Category: kesq-local-news

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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Gavin Nguyen

PASADENA, Calif. (KESQ) – As Southern California braces for what forecasters are calling a severe El Niño, a pair of satellites are watching the weather that unfolds.

Sentinel 6 and Sentinel 6B, orbiting some 800+ miles above the Earth, constantly stare at our oceans. Every ten days, they’re able to map about 95% of them. In doing so, they can sense the changes that are fueling El Niño.

Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or JPL, explained how it all works.

“[The satellites] send a radar wave down to the ocean and wait for it to bounce back up. And they just time how long it takes to go down and come back,” said Josh Willis, a climate scientist with JPL.

The vertical position of the satellites remain constant as they orbit the Earth. By knowing the position of the satellite in space and the time it takes for the radar waves to bounce back and forth, researchers can determine the average height of the water in a given area.

Each radar beam essentially maps a big circle on the ocean. The circle is about 10 kilometers, or 6 miles, in diameter. The heights of the top and bottom of the waves are collected, then averaged out.

“We’re looking down every second of every day measuring the planet’s oceans. And after about ten days, we can do the global average of sea level, and we can get an accuracy of global sea level change with just a few millimeters of accuracy,” he continued. “These satellites give us the biggest, clearest picture of El Nino that you can get.”

Warmer water physically stands taller. Measuring that change, scientists can focus in on the patterns that emerge. It’s especially important now, when sea surface temperatures are vastly warmer than usual due to El Niño.

“Not every El Niño means huge rains in Southern California,” said Willis. “But the satellites give us a picture of how this heat is moving around and how that’s going to play out on the weather. So by comparing it with past events, we really get a better idea of what’s going to happen this year.”

Scientists have been collecting this wave height data since the 1990s, which means they have access to decades of data, including the significant El Niño event of 1997. Sentinel 6, named “Michael Freilich” in honor of the late oceanographer who served as director of the NASA Earth Science division, launched in 2020. Sentinel 6B launched last year, joining Sentinel 6 in orbit. All of the data that is collected on the world’s oceans are available for public use; NASA’s catalog can be found by clicking here.

Willis said a wide group of forecasters, weather agencies, emergency planners, and more used the data to better understand and prepare for extreme weather events. Judging by the years of data they have banked so far, he was confident this year’s El Niño would be significant.

“This particular event seems to be as big, or maybe even bigger than the huge 1997 event, which caused trillions of dollars of damage around the planet.”

As El Niño intensifies, even residents here in the Coachella Valley are asked to prepare in the event of severe rain and flooding. You can find more of our El Niño coverage here.

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KESQ News Team

BEAUMONT, Calif. (KESQ) — The California Highway Patrol is investigating the death of a man who was found along State Route 243 north of Smith Creek Bridge Saturday morning.

CHP says officers received a report around 11:41 a.m. that a man was lying on the shoulder of the highway.

Fire department personnel arrived first and initially believed the man may have been injured in a traffic crash.

The man was taken to Desert Regional Medical Center for treatment, but despite lifesaving efforts, he died.

During the investigation, CHP officers found no evidence that a vehicle was involved.

Medical personnel later told investigators the man’s injuries did not appear consistent with a traffic collision and instead appeared to have been caused by a sharp-edged weapon.

CHP detectives are now investigating the circumstances surrounding the man’s death.

The investigation remains ongoing, and no additional details have been released.

Anyone who may have witnessed the incident or has information is asked to contact the CHP Border Division Major Crimes Unit at 858-944-6300.

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Kiera McKinney

THOUSAND PALMS, Calif. (KESQ)- A strengthening El Niño could bring a wetter-than-normal fall and winter to Southern California, prompting some Coachella Valley residents to start thinking about storm preparation before the rain arrives.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center says there is a greater than 90% chance of a very strong El Niño during fall and winter 2026-27. Forecasters also say there is a 75% chance the event reaches a level stronger than any El Niño recorded since 1950 during the October through December period.

NOAA’s latest seasonal outlook favors above-normal precipitation across the southern half of California from October through December, with wetter-than-normal conditions continuing to be favored across California later in the winter. Forecasters stress that El Niño increases the chances of certain weather patterns but does not guarantee heavy rain or flooding in any one community.

Preparation can include checking drainage around a home, securing outdoor items and keeping emergency supplies on hand. Sandbags, tarps, flashlights and other storm-related supplies can also help residents prepare before heavy rain moves in.

News Channel 3 spoke with Coachella Valley residents about whether they are concerned about another wet winter and how they prepare their homes ahead of storms. We also spoke with a locally owned hardware store in Palm Desert about what customers typically look for before a storm, what homeowners should have on hand, and why preparing early can make a difference.

Stay tuned for the full story tonight on News Channel 3.

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Matthew Pearce

THOUSAND PALMS, Calif. (KESQ) — Read With Me, a local nonprofit, is hosting a mixer tomorrow night at Giuseppe’s in Palm Desert from 3:30 to 5 p.m.

The organization hopes to recruit up to 200 volunteers as it continues to expand into more schools.

Its motto, “Readers are Leaders,” reflects its mission to help students develop their reading skills by going into classrooms and reading individually with students of all levels.

Stay with News Channel 3 for more information tonight and visit the organization’s website to learn more about how you can get involved.

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Matthew Pearce

THOUSAND PALMS, Calif. (KESQ) — For safety reasons, it’s important to make sure your car is working properly. From the engine to the tires, regular maintenance can catch problems before they become safety hazards.

When it comes to your tires, tread can wear quickly if your car is not properly aligned. But that wear isn’t always noticeable unless you take a closer look.

Tonight on News Channel 3, experts explain the dangers of poor wheel alignment and show how it can impact your tires and car.

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