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Skinner: California should require that EVs can power homes, businesses

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:12:58 GMT

The record heatwaves and devastating wildfires that California has experienced in recent years have often forced utility companies to turn off the power, leaving our homes and businesses without electricity. As the climate crisis intensifies, such extraordinary events are likely to occur more frequently, leaving us with more outages and placing a substantial strain our electric grid, both in summer and winter.Many Californians have increasingly responded to days-long power outages and rolling blackouts by purchasing backup generators, especially diesel generators. While it makes sense that we would want to avoid losing power, fossil-fuel backup generators, particularly diesel ones, produce significant amounts of air pollution and are harmful to public health.Fortunately, there is already a green alternative that has the potential to eliminate or greatly reduce the need for fossil-fuel generators — the batteries in electric vehicles.EVs are becoming very popular, particularly i...

Opinion: Migrant flights toy with lives rather than address immigration

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:12:58 GMT

With 2024 campaigns heating up, immigration politics are as well, and we can expect the election cycle to bring much fire and brimstone. Sadly, as has long been the case in U.S. history, immigrants will likely suffer as a result of the political maneuverings.Seeking to establish his tough immigration enforcement credentials as the Republican primaries near, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has made headlines by taking the extraordinary step of flying migrants to Democratic states that are more open to immigrants. Last year, he arranged for a group to be flown to tourist destination Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, a Democratic bastion. And this month, DeSantis sent flights to Sacramento making it the latest blue-state dumping ground.Sadly, DeSantis’ publicity stunts adversely affect real people and real lives. To his credit, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and others embraced the migrants with open arms, providing them with food, shelter and lawyers to help them address their immigra...

California attorney admits to swindling investors out of $8 million to fund lavish lifestyle

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:12:58 GMT

A Newport Beach attorney has agreed to plead guilty to scamming investors out of more than $8 million to fund a lavish lifestyle that included jewelry, cars, around-the-clock gambling and a six-month stay at a swanky Las Vegas resort, federal prosecutors said Tuesday, June 13.Sara Jacqueline King, 39, who operates King Family Lending LLC and is a partner of the King Reuben law firm, is charged with one count each of wire fraud and money laundering. King is expected to make her initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana on June 20.She could not be reached for comment.According to the plea agreement, Newport Beach-based King Family Lending purportedly offered short-term, high-interest loans to professional athletes, celebrities and other high-net-worth individuals.The loans supposedly were secured by the borrowers’ own assets, including designer handbags, watches, luxury automobiles, yachts and earnings from guaranteed sports contracts, prosecutors said.From January 2022 u...

California domestic violence trial: Premeditated murder or a snap decision?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:12:58 GMT

For more than 15 minutes, Andrew Mathew Stewart held his girlfriend Kim Grajeda at gunpoint in an upstairs bedroom in their house south of Riverside after having already shot her once in the shoulder.His father, Curt Stewart, begged him to drop the gun.Instead, Deputy District Attorney Jessica Roundy told jurors on Tuesday, June 13, Andrew Stewart dragged Grajeda by the hair into another bedroom. It was there that the 21-year-old Stewart, as Riverside County sheriff’s deputies entered the house and the couple’s infant son lay in a crib in another room, fired six more bullets into Grajeda in rapid succession, killing the 23-year-old and wounding his father as he tried to shield her.The slaying on June 1, 2019, ended a tumultuous relationship in which Stewart assaulted Grajeda and controlled her life, her mother said shortly after her daughter’s death, right down to the type of milk she drank.Roundy told jurors that Stewart previously hit a pregnant Grajeda with a baseball bat and onc...

Google must break up digital ad business over competition concerns, European regulators say

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:12:58 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union antitrust regulators took aim at Google’s lucrative digital advertising business in an unprecedented decision, saying Wednesday that the tech giant must sell off some of its ad business to address competition concerns. The European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch and top antitrust enforcer, said its preliminary view after an investigation is that “only the mandatory divestment by Google of part of its services” would satisfy the concerns. The 27-nation EU has led the global movement to crack down on Big Tech companies — including groundbreaking rules on artificial intelligence — but it has previously relied on issuing blockbuster fines, including three antitrust penalties for Google worth billions of euros (dollars). It’s the first time the bloc has told a tech giant that it must split up key parts of its business over violations of the EU’s strict antitrust laws, though details on what that would look like have not been...

New Spain coach expects improved ‘La Roja’ in Final Four of Nations League

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:12:58 GMT

ENSCHEDE, Netherlands (AP) — After a lackluster start to his stint as Spain coach, Luis de la Fuente arrives at the Final Four of the Nations League expecting to see an improved version of “La Roja.”De la Fuente, who replaced Luis Enrique after the World Cup in Qatar, is under pressure after Spain struggled in its first two matches under him in March. It needed two late goals in a hard-fought 3-0 win over a Norway team missing Erling Haaland to open its qualifying campaign for the 2024 European Championship, then lost 2-0 at Scotland.“Now we should be closer to what we expect,” De la Fuente said Wednesday, a day before Spain’s semifinal against Italy in the Netherlands. “The team is taking steps forward, little by little, I can see it every day in training.”He said players are becoming more used to his ideas and believes the squad has the potential to win the Nations League title.“We haven’t had a lot of time, but we will try to be up to the task,” De la Fuente said. “I think ...

Estados Unidos extiende TPS para cuatro países, incluidos El Salvador, Honduras y Nicaragua

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:12:58 GMT

(CNN Español) — El Departamento de Seguridad Nacional de Estados Unidos informó este martes en un comunicado que decidió extender por 18 meses el denominado Estatus de Protección Temporal (TPS) para ciudadanos de El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua y Nepal, y que –además– rescindió la decisión del Gobierno de Donald Trump de acabar con las protecciones temporales para estos países.El TPS es un beneficio migratorio temporal que estableció el gobierno de Estados Unidos para las personas de ciertas nacionalidades que no pueden regresar a sus países de origen de forma segura, ya sea por un conflicto armado en curso, un desastre natural y otras condiciones extraordinarias de carácter temporal.Estatus de Protección Temporal (TPS): qué es, quién es elegible, precio y cómo solicitarActivistas y ciudadanos con Estatus de Protección Temporal (TPS) marchan cerca de la Casa Blanca por protección de residencia en Washington DC, el 23 de septiembre de 2022. (Crédito: OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP)Los b...

Mientras Ucrania contraataca, cientos de aviones de combate de la OTAN sobrevuelan Alemania en los simulacros aéreos más grandes jamás realizados por la alianza

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:12:58 GMT

(CNN) — A medida que se desarrollan las primeras etapas de la contraofensiva de Ucrania contra los invasores rusos en el campo de batalla, cientos de aviones de combate de algunos de los mayores partidarios de Kyiv están en los cielos de Alemania mientras la OTAN realiza sus juegos de guerra aéreos más grandes de la historia.“Air Defender 2023” está reuniendo a 250 aviones de combate, incluidos 190 aviones de combate, y 10.000 soldados en ejercicios diseñados para aumentar la preparación y la capacidad de la alianza “para proteger contra ataques de aviones, drones y misiles en ciudades e infraestructura crítica”, según un comunicado de prensa de la OTAN.Aunque los ejercicios liderados por Alemania se han estado preparando durante varios años, su sincronización cuando Moscú lanza ataques aéreos de castigo contra ciudades ucranianas como parte de la invasión a su vecino, que ya lleva 16 meses, envía un mensaje oportuno, especialmente al presidente de Rusia, Vladimir Putin.Solo e...

Miami-Dade Police need help locating hit-and-run suspect

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:12:58 GMT

The Miami-Dade Police Department is asking for the public’s help to identify and locate the individual and vehicle involved in a hit-and-run fatality that occurred on Monday.The fatality occurred at around 9:50 p.m. in the area of Northwest 17 Avenue & Northwest 127 Street.If you have any information on this crime, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.

Turkey’s Erdoğan plays down Sweden’s NATO hopes

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:12:58 GMT

Sweden has still not won Turkey’s support to join NATO ahead of the military alliance’s summit in Vilnius next month, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was quoted as saying on Wednesday.“Sweden’s expectations don’t mean we’ll follow them,” Erdoğan said during a trip to Azerbaijan, according to Bloomberg and Turkish media, referring to Stockholm’s hopes of becoming a NATO member before the Vilnius summit.Spurred by Russia’s war on Ukraine and the rising threat coming from Moscow, Sweden and Finland officially asked to join NATO last year, and later committed to joining the alliance together.But Sweden’s candidacy has not yet been approved — unlike its eastern neighbor’s. Turkey has been dragging its feet on signing off on its bid, citing concerns about Stockholm’s support for Kurdish groups which Ankara considers to be terrorist entities — including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has a following in Sweden but is banned in Tu...