Month: June 2013

The Palm Springs International Short Film Festival beginsTuesday night at 6:30. For the first time, a second auditorium is being used to accommodate a large opening night crowd at the Camelot Theatre. More than 400 film makers from all around the world come to share their stories at ShortFest in Palm Springs. Some of them

Aetna Inc. has notified state regulators that it will stop selling individual health insurance policies in California, just weeks after opting out of the exchange that is being established as part of the national health care reforms. California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said Tuesday that Aetna’s decision is “not good news” because consumers need more

A man found dead near the Banning campus of Mt. San Jacinto College was identified today as a Palm Springs resident. Someone reported 59-year-old Joseph Woodson lying motionless on the roadway in the 900 block of South Sunset Avenue at 10:30 p.m. Thursday, according to Banning police and county coroner’s officials. He died the same

Hoy a la 1:30 a.m. un joven de 17 aos conduca un vehculo sobre Calle Placido, al sur de Calle Palmedo en La Quinta se distrajo al recibir un mensaje de texto y se impact con un auto estacionado, inform el sargento Randy Vasquez del Departamento del Sheriff del Condado de Riverside. El menor acept

A 17-year-old Indio boy got distracted by a textmessage and crashed into a parked car in La Quinta today, allegedly while underthe influence of alcohol and marijuana. The crash on Calle Placido south of Calle Palmedo was reported about1:30 a.m, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Randy Vasquez. The boy, driving south on Calle Placido, had been

About 85 percent of an extensive dune system near the U.S.-Mexico border would be open to off-road vehicles under a new federal management plan opposed by environmentalists. The Bureau of Land Management released the plan Monday. Nearly 180,000 acres of the 210,000-acre Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area and surrounding public lands would be available to

A developer is seeking federal approval for air space for a 650-foot-tall roller coaster on the Las Vegas Strip. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that U.S. Thrill Rides LLC submitted plans to the Federal Aviation Administration in April for the ride it calls the Polercoaster. The application shows the tower at the Tropicana Las Vegas

Some of the biggest demonstrations since the end of Brazil’s 1964-85 dictatorship broke out across this continent-sized country, with more expected Tuesday, protests uniting multitudes frustrated by poor transportation, health services, education and security despite a heavy tax burden. Mostly peaceful protests in at least eight big cities drew large crowds, and local news media

The parents of a man who died when his car burst into flames during a Border Patrol chase in San Diego County is suing the government for wrongful death. Twenty-five-year-old Alex Martin of Texas died in March of 2012. Authorities say Border Patrol agents saw him driving the wrong way on Interstate 8 near Pine

The Palm Springs International ShortFest & Short Film Market will get underway Today. More than 300 films will be screened at the 19th annual festival, which runs through June 24 at Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs. The festival will include shorts from 49 countries and 70 world premieres, 55 North American premieres and 14 U.S.

Riverside County supervisors today tentativelyapproved a “fragile” $4.7 billion budget for fiscal year 2013-14, holding offon full implementation of the financial blueprint until the county’s yearendbalance sheet is clearer. The Board of Supervisors is slated to formally adopt the budget on Sept.10. “We’re using one-time money where appropriate (to balance thebudget),” county Chief Financial Officer

Los Angeles may be joining the battle against the bag. City News Service says the City Council is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to ban stores from handing out single-use plastic bags. They’d also be required to charge 10 cents for paper bags. The law would take effect next year. Supporters say the plastic

Gusty west winds are expected to blow through theCoachella Valley today. “A trough of low pressure will move inland across central Californialate today and tonight,” according to the National Weather Service. “Thistrough will bring gusty west winds through the San Gorgonio Pass and into thenorthern section of the Coachella Valley. Wind gusts in excess of

Timothy Bench left the Larson Justice Center after what he calls the hardest two weeks of his life. “Oh definitely. The most difficult thing. It’s going to be with me for a long time,” juror Timothy Bench said. The jury returned verdicts of guilty on all counts against Yolanda Guadalupe Pena in the brutal murder

Learning to share, make friends and how to wash your hands are the basic building blocks that all begin in Head Start. We met 3-year-old Diego Moreno outside Agua Caliente Elementary School with his backpack on, already geared up for his first day in the preschool program come August. His mom, Esmerelda, says the perks

La Corte Suprema de Estados Unidos fall el lunes que los estados no pueden obligar a los votantes potenciales a demostrar que son ciudadanos antes de empadronarse en un sistema federal diseado para facilitar ese proceso. Los magistrados votaron 7-2 a fin de anular una norma para los votantes aprobada en Arizona para que los

Timothy Bradley has never lost a professional boxing match. He is 30-0 and the WBO welterweight champion of the world, yet he still fights to win the respect of boxing fans. “If you can’t say that I’ll do something, I will prove it to you,” Bradley said. “That’s my motivation. That’s my fuel to my

A billboard designed by a local eighth-graderwill be unveiled in Cathedral City tomorrow. Nellie Coffman Middle School student Alecea Lerma won LamarAdvertising’s “Help Shape the Community” contest, and her drawing will beunveiled on a billboard Tuesday morning on Date Palm Drive just south of VistaChino. The ceremony is scheduled for 8 a.m. Palm Springs Unified

Walter Lee Williams, a former California professor wanted for the alleged sexual exploitation of children and traveling abroad to engage in illicit sex acts with children, was added to the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list Monday. Williams has lived in Palm Springs, California, and has traveled extensively in the Philippines and has reportedly lived