who brought the family together through my standup. They stopped watching television together years ago, and everybody would be on their phone or eating, but when they started watching my standup, it was, like, the first time they were all eating again and laughing again and talking about it afterward.”

Felipe Esparza will perform at 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 27, at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84245 Indio Springs Parkway, in Indio. Tickets start at $52. For tickets or more information, call 760-342-5000, or visit www. fantasyspringsresort.com.

Felipe Esparza.

Modernism Week Featured Home Tour: The Shag House

The artist Shag has reimagined this midcentury Modern home, creating a fully immersive tour experience that will make visitors feel as though they have climbed into a life-size Shag painting.

Choose from Six Unique Architectural Bus Tours Daily

Premier

The

Sinatra’s

Charles

Twilight Architectural Bus Tour

Bella

House of Tomorrow Home Tour

Clinton Meyer

David A. Lee

Michelle Boudreau

Andrew Cabral

CAESAR CERVISIA

JASON DAVID

HAIR STUDIO

By brett newton

his month, I get to do what I wish I could legitimately do every month when it comes to

The Ace Hotel and Swim Club has been hosting a beer festival in the middle of the

attended most of them, and for the most part, it is the most interesting festival in town in terms of the actual beer being poured. One of my favorite beer festival stories is from a few years back when a monsoon poured down on Palm Springs and sent everyone scurrying to hide

Country Club and Cook Street Palm De sert 760-340-5959

www.jasondavidhairstudio.net

gorgeous pilsner base-beer’s flavor and added the tropical, vinous and pine qualities to the mix masterfully. It reminds me that I should make another trip to Moorpark, if only to

the Ace’s aesthetic, so I just had to grin and bear it while yelling at everyone to ask about the beer. (I also had to fight back the PTSD flashbacks of being completely out of place in nightclubs in my 20s.)

We’re not here to talk about my past awkward attempts at meeting women, though; we’re here for beer. The first table that came into view for me was that of Enegren Brewing. I have sung their praises, many a time here and elsewhere, so I’ll spare you, but they had a new New Zealand pilsner (essentially a pilsner dry-hopped with NZ hops that has become its own beautiful substyle), and it was excellent. It retained their

Beachwood Brewing. We do get some of Seattle’s Fremont beers here in the desert, and I would encourage you to try as many as you can, because they do brilliant work. Their “Golden” pilsner was crisp and tasty, and I later went back to try their Rusty Nail, which I talked about having on a trip to San Diego’s Bottlecraft Little Italy. As for Beachwood, I’ve spent a lot of time singing their praises here, and this time, they had a lovely version of Beachwood Blendery’s Coolship Chaos with yuzu that was citrusy, funky and dry as a bone. Beachwood’s new release (at the time of writing this) was Hyperspeed IPA, which was incredibly fruity and resinous due to the

The Ace Hotel’s recent Craft Beer Fest may have set a new high standard for Coachella Valley beer events

various forms of Mosaic hops, along with Strata and, what’s become a personal favorite in the last couple of years, HBC 586. But the real winner was a single can from which the rep poured called Woodwind Section that featured tons of New Zealand Nelson Sauvin and Riwaka flavor and aroma. It was my favorite beer of the fest.

Besides Beachwood Blendery, there were a few other sour ale brewers on hand in Cellador Ales and, while not exclusively sour, Homage Brewing. Both hail from Los Angeles, and I was pleased to see an outsized representation of farmhouse-style ales; almost everything I tried was excellent. The standouts were Cellador’s Saison du Rosier, their tribute to the legendary Saison DuPont. It was a beauty—not exactly like DuPont (thankfully), but with a hint of the honey found in DuPont’s fermentation, some orange and a lovely grainy base that finishes very dry. Homage’s Pink Basil was a barrel-aged saison with strawberry and basil; if you haven’t tried this combination of flavors before, I would highly recommend you do, even if it’s not in a beer as tasty as this one.

A couple of local breweries made appearances. Across from each other were Desert Beer Company and Las Palmas Brewing. Las Palmas was only pouring their pilsner from cans, but their pils is good, so I was a happy boy. Devon Sanchez and Rob Aroz from DBC are both former co-workers of mine, and they had four beers on offer. I enjoyed the Pepino Con Chile ale (cucumber with peppers) and tried it again with some great chavela mix that Rob had whipped up. Nearby was Brewery X; while it’s not local, it was represented by Ian Schmitt, someone I knew from La Quinta Brewing’s Old Town La

Quinta location. They didn’t have anything I haven’t tried, but that is more my fault, because I love both what they do and how much of it we get here.

A brewery whose beers I hadn’t tried in a while was Figueroa Mountain Brewing out of Buellton, just off the Central Coast. I was first introduced to them randomly at an Italian restaurant in Santa Barbara at a wedding reception. I tried the Hoppy Poppy IPA and was blown away at how good it was. We started getting it in our area soon after, but I never had one quite like the one on tap. This is hardly surprising, given the amount of beer that sits on warm shelves here to die an early death. But at the Ace, the Mosaic Pale was as gorgeous as I remember that first beer was. The Mosaic hops brought tons of mango and pineapple flavor to the beer, and it had a lovely, crisp finish. The guava version of the Hoppy Poppy was also no slouch, either. This festival was the best one I’ve been to in a long while in the desert. It was good enough that I don’t have the space to get to Trumer Pils being there (always a boon); Brouwerij Huyghe (which makes Delirium Tremens and others); the excellent, fruity IPA from Creature Comforts Downtown L.A.; and the great pilsner from Topa Topa Brewing. Paul Patiño, the Ace’s general manager, seems to be doing a great job with the fest, and I look forward to more from the Ace in the future in regards to craft beer. I may have to stop by and see if any of the festival kegs made it to tap.

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.

The Ace Hotel’s recent Craft Beer Fest was held indoors—thank goodness. Brett Newton

COMPASS ROSE

Call us today to schedule a complimentary consultation and get acquainted with an independent, Fee-Only financial planning & investment management firm located here in the Coachella Valley.

Allow us to show you the benefits that result from a financial plan tailored to helping you achieve your

Michael Bourque

Charlie Brown

Cindy Burreson Andrea Carter Laura James Heath Richard

Tim Ewing

Charles Herrera

Barbara Kerr

Tod Macofsky

Lizzie Schmelling

Leslie Tinnaro

VINE SOCIAL

JASON DAVID HAIR STUDIO

By Katie finn

While the older generations still enjoy their nightly glass (or bottle), it seems that younger seltzers, craft beers and ready-to-drink cocktails, wine is starting to feel like your dad’s favorite

So what’s going wrong? I wanted to take a good, hard look into why wine sales have been on the

order to find out why anyone would turn their back on the nectar of the Gods required some research. Here’s what I discovered.

For starters, wine’s image problem is as clear as a glass of sauvignon blanc. It’s no secret that wine has long been associated with stuffy dinner parties, fancy tasting rooms and people who say things like “notes of elderflower” and “aromas of scorched earth” without cracking a smile. Add in pretentious sommeliers and wine being your parents’ beverage of choice while they’re discussing HOA fees and golf, and it seems obvious that this is not exactly the vibe most 20-somethings are going for when they’re looking to unwind or get “lit.”

And then there’s the price: Many younger consumers think of wine as an expensive indulgence, something reserved for special occasions or when they’re trying to impress someone. In a world where avocado toast is already eating up half their paycheck, shelling out $20 or more for a bottle of wine just doesn’t make sense. After all, wine is fine, but liquor is quicker, right?

To make matters worse, there’s the sheer

intimidation factor. Walk into any wine shop, and you’re hit with a wall of bottles, each with a label more confusing than the last. Is this bottle from Napa or Tuscany? Is it dry, sweet or somewhere in between? And what is it going to taste like? For a generation used to having all the answers at their fingertips, the wine world can feel totally overwhelming. They want easy; they want fun; and most of all, they want something they can pronounce.

Other ideas I found, speculating on why the younger generations are having a “no wine no way” moment, are a little harder for me to swallow—like the notion that Millennials and Gen Zers are far too health-conscious to drink wine and are instead opting for low-calorie, low-sugar and gluten-free hard seltzers. Perhaps it needs to be mentioned that wine is gluten-free, and a glass of prosecco has fewer calories than a banana?

What is true is that Gen Z is consuming less alcohol than previous age groups overall. Then again, they’re the generation of legal cannabis. More weed equals less booze. As a result, this has prompted a huge increase in non-alcoholic and de-alcoholized beverages. Trinchero

Family Estates in Napa created a dealcoholized collection of wines called Luminara; Josef Leitz has his Eins Zwei Zero riesling and sparkling wines that are as close to the real deal as I have ever tasted; and Athletic Brewing Company

Why are wine sales on the decline? Good question!

has a stellar lineup of n/a beers (or as I called them as a kid: “near beer”). Thompson & Scott produces de-alcoholized wines called Noughty from South Africa that are delicious, and Juan Gil wines in Spain (producer of the iconic Clio red blend) has an alcohol-removed wine called Shania that I really enjoyed. St. Agrestis, the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based distillery, has reached internet fame with their “Phony Negroni.”

Dubbed the ultimate cocktail dupe, these ready-to-drink mocktails are organic, vegan, gluten-free and non-GMO. What more could the hyper-conscientious generation want? I’ve tried the entire lineup, and they are 100% on point and taste just like the real deal. What about the idea that the 20-somethings are not drinking wine because it’s what their parents are drinking—sort of a rebellion or continuance of the “my parents are so embarrassing” teenager phase? This concept seems like a stretch to me, but having kids of my own, I’m constantly reminded how un-cool and utterly mortifying I am, so I suppose it’s

possible.

As a result of this data hitting the desks of winery CEOs and major thinktank organizations, there’s been a desperate attempt to reinvent the wine wheel, with a boom in ready-to-drink, pre-bottled offerings like sangria, Aperol-like spritzes, the French 75 and even a wine-based take on the margarita. (At the recommendation of one of my customers, I tried the “wine margarita” and actually really liked it!)

No matter what the cause of this wine consumption downturn is, one thing is clear: The wine industry failed to see the writing on the wall and is working in recovery mode, hoping to reboot its connection with the current market. Until then, I guess there’s just more for me.

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.

the 2 Restaurants Unlimited Flavors

FOOD & DRINK INDY ENDORSEMENT

On

this month’s menu: amazing French onion soup and tasty chicken fettucine Alfredo

By Jimmy Boegle

WHAT French onion soup

WHERE Freddie’s Kitchen at the Cole, 2323 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs HOW MUCH $12 CONTACT 760-544-2027; freddieskitchenatthecole.com

WHY The balance of flavors is perfect. I had the French onion soup during a recent family dinner at a fancy steakhouse. I poked through the gooey cheese and took a sip of the broth—and was instantly disappointed. The savory flavor was tainted by a baffling amount of sweetness.

Such disappointment is not unusual; in fact, it happens more often than not when I order French onion soup. Sometimes, the broth is under-salted; other times, it’s shockingly bland. The quality of the cheese varies, and I’ve encountered gummy, cooked onion skins a time or three.

Other times, I’m fortunate enough to order a French onion soup that is revelatory—one that reminds me why it’s one of my favorite dishes when done right. Well, I am happy to say that the French onion soup at Freddie’s Kitchen is most definitely done right.

Freddie’s is one of those places that’s been on my list of places to try for a while, and we finally made it on a recent weeknight. Only a handful of other tables were occupied, and chef Frederic Pierrel went back and forth between cooking in the kitchen and joking with customers in the dining room. Everything we ordered, from the peppered elk medallions ($38) to the braised short rib rigatoni bolognaise ($30 and also endorsement-worthy), was delicious—but that French onion soup was nearly perfect. The gruyere was a mix of crispy and creamy. The broth was impeccably seasoned. The onions were cooked through and maintained just a hint of firmness. So, so delicious.

I highly recommend Freddie’s Kitchen at the Cole. Chef Pierrel has been through the figurative wringer as of late, with the Cole Hotel just recently reopening after a closure due to a change in ownership. Go support him, and eat amazing food!

WHAT Chicken fettucine Alfredo WHERE Foxy’s Kitchen + Bar, 69950 Frank Sinatra Drive, Rancho Mirage HOW MUCH $32

CONTACT 760-424-8615; foxyskitchenandbar.com

WHY It was almost worth the wait. When the “temporary” closure of Shame on the Moon became permanent last year, I was sad, because it has long been one of my favorite old-school Coachella Valley joints. Enter Foxy’s Kitchen and Bar, which took over the space earlier this year. Some friends joined the hubby and me for a recent dinner there, and I was elated to walk into a space where I’ve experienced a lot of happy times.

I’ll start off with the positive notes: the food and drink were, for the most part, good.

I especially enjoyed my chicken fettuccine Alfredo. The chicken was cooked perfectly; the Alfredo sauce was nice and creamy; and the sun-dried tomatoes offered nice bursts of flavor. However, there was a problem: It took a significant amount of time for that chicken fettucine Alfredo and the rest of our entrées to finally arrive at our table.

I was the only member of our group to order a starter (a side Caesar salad, $8); my dining companions just ordered entrées. The salad arrived pretty quickly … and then we waited. And we waited. And we waited some more, with nobody checking on our table. Fortunately, we were enjoying each other’s company, but hunger eventually started setting in. We finally flagged down a manager, who began updating us and, eventually, helped bring out our food. All told, two hours passed between sitting down and our entrées arriving.

Of course, things go wrong in restaurants, and staffing problems are all too frequent these days, so I am not going to hold this one long wait against Foxy’s; I’ll most definitely return. My food was great—and I just love that old-school vibe.

Restaurant NEWS BITES

By charles drabkin

1501 UPTOWN GASTROPUB SOLD TO FAMILY THAT OWNS CASA BLANCA RESTAURANTS

The family that owns the four Casa Blanca restaurants around the Coachella Valley now owns 1501 Uptown Gastropub, at 1501 N. Palm Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs.

Willie Rhine and Chad Gardner opened the restaurant in the shutdown-heavy times of 2020. “Chad Gardner and I are deeply thankful for the incredible support we’ve received at 1501 Uptown Gastropub over the past three years,” wrote Rhine (who owns Willie’s Modern Fare and co-owns Eight4Nine Restaurant and Lounge) in a statement as the sale took effect on Aug. 18. “Today, we pass the rein to the new owner, Juan De Leon. Juan, along with much of the team you’ve come to know, is dedicated to maintaining the brand we’ve built together.” Watch www.1501uptown.com for updates.

SEPTEMBER BRINGS MI CHAVELA FEST, TASTE OF PALM SPRINGS

MiChavela Fest returns to celebrate Mexican Independence Day (two days early) from 4 to 11 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 14, at the Cathedral City Amphitheater, 68526 Avenue Lalo Guerrero. The festival will feature michelada vendors, live music, a lucha libre match, food trucks and a lowrider classic car show. Tickets are $29.66 for general admission, or $50.16 for VIP. Of course, attendees must be 21 and older to drink, and an adult must accompany kids under 18. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit michavelafestival.com.

Several days later, the Annual Business Expo and Taste of Palm Springs returns to the Indian Canyons Golf Resort, 1100 E. Murray Canyon Drive, from 5 to 9 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 18. The $30 entrance fee gets you unlimited access to all tastes from 40 valley restaurants, wine, beer, tequila tastings and a cocktail bar. Additionally, more than 100 local businesses showcase themselves. I have attended this event for the last few years, and it is always a good time. Tickets can be purchased at pschamber.org.

IN BRIEF

Papa Dan’s Pizza and Pasta, at 73131 Country Club Drive, in Palm Desert—destroyed by a fire in April—has taken over a space on the other side of the same shopping center, and now has a sign up saying the restaurant will be reopening soon. Papa Dan’s website, papadanspalmdesert.com, does not have details, and their published phone number doesn’t currently work—so stay tuned. … Congratulations to the three local restaurants receiving 2024 grants from the Restaurant Care Resilience Fund: Al Dente Trattoria (aldentepalmsprings.com), Thai Smile Rancho Mirage on El Paseo (thaismilerm.com) and Haus of Poke Rancho Mirage (hausofpoke.com). This fund is financed by California’s energy companies and is designed to invest in the long-term health of California’s independent restaurants and caterers. Learn more at restaurantscare.org/ resilience. … Fans of South of the Border, 11719 Palm Drive, in Desert Hot Springs, are happy that the Mexican restaurant has reopened after about a six-month hiatus. Find the restaurant on Facebook to learn more. … There are two new ways to get caffeinated in Coachella Valley: Hot Lips Coffee Shop, at 68461 E. Palm Canyon Drive, in Cathedral City (www.instagram.com/ hotlipscoffeeshopcatcity), with its fabulous pop-art-inspired décor; and Bonitas Coffee, 80150 Highway 111, in Indio (www.instagram.com/bonitascoffee), with its flower-focused theme. … Ponzu Sushi opened in July at 100 W. Tahquitz Canyon Way, in the Palm Springs space formerly housing Stout Burgers; great quality fish is served in a beautiful setting—but note that the menu is limited to sushi and a few grilled fish dishes. Learn more at www.instagram. com/ponzusushi.palmsprings. … Broken Yolk Café is now open in the beautifully remodeled Palm Springs space formerly occupied by Brickworks, at 155 S. Palm Canyon Drive. Learn more at brokenyolk.com. … A Rancho Mirage location of the local Greek chain Santorini Gyro has opened at 40101 Monterey Ave. Its menu features all the standard Greek favorites; learn more at santorinigyroacalifornia.com. … Babe’s Bar-B-Que & Brewery is closing its location at The River in Rancho Mirage, but plans to open a new Babe’s Smokehouse & Tavern early next year in the Canopy at Citrus, at 49830 Jefferson St., in Indio. The new development is quite the culinary backstreet, with Cork & Fork, Sumo Dog, Keedy’s and a variety of other restaurants housed there. … At long last, the Thompson Palm Springs, at 414 N. Palm Canyon Drive, is slated to open in September! The restaurant, Lola Rose Grand Mezze, is led by chef Quentin Garcia, who grew up in Indio and trained at Denmark’s Michelin-starred Dragsholm Slot. Lola Rose will feature Mediterranean and Levantine-inspired cuisine for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily, with late-night dining in the lounge, and brunch on Sundays. I had the opportunity to tour the facility last April, and the space is gorgeous. Get details at www.lolaroseps.com. Do you have a hot tip or news to share, reach out to foodnews@cvindependent.com.

MUSIC

COLLABORATE THROUGH RHYTHM

By matt king

Numerous global rock stars have become Coachella Valley residents, but one is taking his love for the desert a step further—by starting music-education programs for local elementary schools.

Matt Sorum, drummer extraordinaire most notable for his time in Guns N’ Roses, is the co-founder of Adopt the Arts, a nonprofit that provides music education to elementary schools.

Since 2010, the organization has been aiding schools in the Los Angeles area, but beginning this semester, Adopt the Arts is coming to the Palm Springs Unified School District. Agua Caliente, Bubbling Wells, Della S. Lindley and Vista Del Monte elementary schools will be the first in the desert to experience a diverse music curriculum led by a rock legend. The education program will come at no cost to these desert schools.

“I just love Palm Springs,” Sorum said at a recent press conference. “I came here to the Colony Palms Hotel to write an album, and I felt that desert energy. I felt that vibe that a lot of artists gravitate to here. In the ’30s, all the great entertainers came to Palm Springs, and into the ’60s with the Rat Pack, and now I feel there’s a new wave. A lot of my musician friends are moving here. My neighbor is the bass player from AC/DC. He wasn’t when he moved here, but now he is. The Foo Fighters drummer lives here, Josh Freese, and he wasn’t the drummer of Foo Fighters when he moved here.”

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer took the time to explain how Adopt the Arts is not your average rock school.

“My mother was the music supervisor for the San Juan Capistrano school district, so I grew up around music,” Sorum said. “My mother was a classically trained pianist; she played church organ, and my grandfather was a professor of music at Long Beach State University, where I was born, so I was around that, and I looked to my mom as sort of a real inspiration. I’m presenting Adopt the Arts about building a big band, and I’ve been in a lot of bands and been very successful somehow. I look at this like building a great band.”

Elementary schools have been the only focus for Adopt the Arts for a number of reasons.

“The reason I do public schools K-6 is because, for me, it’s (the) formative years,” Sorum said. “When I was a kid, I grew up in public schools in Orange County, and I had music. That came and went with Proposition 13. For me, this is about not creating the next great musician, but creating the next great innovator, next great creator, visionary. I get emotional when I think about it, because my life has taken me around the world … and now

I’m here in front of you because of music, and I’m just grateful, and I’m really excited.”

Sorum said Adopt the Arts teaches kids to work together.

“What I learned from being in a band was collaboration, having an open mind, and being willing to try ideas,” he said. “I want to work with these school teachers who are amazing already on their own to help build the greatest band together. I just want these kids to have all the tools possible to achieve their goals.”

Sorum introduced Tony Signoret, the PSUSD superintendent, at the press conference.

“What really sold us on this is not only the fact that they’re supporting the program with resources, but really, the sincerity of Matt and the difference he wants to make in the lives of our kids, and that he wants to sustain this program,” Signoret said. “This isn’t one shot and you’re done. We want to see this program grow and continue to expand these opportunities for all of our kids at some point in the near future. Getting that passion from Matt and his team and understanding how they’re going to bring those resources to our kids is really the selling point.”

Following the press conference, Sorum had time for a short interview. He walked me through the four main elements of focus in the Adopt the Arts curriculum.

Ukulele: “I don’t want to disparage any musical instrument whatsoever—they’re all good—but I feel like kids can wrap their heads around the ukulele based on the fact that it’s an open tuning. I tried guitars in my program, and six strings, getting it in tune, and all that kind of thing was demanding.”

Keyboard: “Keyboards is a no-brainer. That’s the bed of all music as far as scales and learning basic chord structure, and we’ve got a really great partnership with Casio. I’ve been working with Casio … and they make keyboards that are really kid-friendly.”

Percussion: “The drums is an obvious thing for me, but part of the percussion thing that we teach is cultural as well. They’re learning a little bit more about other countries through the drum, and through the music and the curriculum, you’ll see African percussion, Latin percussion, Native American, and then into

Matt Sorum brings music education to Palm Springs Unified elementary schools

modern beat, and how it all kind of crosses. It’s really a good part of the day where they can collaborate together through rhythm, and be together in a unit, making noise. When you play drums in a circle, there’s nothing bad that can happen, so everyone’s good, and they feel good about doing it.”

Voice: “Voice is something I came up with. It’s just another part of the day where kids get together in harmony to work as a group. It’s not competitive. Sure, you want to excel—you want to be good—but you strive to be good with the other kids who are singing alongside you, and I think when you’re in a group like that, you want to elevate yourself.”

Sorum said Adopt the Arts will help students beyond just giving them a musical education.

“I came up (in music) at a time when you had to be at a certain level to even get in the door, so that was something that set the bar,” Sorum said. “I feel like there’s a little bit of that in Adopt the Arts, to be the best you can be. Let’s give you the information, then take from it what you will and become the next great creator, the next innovator, the next president at Google, but you learned it through learning

how to create. This is a whole different facet of my life than when I was the big rock ’n’ roll guy in the big band. I still play music, but this is just as much of a passion for me. … I say to people, ‘This isn’t a rock ’n’ roll school; this isn’t about making a bunch of rock bands. It’s more diverse than that.’”

Adopt the Arts is able to keep programs free to schools because of great fundraising concerts and events featuring rock icons. Moving forward, the organization also has support from philanthropic group Stand Together.

“For these kinds of projects, you have to fund. We did good work in L.A.—and we still do good work in L.A.—but now, we’ve got great support from a group called Stand Together, who believed in the vision, and that’s going to sustain us,” Sorum said. “We’re going to obviously do fundraising and get more people involved and build this, but it does take money. I feel it’s a great investment in the community and the people, and we’re here to elevate and help support and build it up, and put a bit of voice on it.” For

Rock icon

PSUSD Superintendent Tony Signoret and Matt Sorum. Skyhawk Studio

MUSIC

HELPING VICTIMS OF WAR

By matt king

Global conflict, like the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, can leave people feeling helpless in the face of tragedy so big, and so far away. A group of local activists have combined their efforts to empower people by throwing a benefit event for some victims of the war.

Our Common Foe, a fundraiser show for families in Gaza, will take place at 5 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28, at Flat Black Art Supplies in Palm Desert. A $10 entry fee will get you access to a great

selection of local music, a wide variety of local art and food vendors, a screen-printing workshop, zine and sticker crafting, an open mic, raffles and more. All proceeds will go to different organizations supporting families in Gaza.

Event organizers Ceci, Val, and Melissa sat down for a recent interview with the Independent

“The three of us are from here (the Coachella Valley),” Ceci said. “We went to go get our education and did all that big stuff, and then we came back. While we were out in our respective places, we all were super into activism. We’re activists. We love people; we love community. I’m a community resource specialist, and anything I can do to make life better for the people of my community is something that I’m just going to jump into. Both Val and Melissa feel the same way when it comes to art, when it comes to accessibility, and when it comes to human rights in general, and that’s the biggest thing for us. We want to be able to help open a door for voices that aren’t traditionally heard.”

Ceci is one of many locals who have seen news coverage of the ongoing conflict, and wanted to provide help.

“The whole issue with the genocide is that a lot of people don’t really recognize it,” Ceci said. “A lot of people are just turning a blind eye, and it’s not our thing to just let things sit. Why not try to help? … We can make choices. We can make our own decisions; we can identify what’s wrong and try to do what we can with our hands. Because of the media and stuff, you get to see everything that’s happening around the world. How do you just shut it off? How do you just let something like that pass by you?”

One goal of the Our Common Foe event is to build community. The organizers said the name of the event “signifies the common struggles we face as a community, and how that connects us to those around the world who also have common struggles—our common foe.”

“There is a community here,” Melissa said. “There is care, and there is so much opportunity for people to … bring awareness to the

things that are happening around the world, and the struggles that we deal with day in and day out. The biggest thing about creating it here is because it’s my hometown. It’s the people I care about; it’s the people I want to connect to. I want them to know that we care.”

All three of the organizers are artists, and they felt it was important for art to be a big part of the fundraiser.

“I feel like creativity opens different doors for people to be open and learn other things,” Melissa said. “… This is a chance for them to come and just be creative, have fun, and have these hard conversations that we’re trying to normalize, because, again, they are things that we care about.”

Our Common Foe will include a screen-printing workshop, during which attendees can pay $6 to $10 to print on a blank shirt, tote or patch. You can also bring your own garment and print for free or a small donation. The intent of the workshop, along with the sticker- and zine-crafting stations, is to empower valley voices by teaching them a new skill.

“Community action takes forms in many ways, and one of them, for us, is art,” Val said. “It’s the biggest tool for artists to express themselves. … Who doesn’t art speak to? Who doesn’t it capture? Even though it might not be seen as one of the biggest weapons a person can have, it is when it really does influence so many people. Art is everywhere. These workshops, the zines, the buttons—people will spend time crafting them and putting them together, but they’ll also be taking these things home, and they’ll also be taking the information home and the experience and the interactions.”

The music lineup features musicians who are all activists in their own way.

“Everybody who’s in this event, one way or another, supports the cause,” Melissa said. “We’ve definitely been very open about what we believe in, and the people we’ve approached are people who are also advocating, like Bronca and all the DJs. We’ve had conversations about the things that are happening—conversations about what we want to do creatively through our own art form—and everybody on the line-

The ‘Our Common Foe’ event will raise funds for families in Gaza— and empower locals via the arts

up feels very strongly about that. … We all are here because we believe in the same thing, and we all want to keep advocating for that, and create that safe space for those who do feel the same way.”

Our Common Foe will also feature an hourlong open mic hosted by Props 2 Poetry.

“They’re from the east valley and started something beautiful,” Ceci said. “They’re in the library; they’re at all community centers; they’re at events; and they’re promoting people and giving them the ability to speak. A lot of people don’t really tap into poetry, because they’re afraid of it. … It’s about being able to communicate what you have to say, what you need to say, and bringing them in is really exciting, because it’s art. If it makes a statement, it’s art.”

All proceeds from the event will go to 12 direct-aid funding campaigns, helping with needs including home repairs, college funds, medicine costs and more.

“We did a little bit of research, and we found a few accounts, mainly directly to families,” Ceci said. “The aid that’s given to a lot of these organizations isn’t getting directly to Gaza or the people. … A lot of the accounts we selected are mainly GoFundMes organized by different people who are reaching out from Gaza itself— the people who need it the most.”

Our Common Foe will take place at 5 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28, at Flat Black Art Supplies, 72840 Highway 111, in Palm Desert. Admission is $10. For more information, visit instagram.com/ burntoutcreativexx.

Bronca is one of the performers at the Our Common Foe fundraiser. Sergio Lozano

MUSIC

RAMP AND ROCK

By matt king

Abig concert will be hosted in the high desert featuring a group of hard-hitting punk and thrash bands, a legendary rapper and … a skate ramp?

Yes! After a successful edition last year, Thrasher Death Match is returning to Pappy and Harriet’s on Saturday, Sept 14. Produced by the iconic skating magazine Thrasher, and sponsored by Converse CONS (shoes designed for skateboarders), Thrasher Death Match will ignite the

desert for an evening filled with intense music and top-notch skating on a mini-ramp. The event begins at 5 p.m., and the ramp is open to all skaters until 9:15 p.m.

During a recent phone interview with Jerome Case, the events and marketing director for Thrasher magazine, he discussed how Death Match came together.

“We’ve been doing the event for about 10 years, and we would do it yearly at South by Southwest in Austin, and it was always a threeday event, free to the public,” Case said. “It’s kind of a thing for the local skate community there in Austin, because we have really close ties with the skate shop that’s there called No Comply, and then we started expanding on it. We had interest in doing one in New York, so we did one there for a couple of years, and tried to see how far we could take it. Then, South by Southwest was changing directions, and we saw that there wasn’t a lot of energy around it, so we decided to take a break from it and see what else is available.”

The unconventional nature of Death Match mixed with the unconventional world-class venue in the middle of the desert led to a beautiful collaboration.

“I’d been to Pappy and Harriet’s a couple times for different shows, and it always seemed like a really cool venue and something that would work,” Case said. “I like the outdoor aspect—lots of open space. The desert, I think, adds something really cool to what our event could be. We happen to have a connection over there, so we just started the conversation, and from there, it blossomed into, ‘When can we make this happen?’”

Pappy and Harriet’s attracts crowds from all over, but most of the time, the Pioneertown Palace is filled with desert rats and people from bigger Southern California cities. Case and Thrasher chose Pappy’s to serve the skating community in both of those locations.

“We know that people in San Diego and L.A. will travel. We know they’ll go to see a show, and we know that Pappy and Harriet’s will draw a crowd from everywhere,” Case said. “For us, it was an opportunity to do something, not necessarily in L.A. proper or San Diego proper, but something that had proximity to both that

would be really cool, and we could make a difference. That’s what the desert really brought for us in Pappy and Harriet’s—we could curate it differently, make it a one-day event, still get people to drive out, and do everything we want to do. The crew there is just awesome to work with, so they made it easy.”

The music lineup for Death Match features diverse picks like the hardcore punk of Scowl, the shoegaze pop of Hotline TNT, and “Blow the Whistle” hip-hop star Too $hort.

“It goes back to our roots at South by Southwest,” Case said. “If we would do a three-day event, each day would have a different genre of music, so we would do an indie day, and then a hardcore punk day with metal mixed in, and then a rap and hip-hop day. We try to keep that going through all of our events, and keep it all tied in using our magazine connection, so it’s people who we’ve done interviews with in the mag, or friends with people who work with us, and that’s really how we get it going. We always try to bring in a legend act. Last year, we had Suicidal Tendencies; previous legend acts were Roky Erickson and Gorilla Biscuits. For this year, we wanted to highlight the Bay Area, so we reached out to Too $hort and made that happen.”

The genre-encompassing bill will make for an even crazier and unique night.

“It’s wild when you put it all together, and it all makes sense,” Case said. “The people who come out to a Speed show are going to stick around for a Too $hort show, yeah. The opening band we have, Stone Vengeance, is a thrash-metal band from the ’70s from the Bay Area. I think people, when they see them, are going to be hyped.”

As with last year’s Death Match, all of the proceeds from ticket sales will go to the Ben Raemers Foundation, which supports mental-health awareness and suicide prevention in the skateboarding world.

“Ben was a professional skateboarder,” Case said. “He was on the cover of our magazine several times, and he was a sponsored skater for Converse, who’s our presenting sponsor. We don’t use these events as a way to make money; it’s more about the community, so in order to lock in RSVPs, we decided to raise

Thrasher Death Match returns to Pappy and Harriet’s to mix music and skateboarding in a desert setting

money for the foundation. Last year, we did over $30,000 for them, and we raised ticket prices this year, so we’re looking to do even better.”

Thrasher, a 40-plus-year-old company that has changed the landscape of skating through both journalism and gear, focuses on the community when it comes to throwing events.

“Everything we do is about getting people together,” Case said. “We do a series through the summer called Thrasher Weekends. … When we sell tickets, we contribute it to a local charity. It’s always just trying to build up what the skate community is in those cities.”

Case promised that the ramp action will impress.

“We’ll have an entirely different ramp this year,” he said. “Last year, we had a pretty wild obstacle with a giant rattlesnake painted on it. That was a tribute to our former editor, Jake Phelps, who passed away. He had a snake tattoo on his arm with the skulls on it, so we used that as inspiration for the ramp last year. This year, we’re going scorpion-themed. There’s a lot of inspiration and artistic creativity we can draw from the desert.”

Thrasher Death Match will take place at 5 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 14, at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, 53688 Pioneertown Road, in Pioneertown. Tickets are $40. For tickets and more information, visit pappyandharriets.com

Diggs, a skater from the United Kingdom, at last year’s Thrasher Death Match.

MUSIC

SONIC FLAVOR

By matt king

One local band is able to seamlessly combine elements of indie rock, pop punk, metal and Japanese rock—often within the confines of one song.

That band is Tourists, a four-piece based in Palm Desert. Nick Galvan (vocalist/guitarist), Zach Rivizzigno (lead guitar/backing vocals), Billy Gargan (bass) and Xavier Ocegueda (drums) all play a part in the band’s genre-encompassing sound. Highlights include the anthemic

pop-punk and metalcore combo of “Pace Yourself” and the scorching indie-turned-anime-intro-sequence “Rent Free.”

The band was slated to release their debut album, Magic, on Aug. 30. During a recent interview, the group discussed the album’s name.

“When it came down to writing the songs, it’s what we were feeling in the room at the time,” Galvan said. “I always felt kind of shut down in my old musical projects and situations I’ve been with, so to be with these guys, and everything’s like, ‘That sounds good; that sounds good; we should build off that,’ it was very inspiring, and it just felt like magic.”

The band has come a long way since learning covers in a small bedroom.

“We started in a little small apartment in Palm Desert, and we were working together at Islands and coming over after work and shit,’” Galvan said. “Billy’s like, ‘I know a guitar player; I know somebody that might fuck with this,’ so we just started cooking together in a little bedroom setting.”

Added Gargan: “After a year of us figuring out what the sound was and how the writing process was, we really needed a drummer.” Rivizzigno recommended Ocegueda, and the band was set.

It took more than three years between writing their first song and releasing Magic. The members said they spent that time growing as musicians, establishing a positive reputation and developing a musical bond.

“It’s taken a long time for us to develop our sound.” Gargan said. “… This was the first band I’ve ever been a part of. I was learning how to play bass and learning how to gain chemistry with these guys as well. We were all kind of learning each other and how we play instruments with each other. It’s been a long process to where we’re at now, but it’s worth it.”

The unique mix of genres within their music has been pleasing to local audiences, but the sound caused trouble in the production phase.

“It’s a little bit harder than if you were to be just one genre,” Rivizzigno said. “Mixing has archetypes, where an indie-rock song has clean guitars only. It’s pretty easy to figure out a mix for that, but with some of our songs, we have little bits of metal riffs, and

then little bits of clean riffs, and you have a lot of movement going on. Billy’s doing a lot of crazy bass lines; Xavier’s got a very maximalist approach to drums, and then you have me and Nick’s guitars, which is the most opposing yet interlocking dynamic. Nick has the more chordal rhythmic approach, while I do both leaks and rhythms, and I almost have a completely different guitar tone from Nick, too. It’s very busy music, so it is harder to mix that in a way that can appease every little aspect of it.”

The band had high praise for Paul Francis, of Get Right Recording in Joshua Tree, for nailing their eclectic sound.

“Each song can have its own different sonic flavor,” Rivizzigno said. “‘Starting Over’ has distorted, heavy rhythm guitars, while ‘Senseless’ has more spacey, droning parts, but also pop-punk parts. Each song has to be mixed differently, so it’s a little bit tough to do that, but we make it work. Paul from Get Right Recording does a really good job being accommodating with that.”

Added Ocegueda: “I worked with Paul prior with another project … and approaching that was a bit of a learning curve. I remember taking mental notes, that when I do another project, I know exactly how to go about it. This time, I knew things I would like to try. … This was the first time I was able to bring real creativity to natural drums, as opposed to just whatever drum track was on the computer. It’s kind of nice, and having a raw sound is something I’ve always wanted to do.”

Only three of the album’s 10 songs have been previously released, meaning seven new genre-bending songs are being added to Tourists’ repertoire. Songs like the groove-pop earworm “Trouble in Paradise,” the explicitly funky interlude à la Adult Swim bumper “Clarity” and the punk-metal-pop hybrid “Rendezvous” show the diversity of the band’s musical palette; the album is a well-polished product after years of writing.

“The songs have been a slow burn,” Rivizzigno said. “… If you go back to the very first couple of Tourists shows, I’m playing some of the songs completely different from how they sound now, because it was a slow process

The band Tourists blends indie, metal, Japanese

rock and more on debut album ‘Magic’

of writing them over time, which is not what I used to do. I usually just write stuff on the computer myself, but this was writing as I play them live and learning what’s easier for me, what the audience likes, and what I like. It was a very long writing process, and I think the songs are at their peak form right now.”

The band noticed a lot of growth during their live shows.

“Playing live together has really helped us out a lot,” Gargan said. “We’ve had good shows, and we’ve had shows where we’re like, ‘Oh, we could have worked on this; I could have played bass better.’ This band has really come together as one unit, and like Zach said, it’s been a process. My parts have changed over time; Xavier’s parts have changed over time; Nick has changed things over time.”

Releasing a debut album, especially after years of pouring love and effort into the creation, can lead to a number of emotions. For Tourists, a big one is excitement.

“I’m so excited to play good music with genuine people, and I’m excited for people to hear this,” Ocegueda said. “Honestly, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do, so I’m excited to see it happen.”

Another big emotion is hope—that this album will both serve as a representation of a diverse scene, and inspiration for other musicians and creatives.

“I think the scene here is good, because it’s been really about community, and that’s what I care about more than fame or anything like that,” Rivizzigno said. “I like the fact that these shows, and playing music for people, offer a space for people to get along and enjoy the music. I hope people will be reminded of that when they listen to this album. All the different styles that we merge together, I hope, will be a testament to the eclecticism of the valley, and all the different genres people like.”

Tourists.

MUSIC

DECADES OF DANCE-POP

By matt king

Since 1987, singer and performer Taylor Dayne has been riding the dance-pop high of her hit “Tell It to My Heart”—and filling her career with musical milestones.

As you surely know, “Tell It to My Heart” is almost four minutes of electric and contagious ’80s synth-dance rhythms, and Dayne’s energetic vocal performance helps keep the party going. Since the mega-hit, Dayne has made numerous advances in the music and entertainment

scene, crafting six more Top 10 singles, crossing over into other genres, and even starring in TV and film.

She’s bringing the latest version of her dance-filled set to Agua Caliente Cathedral City on Saturday, Sept. 7.

“Palm Springs is such a little oasis,” Dayne said during a recent phone interview. “It has such a great charm, and there are so many great things about it. I love that desert. I always feel like, when I’m there, I’m removed from so much. It’s very beautiful.”

Her performance in Cathedral City is being

billed as “Ladies Night,” as she will share the stage with another ’80s pop star, Tiffany.

“We’ve definitely crossed paths many, many times, and she’s just a lovely girl,” Dayne said. “She’s really just enhanced, and she’s grown so much in her cooking shows and her country music. I think when you bring artists together who started in that same genre of time, it’s just more exciting for fans. We keep it high-energy. For me, my show has always been about live vocals, my power, and really connecting to my fans with the energy of what a live show is about.”

Keeping up a high-energy vocal performance nearly four decades into a singing career is no easy task.

“You’ve got to be an athlete,” Dayne said. “You’ve got to train like that; you’ve got to think like that. It’s kind of like asking Mick Jagger, ‘Does it take its toll?’ Of course it does, but at the same time, there’s no exact feeling in the world like this, when you’re onstage, experiencing that connection with your fans, and that endorphin feeling, that rush. It makes it highly addictive on some levels, and yet none of it is easy—getting there, going there, doing that, putting it together. But when you’re with your fans, that reciprocity of exchange of energy is quite beautiful.”

Dayne’s performance at Agua Caliente will serve as a warm-up of sorts before the singer heads out on a Canadian tour alongside Paula Abdul from late September through late October.

“It’s a new show, new concepts,” Dayne said. “… We have a lean, mean show going. We have 22 dates in 30 days throughout all of Canada, so that’s pretty exciting. There’s a lot of work going into that. Paula, right before she broke, she was choreographing, and she did my second video, ‘Prove Your Love,’ so it’s amazing to see us 35 years later, on top of our game and doing what we’re doing.”

The thought process going into planning a live show is much different than it was in the ’80s and ’90s, but Dayne still views the art of the concert as vastly important, especially when visiting new or not-often-visited markets.

“You’re just putting pieces of a puzzle together; then you’re doing logistics, and then

Taylor Dayne, performing at Agua Caliente Cathedral City, continues to reach for the stars

you’re seeing the markets,” Dayne said. “These are markets I haven’t been to in a long time, so I’m really excited. These are fans I haven’t seen in a minute, and that’s the whole purpose of it. We get out there in those places where people haven’t been in a while, and that’s where live music comes in and brings everybody together. Those shows are really important.”

In April of this year, Dayne released an EP titled The Capitol Sessions, a collection of six covers that helped Dayne reinvigorate her love for music after the pandemic.

“Capitol Sessions was a really unique record. Like everybody, I had to resolve my own creative issues of being locked up and not with a band, and not touring,” she said. “… I got to work with Gregg Field, and we kind of slowly did it out of his studio in his home. It was an interesting and beautiful way to collaborate during a time where a lot of it was difficult.

“I started doing home sessions, where I was just kind of picking an artist and going through their music, and then it led into what’s called ‘Dayne’s Den.’ I had a studio in the back of my house, and we built that out a little bit, and I got a few musicians to come together, and we opened the doors, and we just were playing. That’s what kind of led to The Capitol Sessions—really looking at the music that inspired me in songs and artists and then recording. The choice of covers that I did, it was really just a showcase of my voice, and then the musicianship. We were taking swab tests every day, and doing our due diligence, but it was great to be back with a bunch of musicians, and get in there and record this.”

Looking toward the future, after reflecting on a career of many accomplishments, Dayne said she still has a few more goals.

“I just always feel like I have to prove things to myself now,” Dayne said. “I’m always running against myself, or really judging or trying to make sure I stay mentally in the best place, physically in the best place, and spiritually in the best place. … You’re always just reaching for the stars and always reaching for more creative goals, and that would be what I’m looking for— attaining those goals that still have been out of reach, and you just keep going for them. That’s the purpose of life, and that’s my purpose.”

Taylor Dayne will perform with Tiffany at 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 7, at Agua Caliente Cathedral City, 68960 E. Palm Canyon Drive, in Cathedral City. Tickets are $59.10, and attendees must be 21+. For tickets or more information, visit aguacalientecasinos.com.

September!

entertainment.

Acrisure Arena is bringing in some notable Spanish artists—and family fun! At 8 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 1, regional Mexican artist Carin León returns to the desert, after his diverse sound landed him spots at both Coachella and Stagecoach earlier this year. Tickets as of this writing start at $246.30. Global sensation—and owner of a famous haircut—Peso Pluma will grace the biggest stage in the valley at 8:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 6. Tickets start at $196.40. At 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 7, re-live the 1970s with two of the greatest bands of that era, Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire, featuring a special encore with both bands onstage at the same time. Tickets start at $117.81. The Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live Glow Party returns to the desert with more monster trucks and more neon fun at 12:30 and 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 14; and 2:30 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 15. Tickets start at $54.45. At 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 20, Latin-music sensation and pop star Chayanne is set to perform. Tickets start at $113.30. San Bernardino-bred Spanish music hitmakers Fuerza Regida will perform at the arena at 8 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 29. Tickets start at $198.73. Acrisure Arena, 75702 Varner Road, Palm Desert; 888-695-8778; www. acrisurearena.com.

Fantasy Springs has a busy musical schedule. At 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 6, get “Bad to the Bone” with George Thorogood and the Destroyers, celebrating 50 years of riffs. Tickets start at $52. At 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 13, catch an evening with blues-rock singer/ guitarist Bonnie Raitt, who got started in the ’70s and is still going strong, winning Song of the Year at the 2023 Grammy Awards. Tickets start at $72. Latin-pop siblings Jesse & Joy are

Peso Pluma

Happy

The worst of the summer heat is behind us, and the best venues in the valley are providing some awesome

set to perform a show spanning their nearly two-decade career at 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 21. Tickets start at $42. At 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28, former Eagles guitarist and virtuoso Don Felder will shred the night away. Tickets start at $52. Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84245 Indio Springs Parkway, Indio; 760-3425000; www.fantasyspringsresort.com.

Spotlight 29 offers entertainment covering a wide variety of interests! At 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 6, comedian and podcaster Tom Segura will bring the laughs to Coachella. Remaining tickets start at $95.50. At 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 13, Los Huracanes del Norte will electrify the east valley with norteño vibes. Tickets start at $38.80. Pay tribute to some Spanish-music icons with Corazon De Mana (a tribute to Mana) at 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 14. Tickets start at $23.30. Experience a double dose of Mexican jams at 8 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 15, with performances by Alta Consigna and Banda Renovacion. Tickets start at $28.50. At 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 20, R&B singer Joe will perform. Tickets start at $48.25. Country star Sara Evans will visit the valley at 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 21. Tickets start at $37.95. Spotlight 29 Casino, 46200 Harrison Place, Coachella; 760-775-5566; www.spotlight29.com.

Morongo is hosting a few selections of weekend fun. At 9 p.m., Friday, Sept. 6, funnyman Eddie Griffin, star of HBO and Comedy Central specials, will leave you with your sides hurting. Tickets start at $68.25. Sketch comic and social-media sensation Kountry Wayne is set to perform an evening of unique standup at 9 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 7. Tickets start at $57.25. At 9 p.m., Friday, Sept. 13, Latin singer Ana Barbara will take the Morongo stage. Tickets start at $57.25. At 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 14, dance to Banda La Adictiva. Tickets start at $68.25. County star and American Idol alum Scotty McCreery will perform at 6 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 22. Tickets start at $52.47. Morongo Casino Resort Spa, 49500 Seminole Drive, Cabazon; 800-252-4499; www.morongocasinoresort.com.

The Venue REPORT

continued from page 35

Agua Caliente in Rancho Mirage is hosting a mix of entertainment genres. At 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 6, the comedian commonly known as “America’s Favorite Husband,” Steve Treviño will bring his family-focused brand of comedy to town. Tickets start at $25. At 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 14, Hong Kong performers Maria Cordero and Mimi Choo will share music, laughter and more. Tickets start at $78. Sing along to “Carry on Wayward Son” and countless other hits at 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 20, when Kansas heads to Rancho Mirage. Tickets start at $65. At 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 27, celebrate a great group of classic rockers with a performance by REO Speedwagon. Tickets start at $75. Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa Rancho Mirage, 32250 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage; 888-9991995; www.aguacalientecasinos.com.

Agua Caliente in Palm Springs this month offers more residencies and more comedy. Desert Blues Revival Wednesdays welcome a mix of old and new blues from BoneThumpers (Sept. 4), blues-rock power trio The Alvarez Band (Sept. 11), a soul/ funk mix from Kaye Bohler (Sept. 18) and legendary blues from Len Rainey and the Midnight Players (Sept. 25). Shows are at 7 p.m., and tickets start at $17.85, available at eventspalmsprings.com. Carousel Thursdays host big covers done theme-park style from Phat Cat Swinger (Sept. 5), the soulful and seductive voice of Terrell Edwards (Sept. 12), a tribute to iconic vibraphonist and percussionist Lionel Hampton from Jason “Malletman” Taylor (Sept. 19) and Balkan and Roma music from Andrew Cohen (Sept. 26). Shows are at 7 p.m., and tickets start at $17.85 to $24.25, available at eventspalmsprings.com. For the comedy: Finnish comic ISMO will perform at 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 14, and Saturday Night Live icon Darrell Hammond will do a set at 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28. Tickets for both shows start at $40. Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs, 401 E. Amado Road, Palm Springs; 888-

999-1995; www.aguacalientecasinos.com.

Here are some highlights from a very busy September at Pappy & Harriet’s. At 8 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 1, DJs and counterculture saviors Emo Nite return to the desert for an evening of 2000s rock gems. Tickets start at $26. Grateful Dead cover band Grateful Shred will evoke the jam-band energy, alongside instrumental funk stars Circles Around the Sun, at 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 6. Tickets are $40.50. At 9:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 13, enjoy a night of experimental music and a unique stage show from Beats Antique. Tickets are $29.50. Sonic Youth bassist Kim Gordon brings her experimental rock to Pioneertown at 6:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 27. Tickets are $49.12. Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, 53688 Pioneertown Road, Pioneertown; 760-228-2222; www.pappyandharriets.com.

Oscar’s in Palm Springs has a busy month, residencies aside. At 7 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 7, celebrate freestyle music with a concert featuring Connie, Betty Dee of Sweet Sensation, Pretty Poison, Nocera and JJ Fad. After the concert, the courtyard will transition into a dance floor. Tickets start at $39.95. At 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 13, stylistically varied singer Maximo will provide the soundtrack to an enchanting evening. Tickets start at $45. Mixing standup comedy and musical fun is John Hill, performing his show “Wellness Check” at 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 20. Tickets start at $49.95. Film and TV star

Garrett Clayton shares songs and stories from his musical journey at 7 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 21. Tickets start at $39.95. At 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 27, check out an acoustic performance by 1980s pop phenom Debbie Gibson. Tickets start at $59.95. Most shows include a food/ drink minimum. Oscar’s Palm Springs, 125 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs; 760-3251188; oscarspalmsprings.com/events.

The Purple Room is back and featuring some notable events amidst their residencies. At 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 7, powerhouse vocalist Debby Holiday will perform. Tickets start at $50.85. At 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 13, drag is on full display as queens Jackie Beat and Sherry Vine host “Battle of the Bitches: Ladies of the ’80s,” a night where anything goes. Tickets start at $45.70. Jonathan Karrant will sing the songbook of Johnny Mercer at 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 14. Tickets start at $45.70. At 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 20, and Saturday, Sept. 21, jazz vocalist Jane Monheit will celebrate the release of her new album. Tickets start at $61.15. Paying homage to Miss Peggy Lee is Chuck Sweeney with an evening of song and fun at 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 27. Tickets start at $45.70. At 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28, Clint Holmes will perform a set honoring icons of stage, screen and song. Tickets start at $45.70. Michael Holmes’ Purple Room, 1900 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs; 760-322-4422; www. purpleroompalmsprings.com.

Kim Gordon

LiveWaterWise

MUSIC

LUCKY 13 the

Get to better know the brainchild of pop act ju!ian and half of metal band WISEMANSAY

by matt king

NAME Julian Perez GROUP ju!ian

MORE INFO Local artist Julian Perez, the brainchild behind recording project ju!ian, has been catching the attention of people local and beyond thanks to some fun pop jams. Perez has been exploring catchy grooves throughout his releases so far. Check out the funky bedroom-pop vibe of “Unusual” and the modern-jazz feel of “Never Change.” Find ju!ian on Spotify or visit www.instagram.com/ julian__p3rez to learn more.

What was the first concert you attended?

A U2 concert with my family. My dad loves U2, and we went to go see them together. It was a lot of fun, besides the two people fighting on the subway, and the row behind us chain-smoking, but that’s the concert experience, right?

What was the first album you owned?

The very first album I owned on record was Ctrl by SZA. Keep in mind, I didn’t even know what vinyl records were, but I made my dad buy it for me, because it seemed cool. Now I have a very-well-taken-care-of collection of 50-plus records.

What bands are you listening to right now?

The Marías, Yot Club, strongboi, TV Girl and a lot of The Cardigans thanks to my creative director, Sami Simonds

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

I saw this on Tik Tok, but I don’t really care for when artists release albums without a structure. How does that make sense? When I listen to albums, it’s in order, so make the track listing make sense! Aside from that, everyone’s entitled to their own opinions; that’s what’s

unique about music. There’s no right or wrong way to do it.

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

I would love to see The Marías live. Their new staging and overall band chemistry now seems so exciting.

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

Electric guitars. Something about the sound of it is just so pleasing to my ears. Ambry Padilla may have a lot to do with that; she’s absolutely hypnotizing and breathtaking. … She’s also an amazing guitarist!

What’s your favorite music venue?

Ever since my band started playing venues, we found such a safe space and home at YouTheatre Players at the mall in Palm Desert. Chuck Balgenorth and Richard De Haven are two of the most generous creatives in the valley, and I’m continuously thankful for all they and YouTheatre Players have done for me.

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

“Oooh that was so reeealll,” Jeff Buckley on “So Real.”

What band or artist changed your life?

Ariana Grande. Her ability to stack her vocals and the attention to detail she puts into her music are what makes me so excited to be an artist. I have never listened to music the same way since watching her process of creating music. Shameless plug as well, though: My band has changed my life for sure. Ambry Padilla, Argentina Maduena and Joshik Sanchez are all super-talented and extremely down to earth. I appreciate them so much, and all they contribute to the band. They’re amazing.

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

I’d ask Tyler, the Creator, if the band and I could perform at his festival, Camp Flog Gnaw.

What song would you like played at your funeral?

“Wait for You (Demo)” by grentperez.

Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time? Harry’s House by Harry Styles.

What song should everyone listen to right now?

I think everyone should listen to “Trying hard to find” (feat. Jayla greenbean)” by DVON SRNT. DVON is a genius when it comes to his producing and vocal abilities, so this song deserves more recognition.

NAME Shayne Winchester GROUP WISEMANSAY

MORE INFO The desert’s metal music scene continues to grow with new bands and new music, and one of the latest adds is WISEMANSAY, a duo with Mikayla Fazzone and Shayne Winchester; the latter answered our slate of questions. Headbang-inducing guitar tones, annihilating drums and intense, screaming vocals are only part of the WISEMANSAY equation, as the band also effortlessly crosses over into soft, beautiful melodies from the instruments, and somber, singing vocal lines. The band’s latest single, “Gemini,” brings this intricate combination to a head, with more brutal guitar-chugs on full display. For more info, visit instagram.com/wisemansayband.

What was the first concert you attended?

Kiss with Aerosmith and Saliva.

What was the first album you owned?

Avenged Sevenfold, City of Evil. My dad used to get these CD catalogs in the mail, and the family would circle the CDs they want. Since then, I’ve been a huge Avenged fan!

What bands are you listening to right now?

Currents, Miss May I, and Good Charlotte— basically listening to some nostalgia and some newer stuff to get some ideas for future WISEMANSAY stuff, ha ha.

What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get? I know I will get some flack about it, but I am not a huge fan of punk/hardcore, ha ha. It’s not for me; I’ve got to have some dynamics in there.

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

Lorna Shore or Knuckle Puck. Or even on the same bill? Some pop punk and then end it with some deathcore? Count me in!

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

Synthwave and country! Synthwave just sends me in a trance, and you can get lost in it. With country music, I was raised on it, and it’s “farmercore,” lol.

What’s your favorite music venue?

That’s a tricky one. The last venue I went to was in San Diego at SOMA. That one was so surreal! I hope to play there someday.

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

One of my favorite lyrics that sticks in my head is from a band called The Amity Affliction. The lyric goes: “I have to carry on, but not without my ghosts.” That line is so beautiful. It shows that no matter where you go in life or whatever you do, you can’t forget your past and the things you went through—hence the words “my ghosts.”

What band or artist changed your life?

This answer goes back to the last question: The Amity Affliction. The way Joel Birch (vocalist) uses his words to connect with the listener is amazing, especially with mental health. He’s the reason why I do vocals and for the way I use my words.

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

How do you keep going? What keeps you from not giving up? The musician could be anyone.

What song would you like played at your funeral?

“Seize the Day” by Avenged Sevenfold. Ever since I saw that music video with Synyster Gates playing the solo on the casket, I knew from then I wanted that same thing, too.

Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?

You’re asking someone who loves music, ha ha. That’s tough, but I’ve got one! Motionless in White’s Scoring the End of the World. So many bangers on that!

What song should everyone listen to right now?

“ENLIGHTENMENT (?)” by While She Sleeps. That ending solo is *chef’s kiss*!

OPINION COMICS & JONESIN’ CROSSWORD

“Hassle-Free”—it’s themeless time! By Matt

Jones

Across 1. Appropriate phrase for 1-Across?

10. Digital party notice

15. Question of camerareadiness?

16. Type of colony

17. Longer shift, maybe 18. Speechify

19. ___-Ball (arcade game)

20. 1959 Günter Grass novel with narrator

Oskar Matzerath

22. Perfume base

24. Coworker of Knope and Swanson

25. John Lee Hooker blues classic of 1962

28. Key in the corner

31. Willing to speak up

34. Golf equipment

35. Mil. address

36. “Hey there, sailor!”

37. Culotte-like portmanteau

38. Singer Jason, or punctuated differently, his 2005 album

39. Title for Arthur Conan Doyle

40. Ancient bread grain

41. Precipitous

42. Approximate weight of a newborn gray whale calf

43. “Kiko and the Lavender Moon” band

45. Poet Gil ___-Heron

47. “When I was a lad I served ___” (navalbased Gilbert & Sullivan lyric)

50. Commences nagging

54. Unaltered, in a way

56. Rentable

57. Almost

59. Playground marble

60. “Yes, that’s my answer, 100%”

61. Foreshadowed

62. Pop star who recently tweeted “kamala IS brat”

Down

1. Some PC hookup systems

2. Actress Henningsen of Hazbin Hotel

3. 2020 Christopher Nolan (or is it Nalon?)

movie

4. Magnolia virginiana, alternately

5. Ventured

6. It’s not “esto” or “eso”

7. ___ gallop (rhetorical technique with rapid-fire dishonest confrontation)

8. Jazz vocalist Anderson who worked with Duke Ellington

9. Neighboring 10. Nachos and sandwiches, for example

11. Salsa ___ 12. Owing

13. 2000s Russian music duo who teased onstage kisses

14. Silver or gold, for short

21. Words of refusal

23. CompuServe competitor, once

26. Meathead’s real name

27. Footage that’s not the main action

29. Small quarrel

30. Subgenre of mystery books usually set in a small community

31. Colossal

32. State that means “weird,” in Gen Z slang

33. Side that may involve elote

37. Acne, outside the U.S.

38. Quattroporte maker

40. Like some serving spoons

41. Very in

44. Friendly talk

46. Zeus’s island birthplace

48. Unwind

49. Like the acid in apples

50. Movie franchise within the “Scream” movie franchise

51. Nation tucked between Benin and Ghana

52. The Secret of ___ (1982 animated film)

53. Two-tone mammal

55. Minnesota WNBA team

58. Address bar address

© 2024 Matt Jones

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