Author: KESQ

City News Service

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) – Housing affordability slightly improved in California in the fourth quarter of 2025, as moderating prices and cooling market competition lowered borrowing costs and allowed more Californians to qualify for mortgages, the California Association of Realtors announced today.

Eighteen percent of California households could afford to purchase the $869,300 median-priced home in the fourth quarter of 2025, up from 17% in third-quarter 2025 and 16% in fourth-quarter 2024, according to CAR.   

Those trends were mirrored in Riverside County, which improved to 24% from 23% in the third quarter, and from 21% in the fourth quarter of 2024. The numbers were identical for the Inland Empire region.  

CAR estimated the average monthly home payment including taxes and insurance in Riverside County was $3,880 in the fourth quarter, with a minimum qualifying income of $155,200.  

The statewide fourth-quarter 2025 figure is less than a third of the affordability index peak of 56% in the fourth quarter of 2012.   

Factors contributing to the decline include the effective interest rate dropping for the third consecutive quarter to its lowest level since third-quarter 2022. The average effective interest rate receded to 6.35% in fourth-quarter 2025 from 6.67% the previous quarter and was 41 basis points below the level 6.76% recorded a year earlier.   

Mortgage rates, which oscillated throughout the first six months of 2025 due partly to tariff-induced uncertainty, trended modestly lower in the second half of the year as the Federal Reserve’s expected rate cuts kick-started the decline.

The median price of an existing single-family home declined for the second straight quarter in the fourth quarter of 2025, falling 2.2% statewide as market competition cooled, typical for the year-end period.

Analysts said home prices should remain soft for the next couple of months but could rebound as the homebuying season begins in late March/early April.

Compared with California, 39% of the nation’s households could afford to purchase a $414,900 median-priced home, which required a minimum annual income of $101,600 to make monthly payments of $2,540, CAR said.

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Jesus Reyes

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – Splash House will return to Palm Springs for its 13th year in August.

The 2026 poolside music festival will be held on Aug 7-9 and Aug. 14-16. Organizers announced that the Hilton will replace the Riviera as a host hotel while it undergoes summer renovations. The Renaissance, Saguaro, and Air Museum will return as host sites.

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Presale for passes will open on Feb. 17 at 1 p.m. PT.

The lineup will be announced at a later date. In the past few years, the lineup has been released in June.

For passes and more information, visit splashhouse.com.

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Jesus Reyes

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – A 41-year-old man from Palmdale was arrested after allegedly stabbing a person early Tuesday morning in Palm Springs.

The incident was first reported just before 4 a.m. on the 600 block of S. Palm Canyon Drive.

According to the Palm Springs Police Department, the first responding officers found a man with a laceration to his head.

“The victim provided limited information, stating he had been attacked by an unknown male who fled northbound in a white pickup truck occupied by a male driver and a female passenger,” reads a PSPD news release.

Officers later found the suspect vehicle near N Indian Canyon Drive and W Tramview Road, according to jail records. Police determined that the driver had “injuries consistent with being involved in an altercation.”

The witness then assisted in identifying the driver as the suspect.

The suspect was booked at the John Benoit Detention Center in Indio. He faces an attempted homicide charge and a parole violation. Jail records show that he is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact the Palm Springs Police Department’s Investigative Services Division at (760) 323-8121. Those wishing to remain anonymous may contact Crime Stoppers at (760) 341-STOP (7867).

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City News Service

CATHEDRAL CITY (KESQ) – A free, weekly concert series will begin today and continue weekly through the end of next month at the Cathedral City Community Amphitheatre.

The third season of “Taste and Sounds” will be held from 5 to 7:30 p.m. every Tuesday through March 31 at 68526 Avenida Lalo Guerrero.   

The concert series began in February 2024 and has drawn crowds of more than 2,000 attendees to some performances.   

Attendees were encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets.   

“Taste and Sounds has truly become a passion project that’s exceeded every expectation,” Ryan Hunt, city’s communication and event manager, said in a statement. “Seeing thousands of people come together at our amphitheatre, watching families enjoy an evening together — it’s exactly what we envisioned when we started this journey. The community response has been incredible, and we’re just getting started.”  

To view the complete lineup of performances, visit https://tastesandsounds.discovercathedralcity.com/.

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Gavin Nguyen

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – The county announced the first confirmed measles case of the year in western Riverside County Monday evening.

Health officials with Riverside University Health System Public Health said the case involved a child who was not vaccinated for measles and had no recent history of international or out-of-state travel.

It comes amid other reported cases in Southern California. According to the state’s Department of Public Health, nine cases of measles have been confirmed in recent weeks in California. Measles in Orange, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino counties are included in that tally.

Local school districts, like Palm Springs Unified, said they have very high vaccination rates and no current cases. We’re speaking with district leaders on what’s being done to protect students and what their recommendations are to prevent potential spread in the valley’s youth.

Stay with us for the latest.

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Daniella Lake

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – For Black History Month, News Channel 3 will be spotlighting Black trailblazers and pioneers who’ve had a significant impact on the Coachella Valley. John Nobles was the first African American to own land in the Coachella Valley in the 1930s. Known as “Nobles Ranch,” the plot of land, which sits behind Indio Fashion Mall, had several homes belonging to African American families. Several families have fond memories of living on Nobles Ranch, including Troy Strange, Indio’s first Black city council member.

Leo Haynes was also a Black pioneer in the city, being one of the few Black business owners during his time. He owned the Indio Yellow Cab company for several years, and just last year, the city named the Indio Multi-Modal Transportation Center after Leo Haynes and his wife Nona Haynes. Leo Haynes was also a veteran and director of Teen Post for 54 years.

Stay with News Channel 3 to hear from Troy Strange about growing up on Nobles Ranch, as well as Leo Haynes’ daughter about his legacy.

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Jesus Reyes

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – A suspect wanted for a homicide in Alabama was arrested in Indio on Monday.

Arick Duwayne Christian, 51, of Troy, Alabama, was arrested on Avenue 42 on Monday at around 3 p.m., the Indio Police Department confirmed to News Channel 3.

Christian was wanted in connection with a deadly shooting in Troy, Alabama on Jan. 21, 2023. Two people were injured in a shooting, including a 29-year-old man who died at the scene.

According to county jail records, Christian was booked into jail at around 5:30 p.m.

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City News Service

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) – A man involved in carjacking and killing a 24-year-old was convicted of murder and other charges, while the jury for his alleged conspirator, a Desert Hot Springs resident, was unable to reach a unanimous verdict, resulting in a mistrial, court records confirmed Monday.

Trezell Lamone Heckard, 30, of Vallejo was convicted Friday of first-degree murder, robbery, carjacking, burglary and a special circumstance allegation of killing in the course of a burglary for the 2022 slaying of Benjamin Chanes. Jurors hung on separate special circumstance allegations of killing during a kidnapping and killing during a robbery.   

A separate jury weighing the fate of Heckard’s co-defendant, 27-year- old Qevon Xavier Harvey of Desert Hot Springs, informed Riverside County Superior Court Judge Charles Koosed Friday that after a week of deliberations, a unanimous verdict could not be reached on the same allegations. Koosed declared a mistrial in Harvey’s case. A retrial status conference is set for Wednesday at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

Heckard is due for sentencing on April 24. He’s being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility. Harvey is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center.

A third alleged conspirator, Anthony Antoine Wright, 33, of Indio is also accused in the killing. Like Heckard and Harvey, he’s also charged with murder, carjacking, kidnapping and burglary, along with special circumstance allegations of killing in the course of a robbery, killing in the course of a kidnapping and killing in the course of a burglary.   

Wright is additionally charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations. Trial proceedings for him are tentatively set to start Wednesday. He’s being held without bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center.

According to an arrest warrant declaration filed by the Riverside Police Department, on the afternoon of March 6, 2022, Chanes and his girlfriend, identified in documents only as “N.D.,” were returning to Riverside from Los Angeles in her vehicle, with him at the wheel, when they came to a stop in an unfamiliar area after exiting the freeway and were immediately approached by one of the defendants, allegedly wielding a handgun.  

“The Black male approached the driver’s side and ordered Benjamin out at gunpoint,” the affidavit stated.

Chanes complied, at which point “additional Black males told (N.D.) to get out of the car, and they took her to another waiting vehicle and told her to keep her head down. She did what she was told.”   

The woman later informed Robbery-Homicide Unit detectives that Chanes was seated in her car, while she was forced to drive with several of the defendants in their vehicle, a 2011 Chevrolet Impala. The trip lasted 15 minutes, after which both vehicles were parked outside the Boulder Creek Apartment Complex on Iowa Avenue, according to the declaration.   

Police alleged the defendants hustled Chanes and N.D. into the victim’s apartment, pushing the woman into a closet, then demanding to know from Chanes “where the money was” kept. For about 10 minutes, the defendants ransacked the apartment, with N.D. in the closet, unable to see where her boyfriend was being held, the affidavit alleged.   

Chanes abruptly bolted from the apartment when the men were distracted, but they gave chase, according to police. While he was attempting to run away, Wright allegedly opened fire on the victim, inflicting multiple gunshots to his back, causing Chanes to collapse on the sidewalk, according to the affidavit.  

The young man died a short time later at Riverside Community Hospital.   

The defendants fled in the woman’s vehicle, leaving behind their own Chevrolet sedan, police alleged.  

N.D., who was not injured, emerged from the closet and called 911 moments after the gunfire.

Detectives gathered fingerprint and other evidence from the Chevrolet, leading them to one of the defendants’ social media accounts, in which revelations about the shooting ultimately came to light, according to the affidavit.  

The men were arrested at different times over an 18-month span.   

Their co-defendant, Kahlin Cynque Erwin, 30, of Pittsburgh, Calif., pleaded guilty in 2024 to kidnapping and is due for sentencing on June 8. He’s free on a $55,000 bond.

Details regarding his and Wright’s prior convictions were unavailable.

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Jesus Reyes

COACHELLA, Calif. (KESQ) – Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies detained two suspects after a vehicle pursuit and search near Bagdouma Park in Coachella Monday afternoon.

The incident started just before 4 p.m. in the area of Cesar Chavez Street and Avenue 54.

Authorities said deputies saw a wanted subject in a vehicle. They attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver failed to yield, and a pursuit was initiated.

The pursuit ended when the vehicle came to a stop in the 51000 block of Duoma Street. One subject ran from the area, and one subject was detained at the scene. 

Deputies searched for the subject who fled. Several viewers called the newsroom to report a helicopter circling the area near Bagdouma Park.

The second suspect was located on Frederick Street and Avenue 52, authorities confirmed.

There was no information available on the suspects’ identities or what the subject was originally wanted for.

Stay with News Channel 3 for any new developments.

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City News Service

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – Overnight construction work this week will prompt a road closure on Jackson Street in Indio, it was announced today.   

Crews will perform trench repairs to stabilize the roadway and complete final paving following earlier settlement repairs, officials said.   

The closure is scheduled from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday through Wednesday on Jackson Street between Highway 111 and Civic Center Drive.   

Detours will be in place as follows:   — Northbound Jackson Street traffic will turn left onto Highway 111, right onto Smurr Street, right onto Civic Center Drive and left back onto Jackson Street; and   — Southbound Jackson Street traffic will turn right onto Civic Center Drive, left at the traffic signal onto Highway 111 and right back onto Jackson Street.

Motorists were advised to allow extra travel time and use alternate routes when possible.

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