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PALM DESERT – City Council members at Thursday night’s Palm Desert City Council meeting moved forward with the idea of making changes to the City’s Travel and Reimbursement policy. The possible changes come after a News Channel 3 investigation reviewed some questionable spending by Councilman Jim Ferguson. Councilmember Furguson was absent from Thursday night’s city

PALM DESERT – Deputy Christian Talavera is now on paid administrative leave while authorities investigateallegations that heraped a teenaged girl. The deputy does not face any criminal charges at this time. But, these claims are now at the center of another rape trial Deputy Talavera was set to testify in. Talavera has only been on

PALM DESERT -News Channel 3 has been getting calls from parents worried about cases of the swine flu in our local schools. Here’s what we can tell you: Desert Sands Unified School District leaders say they have had students with confirmed cases; however, this should not cause panic. Once a student shows flu-like symptoms, they

INDIAN WELLS — More than 600 of the valley’s government and business leaders watched the unveiling of a plan aimed at adding more than 8,900 jobs to the desert by 2016. The Coachella Valley Economic Partnership and Desert Lyceum came up the plan. If it works, it could add jobs in healthcare, renewable energy and

TheFood and Drug administration is cracking down on product labels promising that the food you buy is healthy. Specifically, the FDA is taking a closer look at the Smart Choices program. Products ranging from General Mills’ Cocoa Puffs and Kelloggs Fruit Loops are stamped with the Smart Choices logo. Friday, News Channel 3 learned that

PALM DESERT – Students at College of the Desert are sleeping in boxes Friday night. It’s all part of the Phi Theta Kappa’s ” Homeless Camp.” Students want toraise awareness about the plight of homelessness here in the valley. Over the past couple years many shelters and food banks have seen a huge increase in

PALM DESERT – Heirloom tomatoes are just one of Brian Desborough’s specialties he grows at the Santa Rosa garden. “I’m growing butternut squash, you can store these at room temperature for weeks,” says Desborough. This is one of nearly 200 plots in Palm Desert’s community garden program.A program so popular, there has been a waiting

PALM SPRINGS – The City of Palm Springs is going green and they want you to do the same.As part of the”YourSustainableCity” celebration, Wednesday nightelectric cars were featured during the neighborhood rally at City Hall. The events sponsored by KESQ News Channel 3 are aimed at providing residents green solutions for everyday problems. At the

RIVERSIDE – Riverside County residents whose finances are strained, leaving them without the means to pay rent or mortgage payments, may qualify for assistance under a federal program intended to prevent homelessness, county officials announced. The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development has allocated $4.2 million to Riverside County as part of HUD’s “Homeless

PALM SPRINGS – Firefighters’ quick action stopped an air conditioner fire from spreading at Confessions Nightclub in Palm Springs, thursday evening. The fire broke out about 4:45pm on the roof of the building, prompting the sprinklers inside to go off, and filling the nightclub with smoke. None of the neighboring businesses were affected. It took

INDIO – Opening statements wrapped up and testimony has begun in the trial of a reputed gang member accused of gunning down a man in a driveway during a robbery in Cathedral City. Miguel Valdivia Najera, 28, faces charges of first-degree murder, robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm in the May

RIVERSIDE – The Riverside County Economic Development Agency says it will use more than $4 million to help prevent troubled families and residents from losing their rental homes and apartments, heading offhomelessness. The money is part of the president’s recovery money. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is administering the funding through its

INDIO- A woman accused of stealing more than $100,000 from a La Quinta soccer league says she didn’t do it. News Channel 3 confronted her face to face when this story broke in July. Thursday, we asked hermore tough questions after she pleaded not guilty in court. We approached Sharon Schumaier in the hallway of

RIVERSIDE – New numbers out on Thursday show a sharp rise in the number of Swine Flu cases in Riverside County. Last week, 105 probable cases had been reported to the county. This week, the number surged to 130 probable cases. To make matters worse, doctors have confirmed 815 cases of H1N1 infection in the

LA QUINTA – Students at Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle School are “going green.” Thursday,they began work on their school garden. This is one assignment students at Colonel Mitchell Paige want to do: their very own garden. “I was really excited because this is the first time i’ve actually been gardening,” said sixth grade student Grabriella

LA QUINTA – State lawmakers are still working on a deal to improve California’s aging and substandard water system. But it’s already being done here in the desert. The Coachella Valley Water District has unveiled its third major ground water replenishment facility,named after a former water district General Manager Thomas Levy. In his 30 years