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Talks Between Hollywood Actors And Studios Fall Apart

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:59:22 GMT

After multiple days of negotiations between representatives of Hollywood actors and studios, the production companies walked away from the bargaining table. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents several major studios such as Disney, Amazon, Netflix and NBC Universal, pulled back after the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) called for a “levy” on streaming services. The request would allegedly cost the companies upward of $800 million per year.SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said their ask was not “outrageous,” and she was “shocked” by the AMPTP response.“We’re not asking for the moon,” SAG-AFTRA said in an online post. “Just a fair deal that respects our craft and livelihood. It’s time we get what is rightfully ours!” View this post on InstagramA post shared by SAG-AFTRA (@sagaftra) While Hollywood Writers ended their strike last week, ratifying a new contract with the AMPTP, the actors continue their rallies that began July 15.“From coast...

Arrest Made in Chinatown Boutique Robbery

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:59:22 GMT

A suspect was arrested on Oct. 13 for a violent September boutique robbery in Chinatown.Courtland Thornton, 31, was allegedly caught on surveillance video in a struggle with an employee of Angie’s Boutique in N. Broadway before reaching over the front counter, taking property and punching her in the face.It is reported that the woman has since recovered from her injuries.The suspect was found in Hawthorne and taken into custody by the LAPD Gang and Narcotics Division. The suspect attempted to flee the home through the backyard, but was apprehended by police without incident, according to LAPD.Thornton is being held on $80,000 bail.                                         Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporti...

Woman Declared Dead after Pedestrian Crash on East Main Street [El Cajon, CA]

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:59:22 GMT

Roanoke Road Pedestrian Accident Kills 28-Year-Old WomanEL CAJON, CA (October 18, 2023) – Early Monday morning, a pedestrian crash on East Main Street claimed the life of a woman.The fatal collision happened around 6:21 a.m. at the intersection of East Main Street and Roanoke Road.According to the police, a 2016 black Kia Soul hit a woman walking in the intersection.The first responders immediately transported the female victim to a hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. Authorities only identified the deceased woman as a 28-year-old woman.Meanwhile, the driver of the Kia Soul stayed at the site of the incident and cooperated with the investigators. Police do not suspect alcohol and drugs to be a factor in the incident.Moreover, both directions of the roadway were temporarily shut down to allow for cleanup and preliminary duties.El Cajon Officials are asking anyone with additional information about the fatal East Main Street pedestrian crash to contact (619) 579-3311.In...

Male Bicyclist Hurt in Hit-and-Run on Kentucky Street [Bakersfield, CA]

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:59:22 GMT

One Hospitalized after Hit-and-Run Bicycle Collision near Alta Vista DriveBAKERSFIELD, CA (October 18, 2023) – Saturday evening, a male cyclist became a victim of a hit-and-run incident on Kentucky Street.At approximately 6:48 p.m., law enforcement officers were dispatched to the scene near Alta Vista Drive in East Bakersfield.Upon arrival, first responders discovered a male bicyclist, who had sustained serious injuries, lying in the road. He was subsequently transported to a nearby hospital, where he was reported to be in stable condition.According to investigators, the bicyclist was struck by a westbound vehicle while both were traveling in the same direction on Kentucky Street. The driver of the vehicle failed to stop and offer assistance to the injured individual.In response, emergency crews temporarily closed off the surrounding area for cleanup and preliminary procedures. Police are urging anyone who may have witnessed the hit-and-run to contact the Bakersfield Police De...

Joe Lacob on Klay Thompson’s contract extension talks: “Everyone needs to just chill a little bit”

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:59:22 GMT

Klay Thompson’s impending free agency at the end of the season looms with reports indicating Thompson and the Warriors aren’t close to coming to a contract extension agreement. Golden State majority owner Joe Lacob implored everyone to relax about the stalled negotiations.“I mean, we’re not in control of this,” Lacob said in a radio interview on 95.7 The Game on Wednesday. “There’s two sides to every negotiation. We want him back. He wants to be back.”Thompson is entering the final year of his five-year, $189.9 million contract signed in the weeks after his ACL tear during the 2019 NBA Finals. He’s eligible to sing an extension at any point this season, but no deal means he will be a free agent when the 2023-24 season ends at age 34.Thompson returned from ACL and Achilles surgeries in 2022 with his same 3-point shooting impact but a different defensive skillset than his pre-injured self — not tasked to defend the opposing t...

Kaitlin Armstrong escape attempt: Accused killer planned sprint from medical office, affidavit says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:59:22 GMT

Accused murderer Kaitlin Armstrong’s escape attempt last week — in which she led officers on a mile-long foot chase — apparently required considerable planning, court documents show.Armstrong, 35, is awaiting trial in the 2022 killing in Austin, Texas, of Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson, a professional cyclist who was visiting from the Bay Area. When Armstrong was being escorted from a medical appointment last Wednesday, Oct. 11, she broke free from corrections officers and fled.An investigation of the escape attempt show several elements of preparation, according to an affidavit:• Armstrong complained of an injury that would require medical attention outside the Travis County Correctional Complex, where she is being held.• She also cited the nature of the injury in securing a dispensation that would prevent her legs from being restrained.• Her wrists had been cuffed in front of her but during her sprint for freedom, she was able to free her left hand. During a...

Poll: Dems, GOP agree on futility of war in Afghanistan

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:59:22 GMT

By Linley Sanders and Rebecca Santana | Associated PressWASHINGTON — At a time when Americans are deeply divided along party lines, a new poll shows considerable agreement on at least one issue: The United States’ two-decade-long war in Afghanistan was not worth fighting.The poll from the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research comes two years after the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan in August 2021 and the Taliban returned to power. The war was started to go after the masterminds of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the Taliban who allowed them to use Afghan territory. It ended in frantic scenes of Afghans and Americans desperately trying to get on one of the last flights out of Kabul.Polls suggest the withdrawal, seen by many as chaotic and ill-planned, may have been a turning point for President Joe Biden’s approval ratings, which started a downward slide around that time...

Once hailed as a drought fix, California moves to restrict synthetic turf over health concerns

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:59:22 GMT

By SHREYA AGRAWAL | CalMattersGov. Gavin Newsom last week passed on a chance to limit the use of the so-called “forever chemicals” in legions of plastic products when he vetoed a bill that would have banned them in synthetic lawns.His veto of an environmental bill that overwhelmingly passed the Legislature underscores California’s convoluted guidance on the plastic turf that some homeowners, schools and businesses use in place of grass in a state accustomed to drought.Less than a decade ago then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law prohibiting cities and counties from banning synthetic grass. At the time, the state was in the middle of a crippling drought and fake lawns were thought to be helpful in saving water.But this year Democrats in the Legislature went in a different direction, proposing bills that would discourage synthetic turf. They’re worried about health risks created by the chemicals present in these lawns, including perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as...

What killed 3 million honey bees in Southern California? Beekeepers fear the answer has larger ramifications

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:59:22 GMT

Caleb Lunetta | (TNS) The San Diego Union-TribuneThe beekeepers had never seen anything like it before.On the evening of Sept. 20, Dominic Peck and Paul Gunn, co-owners of the San Diego Bee Sanctuary, drove out to their hives in rural Valley Center assuming they were going to find an active, honey-making apiary as usual.Instead they found a mass graveyard.“There were just piles and piles of dead bees,” Peck said.Over the next two days, Peck and Gunn would watch as roughly 80 percent of their 64 hives — each with a single queen protected by 50,000 to 100,000 bees — were decimated by a mysterious plague.Each year, beekeepers around the country report losing more than 30 percent of their colonies in the winter and spring due to a number of issues — bad weather, destroyed habitats or pesticides. Those numbers have only been increasing in recent years.But it remains a mystery as to what caused the mass die-off at the San Diego Bee Sancturary.“It’s an accepted thin...

Gaza carnage spreads anger across the Mideast

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:59:22 GMT

By Samy Magdy and Joseph Krauss | Associated PressCAIRO — Within hours after a blast was said to have killed hundreds at a Gaza hospital, protesters hurled stones at Palestinian security forces in the occupied West Bank and at riot police in neighboring Jordan, venting fury at their leaders for failing to stop the carnage.A summit planned in Jordan on Wednesday between U.S. President Joe Biden, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was canceled after Abbas withdrew in protest.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had spent much of the past week meeting with Arab leaders to try to ease tensions, but those efforts are now in doubt following the hospital blast. The raw nerve of decades of Palestinian suffering, left exposed by U.S.-brokered normalization agreements between Israel and Arab states, is throbbing once again, threatening broader unrest.“This war, which has entered a dangerous phase, will plun...