As 2016 comes to a close, we look back on some of the top stories of the year.
Christopher Lee confessed during his trial in November to killing his former neighbor and one-time lover, Erin Corwin, by strangling her with a garotte and then dumping her body down a mine shaft in 2014. The jury in his trial took just a couple hours to find him guilty of murder in the first degree, with special circumstances of lying in wait, and he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Dollar General won its case to build a store in Joshua Tree in October when the State Supreme Court refused to hear a case brought by the Downtown Business Alliance. For nearly five years, some residents tried to prevent the construction of the chain store at the corner of Highway 62 and Sunburst Street by appealing decisions made by the county’s planning commission, board of supervisors, and even filing a lawsuit.
Joshua Tree residents also lost their case this year against a developer who wants to build 248 homes on 105 acres in a gated subdivision called Alta Mira, south of Alta Loma and west of Sunny Vista. The Board of Supervisors denied an appeal, 3-2, brought by residents objecting to the high density and other elements which they say do not conform to Joshua Tree’s community plan.
Yucca Valley residents approved two, half-cent sales tax measures in the general election in November. Measure Y will be used to increase the town’s police force and improve roads and infrastructure; Measure Z will be used to lower residents’ assessment costs for the future sewer project. Both measures passed overwhelmingly; Measure Y passed with 72 percent; Measure Z received 81 percent of the vote.
Twentynine Palms officially transferred its fire department over to the county as of July 1. After several tax measures failed that would have kept the fire department under local control, the city council and Twentynine Palms Water District had no choice but to let the county take over operations of the fire department, which was bleeding red ink.
Tomorrow, we’ll continue with more of our top stories from 2016.
LOOKING BACK AT 2016 MORONGO BASIN NEWS; THE FIRST IN A 4-PART SERIES
