Shootings put US on a record pace for mass killings

Published Thu, 21 Nov 2024 21:48:54 GMT

Shootings put US on a record pace for mass killings By Stefanie Dazio and Larry Fenn | Associated PressLOS ANGELES — The U.S. is setting a record pace for mass killings in 2023, replaying the horror on a loop roughly once a week so far this year.The carnage has taken 88 lives in 17 mass killings over 111 days. Each time, the killers wielded firearms. Only 2009 was marked by as many such tragedies in the same period of time.Children at a Nashville grade school, gunned down on an ordinary Monday. Farmworkers in Northern California, sprayed with bullets over a workplace grudge. Dancers at a ballroom outside Los Angeles, massacred as they celebrated the Lunar New Year.In just the last week, four partygoers were slain and 32 injured in Dadeville, Alabama, when bullets rained down on a Sweet 16 celebration. And a man just released from prison fatally shot four people, including his parents, in Bowdoin, Maine, before opening fire on motorists traveling a busy interstate highway.“Nobody should be shocked,” said Fred Guttenberg, w...

Antioch to lose train stop to Oakley

Published Thu, 21 Nov 2024 21:48:54 GMT

Antioch to lose train stop to Oakley Antioch’s Amtrak platform has been slated for closure, with the rail service moving to Oakley, a city with less than half of the population of Antioch in a move that local officials say blindsided them.The San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority, which oversees the passenger rail service between Oakland and Bakersfield, has said that riders do not feel safe at the Antioch station, and Oakley is building a new transit center only six miles to the east that can serve the entire area.The SJJPA board voted 6-1 at a recent meeting to decommission the Antioch stop in favor of Oakley, whose train platform and parking lot are slated to be completed by late 2024.It was a move that caught Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe by surprise. Thorpe said at one point board members agreed to postpone a decision on whether to decommission the Antioch platform, but later in that same meeting they approved the closure.Reached later, Antioch Councilwoman Monica Wilson, who has been on the council for 12 years a...

7 beautiful Mexican beach areas that won’t be mobbed

Published Thu, 21 Nov 2024 21:48:54 GMT

7 beautiful Mexican beach areas that won’t be mobbed By Tim Leffe | CNNFinding your own stretch of sand in Mexico is not too daunting. This country has around 5,800 miles of coastline (9,330 kilometers), and only a fraction of that is developed for visitors.Since most international vacationers head to the same few resort areas, that leaves a lot of beaches untouched, particularly for visitors willing to get a bit lost now and then.Many of these are completely off the grid, however. They’re not served by paved roads and are accessible only with a sturdy vehicle or a boat charter.Overnight visits to nature reserve beaches require signing up with an adventure tour operator with permission to set up camping facilities. These would include Espíritu Santo Island near La Paz or the barrier islands of Magdalena Bay on the other side of Baja, a top spot to see baby gray whales swimming with their mothers.These lesser-known beaches seldom see big crowds and traffic, but for added relaxation, you can order a Pacifico and ceviche with your ...

Raiders owner Mark Davis: A’s leaving Oakland is “pretty (screwed) up”

Published Thu, 21 Nov 2024 21:48:54 GMT

Raiders owner Mark Davis: A’s leaving Oakland is “pretty (screwed) up” Count Raiders owner Mark Davis among those not thrilled about the prospect of the Oakland A’s moving to Las Vegas. More specifically, Davis still holds a grudge against his former Coliseum co-tenants, who he insists helped push the Raiders out of Oakland.Davis seemed as incensed as A’s fans and Oakland city officials were to find out the baseball team signed an agreement to purchase land to build a proposed $2.1 billion, 30-to-35,000-seat stadium just one mile north of the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium near the Vegas Strip.In a profanity-laced interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Davis made it clear he won’t be a welcoming neighbor should the A’s ballpark deal come to fruition in Southern Nevada.“I won’t forget what they did to us in Oakland. They squatted on a lease for 10 years and made it impossible for us to build on that stadium,” Davis said Thursday, in reference to the A’s 10-year Coliseum lease extension that expires in 2024. “They were looking for a stadium. We were lo...

One dead, three wounded in Hartford, Conn., drive-by shooting

Published Thu, 21 Nov 2024 21:48:54 GMT

One dead, three wounded in Hartford, Conn., drive-by shooting By Dave Collins | Associated PressHARTFORD, Conn. — Bullets sprayed out from a speeding car in Connecticut’s capital, killing an innocent 12-year-old bystander and wounding three other people who have have rap sheets that include gun crimes, authorities said Friday.The suspects in the drive-by shooting appeared to target three males who were standing on a sidewalk on a residential street not far from downtown Hartford shortly after 8:30 p.m. Thursday, city police said.Secret Pierce, a seventh grader at Milner Middle School, became Hartford’s seventh homicide victim of the year. She was sitting in a parked car when she was shot in the head, police said. She died Friday morning. The three other victims, males ages 16, 18 and 23, were expected to survive.“This is a painful day in our community,” Mayor Luke Bronin said at a morning news conference outside police headquarters. “I don’t have the words. I want to say to Secret’s mom and loved ones ...

Pacifica: Police say man who allegedly shot pregnant ex in 2016 is still at large

Published Thu, 21 Nov 2024 21:48:54 GMT

Pacifica: Police say man who allegedly shot pregnant ex in 2016 is still at large Nearly seven years after authorities said 33-year-old Ricardo Colindres allegedly shot his pregnant ex-girlfriend in the head at her workplace in Pacifica law enforcement is again asking for the public’s help in locating him.Pacifica police said in a statement Friday that Colindres shot his then 25-year-old ex-girlfriend on April 27, 2016 at her workplace, a senior-housing complex in the 1000 block of Terra Nova Boulevard. Both the woman and the baby she was carrying survived the shooting and police issued a warrant for his arrest on suspicion of two counts of attempted murder.Police said they still consider the former Brisbane resident armed and dangerous, as the weapon allegedly used in the shooting was never recovered. The U.S. Marshals Service has offered $10,000 for information leading to his arrest. Authorities had sought to rejuventate the case in 2018 with a similar public alert, but did not receive any tips that helped them arrest Colindres.Ricardo Colindres, a 25 yea...

Confusion on Elon Musk’s Twitter as blue checks purged

Published Thu, 21 Nov 2024 21:48:54 GMT

Confusion on Elon Musk’s Twitter as blue checks purged By Matt O’Brien and Kathleen Foody | Associated PressCHICAGO — Twitter has long been a way for people to keep track of tornado watches, train delays, news alerts or the latest crime warnings from their local police department.But when the Elon Musk-owned platform started stripping blue verification checkmarks this week from accounts that don’t pay a monthly fee, it left public agencies and other organizations around the world scrambling to figure out a way to show they’re trustworthy and avoid impersonators.High-profile users who lost their blue checks Thursday included Beyoncé, Pope Francis, Oprah Winfrey and former President Donald Trump. But checks were also removed from accounts for major transit systems from San Francisco to Paris, national parks like Yosemite, official weather trackers and some elected officials.Twitter had about 300,000 verified users under the original blue-check system. In the past, the checks meant that Twitter had verified that users wer...

Single family residence sells in Los Gatos for $2.6 million

Published Thu, 21 Nov 2024 21:48:54 GMT

Single family residence sells in Los Gatos for $2.6 million 16010 Stephenie Lane – Google Street ViewThe spacious property located in the 16000 block of Stephenie Lane in Los Gatos was sold on April 6, 2023 for $2,575,000, or $905 per square foot. The house, built in 2009, has an interior space of 2,845 square feet. The property features four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a garage, and two parking spaces. There’s also a pool in the backyard. The unit sits on a 9,160-square-foot lot.Additional houses that have recently changed hands close by include:In September 2022, a 2,010-square-foot home on Blossom Hill Road in Los Gatos sold for $2,650,000, a price per square foot of $1,318. The home has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.On Costances Court, Los Gatos, in April 2023, a 3,001-square-foot home was sold for $3,805,000, a price per square foot of $1,268. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.A 2,870-square-foot home on the 100 block of Lansberry Court in Los Gatos sold in August 2022, for $3,300,000, a price per square foot of $1,150. The home has 5 ...

Aspiring assassin snared by joke hitman rental website, federal prosecutors say

Published Thu, 21 Nov 2024 21:48:54 GMT

Aspiring assassin snared by joke hitman rental website, federal prosecutors say The joke website RentAHitman.com, which has fielded hundreds of apparently serious murder-for-hire requests, has now snared a young National Guardsman who was an aspiring killer, federal prosecutors say.The 21-year-old Tennessee man, a member of that state’s Air National Guard, allegedly sent a query to the website in February about possible employment as a killer, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.In a follow-up email,  he reportedly said: “Im looking for a job, that pays well, related to my military experience (Shooting and Killing the marked target) so I can support my kid on the way. What can I say, I enjoy doing what I do, so if I can find a job that is similar to it, (such as this one) put me in coach!”The site’s creator passed the information on to the FBI, and federal agents took it from there.The man was arrested on April 12 after meeting an undercover agent in a Hendersonville park and accepting a packet that included information about the fictional t...

Firefighters respond to residential fire in San Jose

Published Thu, 21 Nov 2024 21:48:54 GMT

Firefighters respond to residential fire in San Jose (KRON) -- Firefighters are on the scene of a one-alarm fire at a residential home on Salt Lake Drive, according to a tweet from the San Jose Fire Department. The streets are closed in the immediate area and people are being advised to use caution.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.