Category: kesq-local-news

Shay Lawson

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. (KESQ) – Paul Stocking said what began 26 years ago with just 4 nutcrackers has now grown into a collection of more than 500.

Stocking and Michael Emig’s indoor Christmas display features nutcrackers spanning various professions, cultures and themes.

Stocking said the nutcrackers range in size from 6 feet in height, down to ¾ of an inch.

The collection also includes doctors, veterinarians and teachers, as well as chefs, bakers and beekeepers.

Sports-themed nutcrackers showcase activities from golf and football to skiing and soccer, while Stocking said their international figures represent countries including France, Germany, Italy and others.

He added some of the most unusual pieces include “ladies who shop and lunch,” Day of the Dead inspired figures and even cowboys and Santas on horseback.

Click here to follow the original article.

Isaiah Mora

CHIRIACO SUMMIT, Calif. (KESQ) – A SIG Alert has been issued following an overturned semi-truck on the I-10 heading east towards Blythe, in between Box Canyon road and Chiriaco Summit.

According to California Highway Patrol’s incident page, the alert was issued around 5 a.m. on Sunday and is expected to last 3 to 4 hours. The overturned semi-truck caused the number 2 lane on eastbound I-10 to close, while the number 1 lane has since reopened.

News Channel 3 has reached out to California Highway Patrol for more information. Stay with us for any updates on this story.

Click here to follow the original article.

Kendall Flynn

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – Saturday marked the first ever “Field Day” event in Indio as organizers look to showcase unique music, shopping and food from local vendors.

The event was created by Adrian Romero, the owner of Rosemary Hi-Fi. He said he created the event because there aren’t enough platforms for artists or creative businesses in the Coachella Valley. He said vendors would often have to travel to other cities, including Los Angeles or San Diego for a subculture event.

“Everything is very franchise and mainstream out here in the desert,” Romero said. “And so we just want to bring more art and more culture and just more niche things.”

For Frank Lemus, a local ceramic artist and owner of Alfarería Lemus, he said “Field Day” is a chance for local businesses like his to grow close to home. He said the event brings together the owners, who have now become a close-knit community.

“This is where I grew up, so it’s it’s cool to see all the, the businesses, local businesses out here and growing,” Lemu said. “There’s sometimes a lot of times we have to go out of town to do kind of events like this. So it’s really cool that they’re putting it together here, and it takes a lot of effort to put an event like this together.”

Residents said they were excited to attend the event after seeing the event on social media. Many said they enjoy having somewhere to listen to music and shop with local vendors. For them, it’s a unique experience that shows how much Indio has grown.

“I think the City of Indio is really stepping up their game,” Grace Escobar said. “They’re bringing out more and more community events so that everybody can come by and have fun.”

“Over the last two years, I’ve seen so much, so much growth in the city, so much more for people who just love to get out and enjoy music, arts, culture, food,” Lucie Gonzalez said. “It just shows that Indio is on the map.”

Stay with News Channel 3 to hear from organizers and attendees about how they hope subculture events continue to grow.

Click here to follow the original article.

KESQ News Team

COACHELLA VALLEY, Calif. (KESQ) – California Highway Patrol delivered hundreds of toys to families in Thermal, Mecca, Oasis and Santa Rosa Saturday morning as part of the CHiPS for Kids holiday toy drive.

For weeks, News Channel 3 collaborated with CHP to donate hundreds of toys provided by the Coachella Valley community.

Click here to follow the original article.

María García

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) — Community reaction is pouring in after the delay in the case against former Queer Works CEO Jacob Rostovsky. He faces 53 felony counts stemming from an investigation into a Palm Springs universal basic program.

According to documents from the Riverside County District Attorney’s office, Rostovsky’s defense team filed a motion for mental health diversion, claiming he was mentally ill at the time of the alleged crimes.

CEO and founder of the Transgender Health and Wellness Center, Thomi Clinton says their office was receiving death threats because people kept getting them confused with Queer Works.

“We had to say our names are not even similar, but they don’t hear that,” said Clinton.

She says the delay to the case doesn’t make sense, “All trans people have anxiety that doesn’t excuse you from doing criminal conduct, especially when people are calling you all the time saying, I’m about to lose my place, Clinton said.

Stay with News Channel 3 for more.

Click here to follow the original article.

KESQ News Team

THERMAL, Calif. (KESQ) – New information tonight on Peter Daut’s I-Team investigation on mold at a CVUSD elementary school.

News Channel 3 can confirm with you tonight that black mold was not found at John Kelley Elementary School.

CVUSD has been addressing mold in rooms 52 and 53. Black mold is a fungi called Stachybotrys. School officials have confirmed that it has not been found.

This comes as the school tells News Channel 3 that more mold testing will continue in other areas of the school through the winter break.

District officials said parents should be prepared for some students to be temporarily placed into other classrooms if more remediation work is needed.

Stay with News Channel 3 for any new developments.

Click here to follow the original article.

City News Service

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – Desert Healthcare District and Foundation awarded more than $1 million in grants to five nonprofit organizations in the Coachella Valley designed for mental and behavioral health services and programs, along with a pair of other unrelated grants.

On Tuesday, the District and Foundation Board approved $1,039,139 to five out the 19 organizations that applied to a request for proposals titled, “Empowering Resilient Youth and Families: Advancing Mental and Behavioral Health Support.”

District officials revealed Thursday the organization’s names and their uses for the grants.

Olive Crest, a nonprofit dedicated to preventing child abuse and offers 24/7 crisis response, was awarded $249,865 to support key Crisis Response Team staff, who provide case management, trauma-informed therapeutic support and coordinated care among young people and families.

Boys and Girls Club of Cathedral City was awarded $140,732 to support partial salaries of five key staff positions, on-site clinical counseling though a subcontract with Jewish Family Services of the Desert, trauma-informed training and essential program infrastructure.

El Sol Neighborhood Educational Center provides bilingual behavioral health services, peer support, housing and other services was awarded $248,565. The funds will be used toward supporting six positions and cover a behavioral health consultant.

Oak Grove Institute Foundation was awarded $248,055, which will be used to support the partial salary of a case manager, items related to medical and mental health expenses and up to 600 sessions with a consultant mental health therapist.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Desert was awarded $151,922. Funding will support staff and essential training and materials, community workshops and peer-to-peer groups among other items.

In addition to the grants, the district and foundation board awarded $326,000 to Desert Cancer Foundation and $200,000 to Vision to Learn.   

The total awarded came out to  $1,565,139. All nonprofit organizations have a project period from Jan.1 to Dec. 31, 2027.   

“In many ways 2025 has been a rewarding year for the Desert Healthcare District and Foundation,” CEO Chris Christensen said in a statement. “It is especially gratifying for the board and staff to respond to the Coachella Valley’s needs through our grants program, whether we’re funding essential mental and behavioral health services or supporting the staffing and programmatic needs of a great organization like the Desert Cancer Foundation.”

Click here to follow the original article.

City News Service

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – An ex-cop accused of roughing up two boys while arresting them after they fled an alleged burglary at Desert Hot Springs High School pleaded not guilty today to felony charges.

Johnny Acosta, 30, was arrested last month following a year-long Riverside County Force Investigations Detail Task Force probe into the allegedacts involving excessive use of force.   

Acosta is charged with gun assault, filing a false report and assault by a peace officer.

He was arraigned before Superior Court Judge John Evans, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for Jan. 22 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.

Acosta is free on a $30,000 bond.   

According to the District Attorney’s Office, shortly before 2 a.m. on Nov. 8, 2024, Desert Hot Springs Police Department patrol units were sent to the high school on Pierson Boulevard to investigate a possible break-in.   

Acosta was among the patrolmen who encountered four male suspects fleeing the location when the officers approached, prosecutors said.   

The defendant pursued one 17-year-old boy, resulting in the first act of alleged excessive force, then went after another 17-year-old, culminating in the second alleged instance of heavy-handedness, according to investigators.   

The youths were ultimately taken into custody without incident, and there was no indication that either suffered injuries that required hospitalization.

The specific actions on the part of the defendant were not disclosed, and there was no word regarding damage to the campus during the reported burglary.

Acosta was placed on administrative leave the same day, after which an internal investigation was initiated that led to his dismissal from the police department last March 27.

Acosta was arrested without incident by District Attorney’s Office investigators on Nov. 7 and quickly posted bail.

Click here to follow the original article.

Garrett Hottle

LANDERS, Calif. (KESQ) In the heart of the Mojave Desert, a white wooden dome rises from the landscape, isolated and enigmatic, resembling a relic from a science fiction film.

The structure is known as the Integratron, long associated with UFO lore, extraterrestrial theories and claims that it was designed to manipulate time itself.

The Integratron was built in the 1950s by George Van Tassel, an aerospace engineer who said he was contacted by extraterrestrials and given instructions to construct what he believed would be a time machine. Van Tassel claimed the device could rejuvenate the human body and extend life by harnessing Earth’s natural energy.

He chose a site near Landers, believing it sat atop a powerful geomagnetic area capable of amplifying that energy. The dome itself is constructed entirely of wood, without nails or metal. Inside, the circular room produces striking acoustics, allowing even a whisper to carry clearly across the space.

Michael Aquino, a family steward of the Integratron, said Van Tassel was a highly intelligent engineer whose ideas were rooted in a desire to help humanity.

Van Tassel died before the Integratron was completed. Years later, the property was purchased by three sisters who believed the structure still served a purpose. Their family continues to live near the site and maintain the building today.

While the Integratron’s origins are tied to extraterrestrial claims and desert mysticism, its modern identity has shifted.

Today, the Integratron is no longer centered on UFOs or time travel. Instead, it has become a destination for sound baths, immersive sessions in which visitors lie beneath the dome as crystal bowls are played, filling the space with layered vibrations. Practitioners say the sound resonates throughout the body, helping to slow the nervous system and quiet the mind.

Sound therapy has emerged as a fast-growing segment of the global wellness industry, driven by rising levels of stress, anxiety and burnout. Once considered unconventional, sound-based experiences are now increasingly common in retreats, studios and wellness centers.

Aquino said he regularly observes noticeable changes in participants following sessions.

“People can come in with a heaviness or fear,” he said. “And when they come back down, their faces are completely changed.”

Participants frequently report feeling calmer, lighter and emotionally affected after sessions. 

That contrast is especially noticeable during the Christmas season, when many visitors seek moments of reflection amid a busy and emotionally charged time of year.

Once defined by alien theories and desert mystery, the Integratron has become a space for stillness, connection and introspection.

Built as a time machine, it no longer promises journeys to the past or future. Instead, it offers something quieter and more immediate: a moment of presence in the now.

For more information on the Integratron visit this link.

Tune into News Channel Three Friday evening for News Channel Three’s Garrett Hottle full report. 

Click here to follow the original article.

Jesus Reyes

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – A vehicle crashed into a wall while being followed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Friday afternoon in Indio.

Check Out: Reports of possible ICE activity raise concerns across Coachella Valley

The crash was reported at around 12:30 p.m. in the 46000 block of Vargas Road.

“During the investigation, officers learned that agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were searching for a person and vehicle they had previously attempted to stop in Salton City. Before being located by ICE, the vehicle, a Ford Focus, was involved in a traffic collision and struck a mailbox that was mounted on a block wall,” reads an updated news release from the Indio Police Department.

ICE detained a 34-year-old man at the scene. IPD wrote that the driver was wanted for an immigration violation and, as a precaution, was transported to a local hospital.

Three children were also inside the vehicle at the time of the collision. The children were not seriously injured and were properly restrained in the vehicle at the time of the collision. The three children were transported to a local hospital as a precaution for evaluation, where they will be reunited with their mother.

IPD added, “The Indio Police Department’s involvement was limited to responding to the trafficcollision, ensuring roadway safety, and coordinating appropriate medical response. The Indio Police Department was not involved in any ICE enforcement or investigative actions and did not participate in the ICE operation.”

We’ve reached out to ICE for additional information but have not heard back. Stay with News Channel 3 for any updates.

Click here to follow the original article.