Legends and Rising Stars Shine at Gala

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 3, 2020 ❚ DESERTSUN.COM PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK

PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Legends and rising stars shine at gala

Scorsese, Tarantino and Adam Driver plays hero Theron among honorees for the autograph crowd

Shane Newell Palm Springs Desert Sun Shad Powers Palm Springs Desert Sun USA TODAY NETWORK USA TODAY NETWORK

Dozens of stars from Golden Globe-nominated In the “Star Wars” movies, Adam Driver is a villain. !lms such as “Marriage Story,” “The Irishman” and But on Thursday night outside the Palm Springs Con- “Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood” converged vention Center, he was a hero. Thursday at the 2020 Palm Springs International Driver, being honored with the Desert Palm Film Festival, greeting screaming fans and posing on Achievement Award, Actor for his work in the movie the red carpet before attending the annual awards “Marriage Story,” saved the night for a throng of auto- gala. graph-seekers huddled across the street from the In its 31st year, the 12-day festival that will screen convention center’s red carpet to get a signature or a more than 200 !lms from 60-plus countries kicked Cynthia Erivo interacts with fans at the Palm sel!e with one of their favorite stars. o" with a gala honoring a dozen actors and directors Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala at Driver exited his SUV, made a beeline for the ex- such as Adam Driver, Charlize Theron, Martin Scor- the Palm Springs Convention Center. treme right side of the crowd, and started signing his sese and Renée Zellweger. JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN way all the way to the left, engaging with everyone The three-hour ceremony, which drew almost who asked. And this was a night where the auto- 2,500 people and raised more than $2 million, was Above: Antonio Banderas receives the International graph-seekers needed a hero. By far the fewest num- Star Award from his friend, actress Salma Hayek. See FILM FEST, Page 6A TAYA GRAY/THE DESERT SUN See AUTOGRAPHS, Page 7A

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT NEWS, 2A 2020 COACHELLA LINEUP Travis Scott, Frank Ocean, Rage to headline festival

Shad Powers Palm Springs Desert Sun | USA TODAY NETWORK day headliner. In November, an industry source con- !rmed to The Desert Sun that the band would reunite Travis Scott, Frank Ocean and Rage Against the for the festival after indicating on Instagram they Machine will headline the 2020 Coachella Valley Mu- would perform in Indio on April 10 and 17. Rage sic and Arts Festival, producer Goldenvoice has an- Against the Machine performed at the inaugural Coa- nounced. chella in 1999. The release of the festival’s lineup ends a months- Scott, who performed at the festival in 2017, will long guessing game as to who would be named the top headline Saturday. acts at the two-weekend event April 10-12 and April Ocean, who has not performed on tour since 2017, 17-19 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio. December storms bring snowpack Rage Against the Machine is no surprise as the Fri- See LINEUP, Page 8A Sean de Guzman, chief of snow surveys for the California Department of Water Resources, checks desertsun.com Weather Volume 93 | No. 79 the depth of the snowpack during the !rst snow SERVING THE COACHELLA Subscribe: Access to all High 71° ❚ Low 47° VALLEY SINCE 1927 $2.50 survey of the season at Phillips Station near Echo of our content every day. Sun. Forecast, 24A QEAJAB-08201z Summit, Calif., on Thursday. AP SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2020 ❚ DESERTSUN.COM PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK 2 dead in Rancho Mirage shooting Sheri!’s department quiet on motive in attack at a Highway 111 medical o"ce

Workers who were in the Rancho Mirage medical office building where a shooting took place on Friday console each other and watch the investigation. Two men died in the shooting. PHOTOS BY JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN

Sherry Barkas, Marie McCain tweet Friday, adding: “There is no threat and Risa Johnson to the public and there are no outstand- Palm Springs Desert Sun ing suspects.” USA TODAY NETWORK Sgt. Albert Martinez, a spokesman for the sheri!’s department, told report- Two men died Friday in a shooting ers at the scene that the bodies of two inside a medical complex in Rancho Mi- men were discovered by responding rage. deputies. Emergency personnel were called Investigators did not immediately shortly after 9:30 a.m. to the Mirage con#rm their causes of death, discuss a Mall strip mall in the 71-500 block of motive or reveal any relationship be- Highway 111 that houses medical o$ces. tween the victims. Martinez said no A group of medical workers huddled other injuries were reported. The men together soon after authorities arrived. were not immediately identi#ed. Coro- They appeared to be consoling one an- ner’s o$ce personnel were called to the other as they glanced toward a building scene. containing medical suites, which sher- The investigation is “very prelimi- i!’s deputies had cordoned o!. nary,” he said, and “very "uid.” Inside, a body could be seen on the By noon, Indian Trail between Saha- "oor of the building’s communal hall- ra Road and Highway 111 was closed to A body can be seen lying in the hallway in an office Friday morning. Riverside way. tra$c, o$cials said. County sheriff’s officials con!rmed the deaths in an 11:30 a.m. tweet Friday, Riverside County sheri!’s o$cials adding: “There is no threat to the public and there are no outstanding suspects.” con#rmed the deaths in an 11:30 a.m. See SHOOTING, Page 5A

Matzner sues owner of Lulu, Acqua eateries over $400,000 loan Keller calls suit ‘sad misunderstanding,’ says he’s paying the documents in the court #le indicating the de- ments fendants had been served. Keller said Christopher Damien failed to repay a $400,000 loan made in matches Friday that he was in the process of re- Palm Springs Desert Sun 2017, a court #ling shows. the Palm paying the money. USA TODAY NETWORK The loan was made to Vence Ven- Canyon Matzner’s attorney, Martin Mueller, tures LLC, but Keller was named as the Drive loca- said Friday morning he had “a check in Harold Matzner, a prominent Palm individual responsible for paying the Matzner Jerry Keller tion of Lu- hand” from Keller and that if the funds Springs philanthropist and owner of loan back, according to loan documents lu. cleared, the suit would be dropped. Spencer’s Restaurant, has sued the included in the lawsuit, which was #led “This is a Matzner claimed in the suit that he company that owns Lulu California Bis- Feb. 4 in Riverside County Superior truly sad misunderstanding,” Keller told tro, alleging that owner Jerry Keller Court. The address Keller provided in The Desert Sun. There are no docu- See PHILANTHROPIST, Page 8A

Attend a Free Reverse TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT CALIFORNIA, 13A Mortgage Seminar Method for counting If you are age 62 or older, come virus cases questioned see how a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) may help improve Infections and deaths from a new virus in China ballooned for a second straight day Friday, on paper, the quality of your retirement. at least. The acceleration in cases was not necessar- When and Where? ily an indicator of a surge in the illness but might Date: Wednesday, February 19, 2020. re"ect the fact that the hardest-hit province Time: 10:00 am - 11:00 am changed the way cases are counted. But health ex- Location: Comfort Suites perts wrestled with what exactly could be deduced 39585 Washington St., Palm Desert, CA 92211 from the numbers given the shift in approach. 15A

RSVP by calling (760) 501-1279 today! Memo contradicts bus companies Aztecs fall in playo!s’ 1st round Clay Behm Migrants are released from custody at a Phoenix NMLS: 582971 Greyhound station in 2014. A Customs and Border Palm Desert girls’ soccer lost to Patriot High in the Certified Reverse Mortgage Professional Protection memo con!rms that companies do not opening round of the CIF-SS playo!s. Last year’s Phone (760) 501-1279 have to allow Border Patrol agents on board buses to 79567 Cortez Lane Aztecs won a share of the Desert Empire League La Quinta, CA 92253 conduct routine checks for immigrants in the country title and three CIF-SS playo! games, but that level [email protected] illegally. MICHAEL CHOW/USA TODAY NETWORK of success was not to be repeated this season. 1B

MORTGAGE Volume 93 | No. 122 MOOMR.0120.30 desertsun.com Weather Synergy One Lending Inc. d/b/a Mutual of Omaha Mortgage, NMLS 1025894. 3131 Camino Del Rio N SERVING THE COACHELLA 190, San Diego, CA 92108. Licensed by the Department of Business Oversight under the California Subscribe: Access to all High 77° ❚ Low 51° VALLEY SINCE 1927 $2.50 Residential Mortgage Lending Act - California License 4131356 These materials are not from HUD or of our content every day. Sunny. Forecast, 22A FHA and the document was not approved by HUD, FHA or any Government Agency. Subject to Credit QEAJAB-08201z Approval. www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020 ❚ DESERTSUN.COM PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK President visits the valley Trump’s Rancho Mirage fundraising trip galvanizes supporters, opponents

President Donald Trump smiles for a sel!e with one of his supporters shortly after his arrival Wednesday at Palm Springs International Airport. OMAR ORNELAS/THE DESERT SUN

Sam Metz and Mark Olalde aboard Air Force One shortly after Inside Palm Springs Desert Sun 10:30 a.m. accompanied by Sen. Lind- USA TODAY NETWORK sey Graham, R-S.C. Enjoying the sun- ❚ Protesters, shine, the president shook hands and supporters President Donald Trump visited waved at supporters as many of them rally along the Coachella Valley on Wednesday, snapped photos of him with their mo- route to Ran- spending about two hours at a fund- bile phones. cho Mirage raiser in Rancho Mirage and brie!y Dressed in red T-shirts and hats, fundraiser. 4A greeting dozens of supporters on the many in the welcoming party at the ❚ Ellison hosts tarmac at Palm Springs International airport carried “Trump 2020” signs. Trump fund- Airport who cheered him on with Among them were Je" Gonzalez, a raiser but has chants of “Four more years!” Marine veteran and pastor, who ran given to both Meanwhile, hundreds of oppo- as a Republican against Democratic sides. 6A nents rallied in Rancho Mirage with state Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia signs and a large balloon mocking the of Coachella in 2018; conservative ra- president, who was expected to raise dio talk show host Rich Gilgallon; and millions at the private estate of Oracle Joy Miedecke, president of the East Protesters line the streets of Highway 111 in Rancho Mirage Chairman Larry Ellison. during President Trump’s visit to the Coachella Valley Trump arrived at the airport See TRUMP, Page 4A on Wednesday. JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN

Newsom declares homelessness as top priority Governor’s State of State speech focuses on the issue Newsom said. “Every day, the California duce street homelessness through Dream is dimmed by the wrenching re- emergency actions, and help homeless Marco della Cava USA TODAY ness. ality of families, children and seniors people who are mentally ill get the help “Let’s call it what it is, a disgrace, that living unfed on a concrete bed.” they need. Gov. Gavin Newsom broke from tra- the richest state in the richest nation, Among a variety of proposals high- “The public has lost patience, you dition Wednesday and dedicated his en- succeeding across so many sectors, is lighted in the governor’s speech, New- have all lost patience, and so have I,” tire State of the State speech to one failing to properly house, heal and hu- som said he would deploy trailers for the problem vexing the state: homeless- manely treat so many of its own people,” homeless to half a dozen counties, re- See SPEECH, Page 10A

OUT-OF-STATE RESIDENTS TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT VALLEY, 3A CANADIANS AND Barr mulls resignation FOREIGN NATIONALS! amid Trump criticism California wants to tax your worldwide income if you own a home here, make Attorney General William Barr has considered re- local contacts and stay too long! signing his post in a widening dispute with Presi- dent Donald Trump over his persistent tweets criti- cizing Justice Department investigations, a person Learn how to remain a familiar with the matter said late Tuesday. It was California tax nonresident! not clear if the attorney general directly communi- cated his concerns to the president since he told Join us at Hotel Paseo, Palm Desert ABC News last week that Trump’s disparagement of prosecutors made his job “impossible.” 15A March 6, 2020 2:00pm – 4:00pm Must RSVP to Reserve Space at Prison conversion plan falls short www.lancecrossborder.com Facing outcry from the local farmworker community, Ex 49ers’ QB talks football McFarland city planners denied a multi-billion-dollar Choose “Events” from the menu private prison company’s bid to convert two prison Joe Montana believes that Drew Brees and Tom and tell your friends! facilities in the Central Valley city into federal Brady will each return for at least another NFL sea- immigration detention centers. Less than 12 hours son and maybe more, he said at the Rancho Mirage later, McFarland Mayor Manuel Cantu Jr. announced Speaker Series Tuesday. He said as long as they’re his resignation. RON HOLMAN/VISALIA TIMES-DELTA healthy, he can’t see why they wouldn’t. 1B desertsun.com Weather Volume 93 | No. 127 SERVING THE COACHELLA Subscribe: Access to all High 81° ❚ Low 54° VALLEY SINCE 1927 $2.50 Atty. Brent Lance, of our content every day. Sunny. Forecast, 20A QEAJAB-08201z LL.M. (Tax) DS-TDS0010220-04 Hikers get fresh air and try to socially distance

COACHELLA VALLEY, 3A

SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2020 ❚ DESERTSUN.COM PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC Riverside County case tally rises to 195 Shane Newell and Risa Johnson while Riverside County Sheri" Chad Bi- lated deaths have been con#rmed. More were 120,000 con#rmed cases as of Sat- Palm Springs Desert Sun anco reported that two more deputies than 4,600 Golden State residents have urday afternoon, and 2,010 deaths. USA TODAY NETWORK and one inmate had tested positive for been stricken with the virus, health o!- Sheri" Bianco said the two deputies COVID-19. cials said. who tested positive for coronavirus are Riverside County reported 10 new Meanwhile, in San Bernardino Coun- Elsewhere in the United States, New “in good spirits and recovering.” The de- coronavirus cases on Saturday, bringing ty, authorities reported 12 new cases at a York reported more than 760 deaths and partment has now reported three cases the county’s tally to 195 and eight Yucaipa nursing facility. New Jersey reported 140 deaths as of deaths, county health o!cials said, Across the state, 101 coronavirus-re- Saturday afternoon. Nationwide, there See CASES, Page 24A

$1,200 won’t cover monthly Deserted desert housing costs Melissa Daniels Palm Springs Desert Sun USA TODAY NETWORK

The one-time checks for $1,200 that will be coming from the federal government as part of the $2 trillion economic stimulus package passed by the House of Representatives on Friday are being heralded by supporters as a way to help Americans who are out of work and struggling #nancially during the coronavirus pandemic. But in many Coachella Valley cities, the one-time check for a single earner wouldn’t cover the median monthly housing costs for a homeowner. Most median rents could be covered by the $1,200 #gure. Under the package, individuals with an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less will be eligible for up to $1,200 ($2,400 for joint tax returns) and $500 Thousands of cars that would normally be used by the snowbirds and tourists who flock to the Coachella Valley during for each qualifying child. Those with lit- the height of tourism season sit empty at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden as the coronavirus disrupts normality on tle or no tax liability also will get $1,200 Wednesday. JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN ($2,400 for joint returns). The median income in the Coachella Valley is around $56,700, according to Di!erent pace to life in Coachella Valley overnight the Coachella Valley Economic Partner- ship, meaning many residents will qual- Omar Ornelas and Jay Calderon ify for the funds. Here’s what the medi- Palm Springs Desert Sun I USA TODAY NETWORK an housing costs are in the Coachella Valley, where the population of eight cit- he coronavirus pandemic has ies totals about 388,000, based on cen- altered the pace of the Coa- sus bureau data: ❚ Cathedral City: Median monthly chella Valley in so many un- costs for people with a mortgage is $1,662; median gross rent $1,167 expected ways during the ❚ Coachella: Median monthly costs Tpast two weeks. From the cancellation of for people with a mortgage is $1,552; median gross rent is $887 one of the desert's most attended events ❚ Desert Hot Springs: Median in the BNP Paribas Open to both the Coa- See HOUSING, Page 24A chella and Stagecoach music festivals The basketball courts at Palm Desert Civic Center being moved to the fall, the usual bus- are seen from above without any activity on More inside tling pace disappeared overnight. Wednesday. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, social distancing has become the new normal even Cash-aid fund for low-income See DESERTED, Page 6A outside. OMAR ORNELAS/THE DESERT SUN valley workers is coming. 4A

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Clay Behm Aztec commits to Buckeyes NMLS: 582971 Benjamin Braun is an uber-talented volleyball play- ReverseMortgageSpecialist er, and despite Palm Desert not having boys’ volley- Phone (760)501-1279 ball as an organized sport, he’s become one of the 79567 Cortez Lane Newsom grants clemency to 26 top high schoolers in the nation. In fact, he’s already La Quinta,CA92253 Gov. Gavin Newsom granted clemency to 26 people committed to play college volleyball at Ohio State [email protected] on Friday, issuing 21 commutations and !ve pardons, University, a school that’s won three of the last nine including to individuals convicted of murder. AP FILE national championships. 1B

desertsun.com Weather Volume 93 | No. 165 MORTGAGE SERVING THE COACHELLA Subscribe: access to all of High 82° ❚ Low 58° Synergy One Lending Inc. d/b/a Mutual of Omaha Mortgage,NMLS 1025894. 3131 VALLEY SINCE 1927 $3.00 Camino Del Rio N190, San Diego, CA 92108. These materials arenot from HUD or our content every day. Sunny. Forecast, 6B QEAJAB-08207r FHA and the document was notapproved by HUD,FHA or any Government Agency. SubjecttoCredit Approval. www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org MOOMR.1119.8 6A ❚ SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2020 ❚ THE DESERT SUN DESERTSUN.COM ❚ SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2020 ❚ 7A

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Thousands of cars that would normally be used by those who flock to the Coachella Valley during the height of tourism season sit empty in a !eld of grass at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN Deserted

Continued from Page 1A

Normalcy is di!cult to locate on so many levels. Retired men in Coachella have stopped showing up to play dom- inoes at Veteran’s Memorial Park. The iconic parking lot in the Palm Desert Aquatic Center is adorned with lonely date palm trees and there are no cars in between to keep them company. Wom- en, men and children are absent from the many activities o"ered at the Palm Desert Civic Center. Work has even slowed in the agricultural #elds of Coa- chella. Thousands of rental cars normally used by tourists and snowbirds now #ll formerly vacant gravel lots around the valley. The signs are everywhere that life in the Coachella Valley has been interrupt- ed. Through drone photography, Desert Sun photojournalists Omar Ornelas and Jay Calderon provide a unique visual Tents in the parking lot of Southwest Church (foreground) serve as a drive-thru testing site for the coronavirus in Indian A small amount of traffic uses Highway 111 during the peak of tourism season in the The parking lot to the Palm Desert Aquatic Center is photographed empty on perspective of life during the COVID-19 Wells, on Wednesday. The emtpy Indian Wells Tennis Garden can be seen in the background and would normally have Coachella Valley as the coronavirus forces people to stay home Wednesday. Wednesday. OMAR ORNELAS/THE DESERT SUN pandemic. hosted the BNP Paribas Open, which was canceled earlier this month. JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN

The pool at the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort and Spa in Indian Wells sits empty of people during the height of tourism season. JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN

An empty Agua Caliente Casino parking lot is shown in Rancho Mirage The main pool at Palm Desert Aquatic Center is photographed empty on Wedesday. Agricultural !elds in Coachella are photographed empty on March 27. OMAR ORNELAS/THE DESERT SUN on March 2. OMAR ORNELAS/THE DESERT SUN COVID-19 contingency has kept the area to limited traffic. OMAR ORNELAS/THE DESERT SUN It could have been a great ANA Inspiration, but virus halted it

SPORTS, 1B

SUNDAY, APRIL 5, 2020 ❚ DESERTSUN.COM PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC County says wear coverings on faces All gatherings restricted except for family members at home

Shane Newell and Melissa Daniels Palm Springs Desert Sun USA TODAY NETWORK

Andrew walks near his trailer in Slab City. He sees a high risk of contagion because the Riverside County’s top public health o"cial or- off-the-grid community does not have modern sanitation infrastructure or running water. dered the county’s residents on Saturday to wear OMAR ORNELAS/THE DESERT SUN face coverings in public and explicitly restricted gatherings of any number of people, outside of family members residing in the same home. Bandanas, scarves, neck gaitors or other clothing without visible holes can serve as a face covering. Residents should not purchase N-95 or other surgical ISOLATED masks because those resources are needed for medical providers, said Dr. Cameron Kaiser, the county’s public health o"cer. “While more and more Riverside County residents are getting COVID-19, not everybody’s getting the BUT AT RISK message,” Kaiser said. “It started with staying home, social distance and covering your face. But now we Slab City confronts coronavirus change from saying that you should to saying that you must.” Sam Metz and Omar Ornelas Palm Springs Desert Sun | USA TODAY NETWORK Law enforcement agencies throughout the county

n this patch of desert known to many as the country’s “last free place,” people live See MASKS, Page 6A uninhibited by the rules and constraints of mainstream society. Driven out of cities by poverty or looking to live o! the grid, loners, mis#ts and oddballs make Coachella Valley: Cases so far homes in dilapidated campers and technicolor painted RVs on a former U.S. mil- Riverside County health officials on Saturday report- Iitary base, where Marines trained before deployment during World War II.❚ In some ed 27 new coronavirus cases and three additional ways, this isolated outpost on society's edge may seem like an ideal place to ride out a virus-related deaths, raising the totals to 665 cases and 18 deaths. Sixty people have recovered, officials deadly pandemic that spreads through human contact. said. County officials have con!rmed 186 positive cases Yet fear among Slab City’s ap- Even in authority or taking leaders' words at and 12 virus-related deaths in the Coachella Valley’s proximately 1,500 wintertime resi- face value. But the deadly virus has nine cities as of Saturday, including: dents is growing. Although “Slab- ordinary divided residents over whether to Cathedral City: 17 cases and 1 death bers,” as they call themselves, pride follow or $out government guide- themselves on their resilience, times, many lines on social distancing. Plus, Coachella: 7 cases and 0 deaths many worry that COVID-19 may what meager income there is to be Slabbers are Desert Hot Springs: 6 cases and 0 deaths prove impossible to outrun. Califor- had often comes from tourists, and nia has more than 12,000 con#rmed not keen on shying from contact may mean less Indian Wells: 8 cases and 0 deaths cases. Imperial County, where Slab water or food on the table. Indio: 33 cases and 2 deaths City is located, has only tested 417 heeding Unlike in more urbanized areas, residents, but has already con- authority where people are coping with stay- La Quinta: 18 cases and 0 deaths #rmed 55 cases, three weeks after at-home orders by getting their gro- Palm Desert: 36 cases and 2 death its #rst positive test. or taking ceries delivered via app and stock- The pandemic has challenged piling toilet paper, Slabbers con- Palm Springs: 46 cases and 5 deaths leaders' some norms of this rather abnormal tinue to rely on one another to dig la- Rancho Mirage: 15 cases and 2 deaths place. words at trines, scrabble raw materials to- Even in ordinary times, many California: 12,026 cases as of Saturday, and 276 Slabbers are not keen on heeding face value. See SLAB CITY, Page 4A deaths as of Friday, according to state of California !gures, which are tallied separately from the county.

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Clay Behm NMLS: 582971 ReverseMortgageSpecialist Feeding the coronavirus front lines A quarantine vacation at home Phone (760)501-1279 Nightbird Restaurant general manager Ron Boyd, This year reporter Shad Powers had a week o! in 79567 Cortez Lane left, pastry chef Hope Waggoner, chef and owner March, and thanks to the conronavirus, the only La Quinta,CA92253 Kim Alter and sous chef Bailey Walton pack dinner things missing from his usual routine were the ten- [email protected] boxes into Alter's car to be delivered to hospital nis tournament, his parents, Vegas, college basket- workers in San Francisco. JEFF CHIU/AP ball, movies, restaurants and casinos. 3A

MORTGAGE Volume 93 | No. 172 desertsun.com Weather Synergy One Lending Inc. d/b/a Mutual of Omaha Mortgage,NMLS 1025894. 3131 SERVING THE COACHELLA ❚ Camino Del Rio N190, San Diego, CA 92108. These materials arenot from HUD or Subscribe: access to all of High 67° Low 52° VALLEY SINCE 1927 $3.00 FHA and the document was notapproved by HUD,FHA or any Government Agency. our content every day. Cloudy. Forecast, 6B QEAJAB-08207r SubjecttoCredit Approval. www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org MOOMR.1119.8 4A ❚ SUNDAY, APRIL 5, 2020 ❚ THE DESERT SUN

Gia Alden-Fox has lived on and off Slab City for a few years. He is worried that COVID-19 could enter his East Jesus neighborhood, where some those in his camp have compromised immune systems. PHOTOS BY OMAR ORNELAS/THE DESERT SUN

asks outsiders to maintain their distance. She ists who rely on tourists, but Kurt “Lurp” Forsb- Slab City has nine roommates, including one who's im- erg, an East Jesus resident in disco-era sun- muno-compromised. glasses and green-and-blue patterned silk Continued from Page 1A Young Slabbers who think they’re not at risk pants, said the experience of living isolated of the virus are embracing one another, socializ- without most modern amenities has prepared gether to maintain makeshift homes, import ing and dancing, she said, and putting the com- Slabbers to adapt. food and water from the world outside, and munity’s older and sicker residents at risk. “Rather than being able to drink "ve gallons a make art. “People are going around, still hugging each day, and freakin’ do dishes and laundry, now we Then there's the matter of basic hygiene. Slab other, still having blackened "ngers like Slab- do laundry once a week and ration out two gal- City residents survive in the desert without run- bers do. But I run a tight ship. I'm like, ‘Wash lons a day,” he said. ning water, sewage, trash pickup or an electrical your hands, don't ... touch me.’ But I don't know Standing amid the carcasses of old vans that grid. To get groceries, necessities or mail, most how many people have come by looking for a have been gra#tied or painted pink, he explains travel to Niland, a 1,000-person town that’s four service we provide — whether that be water or a that, though he prides himself in his ability to miles away. The closest hospital is a 40-minute meal like we used to do. I have to tell them no,” survive in the desert mostly isolated from the drive away in Brawley. she said. “Everyone's on an ‘It won't a!ect me’ rest of the world, staying at home in the Slabs A large segment of the population lives with- basis and it's stressful.” makes him yearn for community interaction. out phone or internet access and survives main- She said the community’s general distrust of “When corona hit, it made us seclude our- ly o! of less than $200 of bene"ts the govern- authority and disdain for rules made it di#cult selves a little bit more and not only just cut us o! ment provides monthly via EBT cards, which to compel people to practice social distancing. from the outside community but from our own they can only spend on food. She and others in East Jesus, which technically internal community, because now we're not go- “I’m extremely concerned that Slab City sits just outside Slab City, normally rely on tour- ing out as much and interacting with our neigh- could become a hotbed,” Andra Dakota, a Ger- ism but have rejected visitors who aren’t follow- bors that we normally would help out,” Forsberg man-born Slabber who runs the Slab City dog ing the statewide stay-at-home order. said. “We rely on our own support system and rescue, said. “We have some who are very strict The Board of Directors that oversees one of tight-knit community.” and on lockdown, but a portion of our Slabbers, the area’s most visited works of art, Salvation who su!er from meth addiction, live hand-to- Mountain, has closed its premises. The brightly 'There's something else going on' mouth or live under a tarp isn’t social distanc- painted hillside adorned with Bible verses and ing. We have such vulnerable people here -- el- religious messaging shuttered a day after Impe- Slabbers sheltering in their homes worry derly, disabled or people on medication that rial County issued a directive to close non-es- when they see most of the city’s population go- compromises their immune system.” sential businesses and curb large gatherings, ing about their business as usual. Outreach and but some thought they moved too slowly be- awareness, they say, is needed to contain the East Jesus: Fewer tourists and less cause of the mountain’s reliance on tourist do- spread of the virus or prevent an outbreak. income, but the same need to adapt nations. But that could be di#cult. The lack of a gov- “It’s an issue on two di!erent ends. We have a ernment presence and countercultural pride Indie Jones, a Florida-born resident who thrift store. East Jesus gets donations to keep has made Slab City fertile ground for conspiracy lives in a neighborhood called East Jesus, doing art. Salvation Mountain needs donations theorizing. Some residents speculate pharma- doesn't always feel safe, she said, because al- to keep art intact. But the problem is now that ceutical companies or vaccine producers could though most Slabbers are staying home, she we can’t let tourists in and we can’t really let our be pro"ting from the pandemic. sees many not taking coronavirus seriously. friends in,” Jones said. “But it doesn’t seem to be Even those who believe it’s necessary to Standing behind a homemade bar adorned getting through to people that we really shelter in place are skeptical of what the govern- with bottle caps, wooden beams painted neon shouldn’t keep letting tourism happen while ment and mainstream media are telling them. colors, drawings and antiques, she respectfully this is going on.” It may have cut into the income for local art- Continued on next page

A woman with a compromised immune system stands behind the door to her home in East Jesus, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Slab City that typically attracts crowds of tourists interested in the community's artwork. DESERTSUN.COM ❚ SUNDAY, APRIL 5, 2020 ❚ 5A

From left, Fenris, Indie Jones and a roommate discuss sanitation and speculate on the origins of COVID-19 behind a makeshift bar in their East Jesus compound. PHOTOS BY OMAR ORNELAS/THE DESERT SUN

Continued from previous page church's 300-gallon tank with blackened hands and #ngernails, he worries it could be a vector to “Most people that live in a place like this, al- Robert Byers, who works spread the virus. He wonders why Imperial ready live their lives as though the world's fall- County has yet to provide hand sanitizer or ing apart because it is and it has been for a long at the Slab City Library, a hand-washing stations to prevent the spread of time,” Fenris, an East Jesus resident who de- coronavirus. clined to give his last name, said. community-run literary “That concept of 20-second hand washing — “Science wants to pass viruses o! as though cooperative with no li- most people out here don't have access or that they're not alive. And they're very alive forms of opportunity,” he said. “The last thing in the consciousness — they have RNA,” he continued. brary cards or due dates, world that the county wants is a situation where “Bill Gates helped fund a corporation that pat- said he’s prepared to live coronavirus could spread like wild#re here be- ented the coronavirus and there’s certain things cause of the absence of social distancing or be- like, a few months ago in late 2019, simulating a out the pandemic isolat- cause of the lack of hygiene opportunities.” viral outbreak in New York City and coronavirus Imperial County Public Health program coor- was used as a model for that. There’s several ed among the books. And dinator Fernanda Lynch said the Public Health things on top of the fact that the virus itself is in Slab City, away from Department was working on new ways to bring patented that don’t line up.” (Editor’s note: The outreach to communities like Slab City, but had rumor that the Gates-funded Pirbright Institute dense urban centers not taken any measures speci#cally for vulner- patented coronavirus !rst circulated on QAnon able communities. in January and has not been substantiated.) where he’d be homeless, Imperial County spokesperson Lindsey Dale Jack Martin, a 60-year old East Jesus resi- he said he feels safe, as said the county's Public Works Department in- dent, doesn’t doubt people are contracting the stalled hand-washing stations at Border Park in virus and dying from it, but said he didn’t think long as he shelters in Calexico, on the U.S.-Mexico border, and was it was much more than a "u. The only di!er- working with the Imperial Valley Continuum of ence, he said, was how the government was us- place. Care to set up temporary shelters. It hasn't re- ing the infection to keep people in their homes. ceived any requests about communities not “I’ve been looking into this for about three connected to the water grid, she said. years and thought there would be something Robert Byers, who works at the Slab City Li- coming that was going to scare us and force us brary, a community-run literary cooperative in our homes,” he said. “There’s something else ries about how the conditions increase the risk with no library cards or due dates, said he’s pre- going on. I think they want us all in our house facing the community. pared to live out the pandemic isolated among because—this sounds like a conspiracy theory He keeps pots of soapy water on hand and the books. And in Slab City, away from dense here—but I believe the military is out rounding tries to keep the camper he calls home clean, but urban centers where he’d be homeless, he said up some people right now. I believe bad actors worries that other residents don’t. The lack of he feels safe, as long as he shelters in place. are being collected.” easy access to running water or sanitation in- “We can't go to a hospital because we don't frastructure, he said, not only spreads germs have enough money. We don't have medical in- 20-second hand-washing: 'Most people but also puts precautionary measures like surance. We can't risk it,” Byers said, referring to out here don't have access or that heavy-duty hand-washing out of reach for COVID-19. “So we’re just closed down until the opportunity' many. whole pandemic evens out or dies down.” Residents come to the community church Sam Metz covers politics. Reach him at sam- Although Slab City residents are accustomed constructed with tarps and awnings amid des- [email protected] or on Twitter @metz- to living o! the grid, Andrew, a Welsh-born ert brush near the center of town to get clean sam. Slabber who refused to give his last name, wor- water. When they turn the spigot on the

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CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC County: ICUs will hit capacity O!cials project virus will push beds Coronavirus update Riverside County health officials on Wednesday reported 163 new coronavirus to max by next week; cases up to 1,179 cases and 4 additional virus-related deaths. The county now has 1,179 cases and 32 deaths. A total of 74 people have recov- Shane Newell, Rebecca Plevin and Wednesday were in the Coachella Val- ered, officials said. Here is the city-by-city breakdown in the Coachella Valley: Melissa Daniels ley, including a man in his 80s in Palm Palm Springs Desert Sun Springs and a man in his 90s in Rancho ❚ Cathedral City: 37 cases and 1 death ❚ Palm Desert: 51 cases and 2 deaths USA TODAY NETWORK Mirage. Dr. Cameron Kaiser, health o"cer for ❚ Coachella: 40 cases and 0 deaths ❚ Palm Springs: 60 cases and 8 deaths Riverside County health o"cials on Riverside County, said on Wednesday ❚ Desert Hot Springs: 11 cases and 0 ❚ Rancho Mirage: 18 cases and 3 deaths Wednesday projected the number of that the 131 ICU beds currently available deaths currently available intensive care unit in the county will be !lled by April 14, ❚ California: 16,957 positive cases and beds will be at capacity by next week, as and that all available hospital beds — ❚ Indian Wells: 9 cases and 0 deaths 442 deaths as of Tuesday, according to the total number of cases in the county 1,503 — will be full by April 23. The num- state of California !gures, which are ❚ Indio: 58 cases and 2 deaths grew to 1,179 and 32 deaths. tallied separately from the county. Two of the four deaths reported See VIRUS, Page 2A ❚ La Quinta: 28 cases and 0 deaths

Nursing home evacuated after Already taxed with tuberculosis, sta! fails to Imperial County braces for COVID-19 report to work

Shane Newell and Colin Atagi Palm Springs Desert Sun USA TODAY NETWORK

A Riverside skilled nursing facility su#ering from a coronavirus outbreak was hastily evacuated by county authorities on Wednesday after many sta# failed to show up to work, health o"cials said. More than 50 ambulances trans- ported dozens of residents from Mag- nolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Cen- ter to other locations throughout the county. One resident receiving hospice care, who had tested negative for the virus, died prior to the transport, o"- cials said. An on-site physician be- lieved the death was imminent given the patient’s previously existing medical issues. Riverside County’s public health of- !cer stopped short Wednesday of calling it a case of criminal negligence; Clinical coordinator Grissel Franco, lead medical assistant Cristian Franco, and medical assistant Brenda Vargas of Vo however, he expressed concern about Medical Group perform COVID-19 testing Tuesday with patients in Calexico. OMAR ORNELAS/THE DESERT SUN the actions of the caregivers. Dr. Cameron Kaiser said health care workers nationwide are considered Molly Forster The rate of tuberculosis in Imperial An airborne bacterial disease, tuber- heroes and are the “!rst line of de- Special to Palm Springs Desert Sun County is 25 per 100,000 people, more culosis usually attacks the lungs. Its USA TODAY NETWORK fense” in hospitals, clinics and other than eight times the national average of prevalence is often higher in crowded, facilities. “But implicit in that heroism 3 per 100,000. Equipment vital for poor communities with malnutrition is- is that people stay at their posts,” he In the rural southeastern corner of treating coronavirus—such as isolation sues — all of which are common in Im- said. “I am concerned this could rise to California, preparations for the spread rooms and ventilators — is also needed perial, the state’s most impoverished of coronavirus may be complicated by a to treat patients with highly infectious See EVACUATION, Page 5A familiar foe: tuberculosis. tuberculosis. See TUBERCULOSIS, Page 6A

ATTN: “CAGED” SNOWBIRDS! TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT, VALLEY 3A ARE YOU AFRAID TO TRAVEL HOME DUE TO CORONA Sanders calls o" his VIRUS FEARS? 2020 presidential run California wants to tax your worldwide income if you stay Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose call for a progressive agenda galvanized millions of followers, dropped too long! out of the presidential race Wednesday, giving former Vice President Joe Biden a clean path to the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Sand- Let us advise you of the steps ers’ exit comes after a string of losses to Biden in the primary election. 10A you can take NOW to remain a California Tax Nonresident through the Safety of Video Conferencing Christians, Jews to celebrate online Storm !nally hits desert This year, Easter and Passover will be celebrated like It took a couple of days, but the Coachella Valley www.lancecrossborder.com never before due to a global pandemic and a ban on was !nally hit by a rainstorm that’s been soaking large gatherings to counter coronavirus infections. the rest of Southern California this week. Rain de- Call us: 760-578-5093 COLIN ATAGI/THE DESERT SUN veloped overnight in the desert and Palm Springs received 0.67 inches as of 11 a.m. Wednesday. 3A desertsun.com Weather Volume 93 | No. 176 SERVING THE COACHELLA Subscribe: Access to all High 62° ❚ Low 52° VALLEY SINCE 1927 $2.50 of our content every day. Cloudy. Forecast, 6B QEAJAB-08201z Atty. Brent Lance, LL.M. (Tax) DS-TDS0010220-06 Home means more now

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GEORGE FLOYD DEMONSTRATIONS Peaceful Palm Desert protest draws 500 Protesters hold up signs and raise their !sts as traffic passes on a street corner in the Van Nuys section of Los Angeles on Monday over the death of George Floyd. RICHARD VOGEL/AP Curfews expand across California Trump vows to dispatch military to quell unrest

Staff and wire reports

As cities and counties across Cali- fornia adopted curfews Monday in a bid to calm unrest sparked by the kill- ing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, President Donald Trump threatened to Protesters take a knee with Deputy Jerry White from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department at the intersection of dispatch the U.S. military to states and Fred Waring Drive and San Pablo Avenue in Palm Desert on Monday.OMAR ORNELAS/THE DESERT SUN cities that did not take decisive action against “professional anarchists.” As thousands of protesters shouted Riverside County sets curfew, declares local emergency from across the White House and police !red tear gas and rubber bullets, Christopher Damien, Melissa Daniels, Trump said: “If a city or state refuses to Rebecca Plevin and Mark Olalde take the actions necessary, I will de- Palm Springs Desert Sun | USA TODAY NETWORK ploy the U.S. military and solve the problem for them.” Riverside County declared a local Calling himself a law-and-order emergency and set a countywide cur- president as well as an “ally of all few from 6 p.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Tues- peaceful protesters,” Trump said he day as two demonstrations were staged would ensure “justice will be served” in the Coachella Valley decrying the for Floyd, an African American man death of George Floyd, a black man who who died after being pinned to the died at the hands of the Minneapolis ground by police and saying that he police on May 25. couldn’t breathe. “He will not have After President Trump addressed died in vain,” Trump said. the nation and tear gas was used on He characterized the recent vio- protesters outside the White House lence in American cities as “domestic early Monday evening, a crowd of at terrorism.” America, he said, “needs least 500 people had gathered amid po- cooperation not destruction” and “se- lice presence in Palm Desert Civic Cen- curity not anarchy.” Earlier in the day, ter Park. Trump went on an extended rant The demonstrators carried signs against the nation’s governors, calling reading, “All lives do not matter until them “weak” for failing to quell the vio- black lives do,” and “White silence Palm Springs residents Marlon Welch and Martinell Garrison protest in lence in the nation’s cities. kills.” downtown Palm Springs on Monday as part of nationwide demonstrations “Most of you are weak,” Trump told Another sign read: “There are two following the recent death of George Floyd. TAYA GRAY/THE DESERT SUN pandemics: Covid and racism.” See CURFEWS, Page 7A Protesters — some young and some ONLINE: See more photos and video of protesters at DesertSun.com older — chanted, “I can’t breathe,” “Don’t shoot,” and “Say his name.” Drive warned the protesters to stay on stop and go. Helicopters circled over- Some people lugged cases of water. the sidewalk, the crowd broke out in a head. “You’ve got to change hearts, minds. Nearly everyone was wearing face cov- “hands up, don’t shoot” chant. At one point, marchers began chant- You’ve got to change culture, not erings. Protesters had #ooded Fred Warning ing, “Kneel with us,” encouraging sher- just laws.” After a Riverside County Sheri"’s Drive by 4:45 p.m., halting all west- deputy driving down Fred Warning bound tra$c and eastbound tra$c was See PROTEST, Page 2A California Gov. Gavin Newsom

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT CALIFORNIA, 5A Red Barn bar has new Experimental drug messages on its roof The roof of the Red Barn bar in Palm Desert has been helps some with virus a source of controversy in recent weeks. On Sunday, the roof displayed new messages: “Make Palm Des- A California biotech company says its experimental ert Great Again” was painted on one side of the roof drug remdesivir improved symptoms when given and “America the Free and No ‘Regerts’” was paint- for !ve days to moderately ill, hospitalized patients ed on the other side. The misspelling of “regrets” with COVID-19. Gilead Sciences gave few details likely was intentional, mimicking an often-used Monday but said full results would soon be pub- joke in popular culture. 3A lished in a medical journal. 6A

Celebs take to streets in protests desertsun.com Weather Volume 93 | No. 230 SERVING THE COACHELLA Jamie Foxx speaks to a large crowd during a Subscribe: Access to all High 107° ❚ Low 82° VALLEY SINCE 1927 $2.50 “kneel-in” to protest police racism on the steps of of our content every day. Sunny. Forecast, 12A QEAJAB-08201z City Hall on Monday in San Francisco. ERIC RISBERG/AP Palm Desert grad Brooks Kriske gets called up by the Yankees

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MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020 | DESERTSUN.COM PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK Nonpro!t to !ght for university campus Palm Desert presses on as CSU notes enrollment, budget issues

Sherry Barkas Palm Springs Desert Sun USA TODAY NETWORK

Just a few short weeks before California shut down non-essential businesses, closed schools and ordered all residents to shelter at home, the state was exploring the possibility of building at least one new four-year college, possibly in Palm Desert. But last week, the California State University board and chancellor said in response to the site Triple-digit temperatures don’t stop Anthony Moore from practicing freestyle acrobatics at Victoria Park in study that looked at Palm Desert, Stockton/Stanis- Palm Springs on Sunday. Moore was visiting from Prescott, Ariz. PHOTOS BY JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN laus County, Concord, Chula Vista and San Mateo County, that if a new campus is built, it will be well into the future, if at all. Not only did the study !nd that enrollment would not grow enough over the next 15 years to warrant a Could another 120-degree new campus, but the state just passed a budget that required cuts and reductions in costs to cover an esti- mated $54.3 billion de!cit brought on by the CO- VID-19 pandemic. heat wave be in the o!ng? “At the end of the day, we can only spend our dol- lars once and what we don’t want to do is start and Triple-digit temps are sticking around for the foreseeable future starve,” CSU Chancellor Timothy White told the board on Tuesday when the site study was reviewed. “Whether it’s a full-blown campus or a branch Colin Atagi Palm Springs Desert Sun campus or satellite, or whatever titles we want to use, USA TODAY NETWORK it does require resources and you can’t take that away from something else that you need to start … some- Summer temperatures traditionally peak on July thing else,” White said. 26, and Coachella Valley residents should look forward Even so, the city of Palm Desert remains commit- to beginning a slow, arduous descent to cooler condi- ted to its belief that the CSU San Bernardino satellite tions. campus o" Cook Street is the best location for the However, high triple-digit temperatures are stick- next standalone campus and believes now is not the ing around for the foreseeable future, and weather time to sit silent until the state deems the time is right forecasters haven’t ruled out a 120-degree day devel- to revisit the topic. oping by the end of this week. Until that happens, temperatures should remain See CAMPUS, Page 2A near or slightly below normal levels during the !rst half of the week with no uncomfortable monsoonal conditions on the horizon. “We just don’t see that happening. It looks like a dry heat for the most part,” National Weather Service me- teorologist Joe Dandria said. Families seek more Anticipated high temperatures for the week average Stacey Avalos and her brother Juan Avalos enjoy out to 112.7 degrees, which would make it the third- the outdoors with their dogs at Victoria Park in access to loved ones warmest seven-day period since summer began June Palm Springs on Sunday. 20. The week of July 12 has been the hottest with an in long-term care average of 113.3 degrees. Barbara Feder Ostrov and Jocelyn Wiener That was fueled by a record-breaking 121 degrees years show temperatures landed at or above 115 de- CAL Matters July 12 amid a widespread power outage in Palm Des- grees on several occasions in August and even Sep- ert. tember, but not as often as they did in late-July. Maitely Weismann moved her 77-year-old mother The next hottest period was the week of July 5, Regardless of what the thermometer reads, Dan- from New York into a Los Angeles assisted living fa- which had an average high temperature of 112.8 de- dria said conditions will feel hot and residents are cility in mid-March, planning frequent visits to help grees. urged to take precautions. her settle in. The timing couldn’t have been worse, as That week included July 11’s temperature of 119 de- Temperatures in Palm Springs were expected to California’s pandemic lockdown had just banned vir- grees. tually all visits in long-term care homes. National Weather Service data from the past !ve See HEAT, Page 6A Since then, Weismann has mostly seen her mother, who has dementia and minimal use of her arms and legs, only through a window. Recently she was able to set up their !rst, carefully orchestrated outdoor visit – albeit from a distance, as her mother, TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT CALIFORNIA, 5A wearing a mask and pink slippers, sat in a wheelchair behind a table, accompanied by a chaperone. It did not go well. John Lewis returns to “In her mind, she’s locked up without me because she’d done something wrong. I can see she’s deterio- Alabama for last time rated, her dementia and aphasia have worsened con- The late U.S. Rep. John Lewis crossed the Edmund siderably and I can do absolutely nothing to help her,” Pettus Bridge in Selma for the !nal time Sunday as remembrances continued for the civil rights icon. See CARE, Page 7A A crowd began gathering near the bridge that became a landmark when Lewis and other civil rights marchers were beaten there 55 years ago on “Bloody Sunday,” a key event in the !ght for voting rights for African Americans. 9A

Protest turns ugly in Oakland A protest through the streets of downtown Oakland 29 Palms Art Gallery struggling on Saturday night in support of racial justice and police reform turned violent when “agitators” among The 29 Palms Art Gallery is dealing with !nancial the demonstrators set !re to a courthouse, troubles after closing in March due to the COVID-19 vandalized a police station and shot !reworks at pandemic, and now a broken water heater and a rat officers, authorities said. JEFF CHIU/AP infestation is making the situation worse. 3A

A woman places her head into her hands on April 1, 2020, at the Cedar Mountain nursing home in desertsun.com Weather Volume 93 | No. 285 SERVING THE COACHELLA Yucaipa. The facility was one of several in Southern Subscribe: Access to all High 112° ❚ Low 79° VALLEY SINCE 1927 $2.50 California that reported coronavirus cases. of our content every day. Mostly sunny; hot. QEAJAB-08201z JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN Forecast, 14A OUR BEST SALE! * Half price carpet, hardwood, vinyl PRICE laminate, & basic installation... 1 That’s half price* for your 2 SALE entire purchase! Select styles. Schedule a FREE In-Home Estimate! Call 888-308-8504 or visit EmpireToday.com/newspaper. *Discount is applied to the regular price of select styles of Carpet, Hardwood, Vinyl, and Laminate, basic installation, standard padding, and materials. Excludes upgrades, stairs, take-up of permanently afﬁxed ﬂooring, non-standard furniture moving, other miscellaneous charges, and prior purchases. Product may not be sold separately from installation. Residential installations only. Not available in all areas. Valid through 11/01/2020. Subject to change. Details at EmpireToday.com. Sales (except CA) and installation are provided by independent contractors. Licensure at EmpireToday.com. CSLB 1047108 © 2020 Empire Today, LLC DS-GCI0495775-01

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Catch up on Game 5 highlights Los Angeles Dodgers take on Tampa Bay Rays as World Series begins to wind down. More at desertsun.com.

Caravan travels from Palm Springs to La Quinta ELECTIONS 2020 INDIO CITY COUNCIL Incumbents have edge in fundraising Police, businesses, other elected o!cials contribute to campaigns

Amanda Ulrich Palm Springs Desert Sun | USA TODAY NETWORK

As the November election nears, campaign !- nance documents show that four candidates running for Indio City Council district seats have raised more than $91,800 in contributions from businesses, individuals and local politicians across the Coachella Valley. Indio Mayor Glenn Miller, who is running for re- election as a councilmember in District 1, has received contributions to his campaign from some of the same entities as incumbent Lupe Ramos Amith, who is running for re-election in District 5. Both incumbents received donations from the California Apartment Association Political Action ‘Trump has his Committee, which is the “non-partisan political arm” of the rental housing trade association, as well as Alex Haagen of Haagen Co., a Los Angeles-based commercial real estate developer that operates the Empire Polo Club in Indio, among other groups that people in the desert’ contributed to both campaigns.

Colin Atagi and Vickie Connor Palm Springs Desert Sun | USA TODAY NETWORK Cars line East See INDIO, Page 2A Sunny Dunes “We need More than a hundred vehicles took to the streets Road in Palm to show of the Coachella Valley on Sunday for a caravan Springs for a President showing support for President Donald Trump as “Trump Trump we are the Nov. 3 election rapidly approaches. Brigade with him.” The “Trump Brigade Parade” began in Palm Parade” Springs, with vehicles #ying American #ags, ban- traveling to Julianna Balogh Palm Springs resident ners supporting Trump’s re-election bid and others La Quinta on expressing support for law enforcement. Sunday. VICKIE CONNOR/THE See CARAVAN, Page 2A DESERT SUN

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Morgan Hudson, left, and her mom, Vinette Morris, order take out on Oct. 16 while sitting at Lupine Women donors emerge Plaza, a closed section of Lupine Lane at El Paseo, as new power brokers which provides outdoor seating for the public in Palm Desert during the pandemic. Record-high campaign contributions from women TAYA GRAY/THE DESERT SUN helped Democrats take the House in 2018, and now women have their sights set on the Senate. In the 15 most competitive Senate races, an average 43% of the large-dollar donors to Democratic candidates Palm Desert’s $2.5M are women, compared to 28% of donors to Repub- licans, according to a USA TODAY analysis. 7A program supporting residents, businesses Red-!ag warning issued Tram board may borrow Sherry Barkas Palm Springs Desert Sun | USA TODAY NETWORK Even as temperatures across the Coachella Valley Palm Springs Aerial Tramway leaders are consider- Tables and chairs shaded by colorful umbrellas started to cool down, officials warned residents on ing a $15 million !nancing deal to cover a series of line a block of Lupine Lane, inviting people to dine, Sunday to prepare for high winds that could blow projects after the coronavirus pandemic decreased sip co"ee or cocktails o" El Paseo in the open air. The dust, fuel wild!res and lead to power shutoffs. ridership and signi!cantly cut revenue for months. space was created by the city of Palm Desert to give JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN 3A people a safe place to go during the pandemic while also helping local businesses. Elsewhere in Palm Desert, Casuelas Café, Habitat desertsun.com Weather Volume 94 | No. 10 SERVING THE COACHELLA for Humanity’s ReStore and more than 150 other Subscribe: Access to all High 73° ❚ Low 52° VALLEY SINCE 1927 $2.50 small businesses have received !nancial assistance of our content every day. Windy. Forecast, 12A QEAJAB-08201z See PALM DESERT, Page 6A New NBA season starts tonight; check out !ve storylines

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2020 | DESERTSUN.COM PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC Stay-at-home will ‘likely’ be extended

Newsom in quarantine after sta!er tests positive regional dates,” Newsom said. “... Based yond the existing surge capacity that upon all the data and based upon all they currently have planned.” these trend lines, it is very likely based In response, the state is updating its Staff and wire reports and that he’s likely to extend his stay-at- on those current trends that we’ll need planning guide for how hospitals would home order for much of the state. to extend that stay-at-home order.” ration care if everyone can’t get the California has recorded half a million Originally set for three weeks, the Newsom did not give an indication of treatment they need, Ghaly said. It still coronavirus cases in the last two weeks state-mandated shutdown in Southern exactly when a decision on extending hopes to avoid reaching that stage by and could have nearly 100,000 hospital- California was set to expire Dec. 28, ac- the order will be made, or how much bee!ng up sta"ng, makeshift hospitals izations in the next month. cording to the California Department of longer the order will remain in place. and mutual aid with regions that might Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged Public Health. Dr. Mark Ghaly, California’s secretary have precious remaining beds. Monday that a state projection model “We are likely, I think it’s pretty self- of Health and Human Services, said the shows hospitalizations in that range evident, going to need to extend those state fears some hospitals “may go be- See STAY-AT-HOME, Page 2A

NOT SO SHEEPISH State warns the rich: No shortcut for vaccine

Ana B. Ibarra CalMatters

What seemed like a Herculean task just months ago is now here: the CO- VID-19 vaccine. For the next several weeks, vaccines will be available in limited amounts in California and across the nation — and only to high-risk individuals, with supply expected to ramp up in the months to come. Experts estimate vaccines will be available to the general public sometime in the spring. Until then, step in line. But the pandemic already has showcased deep inequalities, scams, greed, fraud and a system that favors the rich and famous. Will it be the same with the COVID-19 vaccine? A bighorn sheep butts against a cactus on the South Lykken Trail in Palm Springs on Sunday. The sheep was part of a herd See VACCINE, Page 4A grazing along the trail. VICKIE CONNOR/THE DESERT SUN

Plan adopted to address air pollution

Mark Olalde for the health of communities that have by 77% and PM10 — particulate matter Palm Springs Desert Sun su#ered from poor air quality for years. that is 10 micrometers or smaller — by USA TODAY NETWORK The new benchmarks, adopted on 2.4 tons per year, all by 2030. Dec. 4, come as part of the area’s draft “It’s not a perfect plan, but I believe The South Coast Air Quality Man- community emissions reduction plan, we can start with something and I be- agement District recently took a key which is the result of AB617, passed in lieve that’s an achievement,” Sandra Desert View Power in Mecca is the step in setting wide-ranging goals to 2017. Ramirez, who lives in Coachella and single-largest emitter of ozone smog address air pollution in the eastern In the eastern Coachella Valley, the works with community group Alianza introducing pollutants into the air in Coachella Valley, leaving local residents program will look to reduce nitrogen ox- the Coachella Valley. and politicians cautiously optimistic ides by 45%, diesel particulate matter See POLLUTION, Page 2A ZOË MEYERS/THE DESERT SUN

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Stimulus deal includes renewal of jobless bene!ts

Lawmakers struck a nearly $900 billion COVID-19 stimulus deal Sunday that includes another round of stimulus checks and jobless bene!ts. After months of impasse, negotiations came down to the wire as 12 million people were set to lose unemploy- ment bene!ts the day after Christmas. 11A $1000 OFF YOUR KOHLER WALK-IN BATH EXCLUSIVE LIMITED-TIME FINANCE OFFER Airborne Santa rescued Santa Ana winds approach No Payments For 18 Months* A man dressed as Santa Claus, who was flying on a A Santa Ana wind event will arrive before Santa Call today for your FREE in-home or virtual quote! (760) 973-4732 powered parachute on his way to deliver candy Claus in the Inland Empire, with easterly gusts be- canes to children, became stuck on power lines ginning Wednesday and continuing into Thursday, above Rio Linda near Sacramento on Sunday. drying out the region and driving up wild!re danger, Ask About Our Flexible Payment Plans CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL VIA AP forecasters warned Monday. 3A *Walk-In Bath installed in as little as a day. Financing available to qualified purchasers. Contact your local dealer for financing details. Limited time offer. Valid through December 31, 2020, at participating dealers only. Not available in AK; HI; Nassau Cty, NY; Suffolk Cty, NY; Westchester Cty, NY; and Buffalo Cty, NY. Also may not be available in other areas. $1000 off purchase of a Walk In Bath. Exclusive limited-time offer. No payments for 18 months. Dealer sets all prices and is responsible for full amount of discount. Cannot be combined with any other advertised offer. GreenSky® financing offers available at participating dealers only. Applications with data entry or credit check complications may be decisioned in a period longer than seconds. Subject to credit desertsun.com Weather Volume 94 | No. 67 approval. Interest is billed during the promotional period but all interest is waived if the purchase amount is SERVING THE COACHELLA paid before the expiration of the promotional period. There is no minimum monthly payment required during the promotional period. Financing for GreenSky® consumer loan programs is provided by federally insured, Subscribe: Access to all High 77° ❚ Low 51° VALLEY SINCE 1927 $2.50 equal opportunity lender merchants. Participating lenders are federally insured, equal opportunity lender banks. of our content every day. Sunny. Forecast, 16A GreenSky® is a registered trademark of GreenSky, LLC GreenSky Servicing, LLC services the loans on behalf QEAJAB-08201z of participating lenders. NMLS #1416362 GreenSky® financing offers available at participating dealers only. DS-GCI0540389-03 Martin Jarmond faces many challenges as UCLA’s new AD

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SUNDAY, JULY 5, 2020 | DESERTSUN.COM PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC Calif. sends ‘strike teams’ to enforce health rules

Riverside County under focus of state inspectors

Melissa Daniels Palm Springs Desert Sun USA TODAY NETWORK

About 200 state inspectors fanned out across California over the July 4 holiday weekend to enforce health orders related to coronavirus, including about 100 from the Alcohol Beverage Control agency and the rest from the Division of Occupational Safety and Health and other state licensing entities. They are part of new “strike teams” from 10 state agencies that Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday said would fo- Johnny Alvarez, 47, rests inside the emergency overnight shelter run by the Coachella Valley Rescue Mission inside a cus on counties with the most restric- portion of the Palm Springs High School gymnasium on June 27. PHOTOS BY TAYA GRAY/DESERT SUN tions, including Riverside and San Bernardino. But the inspectors have a huge terri- tory to cover, and it was unclear whether they were in Riverside or San FEARS OF HOMELESS Bernardino as of Saturday. The teams made 142 “contacts” with businesses on Thursday, their !rst day of operation, the state O"ce of Emer- GO BEYOND COVID-19 gency Services said. They issued seven citations: two in Kern County, three in Los Angeles County and two in San- Palm Springs relocated its shelter to prevent an ta Clara County. “We will be going directly to those outbreak. It worked, but new challenges abound who thumb their nose at public health and safety,” OES spokesman Brian Fer- Nicole Hayden Palm Springs Desert Sun guson told the Associated Press. USA TODAY NETWORK In announcing the teams, Newsom emphasized that enforcement was Sammy Weakley arrived at the Palm Springs tied to worker safety. “One should not shelter two weeks ago, looking for a bottle of water have to put their life at risk to go to and a place to rest his head. work as an essential worker,” the gov- But more than that, he hoped the shelter would ernor said. open the door to other services, such as housing as- The deployment of the “strike sistance and group therapy programs. teams” highlighted an uncomfortable The 57-year-old man on a Sunday night sat on truth for Newsom and many workers one of the 50 beds sprawled across half of the Palm who have gone back to their jobs: Springs High School gymnasium, where the shelter While the state has issued extensive was moved at the start of the coronavirus pandem- guidelines for businesses to follow, ic. His life was piled up next to him — a backpack, there’s no sure!re system for ensuring some clothes and a cell phone charger. businesses are doing what they can to Coachella Valley Rescue Mission employee Weakley was luckier than others. Just 15% of the limit exposure for customers and em- Charles Danger!eld III, right, checks in a guest to western Coachella Valley’s nearly 320 homeless in- ployees as they re-open. the emergency overnight shelter currently set up dividuals got a bed that night. At least eight people While the “strike team” agencies — inside a portion of the gymnasium at Palm including ABC, Cal/OSHA and the Springs High School in Palm Springs on June 26. See HOMELESS, Page 4A California Highway Patrol — will partner with local health agencies to begin their work, the governor said “the li- “When there are no beds here, I don’t know where people go, there’s no place on’s share” of enforcement duty is on local authorities. else to send them. But because of social distancing ... we can’t let more Yet some local law enforcement of- people in.” !cials — including Riverside County Arnold Giles Palm Springs shelter leader See RULES, Page 8A

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT CALIFORNIA, 11A Enhance Lifetime While Trump celebrates, RetirementSecurity protesters go Fourth with a Reverse In the nation’s capital on Saturday, President Don- ald Trump hosted hundreds of guests at the White Mortgage Loan House for Fourth of July music and !reworks, while thousands of protesters demonstrated in Washing- ton, D.C. and across the country. Many expressed interest in a Facebook event for a “George Floyd Me- morial March on Washington,” which began that morning. Rallies, marches and sit-ins were also held Call Todayfor More Information in Chicago, Los Angeles and more than a dozen other U.S. cities. 21A Clay Behm NMLS: 582971 Vacationers urged to stay in state ReverseMortgageSpecialist Californians are being wooed by local tourism boards Phone (760)501-1279 promising safe and clean lodging, dining and No Parade Magazine today 79567 Cortez Lane sightseeing in a bid to boost the state’s devastated La Quinta,CA92253 economy. Visitors bureaus in Sonoma, Santa Cruz, Parade Magazine published a combined edition on [email protected] Monterey and greater Palm Springs are among those June 28. See next Sunday’s paper for your next pitching local travel. JEFF CHIU/AP issue.

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