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Kids could fill labor shortages, even in bars, if these lawmakers succeed

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:13 GMT

By HARM VENHUIZEN (Associated Press/Report for America)MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Lawmakers in several states are embracing legislation to let children work in more hazardous occupations, longer hours on school nights and in expanded roles including serving alcohol in bars and restaurants as young as 14.The efforts to significantly roll back labor rules are largely led by Republican lawmakers to address worker shortages and in some cases run afoul of federal regulations.Child welfare advocates worry the measures represent a coordinated push to scale back hard-won protections for minors.“The consequences are potentially disastrous,” said Reid Maki, director of the Child Labor Coalition, which advocates against exploitative labor policies. “You can’t balance a perceived labor shortage on the backs of teen workers.”Lawmakers proposed loosening child labor laws in at least 10 states over the past two years, according to a report published last month by the ...

Studio City Starbucks removes customer seating

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:13 GMT

A Starbucks Coffee in Studio City is drawing attention after the store removed all customer seating.Only to-go orders are allowed at the 10965 Ventura Blvd. location of the famed coffee shop, as indicated by a sign posted to the door.While Starbucks did not directly attribute the decision to any one cause, a spokesperson implied that the seating was removed due to some sort of safety concern and that the decision was made at that store, not the corporate level."Our local leaders are, and have always been, empowered to use the many resources at their disposal to modify store operations and create the best experience for our communities," the statement said. "Our first priority is to make sure our partners are safe at work. We will continue to work to make sure that partners can focus on crafting exquisite beverages and creating connections in a safe, warm, and welcoming environment."While no direct connection has been made to the Studio City location's decision to remove seating, mul...

What’s Popping Up On The Road: Newport Beach Wine Festival and BBQ In Carpinteria

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:13 GMT

The  Newport Beach Wine Festival takes place this weekend at Balboa Bay Resort. The three-day waterfront event kicks off with a ticketed five-course dinner and wine pairing sponsored by Duckhorn Winery, a speakeasy tasting by Macallan Whiskey, followed by two days of Grand Tasting at the  resort along PCH. There will be more than 60 vendors, coastal-inspired bites, live music and aerialists. The event begins Friday, May 26, at 6 p.m., with a dinner and reception with Duckhorn Winery. The dinner in the Lighthouse Room will accompany the tasting, courtesy of Balboa Bay Resort’s Executive Chef Prabeen Prathapan, including wild Morro Bay smoked salmon roulade, Mishima ultra wagyu ribeye, and Meyer lemon cake with Grand Marnier coconut curd.The festivities continue on Saturday, May 27, and Sunday, May 28, with more than 50 wine and spirits vendors, live music, and hors d’oeuvres.  Participating vendors include DAOU, 818 Tequila, Off Hours Bourbon, Martin Ray & Angeline, and more. Cul...

California city pays $1.5 million and cop charged with assault after videotaped takedown of girl

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:13 GMT

The city of Rialto has paid $1.5 million to a teenage girl who was videotaped being thrown to the ground by a police officer who subsequently left his job and now faces criminal charges.Ivan Delgadillo-Arce has pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor counts of assault under the color of authority. A hearing scheduled for Tuesday, May 23, at Superior Court in Rancho Cucamonga was continued to June 23. His attorney, Noel Arreola, declined to comment on the case on Wednesday.Delgadillo-Arce left the department on April 28, said Cpl. Nic Parcher, who declined to say whether the officer was fired or resigned.After the Feb. 11, 2022, incident, which began when officers stopped the girl who was riding a motorized bicycle, police Chief Mark Kling said his department was investigating the officer’s decision to trip the girl and later place his hand on the girl’s throat during the arrest.One of the elements required to file the charge of assault under the color of authority is that the officer ...

Suspect in violent Oakland home invasion robbery takes 6 years in plea deal

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:13 GMT

OAKLAND — A Bay Area man has accepted a plea deal and six-year prison term in a case where he’s accused of nonfatally shooting a victim during a 2020 home invasion robbery, where his two cohorts allegedly shot and killed another resident.Dominick Glover, 20, pleaded no contest to assault with a firearm in exchange for the six-year deal, and Alameda County prosecutors agreed to drop attempted murder charges against him. He remains in Santa Rita Jail in Dublin and is tentatively scheduled to be sentenced in September, court records show.Glover’s co-defendants, Stephen Head, 21, of Tracy, and Gregory Ignacio, 45, of Stockton, remain jailed on no-bail holds, facing charges that they killed 29-year-old Daniel Lucero during the Sept. 28, 2020 home invasion robbery in Oakland. Police allege that gunmen burst into a home on the 1700 block of Church Street, stole cash from Lucero, and fatally shot him. A second person, identified only as a 26-year-old man, was shot but surv...

Last chance to ride Splash Mountain at Disneyland as closure countdown begins

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:13 GMT

The countdown clock has begun ticking toward the final day of Splash Mountain when Disneyland visitors are expected to wait in hourslong lines to bid farewell to the classic attraction and scoop up souvenir water from their last rides.The last chance to ride Splash Mountain at Disneyland will be Tuesday, May 30 — the day after the busy Memorial Day weekend comes to an end.At press time, Disneyland reservations for Tuesday were unavailable for daily tickets and Magic Key annual passholders.The Splash Mountain attractions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World will undergo “Princess and the Frog” makeovers and return in 2024 as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.Splash Mountain wait times could stretch to nearly four hours at the Anaheim theme park if the Florida sister park is any guide.Magic Kingdom visitors waited in record-setting lines that reached 220 minutes on the final day of operation for Splash Mountain in January.Disneyland will close at 11 p.m. on Tuesday — the last day of operations f...

Do not call: 49 states sue telecom company over billions of robocalls

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:13 GMT

Attorneys general across the U.S. joined in a lawsuit against a telecommunications company accused of making more than 7.5 billion robocalls to people on the national Do Not Call Registry.The 141-page lawsuit was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Phoenix against Avid Telecom, its owner Michael D. Lansky and company vice president Stacey S. Reeves. It seeks a jury trial to determine damages.The lawsuit arises from the nationwide, bipartisan Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force of 51 attorneys general and the District of Columbia. It was formed last year to investigate and take legal action against telecommunications companies routing volumes of robocall traffic.Attorney General Rob Bonta said an estimated 577,879,156 robocalls were made to California phone numbers between December 2018 and January 2023.The lawsuit said Avid Telecom used spoofed or invalid caller ID numbers, including more than 8.4 million calls that appeared to be coming from government and law enforc...

El Cerrito murder suspect was part of a prolific carjacking crew responsible for at least two dozen robberies around Bay Area, police say

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:13 GMT

OAKLAND — A city resident recently arrested in connection with an El Cerrito homicide is also under investigation for alleged involvement in a Bay Area robbery crew responsible for at least two dozens heists, a kidnapping, and multiple shootings.Malachi Cox, 21, of Oakland, was arrested earlier this month in Citrus Heights, on suspicion of murdering 18-year-old Sincere Martin, a former De Anza High and El Cerrito High school football player. Contra Costa prosecutors have not yet reviewed the case against Cox and decided whether to charge him, but he remains jailed on suspicion of violating his parole for a prior conviction, court records show.But while Cox remains behind bars, police in two counts are investigating his possible connection to not just Martin’s homicide but a group responsible for eight carjackings and a string of robberies around the East Bay.Police have identified at least three suspected members of the group, all young men in their teens or early 20s, w...

Police say car collides with gates of Downing Street, where UK prime minister lives

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:13 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Police say a car has collided with the gates of Downing Street in central London, where the British prime minister’s home and offices are located.The Metropolitan Police force says there are no reports of injuries. Police said a man was arrested Thursday at the scene on suspicion of criminal damage and dangerous driving.Video footage posted on social media showed a white car with its trunk open up against the tall metal gates.It was not immediately clear whether the crash was deliberate.Source

4 charged with concealing body after woman found dead outside Northern Virginia hospital

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:13 GMT

The body of 33-year-old Brenda Ochoa Guerrero was found in the passenger side of her car in the parking lot of Inova Mount Vernon Hospital, according to Fairfax County police. (Courtesy Fairfax County police)Police in Fairfax County, Virginia, say three men and a woman have been charged with felony of concealment of a dead body after a woman with a gunshot wound was found dead in her car in a hospital parking lot last month.In a news release Thursday, police identified the four people charged as 43-year-old David Littlefield, 36-year-old Eric Thompson and 35-year-old Eric Rubio, all of Alexandria, as well as 29-year-old Yuris Pineda Gallegos, of Maryland.Rubio and Littlefield are being held without bond.The body of Brenda Ochoa Guerrero, 33, was found in the passenger side of her car on April 13 at about 10:45 a.m., after a community member called police to report seeing an unconscious woman in a car in the parking lot of Mount Vernon Hospital on Holland Road.Last month, authorities...