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Wednesday, Feb. 18 | 🌤️ 56°/41°
Welcome to Wednesday! If you’ve been around a while, you’ve likely seen the Witch of Tahquitz — a broom-riding shadow cast across Tahquitz Canyon — spotted again yesterday by Police Chief Andy Mills, who sent this picture. The canyon has a fascinating history: According to Cahuilla lore, Tahquitz was a powerful shaman who was banished after turning harmful and whose spirit is said to live on in the canyon as rumblings, rockfalls, and a green fireball. Today, the canyon is best known for a beautiful hike to a 60-foot waterfall that should be roaring with this week’s rain, even if clouds hide the witch.
🎶 Setting the mood: "Can’t Get You Out Of My Head" by Kylie Minogue
Leading Off
The city moved away from a compliance-by-education model and toward more assertive enforcement of a gas-powered leaf blower ban at the start of 2024
Palm Springs shifts leaf blower enforcement strategy, sees results
A city code compliance official told the Sustainability Commission Tuesday that a strategic shift in enforcing the gas-powered leaf blower ban has produced more citations and fewer repeat violations since taking effect in 2024.
Driving the news: Mitch Nabhan, code compliance supervisor for the city's Department of Special Program Services, presented three years of enforcement data showing the department moved away from education-based outreach toward more assertive enforcement at the start of 2024.
Total complaints increased about 7% from 2023 to 2024, and another 15% from 2024 to 2025, while citations jumped sharply from 28 issued in 2023.
The shift: A key element of the new strategy was redirecting enforcement away from landscaping workers and toward property owners, who are legally responsible under the city's municipal code for violations that occur on their property regardless of who committed them.
The earlier approach of citing landscaping companies had run into obstacles including workers without identification, language barriers, and companies operating across multiple cities throughout the day.
By the numbers: Of approximately 522 code cases opened in 2024 and 2025 combined, 258 were proactive enforcement actions and 264 were complaint-based.
Gas-powered leaf blowers are consistently the top reported concern the city receives every month.
What's next: The department is exploring a citywide mailer to boost awareness of the ordinance, which took effect in 2019.
The city also offers grants of up to $750 to help landscaping companies purchase commercial-grade electric leaf blowers.
Briefly
The entry to Palm Springs International Airport. (File photo)
🛂 New biometric eGates now open at Palm Springs airport
Travelers passing through Palm Springs International Airport will notice new technology at the security checkpoint — biometric eGates from CLEAR that debuted Tuesday and can verify a traveler's identity in under five seconds.
The eGates allow CLEAR+ members to bypass the TSA podium and proceed directly to physical screening. Palm Springs is the fifth California airport to deploy the technology, following similar rollouts at San Francisco, Long Beach, Sacramento and Oakland, and is part of a network of more than 35 airports nationwide.
Details: The gates work by matching a traveler's facial image with their identity document and boarding pass. TSA retains full operational control over gate access and security vetting. The rollout is part of a public-private partnership between CLEAR and the TSA launched in August 2025, at no cost to taxpayers.
A MESSAGE FROM CV REPERTORY THEATRE
Come experience some of Damon Runyon's most notorious characters brought to life on stage in CVRep’s Guys and Dolls. Now extended due to popular demand. February 25 – Mar 22. This will be a version of this oddball romantic comedy like you have never seen it before.
📆 Featured Events
Modernism Week
All day | Various Locations
Modernism Week continues, celebrating and fostering midcentury and modern architecture, interior and landscape design, and historic preservation. Events are happening across Palm Springs.
Sunshine Sisters Breakfast
8 a.m. | Rick’s Restaurant
Start the day with other Palm Springs Sunshine Sisters with breakfast and conversation.
Chinese Mah Jong Open Play
2 p.m. | Mizell Center
Practice your skills and play with others. This is a FREE library program; you do not have to be a member of Mizell Center to attend.
Administrative Appeals Board
2 p.m. | City Hall
The Board was established to hear appeals on actions taken by an administrative officer or administrative agency of the city relating to ministerial enforcement of the provisions of the Municipal Code.
ORANGERIE Fine Art Gallery Debut
3 p.m. | ORANGERIE Fine Art
The exhibition is anchored by co-featured artists Rex Ray (1956–2015, Estate) and Jack Early, and situates historical abstraction, postwar material practice, and contemporary image-making within a carefully structured gallery environment.
Airport Commission
4 p.m. | Airport Conference Room
The meetings are open to the public and airport parking is validated for all attendees.
Desert Regional Cardiology Center Ribbon Cutting
4 p.m. | Desert Regional Medical Center
The Desert Regional Cardiology Center is an outpatient clinic dedicated to expanding access to advanced heart care for the Coachella Valley community.
Architectural Review Committee (ARC)
5:30 p.m. | City Hall
The ARC reviews and makes recommendations on building and landscape design to the Planning Commission, City Council and city staff.
Wicked: For Good Sing Along
7 p.m. | Quadz Video Bar
It’s another Wednesday night at the Movies at Quadz featuring the sing-along version of Wicked: For Good
📌 Save the Date
Palm Springs International Jazz Festival from Thursday through Sunday
Wag & Shag benefiting Palm Springs Animal Shelter on Friday
An evening with Father Jim Martin at The Church of St. Paul in The Desert on Sunday
Tramview Heights Specific Plan community workshop on Feb. 23 from 5:30-7 p.m.
Fire Station 1 open house on Feb. 23 from 4-6 p.m.
Fraud Prevention Seminar at PSPD on Feb. 24
Palm Springs Pathfinders "Rock the Yacht" annual gala on Feb. 28
Richard M. Milanovich Legacy Hike & 5K Run on March 7
Fantasy Prom hosted by Desert Sparkles Fund on March 7
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🚠 And Finally …
You may not be a bus rider, but SunLine Transit Agency still needs your input. (File photo)
SunLine Transit Agency is asking Coachella Valley residents to help reimagine how public transit works in the desert — and it doesn't matter whether you've ever stepped on a bus.
Driving the news: The agency has launched "SunLine Rides Reimagined," a comprehensive review of its routes and services, with a public survey open through the end of February.
The effort is notable for explicitly targeting non-riders: Officials are encouraging them to explain why they don't take the bus and what might change that.
Why it matters: SunLine serves a 1,100-square-mile service area, carrying about 3 million riders annually — the majority of them students — on a $50 million budget. What comes out of this review could reshape how the valley moves.
What's next: From public feedback, the agency will develop two service scenarios — one focused on denser areas with more housing and jobs, the other prioritizing broader geographic coverage.
Both will go before the SunLine board and the public before a final recommendation, expected by the end of 2026.
How to participate: The survey is available in English and Spanish. Paper versions are being distributed at bus stops, senior centers, and community events.
Residents can find more information and access the survey at sunline.org/rides-reimagined.
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In Case You Missed It
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🤫 Kendall forgot about Mardi Gras yesterday, so she’ll probably just eat King Cake and Pączki today instead.
🎓 Mark always gets energized when speaking to students and was particularly jazzed after presenting on AI and the news business to students at the Annenberg School of Journalism at USC on Tuesday.
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