Desert Star Weekly Friday Jan. 27, 2023 issue!

desert STAR

‘Save the Children’

$100K Grant Will Fund CA Food-Box Program to Fight Child Hunger

By Desert

Star Staff San Diego may seem like an affluent area, but the mountain communities in the eastern part of the county still struggle with hunger and poverty.

Now, a new $100,000 grant from Save the Children’s Innovation Lab will fund the development of a program to mailboxes of shelf-stable food to low-income rural families

The Local Concert Series Returns For Its 9th Season

By Desert Star Staff

Desert Hot Springs, Desert Hot Springs Classical Concerts kicks off its ninth season with two events in February: the return of the famous “Afternoon Concert Crawl” on Saturday, February 18, and a performance by saxophone quartet TC4 on February 22.

No tickets or reservations are required, but cash donations at the door are appreciated.

“Since 2015, Desert Hot Springs Classical Concerts has presented dozens of free community concerts featuring performers from Southern California and guest artists

who have traveled from throughout the country to entertain and inspire our local audience,” said Founder and Artistic Director Danny Holt.

“We are thrilled to continue presenting live concerts for the general public. This season we are also expanding our educational outreach to local K-12 students, bringing amazing teaching artists into the classrooms for interactive, hands-on workshops.”

The season opens with the famous “Afternoon Concert Crawl” on Saturday, February 18, featuring performances at Cabot’s

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starting next year.

Anahid Brakke, president and CEO of the San Diego Hunger Coalition said the program has been a big hit in other communities.

“The parents said, ‘It’s

like Christmas.’ So the kids feel like it’s Christmas; they get this food box; you know, it’s for them,” Brakke explained. “It really helps supplement the whole household.”

This week, a team from the San Diego Hunger Coalition is at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, to learn best practices from other communities already implementing the program. The funds will also be used

Last years 2022 musicians.

‘TikTok Challenge’ our Daughter Died on a Crazy Dare

Capitan Bermudez had a video call with school friends. Recklessly, Milagros tried the so-called Blackout Challenge. Kids choke each other until they lose consciousness and then post the videos on the Internet.

The friends called 911, and rescue workers raced to the family’s home. Tragically, the rescuers found the twelve-year-old dead with a rope around her neck.

The girl’s body was taken to a hospital, where an autopsy revealed that Milagros Soto died by hanging.

Internet

By Desert Star Staff

These cursed tests of courage on the Internet!

In Argentina, a twelve-

year-old girl died in one of these insane actions. This is reported by local media. According to them, Milagros

Soto died a senseless death by suffocation.

What had happened?

The teenager from

The family claims their child was incited to strangle herself during the video call. Now the district attorney’s office is investigating. The Pablo Ricchieri School in the city of 30,000 people promised to help the bereaved families with the investigation. An obituary said Milagros had been a “great student,” “good-

humored and friendly.”

The victim’s aunt, Laura Luque, posted a picture of the minor on Facebook. She wrote: “I am making public what I am going through. She is a miracle, my little niece. She lost her life in a TikTok challenge.”

Luque said she shared the photo of Milagros to shake things up. “So that this doesn’t happen to any child again. And also so that no family has to go through what we’re going through.”

Time and again, people die because of insane Internet challenges. Recently, a mother and three friends just 14 years old lost their lives in a horror crash. The teenagers had cracked a Kia and crashed the car.

TikTok has been criticized for handling user data and lack of protection for minors. The Chinese parent company has since admitted that the video portal spies on its users.

The Local Concert Series Returns For Its 9th Season

Pueblo Museum, the City Hall Amphitheater, and the new Desert Hot Springs Library.

Note: At each venue, short performances will begin at 2 pm, 2:45 pm, and 3:30 pm, making it possible for audience members to attend all three concerts in whatever order they choose. According to Holt, “The Afternoon Concert Crawl is always a fun event for the audience since you can experience live music in intimate and informal settings. And it’s sort of a choose-your-own-adventure afternoon since you can attend all three concerts in any order you choose!”

WHAT: Desert Hot Springs Classical Concerts “Afternoon Concert Crawl”

WHERE: Cabot’s Pueblo Museum

67616 Desert View Ave., Desert Hot Springs, CA 92240

City Hall Amphitheater

11999 Palm Dr., Desert Hot Springs, CA 92240

Desert Hot Springs Library 14380 Palm Dr., Desert Hot Springs, CA 92240

WHEN: Saturday, February 18, 2023

2:00 - 4:00 pm

‘Save the Children’

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to train community health navigators who can help people sign up for programs like CalFresh and WIC.

Esther Liew, the lead associate for food security projects with the nonprofit

Save the Children, said mailing the food boxes makes more sense than asking families to travel long distances to pick them up.

“There’s little public transportation in rural communities, meaning that they then have limited access

(Note: Concerts begin at each venue at 2 pm, 2:45 pm, & 3:30 pm. Audience members may attend all three concerts in any order they choose.)

WHO: Janine Angeletti (flute), Michael Adams (clarinet), & Nunzio Sisto (bassoon) Cabot’s Pueblo Museum

Jeffrey Krieger (electric cello)

City Hall Amphitheater

Margaret Irwin-Brandon (harpsichord)

Desert Hot Springs Library

A few days later, live music continues with the TC4 saxophone quartet, live in concert at Desert Hot Springs

High School. Celebrated for their unique approach and virtuosic performances, TC4 brings an eclectic program of music for saxophone quartet, including music by Venezuelan composer Aldemaro Romero, French composer Eugene Bozza, and American music including by Michael Daugherty, and a world premiere by Chris Evan Hass.

WHAT: Desert Hot Springs

Classical Concerts

TC4 saxophone quartet | www.andrewsharrison. com/tc4

WHERE: Desert Hot Springs High School –Black Box Theater 65850 Pierson Blvd., Desert

Hot Springs, CA 92240

WHEN: Wednesday, February 22, 2023 7:00 – 8:00 pm

WHO: TC4 saxophone quartet (Andrew Harrison, Isaac Lopez, Frances Cisneros, & Robert Alexander)

Admission to these concerts is free, thanks to underwriting from the City of Desert Hot Springs and generous contributions from individual donors. Cash donations are accepted at the door, and donations can also be made online at: www.DHSclassicalconcerts. org/donate.

to grocery stores and places where they can get fresh and nutritious foods,” Liew pointed out. “That makes it difficult to provide the food they need for their children and their family members.”

Hunger Coalition data showed that about 35%

of children in the Mountain Empire region live in poverty, nearly triple the rate for the rest of San Diego County.

In a recent community food survey of local residents, almost three-quarters said they would run out of food at some point in the last 30

days and did not have the resources to buy more.

Disclosure: Save the Children contributes to our fund for reporting on Children’s Issues, Early Childhood Education, Education, and Poverty Issues.

Milagros Soto (12) died in an

challenge. The photo was published by her aunt Laura to warn of the danger of these dares

Laura Luque wrote on the net: “My little niece lost her life in a TikTok challenge.”

By Desert Star Staff

Handmade Valentine’s Day decor is a crafty way to put your love on display. Add a little TLC to your home or share your affection with loved ones by dedicating some time to simple DIY projects that come straight from the heart.

to Display Your Love

2. Sucker for succulents. Hardy and easy to care for, succulents are a stylish way to add some plant life to your home. Add a romantic twist by gathering a selection of small succulents in a variety of colors and textures then clustering them in a heart-shaped basket or planter. Succulents also make great gifts; just create a small planter and attach a card that conveys your heartfelt thoughts.

1. Creative cutouts. Places and moments hold special places in the heart, so memorialize them with decorative wall hangings. Use a treasured photo or map of destinations you hold dear as the base layer. Next, choose a design, such as a heart or a romantic word like

“love.” Print your design then trace it on a piece of foam core or matting. Cut out the design to create an opening and layer it over the photo or map. To finish the project, either affix the top layer to the bottom and display as-is or place it in a pretty frame.

3. Love is in the cards. Almost everyone has a deck or two of old playing cards laying around, or they’re an inexpensive investment. Using the red-hued cards from the heart suite, punch holes in the top of each card. String heart-themed ribbon through the holes to make a whimsical banner you can hang on a wall or across a doorway.

4. Say it in string. Expressing yourself with string art is an easy project suitable for all ages. Start with a firm backing, such as a scrap of lightweight wood. Add a

base coat of paint to make your design pop then sketch your design. Examples like a flower, heart, word or some combination of those are all good choices for a Valentine’s Day project. Add thin nails in 1/2-inch intervals along the border of your design. Select your string and tie an end to the nail of your choice. There’s no right or wrong way from there; just loop from one nail to another until your design is obvious. Tie off your string, trim any excess end pieces and you’re done.

5. Collage of comrades. Paying tribute to those you hold near and dear is easy with a stylized cork board. Select snapshots of loved ones and attach them to a basic corkboard using push pins in classic Valentine’s colors like red, white and pink. Then add accents with tape, stickers, gemstones and other embellishments. Explore more DIY ideas to enhance your home at eLivingtoday.com.

Hypertension: A Silent Killer in Communities of Color

By Desert Star Staff

About 45% of Black Americans have hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, compared to 31% of white Americans. Now, a new program in Southern California is working to lower the numbers.

The American Heart Association is teaming up with the healthcare company Providence on a three-year program to narrow the disparities affecting Black and Latino Californians in the Los Angeles area.

Dr. David Pryor, regional vice president and medical director at Anthem California and co-chair of the American Heart Association Los Angeles Hypertension Task Force, called hypertension a “silent killer.”

“A person may have high blood pressure and don’t even know it,” Pryor explained. “They actually

could be feeling quite normal. It is only when the blood pressure gets more severely elevated that a person might start noticing symptoms like headaches, chest pains, or shortness of breath.”

The program places blood pressure kiosks in the community, provides health resources to barbershops and salons, and trains community health workers. The Heart Association also offers a lecture series for primary care providers on treating hypertension in the Black and Latino communities.

Dr. Daniel Lewis, regional medical director for Facey Medical Group in Tarzana and leader of the group’s Black Physicians Council, said it’s essential to “know your numbers.”

“The way people die, most of all, is a heart attack,” Lewis pointed out.

“And hypertension is one of the main associating factors. Unfortunately, hypertension runs highest in the Black community, and heart

attack, stroke, and kidney problems come with that.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported heart attacks are

SAVE

the country’s number one killer, taking almost 700,000 lives in 2020. In the same year, more than 160,000 people had fatal strokes.

Adjust sprinkler heads to not water sidewalks or streets

We’re in a drought. We all need to reduce our water use by 15 percent. That’s about 12 gallons per person per day. It’s easier than you think. Adjust sprinkler heads to not water sidewalks or streets, and save on average 12-15 gallons each time you water.

For more ways to save, visit CVWaterCounts.com

Photo courtesy of Unsplash