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Opinion: To reduce mental health stigmas, judge talks openly about his anxiety

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

Judges have the fourth-most stressful job in the country, according to a ranking by the The Occupational Information Network. There’s a reason for that, and it’s got a lot to do with a relatively unknown aspect of the job: the secondary (or bystander) trauma trial court judges experience daily.Therapists and physicians I’ve spoken to say this is one of the major hazards of the job. If you’re wondering why I have spoken to therapists and physicians about judges and stress, well it’s because I experience bystander trauma firsthand. I’ve also been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder that multiplies the stress of being a judge.Consider how secondary trauma might come up for a first responder. Let’s say an EMT arrives at the scene of an accident where someone was injured, then taken to the hospital by ambulance. The person most traumatized by the accident is the injured person, of course, but the first responders experience a form of trauma as well.Judges face secondary trauma in a relate...

CHP: Safety concerns necessitated the 17 hour Richmond-San Rafael Bridge closure

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

Denis Miller and his wife were spared the worst of Friday’s traffic nightmare after the lower deck of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge was closed, but they got a good long look at it.The Millers were traveling on westbound Highway 37 when they witnessed some of the worst congestion of their lives as motorists headed east along the two-lane highway trying to claw their way around the closure to get to the East Bay.“People were just standing outside their cars,” said Miller, who described San Rafael as “gridlocked” upon arrival. “It was nothing like we’d ever seen before.”The nearly 17-hour closure of the critical link between the north and east bays wreaked havoc on a hot summer getaway Friday in the Bay Area, causing 20- to 30-minute trips to turn into four-hour-plus ordeals.The scene unfolded around 11:40 a.m., when a man climbed from the bicycle path over the upper deck railing and used support beams to descend to the lower deck. There, he ran in front of vehicles “in an attempt to ...

$16 million in grants to help California tribes investigate murdered, missing Indigenous people

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

Efforts to investigate the fates of missing and murdered Indigenous people are getting a $16 million boost.California will be providing grants to federally recognized Indian tribes in the state to identify, investigate and publicize cases involving missing and murdered Indigenous people.Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats struck a deal on the 2023-24 budget June 26.“I am glad that these items that will benefit our community and others around the state have been funded,” Assemblyman James Ramos, D-San Bernardino, the first and only California Native American to serve in the state legislature, said in a news release. “They will make a difference.”According a study funded by the National Institute of Justice, 84.3% of Indigenous women will experience violence in their lifetime, compared to 71% of White women, including higher rates of sexual violence, physical violence by their intimate partner, stalking or psychological aggression by their intimate partner. Indigenous men are also more li...

McManus: Why narrowing of charges against Trump is a good thing

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

We don’t know what specific charges special counsel Jack Smith will pursue if former President Donald Trump is indicted on allegations of attempting to overturn the 2020 election. We can’t even be certain that there will be an indictment, although it looks imminent after Smith sent Trump a target letter last week.But thanks to “persons briefed on the matter,” presumably Trump’s leaky lawyers, we know which federal statutes are likely to form the basis of Smith’s case, and they suggest what some of his charges will be.According to several news organizations, the target letter mentions three laws that would enable Smith to charge Trump with directing a vast conspiracy to undo President Biden’s election by fraudulent means. Alternatively, they would allow Smith to charge the former president with a limited number of improper acts aimed at the same purpose.I talked with former prosecutors and defense lawyers last week, and they all had similar a...

Disneyland reaches settlement in $5 million Magic Key passholder lawsuit

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

Disneyland has reached a settlement with a Magic Key annual passholder who claimed in a class-action lawsuit that the Anaheim theme park misled and deceived its most loyal fans by artificially limiting capacity and restricting reservations, according to court documents.The complaint filed by Disneyland Magic Key annual passholder Jenale Nielsen of Santa Clara County has reached a settlement, according to court documents. Nielsen’s motion for court approval of the class-action settlement is due Aug. 31.“We are satisfied that this matter has been resolved,” according to Disneyland officials.Nielsen is seeking preliminary approval of the settlement in the case that has been working its way through the court process since November 2021. Her attorneys are seeking to indefinitely adjourn the case — including the upcoming court dates scheduled for July 28 and Aug. 14.The lawsuit alleges that Nielsen purchased a $1,399 Disneyland Dream Key annual pass with no blockout dates in September 202...

Opinion: Game not over: It’s time to reimagine elite college admissions

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

The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision declaring affirmative action programs that use race- conscious rating systems unconstitutional is like a game of chess.It offers an opportunity to completely overhaul admissions to be more liberatory and serve the students and society better.Growing up, my brother tried to teach me how to play chess by revealing the basics a little at a time. After I would move a piece, he would reveal another rule that would allow him to capture one of my pieces and take him one step closer to beating me at the game. He clearly designed the conditions for play so he could win. I quickly declared the game over because he was making the rules to advantage himself.Similarly, it is necessary to declare “game over” for the current approach to elite university admissions. The Supreme Court decision inspired outrage and condemnation.But it is crucial to not return to what was. The current admissions process was rigged from its inception to advantage rich,...

Florida man helped U.S. Marine, accomplice in California Planned Parenthood bombing, prosecutors say

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

A Florida man is now accused of helping a U.S. Marine and his accomplice line up the firebombing of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Costa Mesa, federal prosecutors said on Monday, July 24.Xavier Batten was arrested on Friday after being tied by federal investigators to a March 12, 2022, clinic attack that Chance Brannon — a San Juan Capistrano resident and at the time an active duty Marine — and Tibet Ergul of Irvine were previously blamed for carrying out.All three have been charged with conspiracy and malicious destruction of property by fire or explosion, prosecutors said. Brannon and Ergul were each also charged with possessing an unregistered destructive device and intentionally damaging a reproductive health clinic.U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada speaks to the media in front of the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Santa Ana on Monday, July 24, 2023. Authorities announced the arrest of a third man in connection with the firebombing of a Planned Parenthood clini...

School bus driver who sold drugs to California students gets 3 years in prison

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

A bus driver who was accused of selling fentanyl to students at a Riverside school was sentenced to three years in state prison on Thursday, July 20.Melissa Harloan Garrison pleaded guilty in April to three counts each of willful child cruelty and giving a minor a controlled substance, as well as one count of sale of a controlled substance, Superior Court records show.Judge Jeffrey Prevost also ordered Garrison to participate, through the Division of Adult Institutions, in substance abuse counseling or education, said John Hall, a spokesman for the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | San Jose police arrest pair on suspicion of trafficking thousands of Adderall and fentanyl pills Crime and Public Safety | Letters: Not targeting kids | Common crisis | Xfinity glitch | Bad food | Kindness shines Crime and Public Safety | Yale study: How OxyContin marketing led to death, disease years later ...

California attorney pleads guilty to scamming $8.7 million from investors to finance lavish lifestyle

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

A Newport Beach attorney pleaded guilty Monday, July 24, to swindling investors out of more than $8 million to finance a lavish lifestyle of jewelry, cars, gambling, and a six-month stay at a luxurious Las Vegas resort.Sara Jacqueline King, 39, who operates King Family Lending LLC and is a partner in the King Reuben law firm, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for wire fraud and 10 years for money laundering at sentencing, which is scheduled for Jan. 8 in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana.Newport Beach-based King Family Lending provided short-term, high-interest loans to professional athletes, celebrities and other wealthy individuals, according to a plea agreement. The loans supposedly were secured by the borrowers, whose assets included designer handbags, watches, luxury automobiles, yachts and earnings from guaranteed sports contractsKing told investors, whom she recruited from January 2022 to January 2023, their funds were secured by the same collateral as the loans themselves...

California woman convicted of crimes tied to her role as secretary for Mexican Mafia shot-caller

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

A 42-year-old La Verne woman, described as a secretary for an imprisoned shot-caller in the Mexican Mafia, was found guilty of three felony charges by a federal jury Monday.Kelly Deshannon served as a secretary to shot-caller and imprisoned Mexican Mafia member Seferino Gonzales, of what prosecutors call the Michael Lerma Cell. Gonzales exerted control over Latino gangs based in Pomona and oversaw drug trafficking and other criminal offenses committed in that area, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.Members of the Mexican Mafia relied on secretaries, who were often female associates, to communicate with incarcerated members and relay their instructions to other members, court records show.Gonzales demanded a Mercedes-Benz SUV from an inmate at the Los Angeles County Jail and directed Deshannon to take the car from a victim who was in possession of the keys to the automobile. After failing to obtain the car, Gonzales ordered Deshannon and two other accomplices to t...