Author: KESQ

Garrett Hottle

DESERT HOT SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – Desert Hot Springs, long known as a hub for cannabis in the Coachella Valley, is making a dramatic move to help struggling dispensaries – cutting the city’s cannabis tax from 10% to 5%.

The proposal for the tax cut came as local cannabis businesses face rising pressure from high taxes, the illicit market, and dispensaries on tribal land that don’t face the same tax requirements.

“They struggle as every business does, you know, up and down,” Mayor Matas explained. “But for the most part, it stays strong. And, we have 5 or 6 that have been in business since day one, and they continue to be in business. And we want to make sure that we’re there to support them.”

At Tuesday’s city council meeting, Council members had the first reading of the ordinance that outlines the proposed tax cut. The Council voted unanimously to pass the ordinance pending a second reading and final adoption of the ordinance on May 6.

Cannabis dispensaries as whole are experiencing a bit of an industry lull, multiple cities across the Coachella Valley have recently taken steps to support the industry.

Desert Hot Springs Mayor Scott Matas says valley cities are competing to develop the best climate for the cannabis industry to survive. (KESQ).

“I mean, you you you always look at your region and you always look at the competitiveness between the cities. And most of the cities are lowering their rates right now,” Mayor Matas said.

Mayor Matas says competition is fierce in the industry right now, with new dispensaries opening up shop across the Golden State, and it’s the perfect time to take a hard look at things.

“You have a lot of dispensaries opening across the state of California,” he explained. “You have the local tribes that are getting involved in it. So it’s time for us to take a hard look. See, desert Hot Springs was really fortunate to pass a 1% sales tax in the last, election cycle. And so we were able to take in anywhere from would be an average, anywhere between 2 and 3 extra million dollars a year. So this is a perfect time for us to look at this in our budget cycle, and to be able to cut back if necessary.”

Mayor Matas and Desert Hot Springs are looked upon as trailblazers in the cannabis industry. Desert Hot Springs was the first city to open up a legalized operation in the state of California, said Mayor Matas.

But business owners say they’re paying nearly 40% in combined taxes between the city, county and state.

“You have to remember, we have a sales tax that we pay to Riverside County, said Abrahim Robbin, co-owner of the Inland Valley Therapeutic Healing Center, IVTHC, in Desert Hot Springs. “It’s 8.75%. Then you have an excise tax to the state of California, which is 15%. So when you add it all up, it’s a pretty significant amount.” 

Abrahim Robbin is co-owner of Inland Valley Therapeutic Healing Center in Desert Hot Springs. (KESQ)

Robbin says taxes coupled with the inability to compete with dispensaries on tribal reservations and the success of the illicit market are taking a toll on their ability to thrive.

“The state promised a lot of enforcement,” Robbin said. “If anything, all they’ve done is regulated our businesses that are legal and legitimate… and the people in the illicit markets have just been able to get slaps on the wrist. They close down shop. They reopen a couple of weeks later like nothing even happened.”

Mayor Matas doesn’t anticipate any issue in the rate cut being adopted.

“I think the city council is very supportive and unanimous in the fact that we should reduce it to 5%,” Mayor Matas explained. “I don’t think there’s going to be an issue passing this going forward.”

Gavin Nguyen

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. (KESQ) – A report released last month showed Californians lost $3.54 billion to cybercrime in the form of scams, fraud, and ransomware. 

While it’s easy to brush off this data and think you’d never fall victim to an online scam, one Cathedral City man, Bill Lewis, learned his lesson the hard way.

Just a couple of months ago, Lewis lost his pug, Betty Boop. He had adopted her two years ago when she was 11 years old.

With his precious pug gone, Lewis says he wasn’t quite ready for another. But when he was tagged under a post in a Facebook group he’s been a part of for several years, he reconsidered. Lewis says an administrator of the group, called “Pugs Up for Adoption,” was looking for someone to adopt a pug, named Leo, whose owner had recently died.

“When I saw that that post on Facebook and the guy gave me the story, you know, a dog that lost his owner and I lost my Betty Boop, it felt like it was a match,” Lewis recounts.

Lewis reached out to the seller, but recalls that when he talked it over with his husband, they made the decision to hold off on adopting the pup. But the seller begged him to reconsider, writing in messages, “I really thought your husband would be on board with the adoption” and “Really sad for Leo.” Feeling the pressure, Lewis agreed to move forward with the adoption.

The seller asked for $600 – $350 for the pug, and $250 for transportation. Lewis says he thought it was a reasonable price, explaining, “I didn’t know anything about this adoption. I’ve never done anything like this before. But it was on Facebook. I thought it was legitimate.”

“I was really, really excited. So I had Zelled him some money and he said, ‘All right, that’s great. Send in the confirmation screenshot.’ And he said, ‘Now we can discuss a delivery.'”

Everything was going smoothly up to this point. But when the day of the delivery came, something was off. Lewis received messages from the shipping company, which told him he had to pay $1,000 to purchase an air-conditioned crate to transport the pug. Alternatively, they said he could rent one for $800 and $750 would be refunded to him after he received the pug.

Lewis reached out to the seller and told him of the additional, unexpected charge. Eventually, he convinced Lewis to pay a lesser amount – $300 – but after that payment went through, Lewis knew he’d done something wrong.

After the charge, he kept digging – and made a startling discovery.

“There was no breeder’s license associated with his name, so I knew at that point he was. It was fraud,” he explains. He began asking other administrators in the Facebook group and several other Facebook accounts that gave glowing reviews of the seller.

But as he asked these questions, he began to notice a pattern. Some accounts would send identical messages, while others would reference details that he told different accounts. He believes that the accounts were being run by the same person.

Cybersecurity experts, like Matt Disher, the President of Southwest Networks, a cybersecurity company based in Palm Desert, say there are things consumers should look out for if they’re purchasing online.

“You can check on the Facebook profile of the seller if it seems fairly new, doesn’t have a lot of posts, doesn’t have a lot of activity, that’s a telltale sign that it’s a scammer that just set up something to do stuff like this,” Disher says.

In Lewis’s case, the accounts that were being used did not have much activity, as Disher explains.

Disher also says that the sale of stolen pets is a growing business – and a growing problem. He advises that those purchasing pets online pay close attention to paperwork and microchipping.

“When something looks too good to be true, just just slow down a little bit when you’re doing those transactions and really think through what’s going on and then how you’re going to proceed to the next step.”

Lewis has not yet been able to recover his money. He says he has filed a claim with his bank, but isn’t optimistic about getting his $900 back.

Although he is embarrassed that he fell for this scam, he hopes his ordeal can keep others from making the same mistakes he made. “This is my this is my mistake. This is my mess. And I don’t like being a victim,” he says.

Luis Avila

PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) – Easter could cost you more this year. Last month, the average cost for a dozen eggs in the U.S. rose to $6.23, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Last year, the average price was $2.99.

As a result, many are ditching eggs altogether and looking for cheaper alternatives to avoid the high costs, putting a crack in what was once an annual tradition.

“We’re going to keep it simple and to point because eggs are too expensive… Ridiculously expensive but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have options.”

Delia Delahunt, Cathedral City resident

“We do pool activities and other things. If there are no eggs available, so be it… Let’s just go back to basics. We used to have fun just being us, like chasing each other.”

Diva Osuna, Thousand Palms resident

Officials say the increase is a result of the continued bird flu epidemic and high demand this time of year.

If you’re sticking with real eggs, it’s recommended you shop around for the best price or buy in bulk. If not, switch to plastic eggs or other activities that don’t involve eggs.

Regardless, shoppers say the true meaning of Easter has no price.

“Being together with family and having a good time with your loved ones.”

Delia Delahunt, Cathedral City resident

Officials don’t expect the price to go down until at least after the holiday, when demand begins to subside.

Stay with News Channel 3 for more.

Peter Daut

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) – There are concerns there could be numerous aftershocks In the wake of Monday’s Magnitude 5.2 earthquake near Julian in San Diego County.

Seismologists say an earthquake of this size has an 89% chance of being followed by an aftershock greater than a 3.0 magnitude in the next week.

The chance of a magnitude 5.0 or higher is only 7%.

And there is a likelihood of less than 1% that Monday’s quake was a foreshock of a larger earthquake to happen over the following week.

Monday’s quake hit near the Elsinore fault, which is considered a “junior sibling to the San Andreas.” There were no reports of injuries or major damage, but the quake could be felt across the southern part of the state, including here in the Coachella Valley.

News Channel 3’s Peter Daut spoke with UC Riverside Professor of Geophysics Dr. Abhijit Ghosh about what Monday’s quake means.

Cynthia White

A Joshua Tree man was arrested on Sunday, accused of selling fake gold.

The sale of the supposed fake precious metal happened in Yucca Valley, where the victim reported the transaction to San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies.

The victim told deputies he bought what he believed were authentic gold bars through the online marketplace “OfferUp” in exchange for cash.

He then took the bars in for appraisal, and was told the bars were not real.

Deputies got a warrant and conducted a search of the “gold” seller’s home, and recovered nearly $8000 in cash. The seller was arrested and booked at the Morongo Basin Jail.

Cynthia White

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (KESQ) – Cal/OSHA is now looking into the incident that caused injury to the daredevil in a stunt at the Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival.

News Channel 3 was on scene when Chachi “The Rocketman” Valencia was shot out of a cannon, hitting a safety net and then bouncing out of it before hitting the pavement in his live performance.

Valencia says he sustained serious injuries, including broken ribs, a broken wrist and a lacerated liver.

Cal/OSHA is opening inspection with the Riverside County Fairgrounds and has up to six months to issue any citations related to the incident.

Valencia has been released from the hospital and is expected to fully recover.

Cynthia White

BANNING, Calif. (KESQ) – A shooting just before 7:00 p.m. on Monday at Jack’s Market on Eighth Street near Ramsey Street in Banning led to one man dead in the parking lot and one man hospitalized in critical condition.

Banning police say both men suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

The Banning Police Department Detective Bureau and Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Forensics Team and Coroner’s Bureau are processing the scene, with Eighth Street closed between Ramsey Street and Williams Street until the scene is clear.

Police say this is an active investigation, and they will release more information as it is available.

Banning police are urging anyone with information on the incident or who may have witnessed the incident to contact the department at 951-922-3170, and reference Banning Police Case #25-712.

Stay with News Channel 3 for any updates.

Cynthia White

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – Coachella Valley Rescue Mission Executive Director Darla Burkett is retiring after more than 20 years of service, and announces Amanda Galindo as the new Executive Director.

“It has been a singular honor in my life to serve this Mission and witness thousands of lives changed through the love and care extended here every day,” Burkett said. “I have every confidence in Amanda’s leadership and vision. I’m excited to support her in this transition.”

Those at CVRM say Galindo has over 15 years of leadership in nonprofit and social service work, and she brings a “deep passion” for community service. “I am deeply honored to step into this role and carry forward the powerful legacy Darla has built,” said Galindo. “Coachella Valley Rescue Mission is a cornerstone of hope in this community. I look forward to working alongside the incredible staff, volunteers, and supporters to continue changing lives.”