Month: October 2025

Jesus Reyes

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (KESQ) – Former Rancho Mirage councilmember Dana Hobart has died at the age of 93, city officials confirmed.

Hobart was a member of the Rancho Mirage City Council since 2002. He served as the city’s mayor five times in those 19 years (2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2020).

Hobart has been a major influence in the city during his time on the city council. As the Rancho Mirage Chamber of Commerce noted, in his first year on the city council, Hobart initiated the move to eliminate all overhead electrical power lines throughout Rancho Mirage.

Other notable projects that Hobart was behind included:

He led the efforts to defeat Riverside County’s plan to eventually extend the City’s borders by 4,000 acres north of I-10, adjacent to Thousand Palms.

He was instrumental in solidifying the agreement with the Agua Caliente Tribe to annex their Casino and Hotel into the city, resulting in about $400,000 per year flowing to the City.

He eliminated employee “pension spiking” practices and reforming other pension and related benefits which continues to save the City significant sums in pension and other costs;

He led the efforts to completely discharge the City’s unfunded pension liability, which cost the City in excess of $500,000 per year in avoidable interest;

Hobart initiated the Rancho Mirage Observatory project

Mayor Ted Weill called Hobart “a pillar of Rancho Mirage, a man of vision, integrity, and extraordinary devotion.”

“His decades of service left a lasting imprint on our city through thoughtful leadership and a genuine love for the people he served,” Weill wrote in a tribute to Hobart.

Read Mayor Weill’s Full Tribute to Dana Hobart Below:

Yesterday, our city lost not only a dedicated public servant, but also a cherished friend.

Dana Hobart was a pillar of Rancho Mirage, a man of vision, integrity, and extraordinary devotion. His decades of service left a lasting imprint on our city through thoughtful leadership and a genuine love for the people he served. From guiding the undergrounding of utility lines to strengthening our financial foundation, and from championing cultural landmarks like the Observatory and Amphitheater to supporting community spaces such as the Rancho Mirage Dog Park, Dana helped shape a future we are proud to call our own.

To me, however, Dana was more than a leader. He was a mentor and a friend.

Our friendship grew over many years, through countless conversations and a shared belief in public service. Dana recognized something in me long before I saw it in myself. With quiet persistence and sincerity, he encouraged me to serve. His faith and guidance were the spark that led me to run for City Council and, eventually, to serve alongside him.

Working with Dana was one of the greatest privileges of my life. His passion was contagious, his intellect unmatched, and his principles unshakable. Even when faced with difficult choices, he led with humility and the conviction that government must always serve its people.

Dana’s legacy is etched into the very fabric of Rancho Mirage, but it also lives on in the leaders he inspired, the friendships he built, and the example he set.

Dana, thank you for your guidance, your encouragement, your friendship, and your lifelong commitment to this city we both love. Rancho Mirage is better because of you, and I am better for having known you.

You will be deeply missed, my friend. Rest in peace.

— Mayor Ted Weill

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Gavin Nguyen

JOSHUA TREE, Calif. (KESQ) – Conservation groups are asking visitors to leave no trace in Joshua Tree National Park as the park continues to be impacted by the effects of the government shutdown.

The Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) is a nonprofit in Joshua Tree that works to protect the desert landscape. Ahead of the shutdown, a big concern from locals was that irresponsible visitors to the park could damage the landscape, which happened during the last shutdown at the end of 2018.

So far, the organization told News Channel 3 that there have been no reports of damage. “Visitors are being asked to follow Leave No Trace principles and to always recreate responsibly,” said a spokesperson with MDLT.

The organization took to social media with the same message last week.

News Channel 3 is speaking with MDLT and other organizations in the area as the shutdown approaches the one week mark. Stay with us for the latest.

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City News Service

LOS ANGELES (KESQ) – A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s order to send hundreds of California National Guard troops to Portland to replace troops from Oregon’s National Guard after the same judge blocked that deployment.

U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, an appointee of Trump’s from his first term, said the order basically flouted her original ruling from Saturday, in which she shot down the president’s argument that crime in Portland was out of control and necessitated a federal response.

“How could bringing in federalized National Guard from California not be in direct contravention of the TRO that I issued yesterday?” she asked an attorney from the U.S. Justice Department.

Immergut said the order violated a federal statute and the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which divides power between the federal government and the states.

The ruling also prevents the use of troops from any other state in Oregon.   

Gov. Gavin Newsom, who challenged Trump’s order in court, celebrated the ruling.

“BREAKING: We just won in court — again,” Newsom posted Sunday on X. “A federal judge BLOCKED Donald Trump’s unlawful attempt to DEPLOY 300 OF OUR NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS TO PORTLAND.

“The court granted our request for a Temporary Restraining Order — HALTING ANY FEDERALIZATION, RELOCATION, OR DEPLOYMENT of ANY GUARD MEMBERS TO OREGON FROM ANY STATE.

“Trump’s abuse of power won’t stand.”   

Earlier this year, Trump deployed California National Guard troops to Los Angeles to help protect federal facilities after violence broke out in June in response to the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. That move was assailed as unnecessary and provocative by Newsom and top Democratic officials in Los Angeles, including Mayor Karen Bass, and is also being challenged in court.

The troops ordered to Portland were part of that Los Angeles deployment.   

Newsom had said the number of troops ordered to Portland was 300.   

“At the direction of the president, approximately 200 federalized members of the California National Guard are being reassigned from duty in the greater Los Angeles area to Portland, Oregon,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said before Sunday’s ruling.  

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said Sunday that about 100 California Guard troops had already arrived in Oregon and more were on the way.   

Trump ordered Oregon’s guard troops to Portland on Sept. 28 to help local law enforcement amid what he has described as a serious crime wave in that city. Local officials disputed the accuracy of that assessment, and on Saturday Immergut agreed, saying the city has seen relatively minor street protests that did not rise to the level of urgency characterized by Trump.   

“President Trump exercised his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following violent riots and attacks on law enforcement — we expect to be vindicated by a higher court,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said over the weekend.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller called Sunday’s ruling “one of the most egregious and thunderous violations of constitutional order we have ever seen. There is no legal distinction between a state volunteering guardsmen to guard the border and volunteering guardsmen to guard a federal immigration facility.”

Miller added. “Either we have a federal government, a supremacy clause, and a nation, or we don’t.”

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