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Texas gunman agrees to pay $5 million for 2019 racist attack

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:08:41 GMT

By Paul J. Weber | Associated PressAUSTIN, Texas — A white Texas gunman who killed 23 people at a Walmart in 2019 after ranting about Hispanics taking over the government and economy has agreed to pay more than $5 million to victims of the racist attack, according to an order signed by a judge Monday.Patrick Crusius was sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences in July after pleading guilty to federal hate crime charges following one of the nation’s worst mass killings. Court records show his attorneys and the Justice Department reached an agreement over the restitution amount, which was then approved by U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama.There is no indication Crusius, 25, has significant assets. He was 21 years old and had dropped out of community college when police say he drove more than 700 miles from his home near Dallas to target Hispanics with an AK-style rifle inside and outside the store. Moments before the attack began, Crusius posted a racist screed online that ...

Pac-12 football: What to make of Colorado? Don’t overthink the Buffs, just enjoy them

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:08:41 GMT

Our Google search for the terms ‘Colorado,’ ‘Sanders,’ and ‘fraud’ this morning required exactly 0.26 seconds to spit out a slew of results. Substitute the term ‘overrated’ into the search bar, and a whopping 0.39 seconds were needed.Anyone who witnessed the 42-6 wipeout at Oregon on Saturday would conclude Deion Sanders’ team did not look worthy of a top-25 ranking, national television broadcast or an ounce of attention from the college football media machinery.Sanders himself called it a “good old-fashioned butt-kicking.”Counterpoint to the criticism from beyond Boulder’s borders: So what?So what if Colorado was run off the field by a better, faster, deeper team?So what if CU is no longer unbeaten, ranked in the AP poll or deserving of lofty status in the best conference in the country?That was always a bar too high for Year One of Sanders’ reclamation project.Despite the unprecedented roster overhaul an...

Republican presidential hopefuls head to Southern California this week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:08:41 GMT

Political eyes turn to Southern California this week as presidential hopefuls swoop in for the second presidential primary debate, fundraisers and a state GOP convention.While it still remains to be seen which candidates officially qualified for the debate — the Republican National Committee is expected to confirm attendees Monday, Sept. 25 — at least four will be in Anaheim later in the week for the California Republican Party’s fall convention: former President Donald Trump, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.Trump will also be in Costa Mesa on Saturday, Sept. 30 for a fundraiser. Former Vice President Mike Pence has a reception on the books in Anaheim on Thursday.But before all that, the presidential primary debate kicks off Wednesday, Sept. 27 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, a popular setting for Republicans.“The Reagan Library is always an attractive venue for Republican debates, in part becau...

What are legacy admissions — and do colleges need them?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:08:41 GMT

By Ramishah Maruf | CNNNew York  — Legacy college admission is an advantage given at birth, in which the children of a school’s alumni receive special consideration in the college admissions rat race. But after the US Supreme Court overturned race-based admissions over the summer, attention toward this already criticized practice intensified.While many students from minority or low-income backgrounds are likely the first in their families to attend college, legacy students are mostly White, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Since the Supreme Court’s decision on race-based admissions, Wesleyan University and the University of Minnesota dropped legacy admissions. Other schools, such as Johns Hopkins University and Pomona College, made the decision even earlier.RELATED: Harvard is getting scrutinized for legacy admissions. What does this mean for Stanford and other California colleges?“It was clear we should get rid of it,” Wesleyan President Michael Roth said on “CNN Th...

Israel hits Gaza with missiles in a third day of attacks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:08:41 GMT

By Aref Tufaha | Associated PressNOUR SHAMS REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank (AP) — Israeli airstrikes struck militant sites in Gaza on Sunday for the third straight day, the Israeli military said, after Palestinian militants near the border fence launched incendiary balloons into Israel and threw an explosive at soldiers. The strike came on the heels of an Israeli military raid in the northern West Bank that Palestinian health officials said killed two Palestinians.It was the latest bloodshed in a surge of violence during a sensitive Jewish holiday period. A series of violent escalations on the border between Israel and Gaza over the past week has raised the specter of an escalation for the first time since a brief round of conflict last May between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group.It comes at a fraught time. Jews are set to mark Yom Kippur, the holiest day on their calendar, on Sunday night followed by the weeklong Sukkot festival later in the month.There were no rep...

Pac-12 power ratings: Washington on top as Colorado holds steady, Utah, WSU and ASU rise

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:08:41 GMT

Let’s start with a public service announcement that targets a longstanding frustration across the Pac-12 footprint: Each team is required to make a minimum number of appearances on the Pac-12 Networks; that minimum corresponds to the number of non-conference home games on each team’s schedule.The conference just released the broadcast assignments for games on Oct. 7, and it features three games on the Pac-12 Networks.That leaves seven Saturdays to be scheduled, and most teams will be off the hook for required appearances on the network nobody watches.Only Colorado and Utah will enter the second half of the season (starting Oct. 14) with obligations unfulfilled. Each team must appear on the Pac-12 Networks at least once down the stretch.Our hunch: Utah’s date with Cal (Oct. 14) or perhaps Arizona (Nov. 18) will be assigned to the networks.Colorado’s options are limited because the Buffaloes have two Friday games in the second half — those belong to ESPN ...

First permits issued for new swordfish fishing gear that’s safe for marine mammals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:08:41 GMT

Permits are being issued to commercial swordfish fishermen who forgo large drift nets for a new system that won’t also capture whales and dolphins.The National Marine Fisheries Service recently issued its first 50 permits to fishermen using a new deep-set buoy gear that, unlike the mile-long, 100-foot-wide nets that drift in the ocean to tangle up fish, uses hooks to target only swordfish.The permits are going to the drift net fishermen who first agreed to pioneer the new gear and to fishermen who took buyouts to ditch the mesh nets permanently. The plan is to develop a new fishery using the gear and issue 25 new permits each year until 2027.Geoff Shester, a senior scientist with the nonprofit advocacy group Oceana, is among those who have been pushing for the new gear for years and called the new permits “a banner day for whales, dolphins and sea turtles that swim off our shores,” while also being “a massive leap forward for sustainable swordfish fishing in California.”“A thriving ...

Murder case in limbo: Man accused of killing popular Oakland youth mentor is mentally incompetent, attorney says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:08:41 GMT

OAKLAND — Criminal proceedings are being suspended over the killing of a popular youth mentor and coach, so that a mental health professional can evaluate the accused killer, court records show.At a September court hearing, the deputy public defender for 39-year-old Daniel Stith openly declared a doubt to Stith’s mental competence for trial, kicking off a legal process where a psychiatrist must now evaluate Stith and report her findings to a judge. Stith was not present for the hearing, having refused to leave his Santa Rita Jail cell, according to court documents.Stith was charged in 2021 with killing Concord resident Reuben Lewis III, 37, at a football practice attended by more than 100 people and children at Concordia Park in Oakland. Lewis was a former AAU basketball coach, and the community responded to his death with a huge outpouring of grief, including a vigil attended by then-Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and then-police Chief LeRonne Armstrong.Questions have been ...

Young mother slain at Bay Area Toyota service center identified

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:08:41 GMT

ALBANY, Calif. (KRON) -- A young Bay Area boy lost both of his parents on the same day. The boy, named King, was orphaned in the wake of two shootings at a Toyota service center in Albany, according to family and investigators."Losing a mother so tragically is devastating for any one, especially a young child (who is) as close to their mother as King was to his," King's grandmother wrote on a GoFundMe page.The boy's mother was identified by family as 24-year-old Alonna Gallon.Gallon was working on September 21 at the Toyota dealership's service center when she was shot by her son's father, according to family and investigators. The killing was a case of domestic violence, Alameda County Sheriff's Lt. Tya Modeste said.The victim's mother, Yuvonda Gallon, wrote, "Alonna was tragically killed at her place of employment by her child's father after making a conscience decision to distance herself from him due to his reckless behaviors. Alonna tried to the best of her individual abilities...

Solano County woman killed in collision on I-80

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:08:41 GMT

(BCN) -- A woman was killed and four other people were injured in a two-car crash Sunday night on Interstate Highway 80 near Davis, according to the California Highway Patrol.The wreck was reported shortly after 10 p.m. on eastbound I-80 near State Route 113, just west of Richards Boulevard.A Nissan Sentra was on I-80 traveling east in the left lane at a high rate of speed when a car changed lanes directly in front of it. Female victim killed after multiple people stabbed in Berkeley Hills: police The Sentra hit the left rear of the other car, a Nissan Maxima, according to the CHP. A woman in her 20s who was a passenger in the rear of the Maxima was not wearing her seatbelt and suffered fatal injuries in the collision.The four other people in the two cars, including both drivers, suffered minor to moderate injuries and were hospitalized. Alcohol doesn't appear to be a factor in the collision, the CHP said. Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.