Ron's Log

Marmol Radziner Prefab Cut To $1.05 Million

The price of the Desert Hot Springs Marmol Radziner Prefab has been cut to $1.05 million (photos here). If that doesn't fit your housing needs, their Venice Beach prefab is also for sale at $2.795 million.

Bring Us Your Money

Things to entice out-of-towners:

20th anniversary White Party [Warning: piercing music], April 10-13.

Coachella Music Festival with Paul McCartney this year, April 17-19.

Stagecoach Country Music Festival, April 25-26.

Blatino Oasis, May 8-11. Photos by PinkMafiaRadio of Blatino Oasis 2008.

New Restroom At Cabot's

On the agenda for the Desert Hot Springs city council meeting on Tuesday night February 3 is the proposal to award the contract for construction of the new restroom at Cabot's Pueblo Museum to D. Webb, Inc. for $102,354. The site plan can be found on page 139 of the agenda (elevations are on page 138), or you can refer to this copy of it which I've rotated so that north is up, and highlighted the restroom building in yellow.

This is the location Don Sholty warned about at the January 20 city council meeting. As you can see it will block views of the mounains from Cabot's as well as partially block views of Cabot's from the parking lot.

He's Wearing His Flag Lapel Pin

Burning Man Photos You Want To See

From Jorge, our neighbor:

Burning Man 2008.

Burning Man 2008 Art Installations.

Burning Man 2008 Art Vehicles.

Playa People Black Rock City '08.

Intersection Rock From A Kite

Photo by El Kite Pics. This is the well known Intersection Rock in Joshua Tree National Park. In the background is Ryan Mountain. Out of the photo on the right is Hidden Valley.

Brandeis Rose Art Museum

An L.A. Times article about Brandeis University shutting down its Rose Art Museum and selling off its assets. I lived in Boston for 23 years, worked in Waltham for a couple of years. NEVER heard of the Rose Art Museum.

Times Square Not Entirely Disneyfied

The Hotel Carter tops the list of the 10 dirtiest hotels in America. It is of note that the only hotel on that list west of the Mississippi is the Velda Rose Resort in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Here's the Carter's own website. The hotel is at 250 West 43rd Street in Manhattan, just a block away from Times Square.

A N.Y. Times story on the hotel from 2005.

Room 1105 was not so much a room as it was a place to lie low. It took eight paces to walk from one wall to the next and 21 paces to get from the door to the window. The telephone was dead. It sat on an old desk, its drawer broken and placed on the stained carpet, a copy of the Manhattan white pages, 1994-5, among the contents inside. The room was lighted by a bare bulb on the ceiling, and the headboard of the bed was a rectangle of blue carpet nailed to the wall. There was a big moldy splotch on the ceiling above the bathtub.

And a more recent article from the Daily News.

Hotel manager Erwin Lumanglas brushed aside its reputation.

"We are not bothered at all," Lumanglas said. "Even when they tell us we're the dirtiest hotel in the world, people are still interested in coming because of the price and the location."

Here are the reviews at TripAdvisor.

the small mountain of bugs in our room noshing on some previous client's piece of banana in the garbage (yes -- they were red-tinted and appeared to be blood suckers) , the brown-stained bed cover (it looked as if someone with uncontrolled diarhhea had sat on the bed previously) and the rat racing in the hall outside had us thinking we'd need medical attention the next day if we stayed. Please don't stay here.........perhaps if they lack clientele they'll shut down. Honestly, even if my husband and I were homeless, we'd prefer to sleep in Port Authority than here.

Republicans Choose Steele

The Republicans have chosen their first black chairman, Michael Steele. Opponents cited some tepid support from the Log Cabins as a reason not to support him. By a vote of 91-77 Mr. Steele defeated "Katon Dawson, chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, who belonged to a whites-only country club for years."

Arrest Assisted By Criminal Stupidity

CITY OF DESERT HOT SPRINGS POLICE DEPARTMENT

PRESS RELEASE - UPDATE

ORIGINAL INCIDENT: PC 215 – CARJACKING / PC 245 – Assault w/ Deadly Weapon

DATE: 01-23-09 DAY: FRIDAY / TIME: 2234 HRS.

LOCATION: 13200 PALM DRIVE

DESCRIPTION OF INCIDENT:

On Monday, 01/26/09, at approx. 2251 hrs, the vehicle (a 2007 silver Chevy Silverado) stolen during the listed carjacking was stopped by a Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff in the Compton area. The subject driving the vehicle was taken into custody without incident. Through follow-up investigation it was subsequently determined that the driver of the vehicle was in fact the carjacking suspect.

The suspect is identified as 19-year old Dennis Cruz, from Los Angeles. Cruz's photograph is attached below.

The Desert Hot Springs Police Department would like to remind our citizens to report any suspicious activity immediately by calling "911" or calling our business line at (760) 329-2904.

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Any questions regarding this press release should be directed to the Desert Hot Springs Police Department. Anyone with any information regarding this crime should also contact the Desert Hot Springs Police Department and ask to speak with Detective Sergeant Gil or Detective Weigle.
Dispatch Tel: (760) 329-2904

This carjacker, rather than getting away in the stolen car and then ditching it, thought it would be nice to keep it and drive around Los Angeles, his hometown. Thanks, Mr. Cruz, for making it easier for the cops.