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Kingmaker California? US House control could hinge on district battles in famously liberal state

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:51:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — In 2024, control of the U.S. House could hinge on congressional districts in one famously liberal state: California. Command of the narrowly divided chamber will again be in play next year, and leaders in both parties agree on this much: The outcome in a string of contested California districts will be critical in determining the balance of power, after the state played a pivotal role in securing the gavel for Republicans in 2022 and installing Rep. Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield as speaker.The decisive fight for the House “will run through California,” predicts Rep. Pete Aguilar, the third-ranking Democrat in the chamber, who lives in Redlands, east of Los Angeles. North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson, who heads the House Republican campaign arm, is bullish about gaining ground, even in a state known as a Democratic monolith.“I think we can actually pick up seats in California,” said Hudson, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee.The 10 competitive...

Guantanamo detainees tell first independent visitor about scars from torture and hopes to leave

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:51:00 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — At the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, the aging men known by their serial numbers arrived at the meeting shackled. Every single one told the visitor — for many the first independent person they had talked to in 20 years — “You came too late.” But they still talked, about the scant contacts with their families, their many health problems, the psychological and physical scars of the torture and abuse they experienced, and their hopes of leaving and reuniting with loved ones.For the first time since the facility in Cuba opened in 2002, a U.S. president had allowed a United Nations independent investigator, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, to visit. She said in an interview with The Associated Press that it’s true she came too late, because a total of 780 Muslim men were detained there following the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, and today there are just 30 remaining.The United Nations had tried for many years to send an independent investiga...

Biden is heading to South Carolina to show his economic agenda is keeping even red states humming

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:51:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is heading to South Carolina on Thursday to make the case that economic measures he pushed through Congress despite stiff Republican opposition are helping to keep the deep red state — and others that voted for Donald Trump in 2020 — humming. Ahead of Biden’s visit to a state that he lost by nearly 12 percentage points in 2020, White House officials argued that if Republicans had their way, South Carolina, like many other Republican-controlled states, would have lost out on billions of dollars in investments and thousands of jobs. Biden will use his visit to showcase a new clean energy manufacturing partnership between solar firm Enphase Energy and manufacturer Flex Ltd. that is projected to create 600 jobs in the state and 1,200 more throughout the country.Enphase, which is making a $60 million investment to open up six new manufacturing lines, including two in South Carolina, is benefitting from tax incentives included in Biden’s $...

First of 2 Iowa teens scheduled to be sentenced in 2021 beating death of teacher

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:51:00 GMT

FAIRFIELD, Iowa (AP) — The first of two Iowa teenagers who pleaded guilty to beating their high school Spanish teacher to death with a baseball bat will be sentenced Thursday morning.Willard Miller and Jeremy Goodale pleaded guilty in April to the 2021 attack on Nohema Graber in a park where the 66-year-old teacher regularly walked after school. Prosecutors said the teens, who were 16 at the time, were angry at Graber because of a bad grade she had given Miller.Miller will be the first sentenced after he pleaded guilty as part of an agreement in which prosecutors recommended a term of between 30 years and life in prison, with the possibility of parole.Under Goodale’s agreement to plead guilty, prosecutors recommended a sentence of between 25 years and life with the possibility of parole. Goodale’s sentencing is scheduled for August but his lawyers have sought a delay in the hearing.The teens acknowledged killing Graber on Nov. 2, 2021, in Chautauqua Park in Fairfield, a ...

Relatives of El Paso Walmart shooting victims seek justice, saying they’re down but not out

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:51:00 GMT

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — A brother who traveled more than 1,000 miles to confront his sister’s killer. An uncle of an orphaned 4-year-old whose parents died while shielding the boy from the spray of bullets. A wife whose husband was gunned down at her side while their 9-year-old granddaughter looked on. Nearly four years after a white gunman killed 23 people at a Walmart in El Paso in a racist attack that targeted Hispanic shoppers, relatives of the victims are packing a courtroom near the U.S.-Mexico border this week to see Patrick Crusius punished for one of the nation’s worst mass shootings. The sentencing phase, which began Wednesday and continues Thursday, is the first time families have had the opportunity to address Crusius face-to-face since the Aug. 3, 2019, shooting. Crusius, 24, is expected to receive multiple life sentences in federal prison after pleading guilty to 90 murder, weapons and hate crime counts in February. He could also still receive the death penalty und...

83,000 Hawaii homes dispose of sewage in cesspools. Rising sea levels will make them more of a mess

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:51:00 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — The town of Hauula packs hundreds of homes into a narrow strip of land sandwiched between verdant, towering cliffs of the Koolau mountain range and the Pacific. But the stunning views obscure an environmental problem beneath the ground.This rural part of the island of Oahu is not connected to city sewers — and waste from toilets, sinks and showers is mostly collected in hundreds of pits called cesspools. With climate change, rising seas are eroding Hawaii’s coast near homes with cesspools. Sea rise also is pushing the island’s groundwater closer to the surface, allowing the cesspool effluent to mix with the water table and flow into the ocean. And scientists say cesspool pollution may even percolate into streets and parks in low-lying former wetlands in the future. “We want proper sanitation as much as anybody wants it. We don’t want our children swimming in an ocean of bacteria,” said Dotty Kelly-Paddock, president of the Hauula Community Association. “It’s got to c...

Aretha Franklin’s sons battle over handwritten wills 5 years after her death

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:51:00 GMT

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — Five years after her death, the final wishes of music superstar Aretha Franklin are still unsettled. An unusual trial begins next Monday to determine which of two handwritten wills, including one found in couch cushions, will guide how her estate is handled.The Queen of Soul, who had four sons, did not have a formal, typewritten will in place, despite years of health problems and efforts to get one done. But under Michigan law, it’s still possible to treat other documents — with scribbles, scratch-outs and hard-to-read passages — as her commands.The dispute is pitting a son against other sons. Ted White II believes papers dated in 2010 should mainly control the estate, while Kecalf Franklin and Edward Franklin favor a 2014 document. Both were discovered in Franklin’s suburban Detroit home, months after her death from pancreatic cancer in 2018 at age 76.“Does it surprise me that someone passed away before they had their ducks in a row? The answer is ...

Justin Trudeau tweets invitation to Taylor Swift asking her to bring tour to Canada

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:51:00 GMT

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appears to be a secret Swiftie, after tweeting an invitation to superstar Taylor Swift asking her to bring her Eras tour to CanadaSwift announced Wednesday that she is adding another 14 European and U.K. stops to her career-spanning concert series, with special guest Paramore.As of yet, there are no Canadian dates for her international tour that takes Swift through Mexico, Europe, Asia and Australia over the next year.Trudeau responded to Swift’s tweet with paraphrased lyrics from her own songs, posting “It’s me, hi. I know places in Canada would love to have you. So, don’t make it another cruel summer. We hope to see you soon.”Swift’s snub of Canada has made its way to the House of Commons, with Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux saying last month he would file an “official” grievance “on behalf of all Swifties” in the country.Neither Swift nor her management has addressed the decision to skip Cana...

Dog trapped between two buildings rescued by firefighters in Tujunga

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:51:00 GMT

Firefighters rescued a large dog stuck between two buildings in Tujunga on Wednesday, authorities announced.  Crews with the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the 7200 block of West Greeley Street at around 2:48 p.m. “Firefighters were made aware of the trapped dog while finishing up with a medical response nearby,” LAFD said in a post to Instagram.  The dog, named Ziggy, is believed to have crawled into the narrow space between the two buildings to escape the sound of fireworks, fire officials said, and had likely been stuck there overnight.  “Ziggy was stuck in there pretty good,” the dog’s owner said. “We pulled her up and then she went back down. I thought I was going to lose her. She brings a lot of happiness to me. She doesn’t deserve to die in a wall.” Video of Ziggy taken after his rescue showed a happy pooch with no apparent injuries from the incident. Ziggy seen here getting pets after being rescued from between two buildings in Tujunga on July 4...

Over $109 million of illegal cannabis seized by California authorities

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:51:00 GMT

Over $109 million in illegal cannabis was seized by California authorities during a statewide crackdown.The operation saw a 104 percent increase in illegal cannabis products seized during the Q2 period of April through June 2023, according to the California Department of Fish and WildlifeIn total, authorities seized:-120,970 illegal cannabis plants-66,315 pounds of cannabis flower-$223,809 in cash-92 search warrants were served-19 firearms were confiscatedThe total retail value of the seized cannabis amounts to $109,277,688.94, officials said. From January through March 2023, officials seized $52 million in unlicensed cannabis and cannabis products.The Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce was created in 2022 and includes more than two dozen local, state, and federal partners working together to “disrupt the illegal cannabis market.” 4 robbery suspects arrested after high-speed Tesla pursuit in San Bernardino County Operation    Q1 2023  Q2 2023 Percent C...