Luna, who remains out of custody on a $250,000 bond, is charged with one felony count of possession of an assault weapon, which is illegal to possess in California.
Court papers allege that Luna, a former Cathedral City police officer, was an adherent to the QAnon conspiracy theory and a right-wing militia group involved in storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
John Candias, a Rialto Police Department detective and member of the task force, wrote in a declaration in support of arrest warrant that a search of the defendant s home yielded an unregistered Smith and Wesson assault rifle under his bed.
PSUSD officer arrested in domestic extremism probe pleads not guilty
A Palm Springs Unified School District patrol officer arrested during an investigation into domestic extremism by an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force pleaded not guilty today to a felony weapons charge.
Alfredo Luna Jr., 41, was arrested on Inauguration Day,
Jan. 20, stemming from a prior search of his home that turned up an unregistered assault rifle, according to court papers.
Luna was arraigned at the Larson Justice Center in Indio before Riverside County Superior Court Judge James Hawkins, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for July 23.
Luna, who remains out of custody on a $250,000 bond, is charged with one felony count of possession of an assault weapon, which is illegal to possess in California.
West valley schools: PSUSD transitional kindergarten will be full day for 2021-22
Joan L. Boiko
Palm Springs Unified School District kindergarten classes have been full day for the past several years. Beginning with the 2021-22 school year, all transitional kindergarten classes will also be full day.
Children who turned five years old on or before Sept. 1, 2020 are eligible for kindergarten. Transitional kindergarten is for students who turned five between Sept. 2 and Dec. 15, 2020. Registration is currently underway for all incoming kindergarten and transitional kindergarten students as well as students of all ages that are new to the district.
“Transitional kindergarten can be a transformative experience and purposefully prepare students both socially and emotionally for the academic rigor of kindergarten,” said Director of Elementary Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Simone Kovats. “When transitional kindergarten is implemented in a full-day setting, it also allows for addi
West valley schools: PSUSD s First Equity Conference set for April 24
Joan L. Boiko
Palm Springs Unified School District’s Family Engagement Center will host the district’s first “Rise Up! Equity Community Conference” this weekend.
“Teachers and Parents Putting Equity into Action” will be a live, interactive virtual event from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 24 and will feature Keynote presenter Dr. LaMarr Shields and sessions focused on an array of topics including Colorism, Supporting African American students in PSUSD, Microaggressions, Supporting LGBTQ students, Trauma Informed Care, Strategies for Addressing Teacher and Parent Burnout and Addressing Equity.
“The need to carefully analyze a school district’s policies and practices with an equity lens has always been a priority for us,” said Family Engagement Coordinator Ruby Rivera. “But in the midst of the heartbreaking news of racial bias this past summer, that led to a conversation with (Supt.
Woman accused of attempting to kidnap children near local elementary school
A woman who school employees say was attempted to kidnap several students from an elementary school in Desert Hot Springs.
Desert Hot Springs Police were called to the 65700 block of Avenida Jalisco at around Noon, according to a statement from the department. Officers were responding to calls that a person was trying to fight passerbys in the area. Officers made contact with the woman, a 24-year-old.
Employees at a nearby elementary school told officers that the woman tried to grab several students as they were dismissed from school.
Interviews with students and witnesses led officers to determine that the woman attempted to forcibly remove two students, but was unsuccessful. The woman had been detained by school staff and security until police arrived.