The award recognizes, in the society's words, individuals whose careers have profoundly influenced the global film industry through artistic excellence, visionary leadership and philanthropic impact. Howard and Grazer, the Imagine Entertainment partners behind films and television including "Apollo 13," "A Beautiful Mind," "Frost/Nixon," "Parenthood" and "Arrested Development," will accept the award alongside the society's first Impact Award honoree.

Photo: Jay Dixit, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Brian Grazer and Ron Howard have had an extraordinary impact on our industry through decades of collaboration and storytelling, and they have also demonstrated a strong commitment to philanthropy and giving back to their communities.Nachhattar Singh Chandi, chairman of the Palm Springs International Film Society

All three honorees will attend the Palm Springs Honors event on October 19 at Soho House West Hollywood in Los Angeles. They will also be recognized at the Palm Springs International Film Awards on January 7, 2027.

Harold Matzner believed deeply in giving back and in using his success to create opportunities for others.

A $25,000 boost for an emerging voice

The Harold Matzner Impact Award goes to Karina Lomelin Ripper, a Mexican-American writer and director, for her 13-minute short "Silver Blankets," which follows two underage Mexican sisters living in the United States who are transported to an immigration child detention center. The award carries a $25,000 finishing grant, funded by the Ebbets Field Foundation, a foundation Matzner established, plus transportation to the October 19 ceremony and priority programming consideration for the completed film at the Palm Springs International Film Festival or ShortFest.

Karina Lomelin Ripper represents the kind of emerging voice Harold was passionate about supporting.Nachhattar Singh Chandi, chairman of the Palm Springs International Film Society

Ripper was selected for AFI's Directing Workshop for Women+ class of 2025, and her short "There's a Devil Inside of Me" won Best U.S. Latina Director at the 2025 Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival.

Photo: David Shankbone, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

Who Harold Matzner was

Matzner died September 4, 2025, in Palm Springs at the age of 88. Over nearly four decades he donated more than $85 million to local nonprofits, founded Spencer's Restaurant in the Palm Springs Tennis Club, served as chairman of the Palm Springs International Film Festival and the McCallum Theatre, and was executive vice chairman of the Palm Springs Art Museum until 2021. The two new awards pair the society's tribute to his legacy with direct support for the next generation of filmmakers.

The National Hurricane Center on Wednesday expanded Rachel's forecast cone into California. The system is expected to approach Southern California as a post-tropical cyclone early Sunday, with a projected landfall area roughly 100 miles south of San Diego, though the cone stretches as far north as Orange County. USA Today reported that the odds of tropical-storm-force winds reaching the coast remain below 10 percent, but could rise if the storm tracks farther north.

Photo: Panoramio, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The National Weather Service flagged a slight risk of flash flooding for inland areas including Palm Springs, the San Bernardino Mountains, Las Vegas and Phoenix. In the desert, the concern is familiar: periods of heavy rain capable of producing rapid flooding in washes, low-water crossings and typically dry creek beds, similar to the impacts Tropical Storm Hilary brought to desert communities in 2023.

Palm Springs and surrounding desert communities could see heavy rain capable of rapid flooding in washes and low-water crossings.

A break in the heat

The tropical moisture arrives on the heels of another hot stretch. Dangerously hot weather persisted across the region Wednesday, with extreme heat warnings in effect through 8 p.m. Thursday in Los Angeles and Orange counties, but forecasters expect a sharp cool-down Sunday through Tuesday as a cold low-pressure system moves south from Canada.

Forecasters told MyNewsLA the remnants of Rachel could bring showers late in the weekend or early next week, with thunderstorms possible Sunday or Monday. For the Los Angeles and Orange County areas, the National Weather Service put the chance of thunderstorms on either of those days at 5 to 10 percent. By Monday, high temperatures across the region are expected to be mostly in the 70s, about 5 to 15 degrees below normal.

Photo: inkknife_2000, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

What to do

No recorded hurricane has made landfall in California while maintaining hurricane strength, but the remnants of tropical systems have flooded desert roads before. Residents should monitor National Weather Service updates, clear storm drains and gutters, know whether they live in a flood-prone area, and never drive through flooded roadways.

In Friday's season opener at Acrisure Arena, Nyman scored twice and added an assist, earning the Firebirds a standings point in a 6-5 overtime loss. The following night in Ontario, he recorded the first hat trick of his AHL career as the Firebirds won 6-2. The league announced the weekly honor Monday, and The Desert Sun reported that Nyman called it the league's first player of the week award of the season.

Photo: Jenn G, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The start raises an unavoidable question: is Nyman the most prolific scorer in the short history of the Firebirds? On the league's numbers, the math says yes. Nyman has 56 goals and 29 assists for 85 points in 104 AHL games since his debut in April 2024, which works out to a goal every 1.86 games. The Desert Sun, which ran the comparison, found no other player in franchise history past or present who has scored at a faster rate.

No Firebirds player, past or present, has scored more efficiently than the 22-year-old from Valkeakoski, Finland.

Nyman, 22, is in his third season in North America after Seattle selected him in the second round of the 2022 NHL Draft. He skated in 28 games for the Kraken last season and has seven goals and six assists in 40 career NHL appearances. He was an AHL All-Star as a rookie in 2025.

The knock on his game, and the answer

If the scoring was never in doubt, the rest of the game was. Nyman was among the first players Seattle cut during training camp, and Firebirds head coach Derek Laxdal told The Desert Sun the reason was plain: pure shooting is not enough in the NHL.

Photo: Jenn G, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

You can't just be a shooter in the National Hockey League. You have to have other parts of your game, and he's starting to do that now.Firebirds head coach Derek Laxdal, to The Desert Sun

Laxdal and teammates John Hayden and Tyson Jugnauth told the paper the difference this season is visible: Nyman reported to camp in better shape, looks leaner and quicker on the ice, and is playing with the confidence of a player whose summer work on his skating and conditioning has paid off. Hayden, who has played 272 NHL games, praised Nyman's maturity and professional habits, saying the small daily habits are what separate NHL players from the rest.

What comes next

The Firebirds play Game 3 on Friday at home against San Diego, then return to Acrisure Arena on Sunday for a rematch with Ontario. If Nyman's opening weekend is any indication of the player he intends to be this season, the valley's hockey team may have its best weapon back at full force.

Officers responded around 8:30 p.m., according to a press release from police spokesperson Lt. Michael Torres. The bicyclist was pronounced dead at the scene. The person's identity was not released pending notification of family members, The Desert Sun reported.

Photo: Andare Incentives

The driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators. Police said they have not identified impairment as a factor in the crash. The cycling publication BikinginLA, which tracks bicycling fatalities in Southern California, noted the crash occurred near Cherokee Way and tallied it as the seventh bicycling death in Southern California in two weeks.

The driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators; impairment has not been identified as a factor.

The investigation continues

The crash remains under investigation. Police are reviewing physical evidence and seeking video from the area, and asked anyone who witnessed the collision or may have footage from the area to call the department's non-emergency line.

Photo: Tripadvisor, via Tourteller

Photo: Boehms on Tour

The car first burst through the window of an empty storefront that is being turned into a takeout spot for the neighboring longtime restaurant Bill's Pizza, then continued into the window display of Gallivant, a small lifestyle and travel boutique, and struck a pillar in front of the store, according to The Desert Sun. MyNewsLA, citing the police department, confirmed the vehicle went over the curb and onto the sidewalk, striking glass from two businesses and a pillar. Firefighters propped up the ceiling over the sidewalk afterward, out of concern the support pillars had been damaged, The Desert Sun reported.

Photo: Enjoy Orange County

The only person hurt was the driver, a man whose identity police did not release. He sustained minor injuries and was taken to a hospital for evaluation. The department said alcohol and drugs were not factors in the collision.

The car burst through a storefront window and kept going into the boutique next door.

To be honest with you, I thought it was a bomb, or I thought it was an earthquake.Albert Berrettoni, Gallivant co-owner, to The Desert Sun

Berrettoni, who co-owns Gallivant with Jef Ralston, said the crash was so loud it reminded him of the May 2025 bombing that occurred about a mile north of the store. He said Ralston had been standing in the spot where the vehicle came through the window moments before Berrettoni called him away.

It was very fortunate that no one was hurt because some families were walking out front.Roman Ocelo, owner of Luigi's Barbership, to The Desert Sun

Ocelo, whose barbership sits next to Gallivant, described the collision as "scary and sad." He and other witnesses told The Desert Sun the driver had appeared elderly.

Photo: Sell Gold SoCal

The aftermath

Berrettoni told The Desert Sun the store lost between $5,000 and $10,000 in merchandise, and the cost of repairing the window had not yet been determined. He said the past few months had been the slowest summer since the shop opened about four years ago, and that October typically brings an influx of tourists after the slow season. The owners of the nearby Best Bookstore organized a GoFundMe fundraiser that had raised more than $5,000 in two days as of Monday afternoon, the paper reported.

Police said a preliminary investigation found the driver's foot had slipped onto the accelerator as he tried to leave the parking stall. On Monday, the department reminded motorists to exercise caution, MyNewsLA reported.

Hanson announced the sale in February. Barkow, a longtime Dinah operations manager, and Garcia, a Dinah emcee, acquired the festival through their newly formed company, BellaRose Productions, keeping the event independently owned and rooted in LGBTQ+ culture.

Photo: Visit Greater Palm Springs

Rose and Bella are the perfect duo to take over The Dinah. Through their big hearts, business acumen, and commitment to preserving what is most beloved about The Dinah, I am genuinely excited to watch them take The Dinah to new heights.Mariah Hanson, founder of The Dinah, via GO Magazine

The 2026 weekend

The 2026 bill included Da Brat, Hayley Kiyoko, The Aces and Sasha Keable. Da Brat headlined the Black & White Ball on Friday, October 2, and Hayley Kiyoko and The Aces played the Hollywood Party on Saturday. The official schedule mixed pool parties, comedy and a Sunday closing party around the nighttime concerts.

Thirty-five years in, The Dinah turns the page with new owners and the same heartbeat.

The festival bills itself as the largest, longest-running female and non-binary music festival in the world. It launched in 1991 as a one-night event at a Palm Springs museum and grew into the five-day destination that takes over the Hilton and Hotel Zoso each fall.

We needed to come together in an energetic, fun and loving space. And that's what the Dinah is about. Community, friends, being queer and party.Bella Barkow, co-owner of The Dinah, via NBC Palm Springs

What comes next

With the 35th in the books, the festival's first chapter under BellaRose Productions is complete. As of Sunday, thedinah.com had not yet announced dates for the 2027 edition.

Photo: Shelly Simon, via GO Magazine

The reopening marks the start of the Tramway's winter season. The schedule for opening day calls for the first tram up at 10 a.m., the last tram up at 8 p.m. and the last tram down at 9:30 p.m.

Photo: inkknife_2000, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

During the 2026 closure, crews rebuilt the carriage on cabin two, repainted the cabin interiors, and completed the annual state-permit testing and service to the controls system, according to the Tramway's announcement.

The rotating cars are back on the cables, and the winter season in the mountains above Palm Springs begins.

We appreciate our guests' patience and understanding as our Tramway Systems and Facilities Departments worked to complete all necessary projects. We look forward to welcoming new and returning visitors back to the Tramway and eagerly anticipate the upcoming holiday and event season.Nancy Nichols, General Manager of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

The ride

The Tramway bills itself as the world's largest rotating tram car. Opened in 1963, its 80-passenger cars travel along the cliffs of Chino Canyon from the Valley Station at 2,643 feet to the Mountain Station at 8,516 feet in approximately 10 minutes, a climb of more than 5,800 feet. The cars rotate slowly as they climb, giving every rider shifting views of the canyon and the Coachella Valley.

The Mountain Station offers restaurants, observation decks and access to the trails of Long Valley and Mount San Jacinto State Park. With the winter season comes the chance of snow in the mountains above town, typically from November through April, and temperatures at the top can run far colder than the desert floor. The Tramway advises riders to bring a warm layer and sturdy shoes, and to carry water and check trail conditions before hiking.

Photo: Slowking Man, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Planning a trip up

The reopening is one of the valley's biggest fall tourism signals, arriving just as the desert's peak visitor season begins. The first days after a reopening tend to draw crowds of riders who waited out the closure; a weekday later in the week may be calmer than reopening day. Tickets are sold on the Tramway's website, which is also where any change to the schedule would appear first. More information and tickets are available at pstramway.com.

The 40th annual Palm Springs Pride celebration, carrying the theme "Be Included," takes place November 6-8 in downtown Palm Springs and the Arenas District. The weekend features live music, drag entertainment, DJs and special performances across three stages, plus a week of events running October 31 through November 8.

Photo: Couple of Men

The headliners

O'Day has local roots: she is a La Quinta High School graduate. She rose to prominence as a founding member of the multi-platinum pop group Danity Kane, formed on MTV's Making the Band, whose first two albums debuted consecutively at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. She later co-founded the alternative dance-pop duo dumblonde and has built a career spanning music, television, Broadway, performance and creative direction.

The 40th anniversary brings a pop star with local roots and a Nashville country trio to the Pride stages.

The Cowgays are a Nashville-based trio made up of Adam Mac, Brooke Eden and Chris Housman. The group brings three-part harmonies, musicianship, humor and theatricality to its live shows, reimagining the country music they grew up on through a proudly queer lens.

The organization said in its announcement that more performers will be named soon, including regional favorites, emerging artists, and talent from across and beyond the LGBTQ+ community.

Photo: Spellcast, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The weekend

Palm Springs Pride has run since 1986 and has grown into the region's largest annual LGBTQ+ gathering. This year's celebration closes with the annual parade on Sunday, November 8, stepping off at 10 a.m. along Palm Canyon Drive.

The milestone year leans on that history: organizers say the 40th anniversary will honor the different generations, identities and communities that have shaped the desert's LGBTQ+ life. Full event details and the entertainment schedule are available at pspride.org.

Much of the work has never been on public display. The paintings come from the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma, and the exhibition spans the first half of the 20th century, a formative period in Native American art history.

Photo: Carol M. Highsmith, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

The artists in the show include Acee Blue Eagle, Frank Day, Allan Houser, Jack Hokeah, Oscar Howe, Shije Herrera, Stephen Mopope, Tonita Pena, Pop Charlee, Alfonso Roybal, Ernest Spybuck, Quincy Tahoma, Princess Bonita Wa Wa Calachaw Nunez, Dick West and Valjean Hessing.

More than 50 paintings, much of it never shown publicly, trace a formative half-century of Native American art.

Ritual and resilience

The exhibition takes its measure of an era shaped by federal assimilation policies, boarding schools, Christian missions, relocation, and military service during World War II. Against that history, the show traces how Indigenous artists transformed inherited artistic traditions into a new visual language, negotiating modern life while remaining rooted in the ceremonial, philosophical and aesthetic traditions of their communities.

The paintings reveal sophisticated systems of knowledge grounded in ceremony, oral tradition, ecological relationships and community memory.Agua Caliente Cultural Museum officials, in the exhibition announcement

Several pieces depict rituals, including a wolf dance, the Southern Cheyenne Sun Dance and the Great-Medicine Lodge Ceremony, along with other significant cultural symbols. Because of that, photography and video are not permitted inside the exhibition.

Photo: Toohool, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

Visiting

The exhibition is on view in the museum's 2,200-square-foot Changing Gallery through Sunday, May 30, 2027. The museum is at 140 N. Indian Canyon Drive in downtown Palm Springs.

Each two-hour evening includes the interior tour, light refreshments and a keynote presentation from speakers connected to the aircraft and the Walt Disney Company. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $65 for general admission and $50 for museum members, and children 12 and under are admitted free with a paid adult. Tickets are available through the museum's website, and attendance is limited.

Photo: Laughing Place

The dates and the storytellers

The first evening is Saturday, October 17, 2026, with Mark Malone and Ed Ovalle. Malone is the son of Chuck Malone, Walt's personal pilot, and later flew the Gulfstream himself as captain for Walt Disney Productions from 1979 to 1985; he is also the historical consultant to the aircraft's restoration. Ovalle is the archives manager at the Walt Disney Archives.

For the first time, anyone can tour the restored cabin of the plane Walt Disney flew as a studio in the sky.

The remaining evenings follow on Saturdays: January 16, 2027 with Walt Disney Archives director Rebecca Cline; February 20, 2027 and April 3, 2027 with Walt Disney Archives team members; and March 6, 2027 with Bob Gurr, the Disney Legend and Imagineer who worked on the Disneyland Monorail and Autopia. Each event also features its own limited-edition T-shirt available that evening.

"The Mouse" and the desert

The aircraft, nicknamed "Mickey Mouse One" or "The Mouse," was acquired by Walt Disney Productions in 1963 and served the company for nearly three decades, flying an estimated 83,000 passengers. The cabin was designed with creative input from Walt and Lillian Disney, and the museum lists its features as a galley kitchen, two restrooms, lounge-style couches, a desk workspace, and custom stationery and matchbooks adorned with subtle Mickey Mouse imagery.

Photo: Laughing Place

The plane has a direct link to the desert: in 1964, Disney flew from Palm Springs to Puerto Rico to scout settings that shaped Pirates of the Caribbean. The Castillo de San Felipe del Morro in Old San Juan helped inspire the look of the Disneyland attraction, which opened in 1967. Since 2022, the aircraft has been on long-term loan to the Palm Springs Air Museum from the Walt Disney Company, and the museum is restoring the interior to resemble how it looked during Disney's lifetime.

The Palm Springs Air Museum sits at 745 N. Gene Autry Trail and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The five tour evenings are scheduled across October and the winter months, a rare chance for Disney and aviation fans alike to stand inside a piece of entertainment history.

Photo: Attractions Magazine, courtesy of D23

The extension puts Palm Springs in line with its neighbors. Coachella, Indio and Desert Hot Springs have all either passed two-year moratoriums or a permanent ban on the facilities, and the defeat of a proposed hyperscale data center in Coachella showed how quickly the projects can galvanize opposition across the valley.

Photo: Bennion Deville Homes

At the heart of the issue is a blank spot in the city's rulebook. Palm Springs' zoning code contains no definitions or regulations specific to data centers, which means a proposal would technically be allowed under city law simply because nothing prohibits it. The moratorium blocks the acceptance, processing or approval of data center applications and permits while planners write the missing rules. Under the staff report's definition, as reported by MyNewsLA, a data center is "a structure or site used primarily for the storage, management, processing and transmission of digital data."

The city went from a 45-day pause to a nearly two-year freeze in a single unanimous vote.

Why the council wanted more time

Council members framed the vote as a matter of studying the facilities' demands before any proposal arrives. "We've seen how these started to come up before people even realized it," Councilmember Jeffrey Bernstein said during the meeting, according to the Desert Sun. "And the more education that we can have, the more we're able to prevent and prepare ourselves for the future."

Planning Director Chris Hadwin cited environmental impacts and heavy demands on land, electricity, water and fossil fuels, and described the facilities as placing "stress on local infrastructure and environmental assets with very limited community benefits." He told the council that data centers "can take up large amounts of land without necessarily generating the employment we're looking to generate on the industrial lands that we have available."

Photo: Data Center Frontier / NTT

Water and power in a desert city

The facilities' appetite for electricity and water has made them one of the most contested land uses in the desert. The defeated Coachella proposal could have drawn up to 300 megawatts of electricity, enough to power a city of 100,000 homes or more, the Desert Sun reported. Even a 100-megawatt facility could consume around 530,000 gallons of water a day for cooling, according to the International Energy Agency, a difficult figure to absorb in a city facing a 40 percent state-mandated cut to water use by 2040.

City planners expect to finish the updated zoning code in 2027 with data center standards included. If the facilities are allowed anywhere, staff said, it would most likely be north of Interstate 10 in an industrial zone the city has designated for warehouses. But officials still hold reservations about allowing them anywhere, and the city plans to rescind the moratorium and regulate the facilities through the normal process only after the new code is adopted.

The extension required, and received, a four-fifths council vote. Residents who want a say in where, or whether, data centers ever land in Palm Springs should watch the zoning update process, which will bring the question back to the council chamber before the 2028 expiration.

In June, the City Council approved a roughly $4 million agreement to acquire nearly an acre of the property at Andreas Road and North Indian Canyon Drive from Town and Country LLC and developer Grit Development, clearing the way for the new station. The Desert Sun and NBC Palm Springs both reported the purchase as it moved through the council this spring.

Photo: Farragutful, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The purchase drew scrutiny over its price. Public records showed the nearly one-acre parcel had been independently appraised at $3.15 million, and Mayor Pro Tem David Ready defended the roughly $850,000 premium by saying the agreement puts demolition and asbestos-removal costs on the seller rather than taxpayers, according to NBC Palm Springs.

The demolition is the first visible step in a long-planned change to downtown: a new Fire Station No. 1 on part of the historic Town & Country Center.

Two historic buildings come down

In July, the city's Historic Site Preservation Board approved the removal of two buildings at 171 and 181 N. Indian Canyon Drive. The approval calls for archival documentation of the buildings' historic features before removal, and for the assessment and stabilization of the neighboring building at 169 N. Indian Canyon Drive, which stays.

The demolition covers only part of the complex. The city's own staff report noted that the buildings at 171 and 181 N. Indian Canyon would likely need to come down so fire engines could maneuver on the tight site, and that the structures' historic status meant the preservation board had to sign off first.

Photo: Andare Incentives

Replacing a 1957 firehouse

The current Fire Station No. 1, at 277 N. Indian Canyon Drive, was built in 1957 and city officials say it no longer meets the department's needs. They have called it "vastly undersized" and unsuitable for housing both male and female firefighters, the Desert Sun reported.

An earlier plan to build the replacement station on a parking lot south of the existing firehouse was dropped after nearby business owners objected to the loss of parking. The Town & Country site keeps firefighters in the same downtown coverage area while preserving 90 public parking spaces, city officials have said.

A historic center, a new use

The Town & Country Center opened in 1948 and was designed by Paul R. Williams and A. Quincy Jones, an early example of mixed-use desert modernism that the city designated a Class 1 historic site in 2016. Most of the existing businesses along Palm Canyon Drive are not affected by the sale.

The acquisition displaced Well in the Desert, a nonprofit that ran a food bank out of 181 N. Indian Canyon Drive. Its lease was terminated in late May, and the organization's president said about 250 families a week picked up food there on Saturdays. Grit Development has said it is working with the nonprofit to find another home.

Prosecutors added sentence-enhancing great bodily injury allegations to each count. The incident unfolded at about 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 9 during the Splash House music celebration at the museum on Gene Autry Trail, according to Palm Springs police.

Photo: Palm Springs Air Museum

Police say Youssef was in the middle of a fight that broke out at the poolside party when he allegedly grabbed glass bottles and threw them at partygoers. It was unclear whether he was aiming at anyone in particular, police said.

The charges are allegations that have not been proven in court. Youssef is free on a $180,000 bond and returns to court Nov. 13.

Six victims identified by initials

Court papers identified the alleged victims only by their initials: four women, listed as A.C., I.A., N.G. and S.P., and two men, A.P. and D.G. The victims were treated by paramedics on site or taken to Desert Regional Medical Center for evaluation and treatment. Their injuries were generally described as minor and all stemming from contact with broken glass.

What happens next

Youssef was arraigned Tuesday before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Tucker, who set a felony settlement conference for Nov. 13 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. He remains free on a $180,000 bond.

Photo: Palm Springs Air Museum

Officers working security at the venue were summoned when the fight erupted, but Youssef had fled by the time they reached the scene, police said. He turned himself in to investigators five days later and was booked into jail. Court records show no documented prior felony convictions for him in Riverside County. The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.

Lower fees, effective immediately

Assembly Bill 1808, authored by Assemblymember Juan Carrillo, D-Palmdale, took effect immediately. It lowers mitigation fees for some single-family homeowners removing or trimming up to 10 western Joshua trees, from a range of $150 to $1,000 per tree down to $37.50 to $250, depending on the tree's size. The bill also reduces fees for certain public works projects.

Photo: Robb Hannawacker / Joshua Tree National Park, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

The bill also folds commercial and industrial projects with up to 40 trees into a single local process, letting applicants seek the city's project approval and the Joshua tree permit at the same time. Some cities could already issue Joshua tree permits; the new law extends that to larger commercial and industrial projects.

Our desert can keep moving forward, and the Joshua Tree will still be standing for generations to come.

local communities to update critical infrastructure and homeowners to do the work on their home they've always dreamed of.Assemblymember Juan Carrillo, in a social media post, via the Desert Sun, on what the lower fees would allow

Simpler dead-tree permits and tribal access, starting Jan. 1

Assembly Bill 1663, authored by Assemblymember Greg Wallis, R-Bermuda Dunes, revises the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act, the 2023 law that permanently protected the species. It takes effect Jan. 1, 2027.

The law streamlines removal of dead or hazardous trees: someone acting on the owner's behalf can now submit the permit request, and the state no longer requires the owner or a desert native plant specialist to separately certify that the tree is dead. Property owners can already remove certain dead or hazardous trees without paying mitigation fees.

Photo: Stan Shebs, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

It also expands the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's authority to permit tribes to buy, sell, take and possess western Joshua trees for cultural purposes. Under the 2023 law, tribes could take and possess the trees with state approval but could not buy them.

Joshua Trees are part of what makes our desert home. A homeowner with a dead tree leaning on the house can now get a permit without extra hoops, and tribes have more room to use these trees in their cultural traditions.Assemblymember Greg Wallis, in a press release, via the Desert Sun

Our desert can keep moving forward, and the Joshua Tree will still be standing for generations to come.Assemblymember Greg Wallis, on the changes, via the Desert Sun

Under an amended agreement approved by the Palm Springs City Council in March, the developer agreed to hit nine milestones: completing a guaranteed maximum price on construction by July 30, wrapping financing by Sept. 30, restarting construction on Oct. 1 and finishing the 150 to 160-room boutique hotel by Dec. 30, 2028.

Photo: Daytrippen

The developer, Selene, missed both the April 30 model-room deadline and the July 30 deadline for the guaranteed maximum price, prompting the council on Sept. 9 to direct staff to draft a new agreement with penalties. A new set of construction drawings is expected Oct. 15.

This isn't just one milestone. This is 20 years of missed updates and missed opportunities.

Developer still says it can build

Despite the default, the developer continues to say construction can begin Oct. 1, with completion still projected for Dec. 30, 2028. Assistant City Manager Flinn Fagg told the council at the Sept. 9 meeting that the project remained on schedule to restart construction Oct. 1 and that the developer had completed construction drawings and submitted them to the city.

This isn't just one milestone. This is 20 years of missed updates and missed opportunities.Councilmember Ron deHarte, at the Sept. 9 council meeting, via the Desert Sun

What went wrong

City staff said the July 30 guaranteed maximum price deadline slipped after the project changed from residential condominiums to hotel condominiums, which prompted the city and the fire marshal to reject the original stairway plans and require a redesign. The guaranteed maximum price is now expected in March 2027.

Photo: Visit Palm Springs

The partially built foundation sits behind chain-link fencing, and neighbors near the convention center have told the council they are angry at the slow pace of development. The project has been in the works since 2007, and the current developer bought the site in 2016.

The city's police department announced Monday, September 21, on Facebook that the Palm Springs Police Foundation had received a donation from the Rebuild Palm Springs fundraiser for a mobile command vehicle, a bus or trailer police use as a control center during emergencies.

Photo: KNews Radio

We are incredibly grateful for this investment in the safety and preparedness of the community. Partnerships like this demonstrate what can be accomplished when Palm Springs comes together with a shared commitment for our city.Palm Springs Police Department, on Facebook, via The Desert Sun

How the money was raised and spent

After the bombing, which injured four people and killed the bomber in May 2025, a group of Palm Springs entrepreneurs joined together to raise money to help small businesses and homeowners recover from the damage. Known as Rebuild Palm Springs, the effort eventually raised $159,876 from hundreds of individual donors, groups and companies like Southern California Edison, The Desert Sun reported. The campaign was so successful that its leaders raised the target from $100,000 to $250,000, the Beacon Journal reported at the time.

By contributing to the police foundation, the money directly supports the purchase of a mobile command unit that will enhance public safety responses for years to come.

Throughout 2025 and 2026, Rebuild Palm Springs reimbursed victims whose property had been damaged for the cost of repairs. The group gave $82,008 to seven businesses and residents, while some of the rest went to boutique hotels near the blast zone, The Desert Sun reported. The group also gave $5,000 to provide emergency preparedness workshops for small businesses. The roughly $33,934 sent to the police foundation closes out the campaign, The Desert Sun reported.

Rebuild Palm Springs fully accomplished its mission. The fund was established to deliver immediate relief following the bombing, and it successfully identified and reimbursed all financially impacted entities. Only after every single claim was paid in full did the committee evaluate how to deploy the remaining dollars to benefit the broader community.City Councilmember Ron deHarte, who helped lead the effort, in a text to The Desert Sun

Supporting our local first responders who served our residents so courageously in the immediate aftermath of the bombing was a fitting and meaningful use of those remaining funds. By contributing to the police foundation, the money directly supports the purchase of a mobile command unit that will enhance public safety responses for years to come, ensuring the entire Palm Springs community benefits from this lasting investment.Ron deHarte, via The Desert Sun

A separate effort from the city's fund

DeHarte noted that the Rebuild Palm Springs fundraiser operated separately from the city's official recovery fund and another fundraiser led by the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce.

Photo: Visit Palm Springs

Both the City and Chamber funds were launched independently after Rebuild Palm Springs, operated under separate leadership, and remained entirely distinct from our grassroots efforts.Ron deHarte, via The Desert Sun

The decision to donate to the police foundation was made by the fundraiser's leaders, who included Bob Smiland, Liz Ostoich, Willie Rhine, Bill Sanderson and Gregory Goodman, all prominent business owners in Palm Springs, The Desert Sun reported.

The Desert Sun noted that the fundraiser's website indicates all funds would be spent on aid to victims, and that some donors may be surprised to learn their contributions went toward a police vehicle. So far, the donation has generated no public criticism: the American Reproductive Centers, which was destroyed by the bombing, praised the move in a Facebook comment, writing, "This is the best and most resilient community to live in!" and "Congratulations to the police department." The department's post did not say what kind of command vehicle it plans to buy or what the total cost will be, The Desert Sun reported.

The scam targets people with active land-use permit applications, NBC Palm Springs reported. The scammers use real property addresses, permit numbers and the names of government officials to make their emails look legitimate, then request payment for fake permit fees through wire transfers, peer-to-peer payment services or cryptocurrency.

Photo: Visit Palm Springs

Criminals are impersonating city and county planning or zoning officials and sending highly convincing emails that include real property addresses, permit numbers, and even names of government staff. Their goal: to trick you into paying fraudulent permit fees through wire transfers, peer-to-peer payment apps, or even cryptocurrency.Palm Springs Police Department, in a news release, via MyNewsLA

How the scam works

The emails can be difficult to spot because they are built on accurate information. The FBI warned earlier this year that victims of the phishing campaign have been identified nationwide, MyNewsLA reported. The federal agency described emails containing detailed, accurate information about planning and zoning requests, property addresses, case numbers and the true names of city and county officials.

Criminals are impersonating city and county planning or zoning officials and sending highly convincing emails that include real property addresses, permit numbers, and even names of government staff.

The emails may use professional language, formatting and imagery consistent with legitimate government communications, and arrive with attached PDF invoices containing itemized statements of purported fees, MyNewsLA reported. The invoices direct applicants to request payment instructions by email rather than by phone, which can keep victims from calling the city or county office to check whether the fees are real.

What police advise

Police are urging anyone who receives a payment request related to a permit to independently verify it with the city using official contact information, NBC Palm Springs reported. Residents and businesses should be cautious of unsolicited emails demanding immediate payment and carefully check the sender's email address for suspicious or non-government domains. Police say people should never send money without first confirming that the request is legitimate.

Photo: Daytrippen

Anyone who receives a suspicious request or believes they have been victimized by the scam in Palm Springs is encouraged to contact the Palm Springs Police Department's non-emergency line, MyNewsLA reported. Victims were also encouraged to file a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.

The bill is named for Tristin Samuel Bourgeois, a 27-year-old La Quinta man killed on October 31, 2024, when a big rig collided with his vehicle on the mountain highway, NBC Palm Springs and MyNewsLA reported.

Photo: Wikimapia

What the law requires

Under the new law, when a local government proposes an ordinance affecting a state highway, Caltrans must examine the costs and alternatives to the proposal and provide a written explanation if it rejects it. Local cities have long been able to propose changes to traffic rules on state highways within their jurisdictions, but Caltrans held the final say with no obligation to explain a no.

Highway 74 has claimed too many lives, and the loss of Tristin Bourgeois is a heartbreaking call to action.

The bill was carried by Assemblymembers Jeff Gonzalez, R-Indio, and Greg Wallis, R-Bermuda Dunes.

The legislation changed significantly on its way through Sacramento, The Desert Sun reported. As introduced, it proposed doubling fines on commercial truck drivers who violate weight rules on Highway 74 between Palm Desert and Anza. The final version centers instead on transparency around Caltrans decisions.

Photo: Alex Proimos, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

A road with a deadly record

In March, the Riverside County Transportation Department found the collision rate on Highway 74 south of Palm Desert was 125 percent higher than on comparable rural two-lane roads. The study recommended prohibiting trucks with more than three axles on the curviest roughly 20-mile stretch, from Palm Desert to State Route 371.

Highway 74 has claimed too many lives, and the loss of Tristin Bourgeois is a heartbreaking call to action.Assemblymember Greg Wallis

Tina Bourgeois, Tristin's stepmother and a leading advocate for the road's safety, expressed mixed feelings about the final bill. "You feel like, this is not what I wanted, but then you have to realize and look at the positive of what is being done," she told The Desert Sun earlier this month.

Riverside County Supervisor Manuel Perez, who has pressed Caltrans to act on the study's recommendations, said the agency asked for additional areas of study before implementing them, delaying progress. "This is a very important issue. We are talking about life and death," Perez said.

What comes next

Gonzalez said the bill "gives our local communities greater transparency when decisions are made about our roads." Local advocates have long urged Caltrans to improve safety on the road with more enforcement and pothole repairs.

With the law now on the books, the next test will be how Caltrans responds the first time a valley city brings it a safety proposal for the mountain highway, and whether the written record the law requires gives residents real leverage over its safety decisions.

The Palm Springs Planning Commission dropped the item from its September 22 meeting agenda after the city learned of the tribe's purchase earlier that week. Planning Director Chris Hadwin called it "a weird hybrid scenario," a split jurisdiction in which two different governments control different halves of one former golf course.

Photo: CREXi

Two owners, two sets of rules

"They are able to do what they like on their property without going through the city's process," Hadwin told the commission, according to The Desert Sun. Land the tribe holds in trust is not subject to city approval, so the city's normal land-use review simply does not apply to the half the tribe now owns.

They are able to do what they like on their property without going through the city's process.

Given that a portion of the proposed Bel Air Greens project is now Tribal Trust Land that is not subject to City approval, additional coordination with the Tribe and leaseholders is required to determine how to advance the proposed project. It is unclear how long those conversations will take or when the item might return to Planning Commission.City of Palm Springs, in a statement to The Desert Sun

The remaining roughly 19.7 acres, still held by individual tribal trustees, remains subject to city review, The Desert Sun reported. The commission had been scheduled to consider changing the site's land-use designation from open space to very low density residential, a shift that would have allowed between 2.1 and 4 homes per acre on the roughly 35-acre course along El Cielo Road, according to the Greater Palm Springs Business Insider's review of the staff report.

A blocked preservation bid

The tribe's move also blocked a competing plan by philanthropist Brad Prescott, whose foundation had signed an agreement to buy about 15.5 acres for $3 million and preserve it as open space, The Desert Sun reported. A federal provision allows tribes to match purchase offers on property controlled by tribal trustees, and the tribe exercised that right in April, according to The Desert Sun's account.

Photo: Visit Palm Springs

Prescott previously bought the nearby Mesquite Golf Course and donated it to the Oswit Land Trust, which named it the Prescott Preserve. Representatives for the philanthropist told The Desert Sun the foundation will keep advocating for preservation of the Bel Air Greens land even if it requires litigation.

There will be zero homes built on this property. We're going to do everything we can to make sure nothing gets built.Michael Williams, attorney for the Prescott Foundation, to The Desert Sun

What happens next

Tommy Jacobs Bel Air Greens LP has pursued the 74-home conversion since 2021, The Desert Sun reported. Its leading member, Albert Howell, sold his stake in 2025 to Desert Springs Inc., a religious nonprofit headed by Desert Chapel pastor Fred Donaldson, and Donaldson has since told city planners that an earlier idea of a pastor's retirement community on the site is no longer under consideration.

A spokesperson for the Agua Caliente tribe did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Desert Sun. The city says it is unclear when the item might return to the Planning Commission, and if it returns, a new public hearing would be limited to the portion of the site still subject to city approval, The Post's daily briefing noted. The Post will cover the next hearing when it is scheduled.

Consider the record. The project was first proposed around 2007. The city sold 7.8 acres to the developer in 2015. This March, the council approved an amended agreement built around nine milestones. The developer then missed the April 30 deadline for a model room and the July 30 deadline for a guaranteed maximum price, and the city placed it in default. Nineteen years have produced no hotel, no jobs, no tax revenue: an empty lot near the Convention Center and a lengthening record of assurances followed by silence.

Photo: Andare Incentives

The council's instinct has been understandable. Terminating a development agreement is confrontational, legally fraught and politically risky. Every council hopes the next extension will be the one that finally works. But hope is not a project schedule, and the city's leverage shrinks with every deadline that passes unenforced.

Patience is a civic virtue. It is not a development strategy.

There is also a fairness question. The city enforces its rules against small property owners every day: code violations, permit deadlines, business license renewals. A well-connected developer should not get a more forgiving standard than a homeowner with an unpermitted patio cover. Equal treatment under the city's own agreements is not vindictiveness; it is credibility.

What accountability looks like

The city has placed the developer in default and the council has directed staff to report on enforcement options, which could include financial penalties. That is the right step, and it should come with a short fuse: a final deadline with penalties attached, or termination and a search for a developer who can actually build.

Photo: Visit Palm Springs

Termination would not produce a hotel overnight, and the board should be honest about that. A new developer means a new agreement, new financing and new permits, measured in years. But years with a plan beat years without one. The current arrangement offers the area the worst of both worlds: no hotel and no honest accounting of when one might come.

The council's coming staff report is the moment of truth. If the report documents a developer making genuine progress against real milestones, an extension with teeth is defensible. If it documents another year of assurances, the council should end the arrangement. The difference between patience and indulgence is evidence, and the evidence is now due.

Businesses near the site have waited years for the foot traffic a completed hotel would bring. They deserve a city government willing to admit when a deal is dead and move on to a developer who will actually build.

Patience is a civic virtue. It is not a development strategy, and the Dream Hotel has long since exhausted the city's very limited supply of the former. The council should act accordingly, and soon.

Palm Springs elects its council members by district, a system the city adopted after facing the threat of a California Voting Rights Act lawsuit over its former at-large elections. District elections have been held in 2020, 2022 and 2024; this November continues that cycle for the three seats whose terms expire this year.

Photo: Andare Incentives

How district voting works

Under the district system, the city is divided into five geographic districts of roughly equal population, and each council member must live in the district they represent. Voters cast ballots only for the council seat in their own district. The mayor is selected by the council from among its members on a rotating basis; there is no separate mayoral election.

Three of the five council seats are in play, and the winners will shape the city's next four years.

The change was designed to give every neighborhood a direct voice at City Hall. In practice, it means campaigns are smaller, more local affairs: candidates knock on doors in a fifth of the city rather than running citywide media campaigns.

What the ballot looks like

In District 1, covering the northern end of the city, Grace Garner faces Donald J. Soja. In District 2, which includes downtown and the Uptown Design District, incumbent Councilmember Jeffrey Bernstein is unopposed on the printed ballot after the council voted to keep the race before voters; a write-in window runs September 7 through October 20. In District 3, covering west and central neighborhoods between Vista Chino and Ramon Road, former mayor Ron deHarte faces Charles A. Brown.

Photo: Tripadvisor, via Tourteller

Candidate filing closed in August, and the Riverside County Registrar of Voters will mail ballots to every registered voter in the county beginning in early October. In-person voting locations open in the days before Election Day, with vote centers operating across the Coachella Valley. Voters who prefer to vote in person can do so at any vote center in the county, not just in their own neighborhood.

Why this election matters

The winners will join a council facing a full agenda: the long-delayed Dream Hotel, the Plaza Theatre's first full season under its new operator, a new city manager search, and the ongoing buildout of the city's Section 14 restorative justice commitments. With three seats in play, the election could reshape the council's direction for the next four years.

The turnover is compounded by the city manager transition. Scott Stiles retires November 1, days before the election, which means the new council will play a central role in choosing the person who runs the city's day-to-day operations for years to come.

Voters can check their district and registration status through the Riverside County Registrar of Voters. The Post will publish candidate profiles and a voter guide in October.

The restoration returned the 1936 movie palace to its former glory, with the facade, marquee, auditorium and back-of-house systems renewed. Later accounts, including the National Trust for Historic Preservation, have put the full rehabilitation cost at $40.3 million, reflecting the project's private donations, state grant and federal historic tax credits as well as city support.

Photo: Andare Incentives

The Plaza opened in 1936 and spent decades as a premier desert entertainment venue. By the 2010s, the building had deteriorated badly, and its rescue became a civic cause, championed by the foundation that raised the restoration money and the city, which put public dollars behind the project.

The restoration returned a 1936 movie palace to its former glory.

The December gala was a major cultural moment for the city, with Erivo headlining a night that signaled the theater's ambitions. The programming since has mixed concerts, comedy, film and community events.

The $10 million question

The restoration's financing included city money, and the foundation behind the project is still working to repay $10 million to the city, according to September 2026 reporting. An earlier agreement called for repayment within three years after construction ended.

Photo: Inland Valley Living

The dynamic is familiar in historic preservation: the public sector bridges the financing gap to save a landmark, and the nonprofit operator spends years paying it back from fundraising and operating revenue. The theater's first full seasons will show how the venue performs.

For downtown, the theater's return is already tangible. A programmed historic venue brings evening activity to the surrounding blocks.

The programming choices ahead will define the theater's identity. A restored movie palace can be many things: a concert hall, a comedy club, a film venue, a community stage. The foundation's booking decisions in these first full seasons will answer the question the restoration left open, which is not whether the building is beautiful but what it is for.

The Post will continue to cover the theater's seasons and the foundation's fundraising progress, including the milestones on the road to repaying the city's $10 million.

Stiles joined Palm Springs in March 2023 after seven years as city manager of Garden Grove. His record in Palm Springs includes securing funding to repair bridges damaged in Tropical Storm Hilary, advancing the city's Navigation Center for unhoused residents, a run of balanced budgets, progress on pension funding, and the reopenings of the Plaza Theatre and the Thompson Hotel.

Photo: Andare Incentives

He also oversaw the city's work on the $5.9 million Section 14 settlement with former residents and their families, and the continued rollout of the district-based election system the council adopted before his arrival.

The council will need to appoint an interim city manager and launch a recruitment for a permanent successor.

The city manager's job

In California's council-manager form of government, the city manager is the city's chief executive: hiring and firing department heads, preparing the budget, negotiating labor contracts and carrying out council policy. The council sets direction; the manager makes the machinery move. A three-and-a-half-year tenure is a solid run in a profession where the average stay is closer to five or six years, and where managers serve at the pleasure of shifting council majorities.

Stiles came to Palm Springs with a background in the nuts and bolts of municipal operations, and his tenure was defined less by grand vision statements than by the steady management of a city with outsized ambitions and a small-town government structure.

Photo: Boehms on Tour

What comes next

The City Council will need to appoint an interim city manager and launch a recruitment for a permanent successor. The timing is delicate: the new manager will arrive just as the council itself turns over, with three seats on the November ballot.

City managers in California typically serve at the pleasure of the council, and a change in council majorities can bring pressure for new leadership. Whoever takes the job will inherit the Dream Hotel negotiations, the airport's capital program and the Measure J spending plan.

The recruitment itself will be a test of the council's priorities. Executive searches for city managers typically take four to six months, involve a recruiting firm, and draw candidates from across the state. The job posting will reveal what the council thinks the city needs: a dealmaker for the development pipeline, a steady operator for the bureaucracy, or a reformer for the post-Stiles era.

The council is expected to discuss the transition process at an upcoming meeting. The Post will cover the search as it develops.

The project dates to about 2007. The city sold roughly 7.8 acres to developer Selene Palm Springs LLC in 2015, and the current plans call for 150 to 160 hotel rooms, at least 40 condo-hotel units eligible for short-term occupancy, and at least 36 luxury villas without short-term rentals.

Photo: Expedia

In March 2026, the council approved an amended agreement built around nine milestones. The developer missed the April 30 deadline to complete a model room and the July 30 deadline to submit a guaranteed maximum price for construction, triggering default action by the city under the agreement.

Every missed deadline erodes confidence that the project will ever be built.

Default starts a legal process; it does not by itself end the deal. The agreement's repurchase terms follow contractual calculations if the city moves to take back the site, and the council has directed staff to report on its enforcement options, which could include financial penalties.

A familiar pattern

The Dream Hotel saga is one of the longest-running development dramas in the Coachella Valley. The project has survived multiple ownership and financing shuffles, each announced with fanfare and each followed by silence.

Photo: Andare Incentives

For the area around the Convention Center, the stakes are tangible. A completed hotel would bring hundreds of rooms and restaurant space to one of the city's most visible corridors. An empty lot brings none of those things, while tying up one of the most valuable parcels in the city.

What happens now

The agreement still targets construction starting October 1, 2026, with new construction drawings due October 15, a guaranteed maximum price by March 2027, completion on December 30, 2028, and opening the following day. Whether those dates hold depends on a developer that has missed every milestone this year.

Staff are expected to return with an accounting of the developer's compliance and a menu of enforcement options. Those could range from a final short-fuse extension with financial penalties to termination of the agreement, which would let the city seek a new developer. Termination would not produce a hotel overnight: a new developer would need a fresh agreement, financing and permits, a process measured in years.

The Post will continue to cover the project as the council's next steps become clear.

The figures, reported this month, put the airport about 3 percent below 2025's record pace, and mark the second-highest January-through-August total of the last six years. The airport heads into the winter season as airlines restore seasonal nonstop routes that connect the desert to the rest of the country.

Photo: Visitor7, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Behind the passenger numbers, the airport is planning a major capital upgrade. An outbound baggage system is under construction and expected to open in 2028, with completion of the baggage handling overhaul scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2028.

The airport is the front door of the valley's visitor economy.

Baggage systems are the kind of infrastructure nobody notices until it fails. PSP's open-air terminal design, charming in the abstract, funnels thousands of winter passengers through facilities built for a smaller era. The overhaul is the airport's acknowledgment that near-record years are the new normal, not the exception.

Federal money in the pipeline

The city has accepted up to $10.5 million in additional federal support for the inline baggage screening project, funding that helps underwrite the capital program alongside the baggage system overhaul.

Photo: Sdkb, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

For the valley's visitor economy, the airport numbers are watched closely. Hotels, restaurants and shops plan their winters around the flight schedule, and a near-record year at PSP is a promising sign for the businesses that depend on visitors landing here.

The terminal's mid-century bones remain, but the operation inside keeps modernizing: seasonal routes return each winter, the baggage project advances toward 2028, and federal dollars keep flowing into the capital plan.

The Post will track the winter schedule as airlines finalize their seasonal routes, and the capital program as the baggage overhaul moves toward its 2028 completion date. Check back as the winter season takes shape.

This year's work includes cabin interior refurbishments, servicing of the Cabin 2 carriage assembly, controls maintenance and the state permit testing required before the cars can carry passengers again. The tramway operates under state oversight, and the annual inspection is not optional.

Photo: HikingGuy.com

The closure falls in the shoulder season, after the summer heat has driven down visitation and before the winter crowds arrive. It is the one month of the year when the mountain goes quiet.

The closure is the tramway's annual physical: cabins, controls and state permits.

The tramway has run this annual cycle for decades. The cars climb 2.5 miles up Chino Canyon, rising from the desert floor to an elevation of 8,516 feet, where the temperature routinely runs 30 to 40 degrees cooler than the valley below. The system opened in 1963 and its rotating cars, the largest in the world, have carried more than 20 million riders since.

What reopens October 5

When the cars start turning again, they will carry hikers to the trail network around the Mountain Station, diners to the mountaintop restaurants, and sightseers to the valley views that have made the tramway one of the desert's signature attractions since 1963.

Photo: Netphase

The Mountain Station sits at the edge of the Mount San Jacinto State Park wilderness, with more than 50 miles of hiking trails. For many visitors, the tramway is the only practical way to experience the alpine forest that rises directly above the desert, a ten-minute ride between two climates.

The maintenance closure is also a reminder of what the tramway is: a 1960s engineering marvel operating in one of the harshest environments in American tourism. The cables, towers and cars endure extreme heat, high winds and winter ice. The annual shutdown is the price of keeping a sixty-year-old machine safe, and the state inspectors who sign off each fall are the reason millions of riders have trusted it.

The reopening date is tentative, pending completion of the work and state sign-off. The Post will confirm the reopening when the tramway announces it, along with first-week details for hikers and sightseers planning their fall trips up the mountain. After a month of silence, the cars will be waiting, and the mountain will be ready.

The project would build 72 income-restricted rental homes for residents 55 and older, generally at or below 60 percent of area median income, on roughly two acres owned by the United Methodist Church of Palm Springs. The church would lease the land rather than sell it.

Photo: Inland Valley Living

The city's $3 million is structured as a loan at 3 percent simple interest, with a 55-year affordability requirement attached. The commitment can be withdrawn if the project fails to secure tax-credit financing after three attempts, and the funds are not expected to be disbursed until 2029. The city expects no general-fund impact.

The $3 million commitment is a loan, not a grant, with a 55-year affordability requirement.

Why the city money matters

Affordable housing deals are capital stacks, and a local commitment is often the piece that makes state and federal money possible. Federal low-income housing tax credits provide most of the equity, but credits are awarded competitively, and applications with committed local funding score higher. The city's $3 million would not build the project on its own; it would make the project competitive for the funding that would.

Wakeland specializes in affordable communities and has built across Southern California. The Palm Springs proposal follows the model the nonprofit has used elsewhere: city gap financing that unlocks state tax credits and other affordable-housing funding.

Photo: Lonely Planet

The project's stated timeline targets construction from mid-2027 through early 2029. Affordable developments routinely take years to move from council support to lease-up, and each funding layer adds its own timeline.

The Post is tracking the project's status and will report as financing milestones are reached.

The urgency ordinance bars the city from accepting, processing or approving data center applications while planners draft permanent regulations. Urgency ordinances take effect immediately and require a supermajority vote. Part of the problem: the city's zoning code has no definitions or regulations specific to data centers, so planners have no rules to apply if one is proposed.

Photo: Inland Valley Living

City staff identified no active data center application in Palm Springs. The moratorium is preemptive, aimed at writing the rules before the first proposal arrives rather than after.

In a desert city, every large new electricity and water customer deserves a hard look.

Data centers have become one of the most contested land uses in California desert cities. The facilities can draw enormous amounts of electricity and, depending on their cooling systems, significant volumes of water, a sensitive question in a region that imports much of its water and manages fragile groundwater basins.

How the moratorium works

Staff are expected to return with options for permanent rules governing where data centers may locate and what standards they must meet. Staff have since recommended extending the pause by 22 months and 15 days to complete the work, a sign the initial 45 days were understood as a starting gun for a longer planning process.

Photo: Expedia

The council can extend the moratorium if the work is not finished in 45 days, as state law allows urgency moratoriums to be extended for further study. Extensions are common in California land-use planning, where drafting permanent regulations routinely takes far longer than six weeks.

Palm Springs is not the first desert city to pump the brakes. Across the Coachella Valley and the high desert, councils have weighed the tax revenue and construction jobs data centers promise against their long-term demands on infrastructure. Palm Springs will now do its own math.

Residents who want a say should watch for the study sessions when staff return. Moratorium extensions require public votes, which means the data center question will come back to the council chamber more than once before permanent rules are set. The 45-day clock is ticking.

The festival, held February 12 through 22, offered nearly 500 events through 52 partner organizations: home tours, lectures, films, parties and the design showcases that have made the week a pilgrimage for architecture lovers. The organizers describe it as the festival's strongest showing to date.

Photo: Visitor7, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The $62 million figure captures the festival's full economic footprint: hotel rooms, restaurant meals, retail spending and the design-world commerce that flows through the valley during the week. For a city whose economy runs on visitors, an 11-day festival with that footprint is a major economic event.

More than 111,000 attendees across 11 days in February.

A global brand

What began as a local celebration of mid-century architecture is now billed by its organizers as an international design event, drawing visitors from around the world, many of whom extend their stays to explore the valley.

The festival's subject is the city's own built environment. Palm Springs holds one of the world's great concentrations of mid-century modern architecture: the Alexander tracts, the Frey and Neutra houses, the commercial buildings along Palm Canyon. Modernism Week turned that inheritance into an export, teaching the world to come to the desert to look at buildings.

Photo: Barbara Alfors, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The economic impact number also matters for civic math. Events like Modernism Week generate transient occupancy tax, the hotel tax that helps fund city services.

February is the sweet spot. The weather is mild, the winter residents are in town, and the festival gives the design world a reason to be in the desert at the exact moment the desert looks its best.

The Post will cover the 2027 festival when dates and the lineup are announced.

Bernstein, who was elected to the seat in November 2022, was the only candidate to file nomination papers before the August 7 deadline. City Clerk Brenda Pree told the council that state election law permits the council to appoint an unopposed candidate and cancel the election, and that holding it would cost the city an extra $22,000.

Photo: Tripadvisor, via Tourteller

Bernstein abstained from the vote, though he said the city attorney told him he legally could have participated. Mayor Naomi Soto cast the lone no vote, arguing the cost was difficult to justify. Councilmembers Ron deHarte, Grace Garner and David Ready voted to hold the election.

The most valuable right our citizens have is to go to the ballot box and vote.

$22,000, for some, might not seem like that much money to have this election, but $20,000 here, $40,000 here, I think when we talk about really respecting our careful budget, this is one example where the county tries to make it as simple as possible for us to make our elections as affordable as possible.Mayor Naomi Soto, at the August 20 special meeting

The debate

Supporters of holding the election framed it as a matter of voters' rights, with one councilmember calling the ballot box the most valuable right citizens have. Jerry Granata, an educational and sales director, told NBC he supported keeping the election, pointing to a similar situation in 2020 when Lisa Middleton ran unopposed and the council also chose to hold an election.

I am a firm believer in the democratic process.Jerry Granata, to NBC Palm Springs

Granata also questioned whether a city council should have the authority to cancel an election involving one of its own members, saying he would rather see the race go before voters to avoid even the appearance of improper influence. Artist Drewvy took a different view, suggesting the expense could seem wasteful when there is only one candidate and the outcome is essentially predetermined.

Photo: Visit Palm Springs

Palm Springs is not alone in facing the question. According to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters, Temecula and Calimesa confronted the same issue this cycle: Temecula considered canceling races for two council seats, while Calimesa canceled two uncontested races outright at an August 17 meeting. The region's cities are discovering together that uncontested races are a feature of district elections, not a bug.

The situation is not new to Palm Springs. In 2020, when Lisa Middleton ran unopposed for the District 5 seat, the council voted 4 to 0 to hold the election rather than appoint her outright, with Middleton abstaining as Bernstein did this time. In 2024, District 5 went uncontested again, though that time the city could not cancel the election because a citywide ballot measure was also on the ballot.

The race could still change shape: the city opened a write-in candidate window running September 7 through October 20, so Bernstein may yet face a challenger. The Post's voter guide, publishing in October, will cover the contest.

The grants are $3,750 each, and the program aims to reach 40 to 50 businesses a year. It is open citywide, but outreach prioritizes former Section 14 residents and their descendants. The $5.9 million Section 14 settlement was fulfilled in October 2025, and the city describes BizUp as part of its broader restorative justice package.

Photo: Tripadvisor, via Tourteller

Caravanserai, the program operator, works with small businesses on training, technical assistance and access to capital. The microgrants are aimed at the smallest businesses, the kind that often cannot access traditional lending.

Seventy-five percent of the $1 million is designated for microgrants.

The program pairs grants with business coaching alongside the checks, part of a model that treats money and mentorship as a package.

Why microgrants

Small grants can be the difference between a business opening and a business plan dying in a drawer. For entrepreneurs without collateral or credit history, a few thousand dollars can cover a business license, initial inventory or a security deposit on a commercial space.

Photo: Visitor7, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The Section 14 priority gives the program a restorative dimension. In the 1950s and 1960s, the city razed the Section 14 neighborhood, displacing predominantly Black and Latino families. The $5.9 million settlement with former residents and their families addressed part of that history; economic development aimed at survivors and descendants addresses another part. A microgrant cannot undo a displacement, but it can fund the businesses of the families who lived through it.

The five-year structure gives the program time to build relationships and measure results, rather than spending the money in a single burst. The city will be watching whether the grants reach the intended recipients, particularly in the Section 14 community.

The program is also a bet on the valley's small-business economy. Palm Springs runs on independent shops, restaurants and service businesses far more than on chains, and a million dollars over five years, targeted well, can keep promising businesses alive through their fragile early years.

Business owners interested in the program can find details through the city's economic development office. The Post will follow the program's rollout and report on where the first microgrants land, and whether the Section 14 outreach reaches the families it is meant to serve.

The facts: Councilmember Jeffrey Bernstein was the only candidate to file for the District 2 seat before the August 7 deadline. State law allowed the council to appoint him to another term and cancel the election. Instead, the council voted 3-1, with Bernstein abstaining, to hold it, with Mayor Naomi Soto dissenting on cost grounds.

Photo: Visit Palm Springs

Soto's objection deserves respect. Twenty-two thousand dollars is real money, and a council that waves away costs because they are small will soon wave away costs that are not. Fiscal prudence is a virtue, and the mayor was practicing it.

The $22,000 did not buy an election with one candidate. It bought the chance of an election with two.

It is worth noting what the $22,000 figure actually represents. City Clerk Brenda Pree told the council it is the county's estimated extra cost of running the race: the price of keeping the machinery of democracy, ballots printed, mailed, collected and counted, available to District 2 voters. There is no cheaper way to run an election that meets the county's standards.

The write-in window

But here is what the $22,000 actually purchased: a write-in candidate window, open September 7 through October 20, during which any qualified District 2 resident can still enter the race. Cancel the election and that window never opens. Hold it, and the voters might yet get a choice.

Photo: Andare Incentives

There is precedent for the council's choice. In 2020, when Lisa Middleton ran unopposed for District 5, the council also voted to hold the election rather than appoint her. The principle is consistent: the ballot belongs to the voters, not to the council's budget spreadsheet.

The deeper question is whether uncontested races are a problem to solve or a reality to accept. District elections, with their smaller voter pools and lower profiles, will regularly produce single-candidate races. If the council canceled every uncontested election, appointments would become the norm and elections the exception. The August vote drew a line: in Palm Springs, the default is that voters decide, even when the decision looks foregone.

Was it worth it? Ask again in November. If a write-in candidate qualifies and District 2 voters get a real contest, the $22,000 will look like a bargain. If not, the city bought something still valuable: proof that the right to vote is not contingent on the council finding it cost-effective.

The project would place about 2.85 million square feet of industrial buildings on 217 acres of tribal land, with four buildings and more than 1,000 parking spaces described in early materials. Potential uses include cold storage, warehousing, office space, or combinations of the three.

Photo: via Lonely Planet

The joint meeting of the City Council and Planning Commission planned for June 3 was postponed until fall so the developer could address public comments and technical issues. No replacement date had been set.

Because the project sits on tribal land, the Agua Caliente Tribal Council has the final say.

Because the development sits on tribal land, the Agua Caliente Tribal Council has final authority over it. Palm Springs plays an advisory role under its coordination process with the tribe: in December 2025, the city transmitted a conformity report on the project and requested the joint meeting, a step in the review process rather than an approval or denial.

The warehouse question

Inland Southern California has seen a warehouse boom over the past decade, and the Coachella Valley is now feeling the pressure. Logistics developers prize the region's highway access and relatively affordable land. Residents prize the views, the air and the quiet.

Photo: Alfa117, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Opponents of the business park have typically raised three concerns: diesel truck traffic and its effect on air quality, noise and light from round-the-clock operations, and the visual wall that big-box buildings create against the mountain backdrop. Supporters point to construction and logistics jobs and an expanded tax base.

When the project returns in the fall, the joint session will be its most important public test to date. The Post's coverage will continue through the fall hearings.

SunLine adopted an alternative-fuel policy in 1993 and pioneered fuel cell buses in transit service, operating from its Thousand Palms base. Its zero-emission bus rollout plan, updated in late 2025, lays out the path for converting its fleet. California's Innovative Clean Transit regulation requires the state's transit agencies to transition to zero-emission buses, and SunLine's documents show an agency that chose hydrogen early and is staying with it.

Photo: CALSTART, via Mass Transit Magazine

SunLine's hydrogen operations date to the early 2000s, when it began putting fuel cell buses into regular service. The agency has since built fueling infrastructure and run the buses as part of its fleet, making it a national reference point for hydrogen transit, with institutional knowledge few other agencies can match.

SunLine has operated hydrogen fuel cell buses longer than almost any transit agency in America.

The contested math

Not everyone is convinced the bet pencils out. A March 2026 CleanTechnica analysis argued that SunLine's hydrogen comes with high costs and questioned the real emissions profile of the fleet, distinguishing between hydrogen made from natural gas and hydrogen made with renewable energy. That analysis is the outlet's own read of the numbers, and readers should weigh it as one critical perspective rather than a settled verdict.

The distinction the analysis raises matters. Hydrogen's climate benefit depends on how it is produced. Hydrogen made from natural gas, the cheapest and most common method, carries a significant carbon footprint. Hydrogen made with renewable electricity is genuinely clean but far more expensive. The agency's own planning documents and state air regulators' reports provide the primary record.

Photo: GPS Business Insider

SunLine's answer, in its planning documents, is that hydrogen's range and refueling speed suit its long desert routes, a claim the rollout plan's performance data will test as the 2035 target approaches.

What riders will notice

For valley bus riders, the technology debate is background. What matters is whether the buses run on time, the fares stay affordable, and the air gets cleaner. SunLine's rollout plan is the document that will determine all three.

The move shifted the statue about 75 feet from its previous position into the park, under a city-approved 25-year placement agreement. The relocation followed a legal battle that had kept the sculpture's fate uncertain and divided the city.

Photo: Fotospot

Few public artworks in recent Palm Springs history have generated as much sustained argument. Supporters called the sculpture a tourist draw and a celebration of Hollywood glamour. Critics objected to its placement, its depiction and the process that brought it downtown.

The sculpture's journey to Downtown Park took years of legal battles and public argument.

The sculpture, by artist Seward Johnson, depicts Monroe in the famous subway-grate scene, skirt billowing. At 26 feet tall, it is impossible to ignore, which was always the point and always the problem. Its first downtown stint divided residents between those who saw a beloved photo opportunity and those who saw an oversized monument to a moment many found demeaning.

The legal fight

The path to Downtown Park ran through the courts. Opponents challenged the sculpture's placement, and the litigation kept its future uncertain for years. The February 2025 move, shifting the statue about 75 feet into the park under the 25-year agreement, gave the sculpture a permanent home with a defined term after years of temporary placements and legal challenges.

Photo: APK, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

A new chapter

With the statue now in its permanent home, the controversy has cooled into the background hum of civic life. Tourists still pose for photos at its base. The 25-year agreement means the sculpture will be part of the downtown landscape for a generation.

The episode left its mark on how the city handles public art. The years of argument over Forever Marilyn taught Palm Springs that placement is policy: where a sculpture stands, how long it stays, and who decides are questions that deserve answers before the cranes arrive, not after the lawsuits do.

Whether the city made the right call will be argued for years. What is no longer in doubt is where she stands: in Downtown Park, 26 feet tall, greeting visitors for the next quarter century.

The warning, first issued for July 7 through 9, was extended through July 10 as the heat dome refused to budge. Thursday, July 9, was forecast to bring the year's highest temperatures to that point: 114 to 116 across much of the valley, with Palm Springs forecast at 115 and overnight lows staying in the 80s.

Photo: Meteonavigator

The daytime highs told only half the story. Overnight lows stayed in the 80s and 90s, denying the desert its usual nighttime relief and keeping heat illness risk elevated around the clock. Meteorologists warned that the combination of extreme daytime heat and warm nights was the most dangerous pattern of the summer.

Highs of 114 to 117, and overnight lows that never dropped below the 80s.

A long, hot summer

The July episode was not the season's last. Late in the month, another extreme heat warning stretched across the valley, with forecasters predicting highs of 117 in the Coachella Valley and Palm Springs on Friday and 118 on Saturday, and overnight lows lingering in the 80s and lower 90s.

The late-July wave followed the same cruel pattern: blistering afternoons, warm nights, and a warning area that covered the valley floor from Palm Springs to the Salton Sea. By the time it broke, the summer had delivered two distinct extreme heat episodes, each lasting the better part of a week.

Photo: via Bisnow

Heat as infrastructure

For a desert city, extreme heat is infrastructure: it strains the power grid, empties the streets at midday, and sends the vulnerable to cooling centers. Each summer's heat writes the specifications for the next decade of planning, from shade structures to utility capacity.

The grid held this summer, but the margin is the story. Air conditioning is the difference between a heat wave and a mass-casualty event in the Coachella Valley, and every degree of additional heat narrows the margin between supply and demand. The valley's utilities plan for the hottest week on record, and then the record moves.

Cooling centers, the public buildings opened as refuges during warnings, are the most visible part of the heat response. The less visible part is the outreach: checking on elderly residents, adjusting outdoor work schedules, and keeping the water flowing to the misters and fountains that make summer downtowns survivable.

Summer 2026 will be remembered as the year the thermometer kept finding new ways to say the same thing.

The new rates phase in on two tracks. Recycled water rates took effect July 1 and appeared on August bills. New potable water rates and the wastewater service charge take effect January 1, 2027, appearing on February bills, timed for the season when water use is typically lowest.

Photo: Lonely Planet

The agency says an independent study showed rates were not adequately covering the cost of service. As a public agency, the district cannot profit from its operations; rates are determined by the cost of delivering water and maintaining the system.

As a public agency, the water district cannot profit. Rates are set by the cost of providing service.

The five-year plan, adopted in 2023 after a series of public meetings, was designed to bring rates in line with costs gradually rather than all at once. The June vote was the fourth of the five scheduled increases, which means one more remains. Each increase has followed the same script: a cost-of-service study, public notice, and a board vote.

Where the money goes

The agency says the increases will fund upgrades to its distribution system, the network of pipelines, pumps and reservoirs that moves water across its service area. Some of that work is already visible: pipeline replacement projects are underway or scheduled in the Movie Colony East, Racquet Club Estates and Park Imperial North neighborhoods, with the Movie Colony East work starting the week of October 5.

Photo: Inland Valley Living

Pipeline replacement is the least glamorous and most essential work a water agency does. Much of the valley's water infrastructure dates to the postwar building boom, and aging pipes mean more breaks, more emergency repairs and more water lost to leaks. Replacing them on a schedule is cheaper than replacing them in a crisis.

For customers struggling with bills, the agency expanded its Help2Others billing assistance program, offering income-eligible customers a one-time $300 credit per 12-month period. The expansion acknowledges what the rate increases make plain: water is getting more expensive, and the households least able to absorb the cost need a buffer.

The agency also continues its conservation programs, the other half of the desert water equation. In a region where every gallon is pumped, imported or recycled at a cost, using less remains the cheapest source of new supply.

The rate plan's fifth and final increase is still to come. The Post will cover it when the board takes it up.

We Can and we are moving forward! Our path to progress is forged in working together, maintaining unwavering focus on our strategic goals, and letting the voice of our community be our compass.Ron deHarte, in the city's State of the City announcement

Since then, the city's leadership has turned over significantly. The mayoralty rotated to Naomi Soto in December 2025 under the council's rotating system. City Manager Scott Stiles announced he will retire November 1. And three of the five council seats, Districts 1, 2 and 3, are on the November 3 ballot.

Photo: Ken Lund, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

DeHarte seeks another term

DeHarte, who served as the city's 27th mayor from 2024 to 2025 and was first elected to the council in 2022 with 64.7 percent of the vote, is running for re-election in District 3, which covers west and central neighborhoods between Vista Chino and Ramon Road. He previously served on the Human Rights Commission and on nonprofit boards including Safe Schools Desert Cities, the LGBTQ Archives of the Desert, USA Prides and Palm Springs Pride.

We can and we are moving forward.

If re-elected, he would return to a council choosing a new city manager, a process in which his experience as a former mayor would carry weight.

Reading the speech now

State of the City speeches are the council's annual chance to set the narrative, and the December address leaned into consensus goods: major accomplishments, ongoing projects and future plans. Nine months later, the test of that narrative is the city's open files: the Dream Hotel's missed deadlines, the Highway 111 warehouse review, and a data-center moratorium adopted in August.

Photo: World Landscape Architect

The voters get their say on the direction soon enough. Ballots for the November 3 election go out in early October, and three seats will decide whether the “Palm Springs Forward” agenda continues under new leadership or takes a different direction.