Welcome to the first-ever Coachella Valley Independent Daily Digest. The goal for this Daily Digest is to round up reliable, vetted news related to COVID-19 and the accompanying societal changes. There’s too much unreliable information floating around on social media (and even coming out of some elected officials’ mouths)—and in this space, we’ll sort through it all to get to truthfulness and sanity.
In addition to news updates, we’ll also highlight good things happening—specials from local businesses (that REALLY need your support right now), enlightening comments from members of the community, and so on. Please email me at jboegle@cvindependent.com if you have anything you think should be included.
And with that … here’s the news.
• As we were getting close to clicking send on this, the Palm Springs Unified School District announced it would be closing schools the next two weeks. They’re moving up Spring Break, essentially. Parents are receiving this message right now: “Hello PSUSD families. This is Supt. Sandy Lyon. I wanted to provide you with an update on the coronavirus situation as it relates to our District. You may be aware that over the past day, there has been an increase in the number of confirmed cases here in the Coachella Valley, and there are a number of tests pending that could result in several other confirmed cases. Additionally, both the Riverside County Department of Health and Governor Newsom issued a directive to suspend gatherings of over 250 people. As a result, Palm Springs Unified School District is moving its two-week spring break. It will begin on Monday, March 16.”
• Eisenhower Medical Center announced earlier today that visitors will no longer be allowed at EMC for the time being. More on what EMC is doing to protect the community can be found here.
• As of this writing, local theaters have made a split decision on whether to stay open or not. While Desert Ensemble Theatre Company, Coyote StageWorks and the Desert Rose Playhouse have cancelled or postponed shows this weekend, Palm Canyon Theatre, CVRep and Desert TheatreWorks are letting the shows go on. Read more about this in the second installment in the Independent’s Pandemic Stories series tomorrow (Saturday).
• As for that first Pandemic Stories installment: Kevin Fitzgerald talked to the owner of Piero’s PizzaVino about the cancellation of the BNP Paribas Open tennis tourney, and how that devastated her and her staff. Piero’s is one of the few local restaurants to have a pop-up location at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, alongside big names like Nobu and Spago.
• As for closures and cancellations: The Palm Springs Gay Softball league has suspended practices and play through March, and the national NAGAAA Cup tourney the league was hosting at the end of March is cancelled. Other recent cancellations/closures include the Palm Desert Food and Wine fest, all Certified Farmers Markets through at least March 30 (though the Palm Springs Cultural Center remains open for now), the Palm Springs Library (though the Palm Desert Library remains open), and shockingly, The Abbey down in West Hollywood.
• From our partners at CalMatters: As the coronavirus toll rises, so do concerns about health-care workers’ safety.
• Earlier today, President Trump declared a national emergency. The press conference was … well, fascinating. At one point, after Trump said he didn’t take any responsibility for the pandemic, a reporter from PBS asked him about his firing of the national pandemic response team. His response was that he didn’t do it, and that this was a “nasty question.” As for that firing, Snopes says it’s true that it happened.
• Support local businesses! If you’re comfortable with going out (while taking all the precautions that you should be), local bars and restaurants need you right now. If not, order food from a local restaurant on GrubHub or one of the apps!
• Alternately, consider buying gift cards from local businesses. Some places are offering 20 percent bonuses.
• If you found this email helpful, forward to a friend, or have them email us and we’ll add them to the list. Please consider supporting the Independent, too … we could use it!
Until tomorrow … stay safe; support local business, and wash your hands!