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Mayor Mike Johnston appoints new leader for Denver’s top arts job

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:59 GMT

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston on Tuesday named Gretchen Hollrah as the new leader of Denver Arts & Venues, filling a role that oversees multimillion-dollar projects at some of the state’s biggest music, arts and entertainment venues.Hollrah’s appointment comes after the September ouster of Ginger White-Brunetti, the former Arts & Venues director appointed by former Denver Mayor Michael Hancock. As is customary with new administrations, White-Brunetti in July was asked to reapply for her job as Johnston assembled his own team.Unlike White-Brunetti, Hollrah will lead Denver Arts & Venues while also serving as deputy chief operating officer for Johnston’s administration, continuing the role that she started in August. The A&V director job will remain a separate, paid position, but Hollrah will only be paid for her COO job, according to Johnston’s office.Hancock had appointed White-Brunetti as deputy director of Arts & Venues in 2012, following a...

Worker stabbed at Orange County Amazon distribution center 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:59 GMT

A woman was stabbed outside of the Orange County Amazon facility where she worked, authorities said. According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, calls of the stabbing first came in just after 9:30 a.m. at the Amazon distribution center located in the 25000 block of Jeronimo Road in Mission Viejo.  Suspected DUI driver slams into police officers on L.A. freeway; 2 hurt Upon arriving, deputies assisted Orange County Fire Authority first responders with medical treatment of the victim, who was stabbed in the facility’s parking lot. A woman was stabbed outside of the Orange County Amazon facility where she worked, authorities said. (Sky5)A woman was stabbed outside of the Orange County Amazon facility where she worked, authorities said. (Sky5)A woman was stabbed outside of the Orange County Amazon facility where she worked, authorities said. (Sky5)A woman was stabbed outside of the Orange County Amazon facility where she worked, authorities said. (Sky5)The vict...

Man fatally shot by CHP officer on 105 freeway was homeless, an aspiring actor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:59 GMT

The man fatally shot by a California Highway Patrol officer on the 105 Freeway in Watts was an aspiring actor who struggled with substance abuse and mental health issues and was homeless, his family tells the Los Angeles Times.Authorities say Jesse Dominguez, 34, had wandered onto the busy freeway Sunday afternoon, forcing officers to stop traffic. As an officer approached Dominguez, a struggle ensued.“During the struggle, the pedestrian was able to access a taser he had in his possession, activated the weapon, and used the taser against the officer, CHP said in a statement. 4 California cities ranked among the most roach-infested in the U.S. A bystander recorded video of what unfolded next.The officer and Dominguez wrestled on the asphalt for a few moments before the officer pulled out his service weapon and fired several shots at point-blank range, the video shows.Dominguez died from his wounds.Video posted to social media shows the CHP officer firing several shots, killing the ...

Tree trimmer possibly electrocuted in Cheviot Hills

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:59 GMT

A tree trimmer was apparently electrocuted in Cheviot Hills Tuesday afternoon, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.The trimmer, only identified as a man, was about 20 or 25 feet up a tree or hedges when responders arrived. He was unresponsive, and he "appears to have been electrocuted," according to an LAFD alert."Firefighters are preparing for a technical rescue. LADWP is responding to assist with power line management," officials said.Check back for updates to this developing story.

Los Angeles County weighing free gun lock distribution program 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:59 GMT

Los Angeles County officials are proposing a plan to allow doctors and nurses at County-operated hospitals and medical campuses to give out free gun locks. The proposal is part of the county's harm reduction strategy to prevent gun violence, according to a release from Supervisor Janice Hahn. More than 60 percent of gun owners in America don’t lock their firearms and 56 percent keep them loaded, according to data obtained by the county from the Pew Research Center. “Gun locks can save lives, especially in households with children,” Supervisor Hahn said in a press release. “Some studies have found that people are more likely to use gun locks if they are given to them by their doctor or in a medical center to take home and I think it is a concept we should explore for our own County hospitals.”  Burbank painting business pays almost $500K to employees who worked overtime, DOL says A motion authored by Supervisor Hahn and fellow Supervisor Hilda Solis was passed unanimously...

Review: Murder & laughter co-star in City Lights’ ‘Game’s Afoot’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:59 GMT

The errant knaves who occupy the grand living room of William Gillette, an actual star of stage and screen, love to deep-dive into their own pedanticism. William Shakespeare’s multitude of transformative quotes are on this gathering’s agenda, provided by the guests who attempt desperately to out-Hamlet each other. It’s as if there are prizes for those who can quote the bard faster and more often than the other.City Lights Theater Company’s production of Ken Ludwig’s “The Game’s Afoot; Or Holmes for the Holidays,” in which a party at the actor’s castle becomes its own murder mystery, holds its own in the comic genre, delving into three distinct subtexts. Murder, mystery and madcap mayhem are all brought forth with shimmering glee within director Mark Anderson Phillips’ purposeful staging.Ludwig’s script meanders too much inside a first act which establishes the sometimes predictable rigor of a tighter and funnier Act 2. Within Phillips’ direction of a cast not alway...

Jury signs off on aggravating factors for San Carlos beheading killer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:59 GMT

REDWOOD CITY — The jury that on Monday found a man guilty in the brutal daytime killing of his child’s mother last year added enhancements to their verdict Tuesday, factors that will be taken into account when the man is sentenced to prison.All aggravating factors were found to be true by San Mateo County Superior Court jurors Tuesday; the panel had been asked to decide on the specific facts of the case as the last step of the trial in the grisly San Carlos beheading case. Now, only a sentencing hearing remains for Jose Rafael Solano Landaeta, 34, found guilty of murder in the violent 2022 killing.Solano, of Hayward, brutally killed the mother of his child, Karina Castro, in broad daylight on a suburban street on Sept. 8 of last year. After finding him guilty Monday afternoon at the San Mateo County Hall of Justice in Redwood City, jurors affirmed the first of five aggravating factors, agreeing that he used a sword in the slaying.Jurors reconvened Tuesday to address the four r...

Why Warriors’ Kuminga isn’t playing more despite Draymond’s absence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:59 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — Three games into Draymond Green’s suspension, the Warriors have mostly gone small in their starting lineup. Rather than insert third-year wing Jonathan Kuminga, coach Steve Kerr has gone with veteran guard Chris Paul into his starting five each of their past two games.Kuminga, still only 21, has been left to fight for minutes with the rest of the Warriors’ reserves, a rotation Kerr said runs 12 deep.“Every night is going to be a little bit different. We’re going to go with whoever gives us the best chance to win,” Kerr said. “That’s going to be different guys unless there’s separation within the group. So far I haven’t seen that separation. A lot of guys are playing well but nobody’s separating themselves from the pack.”Kuminga made his first and only start of the season in the first game of Green’s suspension and put up 21 points in his most efficient shooting performance of the season. Playing a season-high 26 minutes, he a...

Oakland: Man shot to death in fast-food parking lot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:59 GMT

OAKLAND — A man was shot to death Tuesday morning in the parking lot of an East Oakland fast-food restaurant, authorities said.The man’s name was not immediately released pending confirmation of his identity and notification of his next of kin.The shooting happened about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday in a parking lot in the 6900 block of Bancroft Ave. at Church Street. Police responding to a report of a shooting found a man suffering from at least one gunshot.Rescuers rendered emergency aid but he died at the scene.A potential suspect was seen driving away in an unspecified vehicle. Investigators were still working to determine a possible motive.The killing is the 113th homicide investigated by Oakland police this year. Last year at this time police had investigated 112 homicides in the city.Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $10,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest of the shooter. Anyone with information may call police at 510-238-3821 or 510-23...

Nearly a million US union members got double-digit raises this year

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:59 GMT

By Chris Isidore | CNNNearly 900,000 Americans sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner this week will have unions – and the double-digit pay increases they won – to thank.That’s how many unionized workers have won immediate pay hikes of 10% or more in just the last year, according to an analysis by CNN.And the pace of increases of that size have been picking up. More than 700,000 of those workers won pay hikes over the course of the last six months, and of that group, nearly 300,000 saw deals reached in just the last six weeks.“I would say this is the best run of wage increases won by labor since the period right after the end of World War II,” said Art Wheaton, director of labor studies at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations in Buffalo.Some of the deals arrived at the end of high-profile strikes, such as the United Auto Workers union strike against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, which lasted more than six weeks, or one by 75,000 health care workers at Ka...