Off the I-15

Miley Cyrus, better known as Hannah Montana of Disney fame, will be hitting the road to raise money of City of Hope Medical Center and to promote her new album.

The recording artist pledged to donate $1 of every ticket sold to City of Hope when her tour kicks off on Oct. 18, according to a release from City of Hope. By the end of the tour, Cyrus hopes to raise $500,000.

Dena Hibbetts Gerardi, a Silver Lakes woman with ties to Barstow, will be admitted to City of Hope to receive a bone marrow transplant. Gerardi recently learned they had found a match for her and expects to receive the transplant by the end of October.

Cyrus and her father, county artist Billy Ray Cyrus, have performed on behalf of City of Hope before. In June, the two played at the City of Hope pediatric picnic in Los Angeles. They visited the pediatric wing of City of Hope in May.

Cyrus’s tour, “Best of Both Worlds,” comes to California in November. She will perform songs both as Miley Cyrus and her character, Hannah Montana.

Thursday, November 1 Oakland, CA The Oracle
Saturday, November 3 Anaheim, CA Honda Center
Sunday, November 4 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion at San Jose
Monday, November 5 Fresno, CA Save Mart Center
Wednesday, November 7 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center
Thursday, November 8 San Diego, CA

The newly opened skate park on Barstow Road was full of people skating, biking and just taking in the scene on Tuesday. For those of you that missed the opening here’s a video.

-David Heldreth Staff writer

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With Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows scheduled to be released at midnight on Saturday thousands of people are preparing to stay up late to get their copy before anyone else.
That is everywhere except Barstow. There are no Harry Potter parties scheduled here at stores. Anyone looking to participate in some midnight magic will have to make the drive to Victorville’s Barnes and Noble bookstore. In fact, Wal-Mart is the only location I know of to get the book in Barstow. They will have 600 copies of the book, but you have to wait till they open at 6 a.m. on Saturday and you won’t get to try any Troll Mucous or Dragon Drool. What fun is that?
Apparently Barstow is full of Muggles. I ventured to the Barstow Library to talk to some kids about the book release only to find that none of the kids there had read any Harry Potter books. Not a single kid, in a library no less, had read the book. However, librarian Steve Smith, like I, read every book J.K. Rowling put out. Oddly enough I eventually found kids who had read the books at the Henderson Pool. Who would have thought to look for bookworms at a pool?

-David Heldreth Staff writer

Welcome to “Off the I-15,” a Desert Dispatch blog to cover all that happens right off the I-15, right here in Barstow and perhaps — on slow news days — stuff that happens up and down the I-15, I-40, east coast, west coast and America in between.

Stay tuned for parts of stories that might not have made the front page, state, national and international news that connects back home and candid looks into the process that delivers the news everyday.

Join the conversation with comments. Please leave your thoughts on the news, suggestions and let’s have a conversation about what happens in our city. Oh yeah, keep it friendly too. No one likes a meanie.

This blog is a work in progress. Bear with us as we become web savvy and try to keep up with the rest of you in cyberland.

And thanks for stopping by. Drop in anytime.

– Aaron Aupperlee, staff writer