Category: kesq-local-news

Jesus Reyes

BANNING, Calif. (KESQ) – A suspect crashed into a vehicle while attempting to flee from deputies Wednesday morning in Banning.

The incident started just before 8 a.m. when deputies responded to the area of Haugen Lehmann Way and Tamarack Road in Whitewater regarding a report of a stolen vehicle possibly involved in a robbery, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies located the vehicle near Main Street and Interstate 10 in Cabazon. 

“Deputies attempted to stop the vehicle; however, it failed to yield, and a pursuit was initiated as it traveled west on I-10,” an RSO spokesperson said. “The vehicle exited the freeway at 22nd Street, Banning, where it collided with another motorist.” 

That motorist was transported to a local area hospital in stable condition. 

The driver of the stolen vehicle, along with three additional subjects, were all taken into custody. 

The Banning police department responded to assist in the traffic collision investigation.  The investigation into the stolen vehicle and possible robbery are ongoing.

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City News Service

RANCHO MIRAGE (CNS) – The Rancho Mirage Library and Observatory will celebrate its 30th anniversary today with a variety of activities for all ages.   

The free festivities will be held from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday at 71-100 CA-111, with hands-on activities for kids and families, including games and crafts.  

At 6 p.m., comedian Eric Cunningham will regale patrons with a “fast- paced, hilarious look at the library’s 30-year journey,” library officials said. In addition, there will be prizes, trivia and a performance by jazz pianists Stephanie Trick and Paolo Alderighi.   

The celebration will conclude from 8-9:30 p.m. with a public exploration night at the observatory.

The library is also offering a commemorative library card that is only available on Wednesday.

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Dillon Fuhrman

SALTON CITY, Calif. (KYMA) – The Imperial County Sheriff’s Office (ICSO) is asking the public’s help after they found a human leg in the Salton City area last month.

According to a post on Facebook, deputies responded to the area at around 4:30 p.m. Sunday, December 21, 2025.

Upon arrival, ICSO says deputies found a human leg, and says their Investigations division took over “after the remains were secured.”

After that, ICSO says their deputies and investigators conducted an extensive search, both on foot and in the air, of the area to find any additional evidence or information, but as of now, they did not find any additional remains nor evidence.

In addition, ICSO says the remains have yet to be identified, and says their investigators “are working to determine the circumstances surrounding how they came to be at the location.”

The investigation remains ongoing, but ICSO is asking for anyone who is aware of someone who has recently gone missing, or if anyone knows someone who was traveling through or visiting the Salton City area, but never heard from them since, to call ICSO at (442) 265-2052.

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Jesus Reyes

PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) – A hiker was rescued today after suffering an ankle injury on a Palm Desert trail.  

The rescue was reported shortly before 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Art Smith Trail, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.   

Crews reached the injured hiker, who was identified only as a woman, on an all-terrain vehicle and took her to an awaiting ambulance. She was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries.

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Athena Jreij

Update 1/8/25

The statue of Frank Bogert will be moved to Village Green in downtown Palm Springs.

The Palm Springs Public Arts Commission approved the move Thursday after a nearly two-hour discussion.

The commission asked that a subcommittee work with the Palm Springs Historical Society to add an educational component regarding the controversial history related to the sculpture.

Some public commenters had suggested moving the statue to Bogert Trail, but commissioners noted that it is private land.

Original Report 1/7/25

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – A controversial statue of former Palm Springs mayor, Frank Bogert, could have a new home this year. 

The statue was removed from Palm Springs City Hall in 2022 after a recommendation from the Human Rights Commission in 2021, as the city reckoned with the mayor’s alleged role in evicting Section 14 victims from a plot of land owned by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians.

This Thursday, the Public Arts Commission will consider rehoming the statue at the Village Green in the Palm Springs Historical Society, where several chairpersons have requested it be placed permanently.

Section 14 survivors have argued against the relocation, saying Bogert’s statue glorifies a painful part of their history.

“How does a mayor oversee a city without having some type of input on burning down a community?The harm was devastating. Reinstalling the statue sends a very painful message that our suffering is secondary to nostalgia,” Pearl Devers, the president of Section 14 Survivors and Descendants said.

Not all agree however. Gordon and Stacey Winn, Palm Springs residents, say they believe the former mayor’s legacy should be honored.

“I saw that his star is here, so it’s really appropriate. It’s a good place for him. I mean, I know people have mixed feelings, but he’s an important part of our history,” they said.

The Friends of Frank Bogert have also supported the relocation, while refuting claims that Bogert played a role in Section 14’s mass displacement. The group believes Bogert worked with leaders in the Black community to find alternative homes and place eviction moratoriums.

Former Palm Springs Mayor Lisa Middleton oversaw the statue debate and recommended it be placed at the Village Green.

“When you look here at, the Village Green and the historical society, the buildings and the history that we have going back no a hundred years for us in Palm Springs, that focus on that history is right here,” Middleton said.

Survivors disagree, with Devers saying they have no objections to placing the statue in a museum with context, but it doesn’t belong in the public eye.

The Public Arts Commission is slated to decide the future of the statue Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

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Kendall Flynn

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif (KESQ) – The Cathedral City Police Department is holding active shooter and mass casualty trainings for officers near James Workman Middle School on Wednesday and Thursday. CCPD Police Commander Andrew Diaz said the trainings continue to grow in importance.

“Since 1999 and Columbine, training and police response to these kinds of incidents has completely, turned around,” Diaz said. “As we get new officers coming into the police department, we want to train them up, not to mention keeping our, tenured officers also their skills sharp.” 

Officers are split into four-hour training groups to work through different scenarios and tactics, followed by a debrief of how the training went. Officials said the lectures and real-life scenarios are essential to stimulating the officers into making a decision and acting.

“The primary focus is for them to understand that when they’re responding to an incident like this is that they’re prepared to show up and engage right away,” Diaz said. “That means entering the facility, looking for the suspect and stopping them before they continue their killing. Ultimately, our goal is to save as many lives as possible.”

At locations, like the school, officers are immersed in a high pressure scenario with loudspeakers, blanks in firearms and role players. Each factor challenges the way an officer reacts in the moment and changes his next move.

“When we introduce those training needs and we introduce blanks, the loud noise areas that are unknown to them, buildings, hallways, classrooms, the role players, especially when they’re coming out,” Diaz said.

He went on to say, “The ones that are designed to be victims, they’re reaching out to the officers, sometimes pulling on their pant legs, asking them for help. Well, the officer, based on the training, knows that they can’t stop and render aid. They have to continue moving towards the sound of the gunfire to find the suspect and stop them.”

Stay with News Channel 3 to hear from CCPD on the importance of these trainings in event of critical situations in the Coachella Valley.

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Daniella Lake

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – When Michelle Bloom evacuated Altadena, she had no idea she wouldn’t come back, like the many others who are still displaced by the fire. The Eaton and Palisades fires burned over 16,000 structures and left tens of thousands of people displace, according to the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

“I never imagined I wouldn’t be coming back in a day or two. No, I mean absolutely no,” Bloom says.

Bloom lived in Altadena for 20 years and says she lost everything in the fire. After bouncing around temporary housing for months, she moved to Palm Springs in April.

“I don’t really see a way for me to get back to Altadena. You know, I think that boat has sailed,” Bloom says.

Bloom says she never would have expected to end up in Palm Springs, but once she moved to the neighborhood, something clicked.

“I found my places, my things to go to, my people,” she says.

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Jesus Reyes

PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) – Coachella Valley Firebirds forward Oscar Fisker Mølgaard has been named to Team Denmark’s roster for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games taking place this February in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

Mølgaard, 20, recorded 17 points (6 goals, 11 assists) in 28 games for Coachella Valley this season. The Hjørring, Denmark native previously represented his country during the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships and World Junior Championship.

After being drafted in the second round (52nd overall) in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft by the Seattle Kraken, Mølgaard made his National Hockey League debut earlier this season – picking up an assist in three games played with the Kraken.

“Oscar’s selection to Team Denmark is a well-earned opportunity,” said Troy Bodie, General Manager of the Coachella Valley Firebirds. “He has consistently represented his country at the international level, and this selection reflects both his previous experience with Denmark’s national teams and the work he continues to put in every day with our organization. We’re proud to see him earn the chance to compete on the Olympic stage.”

Prior to joining the Firebirds, Mølgaard played in 129 games in the Swedish Hockey League for HV71.

The men’s hockey tournament at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, which will be the first Olympics to feature NHL players since 2014, will begin on February 11th and will conclude with the gold edal game on February 22nd. To learn more about the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, click HERE. 

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Karen Devine

LOS ANGELES (KESQ) –  It’s been a year of hurdles, roadblocks, and varying emotions for Dave Skabinski, losing his home of 32 years in the Eaton fire. Taking it one day at a time, he’s hit his stride with a positive attitude and rebuilding with a take action approach.

“But I decided Very quickly that I was committed to helping rebuild my community,” Skabinski said.

Not everyone has moved forward, and at today’s news conference held by the Eaton Fire Survivors Network, we learned communication delays, insurance inconsistencies, and lack of money has played a major role in the halt in progress.

“The Eaton fire contaminated our home in January. Our insurance adjuster walked through our home and told us clearly our house needed to be taken down to the studs. We later received a 21-page report confirming this assessment. Then a new adjuster took over and everything changed,” Claire Thompson said in the news conference.

Thompson is still not able to live in her home.

“And we’re not going away. Just because some checks were cut doesn’t mean we are going away,” said LA County Supervisor Katheryn Barger.

Rose Robinson, a survivor and daughter to Olympic silver medalist Mack Robinson and niece to baseball great Jackie Robinson, said not only was her longtime home and sense of community erased in the fire, her precious heirlooms, including her father’s Olympic medal, are gone. 

“I’ll never be the same. I know that. I just, I still feel like my feet are not even on the ground,” Robinson said.

The politicians in the room made it clear they are on board with going after SCE, saying the survivors in all are owed billions of dollars to jumpstart the rebuild.

“The investigation into state… to hold these insurance companies accountable, and I want to emphasize something because there is a piece of this work that we are continuing to work on. I wrote a letter to the CEO of Southern California, Edison, Pedro Pizarro, and have made it very clear that they need to provide emergency housing relief to the community of Altadena,” said State Senator Sasha Perez.

In the meantime, Skabinski is looking forward to his new future and seeing some light after the darkness brought on by the devastating fires of 2025. Sabinski and others are being very proactive, coming up with solutions so that this will never happen again. They’ve pitched the idea of an alarm system across the city of Altadena, hoping that people will hear those alarms and get out quicker and get to safety.

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Shay Lawson

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. (KESQ)  – Some Cathedral City residents are telling News Channel 3 what they want to see in the next councilmember, as the city prepares to interview 12 candidates Wednesday for the District 3 seat, left vacant after the death of long time councilmember Mark Carnevale.

Peggy Luce, Cathedral City resident, said she’s pleased with the council’s work thus far, and hopes to see someone continue that mission.

“I love that there’s so much for us to do,” Luce said. “Like the film festival, the arts and things like that.”

The city is appointing the replacement rather than holding a special election.

“It would be great to have a vote because that is democracy in its works,” Alan Carvalho, Cathedral City resident, said. “But it’s also not very effective when there is less than a year left.”

He added he wants a younger voice to fill the seat.

“That would be ideal to bring some young people into the fold. We desperately need that,” Carvalho said. “It would be great to have a female Latina. Because 60% of our city is Latino.”

Candidates:

Daniel H. Brumer

Stephen Burchard

Joe Camareno

Jason Clauson

Ava Dupree-Holmes

Teresa Garay

Colby Gregory

Christina Gordon

Sunshine Herrera

Raymond Manriquez

Jennifer Novak

Albert Ruiz

Councilmembers are expected to appoint the new candidate who will serve out Carnevale’s term after Wednesday’s interview process.

Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing coverage.

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