Everybody appreciates a well-executed event, but how to make that happen? Details, details, details! Essentially, this is what goes in to planning a successful event. To help residents sharpen their skills, the city of Twentynine Palms is hosting an Event Planning & Permitting Workshop on March 14 at 5:00 p.m.
The workshop will be held at City Hall, 6136 Adobe Road, and is open to all city residents, including event organizers, business owners, and non-profit organizations. The event will include logistical guidance on event planning and tips on how to obtain necessary city permits.
For more info, contact the Community Events Coordinator Scott Clinkscales by phone at 760/367-7562 or by email at [email protected]
As the Morongo Basin becomes more popular as a place to live and visit, it makes sense that emergencies would be more frequent. Craig Bell,, the Operations Chief of Morongo Basin Ambulance, spoke about which areas of our community have the most medical emergencies while he was a guest on the Z1077 Up Close Show.
Morongo Basin Ambulance is a non-profit corporation that provides emergency ambulance services from Morongo Valley to Johnson Valley to Amboy, excluding Yucca Valley. Here’s Chief Bell.
“We’re happy to have the community members that we work with in the communities that we serve.
“Beyond our Joshua Tree headquarters, we have an ambulance staged in the Indian Cove neighborhood of Twentynine Palms.
“We don’t have an ambulance staged on the west end. It’s a farther area, and it is very rural. We have a higher time response standard that we are allowing to get down there. We don’t have anyone staged there because it is a rural community. It’s the same reason why we don’t have anyone staged in Amboy. There’s not very many calls that actually happen in Amboy.
“It’s the same for Morongo Valley. There’s maybe one call every day or two, which is a smaller number, especially when compared to Joshua Tree, where we have eight to ten calls a day. Same numbers in Twentynine Palms. They are our busier areas.
You can hear their full conversation by listening to the Z1077 Up Close Show as a podcast on Z1077fm.com or wherever you get your podcasts. The Z1077 Up Close Show airs every Friday at 10 a.m
Theatre 29’s wildly successful Summer Youth Theatre program announces their 2024 program.
Program Director Lisa Hodgson shared that the program will run from June 24 through July 24, 2024, culminating with four performances of the Broadway musicals “Seussical Kids” and “Seussical Jr.” on July 25, 26, 27, and 28 (a Thursday show has been added this year).
The Youth Theater Program and the performances will all be held at the Theater 29 complex at 73637 Sullivan Road in Twentynine Palms. This year’s Dr Seuss inspired program is split into two age groups: 7 to 10 year old “Juniors” and the 11 to 17 year old “Seniors” who will learn a wide variety of theatrical skills from auditioning to performance and everything in between for five weeks, Monday through Friday.
The cost for the Program is $60.00 per student. Scholarships are also available.
Registration will open in March, and it will be available at theatre29.org
The Basin Wide Foundation is preparing for its upcoming Golfing for Charity tournament.
The 9th Annual Golfing for Charity Scramble Tournament will be on Friday, April 5. Held at Hawk’s Landing Golf Club in Yucca Valley, signups are now available for both golfers and local sponsors interested in helping the community. Tickets are $75 per golfer and include balls, golf, lunch, and a chance at prizes. Sponsorship contributions range from $75 to $1000.
The Basin Wide Foundation works to improve the quality of life within the Hi-Desert. They support student scholarships, as well as affiliate programs such as Dreams 4 Kids, the Youth Sports Park Coalition, and the Miracle League of the Desert.
For more information about sponsoring or golfing in this year’s tournament, call the Basin Wide Foundation at 760-365-7219.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that the MDLT oversees 120,000 acres of the Mojave Desert. They currently manage 60,000 acres, but have protected 120,000 acres since 2006. 60,000 acres have been transferred over to federal partners. Thanks to MDLT for the correction.
March 19th is when spring officially starts, but to be honest I never really pay attention to that. For me spring started today – this morning we sprung forward an hour. I’m not going to get into the daylight savings debate here – but suffice it to say I’m happy that we are getting that extra hour of daylight. There’s a lot things I want to do after work. Scrambling around rocks in the hondo wash, or working on the two-wheeled projects that have been piling up in my garage.
Then there’s the things I need to do. Like weeding. Leading into 2024 the national weather service kept promising a wet winter, and it finally delivered in abundance. Around the hi desert, that means that alongside the plants we are happy to see get that extra precipitation, are a whole host invasive weeds and grasses that sprout up quickly and can squeeze out native plants and weeds (yes, there are beneficial native weeds, too).
Invasive Plant training at the Mojave Desert Land Trust
A few weekends ago the Mojave Desert Land Trust had an invasive plants training session for those interested in volunteering with the non-profit, or for folks who just wanted an education on what to pull versus what to keep.
After the training I sat down with Mackenzie Nelson – she’s the MDLT’s Outreach & Volunteer Coordinator and has been putting on the training for the last couple years. We talked about how the problem of invasive plants can feel overwhelming – but MDLT is seeing progress with less invasives returning after volunteers and staff get out there and attack an acquisition – yanking mustards and grasses out to allow space for natives to thrive.
Mackenzie Nelson: “We see less instances of those invasive species in the more remote areas, and we don’t have to go back as often if we do have to do some invasive species removal… we don’t have to go back every single year. We are able to monitor it, but we don’t have to make it a large move to remove all of that.”
Of course some of the 60,000 acres of desert that the MDLT oversees will be remote areas where invasives still do harm, but they don’t see as much proliferation of weeds and plants due to less traffic – both from cars and feet. A problem for highly-trafficked areas like “Section 33” located right off Highway 62 as you drive into Joshua Tree from the west.
Mustards can grow to a couple feet in size with deep taproots that make it difficult to remove once they get this large.
Mackenzie Nelson: “Section 33 is kind of a constant project we have on our docket all the time. We are always going out and picking up trash and picking out those invasive mustards. I think it’s just a yearly routine that we have because it is so heavily visited and its adjacent to a really busy highway, schools and residences. It’s just natural that we are going to see more those invasives…”
So it’s Sunday – and maybe you are like me and you have the day off. A great place to start tackling the giant invasive weed problem is right in your yard. Getting down and pulling weeds by the roots is incredibly satisfying, and I’ve seen less mustards return each year, although my backyard has large patches of Red Brome that I’ll probably need to take a hula hoe to make any progress with. But that’s the idea: any progress is good progress, and doing the best you can with what you have is a good way to approach any problem that can feel overwhelming.
Mackenzie Nelson: “I think the best plan of attack is acting as soon as you can… especially this time of year is really crucial. We’re starting to see the winter annuals come up, and that’s a really great time to get out there and start removing them before they go to seed or get too impossibly big that it becomes a chore to remove.”
Mackenzie shared a lot of great training materials from the session – and if you get done weeding your property and feel like tackling some larger lots – you can always volunteer with the Mojave Desert Land Trust. Those resources can be found below:
The 2nd Saturday Joshua Tree Art Crawl will be happening tonight at various Joshua Tree art galleries, all free and with refreshments.
Art Queen Gallery presents Circumstance, a new exhibition of emotionally driven, figurative works by Esther Shaw. Shaw is a 20-year Yucca Valley artist, whose latest works are her own process of working figurative images into places of everyday encounters with others. Often, these paintings are focused on social issues as in her Sleeping Baby Series, which is concerned with the immigrant experience, and attempts to draw attention to some of the human realities of immigration. Opening reception is from 6-8PM
Art Queen East Gallery is located behind Sun Alley Shop in Joshua Tree.
At Hey There Projects, it’s the opening reception for It’s Alright, a group show featuring artists Wyatt Hersey, Heidi Anderson, and Michelle Valigura. The trio’s work reflects a reverence for the natural world with whimsy and modern clarity. Opening reception from 6-9PM
La Matadora presents Cover to Cover: Compositions of Recycled Books by artist Carmen Alvarez-Tostado and in the back room, Defiled: Part Cinco, A Group Show of Altered Thrift Store Art. Featuring a DJ set of cover songs by Uncle Abe. Opening reception from 6-9PM.
And finally, Rock and Rapture jewelry, art, and music boutique will be taking over JTAG with an opening reception for iconic L.A. punk rock photographer Ruby Ray from 10 AM to 5 PM. Along with Ray’s signed and numbered limited edition prints, her photo book Kalifornia Kool will be for sale.
BoxoHOUSE artist-in-residence Eshan Rafi, as a part of Desert R&D, a weekend of panel discussions, workshops and artist studio visits, will hold an Artist Talk at BoxoPROJECTS on Sunday, March 10 at 10AM at their gallery at 62732 Sullivan Road in Joshua Tree.
The artist, a mixed media meister whose artistry includes Photography, Performance, Video and Installation Art works, will share their artistic approaches of working with communities, including most recently documenting sites in Lahore, Pakistan based on their father’s stories and a performance project drawing parallels between political action and art making.
Complimentary tickets as well as seats for the other events during the Desert r&d weekend is available at this link:
Residents served by Joshua Basin Water District at risk of falling behind on their water bills or having their water shut off can apply for relief at an upcoming one-day relief program.
Residents in the Joshua Basin Water District can apply for federal aid at the district office at 61750 Chollita Road in Joshua Tree. The one-day intake program is on Tuesday, March 12. Volunteers from the Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County will be onsite from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. to help residents determine if they qualify and complete the applications. Coffee and donuts will also be served.
Applicants must bring a current water bill, a government-issued ID, and documentation of income for the last four weeks. Ratepayers may use the Low-Income Federal Water Assistance Program only once, so if you received aid in the past you will not qualify.
If you are a people person who also loves the National Park, there are a couple volunteer positions that may be a perfect fit.
Joshua Tree National Park is looking for Entrance Ambassadors to assist fee rangers at the West Entrance by checking park passes and answering visitor questions as they enter. The volunteer position requires long periods of standing outside and directing traffic. You may also be assisting staff inside the park at parking areas, trailheads and campgrounds. The volunteer period will start this month and go through the first week of June.
There’s also a service project looking for volunteers as well. Volunteers will perform trail maintenance in the heart of the park by clearing trailside brush and laying rocks along the trail. This work involves hiking, lifting, and repeated bending. The project will be on Sunday, March 17th from 8 am to around 2 in the afternoon.
The entrance ambassador volunteer position has a list of shifts that volunteer applicants must be available for:
A 4 week long Saturday science program called LEGOMATION SCIENCE will help kids understand engineering, robotics and coding… becoming mini-mechanical engineers. Each kid will be able to make and take home their creations after the final class, and it’s op0en to children ages 5 to 10 and is limited to 15 participants. Registration is open now and closes on April 5th,
A co-ed flag football league for students in 9th through 12th grades will be offered this spring. The registration fee includes a team jersey. Games will be held at Luckie Park on weekday evenings. Registration will begin on Monday, March 11th and closes on Friday, April 12th.
And co-ed adult volleyball league registration is currently open. Games will be played on Wednesday evenings beginning April 3rd at the Community Center Gymnasium and runs to May 22nd. Teams can be composed of 6-12 players, (with at least 2 females on the court at all times to be in contention for a win.Individuals looking to join a team can register separately by putting their name in the “Free Agent” box when registering.
A community art project is setting up in Joshua Tree for the entire month of March starting on Friday. The Giant Loom aims to celebrate and highlight local organizations that assist those in need.
Hot off the heels of his successful RustFest event, local sculptor Ben Allanoff is hosting a free community art project called The Giant Loom that celebrates local organizations that help others.
On Friday, March 8, The Giant Loom will be in Joshua Tree at 61627 Twentynine Palms Highway on the south side of Highway 62, between Sunset and Hillcrest, next to the Laundromat. Locals and visitors are invited to write messages on bits of fabric and then weave those thoughts and intentions into the 15-foot loom from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.
“People get to say whatever is on their mind. And it seems to create some kind of meaning when it is fluttering in the wind in a public place. It’s kind of like a shrine, it’s kind of like an altar, but it’s not religious and it’s not dedicated to any particular issue. It’s dedicated to people helping other people and communicating what’s important to them,” says Allonoff.
The weaving will continue every Saturday morning in the month of March, in conjunction with and alongside the Joshua Tree Farmers Market. Allanoff says that the project’s purpose is to allow for creative connection while highlighting the work of three local organizations that assists others, namely: Reach Out Morongo Basin (helping the disabled), Valley Star Community Services One-Stop TAY Center (assisting homeless youth), and The Morongo Basin Conservation Association (environmental and housing issues).
Representatives from the organizations will be at the Friday event and the Saturday Farmers’ Market, to share info, answer questions and recruit volunteers.
The Giant Loom received grant funding from the Inland SoCal Creative Corps, which is partially funded by the California Arts Council.
For more info, contact Ben Allanoff at (310)908-5505 or [email protected]
“It’s a tool for connection and creativity, that’s what the giant loom is,” says Allanoff.
A man was arrested on suspicion of starting a small structure fire in downtown Joshua Tree on Monday morning. Scott McCune was arrested on Monday morning (March 4) during an investigation into a structure fire.
Details provided by the Sheriff’s Morongo Basin Station say that McCune admitted to using a blow torch for warmth in an abandoned house. Deputies say McCune put the blow torch down during an argument with a girlfriend, catching his pant leg on fire before the blaze spread to a mattress and then throughout the house.
Yesterday (March 6) in San Bernardino County’s Joshua Tree Court, McCune entered a “not guilty” plea on felony charges related to starting the fire. He is facing additional enhancements for being a convicted violent felon.
Previously reported:
A small fire in downtown Joshua Tree yesterday morning (March 4) led to one arrest.
The small structure fire started just before 6 a.m. near the intersection of Commercial St and Sunset Rd, a block north of Twentynine Palms Highway, and next to the Joshua Tree Brewery.
Officials with San Bernardino County Fire said that the fire started in a small residential structure occupied by two transients. The structure was empty at the time of the fire.
Three engines, one squad, and one Battalion chief responded to the fire, and it was extinguished within 60 minutes. There were no injuries to civilians or firefighters.
County Fire officials said that the fire is currently being investigated as suspicious, and one person was detained and taken into custody at the scene.
Z1077 has reached out to fire officials and local law enforcement for additional details, and we’ll update this story as we learn more.
A damaged bridge has led to the closure of National Trails Highway between Amboy and Kelbaker Road, and repairs are expected to take another three weeks. This closes a major throughway used to connect the Morongo Basin and Las Vegas.
San Bernardino County’s Public Works office provided Z107.7 with background on the damage and an update on repairs.
Public Works said that the damage to Bridge 70, located about a mile east of Saltus Road, was discovered by Caltrans during a routine inspection on February 15. Pilings that hold up the bridge were more than 50% degraded, and the County immediately closed the bridge to travel.
Bridge 70 is a wooden trestle bridge used as part of National Trails Highway, which was once part of Route 66. The bridge was built in 1930, and its load-bearing wooden components are showing signs of major decay due to recent flooding and weather.
No immediate bypasses for the bridge are available. A spokesperson for Public Works said that the process to get environmental approval for local bypasses would take longer than the bridge repairs, and they encouraged drivers to take alternate routes that avoid this stretch of National Trails Highway.
As of March 7, the Public Works office estimates repairs will conclude in three weeks, including an expected storm delay, at which point the bridge will be inspected and re-opened. Excavation of the site is currently underway, with next steps including the installation of new piles and rebar.
For the 5th year in a row, the Morongo Basin celebrates the annual Big Reads Community-Wide Reading Event which started on March 2nd and goes to April 1st.
After receiving a $20,000 Big Reads grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for the 5th year, Arts Connection will be holding another month of free public programs and activities centered around the themes of the memoir-in-essays Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body by author and disability advocate Rebekah Taussig. The book will be available for free at various Morongo Basin locations.
Taussig was left paralyzed from the waist down after surviving a malignant cancer that attacked her spine when she was only 14 months old. Through a series of thoughtful, conversational essays, Taussig interrogates conceptions of kindness and charity, dependence, and independence. She grapples with the myth of ableism and the concept of feminism, chronicles the struggles of finding accessible affordable housing and celebrates the dimensions of identity formed through community, self-exploration, affinity, and partnership.
The 2024 Morongo Basin Big Reads kicked off last Saturday at Copper Mountain College with a keynote lecture by Kate Zancowitz and performance by Linda Sibio, a free book giveaway, artist-led activities, and art exhibition. Other key programming throughout the month will include five book discussions, a presentation on anti-ableism and inclusion within arts programming, free writing, zine making and performance workshops, and programs for local school aged youth.
For more event information and free giveaway locations for Taussig’s book Sitting Pretty, please visit bigreadmorongobasin.com.
On Friday, March 8th at 7pm, Choro das 3, a trio of Brazilian sisters, will perform a concert with Corina on flute, Lia on 7- string guitar and Elisa playing mandolin, clarinet, banjo, accordion and piano.
Dedicated to 19th century Brazilian instrumental music based on a genre called Choro, they began performing as a family tradition with their late father Eduardo, who lost his life to Covid early in the pandemic. This trio will also be performing for area elementary schools while in residence as well as Serrano/Cahuilla elder, Kim Marcus continues bringing his First People’s culture and customs to students throughout the spring.
Other concerts include Bill Frizell on April 12, the VEM Ensemble on April 20th and Wu Fei and Gyan Riley April 25th.
Tickets to the March 8th concert start at $25 and are available at louharrisonhouse.org
As part of tomorrow’s (March 9) Flying Doctors event, Lifestream will be holding a community blood drive.
In addition to free dental and vision care, Lifestream will be helping to replenish our area’s blood supply with a blood drive.
At this free event, held at Copper Mountain Colleges’ Bell Center, volunteer doctors will be providing dental and vision services. No documentation is needed to receive health services. Appointments are strongly encouraged and can be made by calling 760-820-2614.
Lifestream will be collecting blood from healthy individuals at least 15 years of age may donate blood. (Everyone under 17 years of age must provide LifeStream with written parental consent.)
Donors receive a free mini-physical (including readings for blood pressure, pulse, cholesterol levels, iron level and temperature with results being posted on the donor’s private online portal.) Please set an appointment to donate blood by calling LifeStream at 800-879-4484 or visiting LStream.org
The Yucca Valley High SchoolTrojan Swimming hosted Coachella Valley High School at home Thursday (3/7) and eventually had to end the meet early for due to stormy weather.
The boy’s team won 109-6 with freshman Jonathan Lopez being named boy’s swimmer of the week for his noteworthy dedication to improvement both on and off the pool deck.
The girl’s team also swept Coachella Valley 87-26 with sophomore Emma Shook being named swimmer of the week for dropping significant time on her 500 freestyle.
“That’s one of the things that I love about this job, you’re getting a call in the park, and you’re getting some exercise in. You’re going in and taking care of the patient. It changes up the day a little bit. You go in, get to help somebody, and if it’s a good day, its a nice beautiful hike as a bonus.”
Daigneault asked about the nature of the collaboration between the federal park agency and the local ambulance service. Bell said:
“We work well together with the park organization. Say there’s an emergency, they’ll activate their rangers, and they’ll request us. We work well with their team, because their team is really top notch. And they have great equipment that can help us extricate the patients out of the park as part of technical rescues.
“And there are more of those than you think, because people like bouldering and deep hiking, where it’s not particularly on the trail.”
You can hear their full conversation here:
The Z107.7 Up Close Show airs every Friday at 10 a.m
Girls Varsity won 65-49, JV outscored them 18-10. Boys Varsity fell 44-74 and JV boys came up short 39-52.
Triple event 1st places were earned by Jayde James, Elisabeth Marshall, and Ayden O’Gilvie.
The girls top scorer was Jayde James for the second week in a row with 3 wins in the jumps, and a second place in the 400m with a personal record of 1:13.
Elisabeth Marshall also earned three first place finishes sweeping the 1600m (6:37.3), 800m (2:59.7), and 3200m (15:33.4) adding 15 points for the Lady Wildcats.
Ayden O’Gilvie led the boys, scoring 11.5 points with wins in the 4×1 (anchor), the 100m (11.2), and 300 hurdles (48.7).
The Wildcats will head to Palm Desert Saturday (March 9) for their first invitational of the season!
A parole check at a property on the edge of Yucca Valley led to the discovery of stolen vehicles and an arrest.
A Yucca Valley man already on parole was arrested for suspicion of operating a “chop shop.” According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff, Keith Hencil was contacted at a residence in the 1800 block of Wamego Trail just after midnight on Friday, March 1st . During a parole search, deputies say they found stolen vehicles. The investigation was handed over to the San Bernardino County Auto Theft Task Force – or SANCATT.
Keith Hencel, 42, was arrested for suspected operation of a Chop Shop – which California Vehicle Code 25 describes as “any premises where a motor vehicle or their parts is obtained by theft, fraud, or conspiracy and altered, destroyed, disassembled or dismantled. It can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony.
In this case, the suspect is facing one count of suspicion of “Owning or operating a chop shop” – and it is being charged as a felony – alongside three counts of buying or receiving stolen property. He’s also facing additional charges from prior felony convictions. On Wednesday the 6th, Keith Hencel entered a plea of “Not Guilty” on all charges.
We contacted SANCATT for more information on the chop shop arrest and will update this story as more details become available.
