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Mother gets 78-year prison term for killing daughters, 15 and 5, in Virginia

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:00 GMT

By MATTHEW BARAKAT (Associated Press)FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A northern Virginia mother who sedated her two daughters with melatonin-laced gummy bears before fatally shooting them was sentenced Friday to 78 years in prison.Veronica Youngblood, 38, was arrested in August 2018 after shooting daughters Sharon Castro, 15, and Brooklynn Youngblood, 5, in their apartment in McLean. Castro survived long enough to call 911 and tell a dispatcher she had been shot by her mother. Jurors heard a recording of that call during a two-week trial that was so traumatic that jurors inquired about whether they could receive trauma therapy.Youngblood told detectives that she planned to kill them and herself following a protracted custody dispute. Ron Youngblood, her ex-husband, told The Associated Press after the hearing that he had wanted to move to Missouri with both daughters but had reluctantly agreed to take only Brooklyn after his ex-wife objected.Authorities said she fed her daughters the sleep...

The fight over Arizona’s shipping container border wall ends with dismissal of federal lawsuits

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:00 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Two federal lawsuits filed over former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s decision last year to place thousands of shipping containers along the U.S.-Mexico border have been dismissed after the state said it would pay the U.S. Forest Service $2.1 million to repair environmental damage.The Sept. 15 dismissal of the cases in U.S. District Court in Phoenix ends the fight over the double-stacked containers that were placed as a makeshift border wall in the summer of 2022. Ducey, a Republican, sued in U.S. District Court seeking to stop the federal government from preventing placement of the containers. The U.S. Department of Justice then sued Ducey and other Arizona officials, saying the wall interfered with federal control of the land along the international boundary. Many of the 3,000 containers were placed in the Yuma area of western Arizona and in the remote San Rafael Valley in southeastern Cochise County.Ducey agreed in December to remove the container wall short...

Judge overseeing case to remove Trump from Colorado ballot agrees to order banning threats, intimidation

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:00 GMT

DENVER — The Colorado judge overseeing the first significant lawsuit to bar former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 presidential ballot on Friday issued a protective order prohibiting threats and intimidation in the case, saying the safety of those involved — including herself and her staff — was necessary as the groundbreaking litigation moves forward.“I 100% understand everybody’s concerns for the parties, the lawyers, and frankly myself and my staff based on what we’ve seen in other cases,” District Judge Sarah B. Wallace said as she agreed to the protective order.The order prohibits parties in the case from making threatening or intimidating statements. Scott Gessler, a former Colorado secretary of state representing Trump in the case, opposed it. He said a protective order was unnecessary because threats and intimidation already are prohibited by law.It was sought by lawyers for the liberal group Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which is s...

These are the states with the highest and lowest obesity rates

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Obesity is becoming more prevalent across the United States, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.In 2021, 19 states saw at least 35% of adults with a body mass index of 30 or more, the government's obesity threshold. In 2022, that increased to 22 states. The data was gathered through a variety of sources based on self-reported height and weight, the CDC said. BMI is calculated by dividing the two.In 2022, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Louisiana had the highest rates in the nation with more than 40% of adults considered obese. Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio weren't far behind.2022 Obesity Prevalence Map. (CDC)On the other end of the spectrum, Washington, DC., Colorado, Hawaii, Vermont, the Virgin Islands, Massachusetts and California had the lowest prevalence of obesity.Regionally, the Midwest and South had the highest prevalence, followed by the Northeast and the West, the CDC said.Other CDC findings:From 1999 through March 2020, obesity p...

Video shows man attack L.A. County sheriff's deputy

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:00 GMT

A man was detained after an altercation with Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies in La Puente earlier this week and it was caught on video.The incident occurred around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday in a parking lot in the 900 block of North Hacienda Boulevard, Sgt. Barajas told KTLA.Deputies responded to a disturbance in the area when a distraught man holding a metal vent cover approached a deputy inside a sheriff’s vehicle. Video posted on X by LaPuente626sgv shows the deputy opening the driver’s side door as the man approaches and the two get into a scuffle.A man allegedly armed with a metal vent cover approaches a sheriff's vehicle in La Puente on Sept. 20, 2023. (LaPuente626sgv via X) A man who was allegedly armed with a metal vent cover is subdued by deputies in La Puente on Sept. 20, 2023. (LaPuente626sgv, via X)The deputy appears to push the man. That's when several other deputies get involved, pull the man to the ground and start punching him into submission, the video sh...

LAX opens new budget parking lot

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:00 GMT

LAX announced Friday that it has opened a new parking facility with features such as contactless exit and entry and shuttle bus tracking, all included to enhance customers’ experience.The new parking lot is located at 5455 W. 111th St. between Aviation and La Cienega boulevards, which is the former location of Parking Lot E.In addition to the contactless exit and entry and shuttle bus tracking, the parking lot also includes shuttle bus tracking and more. Breeze Airways to temporary pause nonstop flights from John Wayne Airport to Orlando The shuttle buses will take guests between LAX Budget Parking and the Central Terminal area. Shuttles are expected to run about every 20 to 30 minutes.Customers should expect to pay about $15 to $20 daily for parking, but more discounts are expected to available, a news release said.“Reinventing Lot E to bring LAX travelers a convenient and affordable option with LAX Budget Parking has been an exciting project for us—especially following the succ...

NCAA may soon remove prohibitions on cannabis use

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:00 GMT

College athletes may soon be able to celebrate a win with a joint instead of a victory cigar.The National Collegiate Athletic Association has long prohibited the use of cannabis, and athletes are regularly tested for THC and sometimes punished if it's detected.On Friday, however, NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports recommended removing marijuana from the list of banned substances, the NCAA said in a news release. Bill to legalize ‘cannabis cafés’ heading to Newsom’s desk The organization cited "the shifting cultural and legal landscapes surrounding cannabinoids" as at least partially underpinning the decision.Performance-enhancing drugs would remain banned, but as for cannabis, the organization instead would focus on "a 'robust educational strategy' for college athletes when it comes to cannabis," according to a report from CBS Sports."When making a decision on an important topic like this, we agree that the membership should have an opportunity...

Photos: Bay Area’s Oktoberfest season now in full swing

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Let the dancing and stein-holding contests begin!Oktoberfest season is well under way in Germany and here in the Bay Area.Redwood City’s celebrations under the tent at Courthouse Square will run through Sunday (with tickets available Sunday afternoon and evening only; Friday-Saturday are sold out), and the parties start soon at classic restaurants like Alameda’s Speisekammer and Teske’s Germania in San Jose.Big city Oktoberfests coming up include Clayton (Sept. 30-Oct. 1), Oakland’s Dimond district (Sept. 30-Oct. 1), Los Gatos (Oct. 1), Mountain View (Oct. 7-8), Walnut Creek (Oct. 13-14), Campbell (Oct. 21-22) and from now through Oct. 29 at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.For details on these or more events, click on our expanded Oktoberfest list. And check out our feature on new beer gardens for gatherings any time of year. There are options in Gilroy, Livermore, Alameda, Menlo Park and elsewhere.People drink beer as they gather in the tent at Redwood City Okto...

As San Jose Earthquakes prepare for playoff push, owner John Fisher reportedly views PayPal Park as ‘outdated’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:00 GMT

The talk around the San Jose Earthquakes should be about the club’s playoff push as they try to earn their first home playoff match in the nine-year history of PayPal Park.But instead, the discourse on social media over the past two days is all about owner John Fisher’s seemingly throwaway comment that bashes the team and its stadium.Buried deep in a recent story about Fisher’s other team, the Oakland A’s, and its fight with the City of Oakland over ballpark issues came a passage where Fisher effectively bashes the stadium that San Jose helped build for his soccer team.“The comparison between the A’s and the Earthquakes is ‘apples to oranges,’ Fisher says,” ESPN’s Tim Keown wrote in the story. “And, according to Fisher, the eight-year-old PayPal Stadium in San Jose is already outdated compared to newer MLS stadiums — he mentions LAFC, St. Louis and Austin — and lacks the capacity and premium seating that drives the kind of revenue needed to compete for championship...

Mailbag: The problem with promotion and relegation, options for WSU and OSU, Kliavkoff’s duties, the Pac-12 Networks’ future and more

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 08:00:00 GMT

The Hotline mailbag publishes each Friday. Send questions to [email protected] and include ‘mailbag’ in the subject line. Or hit me on Twitter: @WilnerHotline.Please note: Some questions have been edited for clarity and brevity.What are your thoughts about the promotion/relegation idea that leaked? Is it a unique approach that could help draw more attention to the conference(s)? Are there blockers that will prevent it from getting done? — @BennyL1986Before we address the specific proposal, two points to frame the discussion:— The concept of a promotion-and-relegation structure in college football, in which schools would change divisions from year-to-year based on performance, has been discussed for years and is viewed by many as inevitable.— The decision-makers in college sports, particularly the university presidents, are inherently risk-averse. And nothing is riskier than not knowing your division/conference and revenue base from year-to-year.Also...