Month: July 2013

A community blood drive will be held in Coachellatomorrow as part of the Coachella Valley Blood Drive Challenge, in whichresidents of the valley’s nine cities compete to donate the most blood at asingle event. The drive will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Coachella SeniorCenter, 1540 Seventh St. The inaugural Coachella

Every birth at The Living Desert is considered a royal event, and this time around proud parents Able and Penelope welcomed two princely ringtail cubs born on June 12th at the zoo. The male and female ringtail cubs add to the Zoo’s 400+ wildlife population. “We consider all of our zoo population royalty, so it’s

Felony charges were filed today against a 26-year-old Palm Springs man who allegedly targeted people for burglaries based ontheir ethnicity and sexual orientation. Paul Claudio Piermartiri was charged with three counts of burglary, withsentence-enhancing allegations of committing a felony because of the victim’srace. He is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon at the Larson JusticeCenter

A 4-year-old cat that stowed away in a container ship headed from Manila, Philippines, to Los Angeles is gaining weight and getting stronger after the trip without food or water left it near death. Los Angeles County animal control director Marcia Mayeda says the orange and white female cat was weak and frail after the

An autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow on thebody of a woman found dead at the scene of a fire at an abandoned Desert HotSprings residence, authorities said. The blaze was reported around 8:30 a.m. today at a boarded-up, 800-square-foot home in the 66200 block of Pierson Boulevard. The blaze wascontained 15 minutes later, Riverside County

A 19-year-old hiker who suffered non-life-threatening injuries was rescued from a trail near the Palm Springs AerialTramway, authorities said today. Deputies responded around 3:30 p.m. Monday to a report that the hiker,identified as Michael Newby of Palm Springs, injured himself and was unablemake it down the mountain on his own, said Riverside County sheriff’s Sgt.

Riverside County supervisors are expected to approve today a $400,000 loan to the cash-strapped Idyllwild Fire Protection District to cover personnel and other expenses that cannot be deferred until the state distributes the district’s share of property tax revenue. “This is something we’ve done for the past few years because of thedistrict’s budget situation,” Idyllwild

We caught 6 year olds Kayden and Chrissy trying to sneak a peek of their new teacher Tuesday. They’re no longer the smallest kids on the Cahuilla Elementary School campus because they’re entering the first grade. Chantelle Griggs says the girls just about ready for their first day back. “We went school shopping yesterday …

Huntington Beach police made eight arrests and will continue to look for offenders following about two hours of fights, vandalism and other violence at the end of the Van’s U.S. Open of Surfing, authorities said. City leaders, meanwhile, pledged to take a look at what happened to prevent a replay of this weekend’s rioting. Mayor

When disaster strikes, you may only have minutes to evacuate your home. “Everyone thinks family heirlooms, birth certificates, old wedding photos, but you also need to take into consideration important documents, bank account information, drivers license, auto registration. Things you might need while away from you home,” Andy Hansen of Hansen Financial said. We sat

A new Arco AMPM is coming soon to Indio. Construction officially kicked off Monday at the corner of Jefferson Street and Avenue 42, near I-10. The acre lot will consist of 10 gas pumps, a 3,000 square-foot store building and car wash, creating 25 jobs by Nov. 19 of this year. It’s not the only

Mary Bernadette Schwenn plead not guilty to 30 counts of failing to provide proper care and attention to the animals on her Sky Valley property. Authorities charge her with willfully subjecting her dogs and puppies to needless suffering. Many of the dogs died. Schwenn’s bail was set at 55 thousand dollars, and if she should

To most, the brown leaves on pepper trees means dead leaves, nothing unusual. Turns out it’s more than that, which is also nothing unusual. “It’s common in pepper trees. As they fail, most people aren’t replacing pepper trees with pepper trees,” Robert Downing, the landscape supervisor at Vintage Nursery, said. Downing told us the jelly-like

A big development for the gay and lesbian community, the Pope says people who are gay are our brothers. The head of the historically anti-homosexuality church says who is he to judge a gay person who follows God. The affects of his comments are being felt around the world and right here in the Desert.

Hombre que supuestamente supervisaba a varios nios esta tras las rejas por poner sus vidas en riesgo. El sbado por la tarde Pedro Rangel residente de Palm Desert, supuestamente vigilaba a tres menores de entre dos a seis aos, cuando uno de ellos cay en una piscina situada dentro del complejo de apartamentos, Taos Palms

The Mountain Fire was 99 percent contained today, twoweeks after it broke out due to electrical equipment failure on privateproperty northeast of Idyllwild. Fire officials expected the 182 personnel still working the smolderingfire to fill in all of the gaps by Tuesday, according to the U.S. ForestService. The fire has scorched 27,531 acres since it

A three-day nationwide operation focusing onunderage victims of prostitution — including raids in Los Angeles, Orange andRiverside Counties — resulted in about 150 arrests of alleged pimps and othersuspects and the recovery of 105 sexually exploited children, the FBI announcedtoday. The sweep took place in 76 cities and was carried out by the FBI inpartnership

A coalition of business, housing and local government leaders says a plan to rewrite California’s landmark environmental law could lead to more, not fewer, lawsuits. The influential group outlined its concerns to Democratic Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento in a letter obtained by The Associated Press. It includes the California Chamber of

A 26-year-old Palm Springs man suspected oftargeting people for burglaries based on their ethnicity and sexual orientationwas behind bars today. Paul Claudio Piermartiri, 26, was arrested shortly after 5:30 a.m.Friday at a local hospital, where he’d sought treatment for an injury. Earlierthat morning, a 49-year-old man told police he was sleeping in his residence inthe

Una residente de Palm Springs enfrenta cargos de DUI por manejar bajo la influencia de las drogas o alcohol, invadir carriles contrarios sobre el Hwy 111 e impactarse con un vehculo. El percance fue reportado a las 2:40 p.m. sobre el Hwy 111 y Paxton Road en Rancho Mirage, segn confirm el Sargento Aaron Eller