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Conspiracy figure Epps charged with Jan. 6 misdmeanor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:02 GMT

By Alanna Durkin Richer, Michael Kunzelman and Lindsay Whitehurst | Associated PressWASHINGTON — Ray Epps, a former Marine who became the center of a Jan. 6, 2021, conspiracy theory, has been charged with a misdemeanor offense in connection with the U.S. Capitol riot and is expected to plead guilty, according to court papers filed Tuesday.Epps, who claimed in a lawsuit filed this year that Fox News Channel made him a scapegoat for the Capitol riot, is charged with disorderly or disruptive conduct on restricted grounds, court records show.Epps’ attorney, Edward J. Ungvarsky, said in an email that the case was filed with an anticipation that Epps would plead guilty to the charge. The judge has scheduled a plea agreement hearing for Wednesday.Epps, a one-time supporter of President Donald Trump who has said he went to Washington to protest the 2020 election Trump lost to Joe Biden, was falsely accused by Fox of being a government agent who was whipping up trouble that would be bl...

Sacramento DA sues city over homeless encampments

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:02 GMT

By Tran Nguyen | Associated PressSACRAMENTO — A Sacramento prosecutor is suing California’s capital city over failure to clean up homeless encampments.Sacramento District Attorney Thien Ho says his office asked the city to enforce laws around sidewalk obstruction and to create additional professionally operated camping sites.He announced the suit Tuesday during a news conference in Sacramento.Ho said the city is seeing a “collapse into chaos” and an “erosion of every day life.”Sacramento County had nearly 9,300 homeless people in 2022, based on data from the annual Point in Time count. That was up 67% from 2019. Roughly three-quarters of the county’s homeless population is unsheltered.Homeless tent encampments have grown visibly in cities across the U.S. but especially in California, which is home to nearly one-third of unhoused people in the country.The prosecutor had threatened in August to file charges against city officials if they didn’...

‘The crime killed us’: Oakland’s Le Cheval restaurant closing after 38 years

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:02 GMT

Oakland’s legendary Le Cheval, a Vietnamese fine-dining institution for 38 years, will be shutting its doors at the end of the month.Business is down sharply at the family-run restaurant at Tenth and Clay streets, according to Son Tran, and it’s not a post-pandemic problem of too many local employees still working from home.“The lack of office workers did not kill us,” Tran told KPIX. “The crime, the criminals killed us.”The restaurant has been hit by burglars, he said, but the impact on customers has been worse.“Even right in front of the restaurant, their car is still broken into. And they’re really mad.  And they told me, ‘Son, I love your restaurant. I love your food. I love your family, but I cannot come back to Oakland. A $30 meal becomes $500 something.’ ”According to Bay Area News Group archives, Le Cheval first opened in 1985 on Jefferson Street. The family had arrived in 1975 via an airlift from Vietnam, Son...

Suspect in 22 deaths in Texas found dead in his prison cell

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:02 GMT

By Jamie Stengle | Associated PressDALLAS — A man accused of killing nearly two dozen older women and who was convicted last year in the slayings of two was killed Tuesday morning by his cellmate at a Texas prison, an official said.Billy Chemirmir, 50, was found dead in his cell, said Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Hannah Haney. She said that Chemirmir’s cellmate, who is serving a sentence for murder, was identified as the assailant, but said she couldn’t release the cellmate’s identity or how Chemirmir was killed.Authorities said Chemirmir preyed on older women in the Dallas area over a two-year span, killing them and stealing their valuables. Time after time, their deaths were initially determined to be from natural causes, even as family members raised alarm bells about missing jewelry.He was caught after a 91-year-old woman survived an attack in 2018 and told police Chemirmir had forced his way into her apartment at an independent living commu...

Covid-19 vaccination rates lag behind flu’s, but getting shots together may help

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:02 GMT

By Meg Tirrell | CNNEvery year since 2010, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that everyone in the country ages 6 months and older receive a flu vaccine.But that has resulted in just fewer than half of all adults and about 58% of kids getting the shot each year, according to CDC data.Covid-19 vaccines have a ways to go to catch up. Just 21% of US adults received a bivalent booster, the last version available before the US Food and Drug Administration authorized an updated Covid vaccine this month. Among kids, the numbers are much lower: less than 8% of everyone under 18.“There was this very, very strong message that children were less affected than older persons,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University. That idea, and the newness of the vaccines, “along with, I’m afraid, the political veneer that Covid vaccination acquired, resulted in much less acceptance of Covid vaccination in children.”Even among older...

The iPhone’s new Action Button is more than a one-trick pony

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:02 GMT

By Samantha Murphy Kelly | CNNThe new iPhone 15 Pro lineup offers the typical slate of new features designed to persuade customers to upgrade: They’re slimmer and thinner than last year’s crop. The new cameras are professional-grade and the switch to USB-C charging will make your life easier.But one new feature easily stands out: The Action Button.Apple has repurposed its physical mute button on the side of its high-end models into a more customizable tool, allowing users to carry out a handful of commands, from recording a voice memo and taking a picture to turning on the flashlight. The button can also be programmed to launch any app or shortcut, essentially turning it into a remote control or launching pad to gain quick access to something you want on demand.In the days since Apple’s iPhone 15 event at its Cupertino, California, headquarters, I’ve used it to load a variety of apps in a single press, including CNN, Amazon and Instagram. It’s certain the Action Button will become a...

3-vehicle crash on eastbound I-580 in Oakland blocking all traffic

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:02 GMT

(KRON) -- There is a severe traffic alert on eastbound Interstate 580 west of 35th Avenue in Oakland, according to the California Highway Patrol. A traffic collision is blocking all lanes as of 11:23 a.m.The crash involved three vehicles, according to the Oakland Fire Department. One person was trapped and required extrication. They have been transported to the hospital, the department said.The impact of the collision caused one of the vehicles to ignite in flames. The fire spread into nearby vegetation. As of 11:26 a.m., all fire was extinguished.Motorists are being advised to expect delays and to use alternative routes.There is no estimated time to re-open I-580.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

All-clear given after gas leak in El Cerrito and Kensington prompted shelter-in-place

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:02 GMT

(KRON) -- Multiple agencies were at the scene of a gas main break in Kensington in the area of Cambridge and Yale avenues Tuesday morning. Residents in areas of Kensington and El Cerrito were told to shelter-in-place and close all windows and doors. Just before noon, Contra Costa County officials gave the all-clear.The East Bay Municipal Utility District, PG&E, Kensington police and fire departments responded to the gas main break. Crews worked to repair the main. Roadways near Cambridge and Yale avenues were closed as work was being performed.The El Cerrito Fire Department provided information on which areas were affected by the shelter-in-place. This includes the area south of Highland Boulevard, Kensington Park and Arlington Avenue; East of Arlington Avenue; and west of Grizzly Peak Boulevard and Purdue Avenue. Additionally, areas north of Woodmont Avenue, Purdue Avenue and Wildcat Canyon Road; South of Purdue Avenue; East of Kenyon Avenue; and west of Plateau Drive and Los A...

Vallejo Police Department apprehended two burglary suspects 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:02 GMT

(KRON) – Vallejo police officers apprehended two suspects on suspicion of burglary on Saturday, Sept. 16.Vallejo Police were alerted to a store burglary call 1100 from the block of Admiral Callaghan Lane on Sept. 10. Upon the officer's arrival, the store manager said the burglary had just taken place and the suspects had stolen over $4,000 worth of merchandise, police say.According to Vallejo officers, the store manager provided the burglary’s surveillance footage. The footage connected the suspects to a silver BMW, which is associated with multiple other Vallejo burglaries.  Tip jar thief attempted to carjack vehicles before arrest: Benicia police Vallejo officers spotted the same BMW near the intersection of Solano Avenue and Mariposa Street on Sept. 16. According to the officers, inside the vehicle was a male and female, which matched the suspect descriptions.The officer initiated a traffic stop on the suspects and the driver refused to pull over, police say. Officers util...

Deion Sanders condemns death threats against player whose late hit left Hunter with lacerated liver

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:02 GMT

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Deion Sanders stood up for Henry Blackburn after the Colorado State safety received death threats for a late hit that sent Colorado’s two-way star Travis Hunter to the hospital with a lacerated liver. “That’s absurd for people to be threatened,” the Colorado coach said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. “I don’t mind getting death threats. I get them every week. But a kid, it’s not good. He does not deserve a death threat over a game. At the end of the day, this is a game — someone must win, someone must lose. Everybody continues their life the next day. Very unfortunate.”Blackburn delivered a late blow to Hunter’s midsection on an incomplete pass in the first quarter of the Rocky Mountain Showdown last weekend. The Rams’ senior drew a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct, one of 17 penalties the Rams committed in the 43-35 double-overtime loss to the Buffaloes. Hunter went to the hospital for further evaluation.Sanders said he has forgiven Bl...