Category: kesq-local-news

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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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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