Full Schedule: 2026 San Diego Dark Sky Festival in Julian

A Free Path to a High School Diploma

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Complimentary Tram Admission in August for Qualifying First Responders

Longtime Borrego Springs resident remembered for her photography, artistic leadership, and community service.

F-35B Fighter Jet Crash in Ocotillo Wells SVRA On July 29, 2021 , a U.S. Marine Corps F-35B fighter jet crashed in Ocotillo Wells SVRA near Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California . The crash caused a small brush fire and led to the temporary evacuation of campers in the area as a precautionary measure. Fortunately, the pilot was able to eject safely and was rescued by a search and rescue team, later being released from the hospital after evaluation. The aircraft was part of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and was on a routine training mission when the crash occurred. The incident involved the F-35B making contact with a KC-130J tanker during an air-to-air refueling exercise, which led to the crash. The U.S. Marine Corps launched a safety investigation to determine the exact cause of the crash. Though the brush fire caused by the crash was quickly contained, the crash site was closed for some time before reopening to the public.

Award-Winning Cellist Ruslan Biryukov Performs Two Concerts in Julian

By Dennis Mammana Week of Aug 2-8, 2026  One of the most profound experiences a stargazer can have is to stand under the Milky Way on a clear August night far from city lights and see the wispy bunches of stars so tightly packed that they appear to the eye as a hazy band of light punctuated not only by bright individual stars but by tiny regions that appear as hazy clumps. Aim binoculars or a small telescope toward these "faint fuzzies," as astronomers affectionately call them, and you'll walk the same celestial path as Charles Messier did two and a half centuries ago. Messier was an 18th-century French astronomer who scanned the heavens in search of new comets, hoping that such discoveries would lead him to fame and fortune. He knew that comets often first appear as faint and colorless smudges of light that drift slowly among the stars, so that's what he was seeking. Along the way, however, he encountered dozens of such smudges that did not move. What these were he didn't know and, quite frankly, he didn't care. They weren't comets, so to avoid wasting more of his time on them — and to prevent other comet hunters from being similarly fooled — he began to compile a list of all these false comets he encountered on his nightly watch. 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 .

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