Rains May Unlock An Enduring Mojave Mystery
A Joshua tree flower cluster | Photo:
“It’s make or break time. If we don’t get any rain in the desert between now and March, it’s not gonna happen. But if enough precipitation leaks over the mountains to give the Mojave Desert a few good showers or a blanket of snow, then we might just see one of the desert’s least-understood phenomena take place, as Joshua trees work to create a new generation of themselves.
Don’t get me wrong: we understand the basics quite well. In years where the Joshua trees have gotten enough winter water and a good freeze, some of the leaf buds at the ends of those ungainly branches will turn into flower buds. Between late February and April, those flower buds will open into big, tight clusters of cream-colored flowers.
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San Andreas Fault marker
“Inscription. One of the most outstanding geological feautures in California, extending for over 650 miles from Point Arena, North of San Francisco, to south of San Corconio Pass. Between twenty and thirty miles deep and more than a mile wide in some locations. The faulted sandstone and shale, contorted and sheared may be seen by looking northward from this point, where the Antelope Valley Freeway cuts through the upthrusted ridge to the north. This fault is responisble for two of the greatest earthquakes in California history. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1957 Fort Tejon earthquake. The giant shear was named in 1892 by the noted geologist, Andrew Lawson.” (Read article Historical Marker Database)
City of Lancaster reaches new milestone for U.S.-China business relastions
A former RV factory on the western edge of the Mojave Desert proved the perhaps unlikely location Monday to celebrate a local victory in the battle for foreign investment and job creation.
“It’s a small beginning, a few buses,” said California Gov. Jerry Brown. “But like many things, it holds the promise of something very big.”
An American subsidiary of the Chinese BYD company showed off two completed battery powered buses, assembled in the Lancaster plant that opened last fall.
Visitors given a tour inside saw two more buses nearing completition, the chassis of a third. The re-opened plant marks the first time a Chinese company has established a vehicle factory on U.S. soil, officials said. The current work force of 60 is projected to grow to 200 by the end of next year, said Stella Li, the chief executive officer of BYD Motors.
BTW, BYD says the initials stand for “Build Your Dreams.” The company first made its mark developing and producing batteries for cellphones, and believes its batteries give it an edge over other E-bus manufacturers. (Read article via NBC Los Angeles)
Palmdale Color Vibe | Jan 24, 2015
[Photo: Copyright 2015 by Melinda Rodriguez. All Rights Reserved.]
“Get ready Palmdale for the most colorful fun-filled day of your life! You’ll have more color on you than your happy levels can handle! So get your friends and family stretched out for this amazing color blast event where you’ll get blasted with color while you run the Color Vibe 5K. Color Vibe is here, and you’re about to get tagged!
You’ll be blasted at every color station throughout this awesome 5K run. Sign up fast, because spots are filling quickly and we have a limited number of shirts available. So grab your girlfriends, your bro’s, your friends, and your family cause we’re bringing a color fun experience to your life that you never knew existed! So join us for the Color Vibe 5K run in your city and get ready to be tagged with color!” (via Color Vibe)
Deputies Discover Secret White Supremacist Bunker, Shooting Range, in California
“Three men were arrested earlier this week after Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies uncovered a secret bunker hidden under a house that was filled with guns, ammunition and white supremacist paraphernalia in Littlerock, Calif., about 65 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
Inside the soundproof underground bunker, investigators found a 25-yard shooting range, six pistols, 11 rifles, a World War II-era machine gun, more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, over 100 magazines (some high-capacity), Nazi flags and pictures of at least one of the men posing in Nazi attire. Some of the weapons, like the machine gun, were illegal, and others were stolen, authorities said.
“It’s not something that anybody we’ve ever worked with has seen in their careers in law enforcement,” Sheriff’s Det. Julia Vezina told an NBC affiliate in Los Angeles. “When you open up the hatch, you look down and about 10 feet down, all concrete reinforced walls, soundproof with bars.” (Read more via SPL Center)
Artist Warren Scherich buries clay sculptures to communicate across time
Clay sculptures communicate across time – Warren Scherich by Avmedia on Mixcloud
NAACP (AV) Freedom Fund banquet
Glynn Turman to appear at the AV NAACP Freedom Fund banquet at University of Antelope Valley.
“New York City-born African-American actor Glynn Turman enjoyed his first real taste of acting success at the age of 13 originating the role of Travis Younger on Broadway in Lorraine Hansberry’s landmark play “A Raisin in the Sun” in 1959 opposite Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil and Diana Sands as his various family members. While he did not play the role when it transferred to film in 1961, he intensified his studies at the renown High School of Performing Arts in New York. Upon graduation he apprenticed in regional and repertory companies throughout the country including Tyrone Guthrie’s Repertory Theatre in which he performed in late 60s productions of “Good Boys,” “Harper’s Ferry,” “The Visit” and “The House of Atreus.” He made his Los Angeles stage debut in Vinnette Carroll’s “Slow Dance on the Killing Ground.” An impressive 1974 performance in “The Wine Sellers” earned him a Los Angeles Critics Award nomination and a Dramalogue Award. The play was also produced on Broadway as “What The Wine Sellers Buy.” He won his first NAACP Image Award for his work in the play “Eyes of the American.
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Save Los Angeles County Raceway
“Norm Hickling’s words last week landed like a salve, rather than salt, on the still-open eastside wound that is the former Los Angeles County Raceway.
Hickling, the Valley field representative for Fifth District Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, told the Valley Press last Friday that Antonovich sees economic development in Lake Los Angeles and a new Valley motorsports complex as mutually beneficial priorities.
Hickling’s disclosure that a successor to LACR has already been discussed in the County’s regional planning department was welcome news to Jeff Hillinger, the graphic artist and movie industry computer generation consultant who has been spearheading efforts to replace the famed dragstrip that was closed by Granite Construction mining efforts last July 29.
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THE COSO ROCK ART COMPLEX
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(Photo: Petroglyphs U.S.)
“Coso Range rock art has been a central part of the shamanism debate since the 1980s. It has played a prominent role in attempts to understand prehistoric forager iconography (Garfinkel 2006; Gilreath and Hildebrandt 2008; Hildebrandt and McGuire 2002; Keyser and Whitley 2006; McGuire and Hildebrandt 2005; Pearson 2002; Whitley 2005). Many researchers have taken Coso to be a classic test case and proven reference point supporting the shamanistic perspective on rock art (e.g., Hedges 2001; Lewis-Williams and Dowson 1988, 1989; Whitley 1988a, 1988b, 1992, 1994a, 1994b, 1996). Interpretations of Coso rock art, like other interpretations of archeological elements, ultimately depend on analogy to relevant ethnographically-recorded human behavior – rather than purely ‘endogenous’ explicatory evidence. Thus the ethnographic contexts of shamanism, the recognition of supernatural beings, and the nature of hunting supernaturalism are all keys to this debate.
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Jacob Nelson (bio)
“‘He’s a tremendous talent who deserves to be seen. My family and I have been in Country music since I was 10 years old. When I see talent like Jacob, it’s only right to help him out like I was helped. He is a legitimate Country talent, plus, his politeness strikes you – He respects people and he respects who he is.’ (Don Jesser, Professional PRCA Rodeo Announcer, Antelope Valley Press).
Jacob is now 21 years old and has just completed his Junior year at Arizona State University where he is majoring in Aeronautical Management Technology, with a concentration in Professional Flight. Jacob is a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI, CFII, MEI) and has has earned his Commercial Pilot certificate with Instrument Privileges and High-Performance Complex Endorsements.
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