Photo: Matthew Carlstroem
East CA
When people divide California into regions, they generally choose to split the state into North and South. But Los Angeles and Sacramento have more in common than either does with Barstow. In East CA, Chris Clarke looks at life, people, and the landscape to the east of the spine of mountains that runs up the middle of the state; a land that might share more with Nevada, Arizona, or Northern Mexico than it does with the California Coast.
East CA:
Having your ability to breathe deemed less important than the right of urbanites to keep and bear obsolete green lawns does something to your self-esteem.
East CA:
Imperial County is the California desert's toxic capital, with places like the east Coachella Valley and a few other spots not far behind.
East CA:
The Colorado River will outlive us all. What's endangered are the communities, human and non-human, who depend on it.
East CA:
Take off your Google Glass before you come near me. I mean it. And I'm not the only one.
East CA:
I've often noticed that many environmentally inclined people dislike deserts. Sometimes it's as benign as a matter of personal preference for where to spend outdoor time. Sometimes it's an actual dismissal of the land's value. Allan Savory takes it even further: he wants to eradicate deserts just because they exist.
East CA:
Forthcoming film "Who Are My People?" is not just a one-hour exploration of conflicts between Native people anxious to defend their culture and the rush to develop the desert for utility-scale solar power, it's also a profoundly personal statement about how we live in the Californian landscape.
East CA:
In October, I criticized plans to widen a road in Joshua Tree National Park. Not long after, the park's superintendent persuaded me that I might need to reconsider my position. And he did so with one sentence.
East CA:
I have walked the desert with other people and without other people, but I have never walked the desert by myself.
East CA:
The desert is defined by its lack of rain. Ironic, then, that it's during rainstorms that the desert most truly expresses its nature.
Commentary:
For 21 years, the 134-foot-tall thermometer in the center of Baker, California has provided a landmark for people traveling on Interstate 15. That will likely remain the case for some time, though whether the thermometer remains lit depends in part on who volunteers to pay the electric bill.
Commentary:
2012 was a year of change for the California Desert, as human society elsewhere increasingly closed its grip on the desert as a place to sacrifice for our comfort. But in a couple of ways, the desert struck back.
Commentary:
The Interior Department says Southern California can expect to get a lot less water out of the Colorado River in the next 50 years.
Weather:
It looks like the large rainstorm now bearing down on Southern California may skip the desert, or at least most of the desert.
Arts & Culture:
The Bureau of Land Management has offered a reward for information leading to the apprehension of those responsible for a bout of archaeological vandalism near Bishop that has angered fans of rock art worldwide.
Government:
San Bernardino County voters ended what is likely one of the state's most colorful political eras by ousting incumbent District 3 Supervisor Neil Derry, a Republican, in favor of Democrat James Ramos, former chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.
Government:
California's desert has voted, with turnout running around 50%, and the results of each Congressional race will likely surprise no one - but it looks as though the region may have shifted ever so slightly toward the liberal end of the spectrum.
Government:
Friday's debate between contenders for California's 36th Congressional District's seat got ugly fast.
Government:
Mary Bono Mack's campaign's attempt to cast Democratic challenger Raul Ruiz as a wild-eyed leftist seems to be fizzling.
Government:
The political stands taken by candidates in the Third District supervisor's race in San Bernardino are hard to unravel -- sometimes even if you ask the candidates directly.
Commentary:
Donald Trump calls the San Gorgonio Pass windmills "like a sad person's version of Disneyland."
SoCal Focus is a daily blog about the people, places and issues in and around Southern California.
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