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Lawyers argue over deadly California Costco shooting by off-duty officer — was it justified?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:18 GMT

Defense attorney Michael Schwartz stood beneath the clock in courtroom 2F at the Larson Justice Center in Indio on Wednesday, Dec. 6, and, during his opening statement in the voluntary manslaughter trial of a former Los Angeles Police Department officer, directed the jurors’ attention to the second hand on the dial.“Count three seconds,” said the attorney for Salvador Alejandro Sanchez, who was off duty and not in uniform on June 14, 2019, when he responded to an unprovoked blindside punch by Kenneth French with a volley of 10 shots that killed French and wounded parents Russell and Paola French in the Costco in Corona. “That’s how much time my client had after being punched so hard that his head hit the concrete with a thump.“That’s how much time he had (to assess) where the threat was, who the threat was and whether there was still a threat,” Schwartz said. “One … two … three.”No one is disputing that Sanchez was responsible for the gunfire in the crowded deli. At issue is whether...

Man shot by California police in had tried to kill witness in murder case, court documents say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:18 GMT

A man shot and injured by Long Beach police in Montebello in October was wanted on suspicion of attempting to kill a key witness in a murder case involving another member of his gang, according to a court document obtained by the Southern California News Group.The police shooting occurred Oct. 31 at a Chevron gas station at Garfield Avenue and Beverly Boulevard.In November, Long Beach police released video showing the moments leading up to a detective firing twice at Oscar Alejandro Ramires, 33, of Montebello — hitting him once in the upper body as he attempted to drive away after police surrounded him.Ramires rammed multiple civilian and police vehicles in the gas station, video shows.He had hit one undercover police SUV and one civilian SUV before the first shot was fired — a moment before the suspect hit the undercover minivan with the detective. The detective was knocked out through an open door after Ramires rammed it with his car.Ramires fled and hit another car on Via Altamir...

Cardroom employees protest another California bill aimed at non-tribal gambling

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:18 GMT

More than 100 LA-area cardroom employees and supporters gathered Wednesday, Dec. 6 in Fullerton to protest a bill they fear could fuel wide-ranging job and revenue losses for their industry.The rally was held outside the office of Democratic state Sen. Josh Newman whose Senate Bill 549 — otherwise known as the Tribal Declaratory Relief Act of 2023 — has reignited a decades-long conflict between tribal casinos and cardroom operators.Opponents of the bill say the casinos are simply looking for a way to squash competition from cardrooms.Federally recognized tribes have the freedom to offer slot machines, lottery games and “banked” card games — like traditional blackjack, in which the casino acts as the bank handling wagers.Cardrooms, by contrast, can only provide “player-dealer” games, such as poker, pai gow, baccarat and Texas Hold ‘Em.SB 549 would provide standing for Indian casinos to sue cardroom operators they claim are operating “banking card games” in violation of state law and ...

You might be surprised at how big NASA’s ballooning program is

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:18 GMT

Up, up and awayGiant balloons were in the news a lot this year, and NASA has some of the largest, which will launch early this month.When most people think of NASA they think of astronauts and spacecraft, not balloons. But NASA has been using balloons for more than 30 years. Its Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia manages the agency’s scientific balloon flight program, with 10 to 15 flights each year from launch sites worldwide. This year’s most important flights begin early this month in the Antarctic.“The annual Antarctic long-duration balloon campaign is the program’s flagship event for long-duration missions,” said Andrew Hamilton, acting chief of NASA’s Balloon Program Office. “The environment and stratospheric wind conditions provide a unique and valuable opportunity to fly missions in a near-space environment for days or weeks at a time.”Why balloonsBalloon payloads are becoming more complex and more sophisticated, in many cases resembling spacecraft. However, balloon mission...

LeBron James criticizes gun laws after UNLV shooting: ‘It’s ridiculous’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:18 GMT

LAS VEGAS — As the Lakers and the NBA descended upon T-Mobile Arena for the final four of the league’s inaugural In-Season Tournament, the host city was mourning after a tragic mass shooting that left at least three dead on the UNLV campus – just a few miles away from where the tournament will wrap up.Lakers star LeBron James, who has been a vocal advocate for gun control and reform for years, offered his condolences to the families and friends who lost their loved ones while also criticizing gun policies in the U.S. in the wake of the shooting.“It just goes back to what I said before about guns in America,” James said during his Wednesday afternoon media availability at the arena ahead of the Lakers’ semifinal matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night.James added: “It’s such a longer conversation, but we keep dealing with the same story, this same conversation every single time it happens, and it just continues to happen. The ability to get a gun, the ability to do...

49ers’ blueprint could help Cowboys defend Hurts, Eagles

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:18 GMT

SANTA CLARA — The win-loss record says the 49ers aren’t beating up on opponents as they were a year ago based on the week-after stat that so delighted the front office and coaching staff a year ago.Play the 49ers, lose the next week. It happened 15 consecutive times in 2022. There was pride in the idea that the 49ers were so physical, win or lose, that their opponent was beat up the following week as evidenced by the scoreboard.Fast forward to 2023, and teams are 6-5 after they play the 49ers. But it’s conceivable the 49ers did something even more tangible to the Philadelphia Eagles, who could fall into the second seed with a loss to Dallas on Sunday night.The 49ers throttled quarterback Jalen Hurts by going against their nature and abandoning their rush-first-ask-questions-later philosophy in favor of something more strategic. Dallas has a fierce pass rush in its own right in Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence, and the 49ers’ Nick Bosa assumes the Cowboys w...

Stephens: The left is dooming any hope for a Palestinian state

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:18 GMT

Do the people chanting “Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” have any idea of the irreparable harm they’re doing to any hope of Palestinian sovereignty?For decades, the question of a Palestinian state has come down to two dates: 1948 and 1967. Most Western supporters of Palestinian statehood have argued that the key date is the Six-Day War of June 1967, when Israel, faced with open threats of annihilation, took possession of the Golan Heights, the West Bank, east Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula.According to this line of thinking, the way to peace rested on Arab diplomatic recognition of Israel in exchange for the return of these so-called occupied territories. That’s what happened between Egypt and Israel at Camp David in 1978, and what might have happened at Camp David in 2000 if Yasser Arafat had only accepted the offer of full statehood made to him by Prime Minister Ehud Barak of Israel.Yet there has always been a second narrat...

Why the Albanian opposition is disrupting parliament with flares, makeshift barricades and fires

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:18 GMT

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — For months, Albanian opposition parties have used flares and noise to disrupt Parliament, in protest at what they describe as the authoritarian rule of the governing Socialist Party. On Thursday, lawmakers passed the annual budget and other draft laws, despite opposition claims that the left-wing Socialists have blocked the establishment of commissions to investigate allegations of government corruption. The disturbances started in October just before prosecutors accused Sali Berisha, 79, former prime minister and president and now the main leader of the center-right Democratic Party, of corruption over of a land-buying scheme that’s under legal investigation in the capital, Tirana. Opposition parliamentarians regularly pile up chairs, use flares, start small fires and even physically grab microphones when their Socialist counterparts take the floor.The governing Socialists, led by Prime Minister Edi Rama, hold 74 of the 140 seats in Parliament, enough to pass...

UK leader Rishi Sunak vows to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda despite court saying plan is unlawful

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:18 GMT

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Thursday he would “do what is necessary” to revive a blocked deal to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda, even if it means ignoring human rights laws. During a hastily scheduled news conference, Sunak vowed to press on with a plan that has roiled the governing Conservative Party and threatened his leadership.He said that a new bill designed to override a U.K. Supreme Court ruling will end “the merry-go-round of legal challenges” that have prevented the government acting on its agreement with Rwanda to put migrants who reach Britain across the English Channel on a one-way trip to the East African country.“We will get flights off the ground,” Sunak said.Refugee groups and legal experts have strongly criticized the plan as a breach of the U.K.’s human rights commitments. But Sunak’s main political threat comes from members of his party who think it is not harsh enough.It escalated when Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick...

Ciena: Fiscal Q4 Earnings Snapshot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:18 GMT

HANOVER, Md. (AP) — HANOVER, Md. (AP) — Ciena Corp. (CIEN) on Thursday reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $91.2 million.On a per-share basis, the Hanover, Maryland-based company said it had profit of 62 cents. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 75 cents per share.The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 68 cents per share.The developer of high-speed networking technology posted revenue of $1.13 billion in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Eight analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.1 billion.For the year, the company reported profit of $254.8 million, or $1.71 per share. Revenue was reported as $4.39 billion._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on CIEN at https://www.zacks.com/ap/CIENSource