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I-Team

CVUSD Superintendent discusses multi-million dollar budget shortfall

The Coachella Valley Unified School District is set to tackle a projected $60 million budget shortfall tonight — as the school board meets to discuss laying off between 170 and 225 employees across its 23 campuses. The Coachella Valley Teachers Association– crying fowl– saying those cuts will “negatively impact students with the most needs.” Earlier

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I-Team: Knowing your rights ahead of proposed mass deportations

President Trump signed executive orders involving immigration after promising the “largest deportation program in American history.” Some of the Coachella Valley’s population of undocumented farm workers are worried about what comes next.   According to the New American Economy Research Fund, immigrants make up more than 80 percent of California’s agricultural workforce.  Here on the Coachella Valley’s

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EXCLUSIVE: Woman acquitted of all charges in the murders of two valley friends shares her story

The pursuit of justice continues over seven years after the disappearance of two friends in the Coachella Valley.  Jonathan Reynoso and Audrey Moran disappeared on May 10, 2017.    Click here for complete coverage on this case In November, Adilene Castaneda was acquitted of all charges against her.  Her co-defendant, Aaron Bernal, was acquitted of murder while

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Broken Budget: CVUSD leaders plan $44 million in budget cuts to prevent deficit and state takeover

Out of money. That will be the case for The Coachella Valley Unified School District if leaders don’t cut spending dramatically, according to a financial warning from the Riverside County Office of Education. News Channel 3 has secured the first interview with the District’s Superintendent Dr. Francis Esparza since learning of the $44 million budget hole. I-Team Investigator Jeff Stahl

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I-Team: Elderly parole pushback

California is looking for more ways to thin out the prison population. One way is elderly parole consideration. If an inmate is 50 years old and has served 20 consecutive years of their sentence, they could be eligible. This state law affects victims who were previously told their offenders would never be released. “Never did

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I-Team Exclusive: Palm Springs Mayor Pro Tem, others named in Christy Holstege public records request

Check Out Peter’s full, in-depth interview with Mayor Pro Tem Ron deHarte Palm Springs Mayor Pro Tem Ron deHarte and several others were recently named in a public records request from councilmember Christy Holstege. They said she is targeting them in light of the Riverside County District Attorney’s investigation into whether Holstege has been living

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Local leaders say valley’s post-Hilary air quality concerns require study and outside help to identify solutions

Local leaders say the Coachella Valley is dealing with a new type of air quality concern following Tropical Storm Hilary that devastated areas of the desert a year ago on August 20, 2023. Riverside County 4th District Supervisor V. Manuel Perez said, “This issue is larger than just AQMD. I need people to understand this.” Perez is

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I-Team: Theft for Hire

Thousands of dollars of personal belongings stolen after a valley resident used a service she thought she could trust. “I didn’t think I had to worry about that” News Channel 3 I-Team investigator Peter Daut goes deeper into the ongoing investigation. Watch the special report Theft for Hire, Thursday at 6:00 p.m. on News Channel

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Up in Flames: Lessons Learned

News Channel 3 often reports on house fires. Now, one man is sharing his story about rebuilding his life after losing everything in a fire nearly two years ago in the La Quinta Cove. News Channel 3’s John White brings you the story of Joseph Hern who we first met in August of 2022 when

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Fentanyl Crisis: Border Control

The Fentanyl Crisis. News Channel 3 I-Team investigator Karen Devine’s intensive investigation into a local border checkpoint. “We are the front line against dangerous drugs and from people entering the communities,” said U.S. Border Patrol Agent Harvey Nunez, who is stationed at the Highway 86 immigration checkpoint. Nunez says this checkpoint identifies more smugglers and

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Understand costs and other impacts of Talus La Quinta with online Timeline as troubled project faces next city deadline

Confusion comes to mind for many people when thinking about the twists and turns of La Quinta’s Talus luxury resort project.  Sunday is the latest big deadline facing the mountainside development, initially named SilverRock Resort but rebranded in 2022 due to years of delays. Instead of a prosperous job and tax-generating resort, Talus is an unfinished collection of roads and buildings wrapped in

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I-Team: Foreclosure auction delayed for TALUS La Quinta’s resort land. Parcels set to be sold to satisfy loan obligations

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly included the on-screen logo of Silver Rock Development Inc. It has no affiliation with the SilverRock Development Company, LLC, Robert Greene, or any associated companies. Some of the partially developed land at the City of La Quinta’s TALUS luxury resort development was set to be sold at auction

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I-Team investigation ‘Half a Year After Hilary’ reveals continued struggles and lessons learned

An I-Team investigation reveals the daily struggles some Cathedral City residents still say they face six months after Tropical Storm Hilary and their reactions to the city’s storm response.   “So at this point, we’re still living out of bins in our bedrooms and in our bathroom,” said Beatrice Toledo whose Cathedral City home was flooded by a mudflow

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I-Team: Hazardous Haze poses threat to Coachella Valley’s health and economy

Coachella Valley air quality has diminished dramatically since the end of August due to the impacts of Tropical Storm Hilary. Local experts now say they are worried about the valley’s wind-borne dust problem, which has intensified since the storm, and whether this could become a permanent hazard to our health and local economy. Riverside County Supervisor Manuel Perez

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I-Team: Local 911 connection failures concern local emergency operations managers now working to prevent future outages

It was a dramatic 911 call during Tropical Storm Hilary. An emergency dispatcher’s “Hello” was answered by a caller’s panic. A man shouting, “The house is getting flooded!” That call in Cathedral City August got through despite traditional 911 connections being down throughout the Coachella Valley during the height of the storm. We all know to

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I-Team: Long-delayed TALUS La Quinta luxury resort development still searching for financing as city talks litigation

The City of La Quinta’s long-delayed TALUS luxury resort development remains in limbo as money troubles continue to plague the Robert Green Company project. Formerly known as SilverRock, TALUS missed the city’s latest 60-day mid-July deadline to secure its financing and present a plan to move forward with construction. Without a financing breakthrough, the project could be headed toward litigation. It’s a topic

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