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El Cajon revokes 'approved status' for motel tied to sexual assault allegation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:30:28 GMT

EL CAJON, Calif. -- The El Cajon Planning Commission voted unanimously to revoke a motel’s “approved status” that was recently tied to an alleged sexual assault.In March, two registered sex offenders who were staying at the Motel 6 on Montrose Court were arrested for sexual assault involving a teen girl. One of the men was staying at the motel on a voucher meant to help those threatened by homelessness.“I just want to let the commission know that the hotel is no longer accepting PATH vouchers,” said Jason Saccuzzo, the lawyer representing the owners of the El Cajon Motel 6.Saccuzzo further told the planning commission the hotel “had no information whatsoever that the folks that were using these vouchers had just been released from jail.” Bub’s at the Beach to close after 25 years In addition to the planning commission voting to revoke the “approved status” of the motel, the commission also approved a list of action items the motel must complete within 30 days. Tasks included hirin...

Hospitals navigate nurse shortage, risks of closing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:30:28 GMT

ESCONDIDO, Calif. -- From a shortage of nurses to hospitals in danger of closing, the healthcare industry is getting hit hard.Hospitals are getting creative to navigate these challenging times. One hospital is throwing big bucks at the crisis.Palomar Hospital is now offering a $100,000 incentive over a three-year period to recruit and retain nurses.“It’s also an opportunity for us to hire some of the best nurses maybe in the region or across the country by offering them a $100,000 over three years,” Palomar Health CEO Diane Hansen said.It's part of an effort to attract and keep talent as the nation deals with a nursing shortage.“With the pandemic, a lot of nurses exited the profession, whether it was burnout from working so hard during the pandemic or people just choosing to retire,” Hansen said.This comes as another healthcare industry report found one in five California hospitals are in danger of closing because they are losing billions. 6 people sprayed with bear mace at Vons “...

Wreckage of submarine found by divers in Long Island Sound

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:30:28 GMT

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut divers have discovered the wreckage of an experimental submarine that was built in 1907 and later scuttled in Long Island Sound.The Defender, a 92-foot-long (28-meter-long) boat, was found Sunday by a team led by Richard Simon, a commercial diver from Coventry, Connecticut.Simon said he had been interested in the story of the Defender for years. He spent months going over known sonar and underwater mapping surveys of the bottom of the sound, as well as government documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, to identify any anomaly that fit the size of the sub. “A submarine has a very distinct shape,” he said. “It needs to be 100 feet long and 13 feet in diameter. So I made a list of everything that was that long and there was one target on that list.”Simon then assembled a group of top wreck divers to determine if the Defender was in the location he had identified.Poor tidal conditions forced them to abandon an attempt last Friday. They...

Death toll in Beijing hospital fire rises to 29

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:30:28 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Authorities in Beijing say the death toll in fire that broke out Tuesday afternoon in a hospital has risen to 29, including 26 patients. Others who died were a nurse, a medical assistant and a family member, said Li Zongrong, deputy head of the Fengtai district.The fire at the private Changfeng Hospital forced dozens of people to evacuate and prompted some of those trapped to escape from windows using bedsheets tied together. The cause of the fire is under investigation.The Associated Press

Fatal Hawaii shooting shows dangers of popular cockfights

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:30:28 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — Police in Hawaii have vowed to step up illegal gambling enforcement after one of the most serious shootings in state history called attention to the dangers that come with cockfighting, which has deep roots in the islands and remains popular despite being illegal.The shooting early Saturday in a rural community more than 30 miles (48 kilometers) from downtown Honolulu left a man and woman dead and three others with gunshot wounds. The Honolulu medical examiner’s office as of Tuesday had yet to release the names of the dead — both of whom were taken in private cars to a hospital — and police had yet to make any arrests but said they were searching for two suspects.Authorities say investigating cockfights is difficult in part because they are highly organized events on private property and their illegal nature and the large amount of money wagered means they often have links to organized crime. The clandestine fights happen all over Hawaii, usually on large, remote pro...

Parents, schools face increasing scrutiny after shootings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:30:28 GMT

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — In many school shootings, the person who pulled the trigger — often a current or former student — is the only one blamed for the crime. But the arrest last week of a mother, whose 6-year-old son shot his teacher, and a related investigation of school employees shows how parents and educators are facing increasing scrutiny over any responsibility they may bear.While national statistics are hard to come by, at least seven criminal cases against parents have been filed in the last eight years after a child brought a gun to school and it was fired, intentionally or not. In Virginia, the mother of the 6-year-old was charged with felony neglect, while prosecutors have started investigating whether the actions of Newport News Public Schools employees could lead to criminal charges. The criminal probe was announced a week after the wounded teacher sued the school system. She accused administrators of ignoring multiple warnings that the boy had brought a gun to schoo...

Vermont capital springs to life through poetry each April

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:30:28 GMT

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — As spring starts to blossom in New England, some Vermont communities come to life with the sites and sounds of written verse.“These are the honey makersThe maple sap tappers The pollen gatherers The elixirs healing the futurefrom the spirits of the past,” a woman recited from a poem written by Buffy Aakaash, of Marshfield, Vermont, on Saturday during a poetry parade in Montpelier. Each April, the country’s smallest capital city goes all out to celebrate poetry. Storefronts and restaurant windows in Montpelier are graced with poems written by Vermonters of all ages, poets read their works aloud at events — some with musical accompaniments — and poetry workshops meet to discuss the artform. And this year the Montpelier library hosted a first: a poetry parade.“We do National Poetry Month better than anybody as far as we can see,” said PoemCity organizer Michelle Singer, the adult programs coordinator for the Kellogg Hubbard Library in the city of abou...

Alleged Mara Salvatrucha gang leader arrested in Mexico City

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:30:28 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Police and marines in Mexico’s capital on Tuesday arrested an alleged senior leader of the Mara Salvatrucha gang who is wanted in the United States for extortion, drug distribution and terrorism-related charges.Mexico City’s Secretariat of Citizen Security said Salvadoran José Wilfredo Ayala-Alcántara, alias El Indio de Hollywood, was arrested in the center of the city. Authorities in Mexico said their investigation indicated the 55-year-old was the second in command of the Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13.Ayala-Alcántara was located following a citizen complaint of his presence in Mexico. Authorities said Ayala-Alcántara had used a false identity and moved between the state of Hidalgo in central Mexico and the capital.Ayala-Alcántara has an arrest warrant in Houston, Texas, tweeted the head of citizen security agency, Omar García Harfuch, who said the Salvadoran faced murder charges there.Two months ago, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York ann...

What to know about shooting of Black teen after home mix-up

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:30:28 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Black teen Ralph Yarl was shot twice, in the head and arm, after going to the wrong home in Kansas City, Missouri, to pick up his younger brothers. Andrew Lester, an 84-year-old white man, told police he fired at honors student Yarl, 16, out of fear last week. But whether Lester will ultimately claim self-defense in court has yet to be seen. The case raises anew questions about race relations in the United States. Here’s a look at what happened, where the criminal case stands, how the teen is faring and the role gun laws in Missouri could play in the case. WHAT LED UP TO THE SHOOTING? Yarl mixed up an address. Instead of going to 115th Terrace to pick up his twin brothers Thursday night, Yarl showed up at Lester’s home on 115th Street, at 10 p.m.Lester told police he had just gotten in bed when he heard the doorbell. Before answering, he grabbed his revolver. Lester said he then saw Yarl pulling on the storm door handle, something Yarl disputes, accordi...

1 city, 2 people – and India’s widening religious divide

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:30:28 GMT

AYODHYA, India (AP) — Syed Mohammad Munir Abidi says India is a changed country, one he doesn’t recognize anymore.It’s a country, the 68-year-old says, where Muslims are ignored, where rising attacks against them are encouraged, and where an emboldened Hindu majoritarian government is seizing its chance to put the minority community in its place.Swami Ram Das thinks otherwise, echoing a belief system central to Hindu nationalism.The 48-year-old Hindu priest says India is on a quest to redeem its religious past and that the country is fundamentally a Hindu nation where minorities, especially Muslims, must subscribe to Hindu primacy.Abidi and Das are two ordinary citizens living in one city in a country of more than 1.4 billion people that is on the cusp of becoming the world’s most populated nation. Together they embody the opposing sides of a deeply entrenched religious divide that presents India with one of its biggest challenges: to safeguard freedoms for its Muslim minority at a ...