News

Authorities have raided the homes of Moreno Valley’s mayor and City Council members in a corruption probe. The Riverside Press-Enterprise says a task force of federal and local agents served search warrants Tuesday on the homes of Mayor Tom Owings, all four other council members and a real estate agent. They also raided a developer’s

An entertainment group affiliated with the LosAngeles Galaxy will perform and play against local coaches at the firstSoccerfest in Palm Desert next week, it was announced today. The Galaxy Futboleros will participate in the free May 7 event hosted byDesert United Soccer Club at the Palm Desert Soccer Complex. The Futboleros,who provide pre-game and halftime

Twenty years ago today, CERN (yes, the same CERN that runs the Large Hadron Collider) published the information that made the technology behind the World Wide Web free to use by anyone, anywhere. The World Wide Web was invented by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, and his push to publish the technology on a royalty-free basis transformed

The Cyndi Lauper-scored “Kinky Boots” has earned a leading 13 Tony Award nominations, with the British import “Matilda: The Musical” close behind with 12. “Kinky Boots” is based on the 2005 British movie about a real-life shoe factory that struggles until it finds new life in fetish footwear. Lauper’s songs and a story by Harvey

The parents of a boy who was arrested for selling marijuana at a Riverside County high school claim he was the victim of discrimination because he’s autistic. The Riverside Press-Enterprise says the parents filed a claim for damages last week against the Temecula Valley Unified School District. They can sue if it’s rejected. Their son

Bills to halt hydraulic fracturing in California pending a review of environmental and health impacts have passed their first legislative hurdle. The Assembly Natural Resources Committee advanced three measures Monday that would prohibit fracking temporarily. The drilling technique involves blasting water, sand and chemicals into deep rock formations to release oil or natural gas. The

Food can be the safest form of medicine or the slowest form of poison. Katie Thoma picks her poison every three weeks. “I don’t want to sit in a restaurant and wait an hour. You can sometimes pick healthy choices. They have the calories up there. But, it’s not he best option, I agree,” Katie

Riverside County’s unfunded pension obligations now exceed $1 billion, but reforms to the county’s pension system are beginning to pay off, according to a report that the Board of Supervisors will review today. The Pension Advisory Review Committee’s 47-page study of county retirement IOUs highlighted what lay ahead on the financial horizon, which has improved

NBA Center Jason Collins is the first male pro athlete from one of the four major American sports leagues to announce he’s gay. Collins’ revelation came on Sports Illustrated’s website where the magazine’s cover story for the May 6 issue was posted on Monday. In a first-person account, Collins, 34, talked about the difficulty of

Monday marks two weeks since the Boston Marathon bombings. Carlos Carballo, a teacher at Desert Hot Springs High School, took 14th place at the tragic marathon and says he’s thankful to be back home and working on vertical and complementary freshman angles with his freshmen algebra class. “When I came back the following Monday, students

More than 200 desert democrats turned out Sunday for the “Activist of the Year Luncheon” at the Palm Springs Renaissance Hotel. The event awarded honorees Greg Rodriguez Activist of the Year and Betty McMillion the Lifetime Achievement Award. The crowd, looking to the future, awaited a big announcement from State Assemblyman Manuel Perez. “I’m very

After about a week of deliberations, a jury has found a tribal member accused of killing a Palm Springs man, not guilty of premeditated murder. It’s been a long road, Candace Duran was first arrested nearly six years ago. Even though she will go to jail, her family is happy it’s finally over. “I am

Businesses wereevacuatedin Cathedral City Monday afternoon after a car collided with a natural gas Burrtec garbage truck, near the corner on Highway 111 and Date Palm Drive. According to Cathedral City Fire, the accident happened just after 3:30 p.m. when a sedan reportedly hit the side of the natural gas garbage truck, while both were

For 28 years, Doraliz Rodriguez loved the view from her Indio home. “We used to see the fireworks from the fairgrounds and over there from Coachella. It was really cool growing up in a neighborhood where they had that kind of stuff,” Rodriguez said. Since 2010, the Fourth of July sky over the fairgrounds did

Bills seeking to place a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in California are receiving their first public hearing in a packed committee room. The Assembly Natural Resources Committee is hearing testimony Monday on three bills that would temporarily prohibit fracking. The drilling technique involves blasting water, sand and chemicals into deep rock formations to release oil

A Palm Springs woman was convicted of manslaughter todayfor stabbing her 40-year-old handyman in what her attorney described as an actof self-defense. Candace Rochelle Duran, 24, was originally charged with murder for theSept. 23, 2007, stabbing of Howard Villanueva at Duran’s home in the 29000block of Biskra Road, but jurors convicted her of the reduced

Border Patrol agents assigned to the Indio Station arrested a woman Sunday after she tried pass through the Highway 86 checkpoint with 10 pounds of methamphetamine. At around 8 p.m., the 43-year-old woman and her 16-year-old son reached the checkpoint and wereimmediatelymoved to a designated inspection area after a canine team deemed the vehicle suspicious.

A bill intended to eliminate a two-month delay in processing business paperwork in California is headed to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk. AB113 grants $1.6 million to the Secretary of State’s office to process a backlog of 122,000 applications. Businesses cannot hire employees until the office has processed the forms. The bill passed the Assembly on

Walmart announced today it will be hiring about 80 people to work at a relocating Walmart slated to open this summer in Yucca Valley. Those interested can complete applications at one of the three hiring kiosks inside the current store.Interested applicants may also apply online at careers.walmart.com. According to store manager Milagros Robinson, the store

The city attorney for Rancho Mirage and Desert HotSprings and a Riverside County deputy district attorney will give apresentation on the state’s open meetings law tomorrow. Attorney Steve Quintanilla and county Chief Deputy District AttorneyVicki Hightower will discuss “Transparency and Open Government” during a 1p.m. public meeting Tuesday in the Rancho Mirage’s council chamber at