Happy Hour Links: Want to Phish? Book a hotel quick; Smokey Bear isn’t quitting yet; nearly extinct frogs found

> Jam band Phish has announced that it will put on a three-day, Halloween-weekend event at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio. Festival 8 will start Oct. 30. If you’re itching to go, don’t delay with your accommodations booking: “The Coachella site has been speculated as the location for the Phish fest for weeks, and hotels have reportedly been going fast,” warned the Times’ Pop & Hiss blog.

> Smokey the Bear? No, it’s Smokey Bear, thank you. He’s 65 years old now, so let’s call him by his proper name. This furry icon remains at the center of “the longest-running public service campaign in U.S. history,” and a complicated history it is. Read “At 65, Smokey Bear is still fighting fires” for more.

> A species of almost extinct frogs has been found in the San Jacinto Wilderness in Southern California, according to the Associated Press. The mountain yellow-legged frog was thought to have only 122 members still alive in the wilds, but San Diego Natural History Museum scientists and U.S. Geological Survey biologists have discovered a population of the frogs on recent trips to the region.

- Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

Photo: An advertisement featuring Smokey Bear. Credit: U.S. Forest Service]

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This entry was posted on Friday, July 24, 2009 at 5:15 pm by Susan Derby and is filed under Arts & Culture, California, Happy Hour Links, News, Tips & Advice, Palm Springs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.