Month: December 2013

A preliminary hearing is scheduled today for an 83-year-old jewel thief accused of stealing a $22,500 diamond ring from a Palm Desert store. Doris Marie Payne allegedly swiped the 3.5-carat ring Oct. 21 from El Paseo Jewelers. She pleaded not guilty on Nov. 5 to one felony count each of grand theft and burglary and

A San Diego man faces charges of operating a website that let people anonymously post explicit photographs of others, then extorting hundreds of dollars from the victims to remove the photographs. California Department of Justice agents arrested Kevin Christopher Bollaert on Tuesday. Bollaert, who is 27, is charged with 31 felony counts of conspiracy, identity

Several big changes are coming at the beginning of the year for those who use the SunLine Transit Agency to commute around the Valley. Route changes and scheduling changes will be made on January, 5, 2014, according to officials with the agency. View Route Changes Some of the big changes include a new route (Line

It’s the time of year people flock to desert to trade in snow for sunshine. “Winnipeg is very cold right now. It’s minus 25 degrees Celsius so you can understand why we’re here,” said Marian Campbell of Canada. “It’s tropical compared to where we’re from.” “I love Portland in the summer, but I love Palm

When Diane Choate shops at Brandinni Toffee in Rancho Mirage, she buys in bulk. “Six boxes of their toffee boxes, four tins for stocking stuffers,” Choate said. Faithfuls like Choate always loved Brandini, but when this summer’s Presidential Summit called for a special presidential toffee, “Since then it’s been really busy. People coming in for

Riverside County supervisors have signed off on a proposal to lift most restrictions that prevent food truck operators in the county from selling foods that are fried, barbecued, broiled and grilled, though operators will be prohibited from parking in some locations. Supervisor Kevin Jeffries in June proposed eliminating provisions in Ordinance No. 580, which limits

The Board of Supervisors approved a plan to obligate future Riverside County sales tax revenue generated at the Cabazon malls for increased law enforcement in the community and improvements along a 19-mile stretch of Interstate 10 that’s notorious for traffic jams. The Cabazon Community Revitalization Act introduced last month by Supervisors Marion Ashley and John

Con la develacin de un busto de Jenni Rivera, la sorpresiva presencia de su hermano Lupillo Rivera y alrededor de 15.000 personas coreando entre lgrimas sus xitos, se llev al cabo el evento “Jenni Vive” en la Arena Monterrey, mismo escenario donde la llamada Diva de la Banda se present un ao atrs, horas antes

A 46 year-old man has been charged with two counts of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter after killing a woman and a young girl who were waiting at a Riverside Transit Authority bus bench last December. According to an indictment released Monday, Joe D. Williams plead not guilty to all counts filed against him. The crash happened

Local law enforcement agencies took time to honor the lives of officers who paid the ultimate price to protect us. The “Blue Light Ceremony” is put on by Project Blue Light, a national recognition program through Concerns of Police Survivors, Inc. (COPS) to honor all peace officers slain in the line of duty. The tradition

For 25 years, plans have been in the works to make Fred Waring Drive a six-lane road, and all of it is, except for 0.65 miles between Adams Street and Port Maria Road in La Quinta. “The voters of Riverside County voted an extra half cent sales tax in 1988 or 1989 and one of

A new study finds that auto thefts have gone up significantly and other property crimes also have increased after California started a new program that has led to more jail inmates being released early. The study by the Public Policy Institute of California is the first independent review of crime trends driven by the state’s

KESQ/CBS Local 2 News is partnering with the California Highway Patrol to bring some holiday cheer to needy children in the Coachella Valley this season. The Chips for Kids Toy Drive aims to make sure all children have a Merry Christmas this year. We ask that you bring a new, unwrapped toy to any Walgreens

Authorities say a staff member has come down with meningitis at the University of California, Riverside, the fifth diagnosis of the bacterial illness within the UC system in recent months. The Riverside Press Enterprise reported Monday that the employee, who does not work directly with students, was diagnosed over the weekend. School officials say the

Eleanor Parker, a three-time Oscar nominee best known for her role as the baroness in “The Sound of Music,” died yesterday in Palm Springs. Parker died of pneumonia-related complications for which she was being treated by one of the local hospitals. She was 91. The native Ohioan, who studied at the Pasadena Playhouse before landing

California’s health insurance exchange has a backlog of 25,000 paper applications that must be processed by Dec. 23 for the applicants to get health insurance starting in the new year. Roy Kennedy, a spokesman for Covered California, said Monday some of the applications were from insurance agents who were unable to access the online portal

A fire ripped through a home just before 8 o’clock tonight on the 77 500 block of Alcot Circle, in the Whitehawk community of Palm Desert. No one was in the home at the time of the fire, according to fire crews. The first arriving engine company reported a well-established fire showing through the roof

Police are looking for a man they believe killed a woman in Sky Valley nearly six years ago. Edward Lee LeBlanc has been seen on America’s Most Wanted, and the victim’s sister is offering $25K to anyone with information that gets the murderer convicted and behind bars. LeBlanc, 33, is accused of murdering Kristin Miner

A man has been arrested in connection to a robbery that happened earlier this month off of Palm Drive in Desert Hot Springs. Officials with the Desert Hot Springs Police Department said Brandon Cortez-Hill, 22, was arrested with some help from the U.S. Marshal’s Office and the State Parole Office. Police were called to the

The overnight low temperature Monday night into Tuesday morning in Thermal was a record-low of 21 degrees. To protect their crops from frost, many farmers in Thermal and Mecca set fire to hay bales around their fields, warming the air around their fruits and vegetables. The South Coast Air Quality Management District allows farmers to