The Morongo Unified School District has announced that they will once again be offering free meals to all students during the upcoming 2024-25 school year. Lunch and breakfast will be served at no charge at all MUSD sites, provided under the National School Lunch / School Breakfast Programs. Through the Community Eligibility Provision, a non-pricing meal service funding option for school districts in low-income areas, these programs are free to students regardless of their parent’s income…

While tourism in the hi desert is beginning to dwindle for the summer, Joshua Tree National Park tends to make comfortable room for locals and die-hard climbers again. But what about some other spots down the highway that we forget or may have never been? Deep Creek Hot Springs is a remote paradise hidden just outside of Apple Valley, an oasis that must be seen to be believed. But it’s a paradise that must be earned, after a challenging four miles drive up into the mountains, then a dynamic…

Earlier this week, the Morongo Valley’s Big Morongo Canyon Preserve suffered rampant vandalism that included graffiti and destruction of property. In two separate incidents—one less apparent on the night of Sunday, July 7th, then another more serious call on Wednesday morning, July 10th—the Preserve’s Executive Director Kevin Wong received multiple calls from staff and visitors regarding tagging and five of the benches on Marsh Trail were ripped from their mounts and overturned. Some may see…

Author Susan Rukeyser. Photo by Sandra Goodin Local author Susan Rukeyser will be celebrating the release of her new novel The Worst Kind of Girl this Friday at Hi-Desert Times Magazines on Friday (7/12) in Twentynine Palms. Presented by Red Light Lit, Rukeyser will read from her new novel, which takes place here in the Morongo Basin, followed by live music by Mary Simich and vegetarian appetizers by Epicurean Fling. When the uncertainty of the pandemic rendered many of us speechless, there was…