Hundreds of teens from throughout Riverside County descended upon Cathedral City yesterday morning for the annual Youth Summit. The full-day event featured workshops dealing with depression, suicide, and prescription drug abuse, among other serious teen issues. It also offered young people guidance for staying safe in the online environment. County supervisor John Benoit welcomed the participants, who represented sixteen schools. The participants will go back to their campuses and act as influencers among their peers.

In conjunction with National Problem Gambling Awareness Week, the new California Office of Problem Gambling is holding a Two-Day summit to help recognize the warning signs. Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy was the keynote speaker on the first day of the two-day summit. Donaghy served time in prison for gambling on NBA games. He has claimed a 2002 Sacramento Kings playoff game against the Los Angeles Lakers was fixed, which resulted in the Kings not advancing in the finals. The event is the first of its kind in California where nearly four-percent of adults have a gambling problem. Although gambling is recreational for most people, it sometimes leads to debilitating problems at home and work. Californians who may have a problem with gambling are urged to call 1-800-GAMBLER.

An attorney and three chiropractors were arrested yesterday in connection with a Los Angeles-area auto insurance fraud ring. Investigators arrested 40-Year-Old Vadim Schar and charged him with 16 counts of insurance fraud and four counts of possession of illegal narcotics, including cocaine, methamphetamine, concentrated cannabis and marijuana. The chiropractors and paralegals are accused of defrauding 19 insurance companies out of 549-Thousand-Dollars by filing false claims for staged accidents. More than 300 people are suspected of being part of the ring.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is moving closer to running for California lieutenant governor. Newsom paid a 25-Hundred-Dollar filling fee and took out papers with the Department of Election. He dropped out of the governor's race last year, but a poll of Democratic voters shows strong support for the mayor in a bid for lieutenant governor.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power announced Wednesday that it is canceling its plans to run new power lines through forest and desert lands in the Inland Empire. The decision was based on a reassessment of resources, along with community input. Green Path North would have resulted in transmission towers and power lines being erected.

With a budget deficit nearing 500-million dollars in Los Angeles, the mayor has ordered several city departments to freeze all spending. The "Los Angeles Times" reports Antonio Villaraigosa and City Controller Wendy Greuel sent out a letter on Wednesday to every department telling them to curb expenses, with the exception of five. The freeze doesn't apply to the D-W-P, the Port of L.A., the airport and two agencies that oversee pension funds for retired and civilian city workers. The mayor is in Washington, D.C. on a lobbying trip attempting to get more federal funds for the city. One thousand jobs will be cut in the next few months with the possibility of up to three thousand city workers being laid off by the end of the year. The first 15 pink slips are set to go out today.

Legislative leaders and law enforcement officials are calling for statewide action to protect children from online predators. California Assembly member Norma Torres says by passing the Child Cyber Safety Act or AB 2208 it would make it a crime for sex offenders in California to use a social networking site. Torres also says if the bill is passed, violators could face fines or imprisonment.

Former Riverside police officer Jose Luis Nazario Jr. is suing the city for firing him and refusing to re-hire him after he was charged of killing detainees while serving with the Marines in Iraq. Nazario was acquitted of those charges in August 2008, and given an honorable discharge after serving eight years with the Marines. His lawsuit seeks nine-million-dollars in damages.

Federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges against a Santa Monica restaurant and a chef, claiming the California eatery sold sushi made from endangered whale meat. According to the "L.A. Times," the criminal complaint was filed against Typhoon Restaurant Incorporated, owner of the Hump restaurant at Santa Monica Airport, and chef Kiyoshiro Yamamoto. They are charged with selling a marine mammal product, an offense carrying possible penalties of huge fines and up to one year in federal prison. U.S. Attorney André Birotte Junior said quote, "Someone should not be able to walk into a restaurant and order a plate of an endangered species." An attorney representing the Hump says the restaurant accepts full responsibility and will pay whatever fine is levied.

Riverside County Deputy Sheriffs are looking for a woman who they say robbed ten people at gunpoint inside a small market in the town of Thermal and making off with a mere six dollars. It happened Tuesday at the La Chicanita Market on 70th Avenue. Deputies say the woman confronted ten patrons with a small semi-automatic handgun. She's described as a Hispanic female, 20-To-30-Years-Old, and was last seen getting into the passenger seat of an older, black Honda.

A divided federal appeals court in San Francisco has upheld recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, including the words "under God," in public schools. The court that ruled having teachers lead students in the pledge is not an unconstitutional government establishment of religion, because the purpose of reciting the pledge is patriotic. A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued the two-to-one decision. This is the second time Michael Newdow, an atheist father, has come before the court with a legal challenge regarding the Pledge. In a 2002 decision, the appeals court ruled that requiring children to hear the Pledge with the God reference included was unconstitutional. That created a national controversy and the case eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court dismissed it on a technicality. Newdow refiled his lawsuit and challenged a California education law that mandates "daily appropriate patriotic exercises" in public schools. Children are allowed to opt out of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in California.

Lawyers for famed record producer Phil Spector are trying to have his second-degree murder conviction overturned. Attorneys filed arguments for a new trial yesterday with the 2nd Court of Appeals, saying the judge in Spector's criminal trial should not have allowed testimony by five women who claimed they had felt menaced by Spector while he was in the possession of firearms. The state attorney general's office will file a response to those claims next month but an appellate court decision could be as much as a year in coming. Spector was found guilty of second-degree murder in the 2003 fatal shooting of Lana Clarkson. He is 70-years-old and serving a sentence of 19 years to life in prison.

A former Riverside cop who admitted carrying out or attempting to commit seven armed robberies while still on the force was sentenced this afternoon to 15 years in prison. 28-year-old David R. Reeves of Moreno Valley pleaded guilty February 23rd to four counts of armed robbery and three counts of attempted armed robbery, all of which included sentence-enhancing allegations of using a firearm during a felony. Reeves blamed his behavior on an addiction to prescription drugs that got out of control. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Richard T. Fields says Reeves' criminal conduct was as serious as it gets, but noted that the seven-year police veteran had lived an honorable life up to that time.

The number of Riverside County properties falling into foreclosure crept up last month but remained below year-ago levels. A total of 7,140 mortgage default notices, auction sale notices, and bank repossessions were recorded in Riverside County in February, a 2% increase from January, but 27% below a year ago. With one in 108 households in default last month, the county had the second-highest foreclosure rate in the state. Nationally, California ranked number four in foreclosure activity in February, recording 68,562 filings; one for every 195 households, down 4% from January, and off 15% compared to a year ago.

A 58-year-old convicted sex offender living illegally in the United States was behind bars today and being processed for deportation. Jose Ramirez, a Mexican citizen living in Coachella, was arrested about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday near his home. Border Patrol agents were alerted of Ramirez's presence in the Coachella Valley and he was taken into custody without incident. Ramirez was convicted in 1989 of two sex-related felonies. Ramirez was sentenced to a six-year prison term, of which he served around two years.

Legendary singer Tony Bennett will perform at an exhibition tennis match tomorrow at the BNP Paribas Open that will benefit earthquake victims in Haiti. Bennett is expected to sing “Smile” at today’s “Hit for Haiti” charity event, which will benefit the American Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development Fund. Retired tennis stars Andre Agassi and wife Steffi Graf, along with Martina Navratilova and Pete Sampras, are expected to play. Sampras will team with Roger Federer, the world's top-ranked men's player, in a doubles match against Agassi and Rafael Nadal, ranked third, while Navratilova and Justine Henin will face Graf and Lindsay Davenport. New tournament owner Larry Ellison says he hopes the event will raise at least $1,000,000 for Haiti.

A suspect in a home invasion robbery who allegedly led deputies on a chase in a stolen car and then escaped Thursday has been re-arrested. 19-year-old Jose Angel Ramos fled about 10:30 a.m. from the Indio
Sheriff’s Station on Oasis and Dr. Carreon and was re-arrested around noon about a mile away. During the search Theodore Roosevelt Elementary and Martin Van Buren Elementary were locked down as a precaution. Ramos and another man were spotted in a 1996 Honda Prelude that was stolen about 2:30 a.m. during a home invasion robbery on Third Street in Mecca. Two men armed with handguns entered the home and robbed the residents before fleeing in the Honda. Deputies located the suspect vehicle around 5:40 a.m. in La Quinta and gave chase when the driver refused to pull over. The pursuit ended at Avenue 66 and Middleton Street in Thermal, and both suspects were arrested.

A fire that broke out behind Flooring Innovations in Cathedral City Wednesday night is being treated as suspicious. The blaze was reported at about 10 p.m. Crews were able to keep the fire from spreading to the actual building itself. Officials say the fire was fueled by wooden pallets, carpeting and padding being stored behind the business. Owner Bill Nicholson said there was some smoke damage, but he was glad flames didn’t spread inside the building. The incident remains under investigation.

Police arrested a fourth person Wednesday suspected of trying to rob a Palm Desert apartment last month. On February 16th at least four people armed with a gun tried to gain entry into an apartment in the 45-Thousand-Block of Ocotillo Drive, but the resident shut the door before they got in. No one was injured and nothing was taken. Wednesday morning police served a search warrant in the 81-Thousand Block of Sirocco Avenue and arrested 19-year-old Luis Enrique Reyes. He was booked into the Riverside County jail in Indio on several charges, including attempted robbery. He’s being held in lieu of 250-Thousand-Dollars bail. Three juveniles were arrested the day after the incident. Another suspect is still at large.

Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputies have arrested a 17-year-old boy in connection with a pepper spray attack at the Westfield Palm Desert mall. Three men, ranging in age from 17 to 20, approached a kiosk near the mall’s food court Monday afternoon. After a conversation, one of the men sprayed two employees with pepper spray. The unidentified teen was booked into juvenile hall in Indio.