John McMullen Show

John McMullen has crawled out of the COVID Hole and left his fetal position as the United States of America seems destined to swirl around a drain caught in a funnel it may not escape. Is there hope to overcome the Invasion of the Maggots from Earth 2? And, just what is "Normal" when it comes to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Maybe THAT is The Big Lie.Sponsored by El Portal Mexican Restaurant.

John McMullen has exited the management suite and is back solely as Podcaster. The mask mandates are leaving but he's keeping his KN95 handy and thinks that you should, too. As if that's not enough, McMullen is sick and tired of his Millennial and Gen Z friends tossing around the word 'Boomer' like it's a pejorative. His suggestion is rather than blame other generations for what precedes you, focus on fixing things like he has rather than just griping about it!Presented by El Portal Mexican Restaurant in Cathedral City.

As the California Legislature gets back to work in the New Year, 56th District Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia recaps achievements in 2021 and objectives for 2022 and beyond with John McMullen. Garcia has a busy agenda in the year ahead and is planning a run for Congress. In this episode, they talk about census-related redistricting, affordable housing projects, new park grants, regional and global climate change matters, environmental and economic concerns at the Salton Sea, post-secondary education in the desert cities, and the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on people and businesses.

Samantha Porter, Admissions Director for Elite Cosmetology School, talks about the Palm Desert-based programs they offer to people seeking a new career path with their trade school based in the Palm Desert Mall. As people are looking to change career directions or start their professional lives with an artistic flair, find out about the opportunities and what is involved in becoming a barber, an esthetician, or cosmetologist and the fun and dynamic environment Elite offers students here in the Coachella Valley.

John McMullen welcomes education reporter Jonathan Horwitz from the Desert Sun back to the show to discuss the latest drama involving a city in the Western Coachella Valley raising concerns about shifting plans by the region's junior college involving placement of a new campus. Recent plans to abandon Cathedral City where the school was to open its new automotive repair school and shop has caught the attention of the City of Palm Springs, where the plans for a West Campus have not moved beyond clearing away a former shopping mall and currently stands as a large dirt patch adjacent to the Palm Springs Cultural Center. This week, the City Council will vote on whether to send an official letter and demand information on how funding from nearly $1 Billion in bond measures have been spent to date. C.O.D. leadership says they still plan to build the campus, but city officials say that the new college President and Superintendent has thus far been unwilling to guarantee that this it the case. Where does it all sit? Jonathan shares details on where the matter sits.

Larry Davis has spent five decades giving comfort and aide to people at life's toughest moments. As Vice President for the Coachella Valley region at Forest Lawn, he has been a part of celebrating the lives of tens of thousands of people. But, doing our loved ones justice in terms of how we share about their lives can be a difficult task. Larry discusses the challenges people face at these deeply sorrowful occasions and even shares how people in the funeral business can be as deeply affected as those who do not have to deal with death day in and day out. He also talks about the importance of pre-planning these types of services over leaving the details to your loved ones. Contact Information:Phone: (760) 328-3112On the Web: www.ForestLawn.com

Palm Springs resident and successful television writer, producer and director David Lee, best known for Cheers and Frasier, has contributed $5 million to the "Help Save the Plaza Theatre" campaign in Palm Springs, nearly half of the anticipated $12 million needed for renovations. Desert Sun entertainment and culture writer Brian Blueskye visited with John McMullen hours after the donation was announced by one of the project's primary boosters, former Palm Springs City Councilmember J.R. Roberts. Brian also fills us in on plans for a January fundraising music festival at the Plaza Theatre and a successful super group of DJs who have just announced plans to appear in Spring 2022 at the Coachella Arts & Music Festival.

Using $100,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding from Cathedral City, the Coachella Valley Rescue Mission has extended its human services support to the homeless population in the West Valley city with two mobile shower stations. It's just one of the many services that CVRM offers to the disadvantaged population in trying to help them maintain dignity and seek to better their lives. Learn about this and the many other outreach services the Rescue Mission provides across the desert cities region and how you can volunteer or provide other assistance and make the lives of people less-fortunate better.Coachella Valley Rescue Mission's Program Coordinator Mark McGowen talks with Radio111's John McMullen about the organization's outreach.On the Web: Coachella Valley Rescue Mission

Gallup has recently released new polling data that indicates the public trust in mass media outlets like Newspaper, Radio and Television has declined another 4% to just 36% who trust what they are reading, hearing or seeing. But, is that really a fair assessment of how honest the news media is in its coverage? Or, is this just a sign of the times because of the political division in the United States? And, what can be done to restore the confidence of news consumers? Desert Sun Executive Editor Julie Makinen talks about these things and the need to help the public differentiate between news and opinion in the various forms of media.

Jonathan Horwitz. education reporter for the Desert Sun, returns to the John McMullen Show and discusses his latest reporting on the extraordinary demand for and shortage of substitute teachers in the three school districts serving the Coachella Valley. It's not a problem unique to our region. Hear about just how much strain is on the public education system, what the root causes are, and how local districts are attempting to do to meet the demands of an already-stretched education sector amidst the global pandemic.

The City of Palm Springs always has a lot before their City Council. Recently, they have had to take up the issue of issuing an apology for the atrocities associated with Section 14 land in the middle of the last century, whether or not to move a statue of the mayor credited with turning the city into the Hollywood playground, funding for and utilization of a full-time police officer on high school campuses, the controversy over renaming a dog park after the former city manager, the city's success with COVID prevention mandates, expanding service at Palm Springs International Airport, homeless issues and more. Geoff Kors, the longest serving member of the City Council talks about all these matters with John McMullen on this excerpt from the John McMullen Show.On the Web: www.palmspringsca.gov

Julie Hirsh, Director of Community Outreach at JFS Desert, talks with John about the upcoming Blood Drive in conjunction with Lifestream Blood Bank on October 23. The Coachella Valley-area hospitals are in a crisis situation needing blood to meet the minimum supply needs for everyday purposes, let along if there were to be a crisis that exceeds ordinary needs. You can help save a life with an hour of your time and a single blood draw. And, Lifestream is giving a sweet pair of Cancer Awareness socks while supplies last to donors on the 23rd. Julie also talks about the many services provided by JFS Desert for those in need of financial aid, social services, and mental health telecare in our community. Learn more about the many generous services they provide all throughout the Desert Cities communities. On the Web: www.JFSDesert.orgwww.LStream.org

Radio111 democracy advocate Joy Silver spoke with John McMullen at length about the Bianco Must Go organization that has formed to educate Riverside County voters about top lawman Sheriff Chad Bianco's ties to fundamentalist Christian extremist organizations and philosophies which create a danger to hundreds of millions of the county's residents. Bianco and his “Constitutional Sheriff” perspective have driven his dangerous policies that have resulted in his selective enforcement of public safety measures, have led to a skyrocketing number of concealed firearms permits being issued, and an alarming number of deaths of detainees, many of whom have not even been through a trial yet. The Bianco Must Go campaign is seeking to educate voters ahead of a primary next June, and to raise funds to give a challenging candidate a reasonable chance of victory in a county in which Democrats now outnumber Republicans by more than 3%.

As we try to resume business as we once knew it pre-pandemic, Randy Florence has a lot on his plate that he is doing for businesses in and around Palm Desert. A half-year into his term as the Palm Desert Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO, Florence talks about how his organization is going above and beyond mixers that introduce local businesses to one another. They are proactively putting on workshops to help smaller and younger enterprise, and even educating members on how to be able to better communicate with all the region's consumers. If you missed the live broadcast on the John McMullen Show and you own a business, manage a business, aspire to be in your own business or even need a referral to a good business, you'll want to hear what's going on at the Palm Desert Area Chamber of Commerce!On the Web: https://www.pdacc.org

Larry Bohannan is the golf writer for the Desert Sun and joins John McMullen to talk about the LPGA bringing an end to its Major tournament that has taken place in the Coachella Valley for five decades. The ANA Inspiration which began as the Dinah Shore tournament will happen once more in April 2022 and then pack its bags and check out of Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, heading with its new sponsor, Chevron USA, to more oily greens in Houston, Texas. How did the Golf Capitol of the World lose its place on the ladies major circuit? Bohannan discusses the circumstances on the John McMullen Show.On the Web: https://www.desertsun.com [ Use offer code W-PG for a discounted 6-month digital subscription at https://www.desertsun.com/subscribe ]

Desert Sun reporter Jonathan Horwitz returns to the John McMullen Show and fills us in on the happenings at the Cathedral City City Council meeting on September 29th which included one Councilmember offering an apology for any embarrassment caused by a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission over incorrect information on a standard candidate filing, the city spending $175,000 on a single police officer to be shared by two high schools, and the decision to rescind proof of vaccination requirements for dining-in at restaurants in the city. Pressure to end the restriction and mask wearing rules were pushed by the two members of the Council who should have recused themselves since they are restaurant owners. Get the details on this podcast.

Janet Wilson, Environment Reporter for the Desert Sun, joins John McMullen to discuss the extreme drought conditions in the Desert Cities and throughout California, and that we are a long ways from meeting Governor Newsom's voluntary 15% reduction of water resources. Among the biggest water hogs in the state? Palm Springs and Bermuda Dunes water agency customers. Get a more in-depth perspective on this threat which is exacerbated by golf courses, swimming pools, and watering lawns - especially now as scalping and replanting winter grass is taking place.

In April 2021, Palm Springs resident David Spann had a 2 am visit he wasn't expecting. As someone tried kicking and then knocking down his front door with a sledge hammer he called police to tell them there was a home invasion. That's when he was confronted by a man dressed in paramilitary clothing representing himself as a bounty hunter working for a Bail Bondsman who had ordered his capture and detention. Within minutes, police arrived and Mr. Spann was dead. Spann, who did hot have any warrant out for his arrest and had not had his bail revoked by a court, was killed by Fabian Herrera, who was not a licensed bail agent, and who was not permitted to possess a firearm because of past felony convictions. The Desert Sun got a court order to release the body camera footage of what happened in the early morning hours of April 23, and it has raised plenty of questions and left Herrera and his mother facing murder charges, and an unconvicted man dead. Crime and Investigative Reporter Christopher Damien joins John McMullen with the latest on the case and where it may be headed.

Jonathan Horwitz is the new education reporter at the Desert Sun. He joins John McMullen to talk about the dramatic events that have become routine at recent Desert Sands Unified School District School Board Meetings over the past couple of months. In the ongoing debate about safety measures including a mask mandate for students, teachers and other school workers, and a requirement that those working at schools be vaccinated or regularly tested, things have often been heated. Is that how the majority of parents feel, or are the disruptions and arguing representative of a vocal minority? And what is this about secret funding from Shanghai? Jonathan has the details.

The Coachella Valley's only All Local News, Talk and Entertainment outlet is updating its identity ahead of the Fall 2021 Season of programs and will now be known as Radio One Eleven (Radio111) instead of iHub Radio.Many programs will continue and a handful of new shows are being added. Stay tuned for more information with updates on our social media pages at:Facebook.com/Radio111PalmSpringsInstagram.com/Radio111PalmSpringsTwitter.com/Radio111PSand our website: www.Radio111.com or www.RadioOneEleven.comFor more information write to info@radio111.com

The State of California has empaneled a 9-member committee of experts to consider the impacts of slavery and study and make recommendations about Reparations to descendants of people who were slaves. Jackie Botts is a journalist with CalMatters and published a story entitled California reparations committee confronts harms of slavery, debates direct payments that appeared in the Desert Sun. She talks with John McMullen in this podcast about the objective of the reparations committee, who it comprises, the difficult questions they must answer, the process over the next couple of years, what transpired at the first meeting, and some of the Golden State's atrocious, egregious history towards African Americans.

There is a race against time to mitigate an environmental and economic disaster in the Southeastern corner of the Coachella Valley. The Salton Sea, the largest lake in the State of California, has been disappearing for decades. The combination of pollution, toxic runoff from the agriculture industry, diversion of the water resources being sucked up by the city of San Diego, and the drought conditions that plague the Golden State, has left the one-time watersports and recreationally rich body of water turning into a vast wasteland featuring noxious air quality problems for the entire Southland. There are several entities that are advocating a "sea to sea" solution that would restore the Salton Sea to its once glorious state by connecting it via canal to Mexico's Sea of Cortez. On this episode, John McMullen talks with Chuck Parker, one of the grassroots coordinators from the Salton Sea Coalition, who is an advocate for this solution.

Dr. Grethe Cammermeyer, Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret.) spent many years as an advocate for equality and inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons in the United States Department of Defense. She talks with John McMullen about her take on a decision by the Pentagon to preclude the flying of the rainbow Pride Flag at Military Bases in the U.S. and around the world, during Pride Month (June). While the State Department will permit the flag to be flown at U.S. diplomatic institutions around the globe, Col. Cammermeyer believes the decision by the Defense Department is consistent, and appropriate. She also has some thoughtful remarks about the ongoing effort to eradicate the Coronavirus. She is, after all, a lifelong nurse!

Barry Dayton, spokesperson for Desert Oasis Healthcare visits the John McMullen Show to talk about the organization's upcoming 40th Anniversary and how they are using the occasion to make an additional $40,000 in charitable contributions to ten community service organizations in the Coachella Valley. Area residents get to vote and that will determine the level of grant each of the ten recipients will receive in addition to the philanthropic benefits that DOHC already provides.He also talks about the success of the mobile healthcare clinic operated by DOHC, and gives us the details on an upcoming virtual workplace wellness symposium that DOHC is sponsoring with HARC.Vist the DOHC Website for additional information.

Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia (CA-56) visits with John McMullen and shares important news from the State Capitol about critical funding to help with the housing crisis, including legislative authorization for $30 million in funding to deal with getting residents in the Oasis Mobilehome Park into safe and sanitary housing conditions and necessary upgrades to make the park, situated on tribal land, inhabitable. Assm. Garcia also addresses a $25 million appropriation for valley-wide housing relief, and steps that are being taken to relieve financial burdens on family's who have had to make final arrangements for loved ones who have been lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.They also discuss actions taken by the Assembly to make sure that California's agriculture producers are not being overlooked as a priority for state institutions to purchase California-grown fruits and vegetables, and more. Official Website for Assemblymember Garcia

Journalist Christopher Damien from the Desert Sun talks with John about two breaking stories early this week capturing the attention of the Coachella Valley. The first is a tangled web of intrigue involving the murder of a man who was free on bail who was killed in Palm Springs by a Bounty Hunter... who was a twice-convicted felon in possession of a firearm.The second story is about a former Cathedral City Police officer. who also worked until April 2021 for the Palm Springs Unified School District who was under investigation and has been charged in federal court for unlawful ownership of an assault weapon. He became a person of interest to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force because of his online postings that were in support of creating domestic terror for the Biden inauguration in D.C. on January 20, 2021. He has also professed the gospel of QAnon. And, he was working for the School District?!Listen to this episode as Christopher brings us up to speed on both cases.Visit the Desert Sun website for more information.

He arrived in the Coachella Valley just a decade ago and he's been serving on the Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Club of the Coachella Valley and the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership, which he is the most recent-past Chair. Randy Florence has taken on a new challenge as he begins on June 1 as the new CEO of the Palm Desert Area Chamber of Commerce.Randy, who also in his spare moments produces the iHub Radio local history show and podcast (Coachella Valley Chronicles) talks about the many opportunities he looks forward to driving with the Palm Desert business community and working all across the Coachella Valley to continue driving economic development.Visit the Chamber's Website.

Desert Oasis Healthcare's Dr. Brian Hodgkins, Clinical Operations executive and our resident go-to guy for the facts on how fighting the pandemic is going at home in the Coachella Valley, is back to give us the latest update on why it is necessary for many to remain masked up, the state of getting out of the mask mandate in California, the status on vaccine efficacy and vaccines for adolescents, and more.

Coachella Valley Economic Partnership (CVEP) Vice President of Innovation Laura James appeared on the John McMullen Show on Monday, May 10, to talk about this being Economic Partnership Week. What is it for? Why does it matter to everyone in our community? And, how can economic development personally inspire and affect you? That's what Laura is here to share.

Meet Andrew Thiessen. In June 2020, he had a silent heart attack. So silent that his doctors couldn't figure out what was going on with his seeming-COVID symptoms for four months until he checked himself into a Seattle-area emergency room. What happened from there changed his life forever. His outlook on living, loving and forgiving are an inspirational tale filled with hope and positivity. Beyond and Back, hear this incredible story of dying - twice... only to get a second opportunity to live life to the fullest. It's an extraordinary story and he shares it with the John McMullen Show on iHub Radio.

Community Organizer, Activist, and past-Candidate for the State Legislature Joy Silver talks with John McMullen about the current focus of Courageous Resistance of the Desert. The conversation gets into issues about homelessness, racism, refugee treatment and whether our local leadership is reasonably focused on these concerns of progressives in the Coachella Valley.

Dr. Brian Hodgkins, Executive Vice President of Clinical Services at Desert Oasis Healthcare in Palm Springs, updates us on how efforts to vaccinate Riverside County are going, what constitutes our reaching herd immunity and how that is achieved, efforts to help monitor school-age students until they can be vaccinated, and the concerns about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and how that has affected people who may fear getting vaccinated.

John McMullen engages in discussion about Transgender Issues including a story about possible problems being created by Trans-phobic corrections officers in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation ahead of the State's planned transfer of inmates classified as Transgender Female to women's prisons in the Golden State, with local transgender activist Laura Meeks. They also discuss the complexity of transgendered people's lives and why it is so difficult for people to understand the issues this community must face and deal with. Visit Laura Meeks' Website

Larry Davis is the Vice President of the Coachella Valley Region for Forest Lawn Mortuaries & Memorial Parks. He discusses the impact that COVID-19 has had on the mortuary and funeral industry in Southern California over the past year on the John McMullen Show.Forest Lawn has been able to meet the need of the communities of Southern California in spite of nearly two-thirds of all COVID-related deaths in the state being in five of the counties surrounding the Greater Los Angeles and Inland Empire area. How did they accomplish this? What did they learn and what steps did they have to take to keep up with the strain of the greater-than-usual volume of decedents? Larry shares the experience of the once-in-a-lifetime circumstance from the position of handling final arrangements for those who sadly lost their lives to pandemic-related causes.Forest Lawn WebsiteTelephone: (760) 328-3140

Melissa Daniels joins John McMullen from Lift To Rise, an organization that helps people who are trapped by the disadvantages of poverty and convenes private, public and nonprofit partners for collaborative action networks focused on housing stability, community health, and social connection in the Coachella Valley. Melissa talks about how they are assisting communities including the City of Indio with managing its rental assistance program, getting nearly $650,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding to help 286 households.

Damon Rubio, owner of D'Place Entertainment and operator of Cathedral City's Mary Pickford Theatre talked with John McMullen about the challenges faced through the pandemic by movie theatres, the studios, and the entertainment industry as a whole. He talked about how the Mary Pickford Theatre had to pivot to survive the past year, and some of the steps that they took to survive, and what he is looking forward to as people get vaccinated and are anxious to resume their favorite recreational activities including seeing movies on the big silver screen.

Laura James, Vice President of Innovation at the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership (CVEP), talks about Innovation Month activities in Riverside County throughout the month of April. She also details the Greater Palm Springs Fastpitch competition which will take place on April 14, where entrepreneurs will have an opportunity to present their innovations and possibly be invited to move on to the county-wide competition featuring a grand prize of $10,000. This is similar to Shark Tank, where up and coming businesses vie for financial support of their start-up ventures on network television.

Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia (CA-56) returns to the show to talk with John about the next steps in an important statewide infrastructure measure that he has co-sponsored, which would give voters a chance to support a $10 billion project that makes it possible to lay the high-speed internet bandwidth everywhere in California, and maintaining reasonable pricing for these services in order to leave no resident behind and reduce the digital divide. Education, Economy, and Entertainment - the 3 E's - that require fast connectivity to the web has been essential over the past year in dealing with surviving in the pandemic. Garcia explains how this will help all Californians. They also talk about the importance of the annual California Agriculture Day and the objectives and activities happening on March 23.

Almost since the inception of iHub Radio and the iHub Network, we have made it a priority to offer programming that helps people in a dark, lonely and harmful place with addiction issues, an oasis of information and inspiration to help with recovery. Toby C has led these weekly journeys on In This Moment. Now comes a new program beginning on Saturday, March 27, that will be broadcast on the iHub Network at 10 pm to 12 midnight Pacific every Saturday and Sunday that will deal with the nitty gritty of evil forces that play such a significant role in people's battles with all forms of addictive behavior. The new program is called The Fourth Dimension hosted by Toby C. He shares with John McMullen the inspiration, the mission and what you can expect when those shows are broadcast starting next weekend.

Palm Springs City Manager David Ready talks with John McMullen about steps the City is going to take to force compliance with permits for new hotel properties that have not been completed and have become blight as unfinished developments. Ready will be retiring in days, but says that Palm Springs' legal team will hold developers to their original commitments or lose control of the properties to a court appointed receiver to either complete construction or demolition. John also talks with the outgoing city manager about what he feels his greatest accomplishments have been over the past two decades as the city's chief executive.

Brian Hodgkins, Pharm.D., is the Executive Vice President of Clinical Operations at Desert Oasis Healthcare. He talks with John McMullen and iHub Network News Director Charlie Dyer about the roll-out of the 1C phase of COVID Vaccinations in the Coachella Valley. He sheds light on the latest information about efficacy in preventing infection and spread of the Coronavirus, and what we must do as a community to stay on top of reducing the health threat in our communities.Website:http://www.mydohc.comHotline:(760) 969-6555

Stone James, Economic Development Director for the City of Cathedral City, talks with John McMullen about the victory of attracting Amazon and 152 jobs to a site that has sat vacant for the better part of two decades. It's a big win for Cathedral City, as the recovery from economic blows due to COVID-19 begins. They also talk about how Coachella Valley residents can support another important business and landmark: D'Place Entertainment's Mary Pickford Theatre, which is operating a temporary Drive-In theatre and will be able to reopen with limited capacity soon as Riverside County advances to the Red tier.

The Future Is Ours is a major fundraising event and awards ceremony presented by One Future Coachella Valley and sponsored by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians that will take place on Thursday, March 18, 2021, from 4:30 to 5:30 pm. This year's ceremony is virtual and you can help support the important work of One Future Coachella Valley by purchasing tickets. Unfamiliar with the event and the extraordinary work that OFCV does with schools and businesses in the Valley? Listen as John McMullen talks with OFCV VP Kim McNulty and ACBCI Director of Public Affairs Kate Anderson about the organization, the event, who will be honored, and how you can make a difference on iHub Radio's John McMullen Show.Website:www.onefuturecv.org

Interventionists Ken and Eric McLaughlin-Seeley from Ken Seeley Rehab join John McMullen to talk about drug addiction recovery and how to help a loved one who is caught in the grip of addiction before their life is lost to an overdose. John recognizes the millions of victims on the eve of Black Balloon Day (March 6th), a day of remembrance for those who died from drug addiction and overdose.For more information:www.kenseeleyrehab.com(866) 888-4911

California State Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, who represents the 56th District encompassing the Coachella Valley and the Imperial Valley, talks with John McMullen about the State's COVID-19 Relief programs to help lower income residents and small businesses statewide, as well as steps taken to re-open public schools for in-classroom learning including a $6.6 Billion package to make schools safe. He also addresses concerns over efforts to recall Gov. Newsom and why that's not likely to happen. And, there are reports on how the inequitable distribution of vaccines to guard against further spread of the coronavirus are being dealt with.

The desert is in bloom and it's time for the 14th Annual Coachella Valley Wildflower Festival that is put on by the Friends' of the Desert Mountains. Sponsored by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and the City of Palm Desert, the event which normally would take a single day is being celebrated the entire month of March this year because of COVID pandemic precautions. Learn about the variety of virtual events and how this year's event still encourages people of all ages to get out into nature and participate. Executive Director Tammy Martin shares many of this years highlights and events with John McMullen.Websites:www.desertmountains.org/p2p.onecause.com/cvwf

Laura Meeks. a Transgender woman who is a life coach and activist in the Coachella Valley, joins John McMullen to talk about the importance of passage for the Equality Act in Congress, and its resulting spat by bigoted Right Wing lunatic and Georgia Congressmember Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is being inhospitable and transphobic towards her across-the-hall Democratic colleague from Illinois.

Brian Blueskye, Arts & Culture writer at The Desert Sun shares information about a Palm Springs Black History Tour that visits architecture and churches as part of the local celebration of Black History Month. He talks about the importance of figures like businessman Lawrence Crossley and architect Paul R. Williams. Website: http://www.palmspringsblackhistory.orghttp://www.desertsun.com

John welcomes back Julie Makinen, Executive Editor of The Desert Sun, part of the USA Today Network. She shares details of a new Storyteller's Project from Gannett that will start on Tuesday, March 2, 2021 at 4 pm Pacific Time. It's called "I Am." Hear more about it in this brief conversation.Website: http://www.storytellersproject.com

Laura James from the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership talks with John McMullen about the brightening picture for jobless people in the Coachella Valley and the speed with which the economy has turned around for those whose employment has been on shaky ground since the onset of the pandemic.

The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is the Coachella Valley's most popular permanent attraction. Following measures to reduce public health threats posed by the coronavirus pandemic, the Tram has re-opened and visitors will be able to see 80-plus weeks of facilities enhancements when they visit, although dining services and access to the museum and theatre at the mountain station have not re-opened yet. Greg Purdy, the marketing director joins John McMullen with safety and ticketing protocols and news of the many improvements that have been made.