Gabriel Hart is a journalist and author from Morongo Valley, CA.

Twentynine Palms Junior High School redesignated as a “School to Watch”

Twentynine Palms Junior High has been redesignated as a School to Watch by the California League of Schools. The designation as a California Schools to Watch signifies that TPJHS has demonstrated outstanding success in providing a challenging and supportive learning environment for its students. To earn this designation, schools must complete an extensive application and host a site visit by middle grades experts. TPJHS originally received this designation in 2020 and has now been redesignated…

MUSD increases substitute teacher pay rate, changes course with last month’s layoff resolution

The Morongo Unified School District Board of Trustees held their regular 6 PM meeting last night at Joshua Tree Elementary. Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services Amy Woods started the meeting by recognizing Twentynine Palms High School Senior Joshua Corrado who recently passed the ACT with the highest possible score of 36, an achievement only reached by about 1% of the students who take the test nationally. 29 Palms High School senior Joshua Corrado recognized for his high ACT…

MUSD Board of Trustees to approve substitute teacher wage increase at tonight’s meeting

The Morongo Unified School District Board of Trustees will hold their regular 6 PM meeting tonight at Joshua Tree Elementary. For the meeting’s agenda, Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services Amy Woods will start by recognizing Twenty-Nine Palms High School student Joshua Corrado, who earned the highest possible ACT score of 36. Director of Ed Tech, Data & Assessment Celeste Wahlberg and Director of Information Technology Troy Slayden will present the Technology Plan. Assistant…

Copper Mountain College hosts free President’s Circle Dinner this Tuesday

Copper Mountain College’s educators from Fire Technology, Criminal Justice, EMT Students, and Faculty are hosting the President’s Circle BBQ at CMC’s Bell Center on Tuesday, March 19th. CMC Superintendent President Dr. Darren Otten and CMFC President Ron Sears are inviting the public to learn how their support of Copper Mountain College is strengthening public safety, providing a free BBQ steak dinner while aiming to raise crucial scholarship funds for students pursuing careers in public safety.…

Joshua Tree 2nd Saturday Art Crawl tonight

The 2nd Saturday Joshua Tree Art Crawl will be happening tonight at various Joshua Tree art galleries, all free and with refreshments. Art Queen Gallery presents Circumstance, a new exhibition of emotionally driven, figurative works by Esther Shaw. Shaw is a 20-year Yucca Valley artist, whose latest works are her own process of working figurative images into places of everyday encounters with others. Often, these paintings are focused on social issues as in her Sleeping Baby…

“Big Read” month long reading event celebrates 5th year with the book ‘Sitting Pretty’

For the 5th year in a row, the Morongo Basin celebrates the annual Big Reads Community-Wide Reading Event which started on March 2nd and goes to April 1st. After receiving a $20,000 Big Reads grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for the 5th year, Arts Connection will be holding another month of free public programs and activities centered around the themes of the memoir-in-essays Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body by author and disability advocate Rebekah…

MVCSD Board of Directors approve temporary spending freeze

The Morongo Valley Community Services District Board of Directors held a last-minute special meeting last night in Covington Park’s multipurpose room. With last night’s meeting beginning in closed session for continued performance evaluation for fire chief and general manager with no reportable action, the Board returned to open session to tackle two action items. The first: a proposed spending freeze for the district, since approximately $130,000 of unbudgeted funds have been spent addressing…

Desert Draw Club tonight at Hey There Projects in Joshua Tree

Joshua Tree’s Hey There Projects will be hosting their Desert Draw Club this Thursday, March 7th, in their back gallery space. Join Hey There Project’s recurring life drawing session, hosted by artist Ben Vitale. Three hours of multi-poses from five to forty-five minutes. The first part of the drawing club will start with classic figure poses and build to longer poses with costumes, all set to tone with great music. There will be chairs, tables, and some drawing boards for participants, but Hey…

‘Birding For Fun’ begins this Saturday at Big Morongo Canyon Preserve

Morongo Valley’s Big Morongo Canyon Preserve will be hosting a new series of guided nature walks for bird enthusiasts starting this Saturday, March 2nd. Big Morongo Canyon Preserve is an internationally recognized birding site, a regular nesting area for several rare or unusual species and many other species abundant during the spring and fall migration seasons. The Preserve has been designated as one of the United States’ Important Bird Areas by the American Bird Conservancy, the American…

Twentynine Palms High School’s Joshua Corrado scores highest possible score on ACT exam

Joshua Corrado, a senior at Twenty-Nine Palms High School has earned the highest composite ACT score of 36. The ACT is a curriculum-based achievement exam that measures what students have learned in school. Regarding Corrado’s high score, ACT CEO Janet Godwin said, “Earning a top score on the ACT is a remarkable achievement. A student's exceptional score of 36 will provide any college or university with ample evidence of their readiness for the academic rigors that lie ahead. For…