Thumbs Up: Desert Hot Springs backs the blueprint

Thursday's Desert Sun editorial encouraging Coachella Valley cities to make a financial commitment to the Economic Blueprint presented by the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership failed to mention that Desert Hot Springs has already done so.

The small but ambitious city of 25,000 has pledged $50,000 toward the strategy to diversify the valley's economy. Residents should be proud of this bold step.

We hope other valley cities follow suit.

Thumbs Down: A step backward in technology

We've known for months that the day was coming that we'd need to punch in a 1 and the area code to call our next-door neighbor. Now that it's here, and you get a recording if you forget, it sure is annoying.

In a week or two it will be second nature, and we'll have the numbers in our cell phones reprogrammed. It just seems that with the technological advances of this digital age the telephone company could find a way to call a guy across with the old standard of seven digits instead of 11.

Thumbs Up: Pheeling phine about Phish

It's great that Phish, the premier jam band -- at least since the demise of the Grateful Dead -- is jamming in Indio this weekend.

The band's first solo festival west of the Mississippi River is bringing as many as 60,000 visitors to our valley.

Phish fans also bring generosity. Each $199 ticket for the three-day concert includes $1 for charity.

The Mockingbird Foundation, founded by the fans, on Friday sent three $1,000 checks to local music programs: the Coachella Valley High School band, the Cahuilla Desert Academy advanced band and the Westside Elementary School after-school music program.

The four-piece Vermont band is extremely creative. It will play eight sets, including a cover of an entire album by another artist tonight. In the past, they've done the Beatles' "White Album" and Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon." An early rumor was they they might do Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

At noon Sunday, it will play its first-ever acoustic set. Sirius Radio will broadcast the entire concert.

The creativity goes beyond the music. A 100-foot Ferris wheel will greet visitors. About 70 acres have been graded and sodded for campers and 750 tipuana trees have been planted to provide more shade. The trees will be incorporated into the band's unique lighting design.

It sounds great, but when the concert is over, let's put away all the clever word play: Phish phacts, school of Phish, hooking Phish and so on. We're phinished.

Thumbs Down: Hikers need to be prepared and smart

The stories of hikers getting lost along our lovely desert trails are always bothersome.

You shake your head about the cost and risk of helicopters and rescue teams dispatched to find folks who should know better than to take off into the wild unprepared.

But the story about hikers who panic and use their Global Positioning System devices to summon help when there is not a true emergency is downright maddening.

The devices, which work like Onstar by alerting authorities automatically, are a good idea. Finding lost hikers is not always easy.

But on three occasions in the Southwest recently, hikers pushed the panic button prematurely. In one instance, the hikers said the water they found to quench their thirst tasted salty.

The rules are simple:

If you're not in shape, don't go.

If it's really hot, don't go.

If it's really cold, don't go.

If you don't know where you're going, don't go.

Bring water, good shoes, charged cell phone, map, compass, flashlight, jacket, hat, sunscreen, blanket and some common sense.

And if you call for a rescue when it's not a real emergency, be prepared to pay the expenses of the good people who come to save you.