Indy Digest: Jan. 13, 2023
A decade and a half ago, when I was the editor of the weekly newspaper in Tucson, Ariz., I put together a business plan to start a new weekly newspaper in the greater Palm Springs area, called—you guessed it—the Coachella Valley Independent.
Those plans would not come to be, thanks largely to the Great Recession. Fortunately, the Independent would come to be—not as a weekly, but as an online publication with a monthly print edition—more than four years later, when my husband and I decided to take the figurative leap.
I recently dusted off that old business plan and gave it a look. While most of the features I planned for the weekly version of the Independent eventually made their way into the online/monthly version of the Independent, several didn’t—like a regular golf column, for example. There was also, as described on Page 14 of my business plan, “a society/charity page or section (my tentative title: ‘Do-Gooder’).”
While the Independent has covered many local nonprofits and their associated charity events over the years, we’ve never had a regular section dedicated to such things. That is, until now: On Monday, and in our February print edition, we’re launching one, using the tongue-in-cheek name I came up with all those years ago.
Do-Gooder will consist of three features, two of which we’ll be launching right away. First off, we’ll start publishing at least one feature each month on a local nonprofit, written by Independent staffers and contributors. Second: Local nonprofits will be able to publish, for free, their own pieces online (as long as they meet our standards). In print, we’ll run the Independent-produced feature(s), and excerpts from the pieces provided by nonprofits. (If you work for a nonprofit and want information on how to do this, drop me a line; we’ll have the details available early next week.)
Down the line a bit, we’ll launch the third part of Do-Gooder: Society-style coverage from selected nonprofit events around the valley.
It’s no coincidence that we’re launching Do-Gooder just weeks after the local daily suspended its Desert Scene section due to budget cuts. In the wake of the elimination of Desert Scene, a number of folks—representatives of local nonprofits, event promoters and others—have reached out to the Independent to ask if we planned to fill the gap.
The answer: Yes, indeed we are.
It should be noted that Julie Makinen, The Desert Sun’s executive editor—someone for whom I have great respect, as she’s managed to keep The Desert Sun viable despite the idiocy of its parent company, Gannett—is trying to get together enough money in local donations to bring back Desert Scene. I don’t fault her for doing this, though I fault Gannett for putting Julie in this predicament.
Regardless of whether she succeeds, we’re dedicated to Do-Gooder—and to continuing to fill as many gaps we can in local coverage as Gannett continues its death spiral.
—Jimmy Boegle
From the Independent
CV History: The Hot Springs Played a Large Role in the Creation of Palm Springs
By Greg Niemann
January 11th, 2023
The most notable Coachella Valley hot springs became the future site of downtown Palm Springs, right where the under-construction Aqua Caliente Cultural Plaza is today, at the corner of Indian Canyon Drive and Tahquitz Canyon Way.
Streaming TV: Six New Series to Watch This Month
By Bill Frost
January 10th, 2023
Here are six new series premiering in January 2023 that are worth a look.
Snapshot: One Business Takes the Place of Another in Downtown Indio
By Grant McMillan
January 13th, 2023
Johnson Old Town Photo, in downtown Indio, closed not long ago after many years. However, in its place, at Miles Avenue and Towne St., comes Cool Cat Threads,
The Weekly Independent Comics Page for Jan. 12, 2022!
By Staff
January 12th, 2023
Topics touched upon this week include Batman costumes, punching bags, Adam Sandler, worker pay—and much more!
More News
• The latest Palm Springs wastewater testing for SARS-CoV-2 indicates local levels of COVID-19 are holding more or less steady—but that there’s still a lot of COVID out there. From the latest report: “The average of 538,940 copies (per liter) from the previous week went up to an average of 687,544 copies/L for January 2 and 3, 2023.”
• Meanwhile down in Indio, the Valley Sanitary District has posted its wastewater testing results for the first time in a month or so. They’re testing for all sorts of stuff down there. Flu cases are trending downward; RSV cases are holding steady; and SARS-CoV-2 levels are holding steady as well:
• In local music news … first of all, the Coachella lineup is out. Here’s Pitchfork’s piece on the lineup reveal. A taste: “The Coachella 2023 lineup is here: Bad Bunny, Blackpink, and Frank Ocean will headline the festival when it returns to Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, this April. Rosalía, Gorillaz, Björk, Charli XCX, Burna Boy, Alex G, Jai Paul, and Glorilla are also on the bill for this year.”
• The Acrisure Arena is undeniably attracting a higher tier of current music stars, including two just-announced shows by one of the most popular musicians working today. The Los Angeles Daily News explains: “After 15 sold-out nights at Kia Forum in Ingelwood, pop star Harry Styles will officially closeout his Love On Tour run at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. To ensure tickets go to actual fans, Styles partnered with Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan platform for two unique presales that fans can register for at Ticketmaster.com starting at noon Monday, Jan. 16.”
• Sheriff Chad Bianco, whose brand-new term will last for six years, gave quite a speech upon being sworn in. Some details, from the Press-Enterprise: “After being sworn in on the Riverside Historic Courthouse steps Wednesday, Jan. 4, Bianco continued the outspoken style that defined his first four years in office. He described 2020’s social justice protests as destructive riots and said criminal justice reform efforts ‘allowed for the murder’ of Deputy Isaiah Cordero, who was shot and killed during a Dec. 29 traffic stop in Jurupa Valley. … Bianco’s public comments have also gotten him sued and made him a target for critics, mainly on the left, who see Bianco, once a dues-paying member of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, as a right-wing extremist whose department needs to be investigated for its treatment of jail inmates and people of color.” And we get six more years of this. Yeesh.
• Flights across the country were cancelled or delayed on Wednesday because a digital system called NOTAM, run by the Federal Aviation Administration, went down. An aviation expert explained to The Conversation what NOTAM is, and why it’s so important: “The (Notice to Air Missions, or) NOTAM system is a computer network run by the Federal Aviation Administration that provides real-time updates to crews about situations relating to weather, infrastructure, ground conditions or anything else that may affect the safety of flight. Trained professionals—like air traffic controllers, airport managers, airport operations personnel and FAA personnel in charge of national airspace infrastructure—can access the system and enter any information they need to share broadly. Pilots, air traffic controllers and anyone else who needs to know about flying conditions can access the NOTAM system and make appropriate changes to planned flights. It’s similar to checking the traffic on your phone or on the local news before you head to work in the morning. A traffic report will inform you of potential hazards or backups on the roadways that may lead you take a different route to work.”
• NASA wants your help in looking for planets in other solar systems. Yes, really. From NASA’s explanation of the Exoplanet Watch: ”More than 5,000 planets have been confirmed to exist outside our solar system, featuring a wide array of characteristics like clouds made of glass and twin suns. Scientists estimate there could be millions more exoplanets in our home galaxy alone, which means professional astronomers could use your help tracking and studying them. This is where Exoplanet Watch comes in. Participants in the program can use their own telescopes to detect planets outside our solar system, or they can look for exoplanets in data from other telescopes using a computer or smartphone. Exoplanet Watch began in 2018 under NASA’s Universe of Learning, one of the agency’s Science Activation programs that enables anyone to experience how science is done and discover the universe for themselves. Until recently there were limits on how many people could help look through the data collected by other telescopes, but now this program is easily available to anyone. By following the site’s instructions, participants can download data to their device or access it via the cloud, and then assess it using a custom data analysis tool.” Cool!
• And finally … the Palm Springs Writers Guild is holding an event tomorrow (Saturday) in an effort to get people to support local authors. From a post announcing the event: “The Palm Springs Writers Guild is inviting Coachella Valley book lovers to read local by attending our annual Writers Expo, a free event that will give attendees the opportunity to meet authors across a range of genres. This year the expo welcomes international best-selling author Andrew Kaplan who will be on-hand to meet attendees. Additionally, Coachella Valley’s newest bookstore, The Best Bookstore in Palm Springs, will be there to inspire attendees to not only read local, but buy local as well. … The expo will take place (Saturday) Jan. 14 at the Mizell Center in Palm Springs from 1-4 p.m.” Go here to learn more!
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