Council to consider establishing Ridgecrest historic district
Ridgecrest Daily Independent
Ridgecrest old-timers like to share memories of the city’s early days. The task has been made easier by the Historical Society of the Upper Mojave Desert, which maintains a cluster of historic buildings on and around West Ridgecrest Boulevard downtown.
When the Ridgecrest City Council gets together April 21 they will look at formally establishing a Ridgecrest Historic District which would include these buildings.
“What we are trying to do is preserve as much of old Ridgecrest as possible,” said Mayor Eric Bruen Friday.
The proclamation was initially suggested by the HSUMD, a 501(c)3 non-profit, as a way of preserving and protecting the area of historic significance.
When it comes to pandemic damage, Ridgecrest has fared better than many places, according to Mark Schniepp.
Ridgecrest lost far fewer jobs and rebounded more quickly than the rest of Kern County and California and can likely look forward to a good future along with the rest of the Indian Wells Valley assuming recovery from the pandemic continues, he said.
Schniepp, who is Director of the California Economic Forecast in Santa Barbara, was the keynote speaker at the virtual Indian Wells Valley Economic Outlook Conference Feb. 25.
Employment in Ridgecrest only went down around 4% at the worst last April, as compared to nearly 16% for both the state and Kern County at the same time. Job loss was at its greatest shortly after the first statewide shelter-in-place order went into effect last March.
Ridgecrest Daily Independent
Students in transitional kindergarten through fifth grade will likely have the option of returning to in-person instruction beginning Monday, April 5.
That was the word from Sierra Sands Unified School District Superintendent Dave Ostash at the Ridgecrest Chamber of Commerce virtual meeting Tuesday.
The news comes on the heels of California Assembly Bill AB 86, which lays out the groundwork for students to begin returning to California schools.
Ostash said that as of Tuesday afternoon the district did not have a complete agreement with the teachers’ union, but was proceeding with the anticipation that they eventually will have one.
Economist who predicted COVID-19 crash last year to speak Thursday ridgecrestca.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ridgecrestca.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.