The Coachella Valley Number ‘One’ Desert Local Newspaper
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STAR
SPRING FORWARD MARCH 12
W E E K L Y
PRESORTED STANDARD US POSTAGE PAID Desert Hot Springs, CA PERMIT NO 00005
Friday, March 10, 2017 Vol. 11 No. 20
“Who Let the Dogs Out” Participants are lined up for 1K walk with Melanie Scherer, Tom Snyder, Biancha Rae and Ted Weill leading on right in front. Photo by Murray Ross
Animal Samaritans honors Super Heroes with a 1K and 5K race to help raise money to support the cause. By Shirley Brenon The Coachella Valley believes that all individuals involved in animal rescue, adoption and welfare of animals are truly Super Heroes. Three hundred people arrived at Rancho Mirage Community Park with their dogs to honor
these heroes and help raise money to support Animal Samaritans programs. The main event was a 5K race and a 1K walk with the participants all dressing in capes and masks of Super Heroes. Music was playing over the loudspeakers with songs
By Desert Star Staff Unauthorized border crossings decreased 40 percent after President Donald Trump’s first month in office, the US Customs and Border Protection reports. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly credited enforcement and Trump’s tough talk. On Wednesday, CBP released figures showing that 18,762 undocumented immigrants were stopped at the US-Mexico border in February, a steep drop from the previous month when 31,578 were apprehended.What made the 40 percent drop all the more notable was that typically there is an increase in traffic this time of year, according to Secretary Kelly. “CBP historically sees a 10-20 percent increase
in apprehensions of illegal immigrants from January to February,” the DHS chief said in a statement Wednesday. There had been an increase in traffic in the months leading up to the sudden decrease as well, according to DHS. The border agency recorded 157,000 captures from October 1, 2016 to January 20, 2017, the day of the presidential inauguration, representing a 35 percent uptick from the same period a year before, Kelly said. Additionally, families crossing illegally went up over 100 percent. Kelly also cited price increases from “coyotes,” or smugglers, who “hiked their fees in some areas by roughly 130 percent - from $3,500 to
such as “You Ain’t Nothing but a Hound Dog” and “Who Let the Dog Out” and Molly Thorpe was entertaining the crowd by telling dog jokes such as “What kind of a dog would Dracula want? A blood hound!” As soon as everyone was suited up the laughs and merriment
continued as people grabbed their cameras and took pictures of each other’s silly costumes and memorialized the fun their dogs were having together. Next the costumed heroes gathered in front of the stage and were welcomed by Super Man, also known as Animal
Samaritan’s CEO Tom Snyder. In turn he introduced Rancho Mirage mayor Ted Weill in a green mask; morning anchor for KESQ News Channel 3 Bianca Rae and Melanie Scherer from Luke’s Legacy Foundation. Continues on Page 3
Illegal immigration down 40% on southern US border
Homeland Security considering separation of parents & children at border $8,000 in certain mountainous regions,” the secretary said. On January 25, Trump signed an executive order calling for
a border wall and intensified enforcement. Trump has also called for 10,000 more Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agents and 5,000 border patrol officers to be hired, which the DHS has agreed to authorize.