Dec. 2 Daily Briefing: Memorial groundbreaking, projects sent back to drawing board, and more

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Today, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, is also known as Giving Tuesday. What started as a hashtag in 2012 has grown into a global movement that encourages people to do good. You’ll no doubt see many worthwhile local organizations ask for your financial assistance today, but there are other ways to give, including more than a dozen listed here. Even the seemingly small act of offering a smile can help build a better world!

🎶 Setting the mood: “Heroes” by David Bowie

LEADING OFF

Organizers break ground on AIDS Memorial after 12-year effort

Ground was broken Monday on the Palm Springs AIDS Memorial at Downtown Park, marking progress on a project first envisioned 12 years ago during a World AIDS Day event.

Driving the news: The ceremony celebrated the culmination of more than a decade of organizing, fundraising and community storytelling that turned a simple question into a marble and aluminum memorial now being fabricated in Italy and Chicago.

• Dan Spencer, founder of the Palm Springs AIDS Memorial Task Force, posed the original question in 2012: When will Palm Springs have an AIDS memorial?
• “Today, 12 years later, I’m smiling and answering that question with a beautiful and significant memorial,” he told a crowd gathered at the Monday ceremony.

Why it matters: The memorial honors hundreds of lives lost during the AIDS crisis and preserves the history of Palm Springs’ response, which led to the founding of Desert AIDS Project (now known as DAP Health) in 1984.

• City Councilmember Jeffrey Bernstein linked the project’s significance to recent federal policy changes restricting government messaging on commemorative days like World AIDS Day.

Details: Hundreds of donors have contributed toward a $1.2 million goal, with $275,000 remaining to raise (donations can be made here).

• The memorial will be gifted to the city and added to its public art collection. 

What’s next: Artist Philip K. Smith said marble from Sardinia is headed to fabrication teams, with polished aluminum elements being manufactured in Chicago. Installation is planned next year.

Dive deeper with our complete story

BRIEFLY

🏗️ Architectural Review Committee sends three projects back for re-study

• The Palm Springs Architectural Review Committee on Monday sent all three projects on its agenda back to developers for additional study, including a hillside home on Cahuilla Hills Drive, new digital signs for the Plaza Theatre, and 119 homes planned for the Escena community off North Gene Autry Trail.
  
• The committee raised concerns about the hillside home’s finished floor height sitting 17 feet higher than an adjacent property, questioned whether the Plaza Theatre’s LED signs would set an unwanted precedent for additional signage, and criticized the Escena development’s architectural inconsistency and landscape plan.
  
• Bottom line: The committee asked the developers of the Escena project to eliminate the Mid-Century model from its plans, standardize garage door designs across all models, and create a more disciplined landscape plan with less variety and greater density.

Dive deeper with our complete story

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TODAY’S FEATURED EVENTS

Knit Together
10 a.m. | The Center
Knit Together offers a variety of dates and times for you to find a convenient schedule to connect with others. Please note that this group is a social knitting group and open to anyone with any level of fiber enthusiasm. This is not a class. ($20)

State of the City
2 p.m. | Palm Springs Convention Center
Join Mayor Ron deHarte and the City Council for the State of the City. Celebrate our city’s progress and future as we continue moving Palm Springs Forward—with creativity, resilience, and shared purpose.

Queer Colon Care Collective
5 p.m. | Virtual
This support group is open to LGBTQ+ colorectal cancer patients, survivors, or caregivers. Organizers will offer resources and a sense of community in a safe place to share experiences. 

Palm Springs Historic Site Preservation Board
5:30 p.m. | City Hall
Board members will meet to go over applications for alterations to historically significant properties or nominations for new historic properties. You can find the agenda here.

Melba Miller’s Jazz Oasis
5:30 p.m. | Cultural Center
Join songstress Melba Miller and special guests for an evening dedicated to serious listeners and lovers of Jazz. ($22)

See all events here

SAVE THE DATE

• Wreath Auction at Eight4Nine Restaurant & Lounge on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
  
• Rock the Park free concert series at Downtown Park at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
  
• New Members Show, Holiday Shop, and Artist of the Year Round II at Desert Art Center Friday from 2 p.m. until 7 p.m.
  
• Palm Springs Holiday Tree Lighting at Francis Stevens Park Friday at 5 p.m.
  
• Festival of Lights Parade Saturday at 5:45 p.m. in Downtown Palm Springs.
  
• Men of the Desert Fashion Show & Luncheon benefiting Animal Samaritans on Sunday at 11 a.m.
  
• Stewardship: Dedication to Conservation talk at the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum on Dec. 10.
  
• Fundraiser for Shop with a Cop at Palm Springs Tennis Club on Dec. 12.
  
• Psychedelic Society documentary “Last Journey” On Dec. 13.

Submit your event here

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AND FINALLY …

🐾 Each week, The Post partners with a local animal shelter to feature one or more of the many animal companions ready for a new home in our community. 

Today, we invite you to meet this iconic little lady, Cleo! According to staff, this 1-year-old domestic shorthair is initially shy but grows to become playful and loves receiving attention over time.

• Staff also said she doesn’t get along with other cats very well, so she will need to be the only cat in your home. 

If you’re interested: You can visit the shelter at 4575 E. Mesquite Ave. Hours are 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. on all days except for Mondays (open for intake only) and Thursdays (1 p.m. until 7 p.m.). You can always call the shelter at 760-416-5718.

• Make sure to check out all the other pets at the shelter here.