The Desert Sun du lieu suivant : Palm Springs, California • Page 1

(p Indians exact revenge over Aztecs SPORTS Palm Springs' Nick King 1 7 State's bountiful avocados a virtuous, versatile snack FOOD DRINK ESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2012 WWW.MYDESERT.COM A GANNETT COK'PANY SERVING THE COACHELLA VALLEY SINCE 1927 1 Koch group quietly met in valley By Kate McGinty and Erica Felci The Desert Sun A yearly affair hosted by Charles and David Koch, the billionaire brothers whose support of conservative causes drew noisy protests to their conference in Rancho Mirage last year, secretly returned to the desert last weekend. Conference organizers and their guests successfully slipped in and out of the Coachella Valley without being detected by buying out nearly all of the 500-plus rooms at the Renaissance Esmerelda resort in Indian Wells. The resort closed its restaurants, locked down the grounds with private security guards and sent many workers home. The three-day conference ended Tuesday morning and by afternoon the usual traffic in and out of the resort had resumed. Riverside County sheriff's Capt.

Kevin Vest, who oversees police services in Indian Wells, confirmed the Koch group was at the hotel. "It's over and done with, and I don't want a whole bunch of suspicion," Ve told The Desert Sun. "Compared to last year, I'm very pleased with the way things went, and it was much more the type of event that we would prefer to have in the Coachella Valley." Please see KOCH, A2 ELECTION 2012: FLORIDA PRIMARY TV stations merge some operations; staff trimmed 'Komney wins big I I ff 1 By Mike Perrault The Desert Sun The Coachella Valley's ABC affiliate, KESQ-TV News Channel 3, has acquired CBS affiliate KPSP Local 2 News, forming a single company that will continue to operate both television stations. 1 i I 1 About half of KPSP's staff lost their jobs as a result of the merger, but 70 percent of anchors and on-air personalities will stay on, said Mike Stutz, KESQ general manager and corporate news director. "We will besharingsomeofthe news-gathering resources for both stations, and our intent is to create unique news content for j.

1 -r '4 Houston 1 each station moving forward," Stutz said Tuesday. "We're retaining as many of the staff members from KPSP as we can." Employees learned of the changes, which took effect immediately, on Tuesday morn-Please see MERGER, A2 ,4) 4 rl RENEWABLE ENERGY 1, i iijii 1 1 tin -II aiwiiiMinittmaifc utum sunmiMi-ammrwr Tmvwmmamimm rairmiiif miw Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney celebrates his Florida primary election win at the Tampa Convention Center on r'4 Tuesday. Charles dharapakthe associated press Experts: Rout shows GOP front-runner can take it all 111 ixjP -JW i Brad Williams, president of Solar Service Center in Thousand Palms, got local investors to back a company-funded solar leasing program, omar ornelasthe desert sun Valley pitches clean-energy opportunities A '1 i i i 1 4 3 I I By Marc Caputo McClatchy Newspapers i MIAMI Case closed. Mitt Romney 's lopsided Florida victory over Newt Gingrich proved the Republican front-runner can win conservatives, triumph in debates and fight a bruising campaign that can lay an opponent to waste.

The former Massachusetts governor earned 46 percent of the vote, with Gingrich coming in a distant second with 32 percent. Romney's Florida win also showed Republicans he can run the kind of national campaign that can defeat President Barack Obama in November. "Doing well in Florida," Romney said Tuesday, "is a pretty good indication of your prospects nationally." That's because Florida is more like the nation than any of the other three early states. North Florida is the Deep South. Southwest Florida is like the Midwest.

Latin America meets New York in southeast Florida. And it all mixes together along the 1-4 corridor from Tampa Bay through central Florida. Romney excelled in south Florida and among Hispanics, exit polls WW Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich addresses the crowd during a Florida Republican presidential primary night rally. He came in a distant second place to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

matt rourkethe associated press By Kaufmann The Desert Sun Hundreds of top-level venture capitalists and company executives focused solely on clean-tech investment are in the Coachella Valley this week, but they may not consider the region's abundant sun, wind and geothermal resources for their next big opportunity. At least not yet. Valley leaders routinely promote the region as the epicenter of renewable energy development, but it has lagged behind in the current heated competition in California and across the nation for clean-tech startups and investment dollars. "There isn't a community in the country that Please see ENERGY, A6 ney in 2008 and George W. Bush in 2004.

"It is what New York and Ellis Island used to be, the gateway to the country's future." Before the first ballot was even cast on Election Day, Romney had a cushion Please see GOP, A2 showed. Early results indicated he might lose north Florida, but he was winning everywhere else by big margins. "Florida is the nation's reflecting pool," said Alex Castellanos, a Republican consultant who worked for Rom mJ Pleasant MEASURE SPENDING A local developer spent more than $95,000 convincing Palm Springs voters to support a sales tax increase. B1 DEAL CHICKEN Find out what great money-saving offer the deal chicken has for you today. A3 74 50 Freedom from HERNIATED DISCS WITHOUT SURGERY? Decompression Therapy COULD BE THE ANSWER! D9 A11 D8 D1 B7 Movies D9 Opinion B9 Stocks A12-13 Weather B10 Advice Business Comics Food Lottery 1 HI." "WMIH, i Herniated Disc Bulging Disc Degenerative Disc Facet Syndrome Sciatica Spinal Stenosis Neck Arm Pain GAS PRICES IN VALLEY Coachella Valley drivers are making adjustments as gas prices creep toward the $4 mark.

B1 tN CALL for your Free Consultation and TWO FREE Trial Sessions Medicare and most Insurance may cover a portion of your care. The Desert Sun is printed using recycled paper ll40901ll08203l SPINAL DECOMPRESSION AT McDonald Chiropractic, Inc. Greg McDonald, D.C. 35900 Bob Hope Ste. 100, Rancho Mirage www.mcdonaldchiro.com 111 754 newspaper designated market $1 .00 outside of market (760)328-8212 CS-O00OS928M To subscribe or report a delivery problem, call (800) 834-6052 or visit mydesert.comcs BEST ISSUE AVAILABLE.