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…

On a recent episode of the Up-Close Show, host Gary Daigneault welcomed special guests from the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department: Captain James Porter of Community Service and Reentry Division, Sgt. James Marshall of the HOPE team, and Outreach social worker Diana Simmons. With this trio of our county’s law enforcement outreach experts looking out for our higher risk neighbors, Daigneault asked Captain James Porter to repeat a statement he found particularly profound: “The goal of the…

Today is the 32nd anniversary of the 1992 Landers Earthquake that left much of the Morongo Basin in ruins from its 7.3 magnitude. At 4:57 AM on Sunday, June 28th, 1992, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake awoke much of Southern California. It was a time where many were awaiting “The Big One,” and although it would evade that distinction, it was still powerful enough to cause significant damage here in the Basin; though because of our sprawling landscape and residents in more distant proximity, loss…