Month: May 2012

Cal Fire crews battled a 2-alarm fireWednesday eveningin a residential area across Highway 111 from The River shopping complex, a Cal Fire spokesperson confirmed. Flames destroyed a home, two vehicles and a travel trailer. A neighbor, Les Gapay, saw the fire.Gapay said, “I looked out my window and I saw all kinds of thick, black

More than 40 high school seniors celebrated their graduation day in Yucaipa with classmates they’ve never seen before. They’re a part of California Virtual Academies, or CAVA, an online public school for students K-12. With friendships built on tweets, texts and Facebook posts — the graduation ceremony, held at CraftonHills College,turned their online chats with

A 16-year-old girl, who may have been struck by a vehicle and was found dead on North Gene Autry Trail Monday, was identified on Wednesday. Zia Hoyos was found north of East Via Escuela about 1:35 a.m. Monday. Police said she may have been the victim of a hit-and-run, but the cause of death was

Palm Springs police called in mounted police and a helicopter to help bring two ill hikers down from the Lykken Trail on Wednesday. A police spokesperson said dispatchers got a call around 3:15 p.m. telling them about the hikers. In their 60s and visiting the area, the pair had fallen ill during their hike and

A man wanted for a 2007 robbery in Oklahoma was arrested by Desert Hot Springs police on Tuesday and faces charges stemming from a May 14 shooting. Sgt. Ken Peary said a woman was found in a shopping center parking lot at the corner of Palm and Two Bunch Palms Drives on May 14, suffering

Damaging winds ripped through parts of California on Wednesday, making highway travel dangerous and raising the fire danger. Fifty utility poles were blown down late Tuesday in the high desert Antelope Valley. Southern California Edison said it could take days to replace them. The National Weather Service reported an 80 mph gust Wednesday on Whitaker

The City Council voted Wednesday to ban plastic bags and impose a fee for paper bags at grocery stores, a move that backers said would improve the region’s environment, save taxpayers money on trash cleanup and promote sustainability. The council’s 13-1 vote orders the Bureau of Sanitation to complete an environmental review of the ban

The name of a fallen Riverside County sheriff’s deputy will now be honored as a street name near the new sheriff’s station in Thermal. A dedication ceremony was held for “Deputy Manny Villegas Way” on Wednesday morning. Villegas was killed in the line of duty in March of 2007 after being involved in a head-on

A Riverside County man, who claims he was enlisted through Craigslist to take part in a scheme to steal high-stakes chips from Las Vegas’ Bellagio Casino made his first court appearance on Wednesday. Michael Belton, 24, of Nuevo, Calif., only said he understands he faces felony conspiracy, robbery and burglary charges in the botched Saturday

A fire in a commercial building housing five businesses in Indio was contained in about 90 minutes on Tuesday, authorities say. The fire in the 83900 block of Avenue 45 near Van Buren Street was reported just after 6 p.m., said Jody Hagemann of the Riverside County Fire Department. The blaze took out power lines

U.S. Border Patrol agents said they intercepted more than 270 pounds of marijuana on Monday that they suspect was being smuggled into the United States using ultra-light aircraft. Agents were sent to a field in El Centro around 3 p.m. on Monday, where they found packages of sealed narcotics that weighed more than 270 pounds.

Be careful about what you eat! That’s just one thing local doctors are talking about when looking at “What’s Going Around” the area where you live. At the Mecca Clinic Dr. Randolph Gibbs has seen an increase in cases of gastroenteritis over the last several weeks. The cause is campylobacter, a bacterial foodborne disease. Patients

The backbone of a new social website with free online classifieds is looking to not only leave Palm Springs, but leave California altogether. SquawkBoard.com offers “neighborhood bulletin boards” for neighborhoods throughout the United States, so where the company moves to is really wide open, said spokeswoman Faith Jackson. “California’s tax hike will place a strain

A man involved in a shooting with two California Highway Patrol officers near Interstate 10 in Indio died, police said Tuesday. The man, Robert Shirar, 32, of Orange, Calif., crashed a pickup truck into the median on eastbound I-10 near Jefferson Street shortly before 5 a.m. Monday and did something to prompt the CHP officers

Wind gusts of 55 mph were expected in the Coachella Valley overnight Tuesday as a result of a weather disturbance and an increase in barometric pressure, said forecasters with the National Weather Service. The winds were predicted to target the mountain passes, such as the San Gorgonio Pass on Interstate 10, when a wind advisory

A former San Diego police officer and his wife have been found guilty of trashing their foreclosed home in Riverside County. A jury convicted Robert Acosta on Monday of stealing fixtures valued at greater than $65,000 when he and his wife moved out of their foreclosed home in 2010. Monique Acosta was found guilty of

The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway reopened this morning after damaged phone lines prompted the operator to close it Sunday. The tram was closed yesterday so crews could fix the downed lines. The tram was operating normally today, and the lines were repaired. The first tram car is scheduled to go up at 10 a.m., tram