Coachella Valley

Skeletal remains discovered in the Coachella Valley have been positively identified as those of two homicide victims who disappeared more than three years ago, sheriff’s officials said Friday.

A 25-year-old man accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a teenage student over a social media app while employed as a substitute teaching assistant for the Coachella Valley Unified School District pleaded not guilty Thursday to felony and misdemeanor charges.

A mobile home park near Thermal that has been plagued with contaminated water is once again under an emergency order from the Environmental Protection Agency Saturday. Dangerous levels of arsenic were found running through the drinking water system at the Oasis Mobile Home Park, home to about 1,900 people, according to a news release from the EPA. The order, issued…

In the heart of the Coachella Valley, the beautiful Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa is a family-friendly destination with beautifully appointed guestrooms spread out campus-style. On site, they offer five restaurants, five retail outlets, 27 holes of championship golf, and a Spa....
For couples looking to get away, the Omni Rancho Las Palmas has a secluded area that is...

Amid a severe need for blood donations, LifeStream Blood Bank will hold four mobile drives next week in the Coachella Valley, where donors will also be screened for COVID-19 antibodies. The drives are scheduled on:— Aug. 5 at Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 72690 Parkview Drive, Palm Desert, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.;— Aug. 6 at American…

Felony charges were filed Thursday against three people who are accused along with three previously charged suspects in the killings of a Coachella Valley couple who were reported missing three years ago. Aaron Fernando Bernal, 28, of Indio, and Coachella residents Adilene Ines Castaneda, 27, and Eric Rios, 31, were arrested Tuesday for the killings of Audrey Moran, 26, and…

Three more people are in custody in connection with the killings of a Coachella Valley couple who went missing more than three years ago, bringing the total to six suspects, authorities said Wednesday. Aaron Fernando Bernal, 28, of Indio was taken into custody Tuesday on suspicion of murder, and Eric Rios, 31, of Coachella was arrested that same day on…

Federal medical personnel will begin arriving at Eisenhower Health in Rancho Mirage Wednesday to assist the Coachella Valley hospital, which is experiencing staffing woes due to an influx of COVID-19 patients. The roughly 20-person team, which includes doctors, physician assistants, critical care nurses and respiratory technicians — all active military members — will be available to start deploying to the…

With potentially deadly mosquito-borne viruses continuing to be detected in the Coachella Valley, vector control officials are planning to carry out further pesticide spray applications beginning tomorrow. Targeted mosquito eradication efforts are scheduled Thursday through Saturday from 2 a.m to 6 a.m. in Palm Desert and Indian Wells, near where mosquitoes infected with West Nile virus and St. Louis encephalitis were previously...

Three men were arrested and remained jailed Sunday in connection with the disappearance of a couple who went missing in the Coachella Valley more than three years ago. Audrey Moran and Jonathon Reynoso disappeared on May 12, 2017 and the case later became a homicide investigation, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. Moran left her Coachella home to pick…

Some Coachella Valley residents may smell the stench of rotting eggs in the air Sunday due to elevated levels of hydrogen sulfide wafting from the Salton Sea. The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued an odor advisory that continues through Sunday night after detecting hydrogen sulfide concentrations at 67 parts per billion Saturday morning immediately downwind from the Salton…

The Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District Friday announced mosquitoes in La Quinta had tested positive for a viral disease that can be transmitted to humans and initially cause flu-like symptoms, and in rare cases, death. There are no reported human cases of St. Louis Encephalitis in California, according to the district, but officials still warned people to guard…

Guitar string manufacturer Ernie Ball has announced its Coachella Valley factory would begin making face masks that will be given away for free to residents and organizations amid the coronavirus pandemic. The company recently reconfigured a portion of its Coachella factory to produce 400 two-ply cotton masks per day, and announced free masks would soon be available for all Coachella…

The coronavirus pandemic has brought uncertain times for small businesses across the Coachella Valley, but a few local breweries are testing out new tactics to meet the challenge. Some valley breweries have added delivery options to their menus in order to supply a homebound — and thirsty — local population of beer drinkers. “What I’m seeing is there has been…

Coachella Valley’s drive-up COVID-19 testing site will be moved from Indian Wells to the Riverside County Fairgrounds in Indio starting Tuesday. The current site at the Southwest Church has been in operation since March 17. Health care workers there handled more than 420 tests through Friday, and expected to conduct roughly 160 more tests on Saturday based on the scheduled…

A limited number of Coachella Valley visitors and residents with COVID-19 symptoms can make an appointment to get tested at a drive-up testing center in Indian Wells Thursday and Friday without first receiving a doctor’s approval, county public health officials announced. Testing is currently scheduled for Thursday and Friday during the hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Public health officials...

Riverside County Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser confirmed two new COVID-19 cases in the Coachella Valley today, bringing the county total to 14. The announcement means there are now 12 residents — all in the Coachella Valley — receiving treatment for COVID-19. Most are self-quarantine at home. Additionally, two residents aboard a cruise ship that docked in San Francisco…

Three additional Riverside County residents are infected with novel coronavirus, likely the result of local exposure to the pathogen and not because of overseas travel, the county’s public health officer said Monday. Dr. Cameron Kaiser said the three new COVID-19 infections surfaced after the county’s first was confirmed over the weekend. Two patients are self-quarantined in their homes while...

A school bus driver for the Coachella Valley Unified School District pleaded not guilty Tuesday to molesting three girls while on the job a decade ago. Jose Luis Moncada, 64, of Desert Hot Springs, is charged with eight counts of committing lewd acts with a child under 14 years old stemming from allegations that in 2010, he “inappropriately touched several…