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California voters may face dueling measures on 2024 ballot about oil wells near homes and schools

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:37:47 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California voters may be asked twice on the same November 2024 ballot whether to keep or to ditch a law mandating new oil wells be a certain distance away from homes, schools and parks. Recently, state lawmakers have been debating whether to reform the referendum process that makes overturning a law possible, as it has been leveraged by powerful industries to invalidate laws that are unfavorable to them.Last year, lawmakers approved so-called buffer zones around oil wells, which dot communities around Los Angeles and the state’s Central Valley, as part of a package of bills aimed at tackling climate change and pollution. The oil industry quickly moved to undo the law by gaining a spot on the 2024 ballot. But on Wednesday environmental advocates put forward their own proposed ballot measure aimed at getting voters to require buffer zones.“People who live next to oil wells get very, very sick. Californians who live next to this stuff, they have headache...

Vast majority of submissions to UN body on Israeli occupation favor them, Palestinians say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:37:47 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The vast majority of over 55 countries that made submissions to the U.N.’s highest judicial body which will give an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories supported the Palestinians view that Israel is taking over land they seek for an independent state, their U.N. ambassador said Wednesday.The Palestinian U.N. envoy, Riyad Mansour, told a group of reporters the number of submissions to the International Court of Justice exceeded Palestinian expectations and came from every continent and included all five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council – the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.The U.N. General Assembly last Dec. 30 adopted a Palestinian-backed resolution asking the court’s opinion on the legality of Israeli policies in the Palestinian territories. It also seeks an opinion on the legal consequences of Israeli measures it said are “aimed at altering the demographic composition, cha...

Six months after East Palestine derailment, Congress deadlocked on new rules for train safety

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:37:47 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress responded to the fiery train derailment in eastern Ohio earlier this year with bipartisan alarm, holding a flurry of hearings about the potential for railroad crashes to trigger even larger disasters. Both parties agreed that a legislative response was needed.Yet six months after life was upended in East Palestine, little has changed. While President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have praised a railroad safety bill from Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, and JD Vance, a Republican, the Senate proposal has also encountered resistance. Top GOP leaders in Congress have been hesitant to support it, and the bill has faced some opposition from the railroad industry, which holds significant sway in Washington. As a result, it remains an open question whether the derailment that shattered life in East Palestine will become a catalyst for action. And for Republicans, the fight poses a larger test of political identity, caught between their traditio...

Republicans don’t dare criticize Trump over Jan. 6. Their silence fuels his bid for the White House

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:37:47 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Senate Leader Mitch McConnell rose to announce his vote to acquit Donald Trump of impeachment charges in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, the Republican assured the public the former president would have his day in court.“He didn’t get away with anything yet — yet,” McConnell vowed. “We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being accountable by either one.”But as Trump prepares to appear Thursday on federal charges that he orchestrated an unprecedented effort to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win, the Republican Party’s 2024 frontrunner for the White House faces no such dire warnings or recriminations from fellow Republicans.It’s a piercing silence that commands attention as Trump towers over the field of Republican contenders for the presidency. Gone are those who once stood up to Trump. Instead, the party Trump leads has essentially given up on criticizing his...

Trump to face judge in DC over charges that he tried to overturn 2020 presidential election

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:37:47 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump is due in federal court Thursday to answer to charges that he sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election, facing a judge just blocks from the U.S. Capitol that his supporters stormed to block the peaceful transfer of presidential power.In what’s by now become a familiar but nonetheless stunning ritual, Trump is expected to be processed by law enforcement, be officially taken into custody and enter a not guilty plea in front of a judge before being released, so he can rejoin the campaign trail as he seeks to reclaim the White House in 2024.An indictment Tuesday from Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith charges Trump with four felony counts related to his efforts to undo the presidential election in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. The charges could lead to a yearslong prison sentence in the event of a convict...

Concert review: Per usual, Hayley Williams was the true star of Paramore show at the X

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:37:47 GMT

Paramore is, indeed, a band — a three-piece that expands to seven players on the road — but it’s no secret lead singer Hayley Williams is the star of the show. She proved why once again Wednesday night when Paramore packed St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center with gleeful fans.For two hours, Williams gave a fiery performance that was part tough cheerleader and part punk rock queen. She frequently sprinted across the stage and spent plenty of time strutting, moshing and jumping around. All the while, her famously powerful, four-octave voice brought infectious vigor to her songs new and old, even if her vocals sometimes got lost in the mix. Her sheer amount of energy and enthusiasm was even more amazing given that she just returned to the road Sunday after postponing four shows due to a lung infection.Now 34, Williams signed her first record deal when she was 14 and released Paramore’s debut album when she was 16. After an intense period of recording and touring...

Source: Rapids add 21-year-old midfielder, former Leicester City product Sidnei Tavares on Deadline Day loan deal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:37:47 GMT

Considering its current position in the MLS standings, last place in the Western Conference, the Colorado Rapids were always going to have an active summer transfer window. Even on deadline day, the front office held onto its end of the bargain.According to a source with knowledge of the situation, the Rapids are bringing in 21-year-old Portuguese midfielder Sidnei Tavares from Porto FC’s second team on a loan deal through June 2024. The U22 Initiative deal also includes a purchase option, which Colorado would be able to trigger at the end of, or before, the loan expires. It is Colorado’s fifth inbound move of the summer.Tavares was a product of Leicester City’s academy in England. He played three times for the Foxes’ first team as he broke through at age 19, including two Premier League matches. He then signed with Porto FC for its reserve team in the summer of 2021 and over two seasons has played 33 times. This season he has scored four goals while totaling...

Stolen forklift suspect leads police in chase in downtown Los Angeles

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:37:47 GMT

A person who led police on a brief pursuit in an allegedly stolen large capacity forklift in downtown Los Angeles was arrested after crashing into several buildings Tuesday, police confirmed to KTLA.  At around 6:53 p.m. on Aug. 1, authorities with the Los Angeles Police Department said a person called to report that they were following someone in a stolen forklift near the intersection of West 8th Street and South Broadway.  Video of the incident obtained by KTLA shows the massive forklift moving off the sidewalk on South Broadway and onto a street crowded with traffic. Moments later, the forklift is seen driving down West 8th Street and making a right turn on South Hill Street.  A person was taken into custody on Aug. 1, 2023 after leading police in pursuit in an alleged stolen large capacity forklift in downtown Los Angeles. (Klot Kieffer)A person was taken into custody on Aug. 1, 2023 after leading police in pursuit in an alleged stolen large capacity forklift in downt...

Remains found in San Bernardino County desert identified

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:37:47 GMT

Remains discovered in a San Bernardino County desert in 1987 were identified on Wednesday.The body belonged to Dennis Earl Seger, 51, a man from Washington state, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office.In 1986, Seger was reported missing to the Los Angeles Police Department by family members.On Nov. 23, 1987, at around 7:45 a.m., off-roading motorists discovered Seger’s body in a remote desert area about eight miles north of Harvard Road and the 15 Freeway.Detectives from the Specialized Investigations Division responded and took over the investigation.No identifying belongings, suspects or other investigative leads were present at the time, so the case went cold, officials said. Santa Clarita files lawsuit against illegal street taco vendor A bone fragment from the remains was later sent to the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Forensic Services so DNA could be extracted for comparison and analysis.During LAPD’s investigation, Seger’s family members pr...

5 men charged with orchestrating $1.1M heist of San Ramon jewelry store

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:37:47 GMT

(KRON) -- Five men have been charged for their alleged roles in a March jewelry heist that happened in San Ramon, the United States Department of Justice said. Approximately $1.1 million in jewelry and watches were stolen from a family-owned store. Sunia Mafileo Faavesi, 30, Ryan Kentrell Montgomery, 35, Paul Christopher Tonga, 33, John Ioane Tupou, 30, and Kyle Vehikite, 34, are the five defendants. Walnut Creek serial burglary suspect arrested According to a criminal complaint, the five men surveyed Heller Jewelers, located at 6000 Bollinger Canyon Rd Suite 1506, a week before the robbery and returned on March 17 to commit it. Eleven people, some of whom were armed, took part. According to the DOJ, some participants were inside the store during the robbery, and others acted as lookouts and getaway drivers. It happened in the middle of the afternoon at City Center Bishop Ranch, a mall in San Ramon. Bystanders fled as the armed and masked robbers carried out the crime. There were...