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Life without parole for California mother, her boyfriend in torture-murder of 10-year-old boy

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:01 GMT

LOS ANGELES — The mother of a 10-year-old boy and her boyfriend were each sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for torturing and murdering the child, who was beaten, brutalized and starved in Southern California.Heather Barron, 33, and Kareem Leiva, 37, were convicted of first-degree murder involving torture last month in a nonjury trial. They also were found guilty of abusing two other children in their Lancaster home.Anthony Avalos, 10, died of serious head injuries on June 21, 2018, and reportedly had cigarette burns covering his body. The LA County Department of Children and Family Services did not remove him from his Lancaster home despite at least 16 separate reports of child abuse beginning in 2013. (Image from Facebook) Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta sentenced them both to life without the possibility of parole, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. The sentencing followed emotional statements from the boy’s relatives...

California man who smoked marijuana in Senator’s office gets 4 years in prison for role in Capitol riot

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:01 GMT

A Southern California man who photographed himself while helping to trash the Senate Parliamentarian’s office, stole a bottle of alcohol and then smoked marijuana in a Senator’s office during the Jan. 6 riot was sentenced Monday to four years in federal prison.Erik Herrera (Courtesy U.S. Department of Justice) Erik Herrera, a photographer from El Cajon, was arrested in Los Angeles in 2021 and in 2002 was convicted of obstruction and disorderly conduct charges related to his role in the breach of the Capitol building.Herrera was among a crowd of pro-Trump supporters who breached the Capitol building during a riot that forced Congressional leaders to flee for safety and temporarily delayed the counting of electoral votes and the certification of President Joe Biden’s electoral victory.Jurors were shown a photo Herrerra posted of himself on his Instagram account, wearing a pink respirator mask, goggles and a bulletproof vest while holding what appear to be a stack of documents wit...

Theater: ‘Something that’s missing’ in Saratoga’s STEM-focused high school

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:01 GMT

In Silicon Valley, it’s no surprise that students are interested in science, technology, engineering and math, but a group of Saratoga teachers and parents say theater and the arts should get more attention.Saratoga Theater Arts, a booster club for drama classes and extracurriculars, is working to not only support the existing theater programs and classes but to help grow new ones.“In a place this STEM heavy, kids who are not in STEM don’t necessarily feel like they’re a part of the school,” said club president Angela Brooks. “They don’t feel there’s a place for them at the school, and drama offers that.”The booster club helped create a drama club at Redwood Middle School that meets for the first time this Friday, April 28, to get younger students involved in and exposed to theater.Brooks said students who are interested in playing a musical instrument are able to take a yearlong music class as early as the third grade. The elementary schools stage an annual play after a few weeks o...

Prep roundup: St. Francis finds its mojo, routs No. 2 Mitty behind Luke DeVine’s 2 HRs

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:01 GMT

BaseballSt. Francis 12, No. 2 Archbishop Mitty 1St. Francis isn’t going to capture the West Catholic Athletic League’s regular-season championship.Its fate was sealed during a prolonged slump that dropped the Mountain View school several spots in the standings and out of the latest Bay Area News Group Top 20.But the Lancers are still dangerous. Still capable of a late-season run. Still a threat to contend when the league and section playoffs roll around.They made that clear Tuesday as Luke DeVine hit a home run in the first inning and a three-run homer in an eight-run fourth, leading St. Francis to a rout of visiting Archbishop Mitty.The outcome punctured a hole in Mitty’s quest for the WCAL’s regular-season title as the Monarchs (18-5, 9-2) will now need help to chase down Valley Christian.Mitty is scheduled to visit Valley to close out the league schedule on May 5.But the championship will be decided before then unless Mitty wins its next two WCAL games ...

Athletics’ roster teardown yet to pay dividends while some of the departed are thriving elsewhere

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:01 GMT

It started on March 14, 2022 at the behest of Athletics owner John Fisher. The A’s had been run on a shoestring budget for years, somehow managing to stay relevant in the crumbling Coliseum.The A’s went to the playoffs from 2012 through 2014 under then-general manager Billy Beane and manager Bob Melvin, and again from 2018 through 2020 before contending with an 86-win team in 2021. Beane stepped down to be an advisor to Fisher in November of 2018 and Melvin was allowed to escape on a lifeboat provided by the San Diego Padres as manager.Even the shoestring was about to be clipped.That’s not how current general manager David Forst or manager Mark Kotsay would frame the teardown that was officially underway. They were merely carrying out the wishes of Fisher, who speaks only through the lips of team president Dave Kaval as if he were a ventriloquist.The plan was to strip the payroll bare, dumping all talent which either already made too much money or was due big money...

Student found with bullets at Suisun City school

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:01 GMT

(KTXL) -- On Tuesday, a student at a Suisun City school was found to be in possession of firearm ammunition while on campus, according to the Suisun City Police Department.At around 11:50 a.m., police received a call from Crystal Middle School that one of their students was in possession of bullets on school grounds. Stabbing at Northgate High in Walnut Creek, student in custody When officers arrived on-scene they met with school administrators who handed over all the ammunition that was taken from the student. A further search of the campus for ammunition and firearms was conducted by law enforcement, but none were located. Police have not said the amount of ammunition that was recovered and what caliber or gauge it was. The investigation is still ongoing and no other information will be provided at this time.

Shares of First Republic Bank continue to slide

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:01 GMT

First Republic Bank plunged at the opening bell Wednesday, an ongoing route that has erased more than 50% of its value just this week on concerns about the bank’s financial health in the wake of two other bank collapses.Shares slumped 16%, following an even more severe tumble Tuesday, after it revealed that depositors withdrew more than $100 billion last month after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.The bank said late Monday that it was only able to stop the bleeding after a group of large banks stepped in to save it by depositing $30 billion in uninsured deposits. The San Francisco bank plans to sell off unprofitable assets, including low interest mortgages it provided to wealthy clients. It also has plans to lay off up to a quarter of its workforce, which totaled about 7,200 employees at the end of last year. Citi analyst downgraded First Republic on Wednesday, saying in a note to clients that there’s still a large level of uncertainty in outcomes ...

German club Fortuna Duesseldorf plans free entry for fans

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:01 GMT

DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) — German soccer club Fortuna Duesseldorf is planning to let fans attend games for free.Duesseldorf, which currently plays in the second division, announced plans Wednesday for its “Fortuna for all” scheme that will grant free entry to league games starting on a test basis for at least three as-yet undetermined matches next season.“We’re opening soccer for everyone. We’re going a whole new way,” Duesseldorf chief executive Alexander Jobst said. “Free entry means it applies to organized fan support. It applies to season ticket holders. It applies to regular or occasional visitors to the stadium. And it goes for away fans, too.”Jobst said fans who wish to attend games will be able to register their interest through a digital platform. He also said the club will distribute income differently and “more transparently.”“In addition to investing in professional soccer, in the future we will use and promote 20% of the money for youngsters, girls’ and women’s soccer,...

Biden casts himself as defender of freedom in 2024 ad pitch

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:01 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden cast himself as a defender of freedom on Wednesday in his first campaign ad since launching his 2024 reelection bid, aiming to flip the script on Republicans who have traditionally seized that mantle.The television ad, which will air in major markets in the six states Biden carried in 2020 that are key to his path back to the White House, aims to portray Republicans as part of an “extreme movement” bent on overturning elections, restricting access to abortion and undermining voters’ economic security. It’s a taste of what is set to be the core of the Democratic president’s campaign message to voters, as he seeks to paint all Republicans as embracing former President Donald Trump and out of the step with popular opinion and the nation’s values.“Courage, opportunity, democracy, freedom: They’re the values and beliefs that built this country and still beat in our hearts,” a narrator says. “But they’re under attack by a...

Czech government approves defense agreement with US

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:17:01 GMT

PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech government on Wednesday approved a defense military treaty with the United States.The Defense Cooperation Agreement sets a legal framework for possible deployment of U.S. troops on Czech territory and their cooperation with the Czech armed forces.It should make any such moves easier at a time of Russian aggression against Ukraine.“It’s undoubtedly a step to boost our country’s security,” Prime Minister Petr Fiala said.A date for signing the deal by the Czech and U.S. defense ministers is yet to be set. It will then need parliamentary and presidential approval.Defense Minister Jana Cernochova called the U.S. “the most important ally in defense. Therefore, to boost trans-Atlantic ties is in the Czech vital interest.”The U.S. has such agreements with 24 other NATO members, including Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania and Bulgaria that form the eastern flank of the alliance.Any particular deployment of U.S. forces will still need...