Month: September 2025

Gavin Nguyen

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – The valley’s Jewish population is ushering in a sweeter new year. Rosh Hashanah is the holiday that marks the start of the new year in Judaism.

Faith leaders of Jewish congregations in Palm Springs gave sermons when the holiday began Tuesday, with a smaller number of such services on Wednesday. It’s a part of the Jewish High Holidays – a period that will come to a close with Yom Kippur on the evening of October 1st this year.

Many took the time to reflect on the past year and usher in a “sweeter” new year, though some acknowledged that the holiday takes on added meaning in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

David Bent is the ba’al tekiah at Temple Isaiah in Palm Springs – a role in which he blows the shofar, a horn from a kosher animal like a ram. On Wednesday, he told News Channel 3, “We always keep Israel in our thoughts. You can’t separate the people from the land.”

In reference to the shofar, he continued, “It connects us from generation to generation. It is the same sound heard in every school, every synagogue. And we want every hostage home and we want to make sure that everybody knows. We remember those that have been fought and died.”

The worshipers who gathered at Temple Isaiah said they were using the holiday to reflect. They also hoped others would be able to realize that despite our differences, we’re all human.

The guest rabbi who gave sermons through Rosh Hashanah at Temple Isaiah, Rabbi Marc Rubenstein, offered his thoughts: “The world is upside down right now full of problems, but most of them are caused by man. And we can’t blame God for what’s happening in man’s endeavors.”

He continued, “You can’t fix the world, but you certainly can fix yourself. So in my sermon, I talked about the act of kindness, of being kind to people.”

Rabbi David Lazar, of Or Hamidbar, another congregation based in Palm Springs, also blew the shofar throughout Rosh Hashanah. He regularly finds families with children who don’t want to sit still for an hours-long service, instead offering to visit and entertain the kids with his long, heavy kudu horn.

He said in his sermons through the holiday, he and fellow worshipers adopted new prayers as the conflict continues in Gaza. One prayer is critical of the current Israeli government, while the other urges compassion for Palestinians worldwide.

“This particular moment of stress and tension and violence between Jewish Israelis and Palestinians and those that are of the opinion – the same opinion as myself – believe that there needs to be coexistence,” Rabbi Lazar explained.

He recognized that the country has been shattered by violence in the past year, and the environment has been broken by humans. Despite what he called a shattered state of the world, he offered this hopeful message for Rosh Hashanah: “My message this year to the community was we need to look at ourselves, how we are broken human beings and how we may even be shattered. But there is the potential of coming back together.”

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City News Service

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – Two young men accused of killing a 13-year-old Cathedral City boy in a gang-related drive-by shooting pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other charges in court on Wednesday.

James Ian Carter, 19, and Christian Arturo Milward Ildefonso, 18, were arrested last month following a Cathedral City Police Department investigation into the slaying of Alan Martinez.

Along with murder, both defendants are charged with criminal street gang activity, special circumstance allegations of perpetrating a murder for the benefit of a criminal street gang and shooting a victim from a moving vehicle, as well as sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.

Each man is being held without bail — Carter at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta, and Ildefonso at the Benoit Detention Center in Indio.  They are scheduled to return to court on Nov. 17.

According to police, the attack happened just after 8 p.m. on Aug. 13 at the intersection of Whispering Palms and Mission Indian trails.   

Alan was walking with two friends on Whispering Palms when the defendants pulled alongside in a dark-colored sedan and engaged them, according to police Commander Jon Enos, who further said that within seconds, gunfire erupted from the vehicle, and Alan was hit and collapsed onto the street. His companions escaped injury, running away.

The car sped off as witnesses called 911, according to Enos.   

Paramedics arrived minutes later and attempted resuscitative measures, but Alan perished at the scene.

In the ensuing days, homicide detectives garnered sufficient evidence to identify the defendants as the alleged perpetrators. They were tracked to a residence on Genesee Cove in San Diego, where they were taken into custody without incident on Aug. 18.

Neither man has documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County adult court.

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City News Service

PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) – Cal State San Bernardino’s Palm Desert campus announced the establishment of a presidential fellows program today honoring former President Gerald Ford, becoming the first California university to join the program.

The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Fellows Program aims to provide students with advanced leadership and mentorship opportunities, and will seek applicants who embody the values of the 38th president of the United States, who called Rancho Mirage home after he left office. Officials said those values included civic engagement, ethical leadership and bipartisan cooperation.   

The program is open to any major at any level of education. Applicants must join a student organization registered with the Office of Student Leadership and Engagement, and will need to accrue 10 points during the candidacy semester in three categories of participation: regular meeting attendance, event attendance and service.

Step two is becoming a fellow and maintaining that status, including accruing seven additional points every semester and networking with the program’s community, according to organizers.

Those selected will engage in leadership training workshops, public service projects in the Coachella Valley, training in civil dialogue and bipartisan cooperation, one-on-one mentorship from community leaders, seminars, lectures and hands-on experiences with diverse communities, officials said.

“Becoming the only California chapter of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Fellows Program underscores our commitment to preparing the next generation of ethical leaders and engaged citizens,” said Kevin Grisham, professor of global studies and faculty advisor of the program on campus.

Other education institutions involved in the program include the University of Michigan, Hope College in Michigan and Middle Tennessee State University. Ford was originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

“Grand Rapids and the Coachella Valley are bounded together by President Ford’s legacy of hard work, public service, personal integrity, bipartisan cooperation and courageous action,” officials said.

As of Wednesday, the program was going through the chartering process. It was not immediately clear when it will start or what the deadline will be to apply.

More information can be obtained by contacting kgrisham@csusb.edu, or 909-537-8276.

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