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Investigative

I-Team investigation ‘Half a Year After Hilary’ reveals continued struggles and lessons learned

An I-Team investigation reveals the daily struggles some Cathedral City residents still say they face six months after Tropical Storm Hilary and their reactions to the city’s storm response.   “So at this point, we’re still living out of bins in our bedrooms and in our bathroom,” said Beatrice Toledo whose Cathedral City home was flooded by a mudflow

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I-Team: Hazardous Haze poses threat to Coachella Valley’s health and economy

Coachella Valley air quality has diminished dramatically since the end of August due to the impacts of Tropical Storm Hilary. Local experts now say they are worried about the valley’s wind-borne dust problem, which has intensified since the storm, and whether this could become a permanent hazard to our health and local economy. Riverside County Supervisor Manuel Perez

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I-Team: Local 911 connection failures concern local emergency operations managers now working to prevent future outages

It was a dramatic 911 call during Tropical Storm Hilary. An emergency dispatcher’s “Hello” was answered by a caller’s panic. A man shouting, “The house is getting flooded!” That call in Cathedral City August got through despite traditional 911 connections being down throughout the Coachella Valley during the height of the storm. We all know to

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I-Team: Long-delayed TALUS La Quinta luxury resort development still searching for financing as city talks litigation

The City of La Quinta’s long-delayed TALUS luxury resort development remains in limbo as money troubles continue to plague the Robert Green Company project. Formerly known as SilverRock, TALUS missed the city’s latest 60-day mid-July deadline to secure its financing and present a plan to move forward with construction. Without a financing breakthrough, the project could be headed toward litigation. It’s a topic

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I-team: State safety inspections reveal conditions of buses transporting local students

Approximately 19,000 students are bused to and from classrooms each day on school buses around the Coachella Valley, and an I-team investigation reveals the information every parent or guardian needs to know about the safety and maintenance of those buses.  All three local school districts earned ‘satisfactory’ marks on their two most recent California Highway Patrol Terminal Inspections. However, CHP

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I-Team: Most local school buses are now air-conditioned but students aren’t guaranteed a cool ride home

Students are returning to classrooms around the Coachella Valley this month as our summertime desert temperatures remain well-embedded in the triple digits. For parents with children who ride school buses to and from school each day, concerns about hot buses have long been a reality. Those who ride school buses at the start and end of their

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I-Team: Coachella Valley has more fentanyl-related deaths than anywhere in Riverside County

Our extensive coverage on the fentanyl crisis continues with some explosive new information from the  Riverside County Sheriff’s Office. So far this year, there have been more fentanyl-related deaths in the Coachella Valley than in any other part of Riverside County.  I-Team Reporter Karen Devine speaks with the people on the front lines of the fentanyl fight

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I-Team: City of La Quinta issues 60-day deadline as Talus resort developer claims essential construction financing secured

An I-Team Investigation reveals developers still cannot say precisely when La Quinta’s Talus resort development, formerly known as SilverRock, will get the money needed to complete its construction. Construction crews have made little progress on the main resort since last summer. And the city has now issued a 60-day deadline. The Robert Green Company promises

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I-Team digs into what really happened in the forced removal of Section 14 families in Palm Springs

The debate over racial reparations continues to intensify in Palm Springs. It’s centered on one square mile of land known as Section 14 next to downtown Palm Springs which was cleared for new development over 50 years ago. The attorney representing Section 14 families and their descendants pointed out that Palm Springs apologized for its role in the

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Fatal Flaw: I-Team investigates efforts to combat local efforts to combat Fentanyl crisis

Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin says weak California laws are partially to blame for an epidemic killing people right here in Riverside County. Reporter Karen Devine’s I-Team Investigation shows how severe the problem is and asks what it will take to make changes to this “Fatal Flaw.” Jennifer Loza of Bermuda Dunes lost her

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I-Team: Sewer district cancels plans for rate hike that would have seen customer bills soar 400%

In an I-team investigation, a local wastewater treatment district is backing off plans to raise customer rates dramatically. “On this proposal, we had out, that is completely out,” said Debra Canero who serves as Board President of the Valley Sanitary District. The district’s 400 percent rate hike is postponed indefinitely, according to a release issued Thursday afternoon.  That was

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Courting Injustice: Why are so many local court cases being dismissed?

Since October, more than 1,700 court cases have been dismissed in Riverside County. These dismissals include cases involving child sexual assault, attempted murder, DUIs, and domestic violence. This is due to a backlog caused by the pandemic. Riverside Superior Court officials cited a lack of available judicial resources and courtroom space as they reinstated defendants’

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College of the Desert paid $1.1M to hackers in 2020 ransomware attack, doing more now to cyber safeguard its IT systems

An I-Team investigation reveals College of the Desert paid more than a million dollars in digital ransom to recover data after a 2020 malware attack.  And as KESQ News Channel 3 has extensively reported the college suffered another malware attack this past summer. That second July attack may have compromised the personal data of hundreds

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‘Safety Matters’: Local school officials didn’t follow safety protocols in reported weapons incidents

A News Channel 3 investigation has uncovered that district officials didn’t follow safety protocols in multiple incidents when weapons were reported at valley schools. In response to outraged parents, scared students and KESQ’s questions, the district says it made changes. But are they working? Repeated reports of weapons Three east valley schools and thousands of

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How local school districts are using emergency funding to handle rising mental health challenges

As kids struggle with mental health challenges in school after pandemic distance learning, educators across the nation are reporting an increase in anxiety, bullying, and violence among student populations. For Brianna Garcia, a mother of two elementary school kids in Indio, she’s doing her best to help her girls catch up. And that means tutors, along with a

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I-Team Wasted Water Woes: Fines have CVWD customers seeking to conserve and save money

Some Coachella Valley homeowners and communities are saving water and meeting new state-mandated water conservation targets by taking a number of dramatic actions to avoid costly drought fines. But in an I-Team In-depth report, some higher-than-expected monthly bills from the Coachella Valley Water District, or CVWD, are taking customers by surprise.  Jeff Stahl spoke with

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