Author: KESQ

Dakota Makinen

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – Thousands of students across Palm Springs Unified School District returned to the classroom today as the 2026-27 school year officially got underway.

Campuses across the district welcomed students back with teachers and staff greeting families, helping students find their classrooms, and kicking off the first day of instruction.

News Channel 3 spoke with students, parents, teachers, and district officials about the start of the new school year and what they’re looking forward to in the months ahead.

Stay with News Channel 3 for the latest updates.

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Matthew Pearce

THOUSAND PALMS, Calif. (KESQ) — Rattlesnakes should be a year round concern for residents who frequently are active outdoors. However, increased monsoonal moisture brings rattlesnake activity to another level.

As of May, the California Poisonous Control System has reported 77 rattlesnake related calls. Three of which have been fatal.

Tonight, News Channel 3 is speaking with experts and slithering around trails trying to find where these snakes commonly hide. Stay tuned for the full story at 6.

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Garrett Hottle

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) California Attorney General Rob Bonta will get to argue against Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco on two fronts when the state Supreme Court takes up the ballot seizure fight later this month.

The court has invited Bonta to argue in support of the Riverside County voters suing Bianco, in addition to arguing his own case against the sheriff, according to a court order obtained by News Channel 3.

Both cases will be heard back to back at a special session starting at 10 a.m. Monday, Aug. 24, in San Francisco.

The ruling will decide what happens to the ballots of roughly 650,000 Riverside County voters from the November 2025 special election. It will also set the rules for every sheriff and every elections office in California.

“We look forward to making our case in court,” the attorney general’s press office told News Channel 3 in an email Tuesday.

What happened

Bianco seized about 650,000 ballots and other election materials from the Riverside County Registrar of Voters this year, starting with a search warrant in February. He says he is investigating whether ballots from the November 2025 Proposition 50 special election were fraudulently counted.

Bonta ordered the sheriff to stop. Bianco kept going and seized hundreds of additional boxes. Bonta then took the fight to the state’s highest court.

On April 8, the Supreme Court ordered Bianco to pause his investigation and preserve everything he seized.

The Sheriff’s Office told News Channel 3 on June 24 it still has possession of the 2025 ballots.

The two cases

The first case is Cervantes v. Bianco. A group of Riverside County voters wants a court order sending the ballots back to the registrar. They argue the seizure violated the state Elections Code, which keeps voted ballots in the custody of elections officials.

The second case is Attorney General v. Bianco. It asks who is really in charge. The state constitution says the attorney general has direct supervision over every sheriff in California. Bonta wants a court order forcing Bianco to end his investigation. Bianco says the attorney general cannot shut down a lawful criminal investigation that a judge approved.

The court will also weigh a new state law. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 73 on May 27. It makes it a felony to knowingly take voted ballots from elections officials and limits when law enforcement can access ballots and voting equipment. The court ordered both sides to address whether the new law changes anything.

Bianco and Bonta

In a one on one interview with News Channel 3 last month, Bianco called Bonta “an absolute complete fraud that is abusing the power of his office” and said the attorney general “is doing everything he can to stop a lawful investigation.”

“He doesn’t want me to find out how many ballots we really have,” Bianco said.

Bianco ran for governor this year and finished out of the running in the June 2 primary.

He confirmed to News Channel 3 last month he will run for reelection as sheriff in 2028.

Bonta says Bianco “willfully defied my direct orders, seized 650,000 ballots, misused criminal investigatory tools, and created a constitutional emergency in the process.”

The fight is also on the November ballot. Michael Gates, the Republican former Huntington Beach city attorney challenging Bonta for attorney general, has Bianco’s endorsement.

Gates told News Channel 3 he supported the investigation from day one.

“When I’m attorney general, I am going to make sure that Sheriff Chad Bianco can investigate and finish his investigation,” Gates said.

News Channel 3 has requested an interview with Bonta multiple times.

What happens next

Bonta and Weber must formally notify the court by Friday whether they will take part in the arguments. The court will then issue an order laying out who argues and in what sequence.

The arguments stream live Aug. 24 at supreme.courts.ca.gov.

Under the state constitution, the justices must rule within 90 days of taking the case under submission. That puts a decision on track for late November at the latest, after voters choose between Bonta and Gates on Nov. 3.

News Channel 3 will stream the arguments live and break down the ruling when it comes.

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Kiera McKinney

PALM DESERT. CALIF, (KESQ)- As students prepare to return to the classroom, the back to school transition can be an exciting time, but it can also bring stress and anxiety for many kids.

The start of a school year can bring new stressors, including academic pressure, new routines, social situations, and changes in expectations. The new school year impacts students mental health, what counselors are seeing, and what parents can do to help their children adjust.

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) says anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health conditions among children and adolescents. Shows that an estimated 31.9% of adolescents aged 13 to 18 experience an anxiety disorder.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that mental health challenges among young people remain a major concern, with many students experiencing persistent feelings of sadness, anxiety, or stress.

Nancy Mazmanian, Marriage & Family Therapist, From Hope & Healing Community Support said big transition’s can make anxiety grow.

Recognixing the signs are important, such as, “headaches, stomach aches, loss of appetite, emotional outbursts for younger kids. Anything that tends to seem out of the ordinary and are not a part of their normal behavior,” Mazmanian said.

Coachella Valley Unified School District, counselor Karina Vegas says changes like new classrooms and routines can bring anxious feelings for students

“there’s a big difference between having anxiety and being anxious. And so helping students understand that anxious feeling is perfectly natural. However, if it starts to inhibit them from doing certain things, then that maybe is when it’s time for them to get some help,” said Vega.

The district says students have access to wellness centers and campus therapists to help provide support.

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City News Service

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. (KESQ) – Cathedral City awarded $90,000 to 18 local nonprofits and six art recipients through two city grant programs, officials announced today.

Through the Community Assistance Grant Program, 18 organizations that provide essential services to Coachella Valley residents, including health and human services, received $70,000. Officials said the city received 24 applications requesting a combined $183,700.

The following recipients and the amount each were awarded are: — Read With Me Volunteer Program received $10,000; — Boys and Girls Club of Cathedral City received $9,300; — Cathedral City Senior Center received $8,000; — Coachella Valley Disaster Preparedness Network received $5,000; — Coachella Valley Repertory received $5,000; — Dinner with Patsi received $5,000; — Habitat for Humanity of the Coachella Valley received $5,000; — Senior Advocates of the Desert received $5,000; — Friends of the Desert Mountains received $3,000; — ABC Recovery Center, Inc. received $2,500; — Jewish Family Service of the Desert received $2,500; — Operation Safe House, Inc received $2,500; — American Legion Auxiliary Unit 519 received $2,000; — Tools for Tomorrow received $1,200; — Angel View, Inc. received $1,000; — Martha’s Village and Kitchen received $1,000; — Regional Access Project Foundation received $1,000, and — Variety Children’s Charities of the Desert received $1,000.

Officials said $20,000 was awarded for creative expression to four organizations and two artists through the Community Arts Grant Program.

The recipients and amount awarded included the following: — Palm Springs Gay Men’s Chorus received $4,519 for “Boogie Shoes,” a disco-themed performance; — Cathedral City Senior Center received $3,800 for a year of performances; — Boys and Girls Club of Cathedral City received $3,800 for youth photography and editing classes; — Coachella Accapella received $3,556 for the springs concert “ILove a Piano” with Cathedral City High School; — Denise Dede Ondishko received $3,325 for a one-day bluegrass festival, and — Terry Hastings received $1,000 for seminars for local artists “The Business of Art and AI Is the Artist’s Friend.”

The arts grant program was established during the 2024-25 fiscal year and has supported a wide range of art initiatives, including theatre, music, spoken word, visual art and arts education.

“The assistance grants direct resources toward recovery programs, senior services, youth literacy, housing, food security and emergency preparedness. The art grants keep live performance, arts education and creative programming accessible to residents of every age,” officials said.

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Dakota Makinen

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (KESQ) – As students prepare to return to the classroom, many teachers are also preparing their learning spaces — and some say that preparation comes with a personal cost.

For sixth grade teacher Miranda Alcalde, getting ready for the first day of school means lesson planning, organizing supplies, and creating a classroom where students feel comfortable from the moment they walk in.

Alcalde says setting up her classroom took about three days, with many of the supplies she uses collected over the years and some provided by the district. She estimates she spends about $500 to $600 of her own money each school year on classroom needs.

While the Palm Springs Unified School District provides many classroom essentials, Alcalde says teachers often purchase additional items themselves.

A 2025 survey from AdoptAClassroom.org found teachers spent an average of $895 of their own money on classroom supplies during the 2024-2025 school year. The survey also found the median school-provided supply budget reported by teachers was $200, with 97% saying their budget was not enough to cover classroom needs.

For community members looking to support teachers, Alcalde suggests donating classroom supplies or purchasing items from a teacher’s wish list.

She says every purchase has the same goal: creating a classroom where students have the resources they need to learn and succeed.

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Jesus Reyes

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – The Palm Springs Fire Department urged residents today to take extra precaution when hiking outdoors during the region’s extreme heat.

The agency reminded residents that hiking during the heat can cause heat-related illnesses and may become life-threatening. Crews often respond to calls during the summer regarding hikers experiencing dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

Symptoms of heat-related illnesses include dizziness, headaches, nausea, muscle cramps, weakness and confusion or fatigue.

The department offers the following tips to staying safe when hiking in the sun: — Hike early in the day; — Bring plenty of water and drink frequently; — Use sunscreen and wear a hat along with light, breathable clothing; — Always go hiking with a partner; — Carry a fully charged phone, and — Turn back if conditions become too challenging.

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Luis Avila

WHITEWATER, Calif. (KESQ) — Guide Dogs of the Desert is urgently looking for more volunteer puppy raisers to help prepare the next generation of guide dogs for people who are blind or visually impaired.

The organization says volunteer puppy raisers play a critical role in every guide dog’s journey, providing the foundation puppies need before they begin formal guide dog training and are eventually matched with someone who will depend on them every day.

“We need 60 puppy raisers a year… we also need to keep retention of the 60 we have, so that’s 120 raisers a year that we need,” one staff member said.

Volunteer puppy raisers care for the puppies during their first year of life, helping them develop confidence through socialization, basic obedience, and everyday experiences.

The nonprofit says volunteers are supported throughout the entire process.

“We take care of everything from genetics to vaccines to anything that can possibly come up in their lives medically,” another staff member said.

For guide dog user Danielle Larson, the work volunteers do has a lifelong impact.

“What these dogs bring to people’s lives is hard to describe. It is a renewed sense of confidence and independence and honestly just fun,” she said.

She says none of that would be possible without the volunteers who help raise the dogs from the very beginning.

“Without that foundational exposure and preparation for the work they are going to be doing it’s impossible for them to be completely ready to go out and to be able to be the support and the tool and eyes someone needs,” Larson said.

Guide Dogs of the Desert says eleven puppies will be ready to go home with volunteer raisers on Sept. 18.

For more information, click here.

Stay with News Channel 3 for more.

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City News Service

EL CAJON, Calif. (KESQ) – A woman who fatally stabbed her wife, a veteran state firefighter who served in the Coachella Valley, at their Ramona home pleaded guilty today to second-degree murder.

Yolanda Marodi, 54, admitted Tuesday to killing her spouse of two years, Cal Fire Capt. Rebecca “Becky” Marodi, at the couple’s Rancho Villa Road home on the night of Feb. 17, 2025.

Marodi is slated to be sentenced next month to 36 years to life in state prison for the slaying. Her guilty plea includes admissions to having a serious prior felony conviction, which pertains to a voluntary manslaughter conviction for fatally stabbing her husband in San Bernardino County more than 20 years ago.

According to an arrest-warrant declaration filed by a detective with the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, Rebecca Marodi sought to leave the marriage shortly before she was killed.

The day after the slaying, Yolanda Marodi sent someone a text message stating, “Becky came home and told me she was leaving me, she met someone else, all the messages were lies. We had a big fight and I hurt her … I’m sorry,” the declaration states.

Testimony from a preliminary hearing held earlier this year indicated the victim sustained 23 stab wounds to her neck, chest and abdomen.

Rebecca Marodi, who had worked for the state firefighting agency for more than 30 years, died at the scene.

The victim’s mother, Lorena Marodi, who lived at the home with her daughter and daughter-in-law, testified that on the day of the killing, Yolanda Marodi spoke to her about her marriage, something Lorena said had “never” happened before.

During that conversation, Yolanda said, “She and Becky had some things to work out, but there wouldn’t be any fighting” when Rebecca returned home.

Lorena went out with friends that evening. At the end of the night, as she was dropping her friends off, she drove past her home and noticed Yolanda’s car was gone, she testified.

When she returned home, she found a trail of blood leading inside the house, found her daughter’s motionless body, and called 911.

Sheriff’s deputy Angela Peratis, who was one of the first deputies to respond to the home, said she and her partner found the victim face down in a hallway.

The deputies attempted life-saving measures until firefighters arrived and took over, at which point Peratis testified that she overheard one of the firefighters say, “Is that Becky?”

The warrant declaration states that footage from a Ring camera captured images of Rebecca Marodi fleeing their home as her wife chased her.

The video footage was not played in court, but sheriff’s Homicide Det. Jessica Ricca testified that in her review of the video, the victim can be heard calling out for her mother, to which Yolanda Marodi responds, “She’s not here.”

The two go out of frame for some time, and when they appear again, Rebecca Marodi appeared to be “covered in blood,” Ricca testified. At one point, the bloodied victim was “yelling out, ‘Yolanda! Please… I don’t want to die,”’ the warrant declaration states. Yolanda Marodi, who appeared to be holding a knife and seemingly had blood on her arms, responded, “You should have thought about that before,” according to the document.

The victim repeatedly asked her wife to call 911 before the pair re-entered the home, the declaration states.

About 10 minutes later, the camera recorded video of Yolanda Marodi loading items into a Chevrolet Equinox and then driving off, the declaration states.

Yolanda Marodi crossed the U.S.-Mexico border about an hour after the killing. Mexican authorities arrested her just over a month later near a hotel in the Ferrocarril neighborhood of Mexicali, according to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office.

Rebecca Mardoni served more than 30 years with Cal Fire, mainly in Riverside County with assignments in Indian Wells and Rancho Mirage. Her service began in 1993 as a volunteer firefighter in Moreno Valley in Riverside County. She went on to serve as a seasonal firefighter in Riverside and San Bernardino counties before being promoted to fire apparatus engineer in 2007 and achieving the rank of captain in 2022 at the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department.

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City News Service

BLYTHE (CNS) – Building upgrades and bulking up staff remain objectives in the ongoing turnaround plan for bankrupt Palo Verde Hospital in Blythe, officials said today.

“Every week, we learn something new about this hospital,” Interim Hospital CEO Michelle DeArmond said Tuesday. “We brought operational expertise from the Riverside University Health System, but this hospital has its own history, its own way of doing things. The learning (has gone) both ways.”

DeArmond was tapped for the executive post following the resignation in April of Sandra Anaya, who had been at the helm for 13 years, according to the Palo Verde Healthcare District.

The district said plans are afoot to modernize treatment rooms and the cardiopulmonary unit, as well as refurbish and expand the employee entrance, and install appropriate Americans with Disabilities Act signage around the edifice, located at 250 N. First St.

The process of overhauling the hospital roof and renovating the cafeteria is underway, while hundreds of boxes of decades-old documents are being removed, officials said.

In May, more than two dozen certified emergency room physicians were added to the hospital’s payroll for 24-hour patient intake and treatment. However, additional slots remain unfilled, including radiology, environmental services, ultrasound and cardiopulmonary technicians, according to thedistrict.

Last week, an open house was held, dubbed the “180-Day Scoop,” to give area residents a first-hand look at ongoing changes and answer some of their questions.

The county Board of Supervisors in February signed off on a six-month financial and technical rescue plan to bring the facility back to a sustainable condition.

The board authorized a $3.44 million allocation from the General Fund as payment to the California Department of Health Services on behalf of the healthcare district. That followed a separate $1 million General Fund disbursal directly benefiting the hospital. The money was the core of a stabilizationloan to keep the insolvent hospital afloat.

According to the district, the county’s outlays enabled the district to tap into taxpayer-backed credit available under Medi-Cal totaling $9.9 million to bolster hospital operations. Afterward, the district was further awarded a $3 million state grant, which came on the heels of $1.8 million in federal relief.

A “strike team” authorized by the board and composed of RUHS medical professionals initiated a reformation on Feb. 23 intended to stabilize the hospital’s emergency clinic.

Under the management services agreement between the county and PVHD, RUHS staff are implementing all necessary processes connected to the strike team support plan, with the goal of maintaining emergency operations at the cash-strapped hospital.

Without emergency services at the facility, the area’s roughly 20,000 residents would lose access to “timely treatment for life-threatening conditions where minutes matter,” according to a county statement in January. Outside of the hospital, the nearest option for emergency healthcare is more than 70 miles away.

The monetary agreement between the county and district specifies the county will have “first priority” status among the district’s creditors and will not be liable for any of its debts.

Last September, the PVHD Board of Directors voted to seek federal Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection while efforts were made to stanch ongoing financial losses. Administrators noted the hospital had been struggling to remain afloat since the start of the current decade, with revenue streams withering while patient loads remained unchanged.

The California Health Facilities Financing Authority extended an $8.5 million infusion from the Distressed Hospital Program in 2023, but that turned into a short-term fix, according to the district.

Officials expressed frustration at the time about the inability to recruit a chief financialofficer who would stay the course in sorting out possible solutions. Four CFOscame and went in an 18-month span. The possibility of a wholesale county takeover of the hospital’semergency department has not been ruled out publicly.

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