DESERT LOCAL NEWS • FEBRUARY 26, 2009 EDITION

©

“WAOKIYE”

Richard Milanovich & Peter Toth

24/7 Local News • Go to DesertLocalNews.com

OSCAR NIGHT in PALM SPRINGS

Samantha Lockwood and Whitney Hay ~ Photo Pat Krause

2 DESERT LOCAL NEWS • FEBRUARY 26, 2009

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EDITORIAL- “Ten Dol-lars per month for ten more cops.” That’s what Desert Hot Springs Mayor Pro Tem Karl Baker had to say fol-lowing an intensive study session Tuesday afternoon regarding the future of the city’s utility tax.

“People will see that property taxes will go down. They won’t notice the dif-ference,” said Baker when the issue of raising prop-erty parcel taxes came up. With the downturn in the U.S. Economy and the housing prices plummeting to pre-2000 levels, maybe so. However, Councilman Russell Betts believes that residents of single-family homes are overburdened with paying taxes. “Single family residences are pay-ing a huge percent of public safety taxes,” he says. Up to seven percent, compared to the costs that businesses, hotels and commercial es-

tablishments are paying for keeping the police depart-ment alive.

Residents, according to reports, are pleased with the level of police services in Desert Hot Springs and have supported the tax over-whelmingly back in 2000 when the city decided not to contract with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department no longer. A complete police department, compared to only eight deputies serving an entire city. With a high unemployment rate (over 13 percent) in town, will these same residents be willing to pay for possibly higher pub-lic safety taxes this coming June?

“One of our best gifts to this city is the chief,” said Betts. “Patrick Williams is doing a great job, looking to raise $1.6 million to support ten more officers. This Pub-lic Safety tax is one that ev-erybody would benefit from.

It creates the ability to sell homes. Commercial lots in crime-infested cities sell for less.” And with lesser pric-es, there would be lesser tax revenue generated to the city, as common sense tells. Betts believes that there’s another way to raise the $1.6 million needed for better services.

Baker, on the other hand believes that Betts is simply trying to shift the tax burden away from the homeowners. “I understand his argument, but it does not provide ser-vices,” Baker explained to Desert Local News. “Let’s not rock the boat. Let’s not make changes.”

No decision was made Tuesday night, but one will be made on putting the mea-sure before voters on March 3rd. The taxes, passed back in 2000 are scheduled to sunset in 2010. These new taxes, if passed, will be good for another ten years.

BY LESLIE ANDREWS

But what would happen if the tax doesn’t pass? Could this mean the end of Desert Hot Springs as we know it? Major cuts would have to be made and problems before 1997 would happen all over again, with a department of perhaps fewer officers than when the Sheriff’s Department used to run the city between 1990 and 1996. Just remember, over 60% of the city’s spending go towards fund-ing public safety.

UTILITY TAXISSUES

No Tax Sunset in DHS?

3DESERT HOT SPRINGS

DESERT HOT SPRINGS, CA- Is Desert Hot Springs prepared for the big one if it ever does strike? Residents gathered to-gether on Saturday morning to attend an Earthquake Expo at Desert Hot Springs High School and to experience what an 8.0 on the Richter Scale would feel like.

For starters, there was an Earthquake Simulator, known as a Quake Cottage set up, which gave residents a feel of what a major quake would feel like. First, it would simulate a 6.0, then a 7.0 and finally an 8.0, which was strong enough to knock down furniture and shake objects off to the ground.

Plus, many vendors, includ-ing some from local insurance companies and Home Depot,

participated, selling Earthquake kits and giving advice to help res-idents become better prepared. Residents were also shown how to set up a relief shelter in case of such emergencies. Ken Eklund of Safe-T-Proof explained a few major details.

“You need to have three weeks of water supplied, as you need to have one gallon per person per day in case of an earthquake,” he said. Eklund also demonstrated a few products that would help keep furniture strapped to the walls. “We do a pre-assessment of how to make things safer, and we do it professionally.”

At least 1,000 people attend-ed the exposition, which was free to the public. This is the first an-nual event of such.

BY LESLIE ANDREWS

Is Desert Hot Springs prepared for the big one

4 GREENPATH POWER PROJECT

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is still considering running transmission lines through California’s ecologically rich regions nearly two years after 10 envi-ronmental groups petitioned him to use a less damaging existing utility corridor. This was revealed at a Greenpath Pow-er Project meeting on Friday, February 20, 2009, at the offices of the Los An-geles Department of Water and Power (LADWP). The groups have requested that Mayor Villaraigosa use the “Smart Path,” an existing utility corridor along Interstate 10. LADWP originally con-tended this path would condemn 3500 houses. At Friday’s meeting, LADWP’s own study revealed it would impact only 16 houses, which environmentalists and community groups believe could be avoided.

“It is clear that any route that does not follow existing transmission cor-ridors would be an economic choice by Mayor Villaraigosa that totally dis-regards the environment,” states Joan Taylor, the Desert Energy Chair of the Sierra Club.

April Sall of The Wildlands Con-servancy added: “Mayor Villaraigo-

sa’s proposed route through the high desert communities and ecologically rich lands thwarts our democracy and would require Los Angeles to condemn lands over the resolutions of opposi-tion from two boards of supervisors and nine cities. It shows total disregard for the property rights and environment of people who live far from the City of Los Angeles and receive no benefit from this new energy source. We call on Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to drop the desert route immediately and to use the existing corridor route outlined by his Department of Water and Power in Friday’s meeting.”

This past apple season, Oak Glen apple growers and environmentalists sent more than 30,000 postcards and e-mails to Mayor Villaraigosa from tour-ists opposed to the “Greenpath” route that would destroy historic Oak Glen. Concerning “Greenpath,” Devon Riley, president of Oak Glen Apple Growers’ Association, said: “Mayor Villaraigosa should realize by now that it is a po-litical blunder to destroy one of Califor-nia’s most popular inland tourist desti-nations.”

Peter Galvin, Conservation Director of the Center for Biological Diversity, added: “We applaud Los Angeles’ ef-fort to bring green geothermal energy from the Salton Sea to Los Angeles. But the proposed routes through im-portant habitat lands are not green by any standards and will result in lengthy litigation.”

Ruth Rieman of the California Des-ert Coalition notes: “Finally, Los An-geles has backed away from the fear tactic that following existing utility cor-ridors (Smart Path) would require con-demnation of 3,500 houses. (The Press Enterprise: ‘Inland acres in LA power path,’ 6/25/08) Now, their own study finds that this route would only impact 16 houses which could probably be avoided with further study. There can now be no doubt that the ‘Smart Path’ is the least damaging corridor.”

The billboard campaign is a collab-

oration between the California Desert Coalition, the Oak Glen Apple Growers’ Association, and The Wildlands Con-servancy.

Interstate 10 billboardsOak Glen Apple Growers signConservation Group to oppose the Greenpath Power Project

Billboard campaign to oppose Greenpath Power ProjectMayor Villaraigosa’s plans would destroy ecologically rich desert, mountain areas

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Our reason for winning this award is be-cause of our Virtual News magazine, which has been coming out regularly on a weekly basis. FODHS Founder Gabriel King states that our news magazine is green and envi-ronmentally friendly, and the graphic editing and layout are spectacular.

Go to FODHS award page!“While other newspapers have online

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Once more, Desert Local News has jumped in and joined many other wonderful publications in going ‘virtual,’ and has started a revolution in its home base of Desert Hot Springs. So remember, catch Desert Local News Weekly Magazine every Wednesday and keep up with the world!

Desert Local News Wins “Best Of” Award

6 PALM SPRINGS EXOTIC CAR AUCTION • DESERT LOCAL NEWS FEB. 26, 2009 PALM SPRINGS EXOTIC CAR AUCTION AT THE SPA RESORT CASINO

Desert Local News Feb. 26, 2009

PALM SPRINGS, CA- The 46th Palm Springs Exotic Car Auction held last weekend for three days at the Spa Resort Casino was definitely a car buff’s dream. A chance to view over six hundred one-of-a-kind collector cars is a great way to spend a day.

Throw in the excitement of a chance to bid or view the bidding on all these beauties and you will really have a thrilling combination. One after another,

some of the most amazing cars where sold at auction. From American Muscle Cars, Touring Classics of the Past to the more exotic European makes, any type of vehicle you could ever dream of was available.

Not only was it a great site for the eyes, it was also a day of great sounds. Frank Bizzarro and his ring crew made sure there was music in the background. As always, they provided a great show

to watch and listen to even if you weren’t bidding. As for the bidding, a lot of the cars at the auction weren’t just for the rich and famous. The 1978 El Camino (pictured) sold for just $3,200 and that blue and gold Jeep (pictured) went for just $6,500. What bargains they had!

This gives me hope to save up and to maybe get into the action at the next auction which is coming up in November. I’m looking forward to it!

STORY AND PHOTOS BY ANDREW YELICH

Exotic Cars Are A Big Car Buff’s Dream

Keith McCormick Frank Buzzarro

5DESERT LOCAL NEWS • FEBRUARY 4, 2009 7PALM SPRINGS EXOTIC CAR AUCTION • DESERT LOCAL NEWS FEB. 26, 2009 PALM SPRINGS EXOTIC CAR AUCTION AT THE SPA RESORT CASINO

Desert Local News Feb. 26, 2009

Exotic Cars Are A Big Car Buff’s Dream

DESERT HOT SPRINGS, CA- “Waokiye”, a statue carved by Native American inspired

artist Peter “Wolf” Toth, was re-dedicated at an artists’ festival held at the Cabot’s Pueblo Museum Saturday afternoon.

Toth, a Hungarian-born sculptor, received a plaque of recognition by Desert Hot Springs Mayor Yvonne Parks and a blessing from Tribal Chairman Richard Milanovich from the Agua Caliente Indian Tribe for his work that he has done on his statue, which was created back in 1978 as a gift to the Indians.

“To honor the Native Americans is my goal,” said Toth. “This represents and honors the Agua Caliente Indian peo-ple, plus all the Native American people in the state of Cali-fornia.”

The carved statue, which stands 43 feet tall, was cre-ated from a 750-year-old Sequoia tree, and took six months to complete. About a few weeks ago, Toth began to reno-

vate the statue, chiseling away at worn-out wood, thus giving Waokiye a facelift, adding “age” to its look. With the old wood shavings, Toth will either donate the pieces to other artists or create mini-statues with them. Plus, a steel rod will be in-serted into the statue, giving it added protection from falling down and from natural disasters such are earthquakes or wind storms. A liquid preservative will also be added in order to preserve the statue for at least another 250 years.

Chairman Milanovich added, “What Peter has done is something everybody should be proud of. It’s an ongoing memorial and a living memorial to him. For the people, this is important.”

“Waokiye” is a Lakota Sioux word for “Traditional Helper”. Also, Cabot Yerxa, the founder of the museum, was born on the Sioux Indian Reservation 121 years ago. So far, the stat-ue has miraculously survived all these years without termite damage. MORE PICTURES ON PAGES 10 AND 11

Tribal Chairman Richard Milanovich from the Agua Caliente Indian Tribe, artist Peter “Wolf” Toth and Desert Hot Springs Mayor Yvonne Parks. ~Photos Max Liebermann DLNEWS

DESERT LOCAL NEWS • FEBRUARY 26, 20098

9WAOKIYE STATUE RE-DEDICATED AT CABOT MUSEUM ART FEST

Tribal Chairman Richard Milanovich from the Agua Caliente Indian Tribe, artist Peter “Wolf” Toth

~Photos by Max Liebermann DLNEWS

Scott Matas, Peter Toth, Yvonne

Parks, Russell Betts and Karl Baker

Yvonne Parks, Jane Kijowa, Peter Toth, Alex Bias, Barbara Maron, Michael O’Keefe

C WAOKIYE STATUE RE-DEDICATED AT CABOT MUSEUM ART FEST10 DESERT LOCAL NEWS FEB. 26, 2009 • WAOKIYE STATUE RE-DEDICATED AT CABOT MUSEUM ART FEST

The Beautiful Girls of DHS High School

Scott Matas, Peter Toth, Yvonne

Parks, Russell Betts and Karl Baker

Yvonne Parks, Jane Kijowa, Peter Toth, Alex Bias, Barbara Maron, Michael O’Keefe

C 11DESERT LOCAL NEWS FEB. 26, 2009 • WAOKIYE STATUE RE-DEDICATED AT CABOT MUSEUM ART FEST

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15 PALM SPRINGS UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

EDITORIAL- As a result of budget

cuts and less money from the state of California, 160 teachers at the Palm Springs Unified School District may be cut from payroll as soon as May of this year.

The district is looking at a reduction of $9 million between the current year and the following year. There has been a 15 percent re-duction in categorical fund-ing for 2009-2010 and 20 percent reductions expected for 2010-2011. A total of $8.6 billion of the state’s $15.1 bil-lion in cuts are being made in the education budget.

According to a press release, PSUSD has frozen all non-essential spending a few months ago in order to absorb the current year cuts with those unspent funds. Decisions on where and how to make up the deficit for the

following year will be made soon. Still, about $5 million must be trimmed from the budget in order to make up for the reductions in state funding.

As for the teachers, no-tices may be issued by March 15th and will be enforced by May 15th. Layoffs would be determined according to se-niority. District officials are still hoping that they will be able to significantly reduce this amount based on resig-nations and retirements.

“Our hope is that we will be able to significantly reduce, if not eliminate, the number of layoffs that will actually need to take place based upon the number of retirements and resignations submitted and continued budget discussions and de-cisions.

“If there is a silver lining

among all of these clouds, it’s that the budget does give school districts some flex-ibility in funding for several categorical programs, which at least makes it possible to talk about whether some programs should be fully funded or retained at all, as opposed to us being required to fund every program or not have access to that specified funding.

“Class size is definitely a topic of lengthy discus-sion and consideration and there is a strong likelihood that class sizes will increase both at primary grades and at the secondary level as we wrestle with doing everything possible to retain programs and minimize layoffs.”

In March, the district will vote on the possible layoffs. Reports say that 120 class-room teachers in kindergar-ten through fifth grades will

be laid off along with seven secondary counselors, six Reading First coaches, Six business teachers, Five preschool teachers, Three secondary social studies teachers, Three physical ed-ucation teachers, Three art teachers, Three secondary music teachers, Three sec-ondary health teachers, and Three secondary vocational education teachers.

About a year ago, the Desert Sands Unified School District, which serves the cities in the center of the Coachella Valley, was in a spot where 100 teachers faced possible layoffs. As re-ported by Desert Local News, they were able to spare most of their jobs by dipping into the reserve funds. Aren’t districts required to have so many million in reserve fund-ing? If they are, shouldn’t they use these monies to save these teachers’ jobs?

BY HARRIET BRINDLE

160 Teachers Could Lose Their Jobs With PSUSD

16 PRESIDENT’S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS • DESERT LOCAL NEWS • FEBRUARY 26, 2009

WASHINGTON, DC- At around 6:00 PM Pacific

time Tuesday night, President Barack Obama delivered his first State of the Union Ad-dress, speaking of many is-sues involving the current state of the Economy.

“The impact of this reces-sion is real, and it is every-where,” he said. “We will re-build, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.”

Obama stated that the economy’s downturn was not an overnighter. He addressed that problems didn’t exactly begin when the housing mar-ket collapsed or when the stock market sank.

Dependence on new sources of energy was talked about, as well as the state of health care. “The cost of health care eats up more and more of our savings each year, yet we keep delaying reform. Our children will compete for jobs in a global economy that too many of our schools do not prepare them for. And though all these challenges went un-solved, we still managed to

spend more money and pile up more debt, both as individuals and through our government, than ever before,” he added.

The President then ad-dressed his goals to bring down the deficit by cutting it in half by the end of his first term. “Tonight, I am grateful that this Congress delivered, and pleased to say that the American Recovery and Rein-vestment Act is now law. Over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs. More than 90 percent of these jobs will be in the private sector — jobs rebuilding our roads and bridges, construct-ing wind turbines and solar panels, laying broadband and expanding mass transit,” he stated.

Because of his plan, teachers and police officers can keep their jobs. Soon, 95 percent of the working house-holds in America will receive a tax cut. Plus, families who are struggling to pay tuition costs will receive a $2,500 tax credit for all four years of college. And those who have lost their jobs in the current recession

will be able to receive extend-ed unemployment benefits.

“My job — our job — is to solve the problem. Our job is to govern with a sense of re-sponsibility. I will not spend a single penny for the purpose of rewarding a single Wall Street executive, but I will do whatever it takes to help the small business that can’t pay its workers or the family that has saved and still can’t get a mortgage,” said Obama.

The President calculated the deficit to be about a trillion dollars.

Obama then discussed further into the issue of green energy. He continued, “We know the country that harness-es the power of clean, renew-able energy will lead the 21st century. And yet, it is China that has launched the largest effort in history to make their economy energy efficient. We invented solar technology, but we’ve fallen behind coun-tries like Germany and Japan in producing it. New plug-in hybrids roll off our assembly lines, but they will run on bat-teries made in Korea.” Obama

hopes to double the nation’s supply of renewable energy in the next three years. With this plan, thousands of new jobs could be created. “We will put Americans to work making our homes and buildings more ef-ficient so that we can save bil-lions of dollars on our energy bills,” he added.

The rising costs of health care has been causing a bank-ruptcy every thirty seconds. By the end of the year, it could cause 1.5 million Americans to lose their homes. In the last eight years, premiums have grown four times faster than wages. And in each of these years, one million more Amer-icans have lost their health in-surance.

Finally, the President ad-dressed the pullout of troops in Iraq. “For seven years, we have been a nation at war. No longer will we hide its price. We are now carefully review-ing our policies in both wars, and I will soon announce a way forward in Iraq that leaves Iraq to its people and respon-sibly ends this war.”

President Obama Speaks About State Of The Current Economy

BY HARRIET BRINDLE

A kitchen is one of the most used and important areas in a home. Even as home prices across the country decline, a kitchen remodel can still add value to your home.

According to the 2008-2009 Cost vs. Value Report (a joint study done by the National Association of Realtors and Remodeling magazine provid-ing national and regional aver-ages) kitchen remodels rank

just after siding and window re-placement in return on invest-ment.

A few simple do-it-yourself projects in your kitchen can up-date the space without the ex-pense of hiring professionals. Plan ahead, rent the right tools and get advice in order to com-plete your project on budget and on schedule to enhance the value of your home.

One way to reduce costs

associated with DIY projects is to rent the tools you need from an American Rental As-sociation (ARA) member rental store. Renting gives you ac-cess to all types of tools, in-cluding specialty tools that may be too expensive to purchase and too large to store but are necessary to finish the job suc-cessfully and professionally. ARA member rental stores are also great resources for ex-

pert advice on which tools you need, how to use them correct-ly and safely and how to best complete your project.

Here are some DIY project ideas to get you started.

Update the flooringAdding ceramic tile to an

outdated kitchen is a simple way to increase the value of your home. Rent a wet saw to make cutting the tile easy and the finished product look pro-

Do-it-yourself Kitchen Projects Add Equity

Continues on Page 17

17

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fessional. Your ARA member rental store can teach you the basics of using a wet saw, as well as safety issues and tricks of the trade. Take advantage of their exper-tise to tile like a pro.

Remove wallpaper Remove dated and dirty wallpaper.

With the right tools, such as a steamer, the paper often just peels off. This machine is easy to operate and can be rented. It has a steam tank and a plate that emits vapor as you hold it to the wall, which usually loos-ens even the stickiest paper in about two or three minutes. Once you have removed the wallpaper, choose a neutral paint col-or.

Create a pass-through A pass-through can add light and

openness to your space. Draw an outline of the opening on the wall then remove enough wall material to locate any electri-cal, plumbing or gas lines. Once it’s safe

to proceed, rent a reciprocating saw to cut through the drywall, studs and nails. Rent-ing an electric drill and nail gun to rough-in the opening and add trim creates a profes-sional, finished look.

Add crown molding This small detail adds an aura of luxu-

ry to your kitchen, and with the proper tools and instruction, it can be easily done in a weekend. Rent a compound miter saw to make the perfect cuts, and a nail gun to attach the molding. Ask your ARA member rental store expert for tips on cutting the corners correctly to avoid wasting materi-als.

To find your local ARA member rental store, visit www.RentalHQ.com, the world’s largest rental store locator. You can search by geographic location and by the specific type of equipment you are looking to rent.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

CONTINUED from Page 16

18 KOKOPELLI’S LOUNGE IN YUCCA VALLEY ENTERTAINMENT SUNDAY MARCH 1, 2009

On Sunday, March 1 , Kokopelli’s Lounge in Yuc-ca Valley will present their 1940’s Swing Dance Night from 5:00 PM to 9 PM. Cov-er charge is $5 and there is no age limit.

The doors open at 4.00 pm. You can enjoy din-ner or take part in an East Coast Swing Dance lesson taught by Christopher Perry at 5:30 pm. Then, from 6:00 to 9:00pm enjoy dining and dancing with vintage Big Band music and rare World War 2 V Discs by DJ and Music Historian “Dr. Swing”. You do not need to bring a partner to participate in the

dance lesson. Dance part-ners are rotated throughout the lesson.

On Sunday, March 15, Kokopellis will present a 1950’s Dance Party. This Blast-From-The-Past will feature swing dancing plus 1950’s dances such as The Stroll, The Bunny Hop, The Mashed Potato and The Hand Jive. All these dances will be taught by Christo-pher Perry. There will also be featured an exhibition of the 1950’s Madison Line Dance as seen in the movie and Broadway musical “Hair-spray”.

Special guest Joyce

Bulifant from Merv Griffin’s Childhelp Village has volun-teered to teach The Twist as she taught it to Fred Astaire when she appeared with him in the 1962 Television Series Alcoa Premiere. Veteran actress Ms. Bulifant has ap-peared in movies such as Disney’s “The Happiest Mil-lionaire”, “Airplane” and ap-peared as Murray’s wife in the Television series “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”.

The 1950’s dance lesson is at 5:30 pm. Then enjoy swing dancing and 1950’s dances from 6pm to 9 pm. Enjoy great 1950’s lounge music and Rock & Roll re-

cords spun by DJ and music historian Dr. Swing.

Vintage Retro attire is encouraged at these events. Anyone wearing an authentic style “Zoot Suit” gets in free.

There is a cover charge of $5 which includes a dance lesson, music and danc-ing. ALL AGES ARE WEL-COME.

Kokopelli’s Lounge is located at 57154 Twentynine Palms Highway in Yucca Valley, situated next to La Casita, opposite Bank of America. For more information contact Christopher Perry at 760-365-0475.

1940’S SWING DANCE NIGHT &

1950’S DANCE PARTY IN YUCCA

VALLEY

JOYCE BULIFANT

19SOUP SUPPER HISTORICAL SOCIETY • DESERT LOCAL NEWS • FEBRUARY 26, 2009

20 JUST IN... POLICE STORY • DESERT LOCAL NEWS • SHERIFFS REPORT

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BREAKING NEWS- Re-ports say that a police officer in Desert Hot Springs has been injured in the process of trying to take down a sus-pect after using his Taser and gun after the suspect failed to cooperate Wednesday eve-ning.

The incident happened at the corner of Hacienda Avenue and Palm Drive at around 8:45 p.m. Gunshots were heard, but authorities have not yet confirmed if they had hit the officer or the sus-pect. Both were transported to local hospitals right after the incident took place.

Deputies from the River-side County Sheriff’s Depart-

ment were called into help with this incident. Also, it was reported that the suspect was high on illicit narcotics at the time of the shooting. Traffic has been limited along Palm Drive at this time.

One eyewitness spoke to television news crews, say-ing that the suspect failed to go down upon being Tasered. A physical fight came about, with about ten officers being involved. At least 20 rounds were fired, according to this witness. This has not been confirmed by officials from the Desert Hot Springs police department.

Stay tuned to Desert Local News for more details.

Police Officer Injured While Trying To Use Taser

On SuspectBY VICKI LAWSON

DESERT HOT SPRINGS, CA-Police in Desert Hot Springs are searching for

three to four men who shot and killed a man Monday afternoon.

Samuel Raye Cotton was shot to death at around 3:30 p.m. in a home in the 68-000 block of Calle Az-teca, only a quarter-mile away from the Super One Food Store, where a clerk was shot and killed earlier this month during a robbery. Cotton was a father of three.

The suspect vehicle is described to be a dark blue or silver SUV with chrome wheels and low tires. The license plates are paper.

Cotton was 35 years of age. Police are still search-ing to a motive as to why he was killed.

Anyone with information should call Desert Hot Springs detectives at 329-6411 Ext. 293.

Desert Hot Springs Man Shot To Death

Near Previous Shooting

21

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DESERT LOCAL NEWS SHOP LOCAL • FEBRUARY 26, 2009

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The Palm Springs Women in Film and Television (PSWIFT) hosted the “Oscar Night Sunday Gala” on Sun. Feb. 22. The Gala was held at the Hyatt Grand Champion Resort Ballroom in Indian Wells. This was the only officially sanctioned local gala for the awarding of the Oscars at the 81st Academy Awards Ceremony. Co-chairs Denise DuBarry Hay and Pattie Gribow did an excellent job putting on this special

yearly event Guests for the evening would

drive up to valet service. Then, they would walk the red carpet just like at

the Oscars. Television crews were on hand to interview the guests as they arrived. Several celebrities walked the Red Carpet. Among them were Fred “The Hammer” Williamson and his wife Linda, Tristan Rogers and his wife Teresa and some new stars including Anna Marie Pazmino and Mike Hatton. Many Local celebrities also walked the Red Carpet.

Tall, golden Oscars were on each side of the Red Carpet making it an elegant entrance to the ballroom. Academy Awards posters lined the hallway to the ballroom. Once inside the ballroom, there was a silent auction of movie memorabilia. Black and gold chairs made a spectacular scene. Two large-screen TVs were on each side of the stage. It made me feel as if I was in the audience at the Oscars.

Gribow, DuBarry Hay or comedian James Stephens III would come

on stage during the commercials. They would thank the sponsors and volunteers or tell what all the women in film do for the people in the valley.

Several valley ladies are part of the local television scene, including Gribow, Janet Newcomb, Gloria Greer, Pattie Daly Caruso and Tanya McRae. DuBarry Hay and her daughter Samantha Lockwood are involved in makings films along with other local women. It is not widely known that there are film offices in the desert. Many include the Palm Springs area in their films.

All proceeds from this gala will go toward educational and Scholarship programs of the Palm Springs chapter of Women in Film. For more on the story and photos

by Pat Krause, go to www.desertcitiespeople.com.

22 OSCAR NIGHT IN PALM SPRINGS by Pat Krause

STORY AND PHOTOS BY PAT KRAUSE

Oscar Night Gala

Fred “The Hammer” Williamson and his wife Linda,

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23OSCAR NIGHT IN PALM SPRINGS • DESERT LOCAL NEWS • FEBRUARY 26, 2009

Patti Gribow and Denise DuBarry Hay

Samantha Lockwood and

Whitney Hay

24 FRANK SINATRA GOLF GALA LUNCHEON AND FASHION SHOW

The 21st Annual Frank Sinatra Golf Gala Event is held each year in Febru-ary. This yearn it was held Feb. 19-21. The guys get to play golf for two days on a great golf courses at the Indian Wells Country Club, one on Friday and one on Saturday so they get to play a different course each day.

While the guys play golf, the la-dies have their day out too. Barbara Si-natra hosted a fashion show luncheon for all the ladies. Even women come whose husbands are not part of the event. Many dress for the occasion with large hats with bows and flowers and designer dresses. Fashionable jewelry dressed up many of the outfits worn by the ladies.

One group of 12 women wore ani-mal print outfits to honor one of their friends, Marilyn Blue, who passed away last year. This part of the event is well attended with even a few brave gentle-men present. They liked to watch the models too.

Fe Zandi was the designer for 2009 and she brought her own fashion mod-els to wear her clothing line. Gowns in white, black and red were ‘ooohed’ and ‘aaahed.’ Many other colorful clothing for evening and day wear were on the runway. The models really know how to walk the runway and show off the clothes.

The fabulous evening gowns were to die for, very gorgeous and made in

such delicate fabrics and styles. One of the models even walked the runway with a beautiful white dog. The last gown shown was a lovely white wed-ding dress. Then all the models came on the stage at once. Zandi entered the runway to a standing ovation by the guests.

After the luncheon, each guest was able to take home a goodie bag filled with a gift certificate and a book written by actress and author Suzanne Somers. A silent auction was held for two days to raise money for the Barba-ra Sinatra Children’s Center charity. To read more about the event and

view more pictures, go to www.desertcitiespeople.com

STORY AND PHOTOS BY PAT KRAUSE

Frank Sinatra Golf Gala Luncheon and Fashion Show

24 DESERT LOCAL NEWS FEB.26, 2009

26 ENTERTAINMENT • DESERT LOCAL NEWS • FEBRUARY 26, 2009

The Sinatra Partys

Gary Mule Deer

The Gatlin Brothers

27ENTERTAINMENT

The 21st annual Frank Sinatra Golf and Gala event is held from Feb. 19-21. This year’s major sponsor was Bill and Dani Austin from the Starkey Hearing Foundation. Parties are held each night.

Thursday night is the Pairings Par-ty. The guests all arrive in street attire. This is the first party of the event and all the guests are excited to be here again. Many are return golfers and guests. Most of the celebrities return year after year for this great cause.

Dinner consisted of a buffet of mostly Italian food, as that was Frank Sinatra’s favorite. The guests could get up and fill their plates as they wished after conversing with the many friends that attend each year. It was like old

home week in the desert. Thursday night’s entertainment

consisted of many things. Tom Drees-en is always the emcee for these par-ties and does a great job. He and Frank Sinatra were good friends for many years. He continues to be a good friend to Barbara Sinatra and her Children’s Center, which is a truly needed charity for abused children.

Friday night was another party. This was a little more formal, as they all had time to go clean up and get dressed after a hard day of golf. It seems West-ern attire and cowboy hats were the fun dress of the evening. Many just wore desert casual clothes.

Gary Mule Deer warmed up the audience with his own special brand of

humor. He does a dead on impression of Johnny Cash and plays the guitar. He really had the crowd laughing hard after each joke. It took some a min-ute to catch on to a few of them. Then laughter would erupt from them.

Then the big entertainment for the evening was the Gatlin Brothers. Talk about foot stomping music! They had the guests singing along with one of their top hits. Most everyone knew the words as the songs were played for a long time at the top of the charts.

For more on this story and photos, go to www.desertcitiespeople.com

STORY AND PHOTOS BY PAT KRAUSE

The Sinatra Partys

Barbara Sinatra and Dick Van Dyke ~ Photos by Pat Krause

28 DESERT LOCAL NEWS • FEBRUARY 26, 2009

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30 DESERT LOCAL NEWS • FEBRUARY 26, 2009

2009 will be challenging for the Coachella Valley and Palm Springs area business owners to come up with new and cost-effective advertisement solutions. Conventional print, Cable TV and Radio advertisement is expensive and takes special production steps.

Many small businesses still do not have web sites, which precludes them from presenting timely and detailed content in the natural search results on major search engines (SEO).

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Desert Local News is making this new service available to the Coachella Valley and Palm Springs area businesses to provide them an added powerful way to reach potential customers via the Internet without great costs. Local City Governments and Non-profit Organizations can post important notices anytime.

For example, a spa resort, or restaurant will be able to seamlessly post a brochure or menu on the Internet, making it search engine friendly, providing enhanced ranking, increased traffic, and tangible return on their investment. Ads, and newsletters can be published by Desert Local News virtual edition and directly emailed to their customers, as well as, to the readers of the newspaper for a fraction of the cost. Thousands of people will be reached locally, regionally and worldwide. This will be particular valuable for the tourist trade, like the Spas, Casinos and Resort Hotels.

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information or articles. You can print your

newspaper on the fly, or send it with a click via the e-mail button to your customers, friends and family anywhere in the world.

In Germany, the Virtual Newspaper has taken off like a storm. The world’s first virtual paper, the AvaStar was launched in early 2007. The world’s oldest newspaper in Sweden went paperless not long afterward. Across the country, a few cities and companies have virtual e-newspapers. For the Coachella Valley, Desert Local News

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32 SACRAMENTO • DESERT LOCAL NEWS • FEBRUARY 26, 2009 DESERT LOCAL NEWS FEB. 26, 2009

SACRAMENTO, CA- After nearly a week of

working long hours, legisla-tors in California passed a budget that would hopefully end a $42 Billion deficit and perhaps save 10,000 jobs.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was plan-ning to axe ten thousand jobs in State departments if no budget was passed, as the state was going to run out of money by July. He said, “I am extremely proud of the members of the leg-islature, both Republicans and Democrats, who had the courage to stand up and put the needs of Californians first. Rather than approach-ing this unprecedented cri-sis with gimmicks and tem-porary solutions, we took the difficult but responsible steps to address our entire $42 billion budget deficit and pass historic biparti-san reform measures. I am pleased that the legislature

used my budget proposal as a blueprint for this bud-get and included each ele-ment of th four-legged stool: spending reductions, rev-enue increases, economic stimulus and government efficiency.

“This is a very difficult budget, but we have turned this crisis into an opportunity to make real, lasting reforms for California. Some special interests may not like this budget - but like I always say, what’s good for the peo-ple is not always good for special interests. I look for-ward to partnering with the people to make sure these bipartisan reform measures are passed to put an end to our budget roller coaster and get California moving forward again.”

Highlights from this bud-get include a $14.9 Billion in reductions, which include a cut of $8.4 Billion in Edu-cation, $1.6 billion in health

and human ser-vices and $1.4 billion in fur-loughs, reduc-tion in overtime and eliminat-ing some state

holidays. The budget also requires

shifting some funds to pre-serve services - moves that will have to go before vot-ers. Those shifts include adjustments to Proposition 63, which involves Mental Health services that allows a temporary, two-year amend-ment to Mental Health Ser-vices Act to allow the state to partially fund the Early and Periodic Screening Diagno-sis Treatment programs for children and youth using $226.7 million in Proposi-tion 63 funds for 2009-10. Also adjusting Proposition 10, which would temporarily redirects tobacco tax money to fund services for foster children, children at risk of out-of-home placement, and services for children with developmental disabilities. It would mean $608 million in General Fund savings while protecting services.

As far as revenue in-creases, about $12.5 billion in General Fund benefit over both current and 2009-10 budget years. There would be a sales tax increase of one cent, raising nearly six billion. The Vehicle License

Fee will be raised from 0.65 percent to one percent, dedicated to law enforce-ment programs. There will be a 0.25 percent surcharge on the personal income tax, raising $3.658 billion. If fed-eral stimulus funding is ad-equate, this increase would be reduced in half.

The state will also mod-ernize the state lottery by bringing in $5 billion dur-ing the 2009-10 fiscal year, which will offset the need for additional tax increases or program cuts.

The Governor fought for including economic stimulus within the budget because he believes that if we ask Californians to pay more in taxes and also reduce their services, we must do every-thing we can as a state to help create jobs and boost our economy.

In terms of long-term re-forms, there are talks about eliminating pay raises for state legislators and being able to add to the state’s Rainy Day Fund, which would help prevent budget shortfalls in the future.

California went 106 days without a state budget.

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33DESERT LOCAL NEWS FEB. 26, 2009

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DESERT HOT SPRINGS MSWD • DESERT LOCAL NEWS • FEBRUARY 26, 2009 35

Desert Hot Springs, C A Mission Springs Water Dis-trict has recently completed a comprehensive Disaster Preparedness Plan that will maximize the District’s ability to serve customers in the event of an emergency.

MSWD is a designated Emergency Command Cen-ter whose primary function will be to protect water and wastewater infrastructure and water supplies, including assessing any damage to the water and sewer systems, prioritizing repairs and ensur-ing a safe and secure drink-ing water supply is available to the community.

The District participated in the November “Coachella Valley Shakeout” exercise, conducting round table emer-gency preparedness exercis-es. MSWD held two round table exercises, with the first exercise including all District employees and the second exercise focusing solely on those employees who live within Desert Hot Springs, as they will likely be the first employees able to respond and travel to the District com-mand center in an emergen-cy situation, especially one which results in impassable roadways into or out of town. The round table exercises

consisted of various scenari-os that were presented to the employees, who then, guid-ed by the District’s Disaster Preparedness Plan, created a mock command center and addressed the situations pre-sented by the exercises.

Additionally, MSWD con-tinues to participate in com-munity events focusing on emergency preparedness. Director of Maintenance Gary Brockman recently gave a presentation on “Emergen-cy Preparedness and Your Water” to the homeowners association at Desert Crest Country Club, where he

spoke about how to store wa-ter in an emergency supplies kit, how often to change out stored water, what kinds of containers are recommend-ed, how to deal with waste if the sewer system is down, and more. MSWD presents “Emergency Preparedness and Your Water” to mobile home parks and homeowner associations upon request.

Information about emer-gency preparedness and water will be available at the MSWD info booth at the up-coming Desert Hot Springs “Shake Rattle & Roll” Earth-quake Preparedness Expo

on Saturday, February 21, 2009 from 10am until 3pm in the Desert Hot Springs High School auditorium. Emergen-cy preparedness information may also be found on the County of Los Angeles Of-fice of Emergency Manage-ment’s excellent web site at http://lacoa.org/esp.htm.

The site features down-loadable and printable focus sheets, bulletins and special publications on a variety of emergency situations, and also has a guide to emergen-cy preparedness for people with disabilities and activity limitations.

MSWD Participates in Community Emergency Preparedness Planning

BY MEILANI MACDONALD

Gary Brockman

DESERT LOCAL NEWS • FEBRUARY 26, 200936

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