Month: July 2013

California officials are recommending allowing a major expansion of the largest hazardous waste dump in the western United States, even though some residents blame the dump for birth defects. The California Department of Toxic Substances Control announced on Tuesday that it has issued a draft expansion permit that would allow the landfill near Kettleman City

Egypt’s military has drawn up a plan to suspend the Islamist-backed constitution, dissolve the Islamist-dominated legislature and set up an interim administration headed by the country’s chief justice if President Mohammed Morsi fails to reach a solution with his opponents by the end of a Wednesday deadline, the state news agency reported. The report Tuesday

Three people were injured today when a small Bobcat tractor rolled 500 feet down a hill in Temecula, a county fire department spokesman said. The accident was reported about 9:10 a.m. at Via Industria and Rio Nedo Road. Three patients were transported to a hospital, one with moderate injuries and the other two with minor

A four-alarm fire damaged a storage complex inMoreno Valley today and left six firefighters with minor injuries. The blaze was reported about 9:50 a.m. in the 16300 block of PerrisBoulevard, Riverside County Fire Department spokesman Mark Annas said. Eighty firefighters had the blaze contained by 1:30 p.m., Annas said.There was no immediate word on what

SunLine general managerC. Mikel Oglesby resigned Monday on the heels of an investigation into a “personnel issue” Oglesby himself requested. To recap, Oglesby was placed on administrative leave May 22, a short time after SunLine failed to complete an audit in time, causing over $800,000in state funding to be withheld until the audit was completed.

A noninjury fire in a single-family house in Indio displaced three people this morning. Thirty-one firefighters responded to the blaze, which was reported at 4:07 a.m. in the 82200 block of Bliss Avenue, said Mark Annas of the Riverside County Fire Department. They had the flames knocked down by about 4:30 a.m., he said. The

The California Highway Patrol today reminded motorists that Fourth of July celebrants need to drive sober and obey all traffic laws — or face steep fines and possible jail time. The CHP’s Inland Empire division will be conducting a “maximum enforcement period” from 6 p.m. Wednesday to 11:59 p.m. Sunday. “We want the public to

A convicted arsonist has been arrested on suspicion of setting fires in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The Riverside Press-Enterprise says 47-year-old Steven Rutherford was arrested on Friday at his parents’ home in Banning. He remains jailed Tuesday on $5 million bail. Authorities say Rutherford was arrested on suspicion of arson of a structure or

Riverside County supervisors will consider today whether to move ahead with leasing more than three-dozen dormant and active county-owned and -operated landfills to boost revenue to the general fund. According to Department of Waste Management documents, the county envisions setting up long-term leases with private interests that will take control of dump sites “in exchange

Closing the Duroville mobile home park has been almost four years in the making. In 2009, a District Court Judge declared the site a public health and safety hazard. But, even after months of county offered assistance, several families are still struggling to find a new home. Monica Tellas is a development specialist with Riverside

More than 180 cats and dogs at the Animal Care Center of Indio are without a permanent home and in need of a loving one more than ever. As of Monday, due to a lack of funding the dilapidated center on Van Buren Street stopped taking in stray animals, preparing to close for good. Now

As more details surface about the deadly Yarnell Hill fire in Arizona, the mourning continues. Two of the 19 firefighters killed when a wall of flame overwhelmed them as they battled a wildfire in southern Arizona were Hemet natives, relatives and friends confirmed. Chris MacKenzie and Billy Warnenke, both in their 20s, died Sunday near

The interest rate on Federal Stafford Loans doubled from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent Monday when Congress failed to act to keep the rates low. The change will affect seven million college students nationwide, including some in the Coachella Valley. “I really don’t want to go into debt,” said Breanna Gianos, an incoming freshman who

A 27-year-old woman suspected of breaking into a Palm Springs residence while armed with a gun was behind bars today. Renee Diane Alway of Palm Springs was arrested shortly before 2:30 p.m. Friday, after someone reported a “suspicious female” in the area and arriving officers found an open back door at a residence in the

Two of the 19 firefighters killed when a wall of flame overwhelmed them as they battled a wildfire in southern Arizona were Hemet natives, relatives and friends confirmed today. Chris MacKenzie and Billy Warneke, both in their 20s, died Sunday near Yarnell, Ariz., while deployed with fellow firefighters from the Granite Mountain hotshots. The crew

“I, Dan, take thee, Ernest.” Dan Ianneo and his partner, Ernest Brune, finally got to get married, after what they say feels like a lifetime together. “I’m excited. I can’t believe I’m doing this after 40 years,” Ianneo said. They joined the surge of other same-sex couples tying the knot Monday morning – the first

A 27-year-old woman was behind bars today on suspicion of driving a pickup truck into a Palm Springs residence and then fleeing the scene. Minica Starr Murrell of Palm Springs was arrested around 2:40 p.m. Sunday at Bon Air Drive and Corazon Avenue, about a half-hour after the crash was reported in the 300 block

The National Weather Service says California’s Death Valley National Park tentatively recorded a high temperature of 129 degrees on Sunday, which would tie the all-time June record high for the United States. The weather service’s Las Vegas office on Monday posted to its website a photo of a Park Service thermometer showing the mercury on

The immigration debate is shifting to the Republican-led House, where lawmakers have shown little appetite for the large-scale, comprehensive approach their Senate colleagues embraced last week. The Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said Sunday that any attempt at comprehensive immigration legislation cannot offer a “special pathway to citizenship” for those in the United