Sept. 29 Daily Briefing: Marilyn debate heats up, new role for popular reporter, and more

🎫✨ Happy Friday, and check this out —We have two sets of tickets to give away to Post readers for the Coachella Valley Repertory’s first production of the season, The Fantasticks, on opening weekend! You can read the show’s synopsis here.

Enter for your chance to win by clicking this link.

The results will be announced on Oct 6. Two winners will be drawn randomly and sent two digital tickets each for the Saturday Nov. 4 show.

🎶 Setting the mood: “Zombie” by The Cranberries

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LEADING OFF

Groups in midst of Marilyn debate making moves, stating cases

The fight over the location of the Marilyn Monroe statue has ramped up once again, with both sides issuing statements and looking for public support.

First things first: It seems like the debate over the 26-foot-tall statue located in Downtown Palm Springs in the middle of Museum Way had been dormant for some time, but that was just the calm before the storm. We last told you about the lawsuit that is still moving through civil court in February.

• That lawsuit said the city’s reasoning for shutting down Museum Way for three years for a “special event” is not legal and that a three-year closure is not “temporary.” They also note that the city failed to do an environmental review before closing the street.

The fight is making headlines once again because Museum Way was only closed by the Palm Springs City Council for three years, and that time is up next year. One group that wants the statue to stay in place, and another that wants it moved, are both getting started on their campaigns ahead of next year.

Up first: The group Protect Our Marilyn, co-chaired by hotelier Aftab Dada, kicked off a signature-gathering push within the last week to ensure they could get a ballot measure to put the issue to the voters on the March 5 primary next year. 

• If Protect Our Marilyn gets signatures from 10% of the city’s registered voters within 180 days, city leaders can choose to permanently adopt the ordinance that allowed for the closure of Museum Way or put the question on the ballot.

By the numbers: Protect Our Marilyn said hundreds of thousands of people have visited the statue since it returned to town in 2021.

• They claim that according to a 2022 survey, 86.7% of 1,000 said the statute was their main reason for walking down Museum Way, and that they would tell other visitors the statue is a “must-see.”

In response: The Committee to Relocate Marilyn of (CReMa) released a statement this week reiterating its intention to continue the court fight. Their goal, they said, is to get the statue moved somewhere else so it’s not blocking the view of the architecturally significant Palm Springs Art Museum.

What they’re saying: “We have heard from several supporters that there are signature gatherers currently canvasing Palm Springs residents who are spreading misinformation by saying that CReMa wants ‘to get rid of the statue,’ CReMa organizer Trina Turk said. “The nuance of our stance about moving the statue to another location has been lost in the language being used by signature gatherers, even though RELOCATE is in the name of our organization.”

What to watch for: Protect Our Marilyn said they’re sending out volunteers to locations around Palm Springs to collect signatures. Meanwhile, CReMa said they are continuing their fight in the courts and that their attorney has taken the necessary legal steps to move the process along.

YOUR WEEKEND

ALL WEEKEND

Cinema Diverse Film Festival
Palm Springs Cultural Center
This world class film festival presents LGBTQ+ cinema from around the world, including shorts and feature films. ($14.50)

The Dinah
Various locations
Now through Sunday, there are several pool parties and balls at venues across at one of the largest events in the country that celebrates and uplifts queer women. ($100)

TODAY

Planned Parenthood 60th Anniversary Cocktail Reception
5:30 p.m. | Avalon Hotel
This community-wide celebration will reflect on the organization’s past and look toward the future, featuring live music and artworks from Artists for Planned Parenthood. ($125)

The Roundtable: HIV/AIDS survivors
5:30 p.m. | Ken Seeley Community Room
A weekly discussion group for long-term HIV/AIDS survivors in the Coachella Valley. 

SATURDAY

Certified Farmers’ Market
8 a.m. – 1 p.m. | Camelot Theatre
The market returns to its outdoor location, with local farmers and vendors offering fresh agri­cul­tural and related products.

Boo2Bullying Wellness Festival
8:30 a.m. | Sunrise Park
The community is invited to this free event with booths, speakers, food, music, games, and more, all meant to encourage people to come together and stop bullying. 

Diversity and Racial Equity Conference: Racial Healing and Resilience
9 a.m. | Palm Springs Convention Center
The event will feature a keynote speaker, a roundtable with Palm Springs Unified School District students, and breakout sessions to foster deep conversations about race and healing. 

“Ophelia Lives!”
2 p.m. | Coachella Valley Repertory Theatre
Valley high schoolers perform in this one-act play centering on students that deals honestly and openly with issues that affect today’s teens. ($15)

SUNDAY

Palm Springs Vintage Market
7 a.m. | Palm Springs Cultural Center
The valley’s premier boutique flea market returns for the season! Peruse the booths featuring midcentury modern furniture, fashion, knick-knacks, and more. ($5)

Movie Colony East Meatball Cookoff Event
4 p.m. | Private residence
Movie Colony East invites neighbors to a local netball cookoff event. Bring your favorite meatball dish and BYOB. Vegetarian and vegan “meatballs” are welcome too!  RSVP by calling 415-306-2069 for the address. 

SAVE THE DATE

• Coachella Valley Filipino Festival  on Oct. 8 at the Palm Springs Cultural Center
  
  
• Center Stage 2023 benefitting The LGBTQ Community Center of the Desert, on Oct. 20. ($350)
  

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AND FINALLY …

A popular staple of local television news has left the airwaves, but fortunately he hasn’t gone far.

Driving the news: Jake Ingrassia, an Emmy-award-winning reporter for KESQ who chronicled thousands of stories since first arriving in the desert in 2018, signed off recently after accepting a position with the city of Palm Springs.

• Ingrassia will be telling the stories of Palm Springs International Airport (PSP) in his new role in communications and marketing at the airport.
  
  
• “PSP was my first introduction to the valley, and I will never forget stepping off the plane into the open-air courtyard surrounded by palm trees and sweeping mountain views,” he told The Post Thursday. “I will be sharing the exciting stories about this pillar of our community — the gateway through which millions of people (record-breaking numbers!) pass through each year.”

Looking back: “I had wanted to be a TV news reporter since I was 11 years old, after going to career day at my hometown’s local news station,” Ingrassia explained. “In the last half-decade of living and reporting here, I’ve interviewed thousands of people in this amazing community and nearly every street corner reminds me of a story I’ve told.” 

While the news can often be grim, Ingrassia said, “I’ve had the honor of chronicling heartwarming stories too: leading on LGBTQ+ issues, and the many acts of kindness and compassion that weave the fabric of this community.”

Bottom line: “I am still just down the street,” he said, “and please continue to say hello around town. It is you all who have made this community a home.”