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2 Missouri moms charged with misdemeanors for children's absences lose their court battle

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:13 GMT

LEBANON, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a state law criminalizing parents whose children miss school, ruling against two mothers charged in their young children's tardiness.Prosecutors charged two moms from Lebanon, Missouri, with misdemeanors and the mothers then went to the state Supreme Court to challenge the law’s constitutionality.One mother was sentenced to a week in county jail for her first-grade daughter’s nine unexcused absences in the 2021 school year. Another was sentenced to two years of probation for her kindergartener’s seven unexcused absences that year. Road rage mystery solved as ghost driver gets prison time Missouri law requires K-12 students to attend school “on a regular basis.” A public defender for the mothers argued the law is unconstitutionally vague.Supreme Court judges disagreed, ruling that regular attendance means going to school when it is in session.Judges wrote that school officials can excuse an absence for menta...

Texas detention officer arrested in Riverside deadly hit-and-run crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:13 GMT

A man who worked as a detention officer in Texas has been arrested in connection with a hit-and-run crash that killed a pedestrian in Riverside last week.Giovanni Ceja, 31, was arrested in Bexar County, Texas Monday and is awaiting extradition on suspicion of murder, manslaughter with gross intoxication, DUI causing injury and hit-and-run, according to the California Highway Patrol.Ceja, of San Antonio, Texas, resigned after being taken into custody, the San Antonio Express-News reported.The incident occurred around 1:45 a.m. Aug. 7 along the 215 Freeway east of the 91 Freeway, according to the CHP. CHP investigating deadly Riverside hit-and-run A preliminary investigation revealed that Ceja allegedly allowed his truck to drift into the right shoulder, striking a 38-year-old man who was fueling his disabled vehicle on the right shoulder of the highway.The victim died at the scene and Ceja allegedly drove away.A relative had taken fuel to the victim after he had run out of gas and ...

Firearm homicide rate in California 33% lower than national average, report finds

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:13 GMT

The newly formed California Department of Justice’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention (OGVP) released a first-of-its-kind Gun Violence Prevention Data Report Tuesday, state Attorney General Rob Bonta announced. According to the OGVP, the report helps highlight the policies that are working and where more work is needed.  There are more than 116 gun deaths per day across the United States, but on Tuesday, AG Bonta said his office is working to bring that number down.  “We chose to change the trajectory of where we’ve been and to end the gun violence epidemic,” said Bonta, alongside local leaders outside Homeboy Industries.Formed in September of last year, the OGVP’s new data-driven report shows that California’s homicide rate is 33% below the rest of the country.  “If the national gun death rate matched California’s gun death rate over the last ten years, nearly 140,000 Americans who have died from gun violence would still be with us today,” Bonta said.  The report cla...

Suspect arrested after woman stabbed in Reseda

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:13 GMT

A 40-year-old woman was stabbed in Reseda Tuesday morning and police arrested a suspect. The incident was reported around 10:10 a.m. near the intersection of Reseda Boulevard and Sherman Way, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.Responding officers found the victim suffering from a stab wound. She was taken to a hospital in unknown condition.Police were searching the area for the suspect and he was eventually located and taken into custody, authorities said without elaborating. No further details about the incident have been released.KTLA's Isabel Ochoa contributed to this story.

California's 1% are richer than most other states

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:13 GMT

As the saying goes, Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems.The Golden State, the most populous state in the country, has the third highest threshold for the top 1% of taxpayers, according to a new study from Smart Asset.Researchers analyzed 2020 IRS tax data for individual filers and adjusted those figures for May 2023 dollars using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index, according to the website. The report shared that households that earn at least $844,266 per year are considered to be among California’s top earners. However, households who make that amount or more pay 26.95% in taxes. Angelenos who make $70,000 a year are still considered ‘low-income’ Connecticut and Massachusetts were the only states with higher thresholds for their top 1% of taxpayers.In Connecticut, households who make at least $952,902 pay 28.40% in taxes, and in Massachusetts, households who make at least $903,401 pay 27.15%Connecticut had the highest thresholds for its 1% and Massachusetts was ranked seco...

Charming Vicini Ristorante & Wine Bar Has A Nostalgic Opening On The Westside

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:13 GMT

Chef-owner Lucio Bedon has opened Vicini Ristorante & Wine Bar in West LA this week, back in the same kitchen where he took his first chef position in Los Angeles in 1995. The menu will celebrate familial roots from the Veneto region of Italy in a bright and airy dining room and bar, featuring crudos, cicchetti small bites, handmade pasta and platters of ribs served over polenta from the grill.Risotto nero con sepia (Cara Harman)Raised in Piove di Sacco near Venice where his father was a sardine fisherman and he and his mother gathered soft-shelled crabs, an homage to his parents will include cured fresh Mediterranean sardines according to his family recipe in bigoli in salsa with toasted bread crumbs. There are crudo offerings like the capesante con agrumi, scallops with ruby grapefruit, kiwi, Meyer lemon and black salt, Fiore di Zucca, squash blossoms with herbed ricotta with cicchetti, and salads like the Cavolo Nero with chopped kale, shaved beets, ricotta salata, avocado, p...

Two Hospitalized after Motorcycle-Pedestrian Accident on 76th Street [Clark County, WA]

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:13 GMT

Pedestrian vs. Motorcycle Collision Left Two People InjuredCLARK COUNTY, WA (August 15, 2023) – Late Saturday night, two people were hospitalized after an accident on 76th Street.The collision happened on August 5th, shortly before 11:00 p.m., involving a pedestrian and a motorcycle, just west of Northeast 117th Avenue.According to the deputies, they arrived at the scene and found two people injured. They have learned that the pedestrian was struck by the motorcyclist.Furthermore, the first responders helped both of the injured people and transported them to the hospital with major injuries.Meanwhile, the officers suspected speed was a factor in the incident. The conditions of the rider and the pedestrian were not yet updated.No additional information was added by the investigators, and an active investigation is still ongoing.When driving, it is vital to always be alert for pedestrians and other vehicles. Also, always drive within the posted speed limit. These are set and enf...

Jay-Z themed library cards drive Brooklyn interest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:13 GMT

By Nic Anderson and Julian Cummings | CNNIf anyone can make a trip to the library feel like a party, it’s Jay-Z, apparently.To celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, the Brooklyn Public Library and Roc Nation have released 13 limited-edition library cards with artwork from Jay-Z albums. The initiative, which ends later this month, has already resulted in 14,000 new library accounts, a spokesperson for the Brooklyn Public Library told CNN.The library cards are tied to a Brooklyn’s Central Library exhibit that explores Jay-Z’s career through rare photos, original recordings, videos and other artifacts.“The community’s enthusiastic response to this exhibition is a testament to Jay-Z’s immense impact,” Linda E. Johnson, President and CEO of the Brooklyn Public Library, told CNN.The Jay-Z-themed library cards are available for free for New York State residents. New Yorkers can collect all 13 versions – but only one will be activated to a New York Public library account to check out r...

Letters: Escape Bay Area | CASA program | Feinstein replacement | Faulty comparison | Not conservatives

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:13 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Bay Area residentscan escape to paradiseRe: “Texas? Florida? Nope. Bay Area refugees are fleeing to Seattle” (Page A1, Aug. 13).My wife and I are Bay Area natives. Last year we sold our Alameda bungalow and moved to an area known as Hawaiian Paradise Park, on the east side of the island of Hawaii, just south of Hilo.There you can get a new 1,600-square-foot home, on an acre of land, less than a mile from the ocean, for about $500,000. And we’re not in a zone that is high risk for lava flow or wildfire.And remember that Hawaii is a blue state.Russ ButtonKeaau, HawaiiCASA puts collegein foster youths’ reachRe: “College dream is coming true” (Page A1, Aug. 3).The above East Bay Times story was heartening. However, the high school graduation rate for foster youth in California was only 61% last year versus 87% among non-foster care youths. Why? Instability in the lives of ...

Russia unleashes a country-wide missile barrage on Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:13 GMT

By Illia Novikov and Dasha Litvinova | Associated PressKYIV, Ukraine — Russian forces unleashed missiles across Ukraine early on Tuesday, killing and wounding civilians and damaging infrastructure. The barrage came just hours before top Russian military officials and their counterparts from allied countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa gathered outside Moscow for a security conference.Missiles struck cities from the east to west of Ukraine, including far behind front lines where Ukraine is fighting deeply entrenched Russian forces to regain territory occupied by Moscow almost 18 months into the war.Russia has built heavily fortified defenses along the more than 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line where Ukraine has only made incremental gains since launching a counteroffensive in early June.“Deliberate large-scale attacks on civilians. Solely for the sake of killing and psychological pressure,” presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on X, formerly known as T...