A Twentynine Palms Marine died in combat in Afghanistan over the weekend. The Defense Department announced Tuesday Lance Cpl. Niall Coti-Sears, 23, of Arlington, Virginia, died Saturday while conducting combat operations in Helmand province. Coti-Sears was a rifleman assigned to 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms. Coti-Sears enlisted in December 2008 and was on his first deployment to Afghanistan.

The County's Special TV District, which provides television service to Wonder Valley and other areas of the Morongo Basin, has completed its conversion from analog television channels to digital channels. Scott Fritz, a communications engineer technician for the County's Television District, said the changeover to digital means that televisions will be able to pick up a lot more channels, but some channels previously received may be lost. He added that residents who use an antenna or…

The 2012 summer movie series wraps up tonight with a free showing at Luckie Park tonight. Reporter Lenore Roberts invites you to the "Muppet Movie". The City of Twentynine Palms Park and Recreation Department will present its last movie for the summer on Thursday, July 26 at the racquetball court in Luckie Park. The last movie to premier will be The Muppets, a Walt Disney Pictures movie in which three fans help Kermit the Frog and the other Muppets reunite to save their old theatre…

The California Highway Patrol will hold another free Start Smart class Monday, July 30, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., at the Morongo Basin Area office. Start Smart provides classroom instruction on collision avoidance techniques, collision causing elements, and driver responsibilities. Pre-registration is required for the classes. Parents and newly licensed or soon-to-be drivers with questions regarding this class, or to pre-register, should call the Morongo Basin California Highway Patrol Area office at…

Local hospitals are experiencing critically low supplies of type O-negative blood. O-negative is the "universal donor" for red cells and is needed for emergency transfusions when there is not time to determine a patient's blood type. O-negative donors are urgently needed. Please donate with Desert Blood Services or at local community blood drives. To make an appointment, please call toll 877-827-4376.

It will be a close look at the chemistry of the human body at this week's Science Saturday event at the Hi-Desert Nature Museum in Yucca valley. Assignment reporter Corrisa Evans gets out the microscope. The High Desert Nature Museum's Science Saturday is bringing the knowledge of the human body in the form of fun activities! Saturday, July 28, children will learn how the human body works and how all the systems in the body works as a team. It is recommended that children are of school…

A Yucca Valley man is behind bars—again—after he started a fight with a store owner Tuesday night. About 7:45 Jacob Roa, 24, who was drunk, was at a smoke shop in the 57000 block of 29 Palms Highway when he started fighting with several people inside the store. According to a Sheriff's report, witnesses who called 911 told dispatchers that people were threatening to get a jack handle and a gun to protect themselves from Roa. When deputies arrived, Roa also tried to fight the deputies, and…

The Twentynine Palms Water Board found out the cost to turn the Twentynine Palms Fire Department over to the County last night. Managing Editor Tami Roleff was in attendance and files this report. The Twentynine Palms Water District Board of Directors learned at its meeting last night that it will have to pay the Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, more than $20,000 as part of the application process to divest itself of the fire department. Although board members were assured the water…

Approximately 100 Marines and sailors from Company A, 1st Tank Battalion, are scheduled to return to the Combat Center Sunday after a successful seven-month deployment to Afghanistan's Helmand province. Company A provided armor-protected firepower, mobility and shock effect in support of counterinsurgency operations in Helmand Province. They supported several Marine battalions, two Georgian infantry battalions and several special operation forces. Company A also conducted 14 major named…

A public hearing last night on the final environmental report on a plan by the Cadiz Company to store water in underground aquifers for sale to more populated areas lasted until early this morning. Reporter Dan Stork was at the meeting's teleconference at Copper Mountain College and files this first of two reports. A public hearing on the Cadiz Valley Water Conservation, Recovery, and Storage Project started at 6:30 p.m., and stretched into the wee hours Thursday morning. Project backers…