News

Palm Springs Police Sgt. Melissa Desmarais is the first woman to be promoted to sergeant in the history of the Palm Springs Police Department. She started off as a patrol officer and worked hard to be appointed the City’s first female motorcycle officer, and then worked her way up to …

Lightnin’ Strikes Plaza Theatre Stage Starting January 8th, 2013! Lou Christie’s chart topping, multi-million selling career as a songwriter, recording artist, and performer started in a two-track studio in Glenwillard, Pennsylvania, his rural hometown near Pittsburgh. His first million-selling song, “The Gypsy Cried,” transformed a local choirboy, Lugee Alfredo Giovanni …

Philanthropist and civic leader Annette Bloch was born in Philadelphia where she lived until her marriage to Richard Bloch, founder of H&R Block. She and her late husband have three daughters, seven grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren. A breast cancer survivor and philanthropist, Annette is president of the R.A. Bloch …

A special PalmSprings.com Spotlight guest post by Amy Blaisdell, Communications Director, City of Palm Springs. Palm Springs, with our year-round sunshine and relaxed desert lifestyle, is truly like no place else when it comes to celebrating the holidays in high style! The City is currently the hippest and most happening …

A graduate of USC with a Masters in Public Administration, Bob Hughes has a wide variety of entrepreneurial experience from founder and publisher of Orange Coast Magazine– a glossy lifestyle publication of Orange County, to founder and President of Hughes Ad House–the largest mall catalog publication agency in 50 states …

Paul Fleszar is the owner of Par-Tee Golf, the premier golf reservation agency in the Coachella Valley.  Par-Tee Golf is the largest purveyor of tee-times in the golf mecca of Coachella Valley, supplying courses valley-wide with invaluable commerce. Paul lives in Palm Springs with his family. Paul, you’re kind of …

There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. — F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby I kept thinking of the above quote during my most recent …

Emmy Award-winning reporter Hank Plante has covered California for three decades for TV stations in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Hank has has worked in broadcasting for stations including KPIX TV (CBS 5) in San Francisco, and in print journalism, including at The Washington Post. His awards have included several …

Josh Herman serves as Regional Director of Marketing for KSL Resorts, a unique collection of destination Golf, Spa, and Ski Resorts, where he has multiple property marketing oversight. KSL Resorts holdings include Hotel del Coronado, La Costa Resort and Spa, Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa, Montelucia Resort & Spa, The Homestead and …

John Wessman is president, founder and owner of Wessman Development, a company engaged in the development and subsequent holding and property management of shopping centers, office buildings, and residential projects in the Coachella Valley. For more than 40 years, John has been a leader and visionary for development, management and consulting for commercial, municipal and residential real estate projects within the Coachella Valley. He started as a general contractor in 1963 and formed his own development company in 1982. John has a strong affiliation with a number of local institutions, where he has served in various leadership capacities--CEO of the International Film Festival in Palm Springs, Palm Springs Aerial Tramway Board member, and the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce, to name a few.