Coachella Valley Independent August 2023

Mailing address: 31855 Date Palm Drive, No. 3-263

Cathedral City, CA 92234 (760) 904-4208

www.cvindependent.com

Editor/Publisher

Jimmy Boegle

staff writer

Kevin Fitzgerald

coveR and feature design

Dennis Wodzisz

Director of Sales & Sponsorships

Susan Uhrlass

Contributors

Max Cannon, Charles Drabkin, Katie Finn, Bill Frost, Bonnie Gilgallon, Bob Grimm, Valerie-Jean (VJ) Hume, Clay Jones, Matt Jones, Matt King, Keith Knight, Kay Kudukis, Cat Makino, Brett Newton, Greg Niemann, Dan Perkins, Theresa Sama, Maria Sestito, Jen Sorenson, Robert Victor

The Coachella Valley Independent print edition is published every month. All content is ©2023 and may not be published or reprinted in any form without the written permission of the publisher. The Independent is available free of charge throughout the Coachella Valley, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased for $5 by calling (760) 904-4208. The Independent may be distributed only by the Independent’s authorized distributors.

The Independent is a proud member and/ or supporter of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, the California Newspaper Publishers Association, CalMatters, DAP Health, the Local Independent Online News Publishers, the Desert Business Association, and the LGBTQ Community Center of the Desert.

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

As I write this, my throat is a little raspy. The smoke from the nearby fires has come to the Coachella Valley and significantly worsened our air quality. In early July, the planet endured its three hottest days on record. According to The New York Times: “The spike comes as forecasters warn that the Earth could be entering a multiyear period of exceptional warmth driven by two main factors: continued emissions of heat-trapping gases, mainly caused by humans burning oil, gas and coal; and the return of El Niño, a cyclical weather pattern. … The sharp jump in temperatures has unsettled even those scientists who have been tracking climate change.”

The New York Times quoted Brian McNoldy, a senior research scientist at the University of Miami. “It’s so far out of line of what’s been observed that it’s hard to wrap your head around,” he said. “It doesn’t seem real.”

It’s disheartening and even sickening to realize that all of those terrible things climatechange scientists have been warning us about for decades are now actually happening. According to LiveScience: “Antarctic sea ice levels reached record-breaking lows … and this ‘extraordinary behavior’ could mark the start of its long-term decline, scientists warn. As of June 27, the extent of sea ice in Antarctica was nearly 1 million square miles (2.6 million square kilometers) below average for this time of year, compared with the period between 1981 to 2010, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). … ‘In the midst of its winter growth phase, Antarctic sea ice has reached a record smashing-low extent for this time of year,’ NOAA staff wrote on Twitter. ‘Sea ice extent is approaching a half a million square miles below the previous lowest extent (for this day), observed in 2022.’”

Here in the Western U.S., we’re concerned not about ice/water, but as I alluded to above, we’re concerned one of the other elements— fire. The deadly, expensive and horrifying increase in wildfires has been oft-documented in the Independent, and it’s on my mind right now for a very personal reason.

The hubby and I are planning on spending a good chunk of August in Reno, Nev., for various reasons—including family commitments and, well, the fact that August here can be climatologically unpleasant. However, Reno is located in a big geologic bowl on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada, and quite often, smoke from big Western wildfires gets stuck in that bowl, leading to unhealthy and downright dangerous air quality for days and even weeks at a time, including a good chunk of the summer of 2021. We’ve been having discussions about what we’ll do if the smoke gets bad while we’re there—which, due to climate change, is going to be an ongoing concern for Reno.

We’re all going to be asking ourselves climate-change-related questions like this as the years go on—and more often than not, those questions will not have any easy answers.

Welcome to the August 2023 print edition of the Coachella Valley Independent. As always, thanks for reading.

—Jimmy Boegle jboegle@cvindependent.com

THE GIRL CLUB

BY KAY KUDUKIS

Lynda Reid was born on the outskirts of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the northernmost city in North America with a million or more people. Edmonton isn’t exactly the frozen tundra, but there are grizzly bears a stone’s throw beyond—and a spectacular display of nature’s beauty at her finest.

Dad and Mom were both educators; Mom’s stories of a taking horse-drawn sleigh on the way to teach at a one-room schoolhouse, and it tipping over in the deep snow, resonated with Reid. But that was long before Edmonton, and long before Reid and her two sisters were born. In school, it was theater and student council that floated her boat. Cast as Puck in A Midsummer’s Night Dream, she slayed. Her involvement in student council put her at all

the school events, and her drama teacher encouraged her to audition for drama school at the University of Alberta.

She was having a ball. So much so, in fact, that she had to repeat her senior year to bring up her grades.

Reid recalled that second senior year fondly. “I went to a different high school, got involved, and had the best math teacher I ever had in my life,” she said. She was also in the apprentice acting company at Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre.

The following year, after all that preparation, she had that audition at the University of Alberta drama school—but didn’t get accepted. That had to hurt, I said, but Reid shrugged me off with a smile. “I wasn’t unfamiliar with failure,” she said. “I didn’t learn to read until my second year of junior high.” Even so, Reid was the first girl in her family to earn her degree, and she became an educator.

OK, now we’re back in the Caribbean with Reid—specifically, on a ship.

“I discovered these tall ships that traveled through the Caribbean, a Windjammer, the ‘Flying Cloud,’” she said. ”I fell in love with the ship and the islands and someone on the ship. I went back many times.”

Romances on the high seas often end up shipwrecks on dry land, and so it was for Reid and the bartender. But as always, she found the lesson.

“I realized it wasn’t him; I was in love with” the British Virgin Islands. So she followed her heart. “The woman who was the ground agent for the Windjammer said, ‘There’s this little private school here, and they’re looking for teachers.’”

Awarded Best AC Repair Company

“I taught every level of education, from elementary all the way through graduateschool programs,” she said proudly, and rightly so. She taught social studies, English and physical-education science. “I was a consultant … working with first-year teachers. I did that for four years before I went into high schools. Then I realized I always wanted to live and work in another country, and I took spring break in Tortola,” one of the British Virgin Islands.

We’ll get tropical with her in a minute, but a few threads in her tapestry are loose. Reid met a man named George, but the relationship did not last. That story has the makings of a Noah Baumbach screenplay—a slice of life with large, hard lessons. Still, Reid said she has no regrets.

Reid couldn’t get car insurance, because “separated women are more emotional than separated men,” she recalled the agent saying. (Reid and I were born the same year, and my father had to co-sign for a credit card for me in the 1970s, because they didn’t give them to “the weaker sex.”)

It was a tip of the hat to her mother’s past (without the snow)—a very small school in Tortola where she taught expats’ kids and belongers (those born on the island) until 1997, when she met Alan, a professor of sociology from Vermont who was on sabbatical. They became, as she puts it, playmates. It didn’t take her too long to figure out there was a there there, so she moved to Vermont and took a teaching position. They dated until 2000, when they married on a beach in Curaçao where “the coral comes right up to the boardwalk.”

Now that her personal life was sorted, and because higher education is Vermont’s No. 1 industry, Reid went back to school. OK, that industry bit is not true, but Vermont does have 27 colleges, if not more, including the prestigious University of Vermont, which they call the “public Ivy”—and it’s where Reid earned her doctorate in education.

She then created a “culture for study abroad program” for the university and recruited students for three years … and then Alan got breast cancer. He went into remission; however, when they returned from a “cancer free” celebration in Tortola, he was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive, T-cell lymphoma that required a bone-marrow transplant.

And then came Irma. It was 2017, and

the hurricane “absolutely obliterated” their paradise island; Reid’s Vermont job concurrently came to a natural conclusion. It was around this time that a friend of Reid’s told her about life coaching. She found a program based on neuroscience that intrigued her, and she got certified.

“Within a year, I started my own coaching business,” she said. “And in the last two years, I have been part of the Positive Intelligence coach grant program.” It helps you recognize your saboteurs, and how to listen to your sage instead. Reid’s clients are in Canada, across the U.S., in Great Britain, and in the Caribbean.

In 2018, she and Alan moved to Palm Springs, where we keep the heat and the old movie stars. They’re big fans of both.

Reid has faced each obstacle head on, and she seems to have accepted each as a lesson, as opposed to seeing herself as life’s victim— even while in the moment. She has achieved the highest degree possible from a prestigious university, sailed the Caribbean, never gave up on love, found it, and instinctively turned “failures” into learning experiences. That alone puts Reid in badass country, but add in that she’s also an author, has given a Ted Talk and has picked a niche near and dear to my heart.

“I love coaching women: leaders, entrepreneurs leading their own way, or women who are ready to get out of their own way,” she said.

For more information, visit drlyndareid.com.

Meet Lynda Reid, a teacher, traveler and life coach who’s always accepted obstacles as life lessons

Lynda Reid: “I love coaching women: leaders, entrepreneurs leading their own way, or women who are ready to get out of their own way.”

OPINION

OPINION HIKING WITH T

BY THERESA SAMA

The excessive heat has hit, and now it’s time for us dirt-dwellers to find cooler climates where we can hike and get our much-desired exercise.

But where will we go?

Fortunately, we can usually find much cooler temperatures within a 1 to 1 1/2-hour drive to the mountains or the beaches. Regardless of what we choose, temperatures are usually around 30 degrees cooler, and trails and outdoor activities are plentiful.

But if you don’t want to drive that far, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, featuring the world’s largest rotating tramcar, is just a 10-minute drive from downtown Palm Springs to the Valley Station. Then, after a 10-minute tram ride—and nearly 6,000 feet of elevation gain—you’ll reach

the beauty and pristine wilderness of Mount San Jacinto State Park. Temperatures there are usually about 30 degrees cooler, and there are more than 50 miles of hiking trails. The Mountain Station features observation decks offering breathtaking views of the desert floor and beyond, a natural history museum, documentary theaters, a gift shop and fine dining—all at an elevation of 8,500-plus feet. Parking is free for Coachella Valley residents; otherwise, it’s $15. A tram ticket is $30.95, with discounts for children and seniors, and can be purchased online or at the Valley Station. The stations and tram cars are handicap accessible; pets are not allowed. The first tram up is at 10 a.m. on weekdays, and 8 a.m. weekends and holidays. Learn more about seasonal and annual prices, dining information and complete hours at www.pstramway.com.

Take note: The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway closes for about a month every year for maintenance; this year, the closure will be from Aug. 7-31.

You won’t need a wilderness permit to hike the Long Valley trails, but if you plan to go beyond the ranger station, you will need to stop there and get a permit. There is no charge for the permit, but it helps to limit access, keeping the wilderness area pristine and protected. It’s also a good idea to pick up a trail map and ask any questions that you may have. The rangers are great and very knowledgeable. Although the trails are well-marked, it’s easy to get off trail and become disoriented— especially in the high altitudes.

Hiking at high elevation can affect one’s breathing, too. I’ve learned to do pursed-lip breathing when I become short of breath; you inhale through the nose with your mouth closed. Then, exhale through the mouth with tightly pressed (pursed) lips. It’s a quick and easy way to slow your breathing pace, making each breath more effective. It also helps get more oxygen into your lungs and makes physical exercise easier.

I had the pleasure of hiking at Mount San Jacinto State Park and State Wilderness

recently with Julie Henderson, a physical therapist and certified California naturalist who has lived in the Coachella Valley for about eight years. After taking the short tram ride up to the Mountain Station, we hiked the Round Valley Loop, one of the many popular routes Mount San Jacinto State Park has to offer.

While hiking around the loop, along Willow Creek Trail, we came across an area called the Hidden Divide Natural Preserve, 255 acres of sensitive habitats that support a diverse group of plants and animals specific to the San Jacinto Mountains, according to the sign posted by California State Parks. It couldn’t have been more perfect, as Henderson is quite intrigued with the amount of biodiversity here in the desert and surrounding mountains.

“Each time I am on a trail, I see something new and different,” Henderson said.

I lost count of how many species of lizards that Henderson called out during our trek. But lizards weren’t all that we discovered that day: We continued on and found Hidden Lake!

It was spectacular! I’ve been running and hiking the trails in the area for a long time, but I did not know of this lake’s existence before now. It certainly is breathtaking—but it’s not easy to find. It really is hidden. We took a couple of wrong turns and veered off-trail a time or two—despite us using the AllTrails GPS and a paper map we obtained from the ranger station while getting our wilderness permit. I challenge you to take a break from the high heat of the desert floor to find the majestic Hidden Lake—and again, make sure you get your wilderness permit. We were stopped twice along the trail by rangers who were making sure we had our proper permit.

The Willow Creek Trail to Hidden Lake and Round Valley Loop is moderate in difficulty, about five miles with an elevation gain of just less than 1,000 feet, according to AllTrails. You can also proceed past Hidden Lake for a short distance and end at a cliff that offers an impressive view of the desert floor. On a clear day, you can see all of Palm Springs— and miles beyond. We paused there for a

moment and enjoyed the overlook; it makes for a perfect scenic stop and would be a great picnic stop as well.

Hiking these trails requires planning, preparation and permits. You probably won’t have cell service. Make sure you are acclimated to the altitude, or you may find yourself more short of breath than usual. Be prepared for temperatures 30-40 degrees cooler than on the valley floor, and be ready for unexpected

weather (wear layers and good hiking shoes/ boots); high winds and storms could blow in at any time. Always hike with a buddy, and make sure someone knows where you’re going. Bring more water than you should need; stay hydrated; follow all safety protocols; and always expect the unexpected.

If you do all this, you’ll almost certainly have a fantastic time as you enjoy your break from the scorching desert heat.

After a quick tram ride, you can find cooler temps and discover hidden beauty on Mount San Jacinto

Hidden Lake. Theresa Sama

FIVE DISTRICTS CONFIRMED

by Kevin fitzgerald

One June 22, the Palm Desert City Council voted to establish five electoral districts in the city, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary on Nov. 26.

“It has been my goal from the beginning,” said Mayor Kathleen Kelly before calling for the final vote, “to respect the results of Measure B, which includes not just respecting the 53% who voted yes, but by some means to respect the sizeable 47% who said no. We’re in a place where moving forward with districts, and dropping ranked-choice voting, can potentially be embraced by most of our residents—perhaps a sizeable majority of our residents—as a good basis for peace on this issue.” The vote was unanimous—and with that, after 3 1/2 years of arguments, legal wrangling and

obfuscation, the matter was resolved.

“I’m very excited,” said City Councilmember Karina Quintanilla in a recent interview with the Independent; she was one of two plaintiffs in the lawsuit that forced the city to agree to move away from at-large voting in the first place. “Honestly, it took me a few days to let it sink in that, after all of the work, all of the effort, all of the time, it had finally come to fruition. A lot of people put work into this, and I’m really proud of the fact that, even though it took a long time, for me, it was very important to me to save as much taxpayer funding as possible.”

The final vote being unanimous was particularly satisfying, Quintanilla said.

“When you’re campaigning, your campaign (basis) is your ideology and what you hope to accomplish,” she said. “But how often does that come to fruition? How often are politicians able to deliver on campaign promises? So, for me, that was a moment of integrity, to be able to say that we were able to complete this successfully.”

The Independent first covered the fallout from the 2019 lawsuit filed by Quintanilla and Lorraine Salas in a piece published on Jan. 24, 2020. The city had agreed to settle the suit, which was based on the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA), a law that protects the political access of minority groups, by moving to a district-based voting system. But whereas most other cities create equally sized districts, Palm Desert intended to move to a two-district system—one with one representative (and 20 percent of the population), and the other with four (and 80 percent of the population). The city also agreed to move to a ranked-choice voting system, starting in 2022.

During a Jan. 15, 2020, informational meeting, both participating council members and city staff members obfuscated the reality that up to five voting districts were allowable under the terms of the settlement, and instead made it seem like two districts were a done deal.

The city also created additional hurdles for voters who wanted to participate in the re-districting process, including an online map-creation tool that was difficult to use, and a refusal to consider anything other than two-

district map options submitted by the public (although five-district submissions would be archived in case the council decided to consider them later).

The Palm Desert City Council succeeded in pushing through the two-district solution in 2020—but some continued to push for five districts, as did Quintanilla, who was elected that year as the sole representative of the new downtown district. As a result, the City Council decided to put a question on the 2022 ballot, a move that some saw as a stalling tactic. Measure B, however, was only advisory—meaning that if a majority of voters chose the five-district solution over the two-district system, the council would not be forced to comply.

Even though Measure B was non-binding, several City Council members quietly launched a committee to fight it, called “No on Measure B Palm Desert Together.” Financial-contribution filings show current Mayor Kathleen Kelly personally donated $975 to the committee, as did the campaigns of Councilmember Gina Nestande and then-Councilmember Sabby Jonathan (who did not run for re-election in 2022).

Gregg Akkerman ran unsuccessfully for a City Council seat in 2022, and intends to run again in 2024. He currently is the chair of the Palm Desert Parks and Recreation Committee. He’s been a proponent of the move to five districts.

“I was particularly frustrated by the fact that in public, the City Council was saying, ‘It’s all about what the people want, and we’ll follow their recommendations,’” Akkerman said. “Yet at the same time, three of the senior council members were the founding donors to the ‘No on B’ movement. That was really frustrating.”

Akkerman claimed the three councilmembers did their best to hide their involvement in the No on Measure B committee.

“Because they donated just under the filing requirement of $1,000, their names were not in print until after the election cycle,” Akkerman said. “I was able finally to view the donor list well after the election, when the filing requirements caught up to them.”

(California campaign law requires that a “Late Contribution” report be filed within 24 hours of

contributions of $1,000 or more during the 90 days preceding, or on the date of, an election, to support or oppose a candidate or ballot measure.)

“Those three all donated exactly $975 each, which is a blatant attempt to avoid the $1,000 trigger,” Akkerman said. “So that left their names off the record until after the election, when the (fourth-quarter) documents have to be filed that have every (donor’s) name in it.”

In November, 53.2% voted in favor of five districts, with 46.8% opposed. The council then referred the issue to a two-person committee to study issue. The committee’s report in April 2023 did nothing to alter the dynamics of the power struggle taking place at City Hall.

It did spawn a series of unusual presentations and remarks during the May 25 City Council meeting. Councilmember Jan Harnik suggested it was unfair to go to five districts before a development of 1,700 planned residences in north Palm Desert was built. Mayor Kathleen Kelly mused about the potential for a hypothetical northern Palm Desert district to double in population in the next three to five years. Both of these were odd concerns, since the area has no current council representation.

Kelly then called for a charter-amendment proposal to be put on the next ballot, mandating a move to more districts when 60% of the projected population growth in the area north of Country Club Drive had taken place. She then offered a proposal to Quintanilla: “If this council is willing to unanimously adopt that (60% new-population trigger) path, or some other path that commits to districts at a time certain, I ask you and your co-plaintiff to consider removing ranked-choice voting now in exchange for that commitment.”

After that meeting, public and legal pressure

continued to mount. On May 25, the city received two letters from legal entities urging a transition to five districts—one from Beaman Jacinto Law PC, and the other from the ACLU of Southern California.

Then, finally, on June 22 came the vote to move to five districts in time for the November 2024 election—but a lot must be accomplished between now and then.

According to City Clerk Anthony Mejia, on Aug. 24, city staff intends to present a community outreach plan and a schedule of public hearings/workshops to the City Council for feedback and approval. Between September 2023 and January 2024, council members and city staff will carry out a number of community-outreach efforts and public hearings. In January or February 2024, the City Council will adopt a final map and transmit to the County Registrar of Voters.

In an email to the Independent, Mejia cautioned that he is “still working with (City Attorney Robert Hargreaves) to ensure that we follow the FAIR Maps Act public hearing process. Once I know how many public hearings and workshops are required, I can begin working backwards to ensure that we adopt a map in time for the election. The deadline to adopt a final map is early April 2024, so I am building in a cushion in case additional public hearings are needed.”

Mejia confirmed that the City Council has chosen Douglas Johnson and his National Demographics Corporation to serve as the demographer for this process, as in the initial re-districting process.

Other matters that remain to be determined by the City Council: residency requirements, which new district seats will be filled in which election years—and how the current City Council members will be affected by all of this.

After 3 1/2 years of obfuscation and controversy, the Palm Desert City Council agrees to move away from its odd two-district system

Karina Quintanilla: “How often are politicians able to deliver on campaign promises? So, for me, that was a moment of integrity, to be able to say that we were able to complete this successfully.” Kevin Fitzgerald

TAKE THE INDEPENDENT CHALLENGE

1. Peruse the Independent. Look at the quality of the writing, the layout, the topics, etc.

2. Do the same with any other local publication.

3. Compare.

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS?

by CAT MAKINO

On April 10, the Trilogy at La Quinta homeowners’ association announced a bingo evening, scheduled for May 18, to be hosted by local drag queen Rusty Waters.

Two days later, the HOA took it back.

In the April 12 message to residents, the Trilogy at La Quinta Maintenance Association board said unspecified “concerns” had been “voiced by some members of our community regarding Mr. Waters,” causing the event to be “modified.”

“This diversity and inclusion extends to the type of entertainment that may be offered to our residents,” the message said. “As a result, we will look to reschedule Mr. Waters to a later date

at the start of next season in fall 2023. We hope to have a full house for that event, and expect that all attendees will act with both respect and civility towards the entertainer, staff and the Activities Committee volunteers putting on the show. … Thank you to everyone who contacted management and the board of directors over the last 24 hours. Your collective voices were heard.”

The fact that the message said Waters’ performance would be rescheduled failed to satisfy Trilogy resident Cathy Smithweiss. She said she was unhappy the decision to cancel the original event and reschedule was made

behind closed doors, instead of the board following proper protocol.

“Some residents objected to the bingo event because they thought it was upsetting, offensive and controversial,” she said.

Smithweiss asked the American Civil Liberties Union for help, signing a retainer agreement on June 29.

“I don’t want money,” Smithweiss said. “I want to make sure in the future, the board will follow the proper process when making decisions, not (make them) behind closed doors.”

According to Jonathan Markovitz, an attorney with the ACLU of Southern

California, the California Open Meeting Act prohibits association boards from making decisions without holding a residents’ meeting. He wrote a letter to the board on Smithweiss’ behalf requesting a commitment to avoid similar open-meeting violations in the future.

“The bottom line is that the public has the right to participate in how their lives are structured,” he said. “Homeowner associations play a major role in structuring many people’s lives around the state, and have legal obligations of transparency and openness, and are accountable to their members.”

Representatives of the Trilogy at La Quinta Maintenance Association board declined to speak to the Independent. However, a local PR firm sent the Independent the board attorney’s response to Markovitz’s letter. In the response, dated July 6, Wayne Guralnick wrote that the board fully followed state law. He said the board did not discuss the event, nor did it make a decision to cancel the event, but supported management’s decision to reschedule.

Markovitz said it was unfortunate that the Trilogy board has “doubled down” on a

“The board’s actions deprived association members of the opportunity to engage the board in a matter of pressing interest to association members and the broader community at a time when drag performers

and the LGBTQ+ community are facing threats across the country,” he said.

Nadine Buxton, the owner and founder of HOA Consult Services, is an expert on HOA matters.

“Open meetings and transparency should be used by an association board as much as possible,” Buxton told the Independent. “Homeowners also need to become familiar with their association’s governing documents and California civil code. Situations like this can have the potential to turn a peaceful community into a battlefield. They can also become a valuable growth and learning opportunity for the homeowners’ association and its members.”

Rusty Waters responded to a request for comment with: “Not interested. No thank you.”

Another local drag performer, Rosemary Galore, said what happened at Trilogy “is a little ridiculous.”

“A drag queen hosting a bingo event is not going to hurt anyone; it’s not life changing,” Galore said. “My job brings me joy and happiness, and I get to bring it to other people—a gift to others.”

Meanwhile, Trilogy at La Quinta again has events with drag performers on its schedule, including “A Dragtastic Evening,” featuring five performers including host Sabryna Williams, slated for July 28.

The drag-queen ‘culture wars’ come to a La Quinta neighborhood—and bring up questions about transparency

Aug

Sept 20–24

Sept

Oct 5-8 JoshuaTree Fall Music Festival

Oct 6 Singing with the Desert Stars

Oct 7 Pride Under the Pines

Oct 19–22 Modernism Week - October

Oct 20 LGBTQ Center Gala, Center Stage 2023

Oct 26–29 PS Leather Pride

Oct 28

AIDS Walk 2023

NO HOT WATER

by Kevin fitzgerald

The Palm Springs Villas 2 condominium complex is tucked away just east of Palm Canyon Drive in northern Palm Springs, along the north side of San Rafael Drive. Sitting at 701 N. Los Felices Circle West is Building L, part of a community with a relaxed vibe, at least at this time of year. It’s home to a number of senior residents, some of whom are disabled.

On May 16, the hot water stopped flowing through the pipes in Building L. What happened next—and what didn’t happen—illustrate how ill-prepared the system is to deal with disputes between residents and condo managers when something goes wrong.

Michael Nix is a disabled senior citizen who resides in a Building L condominium unit he owns.

He is a retired sommelier who also worked in the entertainment industry and as a publicrelations executive earlier in his career. Nix happens to keep a detailed daily journal.

“The hot water stopped running in my condo building on May 16,” Nix told the Independent. “I know that on the 17th, one of my neighbors contacted Seabreeze Management, specifically (the manager) of this particular complex. My neighbor who reported the issue on the 17th said that she was not being listened to.”

The neighbor asked Nix to also reach out to the manager, and he did so on the 18th.

“I have all the particulars (of that outreach),” Nix said. “(She) called me back and acted as though she did not know about the problem. She said that she would contact maintenance personnel. It was a contentious phone call with her. She became a little bit combative with me that day, which was rather surprising. Anyway, a plumber showed up and verified that we had the problem.”

While the problem had been verified, it did not get fixed. Days went by, which turned into weeks.

“Our frustration began to grow due to the lack of information,” Nix said.

As time went on, residents started reaching out to various government agencies for help.

Nix said he contacted Palm Springs Code Compliance on June 8.

“I got a return call from Dustin Wade,” a code-compliance officer, Nix said. “He said he had been in touch with our property manager.”

Nix said Wade was under the impression based on his conversation with the property manager that the hot water had only been out for 10 days. It had actually been 24.

A construction company finally arrived and began re-piping units in Building L on June 15 and 16. The process involved cutting holes in the walls and ceilings of kitchens and bathrooms to access the pipes. By the end of Friday, June 16, hot water was running again for the first time in a month—but the holes remained, covered only by rectangles of plastic and masking tape.

The Independent first heard about this mess on June 11, when another media outlet forwarded us a voicemail from another tenant. The woman—who asked not to be named, due to fears of retaliation—told us that she and other disabled adult tenants were being impacted by this failure to provide hot running water, and that it was seriously endangering her health. She said ailments including Crohn’s disease required her to have 24/7 access to hot water for cleanliness, and she’d been forced to pay for a room at a local hotel out of her own pocket—for eight days.

We were curious what residents in these types of situations can do. We emailed Riverside County Adult Protective Services (APS) to ask if the agency was aware of what was happening at Palm Springs Villas 2. We received a response from public information specialist Gene Kennedy, who said APS representatives could not discuss any incident with parties not directly involved in a case. He said anyone who felt their rights were being abused should call the APS hotline at 800-491-7123.

Next, we reached out to the Palm Springs Code Compliance Department on June 15. On June 20, an email response came from Amy Blaisdell, the city communications director, which stated: “In regards to your email, I am told the contractor is currently working on fixing and replacing the hot water pipes and equipment. These are condos that are owned individually, but are managed by Seabreeze Management. When Code Enforcement returned to check progress last week, they found plumbers actively working on the property.”

In a follow-up email, we asked Blaisdell if Palm Springs Code Compliance would or could make a determination on whether property management and the homeowners’ association handled the matter appropriately. Blaisdell replied, in part: “Fundamentally, this is a private party dispute between the (condo unit) owners and the condo association. The owners have the option to choose civil remedies, if necessary.”

On June 20, the Independent reached out to

the management company to ask why it took so long for repairs to get made. The property manager for Palm Springs Villas 2 complex, who is employed Seabreeze Management, called us back, and said we should not be doing a story, since repairs were close to completion. She said her company’s policies prohibited her from speaking to the media, and that “her boss” would be in touch. (For this reason, we are not including her name in this piece.)

She later called back and said the residents had no reason to reach out to the media. “I can’t believe you fell for this,” she said.

The next day, we received an email from attorney Daniel Parlow, of the Tinnelly Law Group. His email stated, in part, “(Y)our inquiry involves a nearly resolved situation and appears to be based on some outdated and incorrect information. The (Palm Springs Villas 2 Homeowners) Association is responsible for the decisions through its Board of Directors. Therefore, please keep Seabreeze out of your article and substitute the Association in place of Seabreeze.”

We replied and asked what the “outdated and incorrect information” was. He responded that the incorrect information involved a “release document” condo owners received saying they would be responsible for the cost of drywall repairs and painting, and that actually, the HOA would hire a vendor to do the repairs at no cost to the homeowners.

That was welcome news to the impacted residents who, as of June 19, said they had

not received a firm answer regarding who was responsible for paying for the repairs.

Attorney Megan Beaman-Jacinto heads up Beaman Jacinto Law PC. The Independent contacted her to ask whether or not the impacted residents have any legal recourse. While the advice she gave doesn’t apply to owners, it does apply to renters.

“The law requires landlords to provide habitable rental units,” Beaman-Jacinto explained via email. “The units must be habitable at the time they are rented, and the landlord must repair any issues that impair the habitability during the course of the tenancy.”

She went on to point out: “A rental unit may be considered uninhabitable if it lacks certain specific guarantees of habitability, and one of those is hot and cold running water. … A landlord who fails to immediately repair serious habitability violations like this one can be held liable in civil court for damages caused to the impacted tenants; in other words, tenants can sue their landlord for money based on the costs and/or harm they have experienced as a result of the failure to keep the unit habitable. This option exists even if they are still living in the unit.”

As the disabled senior female resident of Palm Springs Villas 2 told the Independent: “It’s not fair to treat senior disabled people this way. I hope this will open everyone’s eyes to the abuse of elderly and medically challenged people.”

A problem at a north Palm Springs condo building sheds a light on a lack of protections for residents

After a month without hot water at Building L of Palm Springs Villas 2 condo complex, residents were left with plastic and tape covering multiple holes in their ceilings and walls for more than a week. Kevin Fitzgerald

CIVIC SOLUTIONS

By Maria Sestito

Igrew up in New Jersey, and my family only ever had window air-conditioning units. We would make one room ice-cold—closing the door to keep in the cool air, and hanging blankets on the windows to block out the sun.

Now, as an adult living in the desert, I have central air, semi-permanent sunlight-blocking window coverings, light-blocking curtains and portable fans.

My current concern isn’t necessarily the heat; it’s my energy bill. I do as the energy suppliers suggest, so most of the time, the lowest my thermostat goes is 78 degrees. Still, the bill can be bad, but nowhere near as bad as my bills two years ago, when I lived in a second-floor, facing-thesun-at-all-times end unit in Rancho Mirage. Beautiful apartment. Inefficient 1950s air ducts.

However, a high energy bill is a secondary problem; facing multiple heatwaves and 120-degree temperatures without air conditioning is potentially fatal.

Heat-related illnesses result in an average of 67,512 emergency room visits, 9,235 hospitalizations, and 702 deaths each year across the country, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Heat and Health Tracker. The CDC’s list of heat-related illnesses include cardiovascular and respiratory complications, renal failure, electrolyte imbalance, kidney stones, negative impacts on fetal health, and preterm birth.

Death rates are known to rise during and after heat waves. Meanwhile, in the Coachella Valley, summers are getting hotter, and summer nights are providing less relief, according to an analysis of data by reporter Erin Rode of The Desert Sun

For relief from the hottest days, there are cooling centers and air-conditioned businesses across the valley. For some, relief is found by spending summer—or at least part of it—somewhere else entirely.

I happened to spend our latest heatwave visiting family in Oregon. It was there where I came across another potential short-term solution: giving people air conditioners.

It seems simple, obvious.

Sure, it isn’t the most energy-efficient option, and it doesn’t help with the environmental effects of climate change, but it might save some lives in the short-term.

Last year, the Oregon Legislature directed the Oregon Health Authority to implement the Air Conditioner and Air Filter Deployment Program. It’s meant to provide vulnerable populations relief in the form of free AC units and air-filtration devices (for wildfire smoke). Eligibility is limited to those who don’t already have these devices, who qualify for medical assistance through the Oregon Health Authority or Medicare, and who are at-risk for heat-related illnesses, including those who are 65 or older.

There have been some major hiccups with the implementation of the program, but thousands of Oregonians have benefitted. Another 3,000 AC units and 4,700 air filtration devices were funded for this year. The new air conditioners will only be distributed, however, if/when the governor declares an emergency due to extreme heat.

Oregonians, Northern Californians and others in the Pacific Northwest have found themselves unprepared for extreme heat events, like the heatwave during the summer

of 2021. Homes and buildings that were built when these areas had milder summers weren’t equipped with AC. They didn’t need it.

Suddenly, everyone needed it—all at once. People who work outdoors in the heat for long hours, like farmworkers and construction workers, and people without stable housing may be at the highest risk for heat-related illnesses. However, officials in the Portland area actually found that most people who died during the heatwave were older adults living alone who didn’t have air conditioning, or whose air conditioning wasn’t working.

Similar programs have been implemented in Washington state, Pennsylvania, New York City and some Texas cities. Some programs are paid for with money from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). These funds have also been used to help open cooling centers.

LIHEAP is available in California. Anyone who participates in programs like SNAP, SSI and TANF automatically meets the eligibility requirement. Eligible Californians can get a one-time payment to help with heating or cooling bills, or to get a disconnected utility turned back on. Funds can also be used to help low-income residents with in-home weatherization services.

To apply for benefits, contact the Community Action Partnership of Riverside County at www.capriverside.org or 951955-4900; or the California Department of Community Services and Development at www.csd.ca.gov or 866-675-6623.

Assistance with air conditioners is a shortterm solution that is complicated by the threat of rolling blackouts from our energy companies; an air conditioner doesn’t help if there is no electricity to keep it running, after all. Still, if a blackout lasts just a few hours, a little bit of AC is better than none at all.

As we endure more heatwaves, why aren’t we giving free AC to people in need?

Sponsors as of July 20, 2023.

Photo by Taso Papadakis.

CV HISTORY

by greg niemann

The White sisters seemed destined to be Palm Springs pioneers, and Dr. Florilla Mansfield White and Miss Cornelia Butler White indeed left a lasting imprint upon the budding resort town. They were earthy nature-lovers whose idea of a good time meant exploring a nearby canyon—but they were astute businesswomen as well.

Dr. Florilla White, one of 10 children of a New York state farming family, was born in 1871. She first visited Palm Springs during the winter of 1912 and stayed at Welwood Murray’s original Palm Springs Hotel.

The adventurous Cornelia White, born in 1874, left the family farm in Utica, N.Y., when she

was 18 to set out on her own. She first spent a year in Europe in 1894-1895, then returned to the United States and later joined a mining expedition in the Pacific Northwest. She also went above the Arctic Circle with a brother. There, the pair met up with polar explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson, someone they’d met before. Stefansson was a Canadian explorer who had spent time living among the Inuit tribe.

Miss Cornelia, as she was known, also sailed up the Nile River in Egypt before she settled down at the University of North Dakota. There, she taught practical domesticscience courses like plumbing and carpentry— highly unusual for a woman circa 1911.

Meanwhile, a U.S. senator from North Dakota had subdivided some Mexican land in the West Coast state of Sinaloa and set out to colonize it in 1912. The timing was unfortunate, as the Mexican Revolution was raging— but Cornelia and Florilla White were restless adventurers in a static setting, so they jumped at the opportunity to head off to Mexico.

In Mexico, Cornelia renewed a friendship with fellow settler Carl Lykken, an engineering graduate from the University of North Dakota. The White sisters became farmers, raising bananas and papayas.

While they enjoyed the warmth of Mexico, many colonists were forced to flee in 1913 as rebels neared their location. Due to the tense situation, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson had ordered all American citizens home.

According to Mary Jo Churchwell, in her book Palm Springs: The Landscape, the History, the Lore, a small band of six refugees— Lykken, Cornelia, Florilla and three others— escaped by securing a hand car and taking turns pumping over rails where some of the ties had burned away. They then took a ship from Mazatlán to San Diego, and Lykken went on to Los Angeles.

Due to Florilla’s visit to Palm Springs the previous year, she suggested to her sister that they would much prefer the adventures that might await in the desert versus remaining in the big city. The two of them arrived in Palm Springs in 1913; they contacted Lykken and

suggested he might like Palm Springs, too— and they all became early and notable settlers in the village.

The Palm Springs Hotel

There were but 15 buildings in the entire village when the sisters arrived. Among them was the original Palm Springs Hotel, whose owner, Welwood Murray, was more than happy to sell. They purchased it and continued to rent out rooms, sans meals, with much of their business handling overflow from The Desert Inn, owned by Nellie Coffman.

When Murray died in 1914, the sisters also bought the block across Tahquitz Canyon Way for $10,000. It was the entire 100 North Palm Canyon block, extending to Indian Canyon Drive, minus the northeast corner, which Welwood Murray had given to the Community Church.

Miss Cornelia also bought the entire block on which she lived (to the south of the present Tahquitz Canyon Way) for $5,000. The house Cornelia White lived in was the one built by Dr. Murray in 1893 from railroad ties taken from the erstwhile Palmdale Railroad.

That house was moved when Cornelia sold the property in 1944 to the southeast corner of Indian Canyon Drive and Tahquitz Canyon Way, where it became part of the original Palm Springs Desert Museum. Then in 1979, it was moved again, to the Village Green on South Palm Canyon Drive, where it sits today.

Dr. Florilla White, a medical doctor, was a dedicated horsewoman and a member of the Desert Riders; she often spent days in the mountains and canyons, exploring with Cahuilla tribal member Lee Arenas or his brother Simon. She served as the village health officer during World War I.

Dr. White founded “The Nightingales,” which began as a group of registered nurses she summoned from Riverside to come to Palm Springs to aid in the 1918 flu epidemic. Over the next several decades, the volunteer group got involved in a number of medical projects.

Neither sister wore skirts, even in that

age of pompous petticoats and constricting whale-bone girdles. For 45 years, Cornelia was seen all over the area in riding pants, leather puttees, fringed safari jackets and sometimes a sturdy jungle pith helmet. She was a small woman with a big appetite for adventure. Her hair was usually pulled back into a bun and parted in the middle. Commenting on her everyday dress, writer Harry C. James noted about Miss Cornelia: “The common-sense attire of a very modest woman in refinement and culture proved that an active outdoor life in chaparral country can be the life for a lady.”

Their sister, Isabel White, joined them in Palm Springs in 1915. In contrast to her two down-to-earth, outdoors-loving sisters, she always maintained a more dignified East Coast demeanor. Isabel married the Englishman J. Smeaton Chase in 1917, two years after he also arrived in Palm Springs. Chase had authored numerous books, most notably California Coast Trails, California Desert Trails and Our Araby

Chase died in 1923, and Isabel survived him by almost 40 years, living out her remaining years either in nearby Banning or at her home near the Tennis Club. They are buried side by side in the old pioneer Welwood Murray Cemetery (on Vine Avenue at the end of West Alejo Road).

In 1915, Cornelia White bought a piece of property covered with orange trees at the corner of what was then Lime and Main streets (now Baristo Road and Palm Canyon Drive) for $75. She sold it to the builder of the proposed Del Tahquitz Hotel in the mid-1930s for $7,000. Then a bank purchased the property years later for considerably more money.

Cornelia White hung on to the south end of the property originally purchased from Murray (south of Tahquitz Canyon Way) until it was developed into La Plaza in 1936—a property which still a focal point in Palm Springs.

Dr. Florilla White died in 1943, and Cornelia disposed of their remaining real estate holdings north of Tahquitz Canyon Way, except for her home—that original railroad-tie house built by Welwood Murray.

Miss Cornelia herself also built a small house. Lykken later remarked that Cornelia had put her considerable building skills to work when she constructed that stone house, as it was designed to be half-buried in the ground for coolness. That building later became the custodian’s house for the museum.

In April 1947, Cornelia deeded the property along Tahquitz Canyon Way between Palm Canyon Drive and Indian Canyon Drive to the

Palm Springs Desert Museum. She requested no publicity and only retained a life tenancy on a portion of the property. The main-floor gallery of what is now the Palm Springs Art Museum is dedicated to Cornelia White for her contribution to the museum’s first original permanent location.

Miss Cornelia White was widely known for her love of adventure as well as her kindness and generosity. She died in September 1961 in Banning. She is buried in the Welwood Murray Cemetery alongside her two sisters.

Sources for this article include Palm Springs: The Landscape, the History, the Lore, by Mary Jo Churchwell (Ironwood Editions, 2001); Palm Springs: First 100 Years, by Mayor Frank Bogert (Palm Springs Heritage Associates, 1987); and Desert Dream Fulfilled: History of the Palm Springs Desert Museum, by Patricia Mastick Young (Palm Springs Desert Museum, 1983).

The adventurous White sisters made their mark on early Palm Springs

Cornelia White. Courtesy of the Palm Springs Historical Society

AUGUST ASTRONOMY

By Robert Victor

The cornucopia of astronomical treats this month includes two “super” moons and one “blue” moon; evening twilight moonrises Aug. 1-3 and Aug. 30-Sept. 2; spectacular views of the Milky Way during the moon’s absence in the first hour after nightfall Aug. 6-19; the moon uncovering Antares Aug. 24; and Saturn rising in early evening.

Late-night and early-morning morsels include prime moonless views of the Perseid meteor shower; a star masquerading as a satellite of Jupiter; a rich, star-filled eastern predawn sky; and a supersized Venus crescent rocketing up from the horizon day by day in late August.

At the start of August, Venus sets very soon after sunset, too early to appear on our evening mid-twilight map. By late in August, Saturn becomes visible in the evening twilight, low in the

east-southeast, joining a half-dozen bright stars already present and well seen: The Summer Triangle of Vega, Altair and Deneb high in eastern sky; Arcturus, the “Bearwatcher” star, high in west-southwest, with Virgo’s Spica 33 degrees to its lower left; and Antares, heart of the Scorpion, crossing through south to south-southwest. Left of the Scorpion is the Teapot asterism within Sagittarius, the Archer. The Milky Way star clouds look like steam issuing forth from the Teapot’s spout, whose top two stars mark the arrow aimed just below the Scorpion’s heart. Faint Mars and fading Mercury, low in bright twilight in the west, will be a serious challenge, requiring binoculars.

Saturn reaches opposition on the night of Aug. 26-27, as Earth passes between the sun and Saturn. The ringed planet is then visible all night; find it low in the east-southeast at dusk, high in the south in middle of night, and low in the west-southwest at dawn.

On Aug. 1, Saturn is 6.4 degrees westsouthwest of 3.8-magnitude Lambda Aquarius and retrograding. At the end of evening twilight on Aug. 31, Saturn is 8.5 degrees westsouthwest of Lambda Aqr, 4.4 degrees eastnortheast of Iota Aqr, and 9.6 degrees eastnortheast of 2.9-magnitude Delta Cap.

As the month begins, the Summer Triangle is sinking in the west to northwest in morning twilight. Jupiter, high in southeast, remains the brightest morning “star,” but it soon gets competition. During the second week, the “Dog Star” Sirius begins to appear above the eastsoutheast horizon, below and in line with the Belt of Orion, which is midway between Rigel and Betelgeuse, but not plotted on the chart. Sirius is the brightest nighttime star, but falls short of Jupiter’s current brilliance by a full magnitude. Sirius, Procyon and Betelgeuse form the Winter Triangle If you can spot Sirius while it is still low in the sky, turn around and catch Altair about to set just north of west. If you can spot Sirius before Altair sets, then you can see both the Summer and the Winter

Triangle simultaneously!

It should be an excellent year for the Perseid meteor shower. Peak activity is expected in the predawn darkness hours of Aug. 13. Meteors can light up anywhere in the sky, but what all members of this shower have in common is that their tracks, extended backward, will radiate from a point in the constellation Perseus, below the “W” of Cassiopeia in the northeast. The moon will be just a thin crescent, rising less than three hours before sunrise, so will not interfere with viewing.

Look near Jupiter for 5.5-magnitude Sigma in Aries at the start of morning twilight. Note also 5.8-magnitude Omicron Ari 1.7 degrees west of Sigma. The 5.3-magnitude star Pi Ari forms an isosceles triangle with Sigma and Omicron, to their north, and 2.4 degrees from each. This triangle will help the viewer notice small changes in the position of Jupiter.

On Aug. 1, Jupiter is 1.5 degrees westsouthwest of Sigma Ari. By Aug. 7, Jupiter closes the distance to 1 degree. On Aug. 8, Jupiter is equidistant from both Omicron and Sigma Ari, 0.9 degrees from each. On Aug. 13, Jupiter is 0.5 degrees west-southwest of Sigma Ari. On Aug. 21, Jupiter is 1.3’ (arcminutes) from Sigma Ari at start of a.m. twilight, and still just 1.1 degrees from Sigma Ari one hour after Jupiter rises in late evening on Aug. 21. On Aug. 22, Jupiter is 1.6 degrees from Sigma at start of morning twilight.

Is that an extra Galilean moon of Jupiter?

For several mornings, Aug.18-26, Jupiter may seem to have a fifth Galilean moon, actually the 5.5-magnitude star Sigma Ari

Getting back to morning sky at mid-twilight: Closer to sunrise, Venus first appears above the horizon, just north of east, around Aug. 22. Venus then outshines Jupiter by nearly two magnitudes, but for its first several days, the twilight glow will make Venus seem less bright than it is. Once Venus becomes visible, you can see the morning lineup of three bright planets: Venus, low, north of east; Jupiter, high in south;

Planets and Bright Stars in Evening Mid-Twilight For August, 2023

This sky chart is drawn for latitude 34 degrees north, but may be used in southern U.S. and northern Mexico.

Two super moons and the Perseids meteor shower are among

and Saturn, low in west-southwest.

This month, the moon is full twice, on Aug. 1 and again on Aug. 30. Both full moons occur near the moon’s perigee, when it’s closest to Earth, so expect much trumpeting in the media about “super moons.” Further, the second full moon in the same calendar month is sometimes (incorrectly) called a “blue moon.”

Since the full moon is at opposition to the sun, rising around sunset and setting around sunrise, watch for Saturn near the moon, from nightfall on Aug. 2 until dawn on Aug. 3, and again during all the darkness hours on the nights of Aug. 29 and 30.

On Aug. 24, the 57 percent gibbous moon occults, or covers Antares. The event will occur in daylight or bright twilight from western U.S., so a telescope will be required.

From Palm Springs, the advancing dark edge of the moon snuffs out the star shortly after 6:52 p.m., some 30 minutes before sunset. The

star reappears along the illuminated edge of the moon, about halfway from the southern cusp (the lower point of the crescent) to its midpoint, just after 7:44 p.m., in bright twilight only 22 minutes after sundown. As the moon moves away from Antares, and the sky darkens, the star will become easier to observe. By 9:22 p.m., the moon will have moved its own diameter to the east of the star.

The Astronomical Society of the Desert will host a star party on Saturday, Aug. 19, at Sawmill Trailhead, a site in the Santa Rosa Mountains at elevation 4,000 feet. For dates and times of other star parties, as well as maps and directions, visit astrorx.org.

Robert Victor originated the Abrams Planetarium monthly Sky Calendar in October 1968 and still helps produce an occasional issue. He enjoys being outdoors sharing the beauty of the night sky and other wonders of nature.

Stereographic Projection Map by Robert D. Miller

the month’s highlights

UP TO 350 LIVES SAVED IN 14 MONTHS.

That’s the figure DAP Health cites regarding one element of its harm-reduction program, based on the number of people who report they’ve used Narcan/naloxone on someone who was suffering from a drug overdose.

Did the people who received 1,360 packages of Narcan (that’s the brand name; naloxone is the generic) from DAP Health really use it to save 350 lives from May 2022 through June 2023? Probably not—but even if the program has saved half that number, or a tenth, that’s powerful. And getting naloxone into the hands of people who can use it is just one of the varied elements of the program, which also include free HIV and hepatitis C testing, fentanyl test-strip distribution, syringeservice (aka needle-exchange) offerings, and neighborhood syringe-cleanup teams. While syringe-service programs and similar efforts were once denounced as enabling bad and dangerous behavior, the science is in—and the programs work. According to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, “Harm reduction is an evidence-based approach that is critical to engaging with people who use drugs and equipping

them with life-saving tools and information to create positive change in their lives and potentially save their lives. Harm reduction is a key pillar in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Overdose Prevention Strategy.”

CJ Tobe, DAP Health’s director of community health and sexual wellness, oversees the harm-reduction program.

“A lot of people think that the harmreduction program may be something where people just come, they get services, and they leave,” Tobe said. “What the program really is, is it’s connecting with people who use drugs to say, ‘You know what? We accept you and love you and care for you. … We’re here to help you safely. We’re here to connect you to medical care, to behavioral healthcare. We’re going to connect you to our outpatient drug-free program.’ This program’s really about building a bridge of trust, connecting people from the community to their medical home here at DAP Health to just talk about what’s going on and how can we help you.”

DAP’s harm-reduction team has been doing most of its work out of a mobile clinic, which has been visiting various spots in Palm Springs four or five

While Narcan is available at most pharmacies, it’s expensive. Single doses of the generic version start at about $32, while two-dose packages start at about $52. Credit Shutterstock CV

times a week, for a total of about 24 hours per week. From May 2022 through June 2023, 3,059 patients have been served.

“We’ve been really focused on the unhoused population,” Tobe said. “… We knew it was really the biggest need in this city—to establish those relationships and connect them to other services, like primary care, mental health, housing, food, etc. We’re now authorized now by the state Health Department to amend our current syringe-service license to include a fixed site, at 1445 N. Sunrise Way.”

According to the Riverside University Health System, 859 people in Riverside County died from drug overdoses in the county in 2022—and Tobe said a disproportionately high number of those occurred in the Coachella Valley. Naloxone is one of the key weapons in the battle against drug-overdose deaths; if it’s given to someone who is overdosing, it can save their life.

“(Signs of an overdose include a) limp body, shallow breathing, those kinds of things,” Tobe said. “You’re going to call 911 immediately. You’re going to administer Narcan. You’re going to stay with the person and tilt them on their side to make sure that if they are throwing up or vomiting, they don’t choke. … They’re going to need more Narcan/ naloxone to actually completely reverse that and save their life. That one piece that we give out, that one Narcan/naloxone that we give out, it’s essentially to buy time until medical professionals can come.”

There’s been a national shortage of

help you safely.’”

naloxone. However, the situation is improving, and while naloxone can be purchased at pharmacies, it’s expensive. Tobe said a recent survey of local pharmacies showed that a single dose of generic naloxone costs at least $32.

“Anybody can walk in (to a pharmacy) and get this, but they’re going to have to pay for it,” Tobe said. “As we know with PrEP, for example, which prevents HIV, people aren’t going to pay money for these things if it’s preventative. It needs to be free. … As soon as we get a shipment, we request another one from the California Department of Public Health.”

Tobe said DAP Health is working to make naloxone as readily available as possible. Three hotels have agreed to have fentanyl-testing strips and naloxone in their lobbies, and DAP Health hopes to get naloxone vending machines—up to five of them—into local businesses this summer.

“We know getting access to these needed supplies and education and information in a vending machine at these businesses is going to be great for saving lives and getting people information on where they can access resources,” Tobe said. “It’ll be a vending machine that’s going to include Narcan, but

DAP Health director of community health and sexual wellness CJ Tobe: “What the program really is, is it’s connecting with people who use drugs to say, ‘You know what? We accept you and love you and care for you. … We’re here to

Credit: Jimmy Boegle

also a lot of other supplies as well—Narcan/ naloxone, fentanyl testing strips, HIV self-test kits. … The harm-reduction vending machines are not going to offer syringes or pipes. Instead of putting in money, you’re going to just fill out a short survey, because we’re going to want some data. After every completed survey, they’re going to be able to select three free items from that vending machine.”

DAP’s harm-reduction program is one of three currently authorized in Riverside County—there’s one that serves Riverside, and another in the Hemet/Temecula/midcounty area—and it’s authorized only within Palm Springs’ 92262 zip code.

“We want to expand to other desert cities across the Coachella Valley that would benefit from this program,” Tobe said. “We currently do provide Narcan/naloxone and fentanyl testing strips out of our satellite clinic in Indio. We want to amend our license at some point in the future to include other desert cities specific to the syringe-service aspect.”

Tobe said he’d like to see Desert Hot Springs and Indio as the next to desert cities added to the program. He’d also like more vending machines to be placed in the community, including some that can be accessed all the time.

“We want to move vending machines outside of businesses and strategically place them for 24-7 access in the community,” he said. “Where those are going to go depends on conversations with city leadership, the police department, the fire department and emergency response on where they think these vending machines should go. … Maybe outside of a library; maybe it’s going to be in a park. Maybe it’s going to be outside DAP Health, or a Revivals store. It’s going to be a conversation to get feedback and buy-in.”

While the community has been largely supportive of DAP’s harm-reduction

program—including positive comments by city leaders and Police Chief Andy Mills— some downtown business owners have expressed concerns about the optics of having a mobile clinic offering syringes, naloxone and fentanyl-testing strips in busy areas packed with tourists, like Arenas Road. I asked Tobe how he responds to such concerns.

“The location we picked on the corner of Arenas has been one of the most engaged locations with the unhoused population, or anybody really needing these services, including people who may be walking into one of the establishments who stop by and grab Narcan or naloxone, because they’ve been watching the news, and they’ve seen that there have been so many deaths due to overdoses that they want to be proactive. They want to just have the conversation about, ‘OK, what can I do to save a life?’”

For more information on DAP Health’s harmreduction program, visit www.daphealth.org/ harmreductionfaq.

Members of DAP Health’s Community Health Department pick up used syringes. Anyone who finds syringes in public areas that need to be disposed of can call 760-668-4872 or email harmreduction@daphealth.org. Photo courtesy of DAP Health

While syringeservice programs and similar efforts were once denounced as enabling bad and dangerous behavior, the science is in—and the programs work.

DO-GOODER

GOOD GARBAGE

by Charles drabkin

When I moved to the Coachella Valley from Seattle almost nine years ago, I knew I’d have to give up composting my kitchen waste.

This may not seem like a big deal. But I had a compost pile growing up and had long been recycling my kitchen waste, both as a chef and a homeowner. I understood how vital compost can be for the earth and as a tool in our belt to combat climate change.

So I was quite happy when large-scale composting finally came to the desert. Over the past two years, the team at Desert Compost has opened three community-composting sites in Palm Desert and Palm Springs.

By promoting composting techniques designed for desert environments, Desert Compost strives to reduce waste, conserve water and promote sustainable practices in areas where traditional resources are scarce.

Over the next two years, the folks at Desert Compost want to divert 1.23 million pounds of organic material from landfills, and eliminate 332 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from polluting the atmosphere.

“Our College of the Desert site, which we opened in October of 2022, has already offset greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 24,022 miles driven, or 1,162,807 cell phone charges,” said executive director Haley Preston. That is impressive for a tiny organization.

Water resources, high evaporation rates and the scarcity of organic matter here in the desert present challenges when it comes to waste management. Desert Compost recognizes these challenges and has adapted composting techniques to our environment by utilizing things like the abundance of cardboard boxes many of us have delivered to our houses each week; those boxes or old newspapers can replace the dried leaves, grass and woody material in traditional compost piles.

Composting does require regular watering to maintain moisture levels. However, soil with compost mixed in retains moisture better than desert dirt, allowing less water to be used in the aggregate.

“Compost acts like a sponge, changing our desert dirt into living soil,” Preston said. “It allows the plants to utilize the water more efficiently and uses less water in gardens and landscapes.”

After just two years, Desert Compost has more than 300 people as community partners, with more than 50 active volunteers, who range in age from 13 to their 80s.

“Composting brings people together,” Preston said. “It creates community connections and not only fights climate change, but fights the epidemic of loneliness.”

Desert Compost’s focus on community engagement and education involves

twice-monthly composting workshops in Palm Springs and at College of the Desert, as well as a presence at the Palm Springs Farmers’ Markets, where they spread the word about what they’re doing and how people can get involved.

“We can teach you how to compost in five minutes,” Preston said.

In 2016, the California Legislature passed Senate Bill 1383, which mandates that all cities participate in organic-waste collection. If you need clarification on how your city is participating, Desert Compost encourages you to contact your city government to find out. In Palm Springs, I can put my kitchen scraps (including bones) into my green waste container. (Pro tip: Store anything that might get stinky in the freezer until garbage day.) Palm Springs Disposal Services does ask that you bag up the compost; Desert Compost has a link on their website under resources where you can buy leak-resistant, eco-friendly compostable paper bags.

The nonprofit was recently awarded several grants, including a Climate Resilience and Community Access Program local-assistance grant through the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy and CalRecycle. These grants will allow Desert Compost to further its efforts in carbon sequestration, organic material diversion and education. Specifically, they want to add 12 more composting sites, for a total of 15 across the Inland Empire. The new composting locations will include middle and high school sites.

To learn more, visit desertcompost.com.

Haley and John Pick transfer a tote of “black gold” finished compost to the St. Margaret’s community garden. Photo courtesy of Desert Compost

Desert Compost spreads the word to combat expanding landfills, climate change

ARTS & CULTURE

MAD.KAT Art Gallery opens with a retrospective of paintings by owner Kim Tolman

by Cat Makino

MAD.KAT Art Gallery was slated to open July 29 in Rancho Mirage. Owned and managed by artist Kim Tolman, the gallery’s name comes from the first letters of Modern Art Design, Kim Assing Tolman.

Tolman was born and raised in Germany, and has been painting since her teenage years. She met and married her husband, Ross, in Germany, and became an established artist there before moving to San Francisco 22 years ago. She worked hard to establish herself in the U.S., and ended up winning awards for her work as a production and scenic designer, working with multiple theater companies and corporations including Disney, Universal Studios, McDonald’s,

DreamWorks, Pepsi and L’Oréal. Despite her success, she longed to get back in front of a canvas.

“For a long time, I’ve wanted to get back to my painting roots,” she said. “I’ve been a production designer and a scenic designer, but painting was my first love, and having my own gallery has been a lifelong dream.”

Tolman and her husband moved to the desert a few years ago. They owned a second home in Palm Springs, and previously had one in Joshua Tree—but a full transition to the desert was the next step.

“We love the natural beauty and the more relaxed lifestyle without sacrificing urban events and conveniences,” she said.

The first exhibition at MAD.KAT features Tolman’s work. Rück Blick (“look back”) is a retrospective of her paintings from the early ’90s to today. Tolman emphasizes texture and color in her favored large-format paintings.

“I love to draw abstract, colorful, bold contrasts, oil on canvas (and) acrylics, because my pieces are large, and that requires me to be physically involved when I paint,” Tolman said. “My paintings come from an emotional place. I tell stories with visuals; it’s how I express myself.”

Though her paintings are often abstract, they can have an emotional impact on viewers.

“We have one wall that cried out for a piece, and when we saw one of her paintings, we knew we had to have it,” said Long Beach resident Richard Matlock. “Her colors and the way she uses contrasts is striking. Her brush strokes are strong. The piece is a constant source of adventure for my wife and me; the sky interfaces with the water. It’s unique—serenity mixed with tension suspended in the waves.”

Tolman said everyone tends to see different things with her paintings. “I love it when they tell me what they see,” she said. “It’s very emotional for me (for people to) experience something different, a different story.”

The plan for the 1,200-square-foot MAD.KAT is to feature artists with fresh perspectives.

“We will have six exhibitions each year, showing new, exciting contemporary works of national, international and local artists who have not yet been brought to Coachella Valley,” she said. “We will bring a high level of artistic excellence to the community.”

The Tolman retrospective is slated to run until Oct. 15. The next exhibition, scheduled from Oct. 21 through Dec. 23, will be in·ter·con·nec·tion, Tolman said, featuring 13 artists from locales including Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Tokyo, Cairo, Athens, Madrid, New York, San Francisco, Germany and Poland.

Rück Blick, a retrospective show of paintings by Kim A. Tolman, was slated to openm with a reception from 5 to 9 p.m., Saturday, July 29, at MAD.KAT Gallery, 71590 Highway 111, in Rancho Mirage. The exhibition will be on display through Sunday, Oct. 15. For more information, call 760-980-7550, or visit gallerymadkat.com.

Kim Tolman. Sherman Underwood

ARTS & CULTURE

A WASH AND BLOWOUT

By MICHAEL CRAFT

Dante O’Donnell and Jazz Friendly make an unlikely pair of crime solvers, thrust together by iffy circumstances in the so-called paradise of sunny Palm Springs. He’s white and gay, a concierge at a vacation-rental outfit; she’s Black and straight, a private eye on the rebound from a failed marriage.

Maude Movay, a reclusive author of romance novels, is facing a tight deadline for a multimilliondollar deal. So she checks in at one of Dante’s rentals intending to write a blockbuster—then checks out on a gurney, feet first. It was murder, all right, and Jazz steps in to help prove who’s guilty. Soon, though, a second tragedy strikes, this one much too close to home. For both Dante and Jazz,

the race is on to name a killer, save a fortune— and rescue an innocent child.

Desert Deadline is the second book in the Dante & Jazz series, by Michael Craft, the author of 19 novels, four of which were honored as finalists for Lambda Literary Awards. He is the author of two produced plays, and his prizewinning short fiction has appeared in British and American literary journals. Craft grew up in Illinois and spent his middle years in Wisconsin, the setting for many of his books. He now lives in Rancho Mirage.

Here is an excerpt from Desert Deadline: A Dante and Jazz Mystery

Early Friday morning, I phoned the Bruce Tucker Salon in Indian Wells. Assuming there would be no one there at that hour, I intended to leave a message, and at the sound of the beep, I did:

“Bruce, this is Dante O’Donnell. You might remember meeting me on Monday at the Payne estate. I’m taking a lady friend, Zola Lorinsky, to have lunch with Mrs. Payne today. The invitation was last-minute, and let’s just say that Zola could use a wash and blowout before lunch. Could you possibly accommodate her?” And I left my number.

Shortly after nine, my phone rang. “Of course I remember you, Dante,” said Bruce Tucker.

“Things are a little crazy this morning, but since your friend Zola will be visiting Mrs. Payne, well … I think you’d better bring her in.”

I said, “We’re expected for lunch at 12:30. Could you take Zola at 11?”

“Eleven it is! Ta, Dante.” And he rang off.

I asked Zola to be ready to leave by 10:30, and she rapped on my door with two minutes to spare. She looked fabulous—stylish as ever, this aging priestess of pizazz. When I walked her out to my convertible, I offered to put the top up.

“Don’t even think of it,” she insisted, patting her purse. “And I brought a scarf for after the hairdo.”

On our way into Indian Wells, I parked at the salon and then, suppressing a laugh, helped Zola out of the car.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing, just a thought.” The windy drive had given Bruce plenty to work with.

We found the salon to be a busy place that morning, heading into a weekend in high season. Hair dryers howled, stylists gabbed and laughed with their clients, and show tunes thumped in the background. When we checked in with the receptionist, he handed Zola a folded smock and directed her to a changing room, telling us, “Bruce is expecting you.”

I took a seat near the front window, away

from the fray, to wait and to get my bearings. I spotted Bruce at the farthest of four styling stations, working on a man’s hair, although all the other clients were women. With Bruce hovering over him, fussing, it was hard to get a good look at the client, but then I caught a clear glimpse of him in the mirrored wall he was facing.

Unless I was mistaken, the young man was Liam Heimlich, who worked at the art gallery that represented Jazz’s painter friend, Blade Wade.

Bruce gave Liam’s hair a finishing brushand-blow before handing him a mirror and twirling the chair for an all-around inspection. Liam responded with a thumbsup, stood, and removed the smock he’d worn over his shirt. Bruce brought him up to the front desk, talking all the way—rather earnestly, it seemed. Liam gave a credit card to the receptionist. When he turned back to Bruce, he noticed me sitting near the window, and the surprise on his face prompted Bruce to take a look.

A moment later we were all standing together, greeting each other, asking how we all happened to know each other.

The connection between Bruce and Liam was a charity group they were both involved with, Safe Palms Community Center, which provided counseling services and a place to hang out for at-risk gay youth. Liam explained, “That’s how I met Bruce—committee work on the annual fundraiser. And since the salon isn’t far from the gallery in Palm Desert, well—everyone needs a decent stylist.”

With mock umbrage, Bruce asked, “Decent?”

I laughed. “The way I hear it, Bruce is the best.”

“That’s more like it,” he said.

I told Liam, “Great haircut. But I couldn’t imagine what the two of you were doing together.”

Bruce clicked his tongue. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Dante. I’m far too old for this moppet. Besides, this was more than a haircut. It was an informal brainstorming session.”

Liam nodded. “We’ve got a problem—with the fundraiser. It’s a charity drag show featuring a local lip-sync troupe in over-the-top costumes. It’s a big deal.”

“A gala,” I suggested.

“Yes,” said Bruce. “It sells out months in advance, and this year’s gala—we prefer to call it an extravaganza—is a week from tomorrow night at Apockalippso Dance Bar in downtown Palm Springs.”

“Sounds like fun. No more tickets, huh?”

“No, but that’s a good thing. The problem is Darla Midnight.”

Liam said, “In drag, she’s the troupe’s Black diva, and the show always builds to her big number. But she got into a pissing match with a couple other ‘ladies’ in the troupe and walked out on us at rehearsal last night— huge, hysterical screaming match. Texted us from the airport this morning, on her way to God knows where, to visit a sister for a month. And the others say that if she decides to come back—and if we let her onstage— they won’t go on.”

“So we’re down a diva,” said Bruce. “She was going to impersonate Grace Jones singing ‘La Vie en Rose.’ Fabulous costume, fabulous hair— very androgynous, very Jean-Paul Goude. But, alas, c’est la vie. The show, as they say, must go on—and it will. But without Darla, it just won’t be the same. We’ll have a heap of disappointed donors on our hands that night.”

Hmm.

The receptionist hung up his phone. “Bruce? Federico finished with your next client. Zola is washed and waiting for you.”

Liam said, “That’s my cue—gotta run.” He opened the door, but paused. “Stay in touch, Dante.” And he was gone.

I asked Bruce, “Can I introduce you to Zola?”

“Perfect. C’mon back.” He led me to his station, where he pulled over a side chair for me.

Zola was already in the adjustable styling chair. A towel was wrapped around her wet hair, and she wore a silky purple smock embroidered in flourishes with the signature Bruce.

After I properly introduced them, Bruce said to Zola, “I hear you’re on your way to Mrs. Payne’s for lunch.”

I had already coached her to play dumb about the murder, as I wasn’t sure what, if anything, Bruce had heard about it. For that matter, I couldn’t yet eliminate the possibility that Bruce himself was the killer.

Zola told him, “Marjorie and I have known each other forever—since she and the ambassador built the estate—and I think she just wanted to catch up.”

“That house,” said Bruce, combing and curling, “isn’t it fabulous? I mean totally to-die-for.”

After a tantalizing pause, Zola informed him, “I was the lead decorator. Thank you.”

They launched into an excited discussion of the estate’s various design elements, including—of course—the banana-leaf curtains, which gave me an opportunity to survey Bruce’s work area, cluttered with the various

An excerpt from Michael Craft’s new novel, ‘Desert Deadline: A Dante and Jazz Mystery’

Michael Craft.

implements and unguents of his trade.

Propped up on the counter, leaning against the mirrored wall but partially concealed by a towel that had been tossed aside, was a book. From what I could see, it looked like Cynthia’s Wrath, sixth of the seven planned installments of Maude Movay’s best-selling romance series. On Monday, when Bruce went to the Payne estate to pick up Maude’s wigs at the guesthouse, he had brought the book along and left it for her to sign.

“No one,” said Zola, “and I mean no one, could do a hidden zipper like Lydia. I used her workroom for every pillow in that house.”

“And they’re still there!” said Bruce, flopping a hand to his bosom. “Talk about ‘investment’ decorating …”

Zola nodded gravely. “Sometimes, you do indeed get what you paid for. And trust me— Ambassador Grover Payne didn’t hesitate to pay for the very best.”

With a chortle, Bruce said into Zola’s ear, but loudly enough to be heard over the chorus of hair dryers, “I understand the ambassador paid for more than pillows.”

Zola tossed back her head for a hearty laugh.

“Ummm”—I leaned into the conversation from my chair—”are you saying the ambassador paid for … women?”

Zola and Bruce looked at each other, wideeyed, then laughed with such gusto, they drew glances from everyone in the salon.

“Get real,” said Bruce. “It’s no secret that Grover Payne had a yen for men.”

This was news to me. I asked Bruce, “Did Mrs. Payne tell you this?”

“God, no.”

Zola added, “Marjorie never spoke of the matter—then or since. At the time, though, it was fairly hot gossip. It seemed everyone was in on it.”

“For instance,” said Bruce, “you know how they have that private entrance—back by the guesthouse?”

I nodded.

“Word is, that was built specifically for the ambassador’s—shall we say—assignations. The men, the boys, could come and go at all hours without the rigmarole at the main gate, and without the records. The ambassador, too—he could slip in and out whenever the need arose.”

Incredulous, I asked, “And Mrs. Payne never knew about this?”

“Marjorie isn’t stupid,” Zola assured me. “Surely, she must’ve known what was going on, but she never talked about it, not even in confidence to a trusted old friend—like me.”

“Obviously,” said Bruce, “she repressed it.”

“Obviously,” I agreed.

Bruce raised a pinky. “She’s a lady through and through—there are things one simply does not discuss.”

Zola said, “She may not discuss that, but get a few drinks in her, and she opens up about anything else.” Zola turned to tell me,

“Marjorie’s a sucker for a Tom Collins. The ambassador never served them. I, however, did.”

I wondered if Zola was telling me that our luncheon that afternoon might not be the yawn I had anticipated. Meanwhile, I needed to shift the focus away from Marjorie Payne and back to Bruce Tucker, who didn’t know that my true purpose at the salon that morning had nothing to do with Zola’s hair—and everything to do with Bruce’s possible involvement in the demise of Maude Movay.

While Bruce continued working his magic on Zola, I stood and moved to the mirror, fussing with the hair at my temples.

Bruce glanced over, offering, “Happy to give you a quick blowout before you leave—won’t take a minute.”

“I’m fine, but thanks for—” I stopped short, as if noticing the book. “Oh? What’s this?”

He set his blow dryer back in its charging holster. Joining me at the countertop, he moved the towel and picked up the copy of Cynthia’s Wrath, holding it like a precious object, a sacred text. With a happy little sigh, he said, “I’ve been showing it off.”

“Why?” asked Zola.

“Because she signed it.”

Bruce opened the book to its title page and presented it to Zola. After reading it, she handed it to me. Its inscription was familiar:

To Bruce Tucker, my dearest chum and most devoted reader Yours forever, Maude Movay

Excerpted from the book Desert Deadline: A Dante and Jazz Mystery, with permission. Copyright 2021, Michael Craft.

I love being

to help in a community where people are making a difference every day. Thank you for all you do.

VINE SOCIAL

JASON DAVID HAIR STUDIO

By Katie finn

LOVE YOUR HAIR

children, the heat, the sunburns and … oh, did I mention the scorching heat? This is the time of year when even the locals who can appreciate a “dry heat” need to get the hell

Country Club and Cook Street

We’re pretty lucky here in the desert, geographically speaking, because a two-hour drive, or Instead of taking a nice two-hour drive, this summer, my family headed north to Canada to

tootle around North America in a car.

So, an airplane it is.

Because time is precious, I like my vacation to start as soon as I leave the house. This means that I will be having an adult beverage at the airport, on the airplane, and immediately when I arrive at my destination. The problem is, I don’t care for cocktails, and I don’t really like beer. I drink wine. And I don’t want to drink crappy wine.

Airports and airlines aren’t exactly known for offering a wide array of scintillating choices for the wine lover—but I’ve discovered how to select the least-bad wine available.

I want to make it clear that I have no problem with cheap wine. Cheap wine isn’t always crappy wine. On the contrary, there are a lot of inexpensive wines that I quite enjoy. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a believer in the philosophy that a high price tag translates to quality. Actually, I’ve found that there are affordable “everyday” wines that are much more enjoyable than some of the beastly, high-octane, cult-status wines that command huge scores and even

Palm De sert

760-340-5959

www.jasondavidhairstudio.net

(aka hurtling through space in a cylindrical tube) is that you’ll rarely be given any more information than the name of the grape on the label. This is not the time to be overly inquisitive and start asking for the winery’s names, the alcohol content of the wines offered, or anything else that would require the flight attendant to become your personal sommelier for the flight. This will also help you avoid angering the other people hurtling through space seated behind you who just want their damned Jack and Coke.

Because I taste thousands, yes thousands, of wines a year, I’ve discovered that a lot of cheap wine on the market today likes to pretend to be expensive. This means instead of just being simple, unoaked, bright and quaffable, some wines will mask their cheapness by adding in things like sugar to increase the body and weight; a thing called mega-purple, which is basically grape juice concentrate, which will make the wine darker in color and thicker; or oak chips to give that vanilla, oaky flavor without the cost of actual oak barrels. I assure you these wines are a headache or hangover waiting to happen.

So, what’s a little ol’ wine drinker to do?

This is when I’m a firm believer in the acro-

nym ABC—anything but chardonnay/cabernet. These two grapes will be the biggest victims of the aforementioned manipulation. And when all you have to go on is the name of the grape, these two should become persona non grata. On a plane, I usually avoid red wines like the plague—not exclusively because I’m clumsy or seated next to my children, who will undoubtedly smack me, bump me or climb over me to go to the bathroom for the 12th time. No, I avoid reds because there’s really no way to know if the wine is going to be delightfully unoaked and fruity, or one of those pseudo-fancy reds. My go-to is always a white, and I find that no matter where I am, there is a light and fresh pinot grigio on the

menu—perfectly simple, unoaked and dry pinot grigio. Bingo.

Remember that your flight attendant is not a wine specialist. They are there to help you down the slide, put your oxygen mask on, and make sure your tray table is in its upright position. When it comes to wine speak, if they tell you there is a “peanut gregorio” available, just nod and go with it. Who knows what you’ll get—but vacations are all about adventure, right? Right.

Katie Finn is a certified sommelier and certified specialist of wine with two decades in the wine industry. She can be reached at katiefinnwine@ gmail.com.

Tricks and tips for getting the best—or least-bad—wine on your next airplane flight

CAESAR CERVISIA

JASON DAVID HAIR STUDIO

By brett newton

LOVE YOUR HAIR

stepped on the scales at the doctor’s office recently. I was surprised—and not pleasantly. Of course, alcohol = calories, and I need to cut calories. Thankfully, there are viable non-

Country Club and Cook Street Palm De sert

U.S. has been beer with 0.5% alcohol by volume or less (more about this later) that tastes of sadness. Fortunately, times have changed in favor of teetotalers, as I found out during recent

760-340-5959

www.jasondavidhairstudio.net

already-brewed, alcoholic beer. This is done by heating the beer to boil off the alcohol. This seems simple, but it carries the heavy price of also boiling off other aromas and flavors. This can be combatted some via vacuum distillation, lowering the boiling point of alcohol and preserving more aroma and flavor in the final product. Heineken does this when it creates its 0.0% beer.

Reverse osmosis is another method. Alcohol and water are filtered out of a beer, leaving only the beer’s “essence.” The alcohol is then distilled away from the water, and the water is added back. This comes at a different cost—of the beer’s body and foaming capabilities.

Yet another method involves controlled fermentation involving a yeast strain that doesn’t ferment maltose, leaving sucrose, glucose and fructose, which are partially fermented, producing only a small amount of alcohol (below the U.S. legal threshold of 0.5%) and resulting in a sweeter beer. This can be counteracted by changing the amount of malts added, as well as adding more hops or bittering agents.

Any of these methods of producing nonalcoholic beer are more involved (and often more expensive) than producing “regular” beer—but what about the results?

I started with Lagunitas’ IPNA. This is an under-0.5% beer with the promise of lots of hop flavor. However, the pour was not impressive; it resembled a malty soda with not much head hanging around. The flavor was that of a malt soda with citrus and herbal aromas and flavors. It was not terrible, but kind of a limp version of a beer, experiencewise.

Thankfully, the next beer I tried was the NA IPA from Three Weavers Brewing. It is similarly under 0.5% ABV, but the pour

resulted in a clear, deep-gold glass of beer with a pillowy white head. The aroma and flavors were all extremely reminiscent of a fully alcoholic IPA as well, with tons of citrus (I got tangelo most of all), a juicy mouthfeel and a nice bitter backbone to finish it off. This was the first N/A IPA I’d had that didn’t leave me missing an actual beer.

Athletic Brewing Co. was recommended to me by my friend and colleague at work, head brewer Juan Higuera. He had even visited the solely non-alcoholic brewery and was impressed. Serendipitously, a new Athletic beer was on the end cap at the store. Geralt’s Gold is a “hoppy helles,” and it has a tie-in with The Witcher series on Netflix. While I haven’t watched a single episode, I’ve played the excellent video game The Witcher 3 many times (including very recently), and it all seemed too coincidental to not get the beer. I’m thankful I did, because it is really good. This is a German-style lager with Americanstyle hopping. I got some peach, baking spice and little bread-like character, with a crisp, balanced bitter finish.

With things turning out better than I could have hoped for with these beers, I made another trip and picked up two more. I went back to Three Weavers, but this time picked up their NA Lager. It’s a solid, slightly citrusy and very refreshing beer that just happens to have almost no alcohol and only 45 calories. I can easily see this as a summer backyard-BBQ beer for when you’re the designated driver, or you’re hosting and want to ensure you stay sober so you don’t screw up the food.

The other beer I acquired was the 0.0% Guinness Draught. I simply did not know what to expect here (although I assumed it would be well done, at least), so when I popped the can, heard the familiar sound and saw some of the foam escaping the pour spout, I was encouraged. The pour looked the same—with that beautiful cascading dance of the nitrogen-infused liquid eventually settling into a pillowy, off-white head. The aroma seemed the same as the original, with an almost ashy roast character, chocolate

and coffee. The flavor was similar to an indistinguishable degree, and the mouthfeel seemed to be the same—and I was floored by the experience. I am now curious to try the original and the N/A version side by side to see if there is anything at all that is different. But for now, I’ll simply be enjoying the 0.0% beer while allowing myself to forget that there will be no ensuing buzz.

This initial adventure in non-alcoholic craft beer has been wildly fruitful. Even my leastfavorite, the Lagunitas IPNA, was not at all bad. With all of the above-mentioned beers

ranging from

45 to 80 calories, my weightloss journey can continue without me feeling terribly deprived of the beverages I most enjoy. I also have a renewed respect for the whole venture of making non-alcoholic beer and look forward to exploring more With that, I raise my glass and—very soberly—toast.

Brett Newton is a certified cicerone (like a sommelier for beer) and homebrewer who has mostly lived in the Coachella Valley since 1988. He can be reached at caesarcervisia@gmail.com.

A diet has forced me toward non-alcoholic beers—and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by what I’ve found

FOOD & DRINK INDY ENDORSEMENT

This month’s menu: tapas at Sol y Sombra, and hot dogs at Weenee Roadhouse

By Jimmy Boegle

WHAT The croquetas de jamon e queso WHERE Sol y Sombra, at The Paloma, 67670 Carey Road, Cathedral City HOW MUCH $14 CONTACT 760-864-1177; thepalomaresort.com/dining WHY They’re little bundles of deliciousness. The property where The Paloma resort sits has a storied history. According to the resort’s website, the land was owned in the 1920s and ’30s by Mary Bernardin and Laura Carey, and was once home to a 48-acre date palm grove. In the 1950s, a hotel was built, and for years, it was a gay hotel called The Villa Resort, before closing in 2017.

The resort was renovated and became The Paloma, and chef Chad Gardner (also part of 533 Viet Fusion, Willie’s Modern Fare and 1501 Uptown Gastropub) oversees the resort’s Spanish-inspired Sol y Sombra restaurant, which occupies an adobe building dating back to the Bernardin/Carey area.

But how’s the food, you ask? Well, it’s pretty good.

At a recent Saturday dinner, we ordered several items off the impressive tapas menu—which includes more than 20 offerings—as well as an appetizer (anchovies with Manchego cheese, romesco sauce and crostinis, $12) and the paella with shrimp, pork and chicken ($35 for the smaller size).

There were lots of pleasant bites—but the item my mind keeps returning to is the ham and cheese croquettes. Serrano ham and Manchego cheese were coated with breadcrumbs and fried; the resulting bundles of flavor were served with fresh herbs and smoky pimento aioli.

The long, narrow plate had four croquettes, which meant the hubby and I each got two of them—and they were quicky devoured. The only reason we didn’t order more is that we’d ordered a lot of other food.

This was our first visit to Sol y Sombra, and it certainly won’t be our last. The service was great; the cocktails were well-prepared; and the vibe is unlike anywhere else in the Coachella Valley.

WHAT The Cat City dog

WHERE Weenee Roadhouse, 35400 Date Palm Drive, Cathedral City HOW MUCH $9 CONTACT 760-537-1130; weeneeroadhouse.com

WHY It was tasty—and pretty!

I love a good hot dog—and I can confirm that the hot dogs at Weenie Roadhouse are quite good.

The hubby and I stopped one recent sweltering afternoon. The smallish space— which previously housed the Southern Belle Café—has a handful of tables, and some seating at wooden bar/bureau area.

We went to the counter and ordered the Cat City dog for me; the bratwurst sausage ($10) for the hubby; and an order of fries ($4) to split. The menu also includes chili, corn bread muffins, a corn dog, slaw and a couple of flatbread pizzas.

The skin-on fries—which were piping hot, and obviously freshly made in-house—came out first, and were delicious. Then came the hot dogs; they were so beautiful thanks to all the colorful toppings that I almost didn’t want to eat them.

But eat them, we did, and they were both fantastic. Weenee uses quarter-pound, allbeef hot dogs. (Seeing as there was a Nathan’s banner on the wall, I’m guessing that was the brand.) The Cat City dog came with avocado, tomatoes, red onions, jalapenos and freshly prepared bacon bits, all on a delicious bun. I added a little spicy mustard, took a bite—and was in hot dog heaven. (My only quibble: The menu says the Cat City dog is wrapped in bacon, and that was not the case.) The bratwurst comes with the diner’s choice of three toppings, and the bite I took was yummy.

The proprietors are clearly working hard— hustling to clean tables, refill water cups and bring customers condiments—and they don’t do tips, which I thought was interesting. The next time I am craving a hot dog, I’ll certainly head over to Weenee Roadhouse.

Restaurant NEWS BITES

By charles drabkin

THERE’S STILL TIME TO TASTE RANCHO MIRAGE

Taste of Summer Rancho Mirage is back!

The event runs through Aug. 13. Local nonprofits and the Rancho Mirage Chamber of Commerce sell wristbands as a fundraiser for $10; those wristbands get you specials at a variety of locations—26 of them, to be exact.

Buying these wristbands is a great way to support local businesses during the slower summer months; a fun excuse to try new places; and a great way to grab some deals.

Get all the details at tasteofsummerranchomirage.com.

LUCHOW’S CLOSES … AGAIN

The turbulent and occasionally mysterious saga of Luchow’s Palm Springs has come to an end.

I first wrote about Luchow’s, an American-Chinese restaurant at 4771 E. Palm Canyon Drive, in this space in August 2021. We kept covering it through a disastrous opening, a closure, mysteries about new buyers, a reopening, and now another closing. In other words, we have devoted a lot of print to this restaurant.

Sadly, Luchow’s was never able to find its footing, and on July 5, the closure announcement came. Owner Dan Gore will accept Luchow’s gift cards at Oscar’s Palm Springs, his other venue.

IN BRIEF

New to Coachella: Mr. Clamato, at 51557 Cesar Chavez St., features Mexican food with an emphasis on ceviche and seafood dishes; if you Google ’em, you’ll find the restaurant’s ToastTab page. … In news that sounds related, but it’s not, Clamatos, a Mexican-style ice cream shop, has opened at 231 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way in Palm Springs. A few savory dishes are on the menu, too. See some pictures at www.instagram.com/clamatos_palmsprings. … New to Indio: Sumo Dog, at 49830 Jefferson St., No. 106, redefines the American classic hot dog, burger and vegan dog with Japanese ingredients. This small chain currently has 15 locations across the U.S., including some at Yankee Stadium; eatsumodog.com. … La Quinta-based Casa Mendoza has opened a second location in Palm Desert, at 73155 Highway 111, Suite B. The La Quinta location is very popular; find out more casamendozarestaurants.com. … The JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort and Spa, at 74855 Country Club Drive, in Palm Desert, is offering “Cocktails and Culinary” classes on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 4 and 5, with an emphasis on whiskey and Southern-inspired food; and on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 25 and 26, focusing on contemporary cuisine. Classes will be held at 4:30 and 5.30 p.m., and are $70. Visit jwdesertsprings.247activities.com for more information or to book. … Coming soon to Palm Desert: Blazing King BBQ and Hotpot, at 72600 Dinah Shore Drive, is hiring in advance of the opening. We’re told Blazing King will offer an all-you-can-eat experience with Asian hotpots and Korean BBQ, all with a nightclub/bar/lounge vibe. Watch blazingkingbbqhotpot.com for updates. … Although the Facebook page says it’s still in Detroit, Le Petite Dejeuner can actually be found at 67778 E. Palm Canyon Drive, in Cathedral City, in the former Yianni’s Greek Taverna location. Owner Tina Motley closed her Detroit location and moved to our valley. The restaurant is serving breakfast every day and soul food from Thursday to Sunday. You’ll find family-style dining, even for breakfast, with tables ordering multiple items to share. Get details at facebook.com/lepetitbreakfast. … Palm Springs Bottle Shop has opened a second location inside Market Market, at 1555 S. Palm Canyon Drive; the wine/beer and specialty-foods market specializes in brands led by LGBTQ+, BIPOC and women entrepreneurs and makers. Learn more psbottleshop.com. … Chef Jon Merchain has opened Lay’ Vince at 540 S. Indian Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs. It’s currently serving breakfast and lunch, with plans for an expanded dinner menu soon. The deli-style menu lets you create sandwiches and salads at reasonable prices. I went to a blindfolded dinner there a few weeks ago and was impressed. There’s no website or social media as of this writing, but you can find Merchain on Facebook and follow that page for updates. … Maleza, in the Drift Hotel at 284 S. Indian Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs, is hosting the third in a series of mezcal dinners with Convite Mezcal (en.convitemezcal. com) on Wednesday, Aug. 30, at 6 p.m., with a three-course menu of Baja-inspired dishes and four artisanal Mezcal varietals. Pricing starts at $65; make reservations at resy.com. … Coming soonish: Celebrity chefs Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken (of Border Grill, Pacha Mamas and Socalo) are opening a restaurant at the 55+ LGBTQ community Living Out Palm Springs, under construction at 1122 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way. The restaurant Alice B. promises to impress and is open to the public. Sign up for a newsletter at aliceb.com. Got a hot tip? Let me know: foodnews@cvindependent.com.

MUSIC

CELEBRATING THE DESERT

By matt king

Two years ago, the Joshua Tree National Park Association hosted two concerts at the Indian Cove Amphitheater, bringing desert musicians deep into nature to both raise funds for the park and foster appreciation for the desert. Local rock pioneer David Catching (Mojave Lords, earthlings?, owner of Rancho de la Luna studio) curated one of the shows and treated it as a love letter to the desert.

In 2023, the Beneath the Desert Sky concert series returns for another two nights of music, again with Catching’s help. The first evening will take place at the Indian Cove Amphitheater, featuring Barrett Martin on Saturday, Aug. 5; the second will be at Pappy and Harriet’s, with performances by Mojave Lords, Flames of Durga and C’est Claire on Saturday, Aug. 19.

During a recent phone interview, Catching talked about how his performance at the Indian Cove Amphitheater in 2021 took place on the hottest day of the year.

“It was 118 degrees when we had to load in and set up the PA and the projections and everything,” said Catching. “By the time we played, I think it had cooled down to about 110. It wasn’t the easiest show ever, because the whole week was pretty warm. The rehearsals leading up to that were really hot—but the show itself was fantastic. It was one of the first shows where COVID restrictions were starting to become lax. In fact, the next day, we played at Pappy and Harriet’s, which was supposed to be only 100 tickets because of the COVID restrictions, but that day, they laxed the COVID restrictions to 80% (capacity) for venues, so we actually played outdoors at Pappy’s and sold about 800 tickets, so it sold out. The whole thing was great, because hardly anyone had been going out, so it was a real freeing experience for everyone.

“We had the best time, and anything that we can do for Joshua Tree National Park Association, that’s a plus for us. We love those guys a lot, and they made everything go off without a hitch.”

Beneath the Desert Sky didn’t happen in 2022—but it wasn’t for a lack of trying.

“We tried to do another one last year, at the Tortoise Rock Casino in Twentynine Palms,” Catching said. “It was outside, and we set up, sound-checked and were ready to go—and this crazy storm blew in at the last minute. There was hail coming down sideways; it was really intense. … It sucked, because we had to cancel the show, but at least no one was hurt, and everything was OK.”

As long as the weather cooperates, Beneath

the Desert Sky could become a yearly tradition.

“I’d love to see other bands doing it so they can enjoy the things that we do,” Catching said. “There are so many great bands out here now, and the people from Joshua Tree National Park Association are so cool. Everybody I know who has a band would be more than happy to join in to help in any way possible, so I think they’re trying to make it a yearly thing.”

This year’s event at the Indian Cove Amphitheater will feature an intimate performance by Barrett Martin, a Grammy Award-winning musician who has done everything from working with Queens of the Stone Age and Layne Staley, to producing albums as an ethnomusicologist for the Shipibo Shamans in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest and the Neets’ai Gwich’in in the Alaskan Arctic.

“He plays drums in Mojave Lords, but he is a master musician and storyteller, and he travels the globe learning and sharing his experiences,” Catching said. “He’s been a great friend of mine. We started recording together at Rancho in the mid-’90s, and we’ve known each other since a little bit before he came out to record, so probably in the early ’90s. He’s just one of the most fantastic individuals, and one of the best musicians I know. He’s a true master of his craft for sure, and his show at the Cove should be great. It’s going to be a multimedia experience with him playing and showing slides and movies of his world travels.”

Catching’s performance at the amphitheater in 2021 brought some nostalgia to the musician.

“It was really exciting for us, because I go there all the time,” Catching said. “I used to go camping there sometimes if every place else was booked up. This is the 30th year that we’ve had the studio (Rancho de la Luna), and I’ve been coming here forever. My first trip through the desert was in 1983, and I fell in love with this area, then I started coming back a few years later. Fred Drake, who moved here first and started the studio with me, moved here in ’92, so I started coming a lot around that time.”

Some special celebrations are in store to celebrate 30 years of Rancho de la Luna.

“We’re actually working on a really cool album with tons of people who have recorded here over the years,” Catching said. “So far, we’ve gotten at least 25 to 30 friends to join us, and we have well over 30 songs at this point. We’re getting together in early September to finish the record, and we’re going to start doing a string of shows. We’re just trying to figure out where and how we’re going to do these shows, since there are so many people involved.”

Catching called his three decades of producing albums for artists including Queens of the Stone Age, Iggy Pop and Foo Fighters “fantastic.”

“I’m the luckiest person in the world,” he said. “I get to do what I love, and I get to be surrounded by people who are not only amazing artists, but great people as well. Every session is a joy, and I couldn’t be happier.”

This year, Beneath the Desert Sky includes a show at Pappy and Harriet’s, another great place to enjoy the desert scenery. Catching talked about C’est Claire (Claire Wadsworth) and Flames of Durga, the two artists playing alongside his band, Mojave Lords.

“Claire Wadsworth, she and her wife own La Copine, which is the best restaurant out here,” said Catching. “They’re also my neighbors, and we’ve been friends, and she also has played in earthlings? and Mojave Lords, and she’s a fantastic singer, songwriter and musician. I’m so excited to have her play, and I think she’s going to join us for a few songs, but she’s going to open the set solo on piano and guitar.

“Then there’s a really cool local rock band called Flames of Durga, with two twin sisters. It just so happens that it’s their birthday that

night, and they recorded their album with me here about a year and a half ago. They’re really great, and they’re so excited because they get to play on their birthday as well. … Then we have a few secret guests we’re going to be bringing up, and I guess people will see when they’re at the show. Hopefully the weather will be really nice.”

Catching hopes that continuing to host events at the Indian Cove Amphitheater will foster an appreciation for the unique music venue.

“They were doing a few things at Indian Cove for a while, and then I’m not sure exactly what happened,” Catching said. “They took a little break, but I think they’re trying to bring it back. It’s kind of like a small Red Rocks (a renowned music venue in Colorado). It’s really beautiful, and it’s really intimate, so there’s really only enough room for 100 or so people. … They’ve taken into consideration all sorts of things, like how to have it where it’s quiet enough, and where it doesn’t disturb the natural beauty of the area or the animals or the neighbors. It’s so nice there, and everything just sounds perfect. You are in the park, so it’s a win-win for everybody.”

The Beneath the Desert Sky concert series kicks off at 6 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 5, with Barrett Martin at the Indian Cove Amphitheater, inside Joshua Tree National Park. Shuttles will pick up ticket holders at the Joshua Tree National Park Visitor Center, 6533 Freedom Way, in Twentynine Palms. Tickets are $100. The other event will take place at 7 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 19, with Mojave Lords, Flames of Durga and C’est Claire at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, 53688 Pioneertown Road, in Pioneertown. Tickets are $36. For tickets, find the Joshua Tree National Park Association page on Eventbrite.

Dave Catching talks about the return of the Beneath the Desert Sky concert series, and 30 years of Rancho de la Luna

Mojave Lords.

MUSIC

LASERS AND A KANGAROO!

By matt king

Cover bands all over the world get paid to play hit songs that audiences appreciate. Tribute bands take things a little further, honoring a band’s specific sound and catalog while adding costuming and more.

Yet others—like the Australian Pink Floyd Show—take things even further. They’ve added production aspects and crafted a touring stage show complete with lasers and inflatables.

Since 1988, the group has gone from simply performing Floyd songs, to being to a full band with multiple singers and musicians, all backed by the aforementioned spectacular stage show. They were even invited to perform at David Gilmour’s 50th birthday party, and jammed with members of Pink Floyd.

You can catch the #DarkSide50 tour, in celebration of 50 years of The Dark Side of the Moon, at 8 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 19, at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino.

During a recent phone interview with vocalist Chris Barnes, who joined the band in 2015, he talked about his first interaction with TAPFS.

“I first saw the band back in 1999 with my then-girlfriend, now-wife, and I was superimpressed by the fact they were playing all this great Pink Floyd music,” Barnes said. “My brother-in-law had been nagging me to go see the band for many years, and I was always working or something was always happening. Fast-forward a few years; I was running a kids’ music workshop, like the Jack Black School of Rock film, and one of our pupils was the drummer’s daughter. He came off tour once and came into the place, and we got to talking one night while packing equipment away. I explained what I had done musically before then, and he said, ‘If the opportunity arises, would you be interested in auditioning?’”

A deeper connection was formed when TAPFS used Barnes’ students for a special performance.

“It was ‘Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2,’ the iconic, ‘We don’t need no education’ (song), and they played it at our local venue in Manchester, in the U.K.,” he said. “I kind of got to know the guys in the band at that point. I stayed in touch with a few of the guys via emails and social media, and then I was approached that there was a position for a vocalist. … I auditioned, and that was it. I remember we went for a meal after my audition, and we were just trading Pink Floyd stories all night.

“It was like literally joining a bunch of friends, and now as time has gone on, and I’ve been in the band seven years, they’ve become like family, really. We’re all very, very close.”

The band currently has 12 members,

The Australian Pink Floyd Show comes to Fantasy Springs to perform

‘The Dark Side of the Moon’

with a number of other production and crew members.

“I always say I’m just a really small cog in a pretty big machine, but we’re all big Pink Floyd fans, and everyone’s opinion is valued,” Barnes said. “There’s no one person in charge. Everyone’s pitching in with ideas for the setlist for the coming tour, and it’s great to be involved in those kinds of decisions. For instance, if a new song is suggested, it might not be decided immediately who’s going to sing the song. It might be myself; it could be Ricky Howard, the bass player; or David Domminney Fowler, the guitarist … or we might sing sections. It’s just down to whose voice fits. No one’s kind of precious over, ‘Well, I should be singing this, because I’m the singer.’”

One of the most difficult aspects involves choosing which of Pink Floyd’s 160-plus songs to select for each show.

“There are so many great songs that people expect to hear—’Wish You Were Here,’ ‘Money,’ ‘Great Gig in the Sky’ or ‘Comfortably Numb’— so it’s about what other songs can we put in, because there are so many great songs in the Floyd catalog, and it covers so many different genres of music, so many different styles,” Barnes said. “It is very difficult sometimes to come to the decision of, ‘Oh, we should play that, because we’ve not played that for 10 years,’ or something like that.”

Album anniversaries sometimes help with setlist decisions. The Australian Pink Floyd Show has performed numerous Floyd albums front-to-back in the past, and this year’s tour features a run-through of The Dark Side of the Moon.

“We have played Dark Side before, since I’ve been in the band, all the way through, but this year is the 50th anniversary,” Barnes said. “We’re hitting that period now where albums are coming up for significant anniversaries, so they need to be featured in the set. Obviously, something as huge as Dark Side, we’re playing front-to-back. It’s a wonderful piece of music to play. The minute that it starts, people realize, then the heartbeats go in, and then the sound effects—and then as soon as that first chord hits, everyone’s in on the journey for 50 minutes.”

Even though playing Pink Floyd music is Barnes’ job, he’s still a huge fan.

“I’m not one of the people who distance themselves from Pink Floyd because I do it for a job,” Barnes said. “I could get in the car, and my kids might say, ‘Oh, Dad, can you put Dark Side of the Moon on?’ What, am I going to say, ‘No, I have to put up with singing that for six months’? I don’t do that, because I’ve been a fan of it since I was about 5 or 6. I do like a lot of stuff that we don’t play. I really like the early material.”

Technology has come a long way since Pink Floyd was touring, and The Australian Pink Floyd Show of today, in some ways, has modernized the Pink Floyd experience.

“Certainly in my time in the band, technology has changed things quite a bit,” Barnes said. “The video screen we use has gone from being a projector on a camera to a video wall that we transport around with us. When Floyd played ‘Brain Damage’ with a screen in ’74, political figures appeared on that screen who were the people of the day. Most people in our audience aren’t going to know the president or the prime minister of various

countries from the mid-’70s, so we keep things relevant and up to date. Some of the visuals are more modern, but in the same style.”

In terms of music, the band is very serious, sticking strictly to the recordings. However, in the case of the patented Pink Floyd inflatables, TAPFS takes some liberties.

“The only thing that we probably do have our own spin on would be some of the visuals and some of the imagery that we use,” Barnes said. “Obviously, it’s got the Australian flavor, with the band originating in Australia, so the merchandise is Floyd-ian, but with an Aussietwist. Floyd were known for the inflatable pig, and we do have an inflatable pig—but the key iconic figure in our stage show is a 26-foot-high inflatable kangaroo, just to kind of hammer home the message and Australian vibe. He’s called Skippy.”

The Australian Pink Floyd Show will perform at 8 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 19, at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84245 Indio Springs Parkway, in Indio. Tickets start at $39. For tickets or more information, call 760-342-5000, or visit www. fantasyspringsresort.com.

Australian Pink Floyd Show.

MUSIC

DISCO WITH HOUSE

By matt king

Coachella Valley clubbers and nightlife enthusiasts have a plethora of options—with new events popping up all the time.

The newest event: Disco Inferno, at Reforma Palm Springs, featuring—as the title suggests—disco music! Starting at 9 p.m. every Saturday, DJs Alex Harrington, Millionsworld (Mill Essex), and Sebass (Sebastian Lopez) blast a mix of jams with a heavy focus on disco

classics and remixes. The series is set to continue through the summer.

During a recent phone interview, Harrington explained how Disco Inferno came to be.

“We were brought into it by Reforma; they wanted to do something different on Saturday nights, and they wanted to bring in a disco sound,” Harrington said. “We do it with a heavy house influence, so essentially, we just created a night for everybody. … We wanted to create a night that could basically host everyone from wherever they come from.”

Throughout his career, which has included a couple of stints as an Independent contributor, Harrington has witnessed the Coachella Valley’s love for disco first-hand.

“I’ve actually been in the desert for 20 years, and I’ve been DJing for about that same amount of time,” Harrington said. “I started DJing at a lot of the clubs out here, and disco was a big influence in the scene. That’s kind of where I started with it, and

Three local DJs work to make Reforma’s Saturday nights pleasing to any dance-music fan

“It’s been a really good response, and it’s something different. The one thing we’ve heard probably the most is that people are excited to have something different in the valley. It is a club night, but you can go out, and it’s very relaxed and fun, and we found that’s the element that people are really into.”

August 2023

By matt king

over the years, it evolved. I’ve played a few Splash Houses now as well, so I’ve been able to kind of merge that house sound with that classic disco sound I started with.”

The trio of DJs, along with occasional special guests, keep the party going all night long, while also providing fresh approaches and twists on the evening’s disco sound. Harrington called it “a huge collaborative night.”

“We all put our own style to it,” Harrington said. “Sebastian’s got a lot of fun, great classic remixes, and Mill, he’s definitely more about house music with a heavy disco element. Throughout the night, we’re switching off constantly, so you’re getting that mix of the different styles.”

Disco Inferno has been entertaining audiences for several weeks now, and Harrington said he’s noticed the evening is providing a meeting ground for people within varied demographics.

“We get young people, old people and everyone from every walk of life,” he said.

Harrington said no two Disco Inferno nights will ever be the same.

“We’re always going to play classic disco, but we create all of our sets on the fly,” Harrington said. “It’s kind of like going to see your favorite band, and they’re playing all the songs, but they’re different every night, and not in the same order. We have certain songs from Abba and Earth, Wind and Fire that we will play every time, but we’re playing for five hours, so we’re always changing it up every week, depending on the crowd. If we see that they’re responding to the classic stuff a certain way, we’ll kind of move in that direction, and if they’re looking for stuff a little more modern, we’ll go that way with it.”

Harrington said Disco Inferno will soon include other local performers as well as other artists from Southern California.

“We have a lot of local DJs on here that we’re adding on,” Harrington said. “We’re bringing people out from Los Angeles and San Diego. There are some other things in the works that haven’t been confirmed yet,” he said.

Harrington loves house music, and enjoys incorporating it into his disco performances. He said the mixture has helped keep audiences with varying ranges of disco knowledge entertained.

“The saving grace is that we get to kind of flex with the house genre, because playing any one genre for five hours is difficult,” Harrington said. ‘Disco is great, but a lot of people just know the hits, so if you break into some of the more obscure things, it sometimes creates a disconnect. Thankfully, we have a lot of different genres to pull from and mix in that makes it fresh. We’re adding every week, and we’ll find some new stuff. What we really like to do is find remixes of classic stuff, so you’re still hearing it, but with maybe a different sound. The exciting part every week is finding new music to share with everybody.”

Disco Inferno takes place at 9 p.m. every Saturday at Reforma, 333 S. Palm Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs. Admission is free before 10:30 p.m., and $10 after. For tickets and more information, visit reformaps.com.

Happy August! The heat keeps going—but so does the Coachella Valley entertainment. Here are the best places to escape the heat this month.

Acrisure Arena features a diverse lineup of arena-worthy shows. At 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 1, iconic ’80s band Tears for Fears will have everyone wanting to rule the world. Tickets start at $33.50. Mexican rap pioneer Santa Fe Klan intends to bring a powerful performance at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 5. Tickets start at $40.50. At 8 p.m., Friday, Aug. 18, experience Marco Antonio Solis, one of Latin music’s most important figures. Tickets start at $81. Country superstar Dierks Bentley heads to town at 7 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 19. Tickets start at $56. Enjoy a unique performance from Christian Nodal, the creator of the mariachi and norteño hybrid genre mariacheño, at 8 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 26. Tickets start at $67. Acrisure Arena, 75702 Varner Road, Palm Desert; 888-695-8778; www.acrisurearena.com.

Tickets are moving fast for Fantasy Springs shows! At 7 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 12, legendary co-ed Korean vocal group Koyote will perform in Indio. Remaining tickets (as of this writing) start at $39. Latin icons will take the Fantasy Springs stage at 8 p.m., Friday, Aug. 18, when Los Tigres Del Norte perform their norteño hits. Remaining tickets start at $79. Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84245 Indio Springs Parkway, Indio; 760-342-5000; www.fantasyspringsresort.com.

Two events are set for Spotlight 29 Casino this month. At 3 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 3, celebrate legendary singer Tony Bennett’s 97th birthday with the Tony Bennett Day tribute show, featuring performances from Carmen Romano as Tony Bennett and Erika Moul as Lady Gaga. The event is free. Country singer Trace Adkins will visit Coachella at 7 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 6. Tickets start at $60. You must be 21 or older to attend Spotlight 29 shows. Spotlight 29 Casino, 46200 Harrison

The Disco Inferno DJ booth at Reforma. Jose Reyes

Dierks Bentley

MUSIC

BANGERS AND MASHUPS

By matt king

In June, Splash House kicked off another summer of crowded pools and dance music—and in this, the festival’s 10th anniversary year, the party will return over not one, but two August weekends.

More than 20 electronic acts, DJs and producers will perform at three Palm Springs resorts (Margaritaville, Saguaro and the Renaissance), with after-parties at the Palm Springs Air

Museum, Friday through Sunday, Aug. 11-13 and Aug. 18-20.

One of the artists performing during the first weekend is DJ duo JADED. While their sound is rooted in the house genre, their electronic jams spread into dance, emotional and techno territories. The Londoners have collaborated with Dillon Francis, Paul McCartney, Ashnikko and others while also creating an impressive body of work on their own. Check out the groovy track “Welcome to the People.”

During a recent Zoom interview, Nari Man and Teo talking about making their Palm Springs debut.

“We’ve played California; we’ve played L.A.; but we haven’t played Palm Springs,” said Nari Man. “We hear it’s the spot.”

Added Teo: “We just did EDC as well, so in terms of the West Coast, we’ve done all the places, but Splash House is something we’ve been looking at for years, and it’s going to be nice to finally actually do it.”

Some Splash House attendees come simply to party; others come to listen to top-notch music while enjoying the pool. JADED is aiming to cover all bases.

“We’ve got a few different sets lined up, and we’re just going to maybe turn up and see how we feel,” Teo said. “We’ve got the poolside jams; we’ve got the sing-alongs, but also we want to play some bangers as well. I think we’re just going to call it how we see it on the day.”

This is usual protocol for a JADED concert. The performers rely on vibes to give people a kick-ass set—but they never walk onstage without some sort of a plan.

“For the big shows, we prepare in advance and all of this—but it means nothing,” Man said. “All the preparation literally means nothing until we get into the city, and we’re in a hotel room. It’s happened before where we got to a city, and we had a set or a vibe … and we’re like, ‘That’s not the vibe of the city, man.’ We just know. … You can never just guess what you’re going to play, it’s difficult.”

Added Teo: “Having said that, there will be lots of bootlegs from us, unreleased stuff, and a couple of new ones (at Splash House). It’s

DJ duo JADED–performing at Splash House—promises to make any partygoer happy

going to be lit.”

Man and Teo use their varied influences and musical tastes to craft a multitude of sets for different fans, vibes and locations.

“It depends on the party,” Man said. “If it’s a daytime party, it’s going to be different than a 4 a.m. party in a dark club. I think we’ve got the ability to bring across house and techno, and sometimes, at a pool party, you need to drop disco tunes. We did some clubs in Australia, and these kids wanted romping techno, so we gave them techno, and that was energy. You feel the energy, and you see the room. You’re like, ‘If we play disco here, we’re getting stabbed.’ … It’s all to do with how you play those songs at that exact moment that makes people feel something.”

The duo’s experience in the world of electronic music has helped them develop a skill for reading minds and vibes.

“I think it comes from being ravers and clubbers our whole lives,” Man said. “You can tell if it’s not working.”

Added Teo: “As time goes on, you have the ability to know what does work. Some things sound great in the studio, and then you actually put it in, and all of a sudden, a vocal is going on for way too long and things like that. It’s about playing to the crowd, but also knowing what is right for the crowd, and what crowds generally go for.”

Nari and Teo work in tandem, using both of their artistic abilities to carry each performance.

“You might have a little bit of a mind blank, and then you’ve got someone who might just spark up a new idea and send you on the next tangent,” Teo said. “It’s nice to be inspired by someone while playing.”

Added Man: “It’s almost like playing chess with each other. At the start, everyone’s playing nice. I make a move; he makes a move; and then by the end, it’s like, ‘What are you doing? You’re going there?’”

They admitted that they sometimes try to out-do each other.

“The Australian tour got a little bit out of hand,” Teo said. “He was just throwing the most inconvenient things to follow up after. Wherever it does actually go, it can be very

inspiring and push you to the next level.”

In DJ culture, performers will often be listed with others under the billing of “backto-back,” meaning DJs will share the same decks and trade off songs.

“We’re not a massive fan of back-to-backs with loads of people,” Man said. “Most times, to be honest, it doesn’t work for us, because we’re always going back-to-back, and basically our whole act is a back-to-back. Going backto-back with everyone all the time, I don’t know, man. It just depends, because not everyone’s got our vibe, and we don’t have everyone’s vibe.”

Teo added: “Between us, it works perfectly, but you don’t want too many chefs in the kitchen.”

When it comes to releasing songs on streaming services, they fall back on their history to determine what works.

“We’ve got enough experience just as ravers, as clubbers, as DJs and producers to just be like, ‘This will tear up a dance floor,’” Man said. “Sometimes we can get surprised, and we make an edit, and we’re like, ‘I’m not sure about this,’ and we play it and are like, ‘Oh, fuck, this goes off.’”

One example: Their most-streamed song, “Welcome to the People.”

“We knew it was a banger, but we just put it

out and didn’t think too much about whether or not it’s going to be perfect for the dance floor or whatnot,” said Teo. “In the end, from across the board of house, techno and every fucking genre in between, DJs were playing it. It was funny to see how DJs connected to a particular sound in the tune in their own way.”

They admitted that their intuitions can sometimes be wrong.

“Whenever we do live DJ sets, we just go, ‘We need more bangers,’” Man said. “We think we can’t really play the musical stuff too much, but then you play them, and they go off, and you’re like, ‘Do we need more bangers with less music, or do we need more musical stuff and more emotional stuff?’ That battle is always happening.”

Whatever kind of set JADED creates at Splash House, one thing is certain: Nari Man and Teo will be enjoying themselves.

“We’re very selfish in that respect,” Man said. “I want to have a good time while we DJ. If we don’t have a good time, it’s guaranteed they’re going to have a terrible time.”

JADED will perform at the first August weekend of Splash House, taking place Friday, Aug. 11, through Sunday, Aug. 13. Tickets start at $165. For more information, visit splashhouse.com.

JADED.

The Venue REPORT

continued from page 27

dynamic rockabilly rockers The Centuries (Aug. 16), and ’50s/’60s rock revivalists The Rayford Brothers (Aug. 23). Shows are at 7 p.m., and tickets start at $10, available at eventspalmsprings.com. Jazzville

. Tickets start at $39. The duo of singer 5 p.m., Sunday, Seminole Drive, Cabazon; 800-252-4499; www. Agua Caliente in Rancho Mirage is bringing

Thursdays welcome vocalist Judy Wexler and her quintet (Aug. 3), vintage lounge with Bobbi DeCarlo (Aug. 10), the powerhouse sensation of Bob DeSena Latin Jazz (Aug. 17), the musical combo of Kait Dunton and Andrew Synowiec Band (Aug. 24) and a jazz journey with Natalie Hanna Mendoza (Aug. 31). Shows take place at 7 p.m., and tickets start at $15, available at jazzvillepalmsprings. com. Caliente Comedy Fridays showcase Blake Bartee (Aug. 4), Jason Stuart (Aug. 11), an LGBTQ Showcase headlined by Pink Foxx (Aug. 18) and Steven Briggs (Aug. 25). Shows are at 8 p.m., and tickets start at $7.99, available at www.eventspalmsprings. com. Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs, 401 E. Amado Road, Palm Springs; 888-999-1995; www.sparesortcasino.com.

Pappy and Harriet’s is combating the summer heat with nonstop nightlife. At 8 p.m., Thursday Aug. 3, the psychedelic cumbia punk outfit Tropa Magica returns to the desert yet again. Tickets are $22.

8 p.m., Saturday, Aug.

Agua Caliente in Palm Springs means three great residency series all month. Desert Blues

Pappy’s gets horn-y at 9:30 p.m., Friday, Aug. 4 when the seven-piece Dirty Dozen Brass Band brings saxes, trumpets and more to town. Tickets start at $30. At 9 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 12, singer, rapper and musician Uncle Kracker will perform. Tickets are $30. 1990s rappers Souls of Mischief celebrate 30 years of their hit song and album 93 ’Til Infinity with a Pioneertown performance at 8 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 16. Tickets are $30. After spending time with Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter heads to the hi-desert as a solo musician for an evening of guitar wizardry at 9:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 19. Tickets start at $39.50. At 8 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 22, Mexican regional music and ranchera trio Yahritza y Su Esencia is set to perform. Tickets start at $40. Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, 53688 Pioneertown Road, Pioneertown; 760-2282222; www.pappyandharriets.com.

Oscar’s in Palm Springs has some unique August additions. Beloved local rockers

The Dreamboats have a new residency, performing at Oscar’s every Wednesday at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15. At 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 8 and Aug. 22, enjoy Fun With Deven and Ned, a night of entertainment, games and more. Tickets are $25. At 7 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 24, catch an evening of topnotch drag with Dreamgirls Revue. Tickets are $15. Oscar’s Palm Springs, 125 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs; 760-325-1188; oscarspalmsprings.com/events.

Jason Stuart

MUSIC

LUCKY 13 the

Get to better know an increasingly popular rapper and a badass musician/educator

by matt king

What bands are you listening to right now?

Blind Melon, The Smiths, The Cure, Joy Division, Vacations, Wallows, Sly and the Family Stone, Maná, etc.

What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get?

I’ve got love for everyone right now, to be honest.

What band or artist changed your life? Ice Cube. He showed me how to have shwag.

You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking?

I’m asking Mick Jagger about his diet.

What song would you like played at your funeral? “Disorder” by Joy Division.

Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time? Graduation, Kanye West.

What song should everyone listen to right now?

“For the Weekend,” Mike Soy (feat. Kalani and Sterlyn Gram).

NAME

Mario Figueroa

GROUP Mother War

What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get? Reggaeton. I understand its appeal and its place in club settings, but it’s something I really can’t get into.

What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live? I’m still bummed I didn’t get to see Soundgarden before Chris’ passing. I missed so many opportunities to see them when they were touring their final album. I’m still looking forward to someday seeing Alice in Chains and Santana!

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure? Call me crazy, but I love Christmas music! I always have a Christmas playlist ready to go the day after Thanksgiving.

What’s your favorite music venue?

NAME Mike Soy

MORE INFO Mike Soy is a rapper from Joshua Tree—and his music is reaching fans all across the world. He’s been able to amass a following that has led to more than 12,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. Recent single “For the Weekend” features a catchy hook and some indie/hip-hop production that provide a great backdrop for his rap flows. For more info, visit www.instagram.com/mikesoy1.

What was the first concert you attended? Linkin Park.

What was the first album you owned? The Naked Brothers Band.

What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live? The Blue Man Group.

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure? Playing saxophone.

What’s your favorite music venue? The JT Trading Post in Joshua Tree.

What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head?

“I hop in my room and I know it’s a mess,” by Mike Soy.

MORE INFO Mario Figueroa is a badass local musician in varied ways. His band Mother War features a blend of alternative ’90s rock with some ’70s heaviness, and even some Spanish influence! (Check out track “Magdalena Blues.”) He’s also a stellar solo musician, often performing acoustic singer/ songwriter sets. Beyond music, Figueroa is an educator, making a difference in the lives of students.

What was the first concert you attended? Stone Temple Pilots! I was 17 at the time when STP came down and played at Fantasy Springs Casino. Scott Weiland was still in the group and killing it!

What was the first album you owned? I can’t remember the specific album, but it was most likely a Spanish group that was popular at the time. Cumbias and boleros were my introduction to music.

What bands are you listening to right now?

I’ve been listening to Clutch and Meshuggah before hitting the gym. Gets me a good pump! I’ve also been enjoying The Black Angels and Rival Sons as well.

I’m not sure I have a favorite music venue. I’ve seen different artists in so many different places, and I don’t think any one venue particularly stands out.

What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head?

I’ve had the chorus of “Secret Meeting” by The National stuck in my head all day today. “And now, I’m sorry I missed you; I had a secret meeting in the basement of my brain.”

What band or artist changed your life?

So many bands and artists I could talk about here, but if I have to choose one, I’m going with Stone Temple Pilots. STP was the reason I got into playing rock music. Scott Weiland was the definition of a rock star, and he was the first vocalist that inspired me to sing. The DeLeo brothers also got me into the art of songwriting. Robert DeLeo got me into Motown and bossa nova.

You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking?

I’m pretty sure I could ask Carlos Santana anything, and his answer would exude pearls of wisdom. Maybe I would ask him about his spiritual journey making music.

What song would you like played at your funeral?

Tom Waits, “Take One Last Look.”

Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?

Buena Vista Social Club, self-titled. A collection of Cuban classics played by veteran musicians. Truly an amazing listening experience and a big influence on me.

What song should everyone listen to right now?

“El Sol” by Mark Lanegan. Perfect for this summer weather.

OPINION COMICS & JONESIN’ CROSSWORD

“Get the Hook”—another letter, please.

By Matt Jones

Across

1. Brooks who turned 97 this year

4. Planktonic crustaceans

9. Political Pelosi

14. Eggy start

15. Capital of Vietnam

16. “___ a couple seconds …”

17. Source of coincidental thoughts

19. Manicurist’s expertise

20. Driver’s permit that’s only for the First Lady?

22. Have a sample of

23. Faux ___ (misstep)

24. Copy mistake

27. Amounts owed

31. New Jersey players

35. Regatta racer’s implement

36. Le ___ (French seaport)

37. Decked out

38. “That sound! Is it a giant keyring?”

41. From ___ (effective immediately)

42. Baryshnikov’s company, once

43. Suffix for Nepal

44. Mumford’s backup?

45. Mombasa’s country

46. Bullet Train star Pitt

47. Shameless network, for short

49. Actress Vardalos

51. Either of my kids, compared to me?

58. Insults, when thrown

59. Obvious sticking point?

61. Monty Python member Michael

62. “Buenos Aires” musical

63. Matchbox Twenty’s Thomas

64. Concert venue

65. Spouts off without reason

66. Old-school icons, slangily Down

1. Actress Gretchen of

Boardwalk Empire

2. Satan’s specialty

3. The Avengers villain

4. Cambodian language

5. Save point?

6. Wayside taverns

7. Big deposit

8. Rolling Stone article, often

9. Stealthy sort

10. Henry and June diarist

11. Part of NdGT

12. Biology class unit

13. Gridiron stat

18. Hi-C ___ Cooler (Ghostbusters-inspired drink)

21. “Call of Duty: Black ”

24. Commuter train stops

25. Owner of Tumblr (until 2018)

26. Jumbo shrimp

28. Bring up memories of

29. Boston hockey player

30. Discworld creator Pratchett

32. Lawn tool

33. Second-largest city in Oklahoma

34. Go too fast

36. QVC rival (and corporate sibling)

37. Captain Underpants creator Pilkey 39. Included

40. “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” singer 45. “Kitchy-kitchy-___!” 46. ___ mi (sandwich on French bread) 48. “Laughing” animal 50. Small amounts 51. “ ___ she blows!” 52. Hearty partner

Laptop owner

Suddenly bright star

Sheepish look, sometimes

Italian money

Pollution in big cities

Resort to retreat to

Little pellets

© 2023 Matt Jones

Find the answers in the “About” section at CVIndependent.com!