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Long Beach police release new suspect info in 2018 murder of grandfather at family reunion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:37 GMT

The Long Beach Police Department is asking for the public's help after new information came to light regarding a 2018 killing of a man shot in the back of the head inside a public restroom.Fred Taft, 57, was fatally shot when he went to use the restrooms at Pan American Park during a family reunion on July 21, 2018.At the time, the suspect was described as a white man in his 50s, who was last seen fleeing the park on foot.The slaying of Taft set off protests by family members and others alleging that the grandfather was targeted because he was Black, describing the brutal homicide as a hate crime.This sketch depicts the alleged suspect in the July 21, 2018, killing of Fred Taft in Long Beach. (Long Beach Police Department)But police have repeatedly said there was not enough evidence to definitively say the crime was racially motivated.On Thursday, more than five years after Taft's killing, the Long Beach Police Department held a press conference in which officials announced new inve...

Authorities apprehend incarcerated man who walked away from reentry program

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:37 GMT

Authorities have located and arrested an inmate who walked away from a reentry program in Kern County Thursday morning.Demetrius Branson, 50, was reported missing from the Male Community Reentry Program facility around 11 a.m. after he apparently removed his GPS monitoring device while visiting the Department of Motor Vehicles.A news release issued by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation described Branson as being 5 feet 11 inches, 181 pounds with brown eye and black and gray hair. Not long after that release was sent out, CDCR announced that Branson had been apprehended that same day around 5:40 p.m. in Bakersfield.He's since been transported to North Kern State Prison and is likely to face new charges related to his escape.According to CDCR, Branson was moved to the reentry program in April to serve the remained of a four-year, eight-month sentence for corporal injury, grand theft, vehicle theft and failure to appear. The Male Community Reentry Program allow...

Man arrested following fatal crash Thursday in Campbell

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:37 GMT

CAMPBELL – A driver was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter after a multicar collision left a man dead and a woman injured Thursday afternoon in Campbell, police said.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | 4 Pepperdine students fatally struck as they walked near Malibu highway Crime and Public Safety | California man who killed woman, 5 dogs in pursuit crash gets 49 years to life Crime and Public Safety | Driver dies after would-be rescuer disappears in San Joaquin River Crime and Public Safety | Motorcyclist dies in Livermore traffic collision Crime and Public Safety | 2 bicyclists in Napa die after being hit by lumber on flatbed truck The fatal crash happened around 12:50 p.m. at the intersection of San Tomas Expressway and Campbell Avenue, the Campbell Police Department said in a statement.Police said the suspect was driving northbound on San Tomas Expressway and tried to turn right ont...

Panthers win home opener, hold off Toronto 3-1 in playoff rematch

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:37 GMT

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Kevin Stenlund got his first goal as a member of the Florida Panthers, then ended the night with a bit of blood coming from a little cut on the left side of his face.Perfectly summed up the night for the Panthers, who got a scratch-and-claw win in their home opener.Stenlund and Oliver Ekman-Larsson got their first Florida goals, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 shots and the Panthers helped their goalie by blocking a barrage of shots in the final minutes on the way to topping the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 in a playoff rematch Thursday night.“Everybody was putting their bodies on the line,” Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “That’s very important. We saw what it was like last year. We got in (the playoffs) by one point and these points matter.”Stenlund scored with 2:52 left in the first, Ekman-Larsson made it 2-0 with seven seconds left in the opening period and that was enough for Bobrovsky. Sam Reinhart added a short-handed empty-net goal as time expired.Mi...

Bruins earn ho-hum 3-1 win over San Jose

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:37 GMT

There is not much the Bruins could have learned about themselves in their game against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday at SAP Arena, such is the sorry state of their rebuilding opponent.But while nothing jumped out to excite fans who stayed up late to watch, the B’s banked the requisite two points in their 3-1 win over the Sharks.If they have pretty tic-tac-toe plays in their arsenal, the B’s haven’t shown it in their first three games. Unimpressed by his team’s 5-on-5 play in he first two games, coach Jim Montgomery had changed his top three lines going into the game. He turned the blender on again before the second period was out, still to no avail. But nevertheless, the B’s notched their third win in as many tries this year.The B’s, who landed 17 shots on net in the opening 20, controlled much of the first period but did not get on the board until the final two minutes, when they scored twice in 21 seconds.The first one came at 18:06 on a line ...

New zoning changes coming to Coronado

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:37 GMT

CORONADO, Calif. -- The City of Coronado has agreed to allow as many as 900 new units of housing in order to comply with the State of California affordable housing laws. The city council fought the new zoning requirements for two years before finally accepting the new mandates. “As painful as it is to some people and some of the concepts thinking they are maxed out, it is the best solution,” said John Duncan, a city councilmember.Nine locations have been identified for up-zoning. The police station, the Coronado preschool sections of the naval base and 50 accessory dwelling units are expected to comply with the housing mandates. San Diego takes top spot in ranking of most expensive places to live in U.S. Residents have been complaining about the new housing proposals and attacking city leaders. “I think it’s too much for the size of the city,” said Ron Wheeler, a longtime resident. The affordable housing is also expected to help public servants get a foothold in an area financiall...

What’s that bar band playing “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”? Oh, it’s the Rolling Stones!

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:37 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Those miracles of modern science, the Rolling Stones, celebrated the release of their first album of original music in 18 years with a Manhattan club gig on Thursday.Before a celebrity-strewn audience of invited guests that included Christie Brinkley, Elvis Costello and Trevor Noah at Racket NYC, the Stones made a notable racket themselves over seven songs, four from the new “Hackney Diamonds” disc.Mick Jagger alluded to past stunts the Stones had done in New York to tout new music over the years, including performing on a flatbed truck on Fifth Avenue.He saluted the city by opening with the 1970s-era punkish tune, “Shattered,” with the lyric “my brain’s been splattered all over Manhattan.”After performing the new single, “Angry,” Jagger noted to his bandmates, “There’s a first time for everything.”With the death of drummer Charlie Watts in 2021, the Stones are down to a core trio of Jagger and guitarists Keith Richards and Ron Wood. They’re supplem...

Live updates | Israel bombards Gaza with airstrikes 2 weeks into the war against Hamas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:37 GMT

Israeli airstrikes on Gaza continue and Israel’s defense minister has told troops to be ready for a ground assault on the Palestinian territory, although he has not said when that will begin.More than 1 million Palestinians, roughly half of Gaza’s population, have fled homes in the north and Gaza City after Israel told them to evacuate. The airstrikes continued overnight Friday in southern Gaza and ambulances transported the wounded to Gaza’s second-largest hospital, Nasser, in Khan Younis.The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that limited humanitarian aid would be allowed into Gaza from Egypt following a request from U.S. President Joe Biden.The war that began on Oct. 7 after Hamas militants stormed into Israel has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday that 3,785 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 12,500 others have been wounded.More than 1,400 people in Israel have been k...

Long lines at gas pump unlikely, but Middle East crisis could disrupt oil supplies, raise prices

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:37 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fifty years after the 1973 Arab oil embargo, the current crisis in the Middle East has the potential to disrupt global oil supplies and push prices higher. But don’t expect a repeat of the catastrophic price hikes and long lines at the gasoline pump, experts say.The Israel-Hamas war is “definitely not good news” for oil markets already stretched by cutbacks in oil production from Saudi Arabia and Russia and expected stronger demand from China, the head of the International Energy Agency said.Markets will remain volatile, and the conflict could push oil prices higher, “which is definitely bad news for inflation,” Fatih Birol, executive director of the Paris-based IEA, told The Associated Press. Developing countries that import oil and other fuels would be the most affected by higher prices, he said.International benchmark Brent crude traded above $91 a barrel on Thursday, up from $85 per barrel on Oct. 6, the day before Hamas attacked Israel, killing hun...

US commitment to Ukraine a central question as Biden meets with EU leaders amid congressional chaos

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:37 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Saddled with a dysfunctional Congress, President Joe Biden has the task of assuring European Union leaders on Friday that the United States can nonetheless deliver on promises to send tens of billions of dollars’ worth of aid to wartime Ukraine and Israel.The Oval Office sit-down comes at a moment when domestic U.S. political chaos could further destabilize an increasingly chaotic world. Many of Biden’s shared priorities with the EU depend on getting a budget through Congress — a tough task given that the House lacks an elected speaker and differences with some Republican lawmakers over aid for Ukraine could force a federal government shutdown in November.Along with addressing Ukraine’s efforts to repel Russia and the fallout from Hamas’ attack on Israel, the U.S. and EU leaders are also figuring out how to manage climate change, economic competition with China and trade and tax issues. One day ahead of his meeting with Biden, European Counc...