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Battling Over Airspace

A Desert Sun Investigation: A mysterious east valley farm's lawsuit have grounded nearly all local hot air balloons near it in Indio.
  1. Fantasy Balloon flight pilot Steve Wilkinson smiles during a press conference announcing that JCM Farming Inc. dropped a lawsuit against local balloonists on Wednesday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. Crystal Chatham The Desert Sun

    Spirits high, balloonists say flights to resume soon

    Owners of hot-air balloon companies declared themselves open for business again now that a two-year legal war with the owners of a rural olive farm has ended.

    • Aug. 18, 2011

  2. Gag order denied in suit over balloonists

    An east valley olive farm's lawsuit against hot-air balloonists will stay in the Coachella Valley, and parties to the case can continue to talk openly about it, a Riverside County judge ruled Thursday.

    • Jul. 8, 2011
  3. An aerial photo of JCM Farming Inc.'s compound near Thermal, the center of a no-fly controversy. FILE PHOTO

    Judge: Balloonists can inspect farm

    Balloonists sued by an east valley olive farm must be allowed to inspect its walled compound, a Riverside County Superior Court judge ruled Friday.

    • Jul. 29, 2011
  4. JCM Farming Inc., located off Avenue 54 between Monroe and Jackson streets south of Indio, has sued local balloonists, an aviation company involved in agricultural pest control and even the Federal Aviation Administration citing a nuisance by low-flying aircraft. But balloonists say they've done nothing wrong. Submitted photo

    Gag order, venue change denied in JCM Farming lawsuit against hot-air balloonists

    A Riverside County judge today rejected an east valley olive farm's requests for a gag order on participants in its lawsuit against area balloonists. The judge also rejected the farm owner’s request to move the case out of the Coachella Valley.

    • Jul. 7, 2011
  5. The JCM Farming Inc. compound near Thermal is at the center of a no-fly controversy. File photo

    Balloonists seek to inspect JCM Farming Inc. olive farm

    A settlement conference in a lawsuit between a Coachella Valley olive farmer and local balloonists has been delayed until August, a Riverside County judge decided Tuesday.

    • Jun. 22, 2011
  1. A hot-air balloon that took off near Bermuda Dunes heads east toward the rising sun Thursday morning. Greg Burton, The Desert Sun

    Balloons return to sky after bitter court battle with olive farm

    A hot air balloon rose with the morning sun over the east valley Thursday, a month after a nearby olive farm dropped its lawsuit against local balloonists.

    • Sep. 15, 2011
  2. Balloon pilot Denni Barrett of Magical Adventures and Fantasy Balloon Flight's Cindy and Steve Wilkinson stand behind their attorney, Robert Gilliland Jr., as he announces to media that JCM Farming Inc. dropped a lawsuit against the balloonists at a press conference on Aug. 17 in Indio. Crystal Chatham, The Desert Sun

    Lawsuit against balloonists dropped by JCM, damage lingering

    Hot-air balloonists celebrated when an east valley olive farm dropped its lawsuit against them Aug. 15 after nearly 2 1/2 years. But the damage had already been done.

    • Aug. 31, 2011
  3. Robert Gilliland, defense attorney for local balloonists sued by JCM Farming, announced on Wednesday that the case against the balloonists had been dropped. Crystal Chatham, The Desert Sun

    Olive farm's battle with balloonists took toll on economy

    An east valley olive farm's war with hot-air balloonists contributed to nearly $10 million in lost economic activity in the Coachella Valley, a new study indicates.

    • Aug. 22, 2011

  4. Balloonists seek attorney fees from olive farm

    Balloon lawsuit: Full coverage

    • Oct. 21, 2011

  5. Olive farm attorney: Press 'vilification campaign,' bloggers pose threat

    "A directed vilification campaign ... orchestrated in the press" against an east valley olive farm suing area balloonists has led to a "real, credible threat" against the farm's owners, JCM Farming Inc. attorney Andrew Rauch said in Riverside County Superior Court in Indio today.

    • May. 19, 2011
  6. Mission Santa Rosa Ranch, off Avenue 54 between Monroe and Jackson streets near Indio. Special to The Desert Sun

    Commentary: JCM Farming just wants privacy and safety for employees

    The Mission Santa Rosa Ranch is an 80-acre Coachella olive farm that's home to our family. Stories in The Desert Sun only partly detail how we have unwillingly become a featured tourist attraction from the air.

    • Feb. 8, 2011

  7. Owners of olive farm near Indio say there's no mystery

    The owners of an olive farm south of Indio have received death threats over the telephone and Internet, and filed a report with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department on Thursday after finding a “fresh bullet” apparently recently shot into their walled compound, a spokeswoman hired by the farm's owners told The Desert Sun Friday.

    • Feb. 7, 2011

  8. Olive ranch owners, companies filed more than two dozen lawsuits

    The owners of an east valley olive ranch have a long history of litigation throughout California, a review of court records shows.

    • Feb. 5, 2011

  9. Spokeswoman: Olive farm not so mysterious

    Nancy Conrad said she understands why there’s so much speculation about what’s going on inside the walls of Oasis Ranch, JCM Farming Inc.’s olive farm south of Indio.

    • Feb. 5, 2011

  10. Lawyer offers to defend balloonists sued by farm

    A Palm Desert law firm is offering to defend for free any balloonists sued by the owners of an east valley olive farm.

    • Feb. 3, 2011
  11. JCM Farming Inc., located off Avenue 54 between Monroe and Jackson streets south of Indio, is an 80-acre olive farm at the center of a no-fly controversy. Submitted photo

    Ranch expands legal campaign over airspace to include more defendants

    JCM Farming Inc. of La Quinta and Solana Beach on Thursday added Windermere Real Estate and its executive assistant, Paige Tyley, as defendants in its lawsuit against 15 other balloon companies or individual balloonists.

    • Feb. 1, 2011
  12. JCM Farming Inc., located off Avenue 54 between Monroe and Jackson streets south of Indio, has sued local balloonists, an aviation company involved in agricultural pest control and even the Federal Aviation Administration citing a nuisance by low-flying aircraft. But balloonists say they've done nothing wrong. Submitted photo

    Mysterious east valley farm's lawsuits ground nearly all local hot air balloons

    Quietly, almost imperceptibly, something's changed in the skies above the eastern Coachella Valley. Look up, and it's rare to see brightly colored hot air balloons floating above the desert anymore. Their absence can be largely attributed to a mysterious, 80-acre olive farm in an unincorporated area south of Indio.

    • Jan. 30, 2011
  13. The electronic gate to JCM Farming Inc. near Thermal includes a stern warning for trespassers. Keith Matheny, The Desert Sun

    Who is JCM Farming and what are they doing?

    JCM Farming Inc. is based in Solana Beach and was incorporated in 1990, state records show.

    • Jan. 30, 2011
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