Category: kesq-local-news

Cynthia White

DESERT HOT SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – The achievements of 22 local students were celebrated by the Desert Hot Springs Women’s Club Monday evening at their 2025-26 Scholarship Awards Night.

The Desert Hot Springs Women’s Club provides thousands of dollars in scholarships each year to support students in the DHS area. This year, the scholarships totaled more than $26,000, with each student being awarded between $500 and $2,000 to help them in their academic pursuits.

Local student Stephanie Cesena, who is currently a student at UC San Diego, said, “I feel like the importance of this award is more than I can even express. “It has impacted my academic role in so many ways, and I’m so grateful that I can come back to the desert. I go to UC San Diego and I just feel such a a joy knowing that I come from the valley when I’m in such a big city.” 

In addition to ice cream sundaes, the scholarship recipients also received certificates recognizing their success from area elected officials. 

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John White

Sky-high power bills are on the way with the warm summer months ahead in the desert. 

Some people prepare for those increased expenses by going on a level-pay or “budget billing plan.” 

Palm Springs resident Ross von Metzke went on the plan last year, hoping it would take some of the shock out of those bills. 

“We were expecting big power bills, and for the first year, we got them during the summer,” von Metzke says. 

They conserve the home to save electricity by pulling the blinds, making sure the TV is off when they’re not using it and keeping their condominium at 76 or 77 degrees. 

He explains what he expected from the budget billing plan, “They take a look at a year’s worth of your energy usage and then use that to find a base rate that they can apply across, they say, eleven months.” 

It worked as far as he knew with SCE giving him a monthly bill lower than he thought it would be. 

It started at $116.00. 

It was adjusted three months later to $259.00. 

Then it went up to $317.00. 

Then in May, it was $960.66. 

“Definitely not expecting to get that,” he says. 

We took his concerns to SCE Senior Advisor, Jeff Monford. 

“Now we know not everybody gets out their magnifying glass and studies every detail in the bill, but at the same time that information is presented there on where to look.” Monford says. 

Von Metzke was keeping a close eye on the biggest number on his bill, the amount due each month. 

Below that shows a running tab of sorts and whether the amount he’s been paying is keeping up with his actual balance. 

He was running a tab without realizing it. 

“We summarize what is currently being billed, and we show what is piling up for reconciliation later,” Monford explains. 

The lesson, von Metzke says, is to pay close attention to that “actual balance” number, so you don’t have any surprises. 

Imperial Irrigation District also has a similar program. 

It’ll also show a credit or a balance at the top of the bill, while showing the budget billing plan amount due, much like the SCE bill. 

It’s important to look at both, so you know whether you’ll face a big balance at the end of your billing year. 

Resources:

For information on SCE Budget Billing Plan and how to apply, visit here.

For information on Imperial Irrigation District Budget Billing Plan, visit here.

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Shay Lawson

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ)  – Following a violent antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado, Jewish communities across the country are processing the pain.

In Palm Springs, leaders said they are choosing to respond with resilience.

Rabbi David Lazar of Congregation Or Hamidbar in Palm Springs said he personally knows victims injured in the attack.

“They’re going to be all right, but they’re suffering right now,” Lazar said. “Those people are the same Jews that are urging the Israeli government to stop the slaughter in Gaza. That’s the irony here — the bitter irony of it.”

He said the Boulder demonstration was not a pro-Israel rally, but a weekly gathering to raise awareness for the remaining hostages in Gaza.

He emphasized that political slogans like “From the river to the sea” are sometimes interpreted as “permission granted for murder,” especially by emotionally unstable individuals.

“All they need is a little push and a feeling that it’s legitimate for them to show their hatred in actions,” Lazar said.

He said the rise in politically motivated violence is disturbing — but his congregation refuses to live in fear.

“We’re not afraid to do good,” Lazar said. “We won’t succumb to the fear.”

This latest attack comes just weeks after two Israeli embassy staff members were fatally shot outside the Lillian & Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.—and a little more than two weeks since the targeted attack on a Palm Springs fertility clinic in Palm Springs.

Carolina Vasquez, executive director and clinical therapist at Desert Insight, said emotional awareness is the first step to understanding how to move forward from traumatic events.

“The first thing is to notice it,” Vasquez said. “Sometimes we’re on autopilot.”

Stay with News Channel 3 at 10 and 11 p.m. to learn how some members of the Jewish community are reacting after the attack in Boulder.

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Garrett Hottle

THOUSAND PALMS, Calif. (KESQ) As of May 7, 2025, a real id or other acceptable form of identification is required to fly domestically within the United States.

But in the Coachella Valley, News Channel 3 has heard some people are showing up unprepared, and walking out empty-handed. 

So what are they missing? And how can you avoid the same headache?

News Channel 3’s Garrett Hottle spoke with the California Department of Motor Vehicles and breaks it down. 

To find out more information about what you documents you need to obtain a real ID visit this link.

For more information about obtaining your real ID visit this link.

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Jesus Reyes

DESERT HOT SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – Desert Hot Springs has a new city manager, and it is a familiar face for residents.

On Tuesday, the city council voted to appoint Doria Wilms as the new city manager of Desert Hot Springs.

Wilms was unanimously appointed the acting city manager in February, following the retirement of Frank Luckino. The city council will vote on Tuesday on whether Wilms will fill the position permanently.

Wilms first joined the city’s government in 2016. She started as a city clerk before filling a variety of positions in the city manager’s office, including assistant city manager and deputy city manager.

She previously served as an interim city manager in 2023 following the resignation of Luke Rainey.

According to city documents, Wilms’ salary will start at $242,000 and rise the next year to $253,000. The city council will conduct performance reviews in or around January 2026, June 2026, and yearly thereafter.

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City News Service

NORTH SHORE, Calif. (KESQ) – An $8.5 million project to upgrade roads throughout North Shore will get underway in the next couple of weeks, with the goal of making travel safer and smoother in the eastern Coachella Valley community.

“This is a significant investment that Riverside County is making. I am glad these roads will be taken care of, which improves the community and makes a difference for our residents,” Fourth District Supervisor Manuel Perez said in a statement.

Vance Corporation of Beaumont will repave and resurface about 5.4 miles of road, which includes Avenue 70, Vander Veer Road and Sea View Way, Avenue 68, Avenue 72, Commerce Street and Compass Drive and “at the entry to the community from the train tracks on Bay Drive,” county officials said.

The road work will commence later this month, and will possibly run throughout the summer. Residents can expect traffic delays along the aforementioned streets.

Funding for the project was provided by the county’s gas tax and transportation funds.

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KRDO

WASHINGTON (KRDO) — The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed federal charges against Mohammed Sabry Soliman, the 45-year-old man accused of setting people on fire in Boulder on Sunday.

The FBI called it a targeted terror attack, as he allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at people gathered for a demonstration in support of the Israeli hostages. Soliman’s criminal complaint alleges he yelled “Free Palestine” during the attack.

The DOJ is seeking federal hate crime charges, according to court records.

pic.twitter.com/GmmP5VddGr

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 2, 2025

“(Soliman) stated that he wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead,” the criminal complaint read. “Soliman stated he would do it (conduct an attack) again.”

According to the complaint, Soliman had allegedly been planning the attack for a year and waited until his daughter graduated to carry it out.

“The Department of Justice has swiftly charged the illegal alien perpetrator of this heinous attack with a federal hate crime and will hold him accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Our prayers are with the victims and our Jewish community across the world,” read a statement from Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “This vile anti-Semitic violence comes just weeks after the horrific murder of two young Jewish Americans in Washington DC. We will never tolerate this kind of hatred. We refuse to accept a world in which Jewish Americans are targeted for who they are and what they believe.” 

He reportedly traveled from his Colorado Springs home, where he lived with his wife and five kids, to Boulder.

Editor’s note: Previous information from the FBI spelled the suspect’s name as “Mohamed.” The criminal complaint spells his name “Mohammed.” Because a criminal complaint is a legal document, KRDO13 is currently reporting that spelling unless other information comes to light.

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Gavin Nguyen

THOUSAND PALMS, Calif. (KESQ) – New research is showing that groundwater from the Colorado River Basin, or CRB, is depleting more quickly than most first thought.

Researchers from Arizona State University published the research letter just last week. They say since 2003, enough groundwater has been pumped out of the Colorado River Basin to fill Lake Mead (which has already lost significant surface water itself).

More alarmingly, researchers point out, is data they found showing an acceleration in groundwater usage in the past decade.

Using observations from NASA’s GRACE satellite, the team of researchers were able to track changes to the desert Southwest’s groundwater usage. By comparing gravitational anomalies within water trapped in snowpacks and surface water (any water the collects in rivers, lakes, etc.), they were able to find the amount of groundwater has been pumped out of the Colorado River Basin.

Researchers say over-pumping the Colorado River Basin could have long-lasting impacts for the seven states and Mexico that use this water source. This could result in wells drying, land subsidence, and future water shortages.

Karem Abdelmohsen, a postdoctoral researcher who worked to publish the study, said in an interview with News Channel 3, “If we continue in the same rate of pumping, this might actually impact both farming and city water supplies.”

“It is very concerning because groundwater acts like a backup storage during the droughts and we are using it faster than it can refill.”

Groundwater takes significant time to replenish itself. According to Abdelmohsen, both ways to recharge an aquifer – naturally, through rainfall or infiltration from bodies of water, like rivers, or artificially – are incredibly slow processes. That’s why the nearly 28 million acre-feet of water extracted from the CRB over the past two decades is alarming researchers.

Correcting course and striking a balance is key, but would require significant change for the agencies that manage this water usage.

“To reach sustainable water use, you need to make like [a] kind of balance between how much you are extracting and how much your aquifer is getting recharged,” Abdelmohsen said.

The Coachella Valley, however, has its own groundwater source: the Coachella Valley aquifer. This aquifer is largely independent from the Colorado River Basin (CRB) and its groundwater, but local water agencies do use CRB water to refill our aquifer’s recharge ponds in Whitewater and Mission Creek.

According to the Coachella Valley Water District, which manages the desert’s aquifer, plans have been in place to strike the balance that researchers advocate for.

Their website reads in part: “The Coachella Valley groundwater basin is balanced (sustainable yield) due to the implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and the SGMA Alternative Plans for the Indio Subbasin Water Management Plan Update and the Mission Creek Subbasin Water Management Plan Update.”

These plans are helping the Coachella Valley’s aquifer remain sustainable, and if CRB groundwater is cut from replenishing the aquifer, CVWD tells News Channel 3 that their history of sustainable planning can prevent disruption to our water supply.

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Luis Avila

LA QUINTA, Calif. (KESQ) – CVAG is working on a plan to better manage and maintain major roads across the region. Right now, each city or county handles its own roadwork. A regional program would help spread out costs, improve road quality, and reduce traffic disruptions.

In 2024, CVAG hired a consultant, Michael Baker International, to update the condition of about 558 miles of major roads.

CVAG’s AtlasView Dashboard

The average road condition score (called PCI) was 75.5 out of 100—rated as “satisfactory.” Replacing all the roads would cost about $1.5 billion. To keep roads in their current condition, the region needs to spend about $21.9 million per year.

CVAG is reviewing five different long-term funding scenarios and will use the results to make policy recommendations later this year.

Stay with News Channel 3 for more.

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Jesus Reyes

BIG BEAR, Calif. (KESQ) – We have first flight! The moment so many people have been waiting for finally happened Monday morning.

Sunny, one of the two eaglets at the Big Bear nest, flew for the first time. The moment happened at around 10:46 a.m.

You can watch a livestream here

Sunny has been building up to her first flight for a few weeks, hovering for a few seconds but never taking that big leap.

It’s already been a big couple of days for Sunny and Gizmo, after officials found out that both are sisters.

For more on the eaglets and their nest, visit friendsofbigbearvalley.org

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