Thursday, December 26, 2024
Jef Harmatz

Jef Harmatz

Jef Harmatz is the co-host of Z107.7’s “Morning Show with Cody and Jef” and Z107.7’s News Director. He has worked as a journalist, cartoonist, chef, and delivery driver. He is known nationally for his writing and comics in publications like TimeOut,…

100 MPH felony pursuit through Joshua Tree National Park ends after PIT maneuver, arrest of suspect

Jef Harmatzby Jef Harmatz
January 12, 2023
Knife-Wielding Woman Suspected of Armed Robbery, Attempting to Hijack Two Trucks in Downtown Joshua Tree

A Florida man is accused of leading a felony pursuit that began in Joshua Tree National Park, traveled through the Morongo Basin and ended on the far side of the Sheephole Valley Wilderness. Yesterday (January 10) at around 10 a.m., Park Rangers report that they attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a Nissan driving on the wrong side of the road, somewhere within the bounds of Joshua Tree National Park. The suspect - Daniel Commander, a 47 year-old resident of Florida - refused to pull over,…

Black ice causes 3 collisions in-a-row on Old Woman Springs Road

Jef Harmatzby Jef Harmatz
January 11, 2023

As Sheriff's Deputies investigated a traffic collision caused by black ice on Old Woman Springs road, another vehicle lost control on the black ice and collided with the Deputies' patrol car. At around 6:50 a.m. on Friday morning (January 6), deputies responded to a report of a car that lost traction on a patch of black ice on Old Woman Springs Road and Terra Vista Road in Yucca Valley. The car hit a mailbox, and no one was injured. Deputies arrived to investigate the accident, and…

Joshua Tree National Park Superintendent David Smith leaving for role with NPS in San Francisco

Jef Harmatzby Jef Harmatz
January 9, 2023
Joshua Tree National Park Superintendent David Smith leaving for role with NPS in San Francisco

Listen here: Superintendent David Smith has announced that he is leaving his position at Joshua Tree National Park. Smith has held this role, which oversees all park operations, since 2014. Smith announced on Wednesday (January 4), that he will be taking on a role with the National Park Service in San Francisco. After making the announcement, Smith told Z107.7: “Getting a chance to be the Superintendent of Joshua Tree, and being here in the Morongo Basin, was probably one of the highlights of my…

Operation Hammer Strike – Capt. Warrick talks illegal marijuana task force numbers, end

Jef Harmatzby Jef Harmatz
January 2, 2023
Operation Hammer Strike has seized marijuana worth over One Billion dollars

Captain Robert Warrick of the Morongo Basin Sheriff’s Station, was the guest on the Z1077 Up Close Show two weeks ago (December 16). As part of his conversation with Gary Daigneault, Captain Warrick discussed Operation: Hammerstrike. The operation, which concluded on August 26 of this year, saw special county funding go to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office, under Sheriff Shannon Dicus, to eradicate illegal marijuana grows. Though growing marijuana is legal in certain areas of…

Joshua Tree STR burgled through unlocked door, suspect found through boot prints

Jef Harmatzby Jef Harmatz
December 30, 2022
Knife-Wielding Woman Suspected of Armed Robbery, Attempting to Hijack Two Trucks in Downtown Joshua Tree

A Joshua Tree man is suspected of stealing from guests at a Joshua Tree vacation rental after they left the backdoor of the house unlocked. Guests at a short term vacation rental in the 61700 block of Parkway Blvd told Sheriff’s Deputies that when they returned home from a dinner at around 10 PM, their luggage was missing from the home. They told Deputies that they left the door unlocked, and that more than $2000 in clothes and luggage - including a duffel bag, rolling “Snoopy” themed suitcase,…

Joshua Tree’s Noah Purifoy Outdoor Museum looks forward to 2023

Jef Harmatzby Jef Harmatz
December 29, 2022

One of Joshua Tree’s most important cultural sites, the iconic Noah Purifoy Outdoor Museum, has shared the details of their upkeep efforts in 2022. The museum, which is most known for an immersive garden of outdoor assemblage and sculpture artwork built by artist Noah Purifoy, who lived at the site until his death in 2004, requires regular maintenance to withstand the extreme heat, cold, and winds of the high desert. This year, the Noah Purifoy Foundation was hard at work updating paint, stucco,…

Operation Dust Devil looks to curb illegal off-roading in the Morongo Basin

Jef Harmatzby Jef Harmatz
December 26, 2022

Operation: Dust Devil is the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department's effort to curb illegal off-roading throughout the county. The initiative kicked off on Saturday December 17, and is scheduled for four and half months. It will include stepped up enforcement, rider education, and unique approaches to reaching off-roaders who may be illegally trespassing or damaging native ecosystems. Illegal off-roading is a particularly sensitive issue here in the Morongo Basin. While many…

Explosions, fire from unoccupied RV on Sunfair in Joshua Tree 12/20

Jef Harmatzby Jef Harmatz
December 22, 2022
Explosions, fire from unoccupied RV on Sunfair in Joshua Tree 12/20

An RV burned to the ground in the Sunfair dry lake bed on Tuesday night (December 20). Sheriff’s deputies received a report that an RV was on fire near Sunfair Road and Twentynine Palms Highway on BLM land just before 9:30 p.m. Eyewitnesses say that they heard multiple explosions, and that dogs left the RV during the fire. When fire engines from Joshua Tree and Yucca Mesa arrived, they found the RV to be fully involved in the fire, and they were unable to put out the blaze before the RV burned…

Stolen truck in Yucca Valley found at neighbor’s house one block away

Jef Harmatzby Jef Harmatz
December 21, 2022
Knife-Wielding Woman Suspected of Armed Robbery, Attempting to Hijack Two Trucks in Downtown Joshua Tree

A truck allegedly stolen from a Yucca Valley home was spotted by the victim parked in the driveway of a neighbor’s home less than a block away. The victim, told Sheriff’s Deputies that a 2002 Chevy Silverado was stolen on Sunday night (December 18) from the residence in the 58600 block of Barron Dr in Yucca Valley. The victim said that they saw an unidentified male hotwire the vehicle and drive off. On Monday night (December 19), the victim saw the stolen vehicle parked at in the driveway of a…

MUSD Board Meeting tonight 12/13- New Members and Reorganization

Jef Harmatzby Jef Harmatz
December 13, 2022

Tonight’s MUSD board meeting at Joshua Tree Elementary will begin with a closed session at 5pm to swear in new and returning board members, and to discuss reorganization of the board. At 6pm’s open session, action items include: resolution to make information from Statutory School Facilities Report made public, a request to certify MUSD meet its financial obligations for the current fiscal year, and a bid for bleacher upgrades at 29 Palms High School. Other items for review include: bylaw update…

Copyright © 2024 Z107.7 FM Joshua Tree - Local News for the Hi Desert.
Copyright © 2024 Z107.7 FM Joshua Tree - Local News for the Hi Desert.