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Skelton: Why California is having a harder time building things

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

Gov. Gavin Newsom is upset. He’s frustrated because California isn’t building nonstop as it did in the mid-20th century.“People are losing trust and confidence in our ability to build big things,” the governor told columnist Ezra Klein of the New York Times in a recent interview.“People look at me all the time and ask, ‘What the hell happened to the California of the ‘50s and ‘60s?’ ”Lots of Californians ask one another that question.Newsom didn’t provide a clear answer in the interview. The Democrat seemed to blame the “rigidity and ideological purity” of environmental organizations and asserted that it’s “really going to hurt progress.”“You can’t be serious about climate and the environment without reforming permitting and procurement in this state.”That’s why the Democratic governor has been trying to push 11 bills through the Legislature that would make it easier to build transportation, clean energy and water projects by cutting corners on environmental review. Environmental gr...

Woman gets 2 years for throwing Molotov cocktail into California bank

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

A Gardena woman was sentenced to two years in federal prison on Tuesday, June 27, for throwing a Molotov cocktail inside a Torrance bank — which started a fire — because she believed she wasn’t helped by a teller soon enough, federal authorities said.Teranee Millet, 35, in March pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm and destructive device months after throwing the flammable substance into a Bank of America branch on Sept. 20, 2021, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.It started a fire in the middle of the bank, but it was extinguished by another bank customer, federal authorities said.Millet had walked into the branch, spoke to a manager and demanded to be helped by a teller because she believed she had been waiting in line too long, Mrozek said.The manager told her no other tellers were available. Millet replied by using profane language and threatening to blow up the branch, authorities said.The manager called 911, and Millet left...

Bankrupt David’s Bridal gets tentative bid to keep most stores open

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

By Amelia Pollard | BloombergDavid’s Bridal has received a tentative going-concern bid that would keep more than 190 stores open, spurring optimism that the wedding dress retailer might be able to survive bankruptcy.The deal would also keep more than 7,000 jobs by staving off mass store closures, lawyers for the company said in a bankruptcy court hearing Tuesday. The bid deadline has been extended to July 3 and a new sale hearing is scheduled for July 14.“We think the opportunity to save 7,000 jobs and over 190 stores is fantastic for the vendors and the landlords,” Brad Sandler, an attorney representing the company’s official creditor committee, said during the hearing.Price and precise terms of the offer were not disclosed. David’s entered bankruptcy with nearly 300 stores.Related ArticlesRetail | PetSmart to pay more than $1 million to settle Bay Area multi-county lawsuit Retail | Kim Kardashian opening first Skims store in Los Angeles Retail | ...

Opinion: Vladimir Putin’s two biggest mistakes in the Wagner uprising

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

Russian President Vladimir Putin is damaged goods. He may have survived this weekend’s mutiny by Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner Group of mercenaries. In reacting as he did, though, Putin not only made himself even weaker, but planted the idea of his impotence in the minds of Russians and the world.Of course Putin had to show himself and say something to the nation as Prigozhin’s mercenaries seized the southern Russian city of Rostov and started driving north toward Moscow. But what exactly? The mutineers were “betraying” the nation in its fight against “neo-Nazis” and the West, Putin asserted limply. That much was expected. The mistakes came next.The first one was comparing Prigozhin’s coup attempt to the mutiny of Russian soldiers in early 1917. That planted three parallels in Russian minds that’ll be hard to erase. First, there’s a weak and unpopular Tsar — Nicholas II, later executed with his family, then, Putin today. Second, there’s a war going on that Russia is losing — Worl...

Double homicide, police shooting roil Vallejo

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

A night of crime and chaos in Vallejo ended Tuesday morning with a shooting of an alleged burglar by Vallejo police just hours after two homicides in a separate incident on Monday night.The person shot by the officer Tuesday morning is expected to survive, according to a press release from the Vallejo Police Department.At a press conference Tuesday evening, the Vallejo Police Department did not name the officer or suspect involved. No questions were taken at the conference. The Times-Herald will provide more information on this incident as it becomes available.According to the press release, officers responded to a reported burglary around 4:01 a.m. in the 1400 block of Springs Road. The suspect allegedly struck a Vallejo police officer while attempting to flee in his vehicle – at which point, police said, the officer shot him.Prior to the shooting on Tuesday morning, Vallejo police had not shot at a person since Jarrett Tonn shot Sean Monterosa with a rifle on June 2, 2020 during l...

Trial and prelim dates still pending for Martinez man accused of 2 killings

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

A Wednesday trial has been vacated and will be rescheduled for 52-year-old Martinez man accused of an April 2022 killing in Fairfield and a preliminary hearing date for a second killing later in December in Suisun City remains pending, The Reporter has learned.Richard Raymond Klein, 52, of Martinez, appeared in Department 11 during a January proceeding in the Justice Center in Fairfleld.(Reporter file photo/Joel Rosenbaum) Richard Raymond Klein — ill Tuesday and did not appear in Department 15 for proceedings — was ordered to return for a new trial setting in the first case and a hearing setting in the second at 9 a.m. Thursday in the Justice Building in Vallejo, court records showed.Judge Robert Bowers also ordered Klein and his lawyer, Dustin M. Gordon, to appear Thursday for a trial management conference in the first case. Chief Deputy District Attorney Bruce Flynn leads the prosecution.The latest reschedulings come after Klein appeared in Department 11 in Fairfield, where S...

General Mills: Fiscal Q4 Earnings Snapshot

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — General Mills Inc. (GIS) on Wednesday reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $614.9 million.The Minneapolis-based company said it had net income of $1.03 per share. Earnings, adjusted for restructuring costs and non-recurring costs, were $1.12 per share.The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.05 per share.The maker of Cheerios cereal, Yoplait yogurt and other packaged foods posted revenue of $5.03 billion in the period, missing Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $5.18 billion.For the year, the company reported profit of $2.59 billion, or $4.31 per share. Revenue was reported as $20.09 billion._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on GIS at https://www.zacks.com/ap/GISSource

Donald Trump demanda a E. Jean Carroll por difamación

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

(CNN) — Donald Trump demandó a E. Jean Carroll por difamación después de que un jurado determinara que abusó sexualmente de la excolumnista de una revista y la difamó.En una contrademanda presentada este martes por la noche, Trump alega que Carroll le difamó cuando apareció en CNN la mañana después de que el jurado le concediera US$ 5 millones por daños y perjuicios. A Carroll se le preguntó por el veredicto, según el cual Trump abusó sexualmente de Carroll pero no la violó, como ella alegó. Carroll respondió: “Oh, sí lo hizo”.En respuesta a la nueva demanda, la abogada de Carroll, Roberta Kaplan, dijo en un comunicado: “Donald Trump vuelve a argumentar, en contra de la lógica y de los hechos, que fue exonerado por un jurado que determinó que abusó sexualmente de E. Jean Carroll”.E. Jean Carroll pide a juez que modifique su demanda en respuesta a dichos de Trump en foro de CNNY añadió: “La presentación de Trump no es, por tanto, más que su último ...

Un profesor que mató a su esposa es declarado culpable de abusar sexualmente de una estudiante con quien comenzó una nueva vida

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

(CNN) — Un profesor de educación física de Australia que asesinó a su esposa para poder comenzar una nueva vida con una estudiante adolescente fue declarado culpable de abuso sexual.La jueza Sarah Huggett del Tribunal de Distrito de Sydney Downing Center condenó este miércoles a Chris Dawson por el cargo de “acceso carnal de una niña mayor de 10 años y menor de 17”.El cargo se relaciona con la misma estudiante con la que Dawson comenzó una nueva vida después de asesinar a su esposa Lynette en 1982. Más tarde se casó con la estudiante y tuvo un hijo con ella, pero luego se divorciaron.Dawson fue declarado culpable el año pasado de asesinar a su primera esposa, Lynette, en una condena que puso fin a uno de los casos sin resolver más antiguos de Australia.Su exesposa desapareció hace 36 años de forma misteriosa; ahora él fue arrestado acusado de asesinarlaDurante mucho tiempo había negado el asesinato, alegando que Lynette lo había dejado a él y a sus dos hijos pequeños antes de ...

Celebrity volunteers interact with children at Boys & Girls Club in West Park

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

A group of children from a Broward County Boys & Girls Club spent a day of play with Super Bowl NFL legend Tom Brady, Super Bowl Champion Odell Beckham Jr. and Grammy Award winner DJ Khaled. On Tuesday, the global digital sports platform Fanatics hosted a Merch Madness giveaway event for the children at the Carver Ranches Boys & Girls Club where the celebrity volunteers interacted with the children and handed out bags of college gear to the youths of the club. One girl said she wanted to be just like Brady when she grows up as he is a role model and inspiration to her. Other youngsters showed off their college clothing that was given to them, as a reminder that university is always an option for them. Matt Organ, the co-CEO of the Boys & Girls Club, said there are people in the world to support the youths of the community. “We give them hope. [I think] that’s the greatest thing we can give our young people is hope,” said Organ. “So when I see cele...