LASAGNA DINNER
• Upcoming top-choice Johnson Valley dinner – delicious Lasagna with sides of green salad and cheesy garlic bread, plus dessert cupcakes!
On Saturday, September 3, doors open at 5:30 at the Community Center. Dinner is served at 6:00 p.m.
Admission is only 10.00 per person; kids 10 years and younger, 5.00.
You are always welcome to stay afterward for local news and announcements and the General Meeting. You are not required to be a JVIA member to participate, though we always appreciate new members. Our 2023 Early Membership Campaign begins in September!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
NEW BREAKFAST HOURS
• In case you missed it: The JVIA Board has voted to delay our Saturday Breakfast times by 1/2 hour: Now serving from 7:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. No changes in the menu!
You will still find favorites invented during the Lockdown To-Go days:
-The 2-Egg Omelette, 8.00. 3-Egg, 9.00
-The 2-Egg Breakfast Burrito 8.00 3-Egg, 9.00
The long-time favorites on the Breakfast Menu include:
1. The Large Breakfast Plate, 8.00. Take your choice of Hash Browns with a Biscuit, Pancakes, Biscuits & Gravy, or French Toast. (Each entrée comes with two eggs cooked any way, plus your choice of bacon, ham, or sausage).
2. The Small Breakfast Plate gives you the same menu choices, with smaller servings, for only 6.00.
Remember, you also get the never-empty coffee cup, included!
Order to-go if you wish, or come on into the Community Center and socialize with friends and neighbors.
To order to-go, or call in a pre-order, dial 760-792-4555 (if busy, please call back).
Cash, check, or credit card accepted.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
DUMONT DUNES ROAD
• A popular dune-running destination for off-roaders practicing in Johnson Valley is getting improved access: The Bureau of Land Management and the Federal Highway Administration’s Federal Lands Division were scheduled to begin road improvements to Dumont Dunes Road on August 15, which they expect will take up to three months.
The Dumont Dunes OHV Recreation area will still be accessible. Just be aware of the road construction and possible delays if you plan a visit to these iconic dunes anytime soon.
We have not heard if this area suffered any major monsoon damage.
The road improvements are part of the Federal Highway Administration’s transportation improvement program.
For a map and a brochure, log onto https://www.blm.gov/visit/dumont-dunes-ohv-area
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
HAMMER STRIKES
• Between August 1st and August 14th, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Marijuana Enforcement Team (MET), along with deputies from several Patrol Stations, served 28 search warrants in Lucerne Valley, Hinkley, Phelan, El Mirage, Newberry Springs, Hesperia, and Yucaipa.
They arrested 28 suspects. Investigators seized 47,627 marijuana plants, 7,295.8 pounds of processed marijuana, eight guns, 206 grams of concentrated marijuana, 170 grams of methamphetamine, and over $57,000 in cash, and eradicated 728 greenhouses as well as seven indoor growing locations. Investigators mitigated one THC extraction lab and two electrical bypasses and recovered three stolen vehicles.
Property owners who grow marijuana, or are aware their tenants are growing marijuana on their properties in violation of state law and local ordinances, may also be subject to civil or criminal sanctions.
Last week’s suspects were cited or booked on charges of Cultivation of Cannabis, over six plants, Possession for Sales of Marijuana, Possession of Stolen Property, Illegal Water Discharge, Manufacturing a Controlled Substance, and Conspiracy.
If you have information regarding this investigation, please report it to the Sheriff’s Gangs/Narcotics Division at (909)387-8400 or NARC-MET@sbcsd.org.
If you wish to remain anonymous, call the We-tip Hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME (27463), or leave the information on the We-Tip Hotline at www.wetip.com.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
LOCAL ROAD SAFETY PLAN!
• The Homestead Valley Community Council (HVCC) is made up of representatives from the community associations in Landers, Johnson Valley, Yucca Mesa, and Flamingo Heights. These unincorporated communities located along Hwy 247 lie in the area mapped in the San Bernardino Countywide Plan as the Homestead Valley.
HVCC, through public comments at the monthly meetings, as well as our long-running campaign to have Hwy 247 achieve State Scenic Highway status, is well aware of serious traffic safety problems on this two-lane country highway.
The Council voted to send a letter to the San Bernardino County Department of Public Works supporting their Local Roadway Safety Plan (LRSP) now applying for funding through the Highway Safety Improvement Program Grant.
Of course, out of the fifty local roadways they list for grant funding, the HVCC letter of support placed emphasis on the projects listed below. Why? Because we are always directing travelers on Hwy 247 and visitors to the four Community Centers into or through every one of these local roadway intersections!
No doubt many readers of the JV NEWS have experienced or witnessed scary and dangerous encounters at these locations.
SR-247 & Linn Road: A quick glance at a satellite view shows that northbound travelers on Hwy 247 have made their own right-turn lane offroad, avoiding the acute-angle intersection and a hazardous traffic slowdown.
A left-turn lane for southbound drivers would also alleviate this problem.
SR-247 & Reche Road: This acute-angle intersection has been improved already. However, Reche Road is a major artery for the entire Landers area. The Landers Post Office (which also serves Johnson Valley), the community center in Belfield Hall, the popular Moose Lodge and Homestead Valley Park events, and the entire residential area all the way to the border of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center create traffic on Reche Road.
A left-turn lane for the southbound 247 drivers should definitely be a primary goal for considerations of safety on this major local roadway.
(We know the Marine Corps takes an interest in Hwy 247, as its western access. Any improvements that could ease congestion and promote safety in times of emergency would certainly be well received.)
Note: Hwy 247 is the only highway access between Lucerne Valley and Yucca Valley, with innumerable unmarked dirt road intersections, not county-maintained, but having a large effect on local road safety.
SR-247 & Pipes Canyon Road: HVCC is particularly aware of problems involving Pipes Canyon Road and vicinity.
A well-designed curve on Hwy 247 leads into the steep downhill grade into Pipes Wash from the north. Even traveling at legal speeds, an unwary southbound driver may run into problems as a vehicle ahead slows down to make the right turn onto Pipes Canyon Road.
Highway improvements gave us a left-turn lane that leads the northbound traveler into Pipes Canyon Road. However, a generous-sized turnout lane to take southbound traffic onto Pipes Canyon Road would take those vehicles off the highway before causing slowdowns, impatient passers, and fishtailing trailers.
Not on the list but very hazardous in Pipes Wash: northbound traffic approaching Aberdeen Ave. at PM 4.5 may suddenly be facing traffic when pulling uphill out of Pipes Wash with the intent to make an immediate left turn onto Aberdeen. They cannot see each other till the last minute, nor can following traffic foresee the turn.
Of course, a warning sign and a left-turn lane on the highway would help, but a turnout for northbound traffic, not only to make a safe right turn, but also as an escape area, would be a great help.
SR-247 & Larrea Road in Johnson Valley.
In 2004, the County paved Larrea Road from Hwy 247 up to the Community Center, the only paved road in Johnson Valley. It follows a straight downhill slope in a former gully, about four miles. It acts as a chute in the slightest rainfall, flooding Hwy 247 over the crown out into the desert.
This presents a major hazard for vehicles that splash right into this flood. A pile of sand washes down and lies hidden underwater. It can spin even big trucks out of control; we have sighted a small car upside down on the opposite side of the road. Locals drive around it if possible, to make the turn, as “Lake Larrea” has flooded the pavement many times since 2004. Southbound traffic moves over into the oncoming lane northbound.
Caltrans pushes the sand up onto the roadside and puts up “flooded” signs, but more rain brings back the hidden sandbar.
Before the County road was paved we saw plans that also included a turnout lane, a northbound left turn lane, and drainage, but these never came to pass.
Now is the time?
No doubt many readers of the JV NEWS have experienced or witnessed scary and dangerous encounters at these locations.
Any time you drive from JV toward Landers, Flamingo Heights, Yucca Mesa, or Yucca Valley, you are out there among the speeders and impatient passers as you turn into or pass these Local Roadways.
(My favorite candidates for the Darwin Awards–the drivers following you who decide to pull out around you when you slow up to make a left turn off the highway.)
=========================
FREQUENTLY ANSWERED QUESTIONS
• JVIA ADDRESS & DIRECTIONS
The mailing address is:
JVIA
50567A Quailbush Rd.
Johnson Valley CA 92285
Directions to the Community Center:
From Hwy 247, turn onto Larrea Road, go 1-3/4 miles to Quailbush Rd.
The Community Center is on your left at the corner.
The Paul Van Hook Desert Dreams Garden is next to the parking lot, open to all.
No charge; just keep the dog on the leash and kids out of the train layouts – THANKS!
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Not knowing about Greek mythology is my Achilles’ Horse.🐴
Oh, no, I’ve really opened a Pandora’s Labyrinth here.👸
😜Yeah, I think you mean Achilles’ Tendon.
Keep smilin’
Betty
Betty Munson
c/o Ship-It-Shop
51720 Hacienda Rd.
Johnson Valley CA 92285