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Not enough public restrooms in downtown San Diego: Grand Jury report

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:30 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A Grand Jury report filed in May focuses on issues concerning the lack of available public restrooms in downtown San Diego.“There’s not enough bathrooms for homeless people, but there’s not enough bathrooms just for our citizens and certainly not for the tourists,” Homeless advocate Michael McConne said.McConnell says it’s about time the city stepped up to address the issue.“When folks don’t have sanitary places to go to the bathroom or wash their hands, we had that huge Hepatis A outbreak, so it’s just public health,“ McConnell said.On Thursday, the Community and Neighborhood Services Committee met up to go over the report. It includes eight findings and eight recommendations directed to the mayor and city council.Finding one says current restroom facilities in the downtown area are inadequate to provide 24/7 public access. The city agrees with this finding. These were the top baby names in San Diego County last year “It’s not always easy to find a restroom, we can d...

Carlsbad ranks among safest US cities for trick-or-treating: study

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:30 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- It's October and that means spooky season is upon us.Trick-or-treating is a staple during Halloween, so knowing where to participate in the activity safely is very important for parents.Carlsbad was recently ranked the 18th safest city in the nation for trick-or-treating because of its low crime rate, high number of law enforcement employees and safe streets for pedestrians, according to a study by ChamberofCommerce.org. The study used five key metrics: pedestrian fatalities, violent crime, property crime, the number of registered sex offenders and number of law enforcement employees. Each metric was calculated per 10,000 residents. Raves popping up beneath San Diego freeways are ‘extremely dangerous’: CHP For crimes, 18.3 residents were involved in violent crime incidents while 180.2 in property crime incidents in Carlsbad, the research shows. There were 3.4 residents for the number of registered sex offenders.Law enforcement employees make up 15.5 of residents whil...

Man suspected of ghost gun possession arrested in North County

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:30 GMT

VISTA, Calif. -- A man who attempted to avoid deputies during a pedestrian stop was arrested Wednesday in Vista on suspicion of possessing a ghost gun, authorities said.Clinton Bailey, 51, was booked into the Vista Detention Facility, Sgt. Seung Park with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSO) said in a news release Thursday. He faces charges of possessing an illegal firearm and ammunition, as well as five felony warrants.The arrest occurred around 9 p.m. in the 1200 block of North Citrus Avenue, where authorities stopped a man who had multiple felony warrants, according to law enforcement. SDSU places seven fraternities on interim suspension "The man attempted to avoid the deputies. He was located and taken into custody following a foot pursuit. The man was found to be in possession of a ghost gun and loaded magazine," Park said.Ghost guns make it harder for law enforcement to investigate or solve a crime since they are not marked with serial numbers, unlike legal fire...

Icy floodwaters kill at least 31 in India’s Himalayan northeast after lake bursts through major dam

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:30 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Ice-cold floodwaters swept through mountain towns in India’s Himalayan northeast, killing at least 31 people, washing away houses and bridges, and forcing thousands of people to leave their homes, officials said Friday.The flood began shortly after midnight Wednesday, when the waters of a glacial lake overflowed, cracking open Sikkim State’s biggest hydroelectric dam and then cascading through towns in the valley below.It was the latest deadly flood to hit northeast India in a year of unusually heavy monsoon rains. Nearly 50 people died in flash floods and landslides in August in nearby Himachal Pradesh state, record rains in July killed more than 100 people over two weeks in northern India.More than 2,000 people were rescued after Wednesday’s floods, the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority said in a statement, adding that state authorities set up 26 relief camps for more than 22,000 people impacted by the floods.Rescue workers were still searching for ...

Trump endorses Jim Jordan to succeed Kevin McCarthy as House speaker

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:30 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is officially backing Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the pugnacious House Judiciary Committee chairman and longtime Trump defender, to succeed Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker.“Congressman Jim Jordan has been a STAR long before making his very successful journey to Washington, D.C., representing Ohio’s 4th Congressional District,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site shortly after midnight. “He will be a GREAT Speaker of the House, & has my Complete & Total Endorsement!”The announcement came hours after Texas Rep. Troy Nehls said Thursday night that Trump had decided to back Jordan’s bid.___ Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.Jill Colvin And Farnoush Amiri, The Associated Press

What’s streaming now: Drake, ‘Fair Play,’ Assassin’s Creed Mirage and William Friedkin’s last film

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:30 GMT

Drake’s latest album, the corporate movie thriller “Fair Play” starring Phoebe Dynevor, and a game show on CBS that’s being described as Mexico’s version of Bingo are some of the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near youAmong the offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are the late director William Friedkin’s final movie, “The Caine Mutiny Court Martial,” and season two of “Quantum Leap” premieres on NBC.NEW MOVIES TO STREAM— The corporate thriller “Fair Play” stars Phoebe Dynevor (“Bridgerton”) and Alden Ehrenreich (“Solo”) as two analysts at the same hedge fund in a secret relationship. The workplace environment — sexist, cutthroat — is not exactly a healthy one for romance. In Chloe Domont’s film, that turns out especially true after Emily (Dynevor) gets a promotion Luke (Ehrenreich) expected for himself. “Fair Play,” which began streaming Friday on Netflix, was a hit out of the Sundance Film F...

Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, a rising political star, crosses partisan school choice divide

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:30 GMT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — In the partisan politics of education funding, the “school choice” movement has pressed states for decades to send taxpayer money to private and religious schools and long had to concentrate its efforts on states where a Republican governor was an ally.That suddenly changed over the summer.Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — a first-term Democrat seen by his party as a rising star nationally — forcefully put his weight behind a Republican-backed proposal to send $100 million to families for private school tuition and school supplies.Shapiro would later back down in the face of House Democratic opposition, but his support has raised Pennsylvania’s profile in the national voucher debate and given advocates optimism that the program will eventually become law.With the backing of a major GOP campaign donor and now Shapiro, a private-school product whose near-landslide win in the battleground state has fueled talk of his national political prospects, vouchers are at t...

Migrants pass quickly through once impenetrable Darien jungle as governments scramble for answers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:30 GMT

BAJO CHIQUITO, Panama (AP) — Rain-swollen rivers only briefly slowed the otherwise uninterrupted flow of migrants through this jungle-covered border area separating Colombia and Panama and by midweek another 2,000 bedraggled migrants stumbled out of the Darien jungle.Pregnant women and men carrying children atop their shoulders waded across the waist-deep Tuquesa river and into the Indigenous outpost of Bajo Chiquito where some fell to the ground in exhaustion and relief as Panamanian officials waited to register their arrival.Crossing through the dense, lawless jungle not long ago was unthinkable to most people. In recent years, it became a brutal slog of a week or more. But some migrants arriving this week described an organized trek completed in as little as 2 1/2 days on trails marked by colored ribbons and assisted by guides and porters, part of what officials say has become a business generating millions of dollars.That efficiency combined with the unrelenting economic factors...

EU summit to look at changes the bloc needs to make to welcome Ukraine, others as new members

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:30 GMT

GRANADA, Spain (AP) — A day after pledging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy their unwavering support, European Union leaders on Friday will face one of their worst political headaches on a key commitment — how and when to welcome debt-laden and battered Ukraine into the bloc. The 27-nation EU has said since the start of Russia’s invasion in February 2022 that at the end of the war it would work steadfastly on “lasting unity” that would eventually translate into Ukraine’s membership in the wealthy bloc. For a nation fighting for its very survival, that moment cannot come quickly enough. For the bloc itself, that remains to be seen. On Friday, the leaders will assess “enlargement” as they call it at their informal summit in southern Spain’s Granada. Beyond Ukraine, several western Balkan nations and Moldova are also knocking with increasing impatience at the door.In his summit invitation letter, EU Council President Charles Michel asked the leaders “critical q...

Michigan judge to decide whether to drop charges against 2 accused in false elector scheme

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:30 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan judge is expected to decide Friday morning whether to drop charges against two defendants accused of participating in a fake elector scheme after the state attorney general said the group was “brainwashed” into believing former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election.The defendants, Clifford Frost and Mari-Ann Henry, are two of 16 Michigan Republicans who investigators say met following the 2020 election and signed a document falsely stating they were the state’s “duly elected and qualified electors.” Each of the 16 faces eight criminal charges, including multiple counts of forgery.Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, however, may have derailed the case by saying during a virtual event last month that the electors “legit believe” Trump won the election.“Every single charge requires the government to prove they did this with the intent to defraud,” said Matthew Schneider, a former U.S. attorney in Detroit. “If the attorn...