John White is in his 25th consecutive year at KESQ News Channel 3. He started his career as a broadcast journalist in the Coachella Valley in 1991 with stints at KNWZ radio, a local cable program, and KESQ before leaving the valley briefly in 1997 to work at a CBS affiliate in Pennsylvania.

John received a Pacific Southwest Emmy Award in 2016 for his reporting on the Salton Sea.  Other accolades include multiple Emmy nominations and a Golden Mic in 2021.

In 2022, John traveled to the White House to report on the signing of the PACT Act that included benefits for veterans who had been exposed to toxic burn pits. He started reporting on the issue in 2017, when he brought viewers the story of local veteran Jennifer Kepner, who later died of pancreatic cancer she blamed on burn pit exposure during her service in Iraq.  John continued to report on the issue as it gained attention in Congress and eventually turned into legislation that brought new benefits to millions of veterans.

John’s career has included reporting on the valley’s growth from the early days of Indian gaming to the latest resort developments. He’s covered local politics and elections from the 1990s and Sonny Bono’s first run for Congress to the valley’s most competitive races in 2024.

John’s sister-in-law recently died from Parkinson’s Disease, and John now serves as co-chair of the nonprofit Parkinson’s Resource Organization.

His wife, Cynthia, first brought him to the desert before they were married. The Chicago-area native was captivated by the valley and all it had to offer. The couple has been married for 31 years and have a wonderful daughter, Jacqueline, who’s now contributing to her hometown in social work after earning a psychology degree at Northern Arizona University.

Laurilie Jackson is a media professional and educator with extensive experience in media production and academia. She is an associate professor at College of the Desert, a guest lecturer at Cal State San Bernardino and an anchor/reporter at KESQ News Channel 3.

Laurilie is dedicated to training the next generation of media professionals through education and practical, hands-on experience. She heads the film, television and media department at College of the Desert and advises the nationally recognized COD Roadrunner Radio and the award-winning newspaper, The Chaparral. Her bachelors’ degrees in sociology and communication and a master’s in broadcast journalism, coupled with internships at KNBC Los Angeles, CNN Hollywood, Larry King Live and Entertainment Tonight have significantly shaped her career.

Before moving to Palm Springs, Laurilie worked as a production assistant at Universal Studios Florida, served as a weekend reporter for WAVY News, and hosted a national newscast for the Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia.

Laurilie has received several awards, including the 2019 Helene Galen Excellence in Education Award from the Women Leaders Forum, the 20-Year Service to Education Award from College of the Desert, and recognition as a national finalist for the 2020 Best Faculty Advisor Award from the Intercollegiate Broadcasting Systems in New York City.

Laurilie is the vice president of Palm Springs Women in Film and Television and serves on the advisory board for Women Leaders Forum. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, she moved to the Coachella Valley in 1997, where she raised her three daughters, who are her greatest pride and joy.

Adolfo Íñiguez is celebrating 29 years as the morning personality and programmer with La Poderosa 96.7 FM, the highest-rated radio station in the valley, regardless of language and across multiple demos in the region. He has been in the broadcasting profession for more than 35 years.

Adolfo is originally from Capilla de Milpillas, Jalisco, Mexico, and came to the United States in 1987. A year after arriving in the U.S., he volunteered at two radio stations in the region, Radio KUNA and KCLB. He ultimately was hired by KCLB and worked there for about three years as a part-timer in the early hours during weekends, and then later worked at Radio KUNA 96.7 in the afternoon shift. 

After a stint working at a radio station in Los Angeles, he returned to the Valley in 1996. Since then, he has worked at Radio KUNA, which Adolfo changed its name to La Poderosa. Adolfo is the programmer and host of El Show del Greñas on La Poderosa from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Among the most popular characters on his morning show is El Greñas, a contributor who says what he feels, and feels what he says. Over the years, other characters have appeared on his show, including La Colorina, Don Cascarrabias, El Hermano Cruzvely, El Pifas, and El Coruco.

Adolfo’s interest in radio extends back to his childhood. As a child he underwent tonsil surgery and since then he has had the ability to manipulate his voice to create the characters that appear on his show.

Adolfo has been married for 32 years to his wife, Olga, who is a teacher with the Coachella Valley Unified School District. They have three children, one who is also a teacher. The other two are in college.

Gloria Greer was a talented writer, editor, publisher and broadcaster who chronicled the icons of the desert for decades — and in doing so became an icon herself.

For more than 20 years, Greer was a feature writer for the Press-Enterprise, penning her Stars on the Desert column. She also wrote for Variety, Newsweek, the Associated Press, and Town and Country Magazine. When TV came to the desert, Greer brought her Stars on the Desert to the local ABC affiliate, and then to the NBC affiliate, where she appeared for 25 years on the nightly news.

She edited and published Sand to Sea magazine, founded in 1974 with her mother, and sold it to Palm Springs Life in 1999. She then became society editor for Palm Springs Life. Greer created, produced and hosted two TV shows for Time Warner and PBS in Southern California: Conversations with Gloria Greer and Exploring the Arts. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences inducted Greer into its prestigious Silver Circle for her 25 + years on air.

Greer founded the nonprofit ACT for MS and was active on multiple boards, including the Palm Springs Air Museum and Palm Springs Cultural Center. She died in 2015 at age 87.

Bruce Fessier wrote a people and entertainment column, as well as news and feature stories for The Desert Sun and a host of other publications for 40 years, from 1979 to 2019. He continues to engage in various writing and speaking opportunities.

His Desert Sun career was celebrated with a State of California Assembly resolution, a CV Music lifetime achievement in journalism award sponsored by the Coachella Valley Weekly newspaper, and an endowment in his name from the College of the Desert Foundation to support Desert Sun internships.

Fessier has covered every Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Stagecoach country music festival and Palm Springs International Film Festival since their inception.

He has interviewed a range of celebrities, from Frank Sinatra to Sonny Bono. He was roasted by a panel including Bono and jazz artist Georgie Auld in 1987 to raise funds for the Desert Theatre League, which he co-founded with actor Steve Meek. He served on Bono’s founding committee in 1987 to establish the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and he co-founded the Jazz Celebrity Golf & JAMS Session in 1997 with his wife, Jane Fessier, and singer Frankie Randall.

He has received multiple journalism writing awards over the course of his career.

In addition to his extensive impact on the entertainment scene in the Coachella Valley, Fessier is deeply involved in Amy’s Purpose, a local nonprofit dedicated to pet safety and predator awareness. In 2022, he produced the benefit “Pet Love and Rock & Roll” to help Amy’s Purpose’s put more veterinary workers in the field in the Coachella Valley.