Month: December 2012

Authorities are swapping guns for groceries in San Diego. People who turn in working guns between 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Friday at Valencia Park will receive vouchers that can be redeemed at area grocery stores. City News Service says shotguns and rifles are worth $50 each and a pistol or assault-type weapon can be

Beginning tonight, the California Highway Patrol will be deploying all available officers for a Christmas holiday weekend crackdown on drunken drivers, speeders and other traffic violators. The CHP’s “maximum enforcement period” will run from 6 p.m. today to 11:59 p.m. Tuesday. “The winter holidays can pose some of the toughest challenges for our officers,” said

An estimated 2.24 million passengers will pass through Los Angeles International Airport during the holiday travel season, which begins in earnest today and ends Jan. 2. That’s a 5.4 percent increase over the same 13-day holiday travel period last year at LAX, the nation’s third-largest airport. The busiest travel days are expected to be today

A second arrest has been made in the attempted bank robbery at the Bank of America Branch at 34420 Monterey Ave. in Palm Desert on Monday. Sheriff’s investigators say they identified the second suspect as 34-year old Roeling Adams of Compton. On Thursday, investigators arrested Adams at the office of his probation officer in Compton.

For Mallori DelFiandra, life was sweet. “I was going to night school, working at the store at The River.” By day, she dipped strawberries at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in Rancho Mirage. At night, DelFiandra was earning her degree in Special Education. “I was just a regular 28 year old,” DelFiandra recalls, “hanging out with

Christmas is just a couple of days away and thanks to the help of a local organization many Valley children will have gifts under the Christmas tree to unwrap. “What do you think about this for her, yeah that’s good she will be so happy” says Claudina Tijerina. A shiny new pink bike was given

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department is investigating rumored threats at Morongo Basin schools. One threat is being investigated but does not appear to be credible. Social Media, Facebook specifically has had threats circulated by students and parents in the Morongo Basin. A San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Spokesperson says that no arrests have been made

An empty suitcase left unattended in the Augustine Casino parking lot caused concerns for residents living in the area. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department says they got a call around 10:30 a.m. Thursday morning reporting that someone left an abandoned suitcase in the parking lot. The parking area was evacuated while explosive ordinance experts from

Plans to revitalize the Desert Fashion Plaza in Downtown Palm Springs are getting the green light. After a late night for city leaders, council members finally approved John Wessman’s plan around 1:00 a.m. Community leaders shared their praise and concerns about the project during the long council meeting. The three block long mall will be

Rock ‘n’ roll will never die – but it’s a hazardous occupation. A new study confirms that rock and pop musicians die prematurely more often than the general population, and an early death is twice as likely for solo musicians as for members of bands. Researchers from Liverpool John Moores University studied 1,489 rock and

A mobile home caught fire in a Palm Desert mobile home park, a county fire department spokeswoman said. The non-injury fire was reported at about 11:45 a.m. at 10 Cholla Lane in the Silver Spur Mobile Home Park, which is located in an unincorporated area of Palm Desert near Highway 74. The blaze was contained

Dry and much cooler temperatures have prevailed after last Thursday’s rainfall caused the postponement of The annual Walking Tour of the Inns. Tonight however poses a perfect chilly night to bundle up and take on the rescheduled event. Not all of the original 17 small hotels in the Historic Tennis Club neighborhood were able to

Starting today, Palm Springs International Airport is offering extra parking and terminal shuttle service to help handle the Christmas travel rush. The airport’s Economy Lot on Kirk Douglas Way will open at 4:30 a.m., and parking is $10 a day for overnight travelers. Free shuttle transportation is available from the lot to the main terminal

Nintendo is switching on a television service that transforms the tablet-like controller of the new Wii U game console into a remote that changes the channel on your TV and puts programs from the Internet just a few finger taps away. The TVii service launches in the U.S. and Canada on Thursday.The aim of TVii

Riverside County supervisors today approved an agreement with the Ramona Band of Cahuilla Indians securing guarantees about what steps the tribe will take to counteract the impact of future gambling operations. The Ramona band, whose tribal territory is centered east of Hemet, is negotiating with the state on a compact to permit Class III gaming

President Barack Obama will launch an administration-wide effort today to create new policies aimed at preventing another mass school shooting. Obama is tasking Vice President Joe Biden with spearheading the process, which is a response to Friday’s deadly attack at a Connecticut elementary school. The president will announce the effort from the White House. White

Palm Springs International Airport will open its annual holiday economy parking lot Thursday morning. The extra parking and terminal shuttle service will help the airport handle the Christmas holiday travel rush. The economy service now charges $10 a day for overnight travelers. The same service cost $6 a day last year. Shuttle transportation is available

Today’s meeting of the Palm Springs City Council will include a public hearing on approval of the Downtown Revitalization Plan. In November 2011, a sales tax increase called Measure J was approved by voters to fund public infrastructure improvements and bankroll a $43 million investment in a downtown shopping center. The measure raised the city’s

The Griffith Park Bird Sanctuary, destroyed in a 2007 fire, will reopen today. The Department of Recreation and Parks has completed a series of repairsto the sanctuary, including catch basin restoration, fence repair, trailgrading and the removal of a large number of downed trees, according to Scott Levin-Gesundheit, communications deputy for Councilman Tom LaBonge. The

After 28 people lost their lives in the Newtown shooting at the hands of one man’s guns, gun control is on the hot seat. The National Rifle Association released its first statement post shooting, surprising many with its poignant words: “The NRA is prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens