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Sacramento teacher charged with sexually abusing girls was investigated for racist incidents, records show

Current News / News & Features /

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A teacher charged this year with committing lewd acts against children was investigated by his Sacramento school district in 2020 and 2021 for racist remarks and other inappropriate behavior, including calling a Black student a “burnt cockroach,” teasing students for their weight and describing his history of dating ...Read more

Bernhard Richter/Dreamstime/TNS

Suspect bites off part of NYPD officer's finger after bust in wild Queens car chase

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NEW YORK — A Brooklyn man bit off the tip of an NYPD sergeant’s finger in a Queens police precinct holding cell after leading officers on a wild car chase, cops said Friday.

The chaos began Wednesday just before midnight when officers in Jamaica noticed a blue Nissan Altima with bogus license plates driving on Liberty Avenue near Merrick ...Read more

Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Texas sends 15th bus of asylum-seekers to Los Angeles, the second in four days

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LOS ANGELES — A group of 45 migrants who reached Los Angeles on Friday morning are the second to arrive by bus from Texas in four days.

Mayor Karen Bass' office confirmed that the group of asylum-seekers is the 15th to arrive in L.A. since the first bus arrived in June.

The bus that arrived Friday pulled into Union Station shortly after 9:30...Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Writers Guild, studios' bargaining session ends with progress, but no deal

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LOS ANGELES — The Writers Guild of America and major studio representatives met Friday for the third day this week, as throngs of film and television screenwriters hit picket lines in a show of solidarity and hope that the sides would reach a deal to end the epic strike that has thrown tens of thousands of people out of work.

There was still ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Seattle police officer put on leave over sexist, racist slurs against neighbor

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SEATTLE — A Seattle police officer was put on leave Friday as officials, for the second time this month, called for cultural reform within the department — this time over audio of the white officer using sexist and racist slurs in a dispute with his Chinese American neighbor.

Audio published by The Stranger appears to depict Seattle police ...Read more

Al Seib/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Federal judge again overturns California ban on high-capacity gun magazines

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LOS ANGELES — A federal judge for the second time overturned California’s ban on large-capacity ammunition magazines that can hold more than 10 bullets, ruling Friday that it lacked a historical basis and is therefore unconstitutional.

“This case is about a California state law that makes it a crime to keep and bear common firearm ...Read more

Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Biden urges voters to elect more lawmakers who back gun control

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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden called on voters to elect more members of Congress who support strengthening controls on firearms as he announced the creation of a White House office dedicated to preventing gun violence.

“Let me be very clear. If members of the Congress refuse to act, then we’ll need to elect new members of Congress,”...Read more

Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS

Rudy Giuliani owes $236,000 and counting in Georgia election worker defamation case

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WASHINGTON — Rudy Giuliani owes more than $236,000 — and may be on the hook for more — for failing to turn over evidence and meet deadlines in a civil suit brought by two 2020 Georgia election workers he falsely accused of conspiring against Donald Trump.

The sum doesn’t include money damages that Giuliani may be ordered to pay the ...Read more

Patrick Doyle/Pool/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Zelenskyy says Ukraine will triumph as Canada pledges more military help

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled hundreds of millions in new assistance for Ukraine on Friday, affirming Canada’s support for the country during a warm visit with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a time of wavering from some other allies.

Canada pledged $650 million Canadian, or $482 million, over three years to supply Ukraine with 50 ...Read more

Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

When will Sacramento DA Thien Ho's homeless lawsuits against the city get a court date?

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho this week filed two high-profile civil lawsuits against the city of Sacramento regarding homeless camps, but it’s unclear when a judge will actually make a ruling.

The lawsuits, which Ho filed Tuesday in Sacramento Superior Court, are currently set for a court date Aug. 16, ...Read more

News briefs

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Study: Police should limit pursuits, consider harm to public

Following what experts call a “significant” increase in police chases that leave hundreds of people dead and many more injured each year, a new study is urging law enforcement agencies across the county to re-evaluate their policies governing pursuits and weigh their risk against ...Read more

James Carbone/Getty Images North America/TNS

Gilgo Beach suspect Rex Heuermann wants home firearms stash handed over to family

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NEW YORK — Imprisoned Gilgo Beach serial killing suspect Rex Heuermann wants his weapons back.

The hulking defendant’s lawyer asked for the return of the more than 280 firearms recovered during a search of the accused predator’s Massapequa Park, Long Island, home to help his cash-strapped family survive their currently dire financial ...Read more

Win McNamee/TNS/TNS

Trump stopped wearing medical masks during COVID because they smeared his bronzer, White House aide says in book

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A former White House aide claims Donald Trump stopped wearing medical masks during the COVID-19 pandemic because they messed up his signature makeup.

Cassidy Hutchinson, a senior assistant to former chief of staff Mark Meadows, writes in her memoir “Enough” that the former president once selected a white mask to wear during a May 2020 visit...Read more

Yamil Lage/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Cuba is considering letting Cuban Americans own private businesses on the island

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UNITED NATIONS — Cuba’s government is considering allowing Cuban Americans to invest in and own businesses on the island, Havana officials told representatives of U.S. companies and Cuban Americans from Miami who met Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel on Friday.

Cuban officials said they are “contemplating it and working on legislation to ...Read more

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America/TNS

Who is Bob Menendez's wife, Nadine? Who else was charged in the indictment?

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U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and his wife, Nadine Arslanian, were indicted Friday on charges they accepted bribes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from three New Jersey businessmen seeking the senator’s help with their personal and legal problems.

The 39-page indictment unsealed Friday in federal court in New York accuses Menendez of...Read more

Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/TNS

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis drops 4 private school campuses from voucher programs because of China ties

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida yanked four private school campuses, including the top-rated Park Maitland School, from its voucher programs because of “direct ties to the Chinese Communist Party,” Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office said late Friday.

The announcement by DeSantis — who has called the Communist Party of China the United States’ “...Read more

GoFundMe.com/GoFundMe.com/TNS

California woman fatally stabbed after reportedly confronting people using drugs outside her home

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LOS ANGELES — A Riverside County woman was stabbed to death Monday night, reportedly after asking two people to stop using drugs outside her children’s bedroom, according to her family.

At 12:35 a.m., the Hemet Police Department responded to a report of a stabbing in the 1000 block of South Gilbert Street. Upon arriving, officers found a ...Read more

Scott Olson/Getty Images North America/TNS

Biden to travel to Michigan to rally striking UAW members

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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden plans to visit Michigan on Tuesday to show support for the United Auto Workers as they continue their strike against the Detroit Three car companies.

Biden said he will join at UAW picket line "and stand in solidarity with the men and women of the UAW as they fight for a fair share of the value they helped ...Read more

Drew Angerer/Getty Images North America/TNS

New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez indicted over gifts of gold bars and a luxury car

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Gold bars, a luxury car and envelopes stuffed with tens of thousands in cash were among the bribes that federal authorities on Friday accused U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of accepting as they charged him in a sweeping corruption indictment — the second the New Jersey Democrat has faced in less than a decade.

Prosecutors said that in exchange for ...Read more

Richard Brian/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Leina'ala Ann Teruya Drummond, whose image helped popularize the iconic Hawaiian Airlines logo, dies at 77

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Leina'ala Ann Teruya Drummond, a former Miss Hawaii whose photo image helped popularize the iconic and decades-old Hawaiian Airlines logo, has died.

Drummond died of cancer Monday in Hilo, Hawaii, according to a statement from her family. She was 77. Drummond was 18 when she worked for Hawaiian Airlines in 1964, the same year she was named Miss...Read more