Board OKs contract with addiction treatment provider to run county facility
Riverside County board approves sheriff's expenditures on capital projects
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Riverside County supervisors declare local Palm Springs 85th Anniversary Classic Car Parade to attempt emergency stemming from storm impacts record-break By City News Service
By City News Service
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he Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution declaring a state of emergency in Riverside County stemming from the winter storm series that has caused millions of dollars in damage. In a 5-0 vote without comment, the board signed off on Emergency Management Department Director Bruce Barton's request for recognition of the emergency declaration that he proclaimed under his own authority on March 23. The county's head of emergency services can unilaterally declare a local emergency anytime, but it must be formally ratified by the board within seven business days in order to remain valid. The board's authorization of the declaration will enable the county to apply for state and federal relief funds. According to the EMD, the storm series that started in mid-February and continued almost weekly until the end of March due to jet streamdriven "atmospheric rivers" flowing across California has caused an estimated $4.4 million in damage. The estimate is derived from infrastructure impacts to county facilities, farms, tribal land, special districts and school districts, officials said. Among the worst impacts was a breach of the levee along the San
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he Palm Springs 85th Anniversary Classic Car Parade, which will feature 85 classic cars to represent each year since the city was incorporated, will attempt to go into the Guinness Book of World Records Saturday. The free "Cruising Through the Years" parade will get in gear at 11:30 a.m. along Amado Road from the Palm Springs Convention Center to the Downtown Park, according to Palm Springs communications director Amy Blaisdell. A limited number of free bleacher seats will be set up near the Jackie Lee Houston Plaza. Nancy Sinatra, the daughter of Frank Sinatra, will be the celebrity grand marshal in the parade and will be joined by notable local celebrities, community leaders and city pioneers, Blaisdell said. Football legend Fred See Classic Car Parade Page 16
Elderly man pleads not Jacinto River, according to Roads in cities and one week in February that guilty in Desert Hot Springs the EMD. unincorporated commu- caused significant flooding The hole that devel- nities countywide have and debris flows on state crash that killed schoolgirl oped allowed water to flood been washed out and Routes 74, 111 and 243 Debris flows last month caused the closure of SR-74 in Riverside County. | Photo courtesy of Caltrans
farmlands, the county Flood Control & Water Conservation District said. The agency said that the breach has since been sealed, but it's requiring constant attention to fortify, with fears that additional storms could compromise the levee again. "Winter storms have brought unforeseen and unprecedented snow and rainfall within multiple jurisdictions in the county that caused damage to transportation, water conveyance systems and critical infrastructure, delivering an imminent threat to life, property and the environment," according to the resolution.
flooded, prompting closures on numerous occasions. However, most of those corridors have been repaired and are open. In the San Bernardino National Forest, more than 50 dirt roads leading to camping, hiking, hunting and other recreational sites were declared off limits last month because of snow packs and other winter hazards. They may not reopen until June, according to the U.S. Forest Service. This winter's storm series is similar to the one that walloped the Inland Empire in 2019, though most of the damage then was due to back-to-back storms during
near Idyllwild, Mountain Center and Palm Springs. Mud and debris flows also damaged the Horsethief Canyon Storm Drain, the Leach Canyon Dam and the McVicker Debris Basin. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed emergency declarations five times over the last month, covering 43 counties. According to the governor's office, $60 million has already been spent on direct aid and response commitments. With the board's ratification of the local emergency proclamation, Riverside County will be included on the list of eligible recipients for future aid.
By City News Service
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n 89-year-old man suspected of rear-ending a school bus, maneuvering around it and striking a group of children, killing a 9-year-old girl and injuring three other children, pleaded not guilty to felony charges Tuesday. Robert William Hanson of Desert Hot Springs was charged with one felony count each of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and of reckless driving with a sentence-enhancing allegation of causing great bodily injury, according to court records. He additionally faces two misdemeanor counts, one each of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence and being an unlicensed operator. Hanson, who has been released from custody, pleaded not guilty to all charges and denied all allegations Tuesday morning at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. See Desert Hot Springs crash Page 31