Month: July 2009

PALM DESERT – Dozens of Coachella Valley residents braved the muggy weather Monday morning in order to get on the bus in Palm Desert. The bus located at the Civic Center park was filled with possible answers to their medication concerns. Known as the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, the program is designed to help residents

MECCA – Three women who went missing Monday while hiking in the hills around Mecca were found about three hours later and transported to a medical center for treatment of heat exhaustion, authorities said. The women were reported missing around 10 a.m. in the Painted Canyon area and were found some three hours later, said

CUDAHY, Wisc. – Police in Wisconsin believe a Twentynine Palms Marine was one of two men who caused massive fire at a meatpacking plant by firing a military flare at it. Cudahy Police announced the Marine, Joshua Popp, 23, and his brother, Kurtis, 25, as suspects in the July 5 fire. Kurtis was arrested this

NEW YORK – Walter Cronkite, the premier TV anchorman of the networks’ golden age who reported a tumultuous time with reassuring authority and came to be called “the most trusted man in America,” has died. He was 92. CBS vice president Linda Mason says Cronkite died at 7:42 p.m. Friday with his family by his

PALM DESERT – Summer break shouldn’t cause a break in learning, but every fall teachers spend four tosix weeks re-teaching what students forgot during summer. Some call the educational backslide “summer brain drain.” To avoid it, Kimberly Foli’s son is in theI Can Learn summer tutoring program. “Doing this will prepare him for fourth grade

CATHEDRAL CITY – A search is underway for two armed men who held up a market in Cathedral City Friday afternoon. According to Cathedral City Police, the incident happened at the El Toro Loco market on Ramon Road between Roundup Road and Cathedral Canyon Drive at 12:45 p.m. CCPD tells News Channel 3 that two

RIVERSIDE – So many people have given up finding work or are off the unemployment rolls, the estimated number of jobless in Riverside County now approach 1 in 4. That’s worse than Detroit and New Orleans. About 793,000 people are working in Riverside County. About 128,000 are unemployed. That’s almost 14 percent of the workforce.

PALM DESERT – A warning hangs at the front gate at the Palm Lakes community in Palm Desert. Management say a man and women posing as potential home buyers stole a resident’s wallet, then tried to do it again a short time later. The suspects first got into the gated neighborhood by following a resident

DESERT HOT SPRINGS – Thousands of children in the valley take the bus to get to school “I ride the bus to Desert Hot Springs High School everyday,” says Rita Soto, Desert Hot Springs High School Junior. However, next year Rita’s ride and the ride for hundreds of other students may be over. This long

LA QUINTA – It starts in 1993 when Sharon Schumaier was arrested for embezzling $40,000 from State Farm Insurance where she worked. In 1995, she pleaded guilty to a felony. Her sentence: house arrest, one year wearing an electronic bracelet. But the electronic monitoring company says that she unplugged her bracelet. That landed her in

PALM DESERT – Substance abuse counselor Jennifer Mayes is all for legalizing pot. She says legalization doesn’t necessarily equal addiction. “You give the ok. Yeah, sure it’s gonna be used more but you’re talking about also the addiction part of it, I think, you’re talking about a totally different aspect,” says Mayes. It’s a decades

PERRIS — Budget cuts are hitting hard at the Riverside County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau. It stopped weekend autopsies July 1st. Employees expect only minor delays, and no effect on criminal investigations. “When we come to Monday morning, we usually have a heavier caseload. Now, that we’re not doing autopsies on the weekends — if it’s

LA QUINTA – A Valley woman under suspicion for embezzling $108,000 from a local youth soccer league has been hard to find. She has not been arrested, but AYSO officials tried to contact Sharon Schumaier for months, asking what she did with their money. Now, in a News Channel 3 exclusive, we ask her the

RANCHO MIRAGE -Shelley Bishop has spent the last 25 years as an investigator with the Department of Alcohol Beverage Control, California’s vice unit. It keeps an eye on businesses with liquor licenses. For ABC investigators, it’s a dangerous job.They’re watching stores to make sure alcohol isn’t being sold to kids.They go undercover to bust drug

Palm Springs – With highs reaching 113 degrees on Tuesday, Valley residents looked for every option to be the heat. Some went to cooling centers others stood in line at 3:30p.m. for the midnight showing of Harry Potter the Half-Blood Prince. Amanda Hoffman took the day off of work to be first in line at

PALM SPRINGS – It looks like a watch. It could pass even for a bracelet. But this beeping device can save your lifeor someone you love. It’s known as “Project Lifesaver.” “The police are able to monitor people with a radar if they were to wander away,” explains Jeanne Reller-Brownstein, administrator of a Palm Springs

INDIO- Bug exterminators say this year is different from previous years. Scorpions, roaches, and spiders all seem to be hitting at once. Pest control seems to be one of the only growth industries in the Valley. Each employee at Rudy’s Pest Control responds to around 10 to 15 calls a day. “This has been an

PALM SPRINGS – Gladys Meloni has a green thumb. But in the last week she has watched 16 years of dedication, not to mention thousands of dollars, being hauled away in a dumpster. “I haven’t been able to sleep the last three or four days,” Meloni said. That is because the management at Meloni’s mobile

LA QUINTA – News Channel 3 confirmed Thursday the national AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization) office suddenly replaced La Quinta’s regional commissioner. This comes after the league tried and failed to reach her and ask her questions about undisclosed accounting issues. News Channel 3 learned the former commissioner, Sharon Schumaier, co-owns Desert Cities Automotive in

THOUSAND PALMS – Demand is high and supplies are low. These economic times are trying for shelters. “We are struggling,” says Birgit Phillips, Safehouse Outreach Coordinator. Operation Safehouse is in need, the Riverside County Youth Commission is helping. A group of about 150 high school students launched “Operation Safehelp” a supplies drive benefiting Safehouse. “In