Author: KESQ

Dakota Makinen

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – Looking for a new job? The Valley-Wide Employment Expo is giving job seekers a chance to meet with employers, explore career opportunities and make connections in person.

The employment expo will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Fantasy Springs Special Events Center, bringing employers and job seekers together in one location.

The event is open to people at different stages of their careers — including those looking for their first job, searching for a new opportunity or hoping to move into a different career.

If you were unable to attend today’s event, you can find local job openings and career opportunities through Riverside County’s Employment Services.

Stay with News Channel 3 for the latest updates.

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Jesus Reyes

DESERT HOT SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – UPDATE: 9/30 2PM- Desert Hot Springs Police tell News Channel 3 that a pedestrian was crossing Palm Drive when he was struck by a vehicle on Tuesday afternoon.

He was taken to a local hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries.

Police tell us the driver stayed and cooperated with officers, and that there was “no impairment on the part of the driver.”

The roadway was closed for over 3 hours, before it was reopened just before 10 p.m.

Stay with News Channel 3 for any updates on this story.

Original Report

Palm Drive was closed for several hours after a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle Tuesday evening in Desert Hot Springs.

The crash was reported just after 7:00 p.m. on Palm Drive and Ironwood Drive.

Details are limited. We have reached out to the Desert Hot Springs Police Department for additional information.

The roadway was reopened just before 10 p.m., police announced on social media.

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Jesus Reyes

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – Road closures are already in place on Avenue 50 in Indio ahead of this month’s Head Trip electronic music festival, police said today.

Avenue 50 between Monroe and Madison streets will be temporarily closed for vehicles and pedestrians until 6 p.m. on Oct. 18, according to the Indio Police Department.

Additional full road closures will be in effect Friday, October 9 through Sunday, October 11, around the festival area.

Motorists traveling near Avenue 49, Avenue 50, Avenue 52, Washington Street, Jefferson Street, and Monroe Street should expect major delays and are encouraged to use alternate routes whenever possible.

Police advised motorists to plan ahead and use alternate routes, including Highway 111, Dr Carreon Boulevard, Avenue 48 and Avenue 52.

For pedestrian safety, no pedestrian or festival access will be permitted on Monroe Street between Avenue 49 and Avenue 52, or on Madison Street between Avenue 50 and Avenue 52.

The closure was ordered to accommodate festival operations and help ensure public safety, police said.

Streets will return to normal traffic patterns beginning Monday, October 12.

Head Trip will take place Oct. 10-11 at Empire Polo Club, 81-800 51st Ave. The first day’s lineup will include Calvin Harris, Peggy Gou back-to-back with Four Tet, Seth Troxler back-to-back with Ben Sterling, Fisher and Chris Lake.

The second day’s lineup will feature Skrillex, DJ Harvey, the Blessed Madonna, Dom Dolla back-to-back with Kettama and Swedish House Mafia.

More information, including set times and passes, is available at headtripindio.com.

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Tommy Gallegos

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. (KESQ)— Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco has returned approximately 650,000 ballots and election materials to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters following a unanimous California Supreme Court ruling ordering the materials returned.

The court ruled last Thursday that Bianco violated state election law when his office seized the ballots from the November 2025 special election involving Proposition 50. The justices ordered the ballots returned immediately to the custody of the Registrar of Voters.

In a separate unanimous ruling issued the same day, the court upheld Attorney General Rob Bonta’s authority to order Bianco to stop the investigation and comply with state election procedures.

The Registrar of Voters confirmed that the county has received the ballots and election materials returned by the Sheriff’s Office following the Supreme Court’s opinion.

“The Registrar is working with the state to determine the appropriate next steps for the ballots,” the office said. “The Registrar will continue to safeguard the integrity of the election process and ensure the secure custody and accountability of all election materials.”

Riverside County Supervisor Medina also addressed the development in a post on Instagram, writing:

“This is an important step toward restoring public confidence and ensuring our elections are governed by the law and the safeguards designed to protect every voter.

The integrity of our elections depends on the integrity of the process.”

The returned materials will remain in the custody of the Registrar of Voters while county and state officials determine the appropriate next steps.

The Supreme Court’s ruling brings the seized ballots back under the control of the county’s election officials.

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Gavin Nguyen

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (KESQ) – As November’s general election inches closer, official voter information guides are being mailed out to voters across the state. As one Rancho Mirage woman found out, though, not each guide looks the same.

Maryan Baker reached out to KESQ with a peculiar problem. She received her voter guide in the mail, but when she peered inside, she was shocked to see dozens of pages missing. A gap in her booklet stretched from page 57 to 120. Several swaths of duplicate pages were mixed in, too.

Voter guide missing pages 57-120

“This is something that the public needs to know. And a lot of people don’t even look at their guidebook until they have their ballot or the night before they’re going to vote,” Baker emphasized.

She recounted opening her voter guide on September 21st and reading through the first 50 or so pages. Up to that point, nothing seemed wrong. But as she was reading information on Proposition 40, she noticed something odd.

“I was reading about proposition 40, and I was reading the argument in favor,” she explained, flipping through the pages. “And then the argument against is not there.”

News Channel 3 also reached out to the California Secretary of State’s office for clarification on the error. In its response, it explained an error was made during the printing and assembly process by a contracted printer.

Their response continued:

“We are so far aware of two voters who reported missing pages in their guides. These voters were immediately mailed replacement guides. Out of an abundance of caution, we are also mailing a small number of guides to the addresses located in the immediate area of the residences where misprints have been identified.

If anyone identifies an error with their [Voter Information Guide (VIG)], we recommend they notify their county election official or the California Secretary of State so that they can receive a replacement as soon as possible.

Additionally, a digital version of the Voter Information Guide is available on our website: https://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/“

CA Secretary of State Press Team

The Secretary of State’s office said the two voters with errors in their guides were both from the Palm Springs area. Since the printers the Secretary of State partners with to produce the guides are often regional, these errors could still be in circulation in the Coachella Valley. Baker said some of the neighbors she checked with also found missing or duplicate pages.

She had some advice, from one valley voter to another: “Be sure to research things and check your voter guide. And if yours is missing pages, especially on the propositions and on the candidate statements, those are really important.”

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Tommy Gallegos

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KESQ) — Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed Assembly Bill 1663 by Assemblymember Greg Wallis, R-Bermuda Dunes, simplifying the permitting process for hazardous Joshua Trees and expanding opportunities for California Native American tribes to use Western Joshua Trees for cultural purposes.

The law allows property owners to designate an authorized agent, such as a contractor or property manager, to handle no-fee permits for hazardous trees without additional certification.

It also expands the state’s authority to work with California Native American tribes on the cultural use of Western Joshua Trees, including the purchase and sale of trees for tribal cultural purposes.

“Joshua Trees are part of what makes our desert home,” Wallis said. “A homeowner with a dead tree leaning on the house can now get a permit without extra hoops, and tribes have more room to use these trees in their cultural traditions.”

Newsom also signed AB 1808, authored by Assemblymember Juan Carrillo and coauthored by Wallis. The measure makes additional changes to Joshua Tree permitting for single-family homes and public works, commercial and industrial projects.

“These two bills make it a lot easier for families, businesses and local governments to work with the state, and they do it without weakening the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act,” Wallis said.

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City News Service

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – A 35-year-old man accused of hurling glass bottles during a melee at a Palm Springs pool party, injuring four women and two men, pleaded not guilty today to a half-dozen felony charges.

Milad Thamer Youssef of El Cajon was arrested last month following a Palm Springs Police Department investigation.

Youssef is charged with six counts of assault with a deadly weapon, with sentence-enhancing great bodily injury allegations.

He was arraigned Tuesday before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Tucker, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for Nov. 13 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.

The defendant is free on a $180,000 bond.

According to police, at 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 9, a fight erupted during the Splash House music celebration at the Palm Springs Air Museum on Gene Autry Trail.

Youssef was in the thick of it, and during the altercation he allegedly retrieved glass bottles at poolside and hurled them at attendees, police said.

It was unclear whether he was allegedly aiming at anyone in particular.

Court papers identified the victims only by their initials, with the four women listed as “A.C.,” “I.A.,” “N.G.” and “S.P.,” while the two male victims were identified as “A.P.” and “D.G.”

Officers assigned to work security at the venue were immediately summoned, but by the time they reached the scene the defendant had fled, according to the police department.

The victims were either treated on-site by paramedics, or taken to nearby Desert Regional Medical Center for evaluation and treatment. Their injuries were generally described as minor and all stemming from contact with broken glass.

Youssef turned himself in to investigators five days later and was booked into jail.

He has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

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Garrett Hottle

Update – 9/29/26 – 5:10 p.m.

Investigators believe they have found more remains of T’Neya Tovar, the Imperial County District Attorney’s office announced.

Remains were found off Treadwell Boulevard in Salton City. DNA testing will be conducted to confirm that the remains are in fact T’Neya’s.

The DA’s office said it was a result of the plea agreement with Abraham Feinbloom, which calls for Feinbloom to be sentenced to a life sentence with a possibility of parole after 13 years. A specific condition of the plea agreement was that Feinbloom assist law enforcement in locating the remains of T’Neya.

Abraham Feinbloom and T’Neya Tovar

“Prior to the plea agreement being entered in this case T’Neya’s parents, Charro Tovar and JoshCarter (who approve of their names being used), expressed to the Imperial County District Attorney’s Office their deep and personal desire for the remains of T’Neya to be located so that they could truly put her to rest,” reads a news release from the DA’s office.

The DA’s office added, “Today will hopefully bring some measure of closure to T’Neya’s family and will allow her parents to put their daughter to rest.”

Update – 9/29/26 – 4:10 p.m.

Investigators found a skull and ribcage today, the Imperial County District Attorney’s office told News Channel 3’s Garrett Hottle. DNA testing will need to be conducted to confirm the identity.

News Channel 3 will have the latest updates live from the scene at 5 and 6 p.m.

Original Report 9/29/26 – 12:03 p.m.

SALTON CITY, Calif. (KESQ) Police are searching in Salton City again this morning.

Neighbors started sending News Channel 3 messages early Tuesday about officers and vehicles setting up in the area. We don’t yet know which agencies are out there or what they’re looking for.

But the timing is hard to miss. Yesterday, a plea deal was filed in Imperial County Superior Court that requires Abraham Feinbloom to take investigators to the rest of T’Neya Tovar’s body.

News Channel 3 broke the terms of that deal Monday. Feinbloom, 51, is expected to plead no contest to torture and voluntary manslaughter and get 13 years to life. The murder charge goes away at sentencing, but only if investigators find parts of her torso and head first.

The agreement says her remains are expected to be at “at least two sites.” Investigators can take Feinbloom out of the Imperial County jail and drive him there. His attorney and her investigator can follow behind. Whatever he tells them along the way can’t be used against him.

It’s not clear whether Feinbloom is out there this morning.

His attorney, Melanie Roe, told News Channel 3 on Monday that sentencing is set for Oct. 26.

T’Neya was 17. Only one of her legs has ever been found. Deputies picked it up Dec. 21 near Portsmouth Avenue and Newhaven Court in Vista Del Mar, less than a mile from Feinbloom’s boarded-up house on Harlequin Court. That was nine months ago.

The last big search out here was Aug. 25, when federal agents spent a day digging behind Feinbloom’s house and on the empty lot next door. Nobody ever said what they were after or whether they found it.

T’Neya was from Hemet. She went missing Dec. 1 after telling her mom she was heading to Palm Springs. A friend dropped her off at Feinbloom’s house that same day, an FBI agent testified in April. Her parents drove out to Salton City over and over asking deputies to check the house. Feinbloom was arrested Feb. 13 when he jumped a fence trying to get away from a SWAT team.

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Matthew Pearce

THOUSAND PALMS, Calif. (KESQ) — Rainfall in Indio Falls last night led to road closures, notably on Dillon Road, where mud covered the street.

Weather experts attributed the sudden activity to atmospheric instability caused by the distant hurricane, combined with regional terrain features that accelerate cloud development.

Although Hurricane Polo made landfall 750 miles south of the region, tropical moisture pushed northward into Southern California, generating sudden thunderstorm activity.

“The storm actually made landfall about 750 miles south of the Coachella Valley,” Evans said. “But there were tropical storm force winds up to 500 miles out from the center of that storm. So that imparts a lot of instability. And we get little pieces of that. It really destabilizes the atmosphere, even this far north.”

Evans added that energized tropical moisture from warm ocean waters can generate severe storms as far as 800 miles north.

Meteorologists with the National Weather Service noted how rapidly these weather events can materialize once atmospheric conditions align.

“Very quick,” Meteorologist Sebastian Westerink said. “As soon as we see cumulus cloud development and we know that there’s a lifting mechanism, we know that these clouds can turn into thunderstorms within 20, 30 minutes.”

The geography of the Coachella Valley plays a direct role in creating that needed lift. The mountain peaks surrounding the valley force moist air upward, accelerating storm formation.

“Because the Coachella Valley is surrounded by mountains… those are forcing mechanisms to initiate thunderstorm activity or initiate shower activity in the first place,” Westerink said. “You have mountain peaks and you have a moist air mass flowing right onto it. The mountain is going to cause the air parcels to rise and then create showers and thunderstorms more easily.”

With Pacific Ocean water temperatures remaining elevated above normal and El Niño expected to bring additional moisture, residents are preparing for future storms. David Cornish, a local resident, said he is taking proactive measures at his home following experiences with prior storms.

“I’ve been getting ready for El Niño,” Cornish said. “I’ve really been proofing the house and making sure everything is ready and anticipating and checking my drainage and everything. So I’m doing the best I can to not repeat what happened with Hurricane Hilary.”

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Dakota Makinen

UPDATE: Dillon Road in Indio Hills reopened around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday after flooding forced a closure overnight.

ORIGINAL REPORT: INDIO HILLS, Calif. (KESQ) — Dillon Road remains closed at Avenue 44 in Indio Hills Tuesday morning after flooding moved through the area overnight.

The California Highway Patrol first reported the closure shortly before 10:20 p.m. Monday.

Flooding occurred along a wash area near Dillon Road and Sunny Rock Road. A truck became stuck in mud, sand and rocks along the roadway.

The driver told News Channel 3 the sand became trapped underneath the truck, causing the tires to spin and preventing the vehicle from moving.

Road crews are working this morning to clear the area. Several vehicles were backed up near the closure.

Drivers traveling through the area should use an alternate route and avoid attempting to drive around road crews or through flooded areas.

Drivers traveling east or west across the Coachella Valley can use Interstate 10 to bypass the closure.

KESQ will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.

More on Monday’s Storm

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