Month: October 2012

Learning how to play tennis is hard enough. Now try it when you can’t see. That’s what students are doing at the California School for the Blind. They’re learning a form of tennis adapted for the visually impaired. The state-supported campus in Fremont, Calif., is one of three American schools for the blind that recently

An unmanned space capsule carrying medical samples from the International Space Station has splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, completing the first official private shipment under a billion-dollar contract with NASA. The California-based SpaceX company gently guided the Dragon into the water via parachutes at 12:22 p.m. Sunday, a couple hundred miles off the Baja

The California Department of Education has stripped 23 schools of a key state ranking due to cheating and other irregularities in administering standardized tests last spring. The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday that the violations ranged from failing to cover bulletin boards to helping students correct errors or coaching them with actual test questions. The

A First Amendment squabble is brewing in California over high school newspaper and yearbook advertising content. The Sacramento Bee (http://sacb.ee/S6CVGK ) says the Roseville Joint Union High School District’s decision this month to give the superintendent the right to approve ads has raised legal issues that could have broad implications districts statewide. The school board

The final home of space shuttle Endeavour is opening its doors to the public. Astronauts and schoolkids will be on hand Tuesday at the California Science Center in Los Angeles at the grand opening of its new shuttle display. Visitors to the free display can’t go inside Endeavour but they can use virtual exhibits, including

A 12-year-old California boy says he killed his dog because he wanted to see the terrier mix die. The Salinas Californian ( http://bit.ly/TPA7wq ) says police officers found the 12-pound dog hanging by its collar on a bedroom door handle. Investigators say the boy told officers he was mad at the dog and he wanted

The third annual Veterans Expo in Indio showcased some of the Coachella Valley’s bravest men and women, honored for what they did and still do for our country. “We had the Depression, the KKK, the Italians, the Russians, and the Depression. But we had the ability to stick together,” World War 2 Buffalo soldier George

A holy war of words in the high desert over the words a motivational speaker used when he talked to students at Yucca Valley High School. The school apologized, but both parents and students say ‘not so fast.’ Bob Holmes is known as the “one man volleyball team.” He travels the country speaking to kids

Early voting started in several locations this morning, with throngs of people eager to cast their ballot showing up for a numbers of reasons. Many people like Ann Wyles came out to just get it over with already. She said, “I’m going to get it over with. Then I can turn off all the ads.

A convicted sex offender with a lengthy record of felony activity that Riverside County authorities believe makes him an ongoing danger to the public was committed to a state hospital today for psychiatric treatment that could last a lifetime. JohnJohn Edward McMahan Edward McMahan, 54, of Indian Wells was deemed a “sexually violent predator” under

A model who alleges she was fired from “The Price is Right” because she became pregnant testified today that she worked well with Drew Carey after he took over for longtime host Bob Barker in 2008. “I loved working with both Drew and Bob,” 41-year-old Brandi Cochran told the Los Angeles Superior Court jury hearing

Early voting was set to begin Friday morning in Riverside County giving voters a chance to cast an early ballot. A polling location was set to open at 10 a.m. at the Palm Desert Westfield mall near Highway 111 and Monterey Avenue. It will be open for voters from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through

Touring Cahuilla Desert Academy in Coachella, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson says a lot is at stake for schools like the middle school on Election Day. Torlakson said he’s supporting both Proposition 30 and Proposition 38. “They both get at restoring billions of dollars that the schools need in a slightly different way,”

Both Democrats and Republicans recognize the growing importance of the Latino vote. More than 20 million Latino voters are eligible to vote nationwide. Two million of them are in Riverside County alone. That fact hasn’t been lost on local political parties who are going all out to win over Latino votes for their candidates and

The local economy is still struggling, but there are signs of improvement. That’s the report out of the 2012 Coachella Valley Economic Summit. About 800 people gathered in Indian Wells Thursday to listen to guest speakers and financial leaders breakdown the state of the local economy and what lies ahead. The Coachella Valley Economic Partnership

A motorcycle rider is lucky to be alive after going off the side of a local mountain roadway. According to CHP they got the call from a motorist, who witnessed the accident on Highway 74 below Vista Point, around 1:15 P.M Thursday afternoon. According to CHP, the rider misjudged a curve and went over the

Rosario Gonzalez says it was her oven that sparked the fire on Oct. 6, in her now charred and vacant home on Pueblo Trail. “The fire in the kitchen, in the oven, everything,” she said. Firefighters say everything inside her family’s Cathedral City home of three months was destroyed. “I thought, ‘Where are we going

A Cathedral City man was jailed Wednesday night accused by police of breaking into neighborhood homes. Officers arrested Kevin Hanson, 37, shortly after 11 p.m. after neighbors along the 68400 block of Concepcion Road reported a man jumping over walls and entering several backyards in the area. Officers spotted Hanson a block away along the