Month: January 2013

The 2013 Desert Town Hall speaker series kicks off its 21st season tonight with medical expert Sanjay Gupta as guest. The program at the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa in Indian Wells will start at 6 p.m. Gupta is a neurosurgeon, author and chief medical correspondent for CNN. Newsweek editor Tina Brown will speak on

The Native American tribe that owns Spotlight 29 Casino in Coachella will open another casino in Twentynine Palms, it was announced Monday. The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians expects to break ground in February on Tortoise Rock Casino, a 30,000-square-foot “boutique” casino, between Joshua Tree National Park and the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat

Lynne Daniels and her husband own the $5 million,9 bedroom Dupont Estate Resort in La Quinta. While they do rent the property as a vacation rental,they were alarmed to see the property listed on Craigslist. They don’t use the website, not to mention, they charge much more than $200 a day to use the three

“When I was a young boy, I always wanted to join the Boy Scouts myself, and I wasn’t able to join for a variety of reasons, family reasons. Now looking back, I’m glad I wasn’t a part of it,” Gary Costa said. For the last 103 years, since its inception, the Boy Scouts of America

In the Coachella Valley people are cautiously optimistic about a new blueprint to rewrite the nation’s immigration laws. Even though there is still a long way to go before the bipartisan Senate group’s ideas become a reality, people are glad the ball is finally rolling. Gildardo Capistrano, an illegal immigrant, says, “It’s everything for us.

Rickie Lee Fowler was formally sentenced to receive the death penalty Monday for starting the 2003 “Old Fire” that burned more than 90,000 acres, damaged 1,003 homes and led to the deaths of five men. Fowler, 31, was found guilty by a jury on Aug. 15, 2012, of five counts of first-degree murder and two

Firefighters and police were on the scene of a tanker truck fire in Palm Desert Monday morning that tied up traffic for two hours. The freeway was closed briefly in the eastbound direction between Cook Street and Washington Street, said Officer Joe Zagorsky of the California Highway Patrol. The Riverside County Fire Department said the

Hoy a las 6:27 a.m. se incendi la cabina de un trailer que circulaba sobre los carriles con rumbo al este de la I-10 al este de Cook Street. La Patrulla de Carreteras de California cerr todos los carriles con rumbo al este y desvi el flujo vehicular por Cook Street, recomendando como rutas alternas

Strong winds buffeted much of Riverside County early today, and snow fell in the region’s fog-shrouded mountains. The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for the mountains until 6 a.m., saying up to two inches of snow will accumulate in most areas above 3,000-3,500 feet early today. But some isolated areas could see

A paraglider crashed Sunday on a ridge near San Jacinto and the pilot was flown to a hospital with major injuries, a fire department spokeswoman said. Firefighters raced to the Church of Scientology property at Soboba and Gilman Springs roads after receiving a call at 1 p.m. about the downed paraglider, Riverside County Fire spokeswoman

Author and journalist Evan Thomas will speak today on President Dwight Eisenhower and his Cold War policies. Thomas is the author of “Ike’s Bluff: President Eisenhower’s Secret Battle to Save the World,” which focuses on Eisenhower’s presidential years, 1953 to 1961. He will deliver his remarks at the Rancho Mirage Public Library at 71-100 Highway

Several senators, both Republicans and Democrats, say they’ve begun the foundation of what could be sweeping immigration reform. They plan today to announce an outline that includes a path to citizenship for roughly 11 million illegal immigrants already living in the U.S. Opposition Republicans were chastened by the November elections, which demonstrated the importance of

A 20-year-old Cathedral City man, shot several times on Sunday, was expected to survive his gunshot wounds, a police sergeant said. Police responded at 12:08 a.m. to a “shots fired” call in the 32400block of Shifting Sands found the gunshot victim conscious and uncooperative,said Cathedral City police Sgt. Alberto Ruiz. Paramedics rushed the man to

A bail hearing is scheduled today for Oceanside resident Peter Robbins — the voice of Charlie Brown in several Peanuts films and television specials — who is charged with threatening his girlfriend and the doctor who performed her breast enhancement surgery. The defendant faces up to nine years in prison if convicted of two counts

Police say four armed men stormed into an elderly woman’s Palm Springs home and held her to the floor as they grabbed property. The victim yelled for help Saturday night at her home in the 1100 blockof East Ramon Road, as the suspects ran off in different directions, the PalmSprings Police Department reported. Police later

Palm Springs Police shut down an intersection in Palm Springs due to the report of a suspicious device in the roadway. Police say they were notified around 10:07 a.m. Sunday by a person who spotted the device on San Rafael Drive between Avenida Caballeros and Hermosa Drive. Officers responded to the location and located the

Coachella Valley Girl Scouts are preparing to hit their neighborhoods and grocery stores selling their famous cookies. On Saturday, local troop leaders filed their initial orders, packing their minivans and moving trucks with dozens of boxes. Troop leaders say it’s a great way to teach young scouts about business. “It kind of teaches them to

Over 40 dogs were rescued Thursday from the condemned trailer park commonly known as Duroville, but Riverside County Animal Services said there are hundreds more. Thursday started what will be months of rounding up these stray and abandoned dogs. Ariana Gomez, a resident, says, “I think that it is sad seeing them without owners.” Within

By 2016, woman in the military will be serving on the front lines in combat roles. While many applaud the move by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, some local veterans worry about what that means for the men already serving. For them, it’s not a question if women can, but rather if women should. Daisy Ramirez’s