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Kowitt: Disney embraces its role as hero to DeSantis’s villain

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:50 GMT

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s war against Walt Disney Co. reached parody level on Monday when he floated his latest threat: building a prison next to its theme park complex in the state.While DeSantis is increasingly coming across as petty and vindictive in the debacle — and some might even say slightly unhinged — in a strange twist the conflict is giving Disney a chance to demonstrate its mettle and rewrite the narrative on its corporate values and ethics.For those who have not been following the drama worthy of its own full-length Disney treatment, here’s a recap: DeSantis and the media giant’s battle began last year when the company spoke out rather mildly against a Florida bill designed to ban elementary school classroom discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity — dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by critics.DeSantis retaliated by disbanding Disney’s special districting, which allowed the company to self-govern Disney World. But before the new governing structure went in...

Former Santa Cruz County nurse pleads guilty in sex abuse case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:50 GMT

SANTA CRUZ — A former Watsonville nurse involved in a child sex case pleaded guilty Thursday to four out of 44 felonies and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, with the option for parole.As a part of a plea deal struck with the Santa Cruz District Attorney’s Office, Rashel Brandon, 48, will be required to testify at the trial of her former co-defendant and to register as a sex offender for life, upon release.“I would also like to apologize to the victims in this case; what was done to them by myself and others was heinous,” Brandon wrote, in part, in a statement she read aloud to the court Thursday. “It will affect them for the rest of their lives. For that, I wish I could turn back time and do what I should have done and contacted the authorities when I found out what my co-defendants had been doing for years.”Brandon also apologized to her family, friends, co-workers and the community, saying that “these crimes rocked every one of these people to the core.” Brandon said s...

Oakland A’s reach land deal in Las Vegas: So what comes next?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:50 GMT

The A’s took their biggest step yet toward realizing their long-explored departure from Oakland in a stunning late-night announcement that broke the hearts of their fans and knocked the city’s leaders on their heels.Despite decades of relocation threats, it was nonetheless surprising when A’s president Dave Kaval revealed late Wednesday that the team has signed a binding agreement to purchase land in Las Vegas, where they plan to move.Kaval announced that the A’s finalized a deal last week to buy a 49-acre site near the Vegas Strip, where they plan to construct a 35,000-seat stadium with a retractable roof hopefully in time for the 2027 season. Coincidentally, the parcel of land near Tropicana Boulevard and Interstate 15 is just down the road from Allegiant Stadium, where a former Oakland team — the Raiders — plays its games.Stunned Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, who said she’d been negotiating daily with the A’s on a deal to bring the $12 billion Howard Terminal project to f...

Opinion: California students sound the alarm on climate change

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:50 GMT

California youth have sounded the alarm: climate change is not a future threat — it’s already here, flooding their streets, burning their neighborhoods, cutting their school days, upending their food systems and more.More than 120 middle and high school students submitted entries for CalMatters’ op-ed contest for Earth Day, which is Saturday. Here are some edited excerpts.I have never known a world in which summer temperatures did not break records. In 2018, when the Camp Fire cloaked my city in smoke, my friend created a song inspired by my asthma. It was entitled “If You Breathe, You’re Gonna Die.” We were 12 years old.We can combat climate change, but doing so will require bold, transformative action. This Earth Day, we must call on the California Department of Geologic Energy Management to stop issuing new oil permits.— Supriya P., high school student in Sacramento County. In 2015, I was in Porter Ranch during the time of the Aliso Canyon leak, and it was terrifying. I had ...

Woman dead after rock-hurling attacks on moving vehicles in Denver crime spree

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:50 GMT

Rock-throwing attacks on moving vehicles in west metro Denver and Boulder left a 20-year-old woman dead Thursday after the rock hurled at her yellow Chevy Spark crashed through the windshield, hitting her.The attacks Wednesday night and early Thursday by one or more assailants also targeted at least four other vehicles, all of them moving, and injured two drivers.No arrests had been made as of Thursday evening.The Jefferson County sheriff’s office described a vehicle of interest and identified its owner but later concluded that neither were involved in the crime spree Thursday night.In the moments before victim Alexa Bartell of Arvada was killed, in the 10600 block of Indiana Street about 10:45 p.m. Wednesday, she was on her phone talking with a close friend, Jefferson County authorities said. Then the phone went silent.Bartell’s friend “used an app to locate Alexa’s phone,” and the friend went to the location along Indiana Street, Jefferson County sheriff’s spokeswoman Jacki Kelley...

Man severely beaten after altercation over parking space at Cub Scout meeting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:50 GMT

A Cub Scout meeting in Michigan turned violent Tuesday night when one man allegedly punched another in the head repeatedly over a disagreement about a disabled parking space.According to Warren Police Commissioner William Dwyer, the altercation took place at Roose Elementary School in Warren — in the school cafeteria where the Cub Scout meeting was being held. The 26-year-old male suspect approached the victim, indicated he was armed and threatened to shoot him.Police say the assailant was not armed, but did physically assault the other man.“There were several witnesses and the incident was recorded,” said Dwyer. “The suspect punched the victim in the head and knocked out several teeth and knocked him unconscious.”The victim was transported to Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital where he was initially listed in critical condition but was upgraded to stable condition Wednesday morning, according to Dwyer.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Former Santa Cruz Countu nurse plea...

Leaked Tape Reveals How Spy Camera Firm Used Ex-U.S. Official to Cover Up Uyghur Abuses

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:50 GMT

In the western territory of Xinjiang, known as the Uyghur Autonomous Region, China has created intense surveillance networks to monitor and persecute the population. Cameras line the streets, as well as the doors of homes and mosques, anchoring a system of repression that has led to the mass detention of thousands of people.Hikvision’s cameras make up a large part of this system. But the world’s largest security camera manufacturer has always denied their complicity in the violation of human rights against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.In 2019, facing increasing U.S. sanctions, Hikvison commissioned a human rights review of its five largest police projects in Xinjiang, which has a population of over 25 million. The company hired Pierre-Richard Prosper, the former ambassador-at-large for war crimes in the Bush administration State Department and a war crimes prosecutor at the United Nations in the late 1990s.The full review remained secret, but Hikvision released one sentence s...

Proposed Route 28 bypass route released in Prince William Co.; dozens of properties in raze zone

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:50 GMT

toggle audio on and off change volume download audio New details on a proposed Route 28 bypass route in Prince William County, Virginia, WTOP's Neal Augenstein reports. $(function () { $('.wtop-audio-container .fa-play').on('click', function(){ var audio_filename = $('div.wtop-audio-file').data("mp3-url"); ga('send', 'event', 'Audio', 'play', audio_filename); }); }); This article was written by WTOP’s news partner InsideNoVa.com and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.Prince William County transportation officials unveiled a proposed preliminary design for the Route 28 by...

20 millones de personas del sur al noreste de EE.UU. están bajo la amenaza de tormentas severas que provocaron rescates en el agua

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:50 GMT

(CNN) — El mismo sistema meteorológico que generó tornados y tormentas mortales en el centro de EE.UU. hace unos días continuó azotando a Texas con fuertes lluvias mientras avanzaba hacia el este este viernes temprano, poniendo a aproximadamente 20 millones de personas en riesgo de tormentas eléctricas severas desde el sur y el medio oeste hasta el noreste.A medida que la tormenta se alejaba del centro de Texas, dejó importantes inundaciones que provocaron varios rescates en Austin a medida que aumentaba el nivel del agua, dijeron funcionarios locales.Algunas personas gritaron pidiendo ayuda después de quedar atrapadas entre una cerca y un arroyo en Austin, y una de ellas requirió hospitalización por una lesión que no puso en peligro su vida, dijo el Servicio Médico de Emergencia (EMS) del Condado de Austin-Travis en las redes sociales.Los socorristas también recibieron informes de autos amontonados en un arroyo y rescataron a seis personas, tuiteó el EMS.Otros esfuerzos de re...

HCA: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:50 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — HCA Healthcare Inc. (HCA) on Friday reported first-quarter profit of $1.36 billion.The Nashville, Tennessee-based company said it had profit of $4.85 per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to $4.93 per share.The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $3.99 per share.The hospital operator posted revenue of $15.59 billion in the period, also exceeding Street forecasts. Nine analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $15.29 billion.HCA expects full-year earnings to be $17.25 to $18.55 per share, with revenue in the range of $62.5 billion to $64.5 billion._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on HCA at https://www.zacks.com/ap/HCASource