News

INDIAN WELLS -Emirates, the award-winning global airline of the United Arab Emirates, has become a premier sponsor and the official airline of the BNP Paribas Open, the most attended tennis tournament in the world outside of the four major events, to be held March 8-21, 2010, at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, it was announced

SAN FRANCISCO -Testimony has ended in a federal case challenging California’s ban on same-sex marriage. Lawyers for the sponsors of Proposition 8 tentatively rested their case Wednesday after introducing materials from the 2008 election campaign. The trial is exploring whether states that deny gays and lesbians the right to wed are violating the U.S. Constitution.

BEAUMONT -A predawn crash today that killed a motorist and severely his passenger on state Route 79 near Beaumont was blamed on unsafe speed, the California Highway Patrol reported. The crash, north of County Landill Road, occurred about 3 a.m., according to CHP Officer Scott Beauchene. The driver was speeding south on the highway when

CHICAGO -All buildings on Northwestern University’s Chicago campus have reopened as of 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. The buildings were placed on lockdown after someone reported seeing a man with a gun on the 11th floor of the Rubloff Building, 375 East Chicago Avenue. Police searched the building and determined the building was safe. No one matching

WASHINGTON – ABC News has leared that one-time presidential contender John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth are now legally separated. The news comes after John admitted last week that he fathered a child with a former campaign worker while he was still married. ABC News is still working to find out more about the situation.

SAN FRANCISCO -Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iPad as the company’s “latest creation,” saying the tablet-style device is more intimate than a laptop. Jobs made the appearance Wednesday in his trademark jeans and black turtleneck and opened with a history and update on Apple mobile devices. No price or information on availability was immediately

SAN FRANCISCO -A political scientist testifying for the sponsors of California’s same-sex marriage measure acknowledges that gays and lesbians face significant discrimination in the workplace. Claremont McKenna College Professor Kenneth Miller said under cross-examination Tuesday that he did not know how frequently gay Americans are fired or harassed at work but assumed it happens often.

LOS ANGELES -Authorities are watching the hillsides in foothill communities as a new storm heads into Southern California. National Weather Service meteorologist Bonnie Bartling says a weak, cold storm front will arrive by early Tuesday afternoon but will only drop around a quarter-inch to an inch of rain. However, last week’s storms saturated slopes in

INDIAN WELLS – A small plane has crashed on Miles Avenue, just north of Washington. Two people were on board the plane at the time, and were transported to the trauma center at Desert Regional Medical Center with major injuries.For hours after the crash, trafficwas being diverted around the area. According to an eyewitness, John

PALM SPRINGS – The storms from last week caused floods and road closures all over the valley. It also made for some nice scenery, but is that snow in the distance something to worry about? “We do have close to 200 miles of flood control facilities,” says Jack Porrelli with the Coachella Valley Water District.

BRANCHBURG, N.J. -Authorities in central New Jersey have seized a cache of weapons and ammunition including rifles, a grenade launcher and a night vision scope from the motel room of a Virginia man. Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne Forrest says Lloyd R. Woodson, a 43-year-old from Reston, Va., also had maps of a U.S. military facility

KESQ.com News Services RIVERSIDE -The Riverside County Board of Supervisors is expected today to approve a contractor’s bid to reconfigure a frequently clogged freeway interchange in the Coachella Valley. Skanska USA, the North American subsidiary of a Stockholm-based construction company, was chosen from a total of nine firms that bid on the Palm Drive/Gene Autry

PALM SPRINGS -A Federal Aviation Administration safety investigator in on-hand today to inspect the wreckage of a small plane that crashed in Indian Wells to determine what caused the aircraft to lose power. The plane, which crashed around 3:30 p.m. Monday in a field near Washington Street and Miles Avenue, is being held in a

WICHITA, Kan. -Two California men aboard a plane that landed in the southeastern Kansas city of Liberal with more than 114 pounds of cocaine have pleaded guilty to federal drug trafficking charges. U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch announced Tuesday that 40-year-old Dean Bryan Moya and 31-year-old Richard Allen Vickery, both of Hemet, Calif., pleaded guilty to

TORRANCE -Toyota Motor Sales announced that it is instructing Toyota dealers to temporarily suspend sales of eight models involved in the recall for sticking accelerator pedal, announced on January 21, 2010. “Helping ensure the safety of our customers and restoring confidence in Toyota are very important to our company,” said Group Vice President and Toyota

PALM SPRINGS – A Beaumont man is behind bars, today, charged with trying to kill his girlfriend. The victim told police her boyfriend, 48-year-old Claude Sessoms, got into an argument with her, hit her in the face, and choked her. Afterward, the two got into the car and drove, where Sessoms allegedly threw her cellular

LOS ANGELES -A new Pacific storm has begun moving into Southern California, where the ground is saturated from rain that fell daily through most of last week. The National Weather Service says Tuesday’s storm will drop between a quarter-inch and 1 inch of rain, depending on location. Several inches of snow is expected in the

RIVERSIDE -The Riverside County Board of Supervisors today approved a contractor’s bid to reconfigure a frequently clogged freeway interchange in the Coachella Valley. Skanska USA, the North American subsidiary of a Stockholm-based construction company, was chosen from a total of nine firms that bid on the Palm Drive/Gene Autry Trail Interchange Improvement project. Skanska estimates

PALM DESERT – TheH.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation is committing $1-million for emergency and medical supplies to assist relief efforts in Haiti. The donation will be made to Eisenhower Medical Center, which is currently engaged in the relief effort through Eisenhower’s Emergency Physician Raul Ruiz, MD, MPP, MPH. Dr. Ruiz will facilitate the donation