Source: PBS SoCal

Congratulations to Borrego Village Association (BVA) on being named a 2026 Career Pathways grantee. This funding will help local high school students gain hands-on training, internships, certifications, and real-world experience at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Read below to learn more about this exciting opportunity for Borrego Springs. California State Parks and Parks California Award $2.4M in Career Pathways Grants to Prepare Next Generation of Park Leaders: Funding supports 13 organizations to provide paid training and expand access to careers in parks and public lands For Immediate Release: SACRAMENTO — California State Parks and nonprofit partner Parks California today announced the award of more than $2.4 million to 13 community and tribal organizations across the state as part of the Career Pathways grants program. The funding will support paid training opportunities expected to prepare approximately 380 participants for careers in parks and public lands and includes seven returning grantees and six new partners. Career Pathways enables statewide training that helps early-career adults and people exploring new directions to see parks as part of their future. The 13 grant recipients will work collaboratively with State Parks, with support from Parks California, to offer experiences and training in park operations and stewardship, such as wildfire resilience projects, trail building, habitat restoration and visitor services. Through hands-on learning, mentorship and career guidance, Career Pathways equips participants with the skills, experience and professional networks needed to pursue meaningful careers in public lands. “Our joint efforts to expand access to the outdoors is doing more than just reducing barriers for visitors – it’s also creating pathways to grow a skilled and diverse workforce of the next generation of stewards,” said California State Parks Director Armando Quintero . “These grants help plant the seed that will blossom into deeply rooted careers caring for California’s parks and public lands.” Grant funding is supported in part by State Parks’ Waterway Connections Initiative – part of the California Natural Resources Agency’s Outdoors for All Initiative – which focuses on expanding access to rivers, lakes and other inland waterways, including through workforce development. The Career Pathways grants program will provide approximately $5 million through 2029 to support the planning, development and implementation of workforce training programs statewide. “Careers in parks and public lands should be visible and accessible to everyone, not just those who already have a connection to these spaces,” said Kindley Walsh Lawlor, president and CEO of Parks California . “Career Pathways opens doors by creating real opportunities for people to gain experience and build necessary skills. By investing in community and tribal partners, we’re helping ensure future park leaders reflect the diversity of California.” “Expanding access to the outdoors also means expanding access to the careers that care for these places,” said California Secretary for Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot . “Programs like Career Pathways help connect Californians – especially those from underserved communities – to real opportunities to care for public lands, building a workforce that reflects our entire state and is prepared to meet California’s climate and conservation goals.” In addition to providing hands-on experiences, Career Pathways grantees also connect participants to job networks and provide career advice and additional resources, such as equipment, wages, meals and travel reimbursement. 2026 Career Pathways Grantees include: Lomakatsi Restoration Project – Northeastern California – Planning and Development grantee: Works with the Ajumawi Band of the Pit River Tribe and State Parks to develop a tribal workforce training program and restoration plan at Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park, focused on reducing wildfire risk, improving ecological health, enhancing First Foods and other cultural resources, and creating career pathways for tribal young adults. Foundation for California Community Colleges – Statewide – Planning and Development grantee: Works with community colleges and State Parks to create training and internship opportunities that help build pathways to careers in interpretation, education, facilities and maintenance. Borrego Village Association – Inland Empire – Implementation grantee: Provides high school students with hands-on training and internships at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, including field-based learning, park operations experience and industry-recognized certifications. Eastern Sierra Conservation Corps – Eastern Sierra – Implementation grantee: Offers a paid apprenticeship for corpsmembers to work alongside State Parks trail crews on large-scale projects, building leadership skills and hands-on experience to prepare for careers in park operations and conservation. --------------------- “The program allows us to provide an innovative initiative that prepares students and helps them gain the skills needed for careers with California State Parks, as well as in hospitality, public service and environmental interpretation,” said Jim Dion, executive director of Borrego Village Association . “Students in isolated communities such as ours often face limited access to career exploration opportunities, professional certifications and paid work-based learning. With this support, we can address these gaps by providing structured pathways into local and regional employment, particularly in public lands management, tourism and community-based organizations.” -------------------- “The funding from Parks California allows us to design an innovative pilot program to connect California State Parks with nearby California Community Colleges," said Courtney Cagle, workforce development manager at the Foundation for California Community Colleges. “With this support, we can build a robust pipeline of well-trained students to fill needed roles in education and interpretation, and facilities and maintenance at State Parks, while providing them the support to access sustainable and meaningful career pathways.”” A complete list of 2026 Career Pathways grants recipients is available online . Organizations have worked in partnership with selected state parks to implement multi-month training programs that provide participants with on-the-ground experiences. Results Snapshot 2024 Career Pathways grants program by the numbers: $1.7 million-plus invested in local partners. 15 grantees statewide. Approximately 250 participants. 93 percent of participants expressed interest in future parks careers. “I look at this program as a second chance for me and for other people who may not have the same opportunities as others, like getting a high school diploma,” said Julian Garcia, a 2024 Career Pathways participant with grantee Greater Valley Conservation Corps . “I get a lot of hands-on training with a lot of equipment that we run on projects and work sites. This program is really going to help me get to where I need to be in life.” Contact: California State Parks Newsroom@parks.ca.gov Parks California Media@parkscalifornia.org

Source: San Diego History Center

A Memorial Day Service will be held on Monday, May 25, 2026, at 11 a.m. at Christmas Circle in Borrego Springs to honor and remember U.S. military personnel who died in service to the country. The event is organized by American Legion Post 853 along with affiliated organizations and serves as a time for the community to gather in remembrance and reflection. Following the ceremony, Legion Post 853 will host a complimentary hamburger lunch. The service will take place at: 4515 Borrego Springs Road Borrego Springs, CA 92004 Memorial Day ceremonies in Borrego Springs have long provided residents and visitors an opportunity to pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice while also connecting with the local veteran community.

By Dennis Mammana Week of May 24-30, 2026 When you hear the phrase "once in a blue moon," what do you think? If you're like most people, you think of something that doesn't happen often. So what exactly is a blue moon, and why is it so rare? First off, a blue moon isn't all that rare. It occurs on average about once every 2.72 years. Secondly, the moon doesn't appear blue at all; it's just a regular ol' full moon that happens to be the second one in any particular month. You know this phenomenon if you receive a paycheck every two weeks. You'll usually get two checks a month, but occasionally you'll receive a third. It's not that uncommon, and neither is a blue moon, despite the popular meaning of the term. A second full moon in a month occurs occasionally because our calendar isn't synced with the lunar phases, even though the word "month" derives from the word "moon". What we call a month — approximately one-twelfth of a year — is longer than the moon's "synodic" period — the average time between one full moon and the next (29.53059 days). So every once in a while — every blue moon, one might say — two full moons will occur during the same calendar month. We'll see the next one on Saturday night, May 30. Be sure to watch as the moon rises in the southeast just after sunset that night. Chances are that it will first appear rather orange or red because its light must pass through a long column of air on its way to our eyes, and normal particulate matter suspended in the air scatters the moon's light and colors it orange. Some have defined the blue moon differently. Most seasons of the year will experience three full moons, but occasionally a fourth will sneak in. In that case, the fourth of the season would be known as a "blue moon." This seasonal definition may have originated from a 1943 question-and-answer column in Sky and Telescope magazine in which Laurence J. Lafleur traced the term to a 1937 "Maine Farmers' Almanac." Three years later, it seems, folklorist Philip Hiscock wrote in the same magazine an article that gave birth to the "second full moon in a month" idea. Neither of these situations is particularly unusual, so where did the rarity idea originate? Occasionally, especially thick smoke or volcanic ash particles suspended in our atmosphere can remove enough red moonlight to make the moon appear bluish. It is said that, after the Krakatoa volcanic eruption in 1883, the moon appeared blue for more than a year. As you might imagine, this is extremely rare. In fact, one might say that it happens ... only once in a blue moon! Now there's one more thing about the full moon that we'll see this coming weekend. It reaches its orbital "apogee" at 4:45 a.m. EDT / 1:45 a.m. PDT, its farthest point from the Earth (about 250,517 miles away). This means that it will appear as the smallest full moon of this year. You might hear it called a blue "mini moon," though most stargazers won't be able to see much difference from a normal full moon. Visit Dennis Mammana at dennismammana.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com. Learn More About Borrego Springs

Speculative Fiction Grounded in Science Salton Sea Tales, a novel by Gabriel Wisdom A New Novel Rooted in Science and Imagination Author and broadcaster Gabriel Wisdom explores a timely environmental and geological premise in his latest novel, Salton Sea Tales. The book merges speculative storytelling with scientific research, weaving fact-based creative non-fiction into a “what if” scenario inspired by real evidence. From the Author Salton Sea Tales is a fast-paced adventure story which combines both the ‘what if’ elements of speculative fiction with more fact-based creative non-fiction, based upon verifiable geological evidence. An inland desert sea is drying up, causing an unlikely group of outlaws, stakeholders, and secretive Native Americans to join forces. The story imagines what would happen if geothermal and lithium mining operations at California’s Salton Sea were to accidentally set off the San Andreas Fault, which spans the 330 square mile lake perimeter. Half of the world’s lakes are less resilient to disturbance than they used to be (Advancing Earth and Space Sciences, 2024), impacting an estimated one in three people. Salton Sea Tales is a plot-driven fictional adventure based in part upon real events with a wildly plausible ending that hasn’t happened… yet. ALL PROCEEDS BENEFIT THE RAM MEDIA FOUNDATION Salton Sea Tales Giving Back Salton Sea Tales is a creative, story-driven look at California’s inland sea. Net proceeds from all sales—paperback, Kindle, and Audible—are donated to Ram Media Foundation, supporting awareness of the ecological crisis at the Salton Sea. 

By: Sally Walsh At the center of our Borrego community are deep bonds to art. This has been a high performing arts season generating a strong sense of community pride and social connection through art. A successful art season boosts local businesses, benefits dining and hospitality, encourages philanthropy also supports tourism. Collectively our Borrego galleries have presented an excellent, engaging season of well attended shows. Highlighted by the 20th Anniversary Borrego Springs Plein Air Invitational. An astonishing show not only for the enormous attendance it generated and successful sales, but the breath taking quality of the artwork. Congratulations to the BAI team maintaining a high level of public engagement through the season.

Dedicated to Expanding Local Journalism and Digital Community Media FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BORREGO SPRINGS, Calif. — Ram Media Foundation, a federally recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused on strengthening community through media, has acquired the historic Borrego Sun , reinforcing its commitment to local journalism, public media access, and community storytelling in Borrego Springs and surrounding desert communities. Founded in 1949, the Borrego Sun has served as a local source of news for more than 75 years. Acquired in 1954 by Copley Press, the newspaper became part of San Diego’s broader media landscape while maintaining its strong local identity. Patrick Meehan purchased the Borrego Sun from Copley Press in 2016 and operated the newspaper until its acquisition by Ram Media Foundation. The newspaper’s legacy is also reflected in the Borrego Sun archives spanning from 1949 to the present, which were acquired by the San Diego History Center in February 2025 to help preserve the historical record of Borrego Springs and surrounding desert communities. “Local media plays a critical role in keeping communities connected and informed,” said Gabriel Wisdom of American Money Management, LLC. “We are honored to continue the legacy of Borrego Sun while expanding its reach through modern digital platforms that serve residents, visitors, and the greater desert region.” Wisdom, a general aviation pilot, and his wife Diana built an octagon-shaped vacation home adjacent to Borrego Valley Airport. Known locally as the “Borrego Pilot House,” the distinctive residence resembles a four-bladed propeller from the air and has become a recognizable visual landmark for pilots and aviation enthusiasts flying through or to the Borrego Valley. “Years ago, I read an article in the Borrego Sun explaining that Borrego Springs needed someone willing to build a non-commercial FM radio station licensed specifically to serve the community,” Wisdom said. “That idea eventually inspired the creation of KRAM 90.5 FM. It took nearly three years, numerous FCC engineering studies, environmental reviews, and considerable persistence, but today Ram Media Foundation owns and operates K-RAM 90.5, bringing KPBS Public Media to San Diego County’s isolated desert community.” “Preserving the historic Borrego Sun , expanding local journalism through modern digital platforms, and creating media and journalism apprenticeships for Borrego youth naturally aligns with the Ram Media Foundation’s initiatives of strengthening community through media, education, and public access to information,” Wisdom added. Digital media publisher Andrea McKenna, a full-time Borrego Springs resident, serves as Executive Director of Ram Media Foundation. Her online service, GoToBorregoSprings.com, has joined the Foundation’s media network as a companion community platform focused on events, culture, tourism, social media, and community information. Together, the platforms are expanding online access to local news, features, events, social media, and community information 24 hours a day. About Ram Media Foundation Ram Media Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to strengthening community through journalism, storytelling, public media access, education, social media, and creative communication. The Borrego Sun, GoToBorregoSprings.com and KRAM 90.5 FM are located at 730 Christmas Circle, Borrego Springs. Media Contact Andrea McKenna Executive Director 619-892-0393 Ram Media Foundation Andrea@rammediafoundation.org RamMedi a Foundation.org BorregoSun.com 

The desert nation built on joy and imagination.