Victims of Festival of Lights Parade crash officially file lawsuit against Palm Springs

KESQ on November 21, 2025

Jesus Reyes

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – Victims injured in a police motorcycle crash during the 2024 Palm Springs Festival of Lights Parade have officially filed a lawsuit against the city, the police department, and multiple officials.

Formica Law Group filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of California, County of Riverside, on behalf of 15 victims of the crash, which includes children, seniors, and families.

The crash happened on December 7, 2024. Palm Springs police motorcycles led the Festival of Lights Parade through downtown. The department’s administrative review found officers performed unauthorized stunts, including “bumping up” their front wheels. One officer lost control, and his motorcycle slid into the crowd, injuring 11.

“This is a serious issue that left 15 people with lifelong conditions to battle,” said Formica. “This lawsuit aims to ensure that the victims and what they have suffered are addressed and that no tragedies like this happen ever again.”

Formica Law Group said the lawsuit names the City of Palm Springs, the Palm Springs Police Department, Chief Andrew Mills, Mayor Jeffrey Bernstein and Officer Kenny Merenda, among others, as defendants. It reserves the right to add additional parties as the case proceeds.

“That annual parade is once again upon us, on December 6th, and we have yet to see any changes or specifics of what is being implemented differently this year to ensure safety,” said Stefano Formica of Formica Law Group in Los Angeles. “As a result of last year’s incident, plaintiffs have sustained lifelong and consequential physical, emotional, and psychological injuries and damages.”

Attorneys said the lawsuit claims that the devastating injuries sustained were a result of a systematic failure occurring over several years that was known to City officials who failed to act to ensure the safety of its citizens.

“The specific allegations include negligence, dangerous conditions on public property, a failure to discharge a mandatory duty, and a lack of foresight in planning the parade. Additionally, the district attorney failed to press charges when any other civilian would have been in custody and charged with multiple felonies,” reads a news release by Formica Law Group.

The California Highway Patrol investigated the incident and turned its findings over the prosecutors, who declined to file charges.

The Palm Springs Police Department released an administrative review in August, citing unauthorized maneuvers dating back years, supervisory inaction, “mission drift” from safety to entertainment, breakdowns in communication, and officer fatigue tied to overtime.

PSPD announced multiple reforms in the wake of the crash, including:

Banning dangerous maneuvers at parades and public events

Limiting all event vehicles to 15 mph

Stronger command and supervision at large gatherings

Creating a full-time special events supervisor

Fatigue management protocols and retraining on incident command

In September, Formica told News Channel 3’s Garrett Hottle that while the reforms sound like progress, they have not been implemented.

“It’s just a statement right now,” he said. “Several of the individuals that were involved are back at work. If this were an ordinary person on a motorcycle, we’d be talking about arrests and potential jail time.”

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New Device Unveiled At Cal Poly Expo In Honor Of Late Graduate

KEYT on November 21, 2025

Jarrod Zinn

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (KEYT) – A senior project expo at Cal Poly on Friday unveiled a number of innovations including a portable carbon monoxide sensor.

This was a little more than your ordinary senior project.

A legacy foundation was established after the passing of a Cal Poly graduate and his girlfriend.

The foundation funded a senior design project in their honor.

Cal Poly computer science graduate Johnny Heathco and his girlfriend Abby Lutz were vacationing at a 5-star resort in Mexico during the summer of 2023 and passed away from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Courtesy: John Wesley Heathco Legacy Foundation

“My son and his girlfriend had a suite,” says Chuck Heathco, JWH Legacy Foundation’s co-founder. “They had carbon monoxide alarms, but they turned them off because they were beeping and they were annoying the guests.”

After establishing the John Wesley Heathco Legacy Foundation, Johnny’s parents approached the university, and adjunct Cal Poly professor Dennis Mikel in turn approached his students, adding the request to the roster of possible senior projects.

“We selected our team,” says Zeke Bukovansky, a fifth-year mechanical engineering student at Cal Poly. “We gathered and then chose our project based on what the team was interested in.”

Four students who now call themselves the Carbon Canaries stepped up, and they formally unveiled their new portable carbon monoxide detector here at the expo.

“That originally was derived from canaries that they would send in to the coal mine to make sure there was no carbon monoxide,” says Bukanovsky. “You know, if the canary didn’t come back here, then the mine was was dangerous and they would stop mining operations.”

The device is designed to attach to travel beverage tumblers, and emit an alarm when unhealthy co levels are detected.

“There are probably millions of people walking around right now being slowly poisoned that may be working in an office 8 hours a day that has a very low leak, no alarm,” says Heathco. “They have no idea other than maybe going home with a headache.”

Johnny’s father and co-creator of the legacy foundation says the device is currently in the midst of a patent process, but the prototype was displayed at the campus expo on Friday.

The foundation also supports the “Safe Stay Act” congressional legislation.

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Local Donations Deliver Hot Meals and Fill Shelves for Thanksgiving Week

KEYT on November 21, 2025

John Palminteri

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – The Thanksgiving week has come a week early for many people.

The United Boys & Girls Club of Santa Barbara County served about 1000 meals at its clubs with the final dinner Friday night in Goleta.

The meals are prepared at the Westside Club kitchen and delivered. This week meals have also been served already in Carpinteria, Lompoc, Westside Santa Barbara.

Each one is a hot turkey dinner with thick cuts of turkey, along with corn, stuffing, salad, dessert and a beverage.

Staff members, volunteers, members of the Rotary have all been involved in the set up, serving and clean up.

This is an annual tradition for the clubs and they do it prior to Thanksgiving week when many of the families are out of the area or have other plans.

“We look forward to this event every year to be able to celebrate our kids and our families, and to really to let them know that we are grateful for them,” said interim United Boys & Girls Club Director  Christie Rojo.

The need has been growing in all areas. “We’re super grateful to all of our donors who have donated to our Zero Hunger Program. We have an amazing food program team that works hard every day to really comfort food insecurity in our community. Now more than ever, we need to gather together around our families, around our children to make sure that they have nutritious meals every day,” she said.

Many of the kids in the program are also on the food programs at their schools that enable them to have nutritious food while on campus. This dinner extends that food security to them, their families and their neighbors thanks to support from financial donors small and large. “Unfortunately, we’re living in times where, we have people that are still, going to bed hungry every night. We really take that seriously. And it is our call to action to be able to feed our kids every day in our club.”

Also in the spirit of the season, Girls Incorporated of Greater Santa Barbara has had a food drive with non perishables. Flyers have been up and a video is on social media. The public has responded with many items in a large collection bin at the doorway.

Tiana Garcia is a Program Facilitator with Girls Inc. and says, ” they’ve really felt very passionate about helping the unhoused community. So we organized this food drive. They made fliers. They’ve been putting the fliers up around the community. “

Emme  Lelevier -Joseph said, “we were going to help, save the planet or help the homeless shelter. And we all agreed on helping the homeless shelter, because a bunch of us feel bad that the holidays coming up and nobody has any food to eat. So we decided to donate canned food to help them.”

.   Two of the organizers said they had a marketing plan too and it worked.

Emma Moseley  said when the posters were done, “we gave some to our classes at school.”

Garcia said, “we’re going to take it to the, women’s portion of the Santa Barbara Rescue mission. And we’re going to drop it off right before the holidays so that they can, you know, get a little nice meal for Thanksgiving. “

The drop off for the Rescue Mission will be Monday and the collection continues all weekend at the door of Girls Inc. where they may get a second box.

It will also include one other item.

Garcia said, “I definitely want to have the girls write a letter to them so they can see, like, where this all came from and how much they really care about the the whole community.”

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News Channel 12 Turkey Drive receives outpouring of generous community support

KEYT on November 21, 2025

Dave Alley

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT)- The News Channel 12 Turkey Drive concluded on Thursday with generous outpouring of community support throughout the Central Coast.

The annual fundraiser supports clients at Good Samaritan Shelter and SLO Food Bank. Beginning on Oct. 20, 2025 and concluding on Nov. 20, its traditional grand finale featured generous support at in-person drop-off locations.

Beginning at 6:00 a.m. and running through 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, donations rolled during the 13-hour time period.

There were three collection sites this year, including the News Channel 3-12 Santa Maria office, Grocery Outlet Bargain Market in Lompoc and the SLO Food Bank headquarters San Luis Obispo.

Preliminary numbers show more than 400 turkeys were donated on the final day and approximately $35,000 was raised through financial contributions.

A final dollar amount raised won’t be known until early December when SLO Food Bank receives the total amount of Turkey Bucks sold at several participating local grocery stores.

Turkey Bucks will continue to be sold through month of November at California Fresh Market in Pismo Beach and San Luis Obispo and Grocery Outlet Bargain Market in Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo and Los Osos.

While the drive may have officially ended, there is actually still time to donate. 

Click here to visit the official News Channel 12 Turkey Drive webpage.

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Griffon soccer falls in opening round of NCAA Tournament to Washburn

News-Press NOW on November 21, 2025

Patrick Holleron

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The quest for an NCAA Division ll championship will have to wait another year for Missouri Western soccer.

The No. 5 seed Griffons (12-2-7) fell to the No. 4 seed Washburn Ichabods (11-3-5) 2-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Mankato, Minnesota.

The Griffons were able to stifle the Ichabods until the 32-minute mark when freshman forward Kate Hinck scored off an assist from teammates Leah Henke and Grace Peterson, staking Washburn to a 1-0 lead.

The score would remain 1-0 until the 64th minute in the 2nd half, with Henke making it 2-0 on an assist from sophomore Sam Searcey.

The Griffons were unable to get in the scoring column despite multiple shots on goal, including two attempts from Rosemary Pujado, Kendall Knisley and Rachyl Benavides.

The loss ends an impressive season for the Griffons, who made their second consecutive NCAA Tournament and won their first MIAA Tournament Championship last Saturday against Central Oklahoma.

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Greater Palm Springs celebrates excellence in tourism and hospitality at the 2025 Champions of Hospitality Awards Gala

KESQ on November 21, 2025

Jesus Reyes

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – More than 900 tourism and hospitality leaders gathered Thursday night at the Palm Springs Convention Center for the annual Champions of Hospitality Awards Gala, a signature celebration honoring the workforce that powers Greater Palm Springs’ number one industry.

The program this year received 285 nominations from hospitality partners across all nine cities of the destination—underscoring the depth, diversity, and enduring strength of the region’s tourism workforce.

Hosted by Visit Greater Palm Springs and supported by the Greater Palm Springs Tourism Foundation, the gala recognized employees, organizations, and emerging leaders who exemplify exceptional service, innovation, sustainability, and community impact.

“Tourism is the heartbeat of our region,” said Scott White, President & CEO of Visit Greater Palm Springs. “Each nominee and honoree represents the dedication, creativity, and spirit that makes our destination one of the most welcoming and inspiring places in California. We are proud to celebrate the individuals who elevate the visitor experience every single day.”

INVESTING IN THE FUTURE OF HOSPITALITY: SCHOLARSHIP RECOGNITION

In addition to industry awards, the evening highlighted the next generation of hospitality professionals through scholarships presented by the Greater Palm Springs Tourism Foundation. Students from both the Coachella Valley High School Hospitality Academy and OneFuture Coachella Valley were recognized on stage, along with the recipient of the Tony Bruggemans Memorial Scholarship.

Coachella Valley High School Hospitality Academy Scholarship Recipients

Melanie Carranza Solorzano

Alessandro Frias-Dominguez

Deseray Merez-Perez

Erick Morales-Serrano

Sebastian Ramirez

OneFuture Coachella Valley Scholarship Recipients

Christopher Bravo Lopez

George Cabrera

David Flores

Brenda Franco Alcala

Ashley Garcia

Sebastian Jaimes-Miranda

Melanie Martinez-Chavez

Diego Rendon

Jacquelinee Sandoval

Tony Bruggemans Memorial Scholarship Recipient

Edith Alcala

CHAMPIONS OF HOSPITALITY AWARDS

Oasis Award (Sustainability)Recognizes leadership in eco-friendly, sustainable practices.

Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians

Santa Rosa Impact Award (DEIA)Honors excellence in advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.

Grand Hyatt Indian Wells Resort & Villas

HOSPITALITY AWARDSRestaurant | Bar Champions

Mary Bongard, Hunters Palm Springs

Francisco Castellanos, Chez Pierre

Oscar Cortes, Lulu California Bistro

Emma Vasquez-Lopez, Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs

Attractions | Tours Champions

Janet Baker, Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert

Jackie Cameron, Drag & Fly Tours

Alfredo Garcia, BMW Performance Center West

Retail Champion

Taryn Gemmell, Azure Palm Hot Springs Resort & Day Spa Oasis – TheBoutique

Wellness | Spa Champion

Amy Kuschel, Sensei Porcupine Creek

Venue Champion

Luis Rosas, Desert Champions, LLC

Vacation Rental Champions

Ashley Bastardi, Palm Desert Vacation Properties

Amanda Benzra-Turner, Acme House Company

Boutique or Hot Spring Hotel Champion

Melanie Quinones, The Spring Resort & Spa

Select Service Hotel Champions

Alfredo Bolanos, Hampton Inn & Suites Indio

Rosa Resendiz de Cervantes, Courtyard by Marriott Palm Springs

Full-Service Hotel Champions

Pablo Aguiar, Hilton Palm Springs

Ken Starr Jr., The Dunes Palm Springs

Resort Hotel Champions

Guadalupe de la Cruz, JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa

Josef Escher, La Quinta Resort & Club

Erika Escobar Flores, Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa

Belinda Espinoza, Thompson Palm Springs

David Giraud, The Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort & Spa

Norby Gonzalez, Avalon Hotel & Bungalows Palm Springs

Branden Joven, Parker Palm Springs

Yessica Puga, Doubletree by Hilton Golf Resort Palm Springs

PALM AWARD – VISITOR EXPERIENCERecognizing outstanding guest service and memorable visitor experiences.

Diane Drucker, JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa

Eddy Estrada, Smarter Property Management

Santos Perez, Indio Taphouse

Richard (Kip) Serafin, Locations 760

Ashley Stein, Saffron Restaurant & Lounge

SAN JACINTO RISING STARSRecognizing emerging leaders with fewer than five years in the industry or under age 40.

David Arreguin, Tac/Quila

Hailey Chapman, The Reserve Club

Justin Godfrey, The Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage

Katrina Jordyn, La Quinta Cliffhouse

Jasmin Lora, Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa, Indian Wells

Yokli Oktavianto, Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs

Kayla Raffaelli, Acrisure Arena

Edgar Ramirez, Grand Hyatt Indian Wells Resort & Villas

SPIRIT OF TOURISM AWARDThe evening’s highest honor, presented to an individual or organization whose contributionshave significantly advanced tourism’s economic and cultural impact in Greater Palm Springs.

Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians

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Mt. Carmel gives 850 free turkeys to local military members

KRDO on November 21, 2025

Bradley Davis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – 850 military personnel and their families will eat well this Thanksgiving, and they’ll do so for free thanks to Mt. Carmel and their partners.

Mt. Carmel said the North Colorado Springs Rotary club donated $10,000 for turkeys and $5000 for gift cards, while the Colorado Springs branch of Veterans United provided bags of side dishes, as well as $6500 for turkeys.

“It’s a difficult time this year with the shutdowns and everything,” said Veterans United Branch Manager Alice Schnieder. “We really felt like we had to give our support.”

New this year, Mt. Carmel was able to distribute care package bags full of sides and stuffing in addition to the Turkeys. The new initiative will help military members feed their whole families without having to spend a dime at the store, as a Chaplain on Fort Carson said wallets continue to tighten.

“I think because of the little bit of the higher cost that we’re seeing at the grocery stores right now, this is definitely a big help,” Fort Carson Chaplain Jason Heneise said.

Mt. Carmel is facilitating the meal distribution to active duty military and their families on Fort Carson, Peterson and Schriever Space Force bases, and the Air Force Academy.

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Bonneville County man arrested on Felony Rape charges of 16-year-old

KIFI on November 21, 2025

Seth Ratliff

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — A 27-year-old Bonneville County man, Jose Luis Silvas, was arrested yesterday morning, November 20, 2025, and is facing a Felony Rape charge after being allegedly caught in the act of having sex with a 16-year-old girl.

Bonneville County Sheriff’s Deputies responded rapidly to a Rape in progress report at a home along 3750 E. shortly after 6:00 a.m. The original caller, who reported the incident, informed deputies they had walked into a bedroom and witnessed Silvas in the act with the minor.

While investigators learned the girl had allegedly consented to the sexual contact, due to her age (16), the contact falls under Idaho’s statutory definition of rape.

Silvas was taken into custody on the scene and subsequently transported to the Bonneville County Jail, where he was booked on the Felony Rape charge.

BCSO says Detectives are continuing to investigate the case, and no further information is available at this time.

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Thanksgiving meal costs are lower than last year, but by how much?

KESQ on November 21, 2025

Timothy Foster

PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) – With Thanksgiving just a week away, Coachella Valley shoppers are already filling grocery aisles and making tough choices as holiday food prices continue to pressure family budgets.

The American Farm Bureau Federation reports that the cost of a classic Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people is averaging $55.18 this year, a 5 percent decrease from 2024. The drop is mainly tied to lower retail prices for turkey, often the priciest item on the holiday table.

But even with the slight break, not everything is cheaper. Ingredients like sweet potatoes and frozen vegetables have seen noticeable price increases, creating challenges for families trying to keep their holiday spending under control.

Across the Coachella Valley, residents say they are feeling the mixed impact. Some are shopping earlier, visiting multiple stores for deals, or scaling back menu items. Others are planning potluck-style gatherings to share the cost.

As Thanksgiving approaches, the combination of modest price relief and rising costs for other staples continues to shape how families across the Coachella Valley prepare for the holiday.

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Grinch Scavenger Hunt Sweeps Santa Barbara

KEYT on November 21, 2025

Patricia Martellotti

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – A Grinch-themed scavenger hunt kicks off in Santa Barbara.

The Granada Theatre hid free Grinch movie tickets inside six local businesses.

Theater representatives — along with the Grinch — are sharing clues to help families and shoppers track down the vouchers throughout the weekend.

The event aims to bring playful holiday spirit to the community ahead of December’s screening of The Grinch.

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