Category: kesq-local-news

City News Service

LOS ANGELES (KESQ) – The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has found that California’s Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation have violated Title IX by allowing transgender athletes to compete against biological females, officials announced today. 

“Although Governor Gavin Newsom admitted months ago it was `deeply unfair’ to allow men to compete in women’s sports, both the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation continued as recently as a few weeks ago to allow men to steal female athletes’ well-deserved accolades and to subject them to the indignity of unfair and unsafe competitions,” U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon said.   

“The Trump administration will relentlessly enforce Title IX protections for women and girls, and our findings today make clear that California has failed to adhere to its obligations under federal law. The state must swiftly come into compliance with Title IX or face the consequences that follow.”  

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 requires schools to ensure equal opportunities for girls, including in athletic activities, but federal officials say California has actively prevented this equality of opportunity by “allowing males in girls’ sports and intimate spaces.”

The California Department of Education and the CIF did not immediately reply to requests for comment made Wednesday morning.   

“It wouldn’t be a day ending in `Y’ without the Trump administration threatening to defund California,” Izzy Gardon, director of communications for Newsom, said in a statement provided to City News Service. “Now Secretary McMahon is confusing government with her WrestleMania days — dramatic, fake, and completely divorced from reality. This won’t stick.”   

Newsom’s office also pointed out that California is one of 22 states that have laws requiring transgender students to participate in sports consistent with their gender identity. AB 1266 was passed in 2013 and signed into law by former Gov. Jerry Brown.

Gardon also claimed that among 510,000 NCAA student-athletes, only about 10 are transgender.  

Federal officials said the OCR has issued a proposed Resolution Agreement to the CDE and CIF to resolve their Title IX violations, offering both entities an opportunity to voluntarily agree to change their practices within 10 days or risk imminent enforcement action, including referral to the U.S. Department of Justice for proceedings.   

The CDE planned to issue a notice to all recipients of federal funding that operate interscholastic athletic programs in California requiring them to comply with Title IX, including that recipients must adopt biology-based definitions of the words “male” and “female.”

The federal agency also said it requires all recipients to “restore to female athletes all individual records, titles, and awards misappropriated by male athletes competing in female competitions” and to “send a personalized letter apologizing on behalf of the state of California for allowing her educational experience to be marred by sex discrimination.”

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Luis Avila

BERMUDA DUNES, Calif. (KESQ) – What appeared to be a call from the bank, cost one local woman ten-thousand dollars.

Kayla Keith says it all started with a text message, followed by a call from someone who claimed to be a Wells Fargo representative. But the caller knew detailed account information.

“All that information made me think that this was an honest Wells Fargo representative who was contacting me to help me not to hurt me.”

Kayla Keith, Bermuda Dunes resident

The caller claimed she had a fraudulent charge of $9,500 and wanted to give her provisional credit to reverse it. Instead, the person ended up taking that amount out of her account. Once Kayla found out, she reached out to her bank for help but was denied.

Attorney Walter Clark says cases like this can be tricky to resolve.

According to consumer protection laws, banks are generally required to refund unauthorized transactions. But there are possible exceptions, including if someone willingly authorized the transaction, even if they were tricked.

Clark says the likelihood of being tricked by scammers is not only increasing, but becoming easier.

“It’s especially concerning because we have seen today a court decision that blocks the president’s efforts at closing down the consumer financial protection bureau. That’s what protects consumers from this kind of thing. They in turn work with the FBI… With AI and the advances in computers, the thieves will have better more effective tools at their disposal.” 

Walter Clark, attorney

He says more protections are needed for consumers. As for Kayla, she’s urging everyone to be more cautious.

Stay with News Channel 3 for more.

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Kendall Flynn

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – The Indio Police Department is reminding the community of how deadly the inside of a car can be when temperatures are high in the Valley for kids and pets.

Officials with Indio PD say every year, children and pets suffer heatstroke or worse after being left behind. The National Safety Council reports there are an average of 37 deaths per year across the country for kids under the age of 15 left in cars.

NSC also reports in California alone since 1998, there have been 61 car-heat related deaths of kids, and Indio PD says this is avoidable and suggests taking these steps:

Always check the back seat before locking your car 

Keep a personal item (like your phone or bag) next to you child or pet

Lock your car when not in use to prevent children or animals from climbing in

 If you see a child or pet alone in a vehicle — CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY

In the Indio PD social media reminder, officials wrote: “Pets are especially vulnerable. They cannot sweat like humans and overheat quickly. Even a few minutes can be fatal. Let’s protect our little ones — human and furry. One moment of awareness can save a life. Stay alert. Stay responsible.”

Stay with News Channel 3 to hear from officials and locals on the importance of remembering to not leave kids in the car in the Valley heat.

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Athena Jreij

DESERT HOT SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) — A Father’s Day dance planned for this month was cancelled by organizers due to fears over potential immigration enforcement.

According to organizers with the Mujeres Latinas Club, the fear of local ICE and CBP operations have kept dozens of families from leaving their homes.

“We have parents that send us messages that they are not going to be able to attend. They don’t want to go out of their house,” Jane Lescure, the club’s president said.

While their priority is keeping families safe, organizers say events like the dance provide funding for college scholarships. By selling donated food at the free events, they average $10,000 each year towards scholarships.

They worry if this fear continues, that money could be in jeopardy.

“Coming from a low-income family, this money has taken stress off of my parents,” said one student.

“This scholarship actually helped me get my first laptop, and I was actually already been able to use it for my summer online classes.”

Lescure says the club has given away $20,000 in scholarships since it’s founding in 2023, and that the cancelling of this dance lost them nearly $3,000.

Now, they worry the impact these cancellations could have on future scholarships, with the club’s founder saying enforcement fears have negatively impacted students.

For those students who rely on the money, these fears have been an economic and community struggle.

“As a family, we don’t get too much time together. So whenever there’s events that are held it’s like an opportunity for us as a family to go out together, dress up, spend time together,” one student said.

For more information on the Mujeres Latinas Club de DHS, visit Club de Mujeres Latinas de DHS

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KESQ News Team

WASHINGTON DC (KESQ) – Local Democratic Congressman Dr. Raul Ruiz joined other lawmakers on Tuesday in pressing Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. over his role in a “Make America Healthy Again” Commission report.

The lawmakers had questions about the Commission’s release of a report which Congressman Ruiz asserts is riddled with inaccuracies and misinformation.

The conversation between Ruiz and Kennedy, Jr. in part went as follows:

Rep. Raul Ruiz:”Secretary Kennedy, you’re listed as the chair of the commission. Did you read the report and fact check its sources prior to publication? Did you read the reports and did you yourself fact check them, sir?”

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.:”I did not fact check them.”

Rep. Raul Ruiz:”Why then, as has been widely reported, sir, I’m speaking. Why then did the report include citations to sources that don’t even exist. How does that happen under your leadership, sir?”

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.:”All of the foundational assertions in that report are accurate.”

Rep. Raul Ruiz:”They did not exist. How can they be accurate if they did not exist, sir?”

The exchange came during a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing, on which Congressman Ruiz serves.

The subject report was commissioned by the Trump administration to examine the causes of chronic illness, though as Ruiz asserted, the report suggests some of the studies cited may have been either mischaracterized, or appear to not exist in the journals from which they were cited.

In response, Kennedy, Jr. saying, “All of the foundational assertions in that report are accurate,” and of the citations in question, conceding that “some of the citations were messed up for one day.”

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KESQ News Team

JOSHUA TREE, Calif. (KESQ) – An Apple Valley man who’s a registered sex offender was accused on Tuesday of attempting to contact a minor for lewd acts.

Detectives from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Morongo Basin Station arrested Douglas Bergschneider, accusing him of communicating with and sending explicit photographs to a 13-year-old girl from Morongo Valley.

The Sheriff’s Department has released Bergschneider’s photo, as they believe there could be more victims.

They urge anyone with information on this matter to contact the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Morongo Basin Station at (760) 366-4175. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous may contact We-Tip at 1-800-78-CRIME (27463) or go wetip.com.

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Cynthia White

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – The City of Palm Springs has started building the highly anticipated wind wall along North Gene Autry Trail.

Crews were hard at work on Tuesday, beginning construction on the nearly 600-foot-long brick wall in a major move to combat the area’s notorious winds and sandstorms that reduce visibility and cause drifting sand dunes along and across the roadway.

The wall will span between the Union Pacific Railroad bridge (just south of the I-10 freeway) at the north, to East Via Escuela at the south.

The $2.2 million project, primarily funded by Measure A, was approved by the city council in April.

Construction is expected to wrap up by December.

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City News Service

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – An ex-Riverside County sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot a wanted man in what he contended was self-defense behaved like a “cowboy,” unjustifiably creating a lethal situation, a prosecutor said today, while the defendant’s attorney argued the shooting was unavoidable under the circumstances.   

Oscar Rodriguez, 44, is charged with first-degree murder and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations for the 2014 slaying of Luis Carlos Morin, 39, of Coachella.   

“Mr. Rodriguez is a liar and a deceitful person,” Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Garcia told jurors in her closing statement at the Larson Justice Center Tuesday. “He employed cowboy tactics.”  

At the time of the shooting, the defendant was romantically involved with Diana Perez, the mother of Morin’s two children. She and the then-deputy originally met in the winter of 2013, when he responded to 911 calls from her complaining about Morin, whom she didn’t want around her home because he had a criminal past and active warrants connected to alleged auto theft and narcotics sales.   

“Diana had the motive, and Rodriguez had the ability,” Garcia told the jury.

She recalled how the defendant and Perez were regularly together from early March to early December 2013, reflected by the numerous credit card receipts for one-night stays at a Motel 6.  

“He was taking advantage of her for sex,” the prosecutor said.   

Rodriguez became emotionally involved in the woman’s ongoing conflicts with Morin, developing animosity toward the victim, Garcia said, adding it culminated in “reckless” behavior that caused him to ignore all of his training and protocols.

Rodriguez decided to act independently in apprehending Morin. On the night of Jan. 27, 2014, the defendant learned the suspect had joined family members for a birthday celebration in Palm Desert and would be returning to his mother’s home in Coachella.

The prosecution alleged Rodriguez went to the neighborhood alone in a patrol unit, without informing his supervisors, parking out of sight and placing Maria Gomez’s house under surveillance.

At 9:40 p.m., Morin and his mother arrived home, and the suspect got out to direct Gomez as she backed her vehicle into a tight parking space. The prosecution said Rodriguez sneaked up behind Morin, but the suspect was alerted and tried to bolt, at which point the deputy swept the man’s legs to stop him, causing both of them to fall down, Rodriguez landing on his back.   

Gomez was heard shouting, “Don’t do it!” Rodriguez then pulled his sidearm and opened fire, fatally wounding Morin in the chest. An autopsy also confirmed bruises to his neck and left hip. The defendant wasn’t hurt.   

“Mr. Rodriguez had no right to self-defense,” Garcia told jurors. “He created this situation.”

She alleged the defendant then fabricated a story, engaging in “lies and cover-ups” that included deleting evidence from electronic devices.

Defense attorney Mark Frederick asked jurors to remember his client’s own testimony, in which he asserted, “I feared he was going to use a weapon,” prompting him to shoot to protect himself. “(Pepper) spray and a baton were not feasible at an arm’s-length struggle,” Frederick said.   

He reminded jurors that Rodriguez was an experienced peace officer “known to make felony arrests.”   

Morin was notorious for fleeing from law enforcement officers, so Rodriguez did not want to take any chances by giving the man an opportunity to run, according to Frederick.

He questioned the reliability of Morin’s mother’s testimony, saying she was unclear about the position of her son’s hands during the botched arrest.

The attorney referred to Morin as a “career criminal,” angry about the relationship between his ex-girlfriend and Rodriguez. At the start of the monthlong trial, Frederick noted that several months before the deadly shooting, Perez received a message from Morin, stating, “Cop lover … Tell him to bring his A-game, because no matter what he does, he’s going to lose.”   

The investigation that ensued culminated in a grand jury indictment in 2017.

Morin’s family sued the sheriff’s department and county for wrongful death, netting a $7 million payout.

Perez was indicted along with Rodriguez, charged as being an accessory to a felony. However, the charge against her was dismissed in April.   

Jurors are slated to begin deliberations Wednesday morning.   

Rodriguez is free on a $1 million bond.

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Shay Lawson

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ)  – The 2025 31st annual Palm Springs International ShortFest opened Tuesday with a packed red carpet, a variety of short films and a celebration of global storytelling.

Nachhattar Singh Chandi, Chairman, said Palm Springs is a very inviting place for filmmakers.

“A lot of youngsters, they come, they learn about the magic of cinema,” Chandi said.

311 short films from 64 different countries are apart of the program.

These have been selected from more than 6,200 submissions.

“It’s really well-organized and I’m impressed, especially with what we just saw with the selection process,” Eileen O’Brien, volunteer, said. “I had no idea there were over 6,000 films entered and they had to whittle that down to 300. Remarkable I don’t know how they do that.”

Hundreds of attendees including filmmakers, local leaders and cinema lovers gathering at Festival Theaters to kick off the week long festival.

Organizers said the opening night screening featured a curated selection of short films followed by a Q&A.

ShortFest runs through June 30 and includes multiple screenings and panels.

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Jesus Reyes

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) – The Board of Supervisors today authorized the Riverside County Department of Environmental Health to join 11 other agencies throughout Southern California in a mutual aid agreement aimed at improving vector control operations targeting mosquito-borne threats and related public health risks.   

In a 5-0 vote without comment, the board signed off on agency Director Jeff Johnson’s proposal to add environmental health to the mutual assistance compact for the upcoming fiscal year.

“Mosquitoes and other vectors do not recognize jurisdictional boundaries, and they can transmit diseases or cause discomfort to humans across regions,” according to an agency statement posted to the board’s agenda Tuesday. “The Southern California vector control districts recognize the risks of vector-borne disease transmission and the need to have an agreement to allow for joint efforts when necessary.”  

The compact makes county environmental health personnel available — for compensation paid by the requesting agency — for operations conducted by the Antelope Valley Mosquito & Vector Control District, Coachella Valley Mosquito & Vector Control District, Compton Creek Vector Control District, reater Los Angeles County Vector Control District, Long Beach Department of Public Health, Los Angeles County West Vector Control District, Eastvale-based Northwest Mosquito & Vector Control District, Orange County Mosquito & Vector Control District, San Gabriel Valley Mosquito & Vector Control District, Santa Barbara County Mosquito & Vector Control District and the Ontario-based West Valley Mosquito & Vector Control District.   

“The residents of Riverside County will benefit from this agreement through improved protection from vector-borne diseases like West Nile virus,” Johnson said. “The agreement allows for quicker, coordinated responses to mosquito outbreaks and reduces the risk of disease transmission.”  

No West Nile virus infections have been documented in Riverside County, or anywhere else in California, so far this year. In 2024, a total 151 infections — including six in Riverside County — were recorded statewide, according to the California Department of Public Health. There were a dozen WNV-related deaths throughout the state, one of which was in Riverside County.   

Mosquitoes typically become carriers of the virus after feeding on an infected bird and can then spread the potentially lethal strain to animals and humans. Those at greatest risk include seniors and individuals with compromised immune systems.

Symptoms may never materialize, but include fever, headache, nausea, body aches, skin rashes and swollen lymph nodes.   

Along with West Nile, mosquitoes are additionally known to transmit chikungunya, dengue, yellow fever and Zika virus.

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