As we a new year approaches, we are taking a look at some of the top stories of the past year affecting Yucca Valley, Twentynine Palms, and Joshua Tree.
The Twentynine Palms City Council and the Morongo Unified School District board of education were the first agencies in the Morongo Basin to approve a change to electoral districts, and the November election was the first in which council members were elected by districts.
The Twentynine Palms City Council also approved a resolution in June proclaiming it was officially opposed to the California’s sanctuary law. The California Values Act forbids local agencies from informing federal authorities about individuals believed to have entered the country illegally.
And after 82 years and no carnival for the last two years, the Twentynine Palms Chamber of Commerce announced it would no longer sponsor the Pioneer Days events. The city council announced it would take over the Pioneer Days, the Christmas light parade, and car show.
And in Joshua Tree, the new county crisis treatment center opened in July alongside the highway. The facility operates 24 hour a day providing crisis intervention for those diagnosed with mental health and/or co-occurring substance abuse disorders.
A storm that surprised everyone with its intensity and duration brought havoc to the Morongo Basin in October. Highway 62 was shut down in Joshua Tree for 18 hours due to a deluge of mud and debris that left feet of mud on the highway.
And thousands of county residents, including those in the Morongo Basin, were outraged with a $157 fire protection fee imposed by County Fire. The fee was a bailout measure to county fire‘s $29 million budget shortfall. The plan was widely opposed because it disproportionately burdens low-income property owners and because it was presented as a fee rather than a tax.
Managing editor Tami Roleff hits the highlights of top stories in Yucca Valley over the past year…
In Yucca Valley, Measure L, which would have allowed commercial cultivation and processing of cannabis in Yucca Valley, was soundly defeated in the June primary election, 68 percent to 32 percent. But state voters approved a bond measure during the primary that provides a $22 million grant to Yucca Valley to build a new aquatic center.
And after two motorcycle deaths in just three months, Caltrans installed delineators in April in front of the AM/PM gas station at Balsa Avenue and Highway 62 in Yucca Valley.
