News

Furlough Fridays are back on for thousands of state employees. They were on hold, but the California Supreme Court lifted a restraining order that prevented Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger from imposing them. The furloughs will affect nearly 150,000 state workers, but they are expected to save the state about $150 million a month. Schwarzenegger says the

Fire officicals say a small brush fire in the foothills south of Banning may have been started by someone who was target shooting. The fire started just after noon on Thursday near Old Idyllwild Road. Fire officials say it burned six to eight acres in a canyon that is often used for illegal shooting. “This

Indio police evacuated a senior health care living facility, this afternoon, as fire crews battled a 2-alarm fire in the attic, according to cal Fire. The fire was reported just before 2 p.m. at the Desert Springs Health Care Facility at 82260 Valencia Road in Indio, formerly the Valencia Palms Nursing Home. Valencia Road and

Desert Hot Springs is thinking about the future of their fire services. They want to save money but that might take hiring some help. The city’s current contract with Cal Fire ends next summer. While leaders are pleased with the service and don’t want to make any immediate changes, they want to look for ways

Cathedral City police are looking for a man who mugged someone at a local gas station. Investigators say a man was robbed at the Shell gas station on the 34000 block of Date Palm Drive around 10:40 p.m. on Thursday. The suspect was described as Hispanic, 20-to-25 years old, armed with a gun. He was

Authorities say a wildfire in the Angeles National Forest has spurred evacuations after surging to 80 acres within one hour. Forest service dispatcher Sonia Valdivia says the blaze, which is now dubbed the Lago Vista Fire, in northeast Los Angeles County near the town of Valyermo started Friday at about 3 p.m. She says evacuations

A woman linked to a killing with alleged satanic overtones in a Palm Springs condominium will appear in court Oct. 1 for a preliminary hearing, a judge decided today. Cara Williams-Covert, 38, of Ventura, has pleaded not guilty to first- degree murder stemming from the Nov. 13 slaying of Larry Roger Fisk, 57, of Apple

A fire that blackened 25 acres of chaparral-carpeted slopes near the Cleveland National Forest above Wildomar was fully contained today. The blaze was reported just before 8 p.m. Thursday near 21384 Coral Rock Lane, said Cheri Patterson of the Riverside County Fire Department. Four structures near Wildomar were threatened Thursday night, but firefighters were able

Two people who had their licenses suspended or revoked during court hearings today in Murrieta were subsequently caught behind the wheel and had their vehicles impounded as a result, authorities said. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department conducted a sting operation between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the Southwest Detention Center to nab defendants who

A woman wearing nothing but pasties from the waist up made a definite statement on the streets of Palm Springs on Friday. At the corner of Palm Canyon Drive and Tahquitz Canyon Way, she and a small group of others were protesting the use of animal skins in footwear. Some of them carried signs reading,

About a dozen Southern California Edison customers were still without power on Friday morning after a power outage that started at 6 p.m. on Thursday, according to the company’s website. At one point more than 1,700 customers were without electricity during the outage, which the company blames on equipment failure. Temperatures this afternoon were expected

El prximo de Agosto un carril con rumbo al sur de Date Palm Drive ser cerrado al trnsito ya que Southern California Edison estar llevando a cabo trabajos de mantenimiento. Y del 30 de Agosto al 3 de Septiembre el flujo vehicular se reducir a un carril en Palm Canyon Drive y Prez Road debido

Seis programas para jvenes del Valle de Coachella se vern beneficiados por un total de $10 mil dlares por parte de la iniciativa ?Construyendo Comunidades Serias?. Se trata de: ?Coachella Police Departament ?Boy?s & Girls Club de Coachella ?Esperanza Youth & Family Center ?Coachella Valley Housing Collition ?Coachella Youth Sports Association

Citing evidence that a 34-year-old defendant found guilty in a fatal shooting “was attacked first” by the victim, an Indio judge today reduced a Cathedral City man’s first-degree murder conviction to voluntary manslaughter. But Riverside County Superior Court Judge David Downing denied a request by Carlos Gregory Diaz’s attorney to reduce the conviction even further

California showed few signs of economic recovery last month as the state’s unemployment rate remained stagnant at 12.3 percent. The state Employment Development Department said Friday that the jobless rate in July was unchanged from the previous month. The jobless figure is a half-percent higher than the unemployment rate for July 2009. For the second

Trever Leach of Thousand Palms has been racing for three years in California desert races and has been a spectator for 10. He’s worried the Bureau of Land Management might put more restrictions on desert races. Leach said, “Maybe this will get more people to volunteer. That’s the real problem; there aren’t enough people volunteering

Two big rigs crashed early today on eastbound Interstate 10 east of Coachella, spilling about 50 gallons of diesel fuel and prompting the closure of the slow lane. The crash was reported at 1:33 a.m. on the interstate near the Cactus City Rest Stop, according to the California Highway Patrol. A hazardous-materials team was on

Republican senatorial nominee Carly Fiorina told a Riverside crowd today that if elected, she would work to end the cycle of “more debt, more borrowing and more spending of taxpayer money.” Fiorina was the guest speaker at a Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce luncheon held in the Riverside Convention Center, where 300 to 400 people

Dental assistants Britney Green and Alanna Bird didn’t know what they were getting themselves into when their boss Dr. Rob Strain asked them to go hiking. “At first, he didn’t explain too much,” said Bird. “He was just like, ‘Hey, do you guys want to go on a hike?’ Um…sure.” Green added: “He just said

An abandoned lodge that caught fire in Palm Springs on Monday afternoon, shutting down a portion of Ramon Road was ruled as “intentionally set” by investigators on Thursday.. The Clara Bee Lodge fire started at around 5:10 p.m. in the 300 block of Ramon Road near Calle Encilia. Ramon at Calle El Segundo and East