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California's largest wildfire of the year threatening iconic Joshua trees

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:47 GMT

Firefighters aided by rain fought to contain a massive blaze that swept through the California desert into Nevada and is threatening the region's famous spiky Joshua trees.The York Fire that erupted last Friday is California's largest wildfire this year. As of Wednesday night it had burned through nearly 147 square miles (380.4 square kilometers) of land and was 34% contained, fire officials said.Humid monsoonal weather conditions Tuesday afternoon brought brief but heavy rain, especially on the south end of the fire, and kept its spread to a minimum, fire officials said. Wednesday saw the rain easing and temperatures rising but fire officials said crews were able to continue mopping up the blaze and reinforcing containment lines on the fire's edges. The National Weather Service forecast dry, sunny weather with a high of up to 99 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2 Celsius) on Thursday.Burned landscape from the York Fire in the Mojave National Preserve on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2...

UCLA Chancellor stepping down after 17-year tenure

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:47 GMT

University of California, Los Angeles Chancellor Gene Block will be stepping down after a 17-year tenure as the head of the university, UCLA announced on Thursday.During his time as chancellor, Block helped steer the Westwood campus through a global pandemic, a financial crisis in 2008, and helped the university expand its enrollment diversity, philanthropy and research, the university said in a news release. UCLA purchases historic Trust Building in downtown Los Angeles “Since I became chancellor 16 years ago, UCLA has been my community and my home, a source of endless inspiration, and an indelible part of who I am,” Block said in a statement. “Serving as the leader of our university has been the greatest honor of my life.”While Block’s tenure has been filled with many accomplishments, such as the opening of UCLA Downtown and UCLA South Bay, there was a major controversy. Last October, James Heaps, a former gynecologist at UCLA, was found guilty on five counts in a sexual abuse c...

A man accused of holding a woman in a cinder block cell had been on law enforcement's radar

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:47 GMT

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A man who is accused of kidnapping a woman and holding her in a cinder block cell that she escaped by punching her way out had been on law enforcement’s radar and is now suspected in other sexual assaults.The woman was kidnapped from Seattle, chained, and driven to a home in Klamath Falls, Oregon, according to the FBI. Negasi Zuberi, 29, is now behind bars in Nevada, waiting to be extradited to Oregon, where he is charged in federal court with interstate kidnapping and transporting an individual across state lines with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.A search of Zuberi’s rental home and garage turned up the woman’s purse and handwritten notes, according to investigators. One was labeled “Operation Take Over” and included entries that read, “Leave phone at home” and “Make sure they don’t have a bunch of ppl (sic) in their life. You don’t want any type of investigation.”Another handwritten document appeared to include a rough sketch for an underground s...

Warner Bros. Discovery reveals strikes saved major money in Q2

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:47 GMT

Executives with Warner Bros. Discovery reported record savings in the second quarter on Thursday's earnings call.The reason for this? The current writers' and actors' strike. On the call, Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels revealed the savings are in the "low $100 million range," according to Variety. Q2 runs from April 1 to June 30. Only members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) were on strike at this point in time. Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson makes massive donation to SAG-AFTRA Foundation Wiedenfels explained that the company is hoping for a resolution between the two unions and the studios next month. “While we are hoping for a fast resolution, our modeling assumes a return to work date in early September, should the strikes run through the end of the year, I would expect several $100 million upside to our free cash flow guidance and some incremental downside for adjusted EBITDA,” he said.Members of the Writers Guild of America, WGA picket outside CBS Television Ci...

Two Killed in Fiery Plane Crash at Van Nuys Airport [Van Nuys, CA]

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:47 GMT

Pilot and Passenger Pronounced Dead after Single-Engine Plane Crash in Van NuysVAN NUYS, CA (August 3, 2023) – Wednesday morning, two people lost their lives in a plane crash at Van Nuys Airport.The incident happened on August 2nd, at around 10:30 a.m., near the 16300 block of Waterman Drive.According to reports, a flight instructor and a student were in the plane when the pilot contacted the tower and told them the plane was experiencing power loss. The pilot attempted a landing but lost control and the plane crashed nose-first into the tarmac, before bursting into flames.Before the crash, the pilot was able to communicate to the tower that the plane was about to crash. The tower contacted emergency crews and they were able to arrive very shortly after.Firefighters put out the flames quickly. However, the impact of the collision caused the two occupants to sustain fatal injuries. They were pronounced dead at the scene.The team at Sweet James sends their sincere sympathies to ...

TrainPetDog Review – Don’t Waste Your $$$

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:47 GMT

The first time I stumbled across TrainPetDog, I was both happy and suspicious.Happy because the program seemed to fulfill all my dog-training needs.Suspicious because Google suggested the post-fix SCAM at the end of the search term TrainPetDog.Giving the benefit of the doubt, I visited their website — and guess what I found?Nothing but green flags at first; it’s well maintained, presence of free courses, and they seem very open.Except for ONE key issue — TrainPetDog isn’t very open about how exactly they will achieve competency levels. They would point at an end goal but not disclose how they will do it.However, I understand perfect products (or services) don’t exist. That’s why I looked at what TrainPetDog users had to say. Well, it was a balance between positive and negative comments.So, I went ahead and bought it, and I have been using it for a couple of weeks with my German Shepherd.If you’re planning to buy the TrainPetDog training program, be sure...

Daniela Asaro Romanoff-A Role Model for Women of Today’s Time

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:47 GMT

In recent years, women are rising to prominence in a variety of fields worldwide but their road to the top was not simple and our society has taken a long time to bring about this positive change. After a never-ending scuffle against discrimination, male dominance, cultural and social factors, and fighting for a decade, career-oriented women like Daniela Asaro Romanoff have finally got their rights and earned their place in society.As we witness gender diversity, women who were confined to their homes in the past, now play an integral role just like their male counterparts in contemporary workplaces. Women like Daniela have extraordinary abilities and ideas through which they can contribute to the professional world. Additionally, their positive attitude and response to uncertain circumstances set them apart from their male counterparts.The corporate world can benefit from a women’s feminine touch, empathy, exceptional soft skills, intuition, and optimism. Women like Daniela h...

Remember Paul Reubens with these 8 great performances

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:47 GMT

Paul Reubens, who died Sunday at age 70, will always be remembered for his beloved alter ego, the perpetually childlike Pee-wee Herman — a character so popular that it was able to carry a stage show, movies and a TV series.But Reubens also made memorable impressions playing a variety of supporting characters of the big and small screens — like Penguin’s father in “Batman Returns” and the turtleneck-wearing fixer Mr. Vargas in “The Blacklist,” just to name a few out of dozens.Looking for more? Here is a list of Reubens’ greatest hits and how to watch them. (Note that his recurring Emmy-nominated turn on “Murphy Brown” as the network president’s nephew is not included because that series’ original run is not streaming. Start the petition!)‘Pee-wee’s Big Adventure’This film may well be one of the most extravagantly weird comedies of the 1980s — and possibly ever. A breakthrough for both Reubens and director Tim Burton, the film built on Reubens’ live show, which had been captured for a...

‘A miracle’: Police track down $70,000 worth of jewelry stolen from Los Altos family at Boston airport

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:47 GMT

By BRANDON TRUITT | WBZBOSTON (WBZ) — It was supposed to be a family-filled week of fun for Raka and Vineet Agrawal and their two children. The family flew into Logan Airport last Wednesday for a cousin’s wedding weekend.The Agrawals caught a red eye from their hometown of Los Altos, California and landed in Boston at roughly 1:15 a.m. The chaos of navigating an airport with bags and children catching up with them at the Terminal B rideshare pickup. The family jumped in an Uber only to realize a very important bag had been left behind.“My husband called the police right away,” Raka Agrawal told WBZ-TV. “They were able to find the bag and when he located the bag which was literally 15 minutes later, he noticed the bag was unzipped.”The Agrawals said that bag had about $70,000 worth of jewelry and a watch stolen out of it. Much of that jewelry had been passed down from generation to generation, a tradition in Indian culture.“That is how they s...

Man arrested in multiple Walnut Creek burglaries

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:47 GMT

WALNUT CRREK — A 40-year-old San Francisco man suspected of at least seven commercial burglaries here last month, mostly in the downtown area, has been arrested, police said.Other possible suspects are being sought.The man arrested Wednesday is being held without bail at the Martinez Detention Facility on multiple counts of second degree burglary and conspiracy to commit a crimePolice said the man is suspected in seven commercial burglaries between July 16 and July 24. Six were in the downtown area and one was on Oak Grove Road.Police have not said what kind of businesses were targeted or what was taken. Authorities did not say what mode of transportation they believe the suspect used to get to Contra Costa County.Walnut Creek detectives worked to identify the man as one of the suspects they believed to be responsible for all of the burglaries. Police did not sy how they originally came to suspect the man.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | More California Hig...