Janet Wilson

1 month ago | desertsun.com | Janet Wilson

The California desert's newest protected open space has myriad treasures. Here's what to check out. There's a big piece of land, the Chuckwalla National Monument, that was recently preserved as a monument in the California desert, and while officials and groups spar over its future, now is a perfect time to see it — before temperatures soar into the triple digits.

1 month ago | desertsun.com | Janet Wilson

The Coachella Valley Water District will refund past non-farming customers nearly $18 million for fees they paid between March 1, 2018, through June 30, 2022, a spokeswoman said Thursday. The repayments will come as a result of California's Supreme Court 's April 30 decision not to hear the water district's appeal of lower court rulings, which found it had overcharged non-agricultural customers for Colorado River water delivered via the Coachella Canal.

1 month ago | desertsun.com | Janet Wilson

The case could end up in Supreme Court based on its claims of overreach by setting aside so much land. A third-generation gold miner from Michigan and an off-road organization have sued the federal government to overturn the designation of the sweeping Chuckwalla National Monument in the California desert. Departing President Joseph Biden created the 624,000-acre monument on Jan. 15, stretching from south of Joshua Tree National Park east almost to the Colorado River and Arizona border.

1 month ago | desertsun.com | Janet Wilson

Twenty-thousand years ago or so, a wounded male mammoth lay down in ancient California savannah and died. About 30 years old, not fully grown, one of its 15-foot-long tusks had been dealt a mighty thwack, likely by a bigger mammoth in a battle for mating supremacy, and some of its teeth dislodged. Death might not have come quickly.

1 month ago | desertsun.com | Janet Wilson

Coachella Valley Water District is now on the hook to refund more than $17 million to non-farming customers, a sum that could multiply ten-fold. The California Supreme Court on Wednesday denied an appeal of the water district's third-straight loss to the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association over its rate structure, and if it loses appeals of two other losses, the combined refunds could be well over $100 million, the association's attorney said.