Gabriel Hart

The Morongo Valley Community Services District Board of Directors will meet in regular session tonight (June 17) at 6:00 p.m. at Covington Park's Mesquite Room.

Last night, the Morongo Valley Community Services District Board of Directors held their regular meeting where they approved the budget worksheet for fiscal year 2026-27, discussed a recent meeting with Dawn Rowe regarding Covington Park tree maintenance, and reviewed potential retirement plans for district employees.

The Terrace Drive Water Tank Replacement Project is located within the County Service Area (CSA) 70F water system in Little Morongo Heights in Morongo Valley. Funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and other sources for approximately $1.05 million, the project replaced an aging potable water storage tank with a new steel storage tank designed to improve long-term reliability, emergency storage capacity, and system resiliency.

For the meeting's agenda, it is recommended the Planning Commission finds the Yucca Trail Reversion to Acreage exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act under the Minor Alterations in Land Use Limitations since it is retaining the existing Offer of Dedication (OTD) and easements. The location is at the southwest corner of Yucca Trail and Emerson Avenue where there are currently eighteen lots on 9.21 acres. The applicant wishes to combine the eighteen individual lots into one.

Interdisciplinary artist, alchemist, and author Eliza Swann celebrates the release of her new book The Alchemical Imagination: Creativity as Catalyst for Radical Transformation, in conversation with author Annie Connole at Desert Trade in Twentynine Palms this Saturday (6/27) at 5:00 p.m. Reporter Gabriel Hart chatted with Swann about their new book and what alchemy means in practical terms within our modern age.

This Saturday (6/27) Compound YV gallery presents a new publication and installation. The event is the closing reception for Compound's new Compact Residency, which gives artists a shorter, more experimental format to utilize the gallery space during the slower summer months. Reporter Gabriel Hart takes a closer look at the show and how one artist used neighborhood dogs as their muse.

Big Morongo Canyon Preserve will be hosting their free Summer Science Fun series every Friday in July to provide programming for children during summer break. Reporter Gabriel Hart spoke to the Preserve's Co-Chairman of Education Kim McClinton about the intention of the program and what to expect this Friday for their first session of the season.

This Monday, July 13, Desert Bingo at the Red Dog Saloon will raise funds for our local veteran outreach Mil-Tree to benefit their upcoming Art of War programming. Reporter Gabriel Hart spoke with Mil-Tree's Founder Cheryl Montelle and Executive Director Danielle Giudici Wallis about their upcoming fall schedule…

The Morongo Valley Community Services District Board of Directors will be holding their regular 6:00 p.m. meeting tonight in Covington Park's Mesquite Room, where they will hold a public hearing for their fiscal year budget and accept a Carl Moyer grant among other business.

Last night, the Yucca Valley Planning Commission approved limits on extensions for Site Plan and Design Review and Conditional Use Permits and also voted down a proposal for a new water and ice dispensing business.