Author: KESQ

Daniella Lake

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – When Michelle Bloom evacuated Altadena, she had no idea she wouldn’t come back, like the many others who are still displaced by the fire. The Eaton and Palisades fires burned over 16,000 structures and left tens of thousands of people displace, according to the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

“I never imagined I wouldn’t be coming back in a day or two. No, I mean absolutely no,” Bloom says.

Bloom lived in Altadena for 20 years and says she lost everything in the fire. After bouncing around temporary housing for months, she moved to Palm Springs in April.

“I don’t really see a way for me to get back to Altadena. You know, I think that boat has sailed,” Bloom says.

Bloom says she never would have expected to end up in Palm Springs, but once she moved to the neighborhood, something clicked.

“I found my places, my things to go to, my people,” she says.

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Jesus Reyes

PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) – Coachella Valley Firebirds forward Oscar Fisker Mølgaard has been named to Team Denmark’s roster for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games taking place this February in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

Mølgaard, 20, recorded 17 points (6 goals, 11 assists) in 28 games for Coachella Valley this season. The Hjørring, Denmark native previously represented his country during the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships and World Junior Championship.

After being drafted in the second round (52nd overall) in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft by the Seattle Kraken, Mølgaard made his National Hockey League debut earlier this season – picking up an assist in three games played with the Kraken.

“Oscar’s selection to Team Denmark is a well-earned opportunity,” said Troy Bodie, General Manager of the Coachella Valley Firebirds. “He has consistently represented his country at the international level, and this selection reflects both his previous experience with Denmark’s national teams and the work he continues to put in every day with our organization. We’re proud to see him earn the chance to compete on the Olympic stage.”

Prior to joining the Firebirds, Mølgaard played in 129 games in the Swedish Hockey League for HV71.

The men’s hockey tournament at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, which will be the first Olympics to feature NHL players since 2014, will begin on February 11th and will conclude with the gold edal game on February 22nd. To learn more about the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, click HERE. 

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Karen Devine

LOS ANGELES (KESQ) –  It’s been a year of hurdles, roadblocks, and varying emotions for Dave Skabinski, losing his home of 32 years in the Eaton fire. Taking it one day at a time, he’s hit his stride with a positive attitude and rebuilding with a take action approach.

“But I decided Very quickly that I was committed to helping rebuild my community,” Skabinski said.

Not everyone has moved forward, and at today’s news conference held by the Eaton Fire Survivors Network, we learned communication delays, insurance inconsistencies, and lack of money has played a major role in the halt in progress.

“The Eaton fire contaminated our home in January. Our insurance adjuster walked through our home and told us clearly our house needed to be taken down to the studs. We later received a 21-page report confirming this assessment. Then a new adjuster took over and everything changed,” Claire Thompson said in the news conference.

Thompson is still not able to live in her home.

“And we’re not going away. Just because some checks were cut doesn’t mean we are going away,” said LA County Supervisor Katheryn Barger.

Rose Robinson, a survivor and daughter to Olympic silver medalist Mack Robinson and niece to baseball great Jackie Robinson, said not only was her longtime home and sense of community erased in the fire, her precious heirlooms, including her father’s Olympic medal, are gone. 

“I’ll never be the same. I know that. I just, I still feel like my feet are not even on the ground,” Robinson said.

The politicians in the room made it clear they are on board with going after SCE, saying the survivors in all are owed billions of dollars to jumpstart the rebuild.

“The investigation into state… to hold these insurance companies accountable, and I want to emphasize something because there is a piece of this work that we are continuing to work on. I wrote a letter to the CEO of Southern California, Edison, Pedro Pizarro, and have made it very clear that they need to provide emergency housing relief to the community of Altadena,” said State Senator Sasha Perez.

In the meantime, Skabinski is looking forward to his new future and seeing some light after the darkness brought on by the devastating fires of 2025. Sabinski and others are being very proactive, coming up with solutions so that this will never happen again. They’ve pitched the idea of an alarm system across the city of Altadena, hoping that people will hear those alarms and get out quicker and get to safety.

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Shay Lawson

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. (KESQ)  – Some Cathedral City residents are telling News Channel 3 what they want to see in the next councilmember, as the city prepares to interview 12 candidates Wednesday for the District 3 seat, left vacant after the death of long time councilmember Mark Carnevale.

Peggy Luce, Cathedral City resident, said she’s pleased with the council’s work thus far, and hopes to see someone continue that mission.

“I love that there’s so much for us to do,” Luce said. “Like the film festival, the arts and things like that.”

The city is appointing the replacement rather than holding a special election.

“It would be great to have a vote because that is democracy in its works,” Alan Carvalho, Cathedral City resident, said. “But it’s also not very effective when there is less than a year left.”

He added he wants a younger voice to fill the seat.

“That would be ideal to bring some young people into the fold. We desperately need that,” Carvalho said. “It would be great to have a female Latina. Because 60% of our city is Latino.”

Candidates:

Daniel H. Brumer

Stephen Burchard

Joe Camareno

Jason Clauson

Ava Dupree-Holmes

Teresa Garay

Colby Gregory

Christina Gordon

Sunshine Herrera

Raymond Manriquez

Jennifer Novak

Albert Ruiz

Councilmembers are expected to appoint the new candidate who will serve out Carnevale’s term after Wednesday’s interview process.

Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing coverage.

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Garrett Hottle

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) Gas prices across Riverside County dropped Tuesday to their lowest level in more than four years, according to new data, offering some relief to drivers across the Coachella Valley.

Figures from AAA and the Oil Price Information Service show the average price for a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Riverside County fell to $4.146, the lowest average recorded since June 3, 2021. The price declined 1.7 cents overnight and has dropped five of the past six days, according to City News Service.

The countywide average is now 1.6 cents lower than one week ago, 28.3 cents lower than one month ago, and 16.5 cents below what drivers were paying one year ago. Prices have dropped more than $2.22 since reaching a record high in October 2022.

Despite the recent declines, prices in the Coachella Valley remain significantly higher than the national average, which currently stands at $2.81 a gallon, according to GasBuddy.

Nationally, the recent five-day streak of gas price declines ended with a slight increase, though prices remain lower than they were one month and one year ago. Analysts say seasonal trends are largely driving the current movement at the pump.

“Another week, and motorists have been greeted with the sixth straight weekly decline in the national average price of gasoline as seasonality continues to drive trends at the pump,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, in a statement released Monday.

Experts note that most short-term price changes are driven by domestic factors such as refinery production, distribution costs, and regional fuel requirements. At the same time, global oil markets remain sensitive to broader geopolitical conditions. Ongoing uncertainty surrounding crude oil production and exports from countries such as Venezuela, which holds some of the world’s largest oil reserves, can influence global crude prices, though those impacts typically affect local gas prices gradually rather than immediately.

Analysts expect gas prices to continue fluctuating in the weeks ahead, with prices likely bottoming out before beginning a seasonal rise as spring approaches.

 News Channel Three will continue tracking gas prices across Riverside County and the Coachella Valley. Tune in tonight at 4pm, 5pm, 6pm and 6:30pm for a full report. 

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Luis Avila

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. (KESQ) – Safer roads at a cost. Cathedral City has recently installed new bike lane barriers along Perez Road in an effort to improve roadway safety. However, some local business owners argue the barriers are having unintended consequences.

Renae Samaan, owner of Johnnie’s Barbershop, says, “The barriers — I became aware of when they put them in. I knew that they were going to resurface the street… but I didn’t know they were going to take my parking away in the front.”

On top of what she says was a lack of notice and less parking, Samaan says the changes are hurting her business. She says the new barriers make it confusing for drivers to navigate, resulting in a decline in foot traffic.

Green bollards line the new bike lanes on Perez Road in Cathedral City.

Getting answers, News Channel took these concerns to the city.

John Corella, public works director for Cathedral City, says businesses were notified of the bike barriers. The city sent out notices and held a community meeting last June.

“370 notices were sent out to all the businesses along that stretch of Perez Road… 20 people showed up,” reveals Corella.

Moving forward, he says the city will proactively maintain the barriers to ensure they don’t become a further problem as drivers learn to navigate them.

He explains, “Part of our grant, we actually got an extra pallet of these barriers so it’s going to be hard to knock one down because they are flexible.”

But business owners, like Samaan, remain skeptical and hope the challenges are resolved sooner rather than later.

Stay with News Channel 3 for more.

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Daniella Lake

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – This morning, the City of Indio and the Imperial Irrigation District is hosted a groundbreaking ceremony to commemorate the Avenue 42 substation upgrade project, which will expand the substation. The expansion is the first of four projects planned under the Indio Electric Financing Authority. It’s part of an effort to expand the electrical grid’s capacity to meet up with the city’s growing energy demands.

“We need power. I think people don’t realize the extent that power is used in all communities and our public safety environment as well,” says Indio Mayor Elaine Holmes.

The Avenue 42 upgrade project costs $12 million and is funded through a surcharge for residents. City officials say the average surcharge is around $11 per household, but depends on residents’ electricity usage. The target completion date for the Avenue 42 upgrade project is August 2026.

Once all four substations are complete, officials say it’ll power up to 16,000 homes and businesses in Indio.

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Luis Avila

COACHELLA VALLEY, Calif (KESQ) – Broad reactions are coming in from across the Coachella Valley after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was captured by U.S. forces — including from some local South American-owned businesses.

Monica Moreno, owner of Mi Cultura Cuisine in Palm Desert, says it’s been the topic of conversation all day and reactions have been mixed. The restaurant’s Peruvian and Columbian flavors mirror the South American roots of both staff and customers, making developments in Venezuela hit close to home.

“Right now, what I just heard is my employees have been talking and asking questions,” she explains. “They don’t know what’s going to happen. Some of them are happy because they are finally going to go back to where they were raised where their roots are.”

Moreno says she understands this is a major turning point for Venezuelans and is standing with her South American friends and neighbors as the situation continues to evolve.

Stay with News Channel 3 for more.

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Garrett Hottle

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) New tonight, Nicolás Maduro appeared before a U.S. judge today, pleading not guilty after being captured and brought to the United States. The dramatic move is reshaping Venezuela’s future and reopening deep concerns for Venezuelans living here.News Channel Three’s Garrett Hottle is at the Breaking News Center.

Maduro’s court appearance comes after years of U.S. pressure on Venezuela’s leadership, dating back to the era of Hugo Chávez. Some supporters of the move call it accountability, while some critics warn history shows foreign intervention rarely brings stability.

With Maduro now in U.S. custody, Delcy Rodríguez, a longtime Maduro ally, is overseeing the government in Caracas, with the military and state institutions still aligned with the existing power structure.

“The U.S. has done this before to other countries when they intervene and most of the time hasn’t gone just right,” Grecia Conteras, a yucca valley resident, born in Veneuzla said. “But these are real people. These are real people’s lives.”

More than eight million Venezuelans have fled their country in recent years, many now living in Southern California.

As Maduro’s case moves through U.S. court, they’re watching closely, hopeful for change, but wary of who truly holds power.

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Gavin Nguyen

COACHELLA VALLEY, Calif. (KESQ) – California motorists may soon notice new cameras along their daily commutes.

The state is rolling out new automated enforcement programs stemming from several state Senate and Assembly Bills, including cameras at traffic signals and cameras to catch speeders in Caltrans highway work zones.

California Assembly Bill 645 was passed back in 2023 and authorized the start of the speed safety system pilot program. This allowed six pilot cities (Los Angeles, Long Beach, Glendale, San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose) to work towards implementing speed cameras in designated problem areas within their cities, including school zones and street racing corridors.

That speed safety program remains limited to those pilot cities and Malibu, which was added a year after the bill’s passing.

Assembly Bill 289, passed more recently in 2025, will expand the scope of that automated enforcement by permitting Caltrans to deploy similar speed cameras along highway work zones statewide to protect their work crews.

Senate Bill 720, also passed in 2025, focuses on red light cameras and revises existing legislation.

Historically, Cathedral City had red light cameras in some problem intersections. The city’s police department still has a webpage online about those red light violations, but the cameras have since been taken down.

News Channel 3 has reached out to Caltrans District 8, which oversees San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, to see if there are plans to deploy those cameras in local work zones.

We also spoke with advocacy groups who said these cameras are necessary to enhance safety. Stay with us for the latest.

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