Author: KESQ

Gavin Nguyen

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – Palm Springs Pride is just weeks away, but organizers are facing a familiar problem. While the celebration isn’t facing as big of a hill to climb as last year, significant sponsorship shortfalls are still expected for 2026’s event.

As this happens, local groups, like PS Resorts, announced it would expand its sponsorship of Palm Springs Pride. The organization announced Monday it would more than double its contributions this year.

Jasmine Sullivan-Waits, the Executive Director of Greater Palm Springs Pride, spoke with News Channel 3 on Monday after the announcement.

Sullivan-Waits took us through the numbers. She explained in 2025, sponsorship reductions directly led to roughly $240,000 in shortfalls. As it stands now, she said 2026 would lead to close to $100,000 in losses.

It’s not just a local problem; pride events across the country are seeing similar impacts. Other major LGBTQ+ pride celebrations have borne the brunt of widespread reductions in traditional corporate sponsorships. Pride organizers have said political polarization and shifting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies are leading to pulled funding and less visible sponsorships.

As other pride events across the nation shrink or cancel their presence altogether, a larger crowd is expected to gather in Palm Springs this year. An additional 20,000 attendees are forecasted ahead of the event by the organizers. That’s on top of the 200,000 that usually make their way to Palm Springs for pride celebrations.

Greater Palm Springs Pride continues to grow, and as it does, sponsorships and funding remains the key to a successful celebration of the LGBTQ+ community.

Peggy Trott, President of PS Resorts, said in Monday’s media release, “Our hospitality community recognizes that investing in Pride is an investment in the vitality of Palm Springs. At a time when organizations must adapt to shifting macroeconomic conditions, PS Resorts is proud to step forward, fulfill our core mission, and ensure this signature event continues to anchor our local economy and elevate our brand worldwide.”

Organizers said the more robust commitment to celebrating pride in the Coachella Valley is important as other major LGBTQ+ Pride see the knock-on effects of the sponsorship setbacks.

This year’s Pride celebration marks its 40th year in Palm Springs. The event directly generates more than $38 million for local businesses, hotels, and restaurants.

Greater Palm Springs Pride asked any businesses that have something to contribute to make the event more enjoyable to reach out to them.

Sullivan-Waits also emphasized: every dollar counts. If you have a couple of dollars to donate, she pointed to their donation page, which you can find by clicking here.

Tonight, you will hear more from the key players bringing Palm Springs Pride back for another year, despite the financial challenges. We’re asking them more about what this funding increase means and the funding gap that still needs to be bridged as the event continues to grow. Stay with us for our full report at 10 and 11 o’clock.

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City News Service

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) – Prosecution testimony got underway today in the trial of a 22-year-old man accused of fatally shooting his lifelong friend in Sky Valley during an act of gunplay.

Alexis Yahir Duran of Cathedral City is charged with second-degree murder and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations for the 2023 death of 17-year-old Adam Pineda of Desert Hot Springs.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Jerry Yang on Tuesday seated a jury to hear the case, and jurors returned to the Riverside Hall of Justice on Wednesday morning for opening statements and the start of testimony, which is expected to continue into next week.

Duran is being held on $1 million bail at the Benoit Detention Center.

According to a trial brief filed by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, Duran and Pineda had been best friends since elementary school, and on the morning of Feb. 4, 2023, the victim and defendant, along with the latter’s younger brother, Jose Duran, planned to go to a party together but needed a mutual friend to guide them there, so while waiting for him they parked along Wide Canyon Road in Sky Valley.

The trio had spent most of the previous day and night at a fundraiser to cover funeral expenses for Pineda’s family following the suicide of the victim’s brother, prosecutors said.

Pineda drove his Jeep Cherokee, with Duran in the right front passenger seat and the defendant’s brother in the back seat, either asleep or playing on his cell phone, according to the brief. The threesome got out of the SUV for a few minutes and fired a couple of rounds from a 9mm handgun that Duran had acquired illegally via social media three weeks earlier, the prosecution said.

They then returned to the Jeep, where Duran put the pistol in his lap.

“Pineda took the firearm from the defendant’s lap and examined it,” the narrative said. “The defendant heard Pineda rack the handgun, and Pineda gave it back to the defendant. The defendant began examining the firearm himself, and while moving the handgun around, pulled the trigger and shot Pineda one time in the right side of his head.”

The bullet went through his head, exiting on the left side, according to the prosecution.

Duran and his brother placed the mortally wounded teenager in the back seat, and the defendant drove to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, where he and his brother carried the victim into the emergency room, then left, the brief said.

They parked the Jeep in a nearby structure and got a ride home from an acquaintance, according to sheriff’s investigators.

Pineda was pronounced dead moments later.

A Sky Valley resident who had heard the fatal gunshot alerted patrol deputies, who arrived minutes after the Jeep had driven away. The responding deputy located Pineda’s mobile phone with blood on the ground and called 911 via the phone to identify its owner, immediately leading to confirmation from dispatchers that the phone belonged to a person who had been checked into the hospital a short time before, according to the brief.

Duran called Pineda’s girlfriend, whose identity wasn’t disclosed, along with the victim’s uncle, also not identified, allegedly telling them that Pineda had accidentally shot himself while mishandling the firearm, according to prosecutors.

The parties in turn contacted law enforcement, culminating in detectives summoning Duran to the hospital, where he was detained. He told detectives he’d thrown the gun into desert scrub where the Jeep had been parked in Sky Valley, court papers stated. Despite a search, the weapon was never found.

After the defendant allegedly admitted the shooting, he wrote a letter to the victim’s mother in which he apologized, saying he “didn’t mean to and would never do that to (Pineda) on purpose,” Detective Daniel Cline testified during a 2023 preliminary hearing.

An autopsy revealed the pistol was fired from several feet away, not at extremely close range, as might be the case during an accidental shooting caused by the person holding the gun, prosecutors said.

The defense has maintained the shooting amounts to, at most, involuntary manslaughter. The judge at the defendant’s preliminary hearing ruled the prosecution’s argument for murder was valid because Duran had become familiar with the firearm in the weeks prior to the shooting and knew what could happen if it went off.

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City News Service

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – More than a decade after he was arrested and charged, jury selection began today in the trial of a parolee accused of gunning down a man after the victim crashed into the defendant’s Porsche SUV in Indio.

James “Chip” Milton Nathaniel, 39, of Beaumont, allegedly killed 35- year-old Apolonio Carranza in 2015.

Nathaniel is charged with first-degree murder, being a felon in possession of a firearm, witness intimidation, spousal abuse and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.

Pretrial motions started last week, and Riverside County Superior Court Judge Otis Sterling summoned multiple panels of prospective jurors to the Larson Justice Center in Indio Monday for screening as to their availability and qualifications.

Opening statements are expected Thursday. Nathaniel is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Benoit Detention Center.

The People v. Nathaniel, which ranks among the county court system’s oldest unresolved murder cases, has been plagued by repeated delays, attributable to the defendant’s changes in counsel, ongoing requests for dismissals, hearings to access law enforcement officers’ confidential records and some of her matters not specified in court records going back to his arrest in May 2015.

The defendant was less than a year out of prison when the confrontation occurred with Carranza.

According to the Indio Police Department, the two men, along with multiple other people, had been visiting a house in the 43000 block of Kenya Drive in the predawn hours of April 19, 2015.

Witnesses later told police an argument erupted between Nathaniel and Carranza for reasons not altogether clear at the time.

According to a police arrest warrant declaration, one witness said Carranza challenged Nathaniel to race him for the “pink slips” to their respective SUVs, then he rammed Nathaniel’s Porsche.

The enraged defendant allegedly pulled a handgun and opened fire on the victim as he sat behind the wheel of his Nissan Murano, the affidavit said.

A dozen shots were fired at close range, killing Carranza on the spot, police alleged.

Nathaniel then allegedly got into his SUV and drove away. Witnesses called 911, and patrol officers arrived less than 10 minutes later.

The defendant’s identity was publicized four days after the shooting. He was taken into custody without incident in San Bernardino on May 21, 2015.

Nathaniel had been released from prison in the early spring of 2014 after completing a sentence stemming from a 2005 attack in which a motorist was shot in Indio, according to court records.

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City News Service

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – A longtime local government administrator has been appointed Indio’s new assistant city manager and will begin work Oct. 5, city officials announced Monday.

Maria Aliotti, who has more than three decades of experience in local government, was selected following a recruitment process that drew 111 applicants, according to the city.

“As Indio continues to grow and advance major priorities across the organization, Maria will be a tremendous addition to our executive team and an important partner in continuing to deliver high quality services to our residents, businesses and employees,” City Manager Jonathan Nicks said in a statement.

In her new role, Aliotti will work with Nicks and the city’s executive leadership team on citywide operations, City Council and strategic plan priorities, coordination among departments and other major initiatives, officials said.

Aliotti’s previous positions include assistant city manager, director of community services and redevelopment manager for the city of Pittsburg in Northern California.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from Saint Mary’s College of California.

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Tommy Gallegos

PALM SPRINGS, CA — The Palm Springs Police Department (PSPD) is alerting residents and businesses to a nationwide phishing scam involving criminals impersonating city and county planning and zoning officials to solicit fraudulent permit payments.

Scammers are targeting individuals and businesses with active land-use permit applications. Using publicly available information, they send convincing emails containing legitimate property addresses, permit numbers, and names of government officials. These emails request payment for fraudulent permit fees, often through wire transfers, peer-to-peer payment services, or cryptocurrency.

Verify all payment requests directly with the City using official contact information. Be cautious of unsolicited emails requesting immediate payment. Carefully inspect email addresses for suspicious or non-governmental domains. Never send payments without independently confirming the legitimacy of the request.

If you receive a suspicious permit payment request or become a victim of this scam within the City of Palm Springs, report the incident to the Palm Springs Police Department. Victims are also encouraged to file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.

For additional information about this nationwide scam, read the FBI’s official public service announcement

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City News Service

WHITEWATER, Calif. (KESQ) – One person was killed today when a vehicle went down an embankment near Whitewater.

The incident was reported shortly before 2 p.m. Monday near eastbound Interstate 10 and state Route 62, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Emergency crews responded to a reported medical emergency, and an occupant of the vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.

It was not immediately clear whether the person killed was the driver or another occupant.

The CHP’s incident log indicated that a tow truck was requested to retrieve the vehicle from the embankment.

The circumstances surrounding the death were not immediately known.

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Garrett Hottle

EL CENTRO, Calif. (KESQ) – Abraham Feinbloom is expected to plead no contest Tuesday to torture and voluntary manslaughter in the death of 17-year-old T’Neya Tovar, a deal that would send him to state prison for 13 years to life and spare him a murder trial.

The plea agreement, filed Monday in Imperial County Superior Court and reviewed by News Channel 3, requires the 51-year-old Salton City man to lead investigators to the rest of T’Neya’s body.

Only one of her legs has ever been found. It turned up Dec. 21 in Vista Del Mar, less than a mile from Feinbloom’s boarded-up home on Harlequin Court.

The terms of the deal

Feinbloom would plead no contest to two charges: torture, which carries seven years to life, and voluntary manslaughter, which adds a consecutive six years. Both would count as strikes. He gives up his right to appeal and could earn no more than 15% credit toward his time.

The murder charge stays on the books until sentencing. Prosecutors would dismiss it then, but only if Feinbloom holds up his end.

Before sentencing, he must help law enforcement find her remains, which are expected to be at “at least two sites.” Investigators can pull him out of the Imperial County jail and drive him there. His attorney and her investigator can follow close behind, but law enforcement decides who rides in the vehicle.

If investigators recover “portions of the victim’s torso and head” before sentencing, the murder charge is dismissed. If they don’t, the agreement doesn’t say what happens next.

Nothing Feinbloom says on those trips, and nothing investigators find because of what he says, can be used against him. The only exception is if he takes the stand and contradicts himself.

In the signed agreement, Feinbloom admits he “engaged in the torture of the victim in this case, causing great bodily injury” and that he “separately … then engaged in the voluntary manslaughter of the victim.” A no-contest plea to a felony in California counts the same as a guilty plea.

Acting Assistant District Attorney John Harter signed off on the deal. Sentencing would come about four weeks after the plea. Jury selection had been set to start Oct. 6.

How the case got here

Ten days ago, defense attorney Melanie Roe told a judge she was ready for trial. On Aug. 25, federal agents spent the day digging behind Feinbloom’s house and on the lot next door. Nobody said what they were looking for.

T’Neya, of Hemet, was reported missing Dec. 1 after telling her mother she was heading to Palm Springs. A friend dropped her off at Feinbloom’s house that day, an FBI agent testified in April. She stopped answering her phone. Her parents drove out again and again asking deputies to check the house. Deputies knocked but never went in.

Feinbloom was arrested Feb. 13 after he jumped a fence trying to get away from a SWAT team. He had a passport and Thai currency on him. He pleaded not guilty to murder five days later. He told an FBI agent he did not know T’Neya. At his preliminary hearing, prosecutors played video of the two of them together inside his home.

Court records uncovered by News Channel 3 show Feinbloom was charged with kidnapping in Imperial County in 2018. Prosecutors dismissed that case the next year, saying they couldn’t proceed.

News Channel 3 will be in court tomorrow and have the latest details on the case.

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KESQ News Team

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KESQ) Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1145, known as “Tristin’s Bill,” into law Sunday — a safety measure named for 27-year-old Tristin Bourgeois of La Quinta, who died in October 2024 when a big rig lost control on Highway 74 near Vista Point and hit his pickup while he was driving to work.

Tristin’s stepmother Tina Bourgeois said the family learned of the signing in the middle of the night from Assemblyman Gonzalez’s office.

“He really lit up a room. He loved to play music. He loved to fish. He loved to be with his family,” Tina said of Tristin. “He’s deeply missed. We miss going on our camping trips with him and all of us getting together and just playing music, fishing, everything we all love to do together.”

The family’s fight for change has been about more than a single tragedy. “It’s not about banning trucks. It’s about accountability. It’s about safety,” Tina said. “We will not stop until we have safety on Highway 74. That is my goal.”

The new law requires Caltrans to weigh the cost of local traffic safety requests against other solutions, and to provide written explanations when it rejects them.

Assemblymen Jeff Gonzalez, R-Indio, and Greg Wallis, R-Bermuda Dunes, introduced the bill in April 2025. The original version called for a Caltrans study of crash data and 911 calls on Highway 74; that language was removed before final passage.

“I want to thank the Governor for signing AB 1145, Tristin’s Bill, into law. I also want to thank Assemblymember Greg Wallis and Supervisor V. Manuel Perez for their partnership throughout this process. Most importantly, I want to recognize Tristin’s family and the residents of our mountain communities. They turned their pain and concerns into action, made their voices heard, and never stopped fighting for change. This is an important step toward greater transparency and accountability, but it is just one step in our continued efforts to make our roads safer and protect the communities we serve.” – Assemblymember Jeff Gonzalez

A Riverside Transportation study shows larger trucks cannot safely maneuver Highway 74 and cannot stay in their lane. Tina said the family now expects that data to be put into action.

“AB 1145 was written in memory of La Quinta’s Tristin Bourgeois, who was killed on Highway 74 in 2024. It will require greater transparency in how Caltrans responds to local highway safety concerns and help ensure communities have a clearer understanding of what is being done to address dangerous road conditions. Grateful to Assemblymember Jeff Gonzalez for working with me on this effort, and especially to Tristin’s family for their strength and advocacy throughout the process.” – Assemblymember Greg Wallis

“We have all the warning signs. We have the engineering and the data in front of us,” she said. “Now it’s time to put the study into action.”

Highway 74 is a state highway, so local governments cannot restrict traffic on it without Caltrans approval. The law takes effect Jan. 1.

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Kiera McKinney

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) — Riverside County is bringing financial assistance resources directly to College of the Desert’s Indio campus as students and families continue to face rising living costs.

The Riverside County Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) is hosting an outreach event Monday, September 28, from noon to 2 p.m., connecting residents with information about food assistance, cash aid and health coverage.

The event aims to make it easier for students and community members to learn about available programs and how to apply for support.

Programs offered through the county include CalFresh, which provides food assistance, CalWORKs, which offers financial support to eligible families, and Medi-Cal, which provides health coverage to qualifying residents.

The outreach event is taking place at the Indio campus, located at 45524 Oasis Street.

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Dakota Makinen

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (KESQ) – The Betty Ford Center unveiled the next phase of renovations to its campus in Rancho Mirage.

The center hosted a private event on Tuesday as city leaders, supporters, and alumni gathered to get a first look at new renderings of the $40 million plan for the facility. The renovations are part of a larger effort to update the Betty Ford Center and improve the experience for patients and their families.

Phase 2 includes a new resident treatment building with 60 beds and a new dining hall expected to seat 168 people, with a separate family dining room as well as a coffee shop.

The next phase is aimed at expanding resources for those in recovery.

“People who are arriving or may arrive with the same uncertainty or worries or fear that I experienced. But what I also think about is the opportunity that they’ll have to imagine a different future,” said Aakash Davda, an alumnus of the Betty Ford Center.

Construction on Phase 2 is expected to be done in June or September of next year, and the entire transformation project will be fully completed by 2029.

For more information on the Betty Ford Center transformation project, visit: https://www.hazeldenbettyford.org/betty-ford-center-transformation

Tuesday’s event comes during National Recovery Month, which highlights addiction treatment and recovery efforts nationwide.

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