News

PALM SPRINGS – One day after a fire killed a Palm Springsfamily, surviving loved ones mourn their loss. “Right now the family is trying to make it through this second, looking beyond that is impossible right now,” says Alexia Vidal, sister of the mother who died in the fire. Early New Year’s morning a fire

INDIAN WELLS – Indian Wells Police are looking for suspects involved in a home invasion robbery. It was reported just at 10:40 Saturday night on the 45000 block of Crow Circle. Officers entered the home there and found the homeowner who said he had been robbed by two men wearing ski masks. That’s the extent

INDIO – Police are reminding drivers to be extra careful out on the roads this holiday weekend. A DUI checkpoint was held in Indio Saturday night on Highway 111 just east of Doctor Carreon Boulevard. More than 500 vehicles went through the checkpoint. Police arrested one driver for DUI. Twentydrivers were cited for driving with

LA QUINTA – Police arrested 11 drivers Friday night and Saturday morning as a result of a drunken drivers checkpoint operation, officials said. The checkpoint took place from 8 p.m. Friday through 2 a.m. Saturday on Highway 111 between Adams Street and Auto Center Drive, according to Riverside County sheriff’s Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez. Out of

All over the desert, police continue to crackdown on drunk drivers this holiday weekend. During a sobriety checkpoint in Indian Wells, which beganSaturday night and ended Sunday morning, police screened more than 870 vehicles. One driver was arrested for driving under the influence, while six others were arrested for driving without a valid license. At

MORENO VALLEY – A vegetation fire broke out Sunday in the rugged hills known as the Badlands between Moreno Valley and Beaumont, causing one freeway to be briefly closed, the CHP reported. The fire broke out at about 1:30 p.m. near the summit of a winding, hilly stretch of the Moreno Valley (60) Freeway, and

PALM SPRINGS -With the great weather, and a three-day weekend, lots of people had the same idea of how they wanted to spend their Saturday. So many people wanted to head up the Palm Springs Aerial Tram that there was a line nearlythree hours long. The tram’s parking lot filled up quickly, so traffic was

PALM SPRINGS – Autopsies were pending today on three children and two adults who died in a mobile home fire in an unincorporated area northwest of Palm Springs. The deadly New Year’s Day fire at 150 Oregon Trail in the Western Village Mobile Home Park was reported at 5:16 a.m., authorities said. The family members

SAN JACINTO – A man broke into a San Jacinto homeFriday and assaulted a woman, according to the sheriff’s department. The woman reported that a man broke a window to get into her home in the 1300 block of Beringer Drive around 6:30 a.m. Arriving San Jacinto police saw a man fleeing the rear of

PALM DESERT – People are searching the grocery store aisles looking for happiness, luck and fortune. Different cultures believe certain foods can make for a good year ahead. Italians eat items resembling coins, like raisins and lentils. The Dutch believe anything shaped like a ring is lucky, symbolizing coming full circle and completing a year.

WASHINGTON -Mother Teresa and actress Katherine Hepburn are among those who will be honored on postage stamps in the new year. The 2010 stamp program will also include singing cowboy and Palm Springs legend Gene Autry, Pulitzer Prize winner Bill Mauldin, artist Winslow Homer and Adm. Arleigh Burke. The Negro baseball leagues and the Hawaiian

PALM SPRINGS -A Coachella Valley man was stabbed in a New Year’s Eve fight, but is expected to recover from his injuries, police said. The stabbing happened just before 9 p.m. Thursday on the 17200 Block of Keith Street in the North Palm Springs area, according to Riverside County sheriff’s Sgt. Tom Brewster. The victim

COACHELLA VALLEY – Starting December 31, the Automobile Club of Southern California will offer free towing in an attempt to keep drunken drivers off the road during the New Year’s holiday. Motorists, bartenders, restaurant managers, party hosts or passengers of a drinking driver can call (800) 400-4AAA for a free tow to the driver’s residence

COACHELLA VALLEY – Taxi rides will be provided to anyone in the Coachella Valley who may have had too much to drink and might exceed the legal alcohol limit. The taxi rides will be provided one-way, from the place of pickup at the business establishment, to the passenger’s residence or final destination. Rides are not

HEMET -Investigators with the Hemet/San Jacinto Valley Gang Task Force narrowly escaped unscathed today when they noticed their office flooded with natural gas in an apparently deliberate attempt to cause a deadly explosion, police said. Investigators entering the nondescript building in the 500 block of St. John Place smelled the gas about 8:30 a.m., Hemet

RIVERSIDE -A 51-year-old Catholic bishop pleaded not guilty today to felony charges stemming from the alleged sale of drugs out of his Home Gardens church. Bail was set at $250,000 for Bishop Anthony Martinez Garduno, who also made headlines in September, when he was shot outside Our Lady of Tepeyac during a robbery attempt. He

KESQ.com News Services INDIO -Attorneys for two men accused of robbing around 30 people during a crime spree in the Coachella Valley told jurors today not to assume the defendants are guilty because of the number of counts against them. George Gomez Jr. and Raul Pardo Avina, both 36, are each charged with 33 felony

PASADENA -The streets of Pasadena are filling up as people from around the world gather to see the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year’s Day. But before millions of spectators along the parade route and at home get to pick their favorite floats, the judges will pick the trophy winners. Wildlife expert Jack Hanna

PALM DESERT -We’re learning about a man arrested during a police search that saw some residents of a Palm Desert neighborhood told to stay in their homes. Police served a warrant on the 72-800 block ofPitahaya Street near Highway 74 yesterday afternoon. We now know 18-year-old Erick Moreno was living there. Police say he beat