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LA coronavirus hospitalizations start rising again; officials urge mask-wearing
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County's coronavirus-positive hospitalizations are rising again, causing health officials to urge residents to put masks back on if they have stopped doing so.
L.A. County already requires mask-wearing on public transit and at its airports, and Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer urged residents Monday to wear ...Read more

California law requiring women on corporate boards is ruled unconstitutional
LOS ANGELES — A California law that required companies primarily based in the state to have women on their corporate boards has been ruled unconstitutional by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge.
In a 23-page ruling filed Friday, Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis found the state could not prove that the "use of a gender-based classification was...Read more

Senate advances $40 billion Ukraine aid bill with wide support
WASHINGTON — The Senate overwhelmingly voted to move toward passage of $40 billion in aid to Ukraine, underscoring the broad Republican and Democratic support for the country as it defends itself against Russia’s invasion.
Monday’s 81-11 procedural vote sets up Senate passage of the legislation as soon as Wednesday if all lawmakers ...Read more

Denver City Council bans concealed carry guns in all city buildings, parks
DENVER — The Denver City Council on Monday adopted an ordinance banning concealed carry permit holders from bringing a gun into any city facility or public park after an effort to strip parks out of the law failed.
The council voted 9-3 to enact the new restrictions on where guns are and aren’t allowed in Denver. The law is expected to take...Read more

Judge allows Georgia voting rights trial to continue
ATLANTA — The Georgia voting rights case led by Fair Fight Action has survived a midtrial attempt to dismiss after a month of testimony.
U.S. District Judge Steve Jones wrote in an order Monday that he won’t render any judgment until all evidence has been presented.
The decision by Jones means the trial will resume Tuesday, when the ...Read more

California properties at risk of wildfire expected to see sixfold increase in 30 years
LOS ANGELES — The number of California properties facing severe wildfire risk will grow sixfold over the next 30 years when considering only the impact of climate change, according to projections released Monday by a nonprofit research group.
Just over 100,000 properties in the state currently have a 1% or greater annual chance of being ...Read more

Buffalo gunman was just getting started and planned racist attacks in other parts of city, police say
NEW YORK — The rampaging teen behind a hate-mongering massacre at a Buffalo supermarket was just getting started, and had plans to take his anti-Black attack to other parts of the city, authorities said Monday.
Payton Gendron, 18, allegedly shot 13 people at the Tops Friendly Market on Saturday afternoon, killing 10 of them.
Police said ...Read more

Black residents want Biden to call out racism and white supremacy in Buffalo visit
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The White House said President Joe Biden would travel to Buffalo on Tuesday to grieve with victims and their family members after what police described as a racially motivated mass shooting on Saturday that left 10 people dead.
But members of that tightknit community say they want more from the president than his condolences. ...Read more

Critic of Oxford School officials found not guilty of phoning in 'threat'
ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. — A Temperance man was found not guilty Monday of using a phone to threaten an Oxford Community Schools official, using as a defense his anger over how the district had "failed students" in how it handled an accused mass shooter at the high school.
Craig James Macrina, 55, was charged in December for alleged malicious ...Read more

Laguna Woods shooting was a hate crime targeting Taiwanese, sheriff alleges
LOS ANGELES — The suspect in the Laguna Woods church shooting Sunday appeared to be motivated by political hatred directed at the Taiwanese community, Orange County Sheriff’s officials said Monday.
While investigators provided few details, they said their investigation suggests the deadly attack was a politically motivated hate incident.
�...Read more
News briefs
Supreme Court rules for Ted Cruz, strikes down limit on post-election gifts to winners
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has ruled for Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Monday struck down the legal limit on how much candidates can collect from big donors after an election is over.
Siding with Cruz, the court's conservative majority said the $250,000 ...Read more

12 days after one of their doctors was abducted, these Haiti hospitals are still closed
Two hospitals in Haiti’s capital that specialize in the care of childhood cancer, COVID-19 and women with high-risk pregnancies remain closed more than a week after they suspended operations to demand the release of one of their doctors, who has been kidnapped, and to protest the violence that’s paralyzing medical care in the country.
Dr. ...Read more

'Justice can't wait': Activists, faith leaders renew demands for DOJ investigation into KCKPD
A coalition of faith leaders and community activists on Monday renewed their call for federal investigators to examine the practices of the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department.
Members of MORE2, the Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equity, gathered outside the Robert J. Dole Federal Courthouse and said they plan to file an addendum...Read more

More progress in fight to contain northern Michigan wildfire
A northern Michigan wildfire that has raged across more than 2,000 acres since Friday was, according to a Michigan Department of Natural Resources estimate, 75% contained Monday, the agency said.
Some roads that were closed in the Blue Lakes Fire in Montmorency and Cheboygan counties also were reopened, said Kerry Heckman, a DNR spokesperson, ...Read more

Doctor killed in Laguna Woods shooting was trying to disarm suspect, save others
LOS ANGELES — The churchgoer killed when a gunman opened fire at a Laguna Woods church Sunday was a sports medicine doctor and master of martial arts who was slain while trying to stop the shooting, authorities said Monday.
Orange County sheriff’s officials said that when the suspect began shooting, Dr. John Cheng put himself in the line of...Read more

Surfside commission votes to approve $2 million settlement in Champlain Towers collapse
MIAMI — Surfside commissioners voted Monday to approve a $2 million insurance settlement in the class-action lawsuit related to the Champlain Towers South condo collapse.
It was part of the nearly $1 billion tentative settlement that parties ranging from the security company contracted at the Champlain Towers to the developers of a Miami ...Read more

Boris Johnson pledges 'legislative solution' to amend Brexit deal
LONDON — The United Kingdom will lay out its plan to amend its post-Brexit trade deal Tuesday in a direct challenge to the European Union, which is insisting that Prime Minister Boris Johnson must honor the agreement he signed.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will make a statement in the House of Commons, setting out her plan to introduce laws ...Read more

Former Colorado police chief's partner submitted false child-abuse tip about councilwoman critical of chief's performance, investigators say
The partner of former Aurora police Chief Vanessa Wilson called in a false tip that an Aurora City Council member critical of Wilson was abusing her child, according to an Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office warrant for the partner’s arrest.
Wilson’s partner, Robin Niceta, called a child abuse hotline on Jan. 28 and reported that months ...Read more

Buffalo pizza shop closes after mass-shooting threat
A Buffalo pizza shop closed Sunday after a customer allegedly made a mass-shooting threat to employees.
Joseph S. Chowaniec, 52, was arrested after allegedly calling Bocce Pizza and threatening to “shoot up Bocce’s like the Tops on Jefferson” while complaining about a pizza he had ordered, Buffalo Police said.
The store closed after the ...Read more

Abbott enters into agreement with FDA, outlining terms for resuming infant formula production at Michigan site
CHICAGO — Abbott Laboratories and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have come to an agreement on the steps the company needs to take before it can restart production of infant formula at a Michigan facility, Abbott said Monday.
Abbott has entered into a consent decree with the FDA, which must still be approved in court, the company said ...Read more