The Editor Is Feeling Warm Fuzzies About the Coachella Valley; Serious Problems at the Palm Springs Art Museum–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: Nov. 20, 2025

Indy Digest: Nov. 20, 2025

The Palm Springs International Airport recently posted an “apology” on its social-media channels. It reads:

After an internal review, PSP leadership has identified a series of recurring issues creating unintended outcomes for our guests. In the interest of transparency, we believe it’s time to formally acknowledge what’s been happening.

Please accept our sincerest apologies for:

• Security lines that barely exist. We know inching forward in a never-ending line is a cherished airport pastime, and by screening you in minutes, we’ve deprived you of this ritual.

• Views that ruin other airports for you. Sunshine, mountains, and open air concourses have consequences, and we’re sorry that not every terminal can feel like a resort.

• Accidentally creating airport snobs. Once you park steps from the terminal and are greeted with genuine hospitality, it’s only natural to judge … everything else. We accept responsibility for setting the standard you may never to recover from.

We understand this may make flying from anywhere else a challenge, but we remain committed to keeping PSP easy, friendly, and unforgettable—no matter the consequences.

Thanks for continuing to choose your favorite airport, the one that’s just a little too easy.

Clever!

For various reasons—the primary one being that we just sent our Best of Coachella Valley issue to press (watch for it next week!)—I’ve been thinking a lot about how lucky we all are to live here.

Yes, the Coachella Valley is flawed—deeply flawed, even, in some ways. Our economy is way too dependent on tourism. The wealth inequity within our nine valley cities and our unincorporated areas is horrifying. While the expanding College of the Desert and the two university satellite campuses in Palm Desert are great, the area suffers from the lack of a full four-year college. We have serious pollution concerns (hello, Salton Sea!). The food scene could use more diversity—and, of course, the summer heat is absolutely brutal.

That said … there’s not a place on Earth that is perfect. Every city/town/community has both flaws and positives—and here in the Coachella Valley, we’re fortunate to enjoy a whole lot of positives beyond our convenient, adorable airport.

Just a few examples: the mountains and other natural beauty that are all around us. Cultural offerings—shows, entertainment, arts, a theater scene, etc.—that are great and keep getting better. Myriad nonprofits all working to make the community a better place. All sorts of amazing people—and, of course, beyond-compare non-summer weather.

There are a lot of bad things in the country and the world right now. There is much to be worried about, and there’s a lot of work that needs to be done. That needs to be acknowledged.

But there are also many, many reasons to be thankful, and a lot of us who call the Coachella Valley home have more to be thankful for than most.

Schedule Note

Just a heads-up that the Independent’s newsletter schedule will be a different than normal next week, because of the announcement of those aforementioned Best of Coachella Valley results, as well as the Thanksgiving holiday.

• On Monday morning, you’ll receive our special Best of Coachella Valley announcement email, with links to all the readers’ poil results and fun features.

• On Tuesday, you’ll receive a special Indy Digest—the only one planned for next week.

• On Wednesday, you’ll receive our 11 Days a Week events newsletter, like normal. Not getting 11 Days a Week? Well, click here to sign up!

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• Los Angeles Times arts critic Christopher Knight has penned another fantastic piece of journalism about the Palm Springs Art Museum—and the situation at the museum seems rather disconcerting. The lede: “Serious financial woes have plagued the Palm Springs Art Museum for at least six years, according to internal documents obtained by The Times. Recent developments have opened a Pandora’s box. On Jan. 15, the accounting firm conducting the annual audit of the museum’s 2024 books attached to its report a ‘letter of material weakness,’ a standard accounting practice for alerting a client to the reasonable possibility that its internal financial statements are significantly out of whack. Less than three months after the audit letter, in early April, the museum’s director suddenly resigned, and trustee defections began. A cascade of at least eight resignations from the museum’s board of trustees—nearly one-third of its membership—has occurred since spring. One resignation came on the advice of the trustee’s attorney. With 19 trustees remaining, according to a listing on the museum’s website, the total number has fallen below the minimum of 20 required in the museum’s by-laws.” Big yikes.

• Excited about the fact that Congress approved, and the president signed, a bill to release the Epstein files? Well … don’t get your hopes up. This New York Times piece explains why: “Relenting to pressure from his base, President Trump on Wednesday announced on social media that he signed legislation calling on the Justice Department to release its files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein within 30 days. Mr. Trump’s signature does not guarantee the release of all the files. The bill contains significant exceptions, including a provision protecting continuing investigations, which could mean many documents would stay confidential. In a lengthy announcement on Truth Social, Mr. Trump focused on Democrats who were connected to Mr. Epstein and said the furor over the documents was a distraction to hurt his administration.”

• I didn’t think it was possible for me to be surprised by federal actions during the Trump era anymore. Well, this Washington Post headline legitimately surprised me (even though it probably shouldn’t have): “U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses as hate symbols.” Wow. Some details: “The U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify the swastika—an emblem of fascism and white supremacy inextricably linked to the murder of millions of Jews and the deaths of more than 400,000 U.S. troops who died fighting in World War II—as a hate symbol, according to a new policy that takes effect next month. Instead, the Coast Guard will classify the Nazi-era insignia as ‘potentially divisive’ under its new guidelines. The policy, set to take effect Dec. 15, similarly downgrades the classification of nooses and the Confederate flag, though display of the latter remains banned, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post.” Potentially divisive?!

• Big changes could be coming to the country’s credit-card system. The Wall Street Journal reports via MSN: “A settlement between Visa, Mastercard and U.S. merchants announced this week could usher in a new era of tiered pricing at the register, giving businesses more power to charge fees depending on the credit card you use. The agreement comes after a two-decade antitrust battle over interchange fees, the charges banks collect from merchants every time a customer pays with plastic. … Current network rules say that if a store accepts one Visa credit card, it has to accept all Visa credit cards. The settlement could change that practice by allowing merchants to pick and choose which categories of cards to accept within a network. … The settlement would (also allow) different surcharges depending on the category the card falls into. A basic, no-frills credit card, for instance, might come with a surcharge of 2.5% of the transaction amount, versus 3% for a rewards card.”

• Another large budget deficit is expected in the state next year. Our partners at Calmatters report: “California will face a nearly $18 billion budget deficit in the new fiscal year due to higher than expected spending, despite an economic boon largely driven by AI enthusiasm and strong revenue, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office said Wednesday. To make things worse, the $17.7 billion shortfall could balloon to an annual $35 billion by fiscal year 2027-28, as spending continues to grow and debts come due, the office warned in its annual fiscal outlook. The gloomy forecast is a refreshed look at California’s financial future since June, when the state Department of Finance projected a $17.4 billion deficit for the upcoming fiscal year. The widened budget gap could undercut the legacy of Gov. Gavin Newsom, as he will likely be forced  to make tough budget choices in his last year as governor.”

• And finally … some news stories leave me in despair regarding the state of humanity. This piece, from The Guardian (U.K.) using reporting by Axios, is one of those stories: “Much has been made of the so-called “Mar-a-Lago face,” or the uncannily smooth and artificially voluminous features seen on the likes of MAGA elite such as Kristi Noem, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Laura Loomer and Matt Gaetz. The bee-sting puffy lips, frozen brows and taut necks have been compared to Real Housewives stars, sleep paralysis demons and—ironically, considering the Republican party’s anti-LGBTQ+ culture war—drag queens (minus the campy fun). As of January, plastic surgeons in Washington DC have seen a ‘surge in ‘Mar-a-Lago face’ requests from Trump insiders,’ Axios recently reported. Surgeons told the outlet that more Washingtonians want their procedures to be not unnoticed but obvious and overdone. Axios attributed the aesthetic shift to the influx of transplants from south Florida (where Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s gaudy private club, is located), who are no strangers to nip-tuck tune-ups. Others theorize that going through these procedures is a calculated act of political deference to Trump’s preferred (and unnatural) beauty standards.”

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