Free workshop: “Take the Step to Go Solar”

The Morongo Basin Conservation Association invites the public to “Take the Step to Go Solar” with a free workshop on how to use solar energy to produce the power for our homes and businesses. The workshop will be held Saturday, January 23, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Joshua Tree Community Center, 6171 Sunburst in Joshua Tree.

The workshop is an opportunity for residents to learn practical steps from those who have already made the move to solar in the Morongo Basin. Helping to demystify why and how we can go solar will be representatives from Southern California Edison, the California Public Utilities Commission, the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Copper Mountain College, and Joshua Tree National Park. Local homeowners and their solar equipment installers will also share their real-life experiences in team presentations.

“We believe that those who want to take the steps to ‘go solar’ will gain confidence by sharing the experience of users, producers, regulators, and installers and also by being connected to the resources that make it possible,” explains Ruth Rieman, solar workshop committee chair of MBCA.

“Take the Step to Go Solar” is free of charge and all Basin residents are welcome. The workshop is part of the annual meeting of MBCA, a 501(c)4 non-profit, community-based, all-volunteer organization dedicated to preserving the economic and environmental welfare of the Morongo Basin since 1969.

For more information on MBCA and “Take the Step to Go Solar” go to http://www.mbconservation.org/ or call 760-364-3455.

BONUS: Print out a Solar workshop flyer (pdf).

More opportunities to meet the candidates

The Desert Trail posts a question-and-answer with the candidates for the Twentynine Palms City Council in its last edition before next Tuesday's election.

As well, the Trail covers last week's forum for candidates for the Copper Mountain College Board of Trustees.

And a reminder: You can read the words of candidates for these and three additional local races in the MBCA 2008 Candidates Virtual Forum on our Website, answering questions on conservation issues as submitted by you, our members.

More candidates forums

More opportunities this week to learn where the candidates stand:

• A Joshua Basin Water District Candidates Forum will to be held at the Coyote Corner stage on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 11 a.m., sponsored by the Joshua Tree Highlands Owners Association. CORRECTION: APPARENTLY THIS INFORMATION WAS INCORRECT AND THERE WILL BE NO JBWD FORUM ON SATURDAY.
• Candidates for the Copper Mountain Community College board of trustees will appear at a forum sponsored by the Associated Students of Copper Mountain College at 3:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 27 in Room 11 at the Joshua Tree Campus on Rotary Way north of Twentynine Palms Highway. More coverage in the Desert Trail.
• All four official candidates for the Twentynine Palms City Council spoke at a breakfast meeting of the Twentyine Palms Kiwanis Club on Tuesday, Oct. 21. Read what they had to say in the Desert Trail.

As well, you can read the candidates' own words on conservation issues on the MBCA 2008 Candidates Virtual Forum.

MBCA 2008 Candidates Virtual Forum now on-line

Below is an announcement of the MBCA 2008 Candidates Virtual Forum and our new Website. We thank all our members who sent in questions for the candidates; we hope the answers will help you make a more informed choice in the local races this November. We also appreciate the candidates who took the time to participate.

We encourage you to check out the rest of our newly revised Website, especially the recently added Communities and Take Action sections. We thank Cyberspike, our Web designer, for the terrific work, and we also especially thank former Boardmember Lesley Thornburg for pioneering our original Website.

Don't forget to vote!

Voters curious about the local candidates in November’s election now have a new source of information. The Morongo Basin Conservation Association has posted a Candidates Virtual Forum on their newly revised Website at www.mbconservation.org.

The electronic Forum covers five local races: The Joshua Basin and Hi-Desert Water boards, the Yucca Valley Town Council, the Twentynine Palms City Council, and the Copper Mountain College Board of Trustees.

“We asked our members to submit the questions they’d like to ask the candidates, then we edited and compiled a separate list for each race which we sent to all the candidates,” said MBCA Communications Director Chris Carraher. “Not all the candidates responded, but we really appreciate the ones who took the time to reach out to the voters this way. MBCA firmly believes that an informed electorate is key to our mission of promoting the economic and environmental welfare of the Morongo Basin.”

The Virtual Forum is only one feature of MBCA’s completely revised Website. Visitors will also find a variety of resources on issues and the communities of the Morongo Basin. Active in the Basin since 1969, MBCA brings a depth of experience and a Basin-wide scope to this move into the digital future.

Besides information on the organization and its history, visitors will find resources on such local issues as clear-cutting, invasive mustard, water and air quality, night sky, and land use and development.

“On our Communities pages you’ll find links, information, and the latest developments for wherever you live in the Basin,” said Carraher. “And in our Action section you’ll find the tools you need to get moving and start making an effective difference.”

One key addition to the Website is the regularly updated MBCA blog, where users can get the latest news on conservation issues across the Basin. But the site also features in-depth articles, such as “Urban Growth and Carrying Capacity in the Morongo Basin”, a new MBCA position paper by journalist and MBCA Boardmember Mark Wheeler.

Carraher invites Basin residents to visit the 2008 Virtual Candidates Forum and to return to the MBCA Website and blog often at www.mbconservation.org.

Earthwork approved for Black Mesa

The Yucca Valley Town Council has approved a large earthwork for the top of Black Mesa, a volcanic outcrop off of Old Woman Springs Road opposite Aberdeen Drive.

Representing the artist, Andrew Rogers, Copper Mountain College professor Spellman Downer explained to the Council:

...the installation, though long, would probably not exceed three feet in height. The light-colored, contrasting stones would be purchased locally, probably from Whitewater Rock and Supply. No cement would be used, nor would the flat stones be dug into the ground. “We’re only asking to lay the stones on the ground and stack them,” Downer assured the Town. “We won’t disturb the onsite rocks.” Local labor would be paid “market rates” to help the artist get the installation up in about a week’s time, he said.

Rogers' other similar works can be viewed at his Website. Read the rest of the story in the Hi-Desert Star.