play ball! power baseball
In this issue: welcome to the new palm canyon paradise the paper for people who love palm springs Eat Palm Springs! Restaurant week has arrived. we’ve got it (burp) covered! short attention span? perfect. palm springs short festival is this month! we get some short answers to our brief questions from fest director lili rodriguez tales from the hangar - ian sitren spins a story from the palm springs air museum Play Ball! Palm Springs Power takes the field! downtown development update: don’t worry, nobody else is going to prison (that we know of). yet. city opens new cooling centers so we don’t kill people off over the summer (see below). events to read about while you sweat (or not, if you happen to be in one of the cooling centers) desert tours this fall: Route 66 through the Mojave desert and Amargosa Opera House
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he fireworks were on the field and in the skies about Palm Springs Stadium on June 2 when the Palm Springs POWER held their opening game for the 2017 season, held at home in Palm Springs. The POWER fell behind the SoCal Catch on the very first pitch of the season, but the Catch learned quickly that starting pitcher Jordan Dreibelbis wasn’t a pushover. From the mound, Dreibelbis decided not to be quite so generous after giving up a home run to Catch shortstop Jonathan Ducoff, making Ducoff’s home run the first, and last, score for the Catch on opening night. The POWER went on to clinch the win, 6 to 1, with Dreibelbis only giving out five hits while striking out six batters during seven innings on the mound. Pitcher Bryan Menendez added a strikeout to the list, as did Gabe Gentner. With the POWER’s opening domination of their opponents, they’re in good position to take the lead in the Southern California Collegiate Baseball League. The SCCBL, a six team summer collegiate league, is based out of Palm Springs. It offers an opportunity for top-notch college baseball atheletes to work with top coaches and hone their skills over the summer as they prepare for the next college baseball season. Most folks don’t think of Palm Springs as a baseball city, but the site of the Palm Springs Stadium, and later the stadium itself, home to the POWER, has a connection to the game dating back to the 1950s, when the Seattle Rainiers played on the site’s polo grounds. In 1951, the Chicago White Sox spent spring training at the stadium, followed by the Cincinatti Reds, the Pittsburgh
Pirates, and others. In the early 1960s, the stadium hosted spring training for the California Angels, owned at the time by Gene Autry, who was also a part-time resident of the city. The Angels, who once held an annual exhibition game every April in Palm Springs, had a class-A minor league affiliate team, the Palm Springs Angels, who played at the stadium from 1986 to 1993, followed by the Palm Springs Suns, and beginning in 2004, the POWER. The California Winter League also calls the stadium home during January and February. With former head coach Casey Dill taking over from retiring Harry Gurley as manager, the POWER is preserving continuity within the club, and with John Mauldin and Cody Ducote returning this season, another SCCBL championship may be on its way. In the meantime, is there anything that embodies summertime better than the crack of a bat under a dusky desert sky on a toasty June or July evening, with hotdogs grilling, and a cold beer in hand? Nah. This is as American as you can get. Come on out and partake as the POWER, who have taken multiple championships over the years, try to work their magic on the diamond once again. Get game times and ticket information at palmspringspowerbaseball.com, and bring the family. There are plenty of options for groups and meal combos, and all active military, police, fire, and EMS personnel get free admission with ID, while students and seniors get discounts. With all this, there’s no reason not to... play ball!
welcome to the palm canyon paradise
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elcome to Sun Runner Media’s new upbeat, monthly newspaper, specifically for people who love Palm Springs, whether they’re longtime locals or first time visitors: The Palm Canyon Paradise. The Paradise isn’t your usual Coachella Valley publication. We only cover Palm Springs, with a focus on the Palm Canyon corridor and downtown. The only time we’ll get political is if we have a little fun with current events, but we’re strictly non-partisan, and all we’re concerned with is sharing the people, places, events, and stories of Palm Springs, and doing our small part to help keep Palm Springs as beautiful and welcoming as pos-
sible. It’s a unique city in the desert, and in the world, and we’re all for keeping it that way. I’d like to dedicate this debut issue to someone I have a great deal of respect and admiration for, both personally and professionally—George Zander. George embodied a lot of what is special about Palm Springs, and worked to always make it even more special. The Paradise is a new publication, but I’m not new to publishing, or Palm Springs. Please visit our website at palmcanyonparadise.com to learn more about how you can be part of this paper in so many ways, and thanks for reading. There’s much more to come! – Steve Brown
Stay Cool! palm springs Cooling Centers • Demuth Community Center 3601 E.ast Mesquite Avenue Monday – Friday: 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. • Palm Springs Leisure Center 401 South Pavilion Road Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. • Palm Springs Public Library 300 South Sunrise Way Monday: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Tuesday & Wednesday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m., Thursday: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Friday & Saturday: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. • Welwood Murray Memorial Public Library 100 South Palm Canyon Drive Daily: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. • James O. Jessie Desert Highland Unity Center 480 Tramview Road Monday – Friday: 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. For more information, call Dale Cook in Community & Economic Development at (760) 323-8198.
there’s more paradise online! www.palmcanyonparadise.com 1