Author: KESQ

Timothy Foster

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – As the government shut down continues, families across the Coachella Valley are facing mounting challenges. With CalFresh benefits delayed for November, more than 37,500 local residents, nearly the population of Palm Springs, are expected to lose access to roughly $9.5 million in grocery-buying power, leaving many households suddenly unable to afford food.

In response, FIND Regional Food Bank is mobilizing its emergency response network to ensure families do not go hungry. Over the past three months, FIND has already seen a 30% increase in demand at its Community Mobile Markets, and the shut down’s ripple effects are creating additional strain on local food distribution.

Debbie Espinosa, President and CEO of FIND Regional Food Bank, explained that families who were just managing to stay afloat are suddenly left without the means to buy food. She said FIND and its partners are stepping in to make sure everyone has access to nutritious meals during this difficult time.

FIND is increasing food allocations to its more than 100 local food pantry partners and 30 Community Mobile Market sites, ensuring equitable distribution across the region. If CalFresh disruptions continue, FIND plans to provide CalFresh Interruption Boxes containing staples such as rice, beans, pasta, canned protein, vegetables, fruit, and milk alternatives to help sustain families until benefits resume.

Community members are being called upon to help meet the growing demand. Every dollar donated can provide up to four meals, and volunteers are needed to pack and sort food at FIND’s warehouse. The organization is partnering with Feeding America, local agencies, and government bodies to maintain support until federal programs are restored.

Steve Goodfriend, a longtime volunteer, said the food supply chain is uncertain due to the shut down, creating a critical need for volunteers to ensure families continue receiving food. Goodfriend delivers food directly to families, many of whom work in local agriculture yet still struggle to feed themselves.

Residents seeking assistance or wishing to volunteer can visit findfoodbank.org to locate distribution sites or sign up to help.

FIND Regional Food Bank is committed to keeping the Coachella Valley fed through the shut down and is relying on community support to bridge the gap until federal assistance resumes.

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Garrett Hottle

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ). California’s film industry is getting a major boost. Governor Gavin Newsom announced 52 film projects will receive new state tax credits through the California Film and Television Tax Credit Program, expected to generate more than $1.4 billion in economic activity statewide.

The lineup includes major titles like Jumanji and Heat 2, and is projected to employ nearly 8,900 cast and crew along with 46,400 background performers across 1,664 filming days. Officials say this round also sets a record for out-of-Los Angeles filming, with 511 days scheduled in 38 counties including San Bernardino and Imperial spreading production jobs and local spending beyond Hollywood.

“We’re welcoming projects from major franchises to independent films led by visionary artists,” said Colleen Bell, Director of the California Film Commission. “With 52 new projects, we’re seeing storytelling thrive once again, creating thousands of jobs and supporting local businesses.”

While the state program aims to attract both major studios and independent filmmakers, not every project qualifies. One who knows that struggle firsthand is Mike Caravella, a local filmmaker who self-financed his feature Astral Plane Drifter a genre-bending Western-sci-fi-comedy shot almost entirely in the High Desert.

He calls his film a “Western, sci-fi, kung-fu, grindhouse stoner comedy” made with sweat equity and community support. “It was a hustle and sometimes a hassle, but we pushed our chips in and went for it,” he said.

I’m a guy who believes in perseverance,” hesaid. “Once I get something in my mind, I just keep going until it’s done.”

His film screens this weekend at the Palm Screams Film Festival at Festival Theaters in downtown Palm Springs, highlighting how local creators are still finding ways to keep California’s filmmaking spirit alive.

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Cynthia White

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) – Starting Saturday, October 25, Riverside County voters will be able to cast their ballot at one of 23 vote centers throughout Riverside County for the November 4th statewide special election.

An additional 32 vote centers throughout the county will open next week, on Saturday, November 1st.

Voters can vote in-person or return their completed vote-by-mail ballot at any vote center; there are no specific locations assigned. Registered in-person voters may opt for a paper ballot to cast into a ballot box, or use a touch screen.

Also, eligible county residents can register to vote or update their registration at any vote center.

The Registrar of Voters also has 96 official ballot drop-off locations for voters to return vote-by-mail ballots. The secure drop boxes will remain through 8:00 p.m. on Election Day.

For more information on dates, hours of operation, and a map of vote centers and secure ballot drop-off locations, visit voteinfo.net.

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Athena Jreij

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) – The Riverside County Registrar of Voters held a demonstration for its auto signature verification tool, or ‘ASV’ ahead of the November 4th special election.

The new tool implements software in the Registrar’s sorting machines that compare voter signatures on a ballot to those in their voter profile, completing the verification process in just seconds.

“The process that we’ve been using without this technology is simply turning around ballots to take an image of the signature so we can compare it manually against our voter registration system,” Registrar of Voters Art Tinoco said.

Once put into the sorting machine, ballots are photographed by cameras reading signatures and comparing them to those on voter’s registration files. Those ballots are then sorted into ‘MSV’ and ‘ASV’ buckets. ‘MSV’, or manual signature verification buckets indicate the ballot did not pass the test and need another check by an employee.

The sorters scan ballots for at least a 45% confidence rate. Ballots below that rating are automatically put into the manual verification pile.

“We are looking for similarities not differences, So, we are looking for the similarities in the loops or looking at the similarities and just the way the signature is laid out. There is also an option in our election management system to look at past records, which we can also use, which is registration records that are saved on file,” Tinoco said.

While the technology is new to Riverside County, it’s already being used in San Diego and San Bernardino.

Once fully implemented, the Registrar estimates ‘ASV’ could cut back on their staffing by more than half.

“We do hire about 1,000 temporary employees, but for this process on this campus we’re hiring about 400,” Tinoco said.

Since the program is being piloted, all mail-in ballots that run through ‘ASV’ will be manually verified by employees after.

Officials estimate if the pilot goes well, it could be fully implemented by June 2, 2026 for the state gubernatorial primary.

Riverside County residents can see the process up close for themselves by attending an election observer tour. For more information, visit: https://rivco.org/news/election-observer-tours.

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Garrett Hottle

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) A driver who says he was nearly hit during Wednesday’s police pursuit through La Quinta and Indio is describing what he calls a “terrifying, split-second” moment that could have taken his life.

Twenty-year-old Jesse Bautista told KESQ News Channel he was driving east on Avenue 48, near Jefferson Street, when he suddenly saw flashing lights fill his rearview mirror.

“I looked and saw a white Camaro and a bunch of cops,” Batista said. “I could’t move over there were cars in front of me. The driver was right behind me, and at the last second, he jerked the car into another lane. If he hadn’t, he would’ve hit me.”

He says his windows were down and he could hear the sound of sirens growing louder as the pursuit closed in. He says the Camaro swerved sharply between lanes before speeding past, followed by several Riverside County Sheriff’s patrol cars.

“It was so fast I didn’t have time to think,” he said. “I was shaking, tearing up—I thought, ‘I’m too young to die.’”

According to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, deputies first tried to stop the suspect around 4:00 p.m. Wednesday near Avenue 47 and Adams Street in La Quinta. The driver failed to cooperate, leading to a chase that ended at Avenue 48 and Calhoun Street near the Indio-Coachella border, where the suspect crashed into another vehicle.

Deputies say the suspect ran from the scene but was caught after a neighborhood search. The driver of the uninvolved vehicle was taken to a hospital in stable condition, and Indio Police assisted with traffic control as the crash site was cleared.

Batista says after the near miss, he pulled over with other drivers and watched the chase continue east toward Coachella.

“Even when I got home, I could still hear the sirens,” he said. “My adrenaline was through the roof.”

The Sheriff’s Office says the investigation remains ongoing. The suspect’s name and charges have not been released.

Stick with KESQ News Channel 3 for updates. 

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Kendall Flynn

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – The need for resources for homeless individuals continues to grow in the Coachella Valley, and local organization are consistently working to provide supplies to those in need within their shelters and programs.

Martha’s Village and Kitchen and the Coachella Valley Rescue Mission are both working toward donation drives for their homeless communities. Each are looking for clothing donations, especially as the weather shifts in the Valley.

CVRM is hosting a “Bare Necessities Drive,” where they are asking the community for any undergarments for their unsheltered neighbors and residents at the mission. They have donation boxes placed around the Valley at businesses where locals can drop off undergarments of all sizes for women, men and children throughout October.

Martha’s Village and Kitchen is reaching out to businesses, schools, churches and more for donation drives. They say they are in “urgent need” of food, toys for the holidays, school supplies and warm winter clothing.

Stay with News Channel 3 to hear how donations shape the lives of residents in these programs and the growing need officials are seeing.

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City News Service

LOS ANGELES (KESQ) – The 29-year-old man accused of setting a New Year’s Day fire that prosecutors say smoldered for a week and grew into what became the deadly Palisades Fire pleaded not guilty today to a trio of federal charges.

Rinderknecht pleaded not guilty Thursday afternoon in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom to one count of destruction of property by means of fire, one count of arson affecting property used in interstate commerce, and one count of timber set afire.

Wearing white jail garb with a chain around his waist — but not handcuffed — Rinderknecht appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Rozella Oliver, and spoke in a loud, clear voice as he pleaded “not guilty” to the charges. He also acknowledged to the judge that he understood the charges against him.  

Oliver scheduled him to return to court Nov. 12 for a status conference, and a tentative trial was set for Dec. 16.   

Rinderknecht remains in federal custody, but his defense attorney, Steve Haney, indicated that he wanted to have a detention hearing to discuss possible bail or other release conditions. Haney said his client has no criminal record and no history of mental health problems or drug use.

The defense attorney also noted that Rinderknecht “is charged with a fire that started seven days after” he allegedly set a blaze in the hills above Pacific Palisades.

If convicted as charged, Rinderknecht would face a sentence of between five and 45 years in federal prison, prosecutors said.

According to court documents, law enforcement officials determined that the Palisades Fire was a “holdover” fire — a continuation of the Lachman Fire that began early in the morning on New Year’s Day 2025. Although firefighters quickly suppressed the Lachman Fire, the fire continued to smolder and burn underground within the root structure of dense vegetation.   

On Jan. 7, hurricane-force Santa Ana winds caused the underground fire to surface and spread above ground in what became known as the Palisades Fire, which caused widespread damage in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood. The fire burned 23,448 acres and destroyed much of the exclusive community, destroying about 6,800 structures and killing 12 people.   

Using witness statements, video surveillance, cell phone data and analysis of fire dynamics and patterns at the scene, among other things, law enforcement determined that Rinderknecht “maliciously” set the Lachman Fire just after midnight on Jan. 1 on federal land, prosecutors said.

A week later, the same fire — then known as the Palisades Fire — spread throughout the area, prosecutors said.   

On the evening of Dec. 31, 2024, Rinderknecht was working as an Uber driver, prosecutors said. Two passengers he drove on separate trips between 10:15 and 11:15 p.m. that night later told law enforcement that they remembered Rinderknecht appeared agitated and angry, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

After dropping off a passenger in Pacific Palisades, Rinderknecht — who once lived in the neighborhood — drove toward Skull Rock Trailhead, parked his car, attempted to contact a former friend and walked up the trail, court papers show.

He then used his iPhone to take videos at a nearby hilltop area and listened to a rap song — to which he had listened repeatedly in previous days — whose music video included things being lit on fire, federal prosecutors allege.

At 12:12 a.m. Jan. 1, 2025, environmental sensing platforms indicated the Lachman Fire had begun. Prosecutors contend that during the next five minutes, Rinderknecht called 911 several times, but didn’t get through because his iPhone was out of range. When he finally connected with 911, he was at the bottom of the hiking trail and reported the fire, according to cell data. By that point, a nearby resident already had reported the fire to authorities.   

Rinderknecht then allegedly fled in his car, passing fire engines driving in the opposite direction. He then turned around and followed the fire engines to the scene, driving at a high rate of speed, prosecutors said.   

He walked up the same trail from earlier that night to watch the fire and the firefighters, federal prosecutors allege, and at approximately 1:02 a.m., he allegedly used his iPhone to take more videos of the scene.   

During a Jan. 24 interview with law enforcement in Florida, where he relocated after the fire, Rinderknecht allegedly lied about where he was when he first saw the Lachman Fire. He claimed he was near the bottom of a hiking trail when he first saw the fire and called 911, but geolocation data from his iPhone carrier showed that he was standing in a clearing 30 feet from the fire as it rapidly grew, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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City News Service

BANNING, Calif. (KESQ) – A former girls soccer coach from the Coachella Valley was a habitual predator, kissing, fondling and propositioning multiple players, the prosecution said today, while the defense argued the witnesses’ testimony was unreliable and possibly driven by a hostile co-worker who encouraged the victims to tell stories.

Juan Manuel Pantoja Troncoso, 29, of Salton City is charged with three counts each of forcible lewd acts on a child and contacting a minor for the purpose of perpetrating a sexual offense, five counts of annoying a child and one count of battery, with sentence-enhancing allegations of targeting multiple victims.   

Testimony in Troncoso’s trial began in late September and concluded Tuesday at the Banning Justice Center. Closing arguments were held Wednesday, with Riverside County Superior Court Judge Mark Singerton presiding.   

Deputy District Attorney Thomas Farnell gave a detailed account of the five victims’ recollections of what allegedly occurred during their interactions with the defendant when he was one of the lead coaches in the After-School Education and Safety program at Toro Canyon Middle School in Thermal in 2019.  

One of Troncoso’s primary targets was allegedly a then-13-year-old soccer player. The girl alleged that during an encounter on campus, the defendant “forcibly grabbed her wrist and placed her hand on his penis, putting his mouth on her breasts and touching her vagina,” Farnell recounted to jurors.  

During a school-sponsored Halloween carnival, Troncoso also cornered the girl with the “intent to molest her,” though she was ultimately able to get away from him, according to the prosecution.   

He later asked her during a soccer practice session if she “wanted to do it” with him, Farnell alleged.  

The prosecutor alleged that another 13-year-old girl was groped by Troncoso, who put his hand under her sweater and through her hair.   

When a 14-year-old player asked his opinion about her new shirt, Troncoso responded, “Everything looks good on you,” Farnell told jurors, citing it as an instance of lewd communication.

The defendant accosted a 13-year-old girl, allegedly asking her point-blank if she “wanted to (expletive),” then offering her cash to fulfill the request, which frightened the child, the prosecution said.  

A 12-year-old girl told Riverside County Sheriff’s Office investigators that she and Troncoso initially “had a good friendship, but he took advantage,” Farnell said.   

He reminded jurors the girl went on to testify the defendant allegedly put his hands around her stomach and called her “gordita,” encouraging her to “ditch with him” before a physical education class.

The prosecutor further said when he learned A.N. had bisexual tendencies, the defendant allegedly asked her whether “she liked dick”?  

The girl was nearly brought to tears.

The campus’ principal soccer coach, Javier Perez, said some of the girls refused to take to the field unless he was present over fears of Troncoso’s behavior, Farnell recalled.

He additionally pointed to testimony by middle school teacher Maria Sylva, who described the defendant as liking “12- to 14-year-old girls. That’s his type.”

Defense attorney Melanie Roe countered that most of the witnesses were negatively influenced by Sylva, who bore unexplained animosity toward Troncoso and had spoken with the girls before they went to authorities.   

“Sylva contaminated the memories of these girls,” Roe told jurors. “She had a mean-spirited intent.”   

The attorney insisted that V.R. did not allege any wrongdoing when Perez first spoke to her, but later changed her story following time spent with Sylva.   

“All (of the allegations) were fabricated on the stand by her,” Roe said.   

She said the witnesses, now in their late teens, had ideas planted by Sylva, including the use of words such as “uncomfortable” and “inappropriate,” which students in their early teens wouldn’t normally convey unless an adult, in this case an educator, had steered them toward such terms.

As to whether her client had made casual observations or offered supportive hugs to the youths, Roe questioned where the line was drawn between criminal offense and friendly chat.  

“‘It’s not a crime to stare someone up and down, or to hug someone,” the attorney told jurors.  

She praised Troncoso’s character, pointing out that he was holding down three jobs to support his family at the time of his arrest in 2020.   

The defense cast doubt on the thoroughness of the investigation, suggesting it was rushed by Investigator Damen Butvidas and largely fueled by Sylva’s own perceptions, as opposed to what the victims actually experienced.   

“This was an incomplete investigation,” Roe said.   

Jurors deliberated briefly Wednesday and were ordered by Singerton to return to resume deliberations Thursday morning.   

Troncoso, who has no documented prior felony convictions, is being held in lieu of $2 million bail at the Smith Correctional Facility.   

He was dismissed by the Coachella Valley Unified School District in the winter of 2020, soon after his arrest.

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Timothy Foster

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (KESQ) -The magic of Disney has officially arrived in the desert. Cotino — the first-ever Storyliving by Disney community is coming to life in the greater Palm Springs area, and new milestones are being reached every day. The first homeowners have already settled in, discovering the same beauty that once inspired Walt Disney and his family: sweeping mountain views, colorful sunsets, mid-century architecture, and a thriving local art scene.

A Community with Disney Magic

Residents have the option to join the Artisan Club, a members-only retreat designed for relaxation and recreation along the crystal-clear waters of Cotino Bay, powered by Crystal Lagoons technology.

Disney Imagineers helped shape the club’s design, blending their signature storytelling touches with the iconic mid-century modern style that defines the Coachella Valley. Inside, every space tells a story — from original Disney artwork and archival designs to custom pieces created by local artists.

Later this month, the Artisan Club will officially open, offering members a place to connect, create, and celebrate. Experiences will include storytelling-themed dinners, art workshops, and other creative gatherings all hosted by Disney cast members. Whether exploring a new passion or revisiting an old hobby, members can expect the kind of personalized attention Disney is known for.

Dining, Disney-Style

The Artisan Club will feature two unique dining destinations Architects Fork and Plot Twist each offering fresh, seasonal menus.

Architects Fork, the main table-service restaurant, celebrates the art of Disney design. Guests can dine surrounded by original concept sketches and blueprints from beloved attractions like “it’s a small world” and Big Thunder Mountain. The restaurant also showcases pieces from legendary Disney artists such as Mary Blair and Bruce Bushman, connecting diners to the creative spirit behind the brand.

Just steps away, Plot Twist serves as the club’s outdoor beach bar a casual hangout overlooking Cotino Bay. Members can sip cocktails or enjoy light bites while lounging near the water. The space playfully nods to classic literature that inspired Disney favorites, from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to Cinderella.

Wellness, the Disney Way

For those who prefer to stay active, the Artisan Club offers a full range of fitness options from Pilates and pickleball to paddleboarding on Cotino Bay. Imagineers even designed a lineup of Disney-inspired fitness classes that blend exercise with storytelling.

Members can breathe like Moana, dance like the Encanto family, take on a superhero-style circuit workout inspired by The Incredibles, or paddle like Stitch across the lagoon. All classes are offered through health and wellness provider Optum, ensuring a mix of fun and fitness with a touch of magic.

This is just the beginning for Cotino’s Artisan Club. As more amenities open later this month, residents will continue to experience what makes this new desert community and its Disney influence so special.

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